“What do you think?” Jackie muttered to Monroe.
“Oh, they’re definitely the guys,” Monroe informed her.
As they approached, the two men kept their eyes on Jackie and Monroe. They seemed almost as untrusting of them. There was a slightly tense moment with the looks they were receiving from the shifty men. Jackie and Monroe had to be cautious, considering everyone and their brother with a gun was looking to take a shot at Marco and anyone that got in their way.
“Are you Monroe?” the taller man asked in a gruff tone as his eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, I’m Monroe,” he replied, playing the tough guy act, and then indicated the old, beaten up jeep. “You have something for us?”
The taller man’s mood suddenly lightened as he nodded to the jeep then tossed Monroe the keys. “Sorry to hear about your truck and all your equipment being stolen,” he remarked, then opened the back of the jeep and nodded at the box of cameras and equipment. Both men seemed to relax, almost as if they felt the same nervousness about Jackie and Monroe. “This is the best we could do on such short notice. All digital cameras, but they’re just a little outdated. Got you some binoculars too.”
The shorter man seemed to take a liking to Jackie, checking her out with more than a passing interest, and then smiled. “We hooked you up with some camping supplies, too,” the shorter man reported more to Jackie.
Monroe checked out the cameras in the box and nodded his approval. “This will do,” he replied, then focused his attention on the two men. “You really saved us. When those guys stole our truck and all our equipment, we thought we’d have to scrap the entire project.”
The taller man shook his head in disgust. “I can’t believe anyone in these parts would do such a thing,” he remarked. “People don’t steal around here. Sure, kids might steal candy from the corner store, but we’ve never had problems with anyone stealing from campers before.”
“Well, there’s a first for everything,” Monroe informed him. “We had some pretty nice equipment. Probably someone from out of town. Any other campers around here that you know about?”
Both men shook their heads. “No, the woods pretty much belong to you,” the shorter man insisted. “Not too many hunters yet. Not for a few more weeks, at least. Well, we do have the occasional poacher, but the local boys usually deal with them.”
“Anything else we can do for you?” the taller man asked almost cheerfully.
Monroe considered the question then shook his head. “No, you’ve been more than helpful,” he replied. “You really saved our documentary with this; I mean that.”
“Anything for our friend, Gus,” the shorter man insisted. “He must be pretty good friends with your friend. Gus doesn’t trust many people. He’s one of those odd-ball loners. Likes to tinker with electronics and computerized gadgets. Great guy, though.”
“Yeah, sounds a lot like our friend,” Monroe replied while grinning.
“Anyway,” the taller man announced with a sigh. “You’ll find whatever food supplies you need at the store in town. Beth will take care of you. When you’re done with the jeep, just leave it here with the keys under the floor mat. We’ll collect it when we see it.”
“Thanks again,” Monroe announced.
Jackie and Monroe pretended to sort through the supplies in the back of the jeep while secretly watching the two men get into the truck and leave. Monroe finally shut the back and turned to face Jackie.
“Looks like the woods are pretty much ours,” Monroe insisted.
“Sounds like we may need to keep our eyes open for local good-old-boys scouting the woods for poachers, though,” she remarked.
“That’s why we have our cover,” he reminded her. “Nothing is more natural than a photographer in the woods.” He then nodded to the jeep. “Let’s check out town, scope out the area, and grab a few groceries.”
“Sounds like a small, hick town,” Jackie remarked. “They’re going to notice us.”
“We’ve already established our cover with our new friends there,” Monroe informed her. “And Othello’s friend, Gus, is very popular among the locals. Their distrust of strangers will work to our advantage.” He offered a mildly devious grin. “Anyone looking for Marco is going to really stick out. If any strangers are passing through, we’ll probably hear about it on our next grocery run.”
Jackie needed to have faith in Monroe. He wasn’t a conman like her brother, but he was a master at the con game. He knew a lot about blending in, going off-grid, and staying under the radar.
§
Detrick sat behind the wheel of the black blazer and stared out the windshield at the activity up ahead within the woods of the state game land. There was a fire truck, police cars with their lights flashing, and several ambulances. Bart sat in the back seat toward the middle, leaning his large forearms on the backs of both seats, and stared out the windshield as well. In the midst of the chaos of police, firemen, and ambulance crew, Carter spoke to one of the local police officers. Carter flashed a badge, and the men continued to talk.
“He gets a lot of mileage out of that fake badge,” Bart muttered from the back seat. He then indicated the incident. “Do you think it was them?”
Detrick snorted a laugh. “Two cars were reported stolen from the private airfield less than fifty miles from here after that same helicopter supposedly refueled,” he remarked. “Less than an hour later, there’s a report of explosions in the woods. There’s no doubt this was them.”
They watched as the officer led Carter to the sheet-covered bodies that had since been removed from the area containing the exploded vehicles. He pulled back the sheet revealing the slightly singed dead men. Carter shook his head, thanked the officer, and then headed back to the car beyond the police barricade. Carter nodded to the officers keeping people from entering the area and approached the blazer. He jumped into the passenger side with his colleagues.
