It Ain't Paranoia if... Ch. 02

"The ranchers knew nothing about gold, and didn't believe this half-Seminole, half-African American, dressed in rags, did either. But after he rode to the nearest railroad and sent the quartz by train to be assayed in San Antonio, they got a letter saying it was valued at $80,000 per ton - an enormous amount of money in that era.

"Concerned about his employers' newfound interest in his mine, Kelly escaped into Mexico.

"Stories of a black man with bags of gold continued until after Kelly was dead, and the Reagans and others continued searching for the mine, and hiring others to search, until the Mexican Revolution in 1910 made it too dangerous to continue.

"Some claimed the mine was in the Ladrones Mountains in Mexico, but others claimed it was in Chisos Mountains of Texas. Who knows? Maybe we will discover it in one of our explorations."

After we exhausted that topic, Grace commented on the jumbles of rocks and dirt, and the many colors in the eroded areas. I told them that the Jumano Indians of this area claimed this is where the Great Spirit dumped all the leftover rocks when he made the earth; others called it God's Junkyard. Dos indignantly argued that it was beautiful here, with mountains, deep creeks, so many colors, and different kinds of plants and animals!

Kaitlyn had heard of The Solitario, and asked if that had something to do with my Jumano name. I explained that The Solitario is within what is now the Big Bend Ranch State Park. From the air, it looks like a ten-mile wide crater caused by a meteor, but is really the eroded remains of a laccolith, or collapsed volcanic dome.

"Now that you know all that, you've probably figured out that there is another definition of Solitario, which is solitary, or lonely. I live miles from anyone and I travel a lot, so my 'neighbors' down here don't see me much; they think I'm all alone and lonely or something, but you guys know I have Duke, so it's impossible to be alone or lonely, right?" Dos quickly agreed, but Grace wrinkled her brow, and Kaitlyn looked skeptical.

"Well, okay, maybe I've missed you two sometimes" I said, pointing at them in the rear view mirror with a grin.

"What about Mommy?" Dos asked innocently.

He caught me off guard, and I had to process long enough that Kaitlyn started to cover for me. I butted in. "Son, I can honestly say that not a day has gone by since we parted in Houston nearly five years ago that I haven't thought about my family: you, your sister, and your mommy."

Kaitlyn choked off a sudden sob and turned to look out the side window. Grace piped up, "We missed you too, Daddy!"

"Let's don't ever be separated again!" Dos said firmly. "We miss you too much Daddy! Look at all the fun we have when we're together!"

Kaitlyn's shoulders were hunched, she was hugging herself, and she was shaking as if sobbing quietly. I wanted to reach over and pet her, but this was her mess.

***

Duke was glad to see us, of course, but we were hungry so we changed and took him with us back to La Kiva. He led our entourage this trip, and he had to make the rounds to tell everyone hello before returning to stand between Dos and Grace, tail wagging.

The cast of characters was holding court as usual, but it was after seven and crowded, so there was no table or chairs to pull up and join them. "Daddy, there is no place to sit!" Grace noted.

"Sure there is; follow me." I walked to a sliding door along the wall and opened up another small room with five tables. Rene had three waitresses and a waiter on duty tonight so adding this area shouldn't be problem, but I went to check with him after seating my family.

When I finally got to talk to him, Rene said no problem, and told me I could always waitress if it got too rushed. I grabbed a couple of menus and an order book and took care of my family -- see, there I go again -- and another table in the second room that was now occupied by a couple I know.

Danny is a good welder and Debra an excellent nurse practitioner. They have two kids the age of mine, so after I took their order I asked if I could introduce the kids, after our meals. They thought that was a great idea and offered to bring them over.

Berta always has help in the kitchen on Friday nights, but the food was as excellent as always, and I even ventured from my comfort zone to try the chargrilled quail special. The kids shared an order of fajitas, and Kaitlyn tried the petite fillet mignon; we agreed that all were excellent.

Danny and Debra brought their kids by, and they soon ran off together to explore the cavernous cave, leaving us to chat. After only a few minutes, Debra and Kaitlyn discovered that they knew some of the same people from around Katy, making them BFFs for the night. Danny and I were talking about the chances for the Sul Ross Lobos football team next year when El Coyote came to the door of the side room and invited us to join them, now that the crowd had thinned.

