Primal Threat Read Online Free PDF Page A

didn’t want to hike for five or six hours. Harry had blown his stack, but Vivian defended Scooter the way she always did, and then a few years later Harry was history like all the others.
    They drove through a narrow valley, houses in the trees off to their right, then after a mile or so headed up a short but very steep hill. First in line was Kasey’s Cayenne. Next came Roger in his Land Rover and Ryan in his Jeep. Then Chuck’s Ford truck, outfitted for the backcountry, the body of the truck jacked up so high that Chuck had been lifting Jennifer in and out of the cab all day. His dog Dozer and most of their gear were in the bed.
    Just at the point where the pavement gave way to a steep gravel road, they found their pathway barred by a steel gate, beside the gate a potbellied security guard in glasses, a cap, and a dark green uniform with sweat stains under the armpits and around the belt line. On the hood of his dust-covered vehicle sat a large jug and a cup.
    “There’s no way this is going to work,” Kasey said to Scooter as they slowed.
    “Bet you a hundred bucks.”
    “You’re on.”
    “You boys are going to have to turn around!” The security guard wasn’t much older than they were, midtwenties, full of fake bravado, swaggering over to the passenger’s window Scooter had rolled down. “These woods are closed until further notice. We’re not allowing any parties up in there.”
    “I appreciate that, sir,” Scooter said. “But we’ve got a friend up there.”
    “When he comes on down, I’ll tell him you were looking for him. Or you’re welcome to wait.”
    “You don’t understand. My friend’s Bronco is broken down.” Scooter had deliberately chosen his imaginary vehicle to match the security guard’s. “He and his girlfriend have been waiting for hours. He’s sick.”
    “It’s only three or four miles up the road,” Kasey said, leaning over and smiling at the guard. “We’ve been talking to him all the way from Bellevue. He busted his crankcase on a rock. He’s maybe three miles in. I don’t think he has anything to drink.”
    “We’ve gotta get him out,” said Scooter.
    “He really
is
sick,” Kasey added.
    Scooter could tell from the guard’s face that whoever had hired him had not prepared him for this contingency. “Here. I can get him on the phone.”
    “I can’t really—”
    “Here,” Scooter said, pushing the buttons on his cell phone. “Jack? Are you there? Jack? Jenny? Where’s Jack? What?” Scooter glanced across at the guard as he spoke. “I’m afraid I’ve got bad news. You’re going to have to walk out…I can’t help it. There’s a guard here who won’t let us in. Well…I’ll let you talk to him.”
    Scooter could hear Jennifer’s voice over the cell phone pleading, explaining that her boyfriend had diabetes and was beginning to lose consciousness—that they had no water and had been stranded for hours and she thought her boyfriend was going to die. If he didn’t let her friends in, the guard was headed for a huge lawsuit. Couldn’t he please let her friends come get them? They would be in and out in ten minutes.
    Wordlessly, the guard handed the phone back to Scooter, then walked over to the steel gate and swung it out of their way. Kasey fired up the Porsche SUV, and the four trucks wended their way up the washboard hill. A minute later Scooter’s cell rang. “Did I do good or what?” Jennifer asked.
    “Oscar time, Jenn.” Scooter could hear the two brothers, Fred and Chuck, laughing in the background. Soon all four vehicles were racing along the deserted county road.
    Scooter clapped his phone shut and said, “That was beautiful.”
    “Hang on. They’re right up here.”
    “The cyclists? Already?”
    “There’s a bunch of ’em. I thought there were just going to be two.”
    “Nadine said eight or something like that.”
    “I see five. Hang on. We’ll smother those fuckers in dust.”
    “Yee haw!” Scooter shrieked as they