Secret Agent Under Fire

by Geri Krotow

  Abi couldn’t agree more. But she was still afraid, deep down, that Keith could change his mind. He was a firefighter and had always been able to put his job first. Was he really ready to commit to something more with her?

  * * *

  “This is all we need.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Colt stood next to Rio as they stared at the note from Claudia.

  Wise looks very frail. Stated that the time to impregnate the girls is very soon. They must have some kind of hideaway in the Appalachians. Abi may already be on it; did you send Keith with her? Will need other help to bring it all down. Also much talk about a final explosion, the holocaust of the unbelievers. I think it’s about TMI.

  Rio had picked up the note last night, basically forbidding his boss to do it. He knew if Colt got anywhere near the compound, he’d want to go in and get Claudia out.

  Rio was correct. It had all but killed Colt not to get the note himself.

  “Is there someone else you need to notify at Trail Hikers?” Rio was looking at him, and Colt knew that Rio saw into his soul. Colt was experiencing what Rio had—seeing the woman he loved at risk of losing her life over some crazy cult’s doings.

  “I have the contacts to call, and I’ll get on that. The FBI needs to know about this, too.”

  “We can tell the agent who’s due to report here within the hour.” Rio stared at Claudia’s note.

  “No, that’s too late. They need to know we’re in need of more bodies on the ground. As soon as Abi finds their hideout, we’re going to take it down.” Colt’s phone buzzed. “Hang on.”

  “Colt Todd.”

  “Chief Todd, this is FBI agent Andrea Locklear. I’m still about twenty minutes out, but I have to share some recent information with you. If you haven’t heard already, we’ve made a connection between the True Believers, aka New Thought, cult and the Army War College.”

  “We know about the DOD employee Taylor, Agent.” Really, the Feds were implying this was news?

  “No, sir, it’s not about that. It’s deeper—Mr. Taylor unwittingly gave out information to two international students who are, in actuality, terrorists. They’ve been absent from class for the past week and we think they’re working to bring down Three Mile Island with a cyber attack, along with the other international terrorists who went missing when they came into the country. We’ve finally connected all the dots.”

  Colt held up his hand to Rio as he listened. “I’m going to put you on speaker, Agent Locklear. Can you please repeat what you just said?”

  Colt watched Rio’s face reflect everything he was feeling. Anger, shock, resolve.

  “The governor would normally call in the National Guard for a physical threat against TMI, but with the sensitivity of the systems being breached, we’d prefer to have this handled at the lowest level possible, with no media involvement. We’re counting on Silver Valley PD and all the surrounding police departments to provide perimeter security while we at my agency bring in the bad guys.”

  “I understand, Agent Locklear, but you understand this. I’ve got God knows how many underage girls only hours from being raped by a cult leader and his fanatic followers. My people are on the ground looking for where the crime is expected to occur. I can’t do anything until they move the girls and try to harm them. But when they do, this entire cult will come down.”

  “Roger that, Chief, but we’ve got bigger problems with the terrorists and cyber, and possible physical, attack on TMI.”

  “Roger this, Agent Locklear, that’s your problem. TMI is a federal facility. I will not, repeat not, have my officers taken off the cult case for this. If it’s a cyber attack, there’s nothing we can do about it anyway, except clear local civilians of the area.”

  God, he’d already lived through this once, as a young boy back in the seventies when Three Mile Island had come close to a disaster. Not that it mattered.

  For Claudia he’d go to hell and back.

  * * *

  Snuggled in the small tent with Keith, it felt more like a lovers’ getaway than a stakeout. Abi ignored the guilt that preyed on her overachieving workaholic self with this realization.

  “Relax. We’re out of here in two seconds if we hear anything.”

  “Hmm.” She nestled her bottom against his pelvis and felt his erection through their cargo pants. They’d remained dressed for expediency. “I feel like a couple of teenagers who sneaked away from their parents.”

  “Except we’re allowed to do whatever we want.” He nuzzled her neck.

  “Keith.” She wriggled onto her stomach and faced him. It was pitch-dark save for a sliver of moonlight at the far corner of the tent, across their feet.

  “What?” His voice and his touch were all she had to go on. But she imagined his eyes, liquid heat for her.

  “I’ve never wanted to blow off an op as badly as I do this one.” She kissed him. Her aim was off in the dark and she hit the side of his mouth first, but then his tongue sought hers and the kiss deepened. Their pelvises were up against one another and his erection made her mad. She needed to please him, but not now, not here. When Keith stroked her breast she groaned as much from desire as regret. “We can’t do this now.”

  “I’m in love with you, Abi.”

  His declaration bolted through her.

  “I know. I mean, I’m falling in love with you, too.” It didn’t hurt to admit it or make her feel trapped. It was freeing to tell Keith how she felt. She laughed at the relief of it.

  “What’s so funny?” His hands were stroking her back, his nose bumping hers.

  “I’ve never felt so alive before. So happy.” He kissed the tears that tracked down her cheeks. Tears of joy.

  “It’s mutual, babe.” He took in a deep breath, then quickly expelled it. “Let’s get this wrapped up so that I can wrap you up in my arms without anything in our way.”