“None of the dead men were Marco,” Carter informed them, “but plates from the exploded cars matched the two stolen cars from the airfield.”
“Who were the dead men?” Bart asked.
“That’s up to forensics to figure out,” Carter remarked. “Both had been shot then were partially burned postmortem in the fire.” He eyed both men. “They believe some sort of charge destroyed the cars.” He raised his brows. “They’re guessing the explosion was caused by something similar to a grenade.”
“A grenade?” Bart asked with some surprise. “Who goes around carrying grenades in their pockets?”
“People who shoot automatic weapons out of helicopters,” Detrick muttered.
“Half an hour before the helicopter landed to refuel at the private airfield, someone secured a rental car online,” Carter reminded them. “That has to be the car these guys were following. I have the make, model, and plates for that rental car. We’re looking for an older, brown SUV. Before the police start connecting the dots, we need to find that car and realize what they’re looking for. Judging by the tire tracks in the dirt, there had been a fourth vehicle as well that left in a hurry. It’s possible someone else may be currently tailing them.”
“Some heavy hitters are going to be looking for Marco,” Detrick remarked. “There’s going to be a lot of interested parties.”
“We’re going to need eyes in the backs of our heads,” Bart scoffed.
Detrick put the car into reverse and backed up several yards to the main road. He stopped short of the road and eyed Carter. “Which direction?”
Carter consulted his cell phone and GPS. “I doubt they’re heading back in the direction of the airfield,” he remarked. “There’s a larger town about twenty miles west of here. Let’s head that way. They have maybe half an hour head start on us.”
“How are we going to find them?” Bart asked as Detrick pulled onto the back road and started driving west. “With a half an hour head start, they could be almost anywhere by now.”
“I’ll call in the rental car make, model, and plat
es to Vincent,” Carter informed his teammates while removing his cell phone. “He has people everywhere. We have to hope that someone will report seeing that car.”
Chapter 29
Zack sat in the front passenger seat of Slade’s black sedan and periodically eyed the brown SUV, now driven by Slade and Nolte, tailing them through town. Zack groaned and didn’t even bother looking at Kirk behind the wheel.
“If I had been driving, they never would have found us,” Zack insisted with some irritation. “I can’t believe you haven’t shaken them yet.”
Kirk frowned his disapproval while watching the streets before him. “If I drive any faster, we’ll have the police on our tail as well,” he snapped back. “Considering the firepower you have in your ‘fun bag’, we’ll be thrown in jail for the rest of our lives.”
“No one told you to drive into the city in the first place,” Zack muttered in response.
“It’s not a city,” Kirk scoffed while turning angry. “This hick-burg barely constitutes a town.”
“We need to lose them long enough to ditch the car,” Zack remarked.
“Well, I’m open to suggestions,” Kirk snarled in response while slamming his palm on the steering wheel.
“I made a suggestion,” Zack snapped back. “I told you to let me drive.”
“I’ve driven with you before,” Kirk huffed under his breath. “I don’t care to repeat the experience.”
“I’m an amazing driver,” Zack corrected.
“Yeah, if we were taking the checkered flag at Talladega,” Kirk remarked.
Zack grinned at the comment, seeming pleased with the response.
“Just keep an eye out for someplace to ditch the car where we can blend in,” Kirk remarked.
Zack zeroed in on something then pointed as they passed. “Back there,” he announced. “I saw a sign for a flea market. There should be a lot of cars and people at a place like that. We’ll ditch the car and blend in with the crowd.”
“Okay, we’ll swing by the area first and stake it out, then lose the tail and double back,” Kirk replied.
They approached the large flea market parking area and looked around without appearing as if they were casing the place.
Kirk suddenly laughed and grinned his approval. “Oh, that is so ironic.”
“Could be fun,” Zack teased.
They continued past the large flea market and made their way through the small city. After doing another lap around some roads they had already traveled along a few minutes ago, they had gotten a feel for the area. It was time to lose the men following them.
Zack eagerly pulled his seatbelt tight. “Let’s take that checkered flag.”
Kirk grinned and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The black sedan they’d stolen from Slade picked up speed and then made a sudden sharp right onto a side street. The brown SUV sped up and attempted to follow them.
Kirk suddenly smiled. “I think the universe is smiling upon us,” he announced while slowing down.
Zack was mildly confused about why Kirk had slowed and then saw the police car sitting at the intersection. Kirk waited for the light to turn yellow before passing through. Once they were through the yellow light, Kirk made another sharp right and picked up speed. The car tailing them raced through the red light. The police car's red and blue lights came on, and the siren wailed as the police car chased after the men following Zack and Kirk. The brown SUV evaded the police car and attempted to lose it. Within the brown SUV, Slade clutched the strap above the passenger door and held onto the dashboard while glaring at Nolte, who tried to lose the pursuing police car.
“Are you out of your mind?” Slade demanded in anger. “You’re going to bring down the entire police department on top of us!”
“How many can there really be?” Nolte launched back without looking at him. “We’re driving a piece of shit car that doesn’t belong to us, and there are bullet holes in the back end. Once they see those bullet holes, they’re going to frisk us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to explain my freshly fired weapon to them.”
