Into Winter

Introduction

Introduction

In Corpus Christi, Texas . . .

The sun was just peeking over the horizon on another beautiful early autumn day along the Gulf Coast in south Texas. A few puffy clouds claimed the orange sunrise, folding into the blue sky overhead. But Sandra’s attention was focused on the asphalt turning into concrete ahead. She gripped the steering wheel and pressed hard on the accelerator.

She yelled over and over, as she quickly gained on the yellow Cessna Sky-hawk. “I’ll get you, you little bastard!”

It took only seconds to overtake the plane. The Jeep sped past and ahead. Sandra pulled hard on the emergency brake locking up the wheels. She had one leg out of the Jeep before it came to a full stop in a cloud of smoke in the middle of the runway. She drew her pistol, pulled back on the hammer, and pointed toward the yellow Cessna as it leaped into the air and over her head. Before she could get off a shot, she ducked realizing her mistake, but one of the tires on the plane clipped her hand. Sandra screamed in pain as the pistol slammed into her face and fell to the pavement.

“Son-of-a-b***h!” she yelled, as she watched the plane come back down and bounce on the runway a couple of times before lifting off and climbing into the sky. She touched her cheek and looked at the blood on her hand. Her gaze returned to the end of the runway when she heard the shots. She watched the plane weave left and right, but it continued to climb. “God dammit!”

Sandra reached inside the Jeep for a rag to wipe the blood trickling down her face. She picked up her pistol and stuck it back in her holster. She watched as the plane made a wide swing over the Bayfront and circled back toward the Airport.

Sandra leaned up against the Jeep and squinted her eyes trying to recover from the blow to the side of her head. She looked back to the north and stared at the little plane as it made circle after circle near the edge of the city. Then the plane lined out and faded from sight.

That has to be the direction to Peaceful Valley. I’ll get that little bastard!

Sandra turned her attention to the truck driving toward her from the end of the runway where the shots were fired. The pickup pulled up beside her and the current sheriff of Corpus Christi, Mathew Helms, got out.

“I did the best I could,” he said.

Sandra stood and stared at him for a moment, her left hand on her left hip and the other on her pistol. “Yeah, I guess you did, but you know what, maybe your best just isn’t good enough around here.” She quickly drew her pistol and fired two rounds into his chest. Mathew’s eyes popped open wide and the surprise was evident on his face.

Nope, your best just isn’t good enough!

Sandra turned and climbed into her Jeep, cranked up the engine, and took one more look at Mathew lying in a growing puddle of blood before she headed toward the Farm. Halfway there, she remembered Russ and Jorge at the Airport and turned around to check on them.

Sandra walked into the hangar and yelled out, “Russ! Jorge!” There was no answer and she headed through Russ’s office and into his sleeping quarters, flipping the lights on as she went. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand when she saw Russ’s face covered with blood, his eyes frozen in time, staring into space. She turned and headed to Jorge’s room. She flipped his light on and immediately turned it back off and closed the door.

“Dammit!” echoed through the hangar.

Sandra shook her head in disgust as she walked back outside, climbed into the Jeep, and headed toward the Farm.

Sandra was grinding her teeth as she slid to a stop in a cloud of dust in front of the farmhouse.

“Kim! Brenda!” she yelled, as she stormed up to the house. They met Sandra at the already open front door.

“Florence is not in her cell,” Kim said.

“I know,” Sandra replied, “Robbie is gone too. It looks like Beka left with him as well. Her car was in the middle of the runway at the Airport.”

Sandra pushed her way through the door and headed toward the kitchen. Kim and Brenda followed. “Robbie killed Russ and Jorge at the Airport too.”

Brenda almost hesitated to add, “we drug the dead guards into the barn.”

Sandra covered her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Two of my best guards too. Robbie was a busy beaver last night. I’ll get that bastard though.”

“How are you going to do that?” Kim asked, raising her eyebrows.

Sandra grabbed a soda out of the fridge, rolled some ice in a hand towel for her face, and sat down at the table. “I know the direction he headed off and I know he lives along a river. It may take a while, but he shouldn’t be that hard to find. I need some scouts. And I’ll take care of Sean in the meantime.”

“What did he do?” Kim asked.

“Nothing. Guilt by association.”

Kim and Brenda didn’t say a word. They just stared at Sandra, both afraid to say anything else with the obvious mood she was in.

“I’m going to clean up my face and lie down for a while. I need to think a bit.”

Sandra tossed the ice-pack into the sink and headed for the bathroom.

“Anything we can do?” Kim asked.

“Bury the guards,” Sandra replied, not turning around.

She flipped the light on and looked into the mirror.

Looks like this is going to leave a scar.

When she finished in the bathroom, the throbbing in her head sent her to the bedroom to lie down.

What the hell am I going to do?

Thirty minutes later, Sandra rolled out of bed. She rested, but her mind was churning with anger. Sleep was not possible.

Sandra finished and headed for the front door. “Didn’t I tell you to do something?” she yelled to Kim and Brenda who were still sitting and talking at the kitchen table. “Get off your asses!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kim replied, as the front door slammed shut.

Sandra sat in the Jeep and massaged her sore hand a second. She turned the ignition and crammed the gearshift into gear. The tires slung gravel and dirt as she left in a cloud of dust.

Fifteen minutes later, she screeched the tires on the pavement as she pulled up in front of the office at the Police compound. The second of two men exiting the building held the door for her as she stepped inside.

A large counter stretched across the center of the room, but no one manned the station. A plain-clothes man was staring at a bulletin board on the back wall. Two uniformed officers were sitting at desks to the left.

“I’m looking for Conrad Baker,” she announced.

“He’s in the can,” one of the men behind the desks replied without looking up.

Sandra walked over to where he sat rustling papers, still mostly ignoring her.

“Something I can help you with, Sandra?” the officer at the other desk asked.

“Do you have any maps of the area?”

He leaned over pushing at his heavy black glasses to keep them in place as he pulled open the drawer. He slammed it shut and pulled open another drawer. He grabbed a handful of folded roadmaps, laid them on the desktop, and spread them out. Sandra reached down and picked one up with Texas across the top. She walked over to an empty chair, plopped down, and shook open the map.

As Sandra studied it, Conrad walked in from a hallway. He immediately recognized Sandra sitting in the line of chairs along the front wall of the office.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” he asked and sat in the chair next to her.

“I need a new Chief of Police,” she said without hesitation.

“Oh!” Conrad replied.

“You up for the job?”

A smile formed on his face. “Yes, ma’am.”

“All right then. Your first job is to get a few men over to the Airport to bury some bodies. Mathew is on the runway and Jorge and Russ are in the hangar. There are two dead guards at the Farm, but the girls are taking care of them.”

“What the hell is going on?” Conrad said, with a questioning look on his face, his mouth never fully closing, as he looked at Sandra for answers.

“It seems Robbie hijacked our Cessna Skyhawk and flew back to Peaceful Valley with Florence Ingalls and Beka Livingston this morning.”

“How?” When she didn’t respond, he just sat staring at Sandra with a surprised look on his face.

She wasn’t in the mood to provide him with the answers. She folded the map back up, though not exactly as she found it, and stuck it in her britches pocket as she got up and headed toward the door. “Meet me out at the Farm tomorrow morning,” she said over her shoulder as she walked out.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, as she pulled the door shut behind her.

Conrad stood confounded at Sandra’s lack of explanation and the quick exit. “Well, at least I got a promotion,” he muttered to himself.