  “Roger that.” She pulled back. “No more distractions. I’m going to take a quick look.” She reached for her night-vision goggles.

  “Do you want to do shifts as I suggested earlier? So that we can each get some rest?”

  “I do, but not yet.” She unzipped the tent and hoped the insects had calmed down for the night. It helped that they hadn’t lit a fire and weren’t using any lights. A distant droning sound caught her attention, especially as it grew louder. “This might be what we’ve been waiting for.”

  Keith was next to her and they were crouching behind the bushes, searching for the source of the engine noise.

  Abi’s gut tightened as she spotted two vehicles, about a half mile away on the wide trail. “I’ve got two contacts, and they look a hell of a lot like ATVs.”

  “Yup, that’s what I think, too.”

  She stood and began to move. “You stay here. I’m going closer to see what we’ve got.”

  “I thought this was solely an info-gathering mission.” Keith’s voice had an edge of tension she understood. She felt it, too. If these were the cult members, they were past the point of trying to fake their way out of an arrest. Wise’s men were playing for keeps.

  “We need to confirm their identity if we can, and see where they go.” She prayed that whatever kind of bunker the cult had built up here in the mountains was very close. It would be impossible to follow the ATV vehicles for very long. A quarter mile, tops.

  As they sat under the bushes, the drones grew closer. Abi made out two people on each of the two ATVs. As they drew closer she saw what looked like weapons, automatic rifles, slung over their backs.

  “Right now, I really hate that Pennsylvania is open carry,” she whispered more to herself than to Keith.

  “I’ve seen guys carry their hunting rifles or a handgun in a holster every now and then. But not automatics.” He was looking through his NVGs and obviously knew his fir
earms.

  “We can’t go after them now.” She only had her handgun and a knife with her. Even with the element of surprise, taking out four men armed with AR-15s wasn’t her idea of good odds.

  “Were you really planning to?”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know—I was waiting to see what the situation was.”

  And now they knew. The cult was armed and dangerous. As Abi and Keith watched, the vehicles turned almost ninety degrees in front of them and stopped. From their perch, Abi and Keith were approximately thirty feet above the armed men.

  Incredulity hit Abi as the ground appeared to open up under the ATVs. The vehicles and their passengers sunk down as harsh light spilled out from what she could now see was an underground dugout of some sort. Two other men waited inside what looked like a garage and one was on some kind of control box.

  “I’ll be damned. Hydraulics.” She willed the faces to turn toward her, toward the lens of the video camera she was operating, to reveal their identity.

  “Yes, ma’am. The cult must take in a lot of money.” Keith’s voice sounded as stunned as she felt.

  “It makes sense with the connections Wise might have.”

  Keith looked at her in the predawn light. “What kinds of connections? Or can’t you tell me?”

  “Frankly, I don’t know, not for sure. We know that several of the cult members are affluent, or were, before they turned funds over to this new evolution of his cult, New Thought. And none of the crimes that have been committed over the past two years can be directly attributed to him in a court of law. Until now.”

  “Until now is right.” She heard Keith change position. “What do we do now, Abi?”

  “I keep taking photos, and shooting this video. We call it all in to Rio and the contact at Trail Hikers. Then we wait to see what Rio wants us to do.”

  * * *

  Rio and Colt watched the computer screen as Abi’s digital stream of video ran. Agent Locklear was with them.

  “Gentlemen, I’m going to have this sent to my headquarters. In the meantime, I need you to keep your people there as long as possible.”

  “Done.” Colt watched Rio make short work of texting Abi to stay put with Keith. He asked her how much time she had with their supplies and her reply was “as long as we need.”

  “Abi says they’re set to stay out there for the duration.”

  “I’m glad the reception is good on the AT, with the way it covers the higher elevations of our area. She cannot get caught.” Colt’s insides hadn’t untwisted from the knots they’d been in all night. “Claudia’s message is proof that they’re getting ready to move the girls, and it’s going to be soon.” He looked at Agent Locklear. “Can you get us backup ASAP?”

  She frowned. “Normally, yes, but we’ve got Three Mile Island to worry about.”

  “Right.” Colt looked at the computer screen, his mind suddenly alert and clear. He knew what had to be done, and if he had to be the one to do it, he would.

  Chapter 20

  After they sent the video to Rio, Keith and Abi watched the sun come up together. “What do you think Rio’s going to order next?” He spoke quietly, next to her ear.

  “I thought he was going to keep us out here, on lookout, but now I’m not so sure. If all hell is about to break loose with TMI, they’ll need us back there.”

  “I hope it’s not until you get what you want out here, Abi.”

  “Yeah, well, me too. But I go where the mission needs me.”

  That was what worried him most.

  Keith’s uneasiness amplified with each moment they waited near the site of the underground bunker. It was as if he had some kind of telepathic connection with Abi. He literally felt her concentration, her gears turning. Churning might be more like it.

  “What are we going to do, Abi?”

  She turned her liquid-brown eyes on him. One blink. She’d decided.

  “Wait—before you say anything—I support whatever you need to do. But I don’t want to see you put yourself at risk. Remember, ‘no heroics’?”

