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.But regardless of Luis’ friendly demeanor, Marlin knew that a criminal was a criminal.You could never be sure of what he might do next.So Marlin had decided it was time to do something about their situation.A few hours ago, they had agreed to wait until Luis had gone to sleep—judging by when the campfire had burned down—and then put their plan into action.Catch him when he was groggy.Marlin stroked Becky's hair and his heart fluttered with mixed emotions…the thrill of having discovered this wonderful creature versus the fear of losing her.“I want to tell you again how sorry I am about all this.If I had had any idea…”“Hush,” she said, rolling onto her back, placing a finger on his lips.“It's not your fault.”He leaned down and they kissed.It was heaven—and he wondered if it would be the last time.Marlin slipped out from underneath Becky and peered through the slender crack around the door.“Looks like the fire is fading.” He tried to sound confident.He glanced at his watch.“Let's give it another half hour…till midnight.Then we'll get the hell outta here.”It was eleven-forty.Oscar and his men had driven aimlessly around the Central Texas countryside for more than five hours, making one stop for dinner at a barbecue joint outside of Fredericksburg.Now Oscar had heartburn to go along with his increasingly foul mood.Oscar was becoming more and more anxious as they approached the main entrance to the Circle S Ranch.He knew he had already wasted far too much time.The time to act had come.He would take what was his…and show no mercy to anyone who tried to stand in his way.The ranch gates were open and Julio pulled Oscar's rented Cadillac onto the dirt road.Even the suspension system of the big luxury car was not immune to the rugged terrain, and it bounced and rocked in the ruts of the road.Oscar cursed at Julio in Spanish, telling him to slow down.Julio simply stared at his dark form in the rearview mirror as he eased off the gas pedal.At a fork in the road, Julio turned toward the ranch house.“You fool!” Oscar barked.“We mus’ get Luis first.He is the bes’ marksman.Go to the cabin.” Julio swung off the road into some weeds and found his way onto the alternate path.Oscar knew this whole thing with tranquilizer darts would be frustrating and time-consuming.He had contemplated not even bothering with tranquilizers—just open fire with the deer rifles and a spotlight.But he simply couldn't risk that much noise, even with Swank's connections to the sheriff.They would need to use the tranquilizer gun and Luis was the best man for the job.“What about the game warden and the woman?” Tyler Jackson asked with interest.“Who's gonna watch ’em?” He had been hoping to draw a little guard duty himself.The woman was a knockout…all he had to do was tie the game warden up for a few minutes and…“We will do what must be done,” Oscar said sharply, as if he knew what Tyler was thinking.Oscar berated Julio again as the Cadillac bottomed out on limestone.The lesser-used road would be no problem for a truck or SUV, but it was slow progress in a car.“Que hora es?” Oscar asked to nobody in particular.Julio glanced at his watch.“Eleven-fifty.”PHIL COLBY, BREATHING heavily, watched the Cadillac's receding taillights from his hiding spot.He hadn't expected any traffic on the ranch at this hour, but he figured it could be a hunter arriving late.Not likely, though, the more he thought about it.Especially in a Cadillac.And now they weren't even going to the ranch house, they were changing course and taking the road that led down to the lower pasture by the river.He wished he could have seen inside the car, but it was too dark.If Marlin was actually being held captive somewhere on the ranch, Colby knew he still had the element of surprise on his side.The occupants of the Cadillac apparently had not spotted him hiding in the tall grass, and his truck was parked safely two hundred yards past the ranch entrance in Thomas Stovall's driveway.Under the cloak of darkness, Colby slowly approached the ranch house.As the guest house came into view, Colby saw twenty or thirty vehicles parked neatly along the driveway.So the hunters were all here, after all, ready for opening day.That made Colby somewhat anxious.Would Swank really invite the state's top power brokers to his ranch while he was holding a man hostage? That would be outrageous, even for Swank.The hunters would be swarming over every square inch of the ranch in the morning, and Swank was too smart to think that Marlin wouldn't be found.Colby's doubts started to get the best of him and he began to turn around.But, in his mind, he replayed Bobby Garza's message on Marlin's answering machine.He remembered Marlin's letter to the attorney general.And he pressed forward.Colby stopped a hundred yards away from the main house and listened.All was quiet.He could see the front wraparound porch of the guest house.It was unoccupied except for the moths flittering around the porch light.Colby felt safe moving among the trees around the house toward the barn.He knew that Swank owned no dogs.He also knew which floodlights, mounted on posts at random around the house, were triggered by motion, so he was able to carefully avoid them.The metal barn loomed in the darkness several hundred yards behind the house.Colby decided it was as good a place as any to look for Marlin.He followed the curving road to the barn, walking quietly in the limestone dust [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]