Danny and Debra were anxious, never having been invited to the 'head table' before, but the characters were gentle in their harassment of the newcomers, so it went well.

Kaitlyn, on the other hand, caught hell. Willie was sitting there grinning, but Coyote smoothly told the tale.

"We heard you showed up without proper documentation, caused a bunch of heart attacks with the little barely-decent dress you wore, and then nearly bought out Mexico. Poor Captain Pablo told Willie you almost swamped his boat with all the loot, and your ex had to pay an exorbitant bribe to keep you from getting arrested."

Kaitlyn, normally right in the game, was thrown off for a moment.

"Actually, I think the immodest way she climbed out of the boat and the kiss she gave the immigration officer had more to do with her avoiding jail than the bribe. And the reason Pablo almost swamped the boat is that he was more focused on watching her expose those pretty legs than navigating the river," I added with a glance down at the long, golden legs extending out of the navy romper.

"Then again, Willie probably got a good look down the front of her off-shoulder dress, which is much like the romper she's wearing tonight. See what I mean; my offer of a free beer isn't much compared to Kaitlyn's assets."

Kaitlyn turned bright red, and the grins that had been growing during my soliloquy turned to guffaws. Regaining her self-assurance in the midst of the harassment, she affected a sultry look, rose and pivoted like a stripper doing a chair dance, and asked, "Oh, y'all come on! There's nothing about this 30-year-old mother of two that would excite a younger man like Willie-boy there. I'm sure he sees better than me every day!"

"Honey, you are the reason they invented the term MILF! In fact, your picture is beside the definition in Wikipedia," Toro assured her, and got unanimous consensus from not only our table but also those nearby; including the women.

"If old Sol doesn't get his head out of his ass and start taking care of you, just come on back here and you can have your pick, poor as the options may be!"

While all the BS was being thrown around and Kaitlyn's head was getting all swole up, Chaparral got up and went out on the veranda to take a phone call. He came back with a concerned look, gestured at me, and said, "Need to talk to you Rob. Let's go outside."

The table got deathly quiet. "Oh, shit!" Toro said quietly, and every man slid his beer to the middle of the table.

A very puzzled Kaitlyn asked, "What's wrong?"

Eyes locked on the conference outside, Toro answered, "Don't know, Hon, but Chap called your man Rob, and he doesn't call any us by our given names unless trouble is coming."

After receiving the news and giving the fates a good cussing, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and made a call I hoped never to make. "Remember the favor you owe me?"

"We're already mobilized. I got the word about an hour ago. So where do you want to do this?" Claude responded.

"I'm not sure, but I need to get my family to safety, so I might need help getting them out of here."

"Not unless you want them dead! The original contract was on them; you were added later. We don't have enough men to protect you and them if you're separated, so they need to stay with you."

"Fuck! I'll need details later, but for now, what's your preference?"

"The Mountain Lair; it's much easier to set up snipers and skirmish lines on the surrounding mountains, and it's damn near impossible for intruders to get in except on the road. Most importantly, you have the bunker where we can stash your family if they hit us by air or use artillery."

"By air? Artillery? Who the fuck are these guys?"

"We aren't sure, but we THINK it's a group of mercenaries rather than cartel soldiers, so who knows what armaments they have?"

"The news just keeps getting better! Do we have time to get there safely?"

"Based on our intercepts, that's uncertain. We believe there are two groups: a smaller group whose purpose may be to scout, with a larger group following. We're confident they're heading for Study Butte first, so send everyone home and have them spread the word. If the militia picks off a few, so much the better, but we don't want them getting killed.

Encourage everyone to protect themselves and each other but don't engage unnecessarily."

"Okay, Claude, we will be on the move in an hour. I'll alert the Jeff Davis sheriff..."

"Don't bother; I contacted the Brotherhood already, and he called me right away. Said he had some cool new toys he got from the military with grant money that he wants to try out. Anyway, get your pretty wife, your darlin' kids, and Duke, and get to the fortress. We'll be there when you arrive."

