Outlaw Mountain

Joa

Waiting for backup to arrive was no longer an option. The deputies summoned from Mark Childers’ house were still minutes away. The terror and desperation in the woman’s scream left no margin for delay.

“Shots have been fired,” Joa

With the gas pedal shoved to the floor and with her own siren screaming, Joa

She parked, cut the lights, and opened the window, but she didn’t step out of the Blazer. If it came to a shoot-out, she wanted the benefit of whatever cover the engine block might provide.

“Lewis,” she called as she drew the heavy-duty Colt 2000 out of her shoulder holster. “That’s enough. Lay down your weapon.”

For an answer, Lewis Flores reached out. Joa

“Lewis.” Joa

“I already am hurt,” he said.

Joa

There was a sudden pounding. It seemed to be coming from one of the Porta Potties. “I’m in here,” Karen Brainard yelled. “I’m locked in the toilet. He’s been shooting at me. He’s crazy. Get me out of here.”

Relief spilled over Joa

But Joa

“They lied to me,” Lewis answered. “They told me that it wouldn’t matter if the process got hurried up a little. They said they’d make it worth my while, and no one would care. But people do care, and as soon as there was trouble, they turned it all on me. Tried to make out that it was all my fault-all my responsibility.”

“That’s not true,” Karen responded from her prison. “We didn’t do any such thing, did we? Tell her, Mark. Tell Sheriff Brady that Lewis is lying.”

But if Mark Childers had anything to add to Karen Brainard’s denial, he wasn’t saying. In the distant background, Joa

“Please, Lewis,” she begged. “Think about Carmen. Put down your weapons. Move away from the car with your hands in the air.”

“I am thinking about Carmen,” Lewis Flores replied. “I was thinking about her and all those steps and her having to climb them every day. Of her having to carry groceries home just the way her mother did. I wanted a better place for her, something really nice. And Mark Childers was going to help me get it. But it’s not worth it. I finally figured that out. I’ve lost everything now-my job, my family, my self-respect. They’ve taken it all away.”

“You have to let us out of here,” Karen Brainard pleaded.

“He locked us in here, and he’s been using us for target practice. Please let us out.”

Half a mile away across the desert, a patrol car rumbled across the cattle guard and then roared up the roadway.

“Do you hear that, Lewis?” Joa

His hand shot out again. Joa

“No!” she heard herself screaming as she ran toward the Taurus. “N0000000!” But Lewis Flores was dead long before she reached him.

“Oh, God. What’s he doing now?” Karen screeched. “Make him stop. He’s going to kill us. The man is crazy. He’s going to kill us all.”

Joa

Unholstering his side arm, Deputy Dave Hollicker jumped out of the vehicle. “What’s the status, Sheriff Brady?”

By then Joa

“Bring a crowbar, Dave,” she ordered. “And make it quick. There’s one in the back of my Blazer.”

Leaving the first Porta Potty, Joa

“Mr. Childers,” Joa

There was no answer, not even a whimper. Behind her Joa

“Open this one first,” she ordered. “The woman’s all right, but I’m not so sure about Mark Childers.”

It took several tries before Dave Hollicker finally pried open the door. When he did so, Mark Childers’ limp body cascaded out onto the ground.

“He may have been shot,” Joa

“Call for an ambulance, Dave,” she said. “We’ll have to have him airlifted out of here. And bring blankets.” About that time Mark Childers’ pulse disappeared altogether. Without even thinking about it, Joa

“Please,” Karen Brainard pleaded from her prison. “What are you doing? Can’t you let me out? What’s taking so long?”

Joa