“And this is why I don’t partner up with other hired guns,” Slade snapped. “You take a bad situation and make it a thousand times worse.”
“Motherfucker, please,” Nolte cried out in anger, allowing his rage to control him. “Unless you want me to kick your ass out of a moving car, shut the fuck up and let me drive!”
Nolte looked like a demon-possessed as he swerved to miss another car and veered down a one-way road the wrong way. Slade seemed to be the only one who noticed it was a one-way street. He was about to comment but thought better of it. It was already too late. A moving truck was parked in the alley blocking the road. Nolte slammed on the brakes, bringing the SUV to a screeching stop. Slade placed his hand over his eyes and groaned. The police car pulled up behind them, and an officer jumped out of the car with his weapon aimed while using the door as a shield. Nolte stared into the side mirror and frowned while watching the officer. Slade still had his hand casually over his eyes in disgrace.
“How do you want to play this?” Nolte muttered while shooting looks between Slade’s profile and the side mirror.
Slade finally lowered his hand from his eyes and glared at Nolte. “I wanted you to pull over,” he launched back in anger. “A little late to ask me how I want to play it now.”
“I say we shoot our way out,” Nolte announced while reaching for his weapon in his shoulder holster.
“I think you’ll be dead before you even have a chance to aim your weapon,” Slade remarked.
“Two of us and only one of him,” he pointed out.
Slade rolled his eyes then glanced in his side mirror as well. His eyes suddenly narrowed at the officer who still hadn’t moved from his position behind the open car door. “What’s he waiting for?” he then asked.
“Backup, maybe,” Nolte replied.
“Something doesn’t seem right,” Slade muttered and continued to watch the stalemate behind them.
A black SUV pulled up alongside the alley. Carter and Bart got out and approached the officer crouched alongside his police cruiser. Slade and Nolte continued to watch the arriving strangers through the mirror.
“Who are these motherfuckers?” Nolte demanded, his fight reflexes again rising.
“Never seen them before,” Slade remarked.
Carter and Bart paused not far from the police officer, who briefly glanced at them.
“What do you want me to do?” the officer asked.
“We’ll take it from here,” Carter informed him. “You never saw us.”
The officer holstered his weapon, got back in the car, and backed out of the alley. Carter and Bart approached the brown SUV while removing their weapons. Slade and Nolte suddenly tensed.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Slade remarked as his eyes widened. “We need a plan fast.”
“Shoot the motherfuckers,” Nolte replied while sneering as he pulled his weapon.
“Solid plan,” Slade replied and removed his weapon from his shoulder holster as well.
Both men sprang from the SUV on either side with their weapons drawn. Bart and Carter darted behind the car with their own weapons raised. Despite that all four men had silencers on their semiautomatics, none seemed interested in firing. Nolte and Slade took the opportunity to dart in front of their car and kept their weapons aimed at the men concealed behind the SUV.
“We only want Marco,” Carter called out to them.
Slade and Nolte exchanged puzzled looks.
“So do we and about a hundred other people,” Slade called back. “What’s your point?”
“Hand him over,” Carter shouted back.
Slade and Nolte again exchanged looks then eyed the borrowed car. Both men came to the same conclusion and rolled their eyes.
“It’s their stolen car,” Slade moaned and indicated the SUV. “They tracked this piece of shit car looking for the guys who ambushed us.”
Nolte snorted a lau
gh then shook his head. He returned his attention to the two men at the rear of the SUV. “Sorry to disappoint you,” Nolte called out to them. “We don’t have Marco, but we did have an altercation with the men who do.”
Carter and Bart now exchanged baffled looks. “The car?” Carter demanded.
“Fuckers blew up my car,” Nolte shouted at them. “This was their piece of shit car. We were tailing them before your asses got involved and stopped us. Now, they could be anywhere!”
Carter and Bart groaned with irritation.
“Why don’t we make a deal?” Slade called out to them, attempting to keep the peace. “We could work together. Split the bounty four ways.”
“Not interested,” Carter called back. “Stay out of our way. We’ll leave you with a warning this time. Next time, you won’t be so lucky.”
Nolte eyed Slade alongside him. “Who does this bitch think he is?” he demanded.
“He obviously doesn’t know who we are,” Slade muttered, then eyed Nolte and raised a sharp brow. “Take my advice just this once and let them walk away. Too many witnesses nearby.”
Nolte frowned then looked back at the men hiding behind the rear of the car. “Fine,” he called out. “Leave us! Be on your way!”
Carter and Bart moved away from the rear of the car and backed down the alley while keeping their weapons aimed. When they nearly reached their black vehicle at the end of the alley, Carter shot out the brown SUV's rear tire. There was a loud pop, and the air expelled from the tire.
“Mother--” Nolte glared at Slade. “I should have shot the fuckers when I had the chance. Why did I listen to your ass?”
Carter and Bart jumped into the black SUV and drove away. Nolte and Slade straightened with scowls on their faces.
“I’ll get the jack from the trunk,” Slade muttered in defeat.
Chapter 30
Witness Protection 9: S.N.A.F.U. Page 22