  She smiled. “Right.” She straightened. “We can’t go down there and hunt around—that’s too obvious, and I’m sure there are cameras, wire trips, motion detectors. We’re lucky they’re not up here. Our spot here is high enough to be out of their range of concern.”

  “With a contraption like that hydraulic lift, they’re thinking they have a pretty protected spot. If you weren’t the expert you are, no one would have found this.” Keith stared at the ground below, marveling at how, if he hadn’t seen the lift lower the ATVs into the man-made bunker, he wouldn’t have believed it.

  “They’re going to come back up—they have to. For whatever reason. Not to mention the cult members they’ll be bringing out here. This is the perfect spot to hide your flock if you’re a crazy cult leader and you believe it’s the end of the world.”

  “But what about their post-apocalyptic plans?”

  Abi smiled. “You know, you’d make a good intel analyst, Paruso. Yes, the post–Big Bang plans. They think they’re raising this new breed of believers, right? So of course there have to be underground bunkers. Do you know what this entrance we’ve found most likely leads to?”

  “Leads to? As in an underground hidden bunker isn’t enough?” He scanned the horizon. “There’s no mining in this county, no caves nearby. The only other structure near here is the quarry.” Realization squeezed his lungs like a tight, painful band. “The quarry, damn it.”

  Abi nodded.

  “They’re not coming back up here because they’ve found a way out through the quartz and limestone bedrock. I saw that there was an abandoned quarry not far from the trailer park compound, and it’s on the land Wise bought.” Abi spoke as if she was figuring it out aloud. “This is their secret-getaway-escape hatch, so to speak. The quarry has to be what—three hundred feet lower than this? At its rim? So they’ve used the natural limestone and quartz openings to make an underground road to the quarry, where they can bring in whatever size vehicle they want.” She paused. “If they can come and go either through here or there, we’re going to need backup at both places.” She looked at him. “How fast can I get to the quarry?”

  “We can get there in twenty-five minutes, thirty tops. If we run.”

  “Not ‘we,’ Keith. You have to go back in now. Your department needs you. I’m trained to do this, and Claudia will be coming in for backup.”

  “It’ll take too long for you to go on your own. Let me take you there.” He heard the pleading in his voice, felt how far his love for her had taken him. But it wasn’t to a low, groveling place. It was where he belonged. Where he wanted to be.

  “Only if you promise that you’ll leave right away and help with the TMI threat. It’s your one chance to prove that any accusations against you were false. Trust me on this, Keith.”

  She was right. And he wanted her to be in place in time, to do her job with the least chance of danger to her. Because he’d never be able to control Abi’s decisions. But he’d never be able to live without her, either. He knew that now.

  He looked at her, standing with the mountain rising behind her, the sun flashing off her eyes. Abi was a warrior, a woman, his love.

  “Follow me.”

  * * *

  Claudia stood in the group of women closer to her age, wanting to do anything else but this. The evening meal came and none too soon, as Claudia’s knuckles were raw from peeling potatoes.

  They were all taking turns serving dinner to the men of the flock as they filed by the large buffet set out at the back of the community room.

  “As soon as the brothers are served, we can eat.” Sister Mary spoke quietly, her eyes downcast. She placed her hand on her stomach.

  “Are those growls I’m hearing?”

  She
nodded. Claudia said nothing as another group of men arrived, all dusty and dirty from God knew what, for their plates of food. It was clear that this was a highly unusual event, to have the community get together on an occasion other than a regular sermon night.

  “You’re lucky those walls didn’t collapse on you, Brother Gregory.” One of the young men guffawed as the other’s face turned red.

  “If you would have told me that we weren’t going back the way we’d got in, I wouldn’t have gone so quick.”

  Claudia mentally reviewed everything Abi, as well as other analysts, had found out about the secret True Believer/New Thought hideaway. The last set of maps she’d looked at showed possibilities that were near a quarry. She’d consulted the top geologists in the country and discovered that it wouldn’t be inconceivable for a series of narrow underground caves to exist adjacent to the quarry. Several of the dig sites had been shut down for safety concerns, but that wouldn’t keep criminals from using them. And since Wise had one on his property, she had to believe it was for a purpose.

  “What are you looking at, Sister?” Another man had walked up to the table, and she recognized him as Brother Lionel. He had more bruises on his face and arms than she thought possible and still moved around with a sense of purpose. Ugly purpose.

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing what?”

  “Nothing, Brother Lionel.”

  “That’s right.” He looked around at the other women at the table. The remaining men scattered, taking their plates to eat in peace. Brother Lionel sneered. “Do you realize the glory we’re about to see realized? Brother Wise is leading us all to our salvation, and there’s no time, no room, for anyone to be concerning their selves with anything but the preparation. That means keeping the men fed and strong. And keep the younger women, the ones fit for birthing, healthy. Ya got it, Sister Claudia?”

  “Yes, Brother Lionel.” Claudia knew then that there was no viable plan for her, Sister Mary or the other “older” women. The men were going to protect themselves and the women who could bear the future children of the cult. She might not have time to get another note out for Rio and Colt to use, so she was needed to act quickly.