Before I Wake

by Dee Henderson

  His pager went off.

  “Leave it low, or I’ll be pulling the plug permanently. Understood?”

  Greg didn’t answer him, but at least he didn’t flagrantly flip the volume dial back up as Nathan stepped away.

  Nathan walked away from the union line, read off the number on the urgent page, and called back on a secure channel. “Go ahead, Will.”

  He heard the sound that was someone throwing up.

  “Will?”

  “Sorry. Can’t believe what I just walked into. I was trailing a bleeding deer Taylor clipped on the highway and got more than I bargained for.”

  He coughed again and then his voice came back stronger. “It looks like I found our clandestine drug lab, Nathan. There’s a kid out there, dead in the snow, about ten feet from the front door of the cabin.”

  “Where?”

  “Peterson’s former place, that hunting shack he built when he got out of the service. We’ll need the HazMat team out here. This kid made a mistake and got himself killed. No telling what is left half made inside.”

  “A young kid—a meth lab or something more upscale?”

  “I’m guessing he’s sixteen. But he’s probably not working this place alone. I’ve got lots of vehicle tracks in and out of here since the snow began to pack on the ground last month. A glance through the cabin door confirmed no more bodies, and that’s as far as I went. It’s a lot more than a hot plate inside. I’ve backed off.”

  “I’m on the way. I’ll bring the guys we need to work the scene. Keep it quiet, Will. We need to use whatever we can find at that scene to our advantage before word gets out we found it.”

  “Agreed.”

  * * *

  Nathan felt a bit sick at the turn this day had taken. He’d been waiting for a break in the case, but he had never wanted this. Not a dead kid. He watched the best trained HazMat person the county had suit up in protective gear. The former cop now worked full-time with the fire department.

  “Let’s get a good half mile around this place cordoned off so we don’t get downwind deaths. Whatever this concoction is, we know it kills fast and easy,” Charles said.

  “We’ve already got roads blocked,” Nathan assured him. “We’re calling it a gas truck accident scene on an icy road. That will work for a couple hours.”

  “Good. You think this might be your designer drug guy’s place?”

  “It’s probably just the meth lab the county task force has been hearing rumors about, but I want to know if it looks like more than that inside. If this is our guy, he was probably here when this accident happened, he’s already running, and we’ve got to get on his trail in the next couple hours if we are going to have any hope of catching him.”

  “I can understand the need for speed.” Charles checked his breathing apparatus. He wouldn’t be breathing the air inside that cabin until he knew what was floating around.

  “You and Will, get suited up. The van has more protective suits. If it looks safe enough I can point you where to stand and what to touch; I’ll get you a look inside before we start neutralizing the place.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How do you want to handle the body?”

  Nathan hated this part of the job. “It doesn’t make sense to put guys in danger documenting the scene and preparing the body to be moved until the cabin is dealt with. If you can clear Will and I to come up to the cabin, we’ll bring a tarp with us to cover the body. If it’s not safe to move him until tomorrow, that’s the reality we live with. If we can find any ID on him or take his fingerprints, we’ll let that be enough for now.”

  “As awful as that is on the deceased, it’s the right answer. The danger is going to come not only from what he was working with and left half created in there, but the cleanup we try to do. If we pick up the wrong bottle or make the wrong assumption about what is in a pot, the place could explode around us. I’d rather not have cops working a few feet from the cabin door if something like that goes wrong.”

  “You don’t work a simple job.”

  Charles gave a grimace. “Some of the stuff you find in these labs—it’s a wonder more don’t explode under their own fumes.”

  He finished his preparations, put the digital camera he would use into his front pocket, and then tested his radio. “Find somewhere comfortable to sit. I’ll be a while.”

  Nathan watched as the man began the long walk toward the cabin down the snowy path of a road, a solitary man in a gray body suit, the breathing mask being slid on a good fifty yards before he reached the cabin.

  “This way, officers.” Charles’s chief assistant pointed them toward the van.

  “Will, are you up for this?” Nathan asked.

  “I’ve done my throwing up for this case. I’m good for this. Besides, who else do you want to volunteer for it?”

  “True. Noland would say yes.”

  “He needs some more real-life training in caution first. You get blown up as sheriff, I end up being promoted into your job. Given that thought, I’d rather be beside you when the tragedy happens.”

  Nathan smiled but understood. “I appreciate you watching my back. I always have.”

  “Someone’s got to. This is going to be our guy, Nathan. I can feel it in my bones.”

  “I hope you’re right. We’re going to get the guy one way or another. Doing it today would be particularly sweet.”

  The suit was hot and uncomfortable and Nathan figured out after the first quarter hour that the only comfortable way to survive in one was to lean against the van and let the weight of the suit sag into his boots. He patiently waited, hearing a few occasional words over the radio from Charles to his assistant about neutralizing agents he needed assembled from the stock in the van.

  Several officers on the perimeter of this, more officers sitting on the tile plant, and Nathan knew he was now totally at capacity. The next shoe that dropped anywhere in Justice and he was calling Luke to send his officers and the state guys to send theirs. They were finally at the line it was no long something to consider, but something he would have to do.

