Free Walking in the Rain: Surviving the Fall by William Allen Page B

there’s just no law enforcement past this point.”
    “Yes sir, Deputy.  And thank you for doing this.  I know trying to keep all of us safe is keeping you from your family.”
    Ruth’s kind words seem to strike a chord with the deputy as he murmured “you’re welcome” and waved for the others to clear the barricade for our vehicle.
    As we were headed on down the road once again, Amy piped up from the back seat.
    “Well, that went better than I expected.”
    “I don’t know,” Stan responded, “the deputy seemed legit but I caught one of the other guards eyeballing this truck pretty close.  And he didn’t look happy.”
    I’d missed that, but Stan was almost certainly right.  Even though we’d just met today, the guy continued to impress me with his brains and cool demeanor.  If his observation proved out, then the bandits had somehow infiltrated the deputies with spotters.  Pick out the best targets, and steer their crews in for the kill.  
    “I wonder if their spotter back there has a working radio?  Or access to one?”  I said, knowing we had found nothing like that in this truck.  There was an under dash mount for a CB, but the radio itself was long gone judging from the rust I noted on the connecting arm bolts.  Well, not the rust itself but that the rust was undisturbed.
    “Don’t know, but I guess we need to proceed like he does,” Ruth said, impressing me with her calm yet determined tone.
    “Yes, ma’am.  Let’s get back on watch,” I said, and turned my full attention back to watching my part of the perimeter.  Again, I thought about how mind numbing this exercise turned out to be.  After about ten minutes of this, I heard Ruth make a small gasp.  When I glanced over I saw her eyes fixed on the rear view mirror, not the road.
    “There’s someone back there, following.  I think.  I keep catching a flash of light, like sunlight reflecting off the windshield.”  She spoke precisely, like her report might be doubted by the rest of us.  With the winding nature of this little two lane road, I was surprised she could see anything back there until they were on top of us.
    “Honey, can you tell if they are gaining on us or just sitting tight?”  Stan responded quickly, glancing back over his shoulder as he spoke.  “They might just be going the same way we are, and not be a threat.”
    Ruth said she couldn’t tell, and she looked over at me for some reason.  Advice?  Reassurance?  I wasn’t good enough at reading her expressions yet to say for sure.
    “Well, we treat them a possible threat until they show different.  Ruth, you know this road pretty good, right?  Go this way to visit your family?” I asked quickly.
    “Yes, this is the back way to Siloam Springs but it is nearly a straight shot.  We used to go this way to go see my folks.”
    “Okay.  How far is it to the next big turn?  You know a spot where you have to slow way down to navigate the bend in the road?”
    I saw Ruth glance around, getting her bearings no doubt, before she responded.
    “There’s a turn coming up, just over this next hill, but it’s not that tight of an angle, though.  I think the speed limit only goes down to 35 miles per hour.  There’s another one, like what you mentioned, but that’s maybe six, seven miles further down the road.”
    I weighed the options while thinking out loud.  My plan was pretty basic, of course.  I was no military genius, but this would be a bushwhacking, pure and simple.  Stan saw where I was going immediately and volunteered to help, sprained ankle and all.  Ruth wanted to protest but I quietly overrode her objections, playing the ultimate trump card.
    “Ruth, Stan just wanted to make sure you and the baby get through this.  He’s worried, we are all worried, about what these men intend.  I think between the two of us, Stan and I got a look at every man visible back at that roadblock.  If any of these folks behind us were there, well,