Black and White by Dan Mahoney

Author:Dan Mahoney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 1999-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

The McKennas and Bynum took rooms for the night in a Super 8 motel in Apache Junction and all caught up on their sleep. After breakfast at Denny’s the next morning, the three were ready to get the light screen.

It wasn’t to be. By ten o’clock Big Ed had them in the helicopter once again approaching Superstition Mountain and McKenna had the harness on. But they were too late: It was gone.

Big Ed landed the helicopter alongside a dirt track a half mile from the spot where the light screen should have been. Even before he had finished shutting it down, the McKennas and Bynum were out and looking for tracks on the ATV rough road. It took them half a mile of walking and searching the ground in the hundred-degree heat to discover that there were none. Although the road had been used by the killers the night before and had almost certainly been used by other people in their ATVs in the past week, there were no tire tracks at all on the dirt road.

“They’re still thinking and being careful. They dragged something behind their vehicle to obliterate the tire tracks,” Bynum observed, stating the obvious.

Neither of the McKennas felt like answering as the three walked slowly back to the helicopter to rejoin Big Ed, each man silently mulling over the other implications made obvious by the absence of the light screen.

“Nothing?” Big Ed yelled as the three men shuffled up to the helicopter.

Silence gave Big Ed his answer, but he was ready to bounce back. He started by putting the obvious into words. “They were somewhere in the area yesterday and saw a police helicopter land at a spot they knew was real hot for them. Since our shenanigans yesterday were visible to anyone within ten miles of the mountain, that doesn’t make them geniuses.”

“No, it doesn’t make them geniuses,” Tommy agreed. “What it does make them is god-awful lucky murdering bastards. They’re killing people all over the country and they just happened to be here when we thought we were getting lucky.”

“It’s not that they’re so lucky,” McKenna countered. “Let’s face it. We figured Black lives here and it’s just our bad luck that one or both of them were around to see us yesterday. They must’ve whooped it up big time when they saw that we couldn’t get their light screen. Then they simply knew what they had to do and they did it, spent the night retrieving their long-lost property before we did. Left us all dumb and wondering if it still had their prints on it.”

“Prints, hell!” Bynum said. “By now I’m ready to swear that light screen had both of their names, their addresses, their phone numbers, and even their social security numbers embossed in gold on the frame.”

“We’re still not in bad shape, so let’s get back to basics and see what else this really tells us,” McKenna suggested.

No one objected, but Bynum and Tommy still looked unhappy. Big Ed had a straight face on, but McKenna thought there was a smile tugging at the corners his lips.

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