  He wondered how long it would be before Bruce or Rae heard the news about this lab. Not long, he thought. Rae had about been victim four. She had a right to know this place had been found.

  Charles reappeared through the cabin door and walked down the road toward them, removing his breathing apparatus as he walked. His chief assistant moved to take the air canister the man carried.

  Nathan moved to meet him, and Will joined them. “Charles?”

  “It’s no meth lab I’ve ever seen. There’s some serious chemical work going on in there.”

  “How dangerous?”

  “No active heat sources, no open chemicals exposed to the air. Someone else was with the kid and shut this place down.”

  “He cleared out stuff?”

  “I don’t think so. There’s no obvious places on the tables or shelves where things look missing. They just shut down explosive sources and walked away from the body hoping the place would probably sit out here undiscovered for a few weeks.”

  “It probably would have, if it weren’t for a bleeding deer,” Will remarked.

  “Did you ever find it to put it down?” Charles asked.

  “No.”

  “It’s a shame about that.” Charles used a towel to wipe sweat off his face. “Let’s the three of us take that tarp and go up to the cabin. I’ll get you a look inside. It’s safe enough we can go inside without the air masks. But based on what I’ve seen, we’re going to be lucky to get the chemicals moved out of that place by nightfall. There’s no way the coroner can be up there today.”

  “Would it help to have other HazMat teams come in to assist?”

  “It’s tight in there to walk around. One guy inside, one at the doorway, and three guys walking stuff back and forth to the disposal van is about the max we want to try. Slow means safe; no use hurrying our way into trouble.

  “We’ll be able to move the van in to abo
ut that old oak tree, but it’s still going to be a lot of careful carrying. And for many of the liquids I saw, we’ll have to stop and do a complete contained burn in the chamber before we move on to the next item. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if it can even safely be cleared in a couple days.”

  Nathan looked around the place they were currently parked. “We can create a staging site right here, and get set up for a couple days stay.”

  “Good.” Charles gestured to the path he had walked in the snow. “Let’s go see if we can find something you can use to identify your guy.”

  * * *

  Will found a wallet on the boy and opened it, then nodded to Nathan. They had an ID to work with. They set the tarp across the body and used some fallen branches to create a weight against any wind gusts. It wouldn’t protect from bugs and small animals but it was what was possible.

  Charles used the broom he had carried with him to gently clear the steps he had walked earlier. “I don’t need to tell you to watch your footing. Stay behind me and in the same path I walk. I’m going to circle the room and point out some things I’ve noticed as well as give you time to study the room. We’ll go slow.

  “Note what you want collected, and let me be the only one reaching for items. Sometimes perspectives are different looking at something from the side versus direct on. I don’t want wires, items leaning against something, or other unintended surprises catching us off guard. Only one of us reaching for items ensures at least two of us are studying what is going to be moved before it is touched. I know you’ll need items handled to not disturb print recovery.”

  “Understood,” Nathan said.

  Will nodded.

  Charles laid down the broom so it couldn’t fall, slowly pushed open the cabin door, and led the way inside.

  * * *

  Bruce parked behind Nathan’s squad car. “Rae, stay in the car. You don’t have the energy yet to be traipsing out in the woods in the snow getting yourself frozen. The entire area is cordoned off; you won’t get a look at the lab even if you tried to get back there.”

  She pushed her coat around and retrieved her earmuffs from a pocket. “You’re beginning to sound less like a partner and more like a mother. I’m coming along to at least talk with the cop that just got transferred over to the county’s narcotics task force, Noland Reed. He hasn’t started work there yet, but he has been interested in this case and asking me questions about Peggy so he had to look into the matter more once he’s over there. Besides, Bruce, I’m going to be so bundled up I’ll be sweating anyway.”

  “He’s not going to be able to tell us anything useful.” Bruce waited for her to come around the car. “I should have just not called you.”

  “Right. And you would be missing one partner if you had gotten news like this and not called me.” She slid her hand comfortably under his arm. “I’m good.”

  They headed past vehicles toward the cops ahead.

  “Sillman.” Rae tugged Bruce’s arm and pointed. “Let’s go talk to Sillman first.”

  “You sure?”

  She nodded.

  Bruce changed directions.

  “Is it our guy?” Rae asked as they got close enough to be comfortably heard.

  Sillman smiled. “I figured you would be taking it pretty personal about now. Nathan and Will went up to the cabin with the lead HazMat guy about twenty minutes ago. There’s no word yet on what they’ve found.”

  “I hope this is the place.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up too high. It’s probably just the meth lab we’ve been looking for. But Nathan did look hopeful.”

  “We’d like to stay.”

  Sillman shrugged. “Suit yourself. We’re going to be staging from here. Food and warmth and hot coffee for the guys are at the top of my work list right now. But if you stay and talk to a reporter, I’ll make your life miserable for the next year.”

  Rae smiled. “I do like you more all the time, Sillman. There’s a Gage Collier likely to show up when this hits the rumor mill in town.”

