“I used him rather than waste him. I might have found you from the shot you took. You got lucky, McBride.”

“You’ll never leave here with your money. I’ll make sure it gets donated to charity. How about the Purple Heart Fund? You’ve got two of them, don’t you?”

“Cute, McBride.”

“Give my regards to Ernie when you see him in hell.” Nathan turned off his radio.

* * *

Fifty yards from Harv’s position, Nathan issued his signature warbling whistle. Harv returned it and he worked his way up to his partner’s hiding place.

“Damn, it’s good to see your sorry ass,” Harv said as Nathan crouched down beside him.

“Sorry I’m late, I had an argument with a local.”

“I heard your exchange with Leonard. A mountain lion?”

“Tell you about it later.”

“Is Grangeland alive?” Harv asked.

“Yeah. I saw her moving. There’s no way to know the extent of her wound.”

“Shit.”

“We can’t let her die, Harv. Getting Leonard isn’t worth her life.”

“Yeah, but she might die anyway. Or he might go ahead and kill her. He served up his own brother on a silver platter.”

“Here’s the plan. I’ll create a distraction down here and bring Leonard to my position while you work your way back to Grangeland and fly her out of here. He can’t be in two places at once. If he’s on this end of the canyon, he can’t be watching the chopper.”

“I can’t leave you out here alone. And I’ve never flown that thing solo.”

“Harv, I have to kill him. He’s still got a lot of Semtex. We can’t risk him coming after us, or worse, coming after your family. You know that. You’ve got dozens of takeoffs and landings under your belt. You’re ready. Use the checklist for startup. Get her light on the skids before you lift off. You can do it.”

“It feels like I’m abandoning you. You’re bleeding bad.”

“You’re saving Grangeland’s life. I’ll be okay. Leonard doesn’t stand a chance against me. He has to die, Harv. For your family’s sake.”

“Promise me you won’t follow me up that canyon and cover my ass at your own expense again.”

“I promise.”

“Here, take four of my Sig mags. I won’t need them and you just might.”

Nathan stuffed them into his pockets. “Better give me the spool of fishing line from your backpack and your Predator knife too.”

Harv turned around so Nathan could dig the spool out. Harv then bent down and removed his ankle sheath and handed it to Nathan. Nathan strapped it onto his good left ankle.

“How long do you need before I call in the cavalry?” Harv asked

“Give me two hours from the time you turn the ignition. Worry about Grangeland, not me.”