"You know she's not my wife! In fact, let me guess: she's the reason this shit is coming down, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is, but, my friend, say what you want, she IS your wife. You never stopped loving her, she learned the hard way that you are the only man she'll ever love, and went to find you, so it's time to get over your butt-hurt and take care of your family!

"We'll expect you in three or four hours, but keep me updated, and send me something when you pass Alpine so I can alert the team."

Every eye in the place was on me when I came back in, and everyone in La Kiva, including the kids, were standing around the table. "DefCon 1 -- Cocked Pistol! Don't know how many, but they are well armed and extremely dangerous. Chap, do you know more?"

"The Escamilla Cartel hired them, and Reynaldo is said to be with them. If that is true, they are very confident that they won't be caught. The contract is for four people. That is all I really know, but I'll echo that they are well armed and very dangerous. In my opinion, we need to flee if we can, and group up to protect each other and ourselves if we stay.

"Saguaro, what do you think?"

"Plan A! Get the hell out if you can; if you stay, group up at places as far away from Rob's as possible. This isn't an invasion; it's an attempted assassination, so even though he won't be there -- you are going to the mountains, aren't you?" I nodded.

"Good, so they will go to his house first and hopefully sustain some injuries there, and then go to Fort Davis. I'm sure that was Cla... Rob's friends he was talking to, so we should be well prepared when we get there.

What everyone else needs to do is stay safe!"

"We? Saguaro, you don't have to get involved..."

"Your friend is my half-brother, and we owe you everything, so, yes, I will be there. I'll be escorting you in my Hummer, just in case. By the way, my real name is Carl Thomson, I really am recently retired military, and I work for my brother. We can talk more about why I'm here when we get to the mountains, Rob.

"Now, not to be abrupt, but you guys need a quick war council, and then get with the plan. Berta, you and Rosa initiate the tree from here, and then head out. Text me when you get to Presidio, but don't mention where you are.

Any questions? No? Then let's get going. And stay safe." He and Rosa embraced and kissed, and then she and Berta went into the office.

"Sol, I'll meet you guys at the general store in an hour."

The group started to break up, but I stopped them: "They are in two groups, and there is a very good chance the smaller group is either already here or very near. They are after Kaitlyn, the kids, and me, so if you keep away from us and my place you should be okay. If you come upon them, just play dumb and say you don't know where we went after we ate supper together."

"Vayan con Dios, amigos!" Chaparral prayed, and then quietly told me, "No need to ask; it is started."

Kaitlyn hugged our two wide-eyed children to her hips and asked, "The contract is for four? Is it Robert? Why?"

"Yes, and I don't know. Let's get going."

***

Duke read the humans' vibes correctly; he led us to the Jeep and was on full alert as we drove through the desert to the house. We saw nothing, he sensed nothing, so I deactivated the sensors when we approached, and reactivated them as soon as we made it to the parking area behind the house.

I parked the Jeep in the garage, hurriedly opened the other garage door, and wheeled out the large drone stored there. Kaitlyn and the kids had started toward the house to grab their belongings, but paused when they saw what I was doing.

When the drone was in the middle of the parking area, I hurried them all into the house. They scurried about gathering their goodies while I activated the drone and flew it out over the desert and back along the road.

It hadn't flown much more than five miles when the thermal imaging cameras identified six small vehicles rushing single-file through the desert a half-mile west of the road. I circled it around and flew up behind then, keeping the drone high enough to avoid notice. Using the low-light cameras also installed, I could tell they were riding ATVs along the low, relatively flat land west of my road.

Dos, Grace, and Kaitlyn were standing behind me watching the control screen. "Do any of you know how to fly a drone?" I asked. As expected, both Grace and Dos did; surprisingly, Kaitlyn did too.

"Don't look surprised; both the kids had small drones, and I learned to fly them. I liked it so much I bought one of my own, and the kids will tell you I'm really good at flying it. Yours seem to operate just like ours, but it's bigger and has different cameras."

I handed the control to Kaitlyn, told her to keep it flying slowly above the red figures, and to let me know immediately if anyone veered away. Dos and Grace stood behind her watching the screen.

I opened the gunroom, accessed the laptop, and activated the booby traps along the southwestern property line. I got my sniper rifle and a BCM Recce-16 AR in case any got close.