  “As reporters go, he’s tolerable. He’s in town?”

  Rae nodded.

  “Figures.” Sillman looked around and pointed. “You might want to move the car back that direction and park so you’re facing back to town. We’ll be crowded here soon.”

  Bruce pulled out his keys. “Thanks.”

  “If you weren’t here where I could see you, I’d just be wondering where you were and what you were getting into. And it’s too bloody cold today to be wondering about much of anything.”

  Bruce laughed. “I hear you.” He pointed at Rae. “Watch her for me. She’s being particularly pushy today.”

  “My pleasure.” Sillman pointed to a truck. “That one is mine; you’ll find a coffee thermos in the backseat if you’re interested. Once it goes cold, no one is going to want to touch it, so help yourself.”

  “Thanks.” Rae headed toward it.

  * * *

  Nathan felt more claustrophobic than he had expected as he tried to walk in the cabin in the confining protective suit without brushing against anything. It was a crowded cabin with only a narrow walkway around the table in the center of the room; the walls had been filled in with built-in workbenches and counters and shelves. What had once been room for furniture had been gutted out and made a work area.

  “There’s a notebook open on the table.” Will pointed.

  “I see it. And more notebooks on the shelf.” Nathan counted and saw eight composition books.

  “You want them?” Charles asked.

  There was only so much they would be able to carry out of here on what might be their only trip inside for a while—Nathan nodded and Charles carefully took the books off the shelf and handed them back to be slid into plastic sleeves.

  Nathan tried to absorb what he was seeing. The number of jars, bottles, canisters, and small bowls across the tables bothered him. The stove top had been well used, pans stacked on the counter beside it. The sink had a brownish stain going deep into the porcelain. He was surprised there was no obvious smell.

  “There, on the counter under that window. There’s a BlackBerry—it looks out of place with the rest of this. Peggy Worth’s BlackBerry maybe?”

  “That would fit.” Nathan pointed it out for Charles to retrieve for them.

  “The lack of electronics is probably deliberate—even a power source warming up in a PC would be enough to explode some of the more volatile fumes if they were not careful about how they ventilated this place. Beside the fact you wouldn’t want the sound of a radio or computer game traveling on cold night air and advertising your presence,” Charles noted. “I’m seeing only the most rudimentary safety precautions have been taken in here. There’s not even a fume hood. Our guy looks to have some chemistry sophistication but not much in basic laboratory work.”

  “Two or three people were working in here,” Nathan guessed.

  Charles nodded. “Probably one person supervising a couple of others. I’m seeing a lot of transition type work—heating, cooling, crushing, sifting—and it’s getting down to some pretty precise measurements. That digital scale—you’re talking precision on small weights to a thousandth of a milligram—it’s an unwelcome accuracy in all but the most pristine environments. In this place it’s way out of place.

  “He spent five figures on the scale and didn’t spend fifty dollars on some PVC pipe and a sheet of aluminum pounded into a fume hood. He cares about being very precise, but he’s also very narrowly focused. This is probably not a guy that got his hands dirty in shop class.”

  “Any idea what the final product was?”

  “About the only thing I can tell you is it likely left here in powder form. If it were leaving as a liquid, I think I’d be seeing a box of new vials to transport it in—something equally as pristine as he was trying for in his weighing. And I don’t see the press I would expect to see for a tablet or pill final staging work.”

  “A powder is the most versatile.
”

  Will carefully knelt where he stood to look under the table. “These are tile- plant cans, Nathan.” He pointed under the workbench. “And those are tile- plant boxes. Someone who works for the tile plant is our cook?”

  Without touching it, Nathan studied the contents of the one open can near him, careful to not lean over it and peer down, but look in at an angle. He read the label on the can. “Definitely not gravel, pea-size grade. Do these look like precursor chemicals to you?”

  Charles looked. He nodded. “The coffee filters being used to stack the powder—that’s common for the more pure stuff being sold by weight. Whatever is in that particular can probably has a street price of five figures or more.”

  “They were using the tile plant to get the raw ingredients they needed shipped in and out,” Will speculated.

  “Or the discarded cans in the plant’s Dumpster came in handy as they needed storage,” Nathan replied. “You’re not going to go to the hardware store in town and buy twelve empty paint cans without getting questions asked about what the cans are for.”

  “They could be innocently here or not.”

  Nathan nodded. He looked at the number of cans and boxes with tile-plant labels on them. “Let’s write down the lot numbers from these cans and run them back through the plant paperwork. If they are old lot numbers, I lean to discards being reused. If they are new lot numbers, someone working for the plant has been using their shipping department as his own private transit point. I just don’t want to think we caught a break when what we really caught was a Dumpster behind the plant being used for supplies.”

  Will began to write down lot numbers, awkwardly holding his pen with the protective gloves still on. “Do you want to hold off entering the tile plant to check until we know more about this place?”

  “Whoever was working here knows the kid is dead. They already know they need to get out of town. It’s best to chase every lead we can as swiftly as we can.”