Chapter 87

The ranch¹ was four to five hundred yards away. The terrain² in between was too open for us to sneak³ up on the complex. Was this where Jamilla had been murdered?
Kyle whispered/She might still be alive.’It was as if he was reading my thoughts. What else did he know? What was he hiding from me?  ‘I’ve been thinking about the brothers. They never had to be careful before, so they weren’t. The magicians were the careful ones.  They committed murders for almost a dozen years. Never got caught.  There’s no record that they were even suspected of any of the murders.’
‘You think the new Sire set up Daniel and Charles?’ ‘That’s part of it, I’ll bet. The brothers committed murders in towns where the magicians toured. The Sire wanted us to catch up with Daniel and Charles. It was a trap.’
‘Why kill them in New Orleans?’
‘Maybe because the brothers are psychopaths. Maybe they had orders to do what they did. We’ll have to ask the Sire.’ ‘They don’t think anyone can stop them. Well, they’re wrong about that,’ Kyle said. “They’re going to be stopped.’ Which was when we got a surprise. The front door of the ranch house opened. Several men in dark clothes hurried outside. The two brothers weren’t among them. The men hurried to a grassy⁴ area where pickup⁵ trucks and vans were parked in a ragged⁶ line. They started the vehicles, then drove them toward the front of the house.
Kyle was on his Handie-Talkie. He alerted the snipers waiting in the trees and rocks behind us. ‘Stand ready.’
‘Kyle, don’t forget Jamilla.’
He didn’t answer me.
The front door opened again. Shadowy figures began to move out of the house. They were clothed in hooded⁸ black gowns and they came in pairs.
One person in each pair held a handgun to the head of the other.
‘Oh shit/I whispered.’They know we’re here.’
There was no way to tell who anybody was, or if any of the robed figures were actually hostages. I tried to pick out Jamilla’s shape, her walk. Was she among them? Was she alive? My heart felt heavy in my chest. I couldn’t spot her from way up here.  ‘Everybody move. Now/’Kyle spoke⁹ into his radio.’Go. Go/’ The black-robed figures continued to move toward the waiting trucks and vans.
One of the hostages suddenly dropped to the ground - only one.
‘That’s her,’I called out.
‘Take out the one over her!’Kyle ordered.
A shot rang out from one of the snipers. A hooded figure slumped¹⁰ over in a heap. Blood was spattered all over his hood⁷.  We charged forward, running down the steep hill toward the ranch. Some of the hooded figures fired shots at us. No one was hit.  The FBI agents didn’t return fire.
Then gunfire rang out from the hills. Some of the robed figures dropped to the ground, dead or wounded. A few put their hands above their heads in surrender.
I kept my eyes fixed¹¹ on one robed figure. She was up again, stumbling, almost falling. The hood was pulled back and I could clearly tell it was Jamilla. She stared up into the hills. She put her hands up high.
I started to sprint¹². I was looking for the brothers. And the Sire.  I moved toward Jamilla. She was massaging¹³ her wrist. She was also shivering and I gave her my jacket. ‘You okay?’ ‘Not sure. They hung me from a beam, Alex. What an unbelievable scene. You can’t imagine. I thought I was dead.’There were tears in her eyes.
‘Where’s the Sire?’! asked.
‘Maybe still inside. I think there’s another way out of there.’
‘Stay right here. I’ll take a look.’
She shook her head. ‘No, not on your life. This is payback. I’m coming with you.’

1 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

2 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

3 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

4 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

5 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

6 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

7 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

8 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

13 massaging   

按摩，推拿( massage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He watched the prisoner massaging his freed wrists. 他看着那个犯人不断揉搓着刚松开的两只手腕。
• Massaging your leg will ease the cramp. 推拿大腿可解除抽筋。