The man raised his gun as Art slammed the heavy door and he heard the shot strike, then heard the man’s curse of frustration fade behind.
Art cracked open the door and glanced quickly to see the men standing beside the tracks and seeming to shrink as the train left them behind.
He closed the door to leave an inch-wide gap, then lay down on the wood, exhausted. Figuring the train would stop at one of the yards in El Paso, Art felt he could close his eyes for the ten minutes it would take to get there. Then he would find a phone and the police and make the calls. That’s what he would do.
His eyes closed, and his breath slowed. As he slept, the wounds in his side and back continued to bleed, forming a slowly widening red pool on the floor of the boxcar. Art slipped from sleep to unconsciousness as the train’s rhythm rocked his body enough to keep the wound bleeding. The train passed through El Paso without stopping, going east, farther away from Hunter Kincaid.
Chapter 9
Hunter waited in the pilot’s lounge at the Marfa airport as Lincoln’s plane taxied down the runway and parked nearby. She ordered coffee for all three and had the cups waiting at a table in the corner, away from the one other customer in the lounge.
The two men entered, spotted her and walked to the table, taking their seats in front of each cup of coffee. Ashton placed his laptop on the table as Hunter pushed the sugar and creamer toward them, but neither took any.
Ashton said, “Do you have the DVD with you?”
“Sure.” She handed the disc to him and he put it in, turning the screen so both he and Lincoln could see.
They sipped coffee and watched in silence until the end, and then watched it again, pausing at two places where Lincoln said, “Stop.” When they finished the second time, Lincoln said, “So, he has the TERN design and a new design for the small ones.”
“And the gas,” Hunter said.
Lincoln nodded. Ashton said, “Is this our copy?”
“That’s the only one. It’s better with you than me.”
“Thank you.”
Lincoln said, “How are you holding up?”
That surprised her. “I’m good.”
He nodded, “You have a way of coming up with information and contacts no one else can. You’re quite special, Hunter.” She blushed as he continued, “You have a fan, for what that’s worth.” Lincoln smiled.
Ashton ejected the disc and tapped it, saying, “Thank you. Lincoln, we should go so we can start on this as soon as we’re back.”
Lincoln said to Hunter, “If you need us, call.”
“I will.”
The two men left, with Hunter watching them go. She finished her coffee before exiting the lounge, and when she got in her pickup her phone rang. It was David. She said, “Hey.”
He said, “Are you doing anything today?”
“It’s my day off.”
“Then could you go with us? Our parents are freaking out and we know if you came, they’d be fine with it.”
Hunter had no clue. “What are you talking about?”
“Some friends of Carlos set up a course competition and we’re entered in it.”
“Where?”
“On a ranch outside Big Bend National Park. It’s got hurdles and barriers and slalom courses and tunnels, just about everything. Please, Hunter, pleasepleaseplease.”
Hunter chuckled, “I’ll have to clear it with your parents first.”
“Yes!”