Dead Stop (Mackenzie August Mysteries Book 9) by Alan Lee

Author:Alan Lee [Lee, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-11T22:00:00+00:00

16

In the locomotive, I shrugged into my leather jacket. Manny’s jacket was lighter and really only useful for looking good, so he borrowed Abbott’s heavy snow parka.

The Zephyr had stopped at a cleared space where multiple tracks intersected. To our right, a spire of the Rocky Mountains rose into the white gloom. Ahead, lost in the downfall, was wide flat land, graded so switches could divert trains to different destinations all over the map. Our locomotive communicated remotely with the switches, but at the moment they were too frozen to obey.

The snow had slackened its nightmarish pace, enough that we could make out the proximate line of tracks curling to our left and the loom of nearby trees. But the switch itself, where Bob should be, was too far, hidden by falling snow. A strong wind was battering the train, barely noticeable inside, but it sent sheets of white billowing across the landscape.

Abbott alternated looking at his radio, set on the control stand, and at the guns Manny and I held. Although it wasn’t cold in the locomotive, or at least not very, he was shivering.

“I can’t believe,” he said and his teeth chattered. “I can’t believe you’re going out there with guns, ready to kill someone. Like this is a movie.”

Manny had an extra, his personal revolver. “You good with a pistol?”

“No,” said Abbott. “God no, I’ve never held one.”

Manny didn’t offer the revolver, which was the size of a small cannon. Dropped it back into his holster.

I checked my watch. It’d been ten minutes since Abbott may or may not have seen a second person outside.

“Don’t open this door,” I said, “unless it’s us. Anyone else, anyone, and you keep it locked.”

“How will I know it’s you?”

“I’ll use the secret phrase,” I said.

“Which is?”

“It’s Mackenzie and I’m freezing my ass off.”

Abbott tried to grin but it didn’t work.

“But, seriously,” he said. “What if you both get killed out there? What if Mr. Nash is dead and you’re dead, sir, and there’s a maniac asshole out there, and he tries to get in? We have no more protection and technically I’m in charge.”

Manny snorted. “Both us get killed."

“This thing go in reverse?” I said.

“The train? Yes sir.”

“Do that. Or hit the gas and go forward, even if that takes you to some destination unknown. Put distance between you and the maniac asshole.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” His face relaxed at having options.

“But, Abbott,” I said, “that won’t happen. Manny and I don’t get killed by maniac assholes. You’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? Because two of my friends are dead, and now maybe Mr. Nash too.”

Abbott made a solid point and I didn’t have a rebuttal, so instead I threw open the outer door. Manny and I jumped into the knee-high snow and I slammed it back.

The temperature, in the high teens, made itself apparent. Like needles poking my cheeks and lungs. Having spent my entire life in Virginia and southern California, I had no experience with blizzards. But I hated them.

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