Chapter 3
Mike used Jenny’s car, still dug into the embankment, as a stepping stone to climb onto the embankment. When he planted his foot on the peculiar wall, it immediately gave way, showering more dirt on the car. He sprawled awkwardly, cursing under his breath, and dragged himself over the edge.
Once he arose, he gazed down at his tuxedo. Between his recent mishap and the effects of throwing himself onto the pavement when the shooting started, the elegant outfit was looking more than a little scruffy.
The rental company’s not going to be happy with me, he thought ruefully. But—
Mike gave Frank a hand climbing up. “Be careful,” he urged. “That wall looks solid because it’s so shiny, but it’s nothing but loose earth.”
Once Frank was atop the wall, he turned to help the others. Mike took the moment to examine his surroundings.
His new surroundings. What he saw confirmed his suspicions.
But I think a ticked-off tuxedo rental company is probably the least of my problems.
The “wall” wasn’t a wall of any kind. It was simply the edge of a plain stretching into the distance. Everything about that landscape was wrong. There was no level stretch that size anywhere in northern West Virginia. And the sun—
Frank vocalized the thought. “Mike, what’s happening? Even the damn sun’s in the wrong place.” He pointed to the south. “Should be over there.”
Or is that the south? wondered Mike. At a guess, I’d say we’re facing north instead of east, like we should be.
He thrust the problem aside. Later. There were more pressing problems to deal with. Much more pressing.
The plain was heavily wooded, but not so much so that Mike couldn’t see one–two–three farmhouses scattered among open fields. One of the farmhouses was not more than a hundred yards away.
Close enough to make out some details . . .
“Jesus,” hissed Frank.
The two farmhouses in the distance were burning fiercely. The one nearby was not. It was a large and rambling structure. Unlike the wood-frame farmhouses which Mike was familiar with, the construction of this one leaned heavily toward stone. Hand-fitted stone, from what Mike could see. If it weren’t for the fact that the farmhouse had all the signs of current occupancy—that unmistakably ragged-respectable air of a place where people worked—Mike would have sworn he was looking at a something out of the Middle Ages.
But he didn’t spend more than two seconds studying the farmhouse itself. The farmhouse was still being “worked,” but not by farmers.
His teeth were clenched. He could sense that Frank, standing next to him, was filled with the same outrage. Mike looked around. All of his miners were on the plain now, standing in a line staring at the scene.
“All right, guys,” he said softly. “I count six of the bastards. May be more inside. Three of them are assaulting that poor woman in the yard. The other three—”
He looked back at the horrendous sight. “Don’t know exactly what they’re doing. I think they’ve got that guy nailed to his door and they’re torturing him.”
Slowly, as softly as possible, Frank levered a round into the chamber of his rifle. Despite its incongruity with the suit he was wearing, the action was quietly murderous. “So what’s the plan?” he demanded.
Mike spoke through tight jaws. “I’m not actually a cop, when you get right down to it. And we haven’t got time anyway to rummage around in Dan’s Cherokee looking for handcuffs.” He glared at the scene of rape and torture. “So to hell with reading these guys their rights. We’re just going to kill them.”
“Sounds good to me,” snarled Darryl. “I got no problem with capital punishment. Never did.”
“Me neither,” growled one of the other miners. Tony Adducci, that was, a beefy man in his early forties. Like many of the miners in the area, Tony was of Italian ancestry, as his complexion and features indicated. “None whatsoever.”
Tony, like Mike, was holding a pistol. He reached up with his left hand and quickly removed his tie. Angrily, he thrust it into a pocket. The rest of the miners did likewise with their own. None of them took off their jackets, however. All of them were wearing white shirts and all of them were experienced hunters. Their suit jackets, gray and brown and Navy blue, would make better camouflage. After removing their ties—a bow tie, in Mike’s case—the miners simply loosened the top collar buttons. For the first time in their lives, they would “hunt” in their Sunday best, wearing dress shoes instead of boots.