"Duke: come with me!" I ordered as I started for the sliding door.

"Dad! They turned and are driving toward us!" Dos cried loudly.

I looked over their shoulders, and saw that they were approaching from the southwest, as I expected would happen. A granite ridge over 200 feet high and a quarter-mile wide runs from the base of my place to the west; a larger group with foot soldiers might be willing to try that approach, but not six people on ATVs. To the east, the land is rife with deep canyons, so approaching from the south via the road, or from the dessert to the southwest, are really the only options.

"Alright, send the drone back down the road to make sure no one else is coming, and then keep it flying above and slightly behind them. I'll be on the patio by the west wall with my sniper rifle. You're going to see some explosions, which will show up as red bursts. After that, a series of bright lights will come on; let me know if anyone makes it past the explosions and where they are!"

The kids were calm and focused; I couldn't tell if Kaitlyn was calm or comatose as she stood there holding the controller. "Are you okay?" I asked. She nodded, told me to keep everyone safe, and asked where I wanted her.

"Stay inside with Dos and Grace; if something unexpected happens, lock yourselves inside the weapons room and use the laptop to contact Saguaro through the app that looks like a mountain. He will come get you out."

"Be careful!" she commanded. I nodded and opened the sliding door; Duke and I stepped out, I closed it, and ran hunched over to the southwestern corner of the patio extension, near the grills. "Duke sit and be ready!" He sat beside me, ears perked, and ready to rumble.

I would be using the TrackingPoint Precision Weapons sniper rifle I bought after driving over to a ranch west of Mason, Texas, to watch the "Sniper Showdown" in 2015. Tara Kyle, the widow of 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle, used this rifle to outshoot the reigning NRA champion, who alternated between the M4A1, M110, and M2020 US military sniper rifles.

Ms. Kyle used the TrackingPoint M600, M800, and XS1 rifles, and she emerged the victor -- by a lot. She made ALL of her shots from combat positions: prone, kneeling, sitting, and from cover...as in every single shot -- 100 percent!

How did the NRA champ fare? He made 58.4 percent of the same shots.

Even more impressive, in the challenges where the shooters took on targets without a direct line of sight, while concealed from 'enemy fire', Kyle made 100 percent of the blind shots while Piatt did not make a single one.

That 'contest' sold me, and I bought one of their rifles as soon as they became available. Not bragging because it's obviously the rifle, but I can destroy a dime at a very long distance.

I could hear the muffled ATV engines now. The rifle was set up in a shooting slot, but I wasn't looking through the scope.

Kaitlyn spoke quietly from just behind me. "We came out side because we need to tell you what we see."

"Good point; we don't have communication devices, do we? Take a seat on the west side of the picnic table so you are out of the line of sight for a bullet but I can hear you."

Their being outside didn't please me, but they were right about being able to communicate, and they were as safe outside as inside; as long they stayed back and out of sight. The only remaining concern would be how they reacted to the explosions and rifle fire that was coming.

"Rob, they've slowed down and are moving toward the creek bed and road in a wide V formation."

KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!

Three quick explosions lit up the dark skies, and I expect they blinded anyone not killed in the explosion who ws wearing night-vision googles. I knew the riders must have been wearing night-vision goggles to be tearing through the desert like they had, so I figured they most likely had braked and were stationary while their eyes adjusted.

I watched for movement, looking over the rifle rather than through the scope, waiting for the next events. Ten seconds later, I took a breath and looked through the scope. Suddenly, a group of five spotlights came on, showing three overturned ATVs and three stopped with the driver still on the seat.

The scoped rifle picked up the one farther back; I pulled the trigger lightly, which caused the rifle to calibrate the distance and other critical conditions. When a green light appeared, I slowly put more pressure on the trigger until the rifle fired. The man fell off the ATV.

I retargeted on the other more-distant target; he took off his goggles, gunned the ATV, and started forward. The rifle fired, and he flew off the back of the ATV, which sputtered to a halt.

The closer target took to the ground, running and dodging desperately toward a low arroyo. He made it, and lay still on the bottom for a minute before pushing the barrel of his weapon over the bank and firing a wild burst at the house. Sparks flew on the rocks well below.

I waited for him to rise up and aim.