On the far side of the camp, Joey Duk climbed out of his tent and bent into the wild rain to comply. He climbed over the rail of the pen and pushed through the kids. All of their collar ropes were bundled together in one central point, and that was wound around the trunk of a small tree, but the tree was whipping back and forth with each gust. Joey lashed the lines tighter and shifted the central line lower to make use of the thicker base of the tree.
Benny and Nix watched from thirty feet away. They were in shadows and hidden behind a cracked boulder. Benny pointed to the tent Joey had come out of. Every time the wind blew, the flap opened, and they could see part of Vin Trang’s face.
“That’s it,” Benny said in an urgent whisper. “That’s how we’re going to create part one of our diversion.” He quickly told Nix what he had in mind.
“How are you going to get past Vin?”
“I’ll think of something.”
“Okay, but we also have to get Charlie and the Hammer away from the pen,” said Nix, her mouth right against his ear, so that he could hear through the storm.
He nodded. The storm was complicating things. Half an hour ago most of the men were in their tents; now everybody was running around. He grumbled about it, but Nix shook her head. “Maybe Vin will come out of his tent too.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
“Where’s Lilah? Shouldn’t she be back by now?”
“Give her time,” said Benny, but in truth he was starting to worry. Lilah should have been back twenty minutes ago. He began to get a sinking feeling about whether she would be coming back at all.
The wind began to slacken, and they looked up to see that the dense black cloud cover was now a swirling gray blue.
“Oh come on, man,” Benny said despairingly. “Can you try and cut us one frigging break? I mean, really … just one?”
A fat raindrop splatted him right in the eye.
Just the one.
Benny quietly cursed as he wiped his eye clear. He and Nix turned and looked at the camp. The bounty hunters were laughing now, bending to pick up their scattered possessions, making rude jokes about Mother Nature. The kids in the pen cringed together. Benny leaned as far forward as he could, almost coming out of the shadows, trying to get a handle on their next move.
On the outside edge of the huddle, the oldest of them, a girl of about twelve, knelt with her arms around the shoulders of the smallest. Her face was streaked with tears, but she spoke soothing words to the others, keeping up a steady patter, reassuring them, calming them. Then she raised her head and looked straight into Benny’s eyes. From her kneeling position she had an angle between the rocks that the others in the camp did not have. Only she could see Benny as he crouched behind the cracked boulder. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something to the others, but Benny quickly put a finger to his lips and shook his head.
The girl closed her mouth. Benny held up a finger and mouthed the words: “Be ready!”
He could see her lips move as she read his words. She gave a quick nod, and then the girl did something that she probably never thought she’d do again in this life: She smiled.
A second later the rain began to fall.
Five seconds later the vault of the heavens opened up and dumped an ocean on the mountain.
“Perfect,” Benny said. He said it aloud, at normal level, but it didn’t matter. The rain was falling so hard that not even Nix heard him, and she was standing right next to him.
51
BENNY PULLED NIX CLOSER AND SPOKE QUICKLY IN HER EAR.
“We can’t wait any longer,” he yelled. “I don’t think Lilah’s coming back.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Okay … but she’s not here now, so we’re on our own. I have an idea. Here’s what I need you to do. …”
The rain was hard and steady, but the sky above was still not as dark as Benny would have liked. He had no idea how long this downpour would last. If it didn’t last until Lilah got here, then this was very likely going to be the shortest rescue attempt in history.
“Be careful!” Nix said.