Dana saw one of the men break from cover and move to their left, running toward the cabin wall. Ranger raised his rifle, but she fired first. As the gun kicked upward in her hand, the trigger of the weapon ripped painfully into the web between her thumb and forefinger. Despite the unexpected stab of pain, she managed to hold on to it. Remembering what Ranger had said, she immediately stepped behind another tree to her left, watching and trying to listen, though her ears were still ringing.
“You forced him back. Good. Just keep behind something solid, and move after you fire,” Ranger said, watching the cabin, not her. “Make every shot count, you’ve got seven more.”
“How did you find us?” she asked.
“Friends-and his cell phone,” he said, then waited for a moment, watching and listening. “They’re not moving. They realize we’re both armed now. But they also know we can’t get to the cabin without coming out into the open. We’ll have to draw them out.”
He led her to the right at a brisk pace, choosing a path that led them through some chest-high brush. “They’ve heard us moving for sure. Now let’s give them a target.” He reached into his hip pocket and brought out a small flashlight. Then he jammed it into the fork of a sturdy branch and aimed toward the cabin. “Move north to a new firing position as soon as I turn this on.”
She looked around her. “North? Are you kidding me? Point!”
He gestured with his chin to their right. “That way. Go!” By the time he clicked the button she was already on the move. Less than five seconds after the light came on, several shots rang out in rapid succession. From her new spot beside a large boulder she could hear branches being clipped and the whine of bullets across the ridge. Suddenly there was a clank, and the light went out. But now they knew the men’s positions.
Ranger, several feet to her left, motioned for her to stay low, then took the lead, slipping through the brush and heading northeast. She followed, trying to move as silently as he did, but managed to step on a big branch. It snapped loudly like a fresh carrot. Suddenly several more shots rang out, whining through the trees behind her like angry bees.
Her heart thudding against her ribs, Dana squeezed off two shots in the direction of the gun flashes, then ran forward. The end of the cabin was visible now to her left through the outer ring of trees, and she realized it was long and rectangular, much bigger than she’d thought. The light inside was off, making the structure almost invisible against the forest-covered hillside.
She saw Ranger, up ahead, signal her to stop and get down. On one knee, he brought his rifle up and fired three shots, working the lever quickly between rounds. There was a flurry of return fire, but the shots sounded more distant, and whistled high overhead, not coming even close.
Dana heard the sound of tires rolling across the ground, but then that noise was drowned out by sirens wailing from somewhere behind her, coming up the mountain road. Hopefully, an ambulance had also been dispatched along with the police.
Following Ranger’s lead, she moved to the edge of the forest, stopping beside a wide juniper. From there they had an unobstructed view of the cabin. There were four windows on the east side, two on either side of the central door. The window she’d climbed out of was at the far north end, about a hundred feet away. Seeing Ranger advancing, she matched his pace, watching the cabin and praying they’d be able to reach Hastiin Sani in time. He was strong and they’d be able to help him very soon.
“The van’s gone,” Ranger said. “They must have jumped in and let it roll downhill or we would have heard the engine. I’m going into the cabin. Stay back and behind cover just in case it’s a trick.”
He’d just finished speaking when they both noticed a thin ribbon of white smoke coming from the window at the far end. A heartbeat later, the entire window blew out, followed by a burst of orange flames.
“He’s inside the room at this end! We’ve got to get him out!” Dana cried out.
Dread chilled her spirit, but knowing that her friend’s life depended on them gave her all the energy she needed. “I’m going in to get him.”
They heard a vehicle engine start up somewhere well away from the cabin. “The kidnappers are taking off. They heard the sirens, too,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Dana recalled her brief impressions of the room adjoining the one where she and Hastiin Sani had been held. “There should be a fire extinguisher on a corner shelf to the right of the woodstove in the main room.”
“I’ll grab it.”
Dana stopped by the first window and called out to Hastiin Sani, but there was no response. “I’ll climb in here while you go through the front door. Give me a leg up. I left Hastiin Sani in this room.”
“No, the smoke is already spreading. Let’s both use the front door. If we can get to the fire extinguisher, that’ll buy us a little more time.”
They were at the front door seconds later and found it unlocked. They went inside, through a kitchen to a sparsely furnished family area. There were four wooden chairs, one splattered with blood, and a small round table.
In the bedroom to their left, a mattress burned fiercely, obviously ignited by the scorched kerosene lamp that lay atop what was now a glowing collection of wire springs. A draft was carrying much of the smoke out the window, but enough had drifted into the rest of the cabin to make breathing difficult.
“Go back outside,” Ranger said.
“No way,” she shot back. “He’s in there.” She pointed to the splintered door, pock marked with six bullet holes.
Ranger found the fire extinguisher right where she’d said it would be. “We don’t have much time,” he said, aiming the spray at the flaming mattress. “This won’t hold us for long.”
While he fought to suppress the fire, she ran into the other room.
Hastiin Sani was on the floor, his lifeless eyes open, but unseeing. Her heart broke and tears poured down her face as she knelt beside his body. Although deep in her heart she’d known this might be the outcome, she’d wished so hard for a miracle she hadn’t been prepared to face this reality.
Hearing Ranger in the room, she looked up and saw him crouched beside one of their captors, the one who’d come after her.
“This one’s still breathing,” he said.
The words meant nothing to her. Still kneeling by Hastiin Sani, and ignoring the blood seeping into her clothes, she gazed at the body of her friend and whispered a soft prayer.
“He held his ground and bought me time to get away. He gave his life for mine,” she told Ranger, tears pouring down her face.
She moved her hand over Hastiin Sani’s eyelids, shutting them. Then, taking a shuddering breath, she began to cough. “We’ve got to carry him out of here quickly.”
“Our friend’s gone. We can’t do anything more for him. One of the other kidnappers is also dead. But the man in front of me breathes. He may be able to tell us who was responsible for all this. We’ll take him outside first.”
The building shook as something crashed to the ground. “Time to move,” Ranger said, getting to his feet quickly.
“I’m not leaving Hastiin Sani’s body here! I’ll drag him out myself if I have to,” she said, choking back a sob. “I owe him that at least.”
“Don’t speak the name of the dead,” he ordered.
His tone captured her attention, jolting her into remembering. Mentioning the name the recently deceased had used in life was said to call his chindi-the evil in every man that stayed earthbound after death. Belief in the chindi was strong among New Traditionalists and traditionalist Navajos. Even modernists respected the custom.
“I’m sorry,” she said, then as she breathed in another lungful of smoke she began coughing again.
“Take shallow breaths and let’s work quickly,” he said. “I’ll carry this man outside. I managed to close the door to the bedroom, so we should still have a clear path. But I’ll need you to take the fire extinguisher, just in case. Afterward, if we can, we’ll come back for the dead.”