Springer - Blood Money

BLOOD MONEY

By Brian Springer

Copyright 2011 Brian Springer

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, LicenseNotes

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TABLE OFCONTENTS

The early morning sun had just begun to peekover the barren desert landscape when Jessica Robbins saw thehelicopter in her rearview mirror.

Her adrenalin spiked and her mind raced asshe tried to ascertain whether or not the chopper was actuallytracking her. She didnt think her handlers could have found her soquickly, but to assume a chopper just happened to be keeping pacedirectly behind her at 5:19 AM in the middle of the desert with noother cars within twenty miles was pure folly.

Still, she hoped for the best.

And so, for the next mile and a half, hereyes flashed continuously between the road and the mirror,anxiously monitoring the progress of the chopper, waiting for it toalter its course.

Finally, just as Jessica was resigned to thefact that it was indeed following her, the helicopter peeled offand disappeared from view.

Relief and confusion flooding over her,Jessica took a deep breath and returned her attention to the roadahead, only to see two military grade Humvees a half-mile ahead.The vehicles were parked sideways, their front ends practicallytouching in the middle of the single-lane highway.

Roadblock.

Jessica cursed aloud and slammed on thebrakes, stopping her beaten-down, late 90s model Jeep Cherokeewithin three hundred yards of the vehicles. Sensing movement behindher, she turned in her seat.

Looking over her shoulder, Jessica saw thattwo more Humvees had boxed her in. And no doubt the chopper wasstill hovering nearby, just in case she tried to run.

She took a deep breath, tried to gather herthoughts. Although she had known there was a distinct possibilityher handlers would catch wind of her betrayal, Jessica had thoughtshed covered her tracks well enough to escape their grasp, atleast for a while. Obviously this was not the case. Her formeremployers were even more slick than shed given them creditfor.

Before she even had a chance to fully graspthe full implications of the situation, the passenger door of oneof the Humvees opened.

A man dressed in an expensive business suitstepped out. His arms were extended and his palms were facingforward in a declaration of peace. His mouth was moving, but thewindows were rolled up and Jessica couldnt hear a word he wassaying.

Nor did she need to.

Jessica wasnt precisely sure who the manwas, but she knew who he represented, and whatever he was selling,she wasnt buying.

She closed her eyes for a moment andconsidered her options.

It only took a couple of seconds.

Sitting here in the middle of the desert,fifty miles away from any hint of civilization and twice that farto the nearest freeway, she had but two choices.

Make a run for it or just give up.

It wasnt even really a choice. There was noway in hell she was going to let them have her without making themwork for it.

With that decided, just one questionremained: Which direction to flee?

Jessica looked right, then left. Both sidesoffered sand dunes and cacti and not much else.

She decided it didnt matter in theleast.

Resigned to her fate, Jessica tried to get ahandle on her fear by taking a couple of deep, cleansing breaths,then slipped the Jeep into 4-wheel drive, yanked the steering wheelto the left and stomped on the gas. The Cherokee shook and whinedwith the strain of the sudden acceleration.

She passed over the shoulder of the highway,the back end of the vehicle skidding to the side as she made thetransition from concrete to loose sand. Her arms steady, Jessicaturned into the skid, straightened the Cherokee out and sped offinto the heart of the desert.

Looking into her rearview mirror, she couldsee all four Humvees take off into the desert after her, two fromeach side. The chopper was no longer visible, but she assumed itwas somewhere near and closing fast.

Her older model Jeep Cherokee was doing anadmirable job, but it was no match for the unyielding desert floor.It bounced along the uneven sand, slamming her body into the door,forward into the steering wheel, up towards the roof.

Now up to almost forty miles per hour,Jessica didnt even bother trying to steer the vehicle; it took allher energy just to keep her hands on the wheel.

With every bump, her body flailed morewildly and her hands threatened to come off the wheel, but she wascuriously unafraid. The impromptu chase brought back long-buriedmemories of off-roading in the Mexican desert with her dad when shewas eleven years old. Jessica could picture him clearly, sittingbehind the wheel, whooping it up with every bump, turning towardsher, smiling, his yellow teeth shining through his heavy brownbeard like little golden nuggets poking out of the earth.

With her dad at the forefront of her mind,Jessica barreled through the brush, her foot still pressing on theaccelerator. Unbeknownst to her, the smile on her face matched herdads perfectly.

Jessica glanced to her right, then to herleft, and saw that the Humvees were closing in on both sides. Hersmile grew wider, and she even started to laugh a bit, perverselyenjoying the chase despite the inevitability of its ending. Sheheard the chopper and tried to catch a glimpse of that too, but wasdisappointed to learn it wasnt within view.

Returning her gaze forward, Jessica saw thatshe was coming up to the crest of a ridge. She let out a wordlessyell just as the Cherokee went flying over the edge. Her joy turnedto terror as her stomach rose up into her throat and her body camefully off the seat. The large vehicle got airborne for a second,only to come crashing to the earth with a hideous groan.

Jessicas face slammed into the steeringwheel, sending a jolt of electricity through her head, past herneck, down her spine. Then she was spinning madly, her headflopping around and her body pushing away from the seat, held inplace only by the rigid straps of the seatbelt. The pressure on herchest was nearly unbearable. She tried to scream but the force wastoo great and no sound issued from her throat. There was a finalangry screech of metal, then a dull thud, and the world wentblack.

Jessica opened her eyes, looked around inconfusion. Sand and little pebbles of safety glass were strewnabout the Cherokees cabin. The world seemed to have slid to theright. Her vision swam and she shook her head, but that only madethings worse. She closed her eyes for a moment. She coughed,sending shock-waves of agony shuttling through her torso.

She gasped and her eyes shot open but thepain helped focus her thoughts. She suddenly remembered where shewas and what had happened and how much trouble she was in.

She tried to formulate a plan of action, buther thoughts were overwhelmed by the insistent whompwhompwhomp of achopper. It filled her entire being, reverberating through herbones, rattling her teeth.

She groped for the seatbelt release, finallyfinding it. After struggling with the mechanism for a few seconds,she pushed the button, freeing herself.

Turning her attention to the door, Jessicaturned the handle but the door didnt budge. With a grunt ofeffort, she slammed her shoulder into it and it flew open. Sheclimbed awkwardly out of the vehicle.

Still light-headed from the blow to thesteering wheel, Jessica stumbled away from the Cherokee, fallingface-first to the sandy floor after just a few steps. She liftedherself up, but her legs didnt want to cooperate, and she fellback to the ground. A few seconds later, she picked herself upagain, only to fall once more.