The Fugitive's Trail

by J. C. Fields

  “Wonderful, now he’s the prime suspect in Sharon Crawford’s murder.”

  “He’s a dangerous man, Joseph.” She paused for a few moments. “I did a little more digging into Abel Plymel’s background like you asked.”

  “And…”

  “Sean was correct. He has a few gaps in his past.”

  “What do you mean by a few gaps?”

  “Well, you would think someone like that would have a solid resume. I called the university where he claims to have a degree. There’s no record of him ever attending. He also doesn’t appear to have held a job for several years after he claims to have graduated. In addition to all of this, I contacted the Social Security Administration. There are no records of his contributing prior to 1981.”

  “What do you think, Mary?”

  “I don’t think he’s who he says he is.”

  “How would you prove it?”

  “I know someone over at Homeland Security. They can do a more thorough investigation into his background.” She paused for a few moments. “That is, if you want me to.”

  She couldn’t see it, but Joseph was nodding, deep in thought. “Mary my dear, you always have the proper resources. By all means, have your contact find out all they can about this man. It’s time someone did.”

  ***

  During his drive south, Kruger received a call from Joseph suggesting they meet at a restaurant before going to JR’s apartment building. Walking into the café, he saw Joseph and a large man sitting at a table with a view of the parking lot. Joseph smiled and stood to shake his old friend’s hand. “Sean, I’d like for you to meet a colleague of mine. This is Sandy Knoll.”

  As the two men shook hands, Kruger did a quick assessment of the big man. His first impression was career military, but he kept the thought to himself. He sat next to Joseph at the table and kept his eyes on the big man. “Nice to meet you, Sandy. Joseph mentioned on the phone you’re in charge of JR’s security. Bring me up to speed and then I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.”

  Knoll proceeded to summarize the events of the previous night. After he was finished, Joseph said, “We had a team arrive early this morning from Fort Benning. They’ve taken over security and surveillance as of seven hundred hours.”

  Kruger smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Joseph, am I to assume you’re still working for the CIA?”

  Knoll laughed.

  Joseph, frowned and shook his head. “I’ll explain later.”

  Kruger returned his attention to Knoll. “DNA analyses of hairs found in Sharon’s hotel were matched to Adam Weber. He’s now our prime suspect in her murder. A federal warrant will be issued for his arrest by noon our time.” Knoll nodded. Kruger thought for a second and added, “Out of curiosity, what is the status of your team? Are they military police?”

  Knoll shook his head. “No sir. They’re better than MPs.”

  Kruger stared at Knoll for a few moments and then realized what the man was saying. “Okay, I won’t ask.”

  Joseph said, “Probably a good idea.”

  A slight smile came to Kruger’s lips. “I take it your team has been trained for infiltration and detention?”

  A big grin was Knoll’s immediate response. “Plus a few other specialties.”

  “I want to emphasize, I need Weber alive.” Kruger paused for a few seconds. “If possible.”

  Both Knoll and Joseph nodded.

  Kruger changed the subject. “Where’s JR and Mia?”

  Knoll answered, “JR’s still asleep and Mia is in the apartment telecommuting.”

  “I need to know what’s on that hard drive as soon as possible.”

  Joseph nodded. “He worked on it last night.” Pausing briefly, he looked at Kruger. “We’ve discovered more information about Plymel.”

  Kruger half smiled. “Mary?”

  Joseph nodded. “Your suspicions about his past were correct. His degree is fictitious and he made no contributions to Social Security until six years after he claims to have graduated.”

  “I’m getting all kinds of goodies to stick up Crigler’s ass. What else?”

  “Mary is talking to a contact at Homeland Security. We might know more about Plymel later today.”

  “Good, let’s go wake up JR.”

  ***

  JR stood in the kitchen, hair disheveled, eyes red, drinking coffee, and listening to Kruger summarize the situation. After he was finished, JR nodded. “Plymel’s broke. I canceled his American Express Black Card last night and found the rest of his money. He’ll be desperate when he finds out. My guess is he’ll lash out at Crigler.”

  Kruger said, “How much did he have left?”

  JR shrugged. “There’s now a scholarship fund in my mom’s name where I went to college. Full rides for a couple of gifted computer nerds each year. I also set up a trust fund for Mia in case something happens to me.” He smiled ever so slightly.

  Kruger laughed. “I’m going to enjoy working with you, JR. But nothing’s going to happen to you.”

  JR shrugged again. “Hope not. We’ll see.”

  Mia walked into the kitchen. “JR, I have to go to the office. I forgot about a quality control test I have to do today. There’s no way I can do it from here.”

  JR shook his head. “Not today, Mia.”

  She crossed her arm against her chest. “Yes, JR, today. I’ll be fine.”

  Knoll stood, pulled a cell phone out of his pants’ pocket, and walked out of the room. Thirty seconds later, he walked back to the kitchen where JR and Mia were arguing. He said, “I can have someone drive you. Will that work?”

  Mia stared at Knoll, then at JR, then nodded. “I need to leave in five minutes.”

  As she walked out of the room, JR said, “Call me as soon as you’re there.”

  JR watched from one of the living area windows as Mia got into the passenger seat of her red Ford Fusion. Knoll stood on the opposite side of the car next to a tall man dressed in jeans, sweatshirt, and running shoes. His hair was cropped short, and he wore wraparound sunglasses on an oval face. The man nodded several times. They shook hands and he sat down in the Fusion’s driver seat. Knoll closed the door, walked around to Mia’s side, leaned in, and said something to her. He laughed and stepped back as the car backed out of the parking space. Two minutes later, he was back in the apartment. “Mike will call me when she’s at the office. He’ll stay with her car until she’s done.”

  Kruger stood. “I’m going to find a hotel and call Alan. I’ll be back before three.” As he walked down the stairs to the parking lot, Kruger wondered what Weber’s next move would be.

  Chapter 28

  Springfield, MO

  “He’s going by the name JR Diminski. He owns a computer consulting business that was started eight months ago. He has a reputation for designing very secure websites for banks and manufacturing companies. The girlfriend’s name is Mia Ling. She’s a computer chip designer for a local tech company.” Weber paused, waiting for Alton Crigler to respond.

  “Interesting. Who’s helping him?”

  “Not sure. There’s an older black guy and a big white guy. The white guy looks military.”

  “Don’t you think it would be important to know who these people are, Adam?”

  Weber chuckled. “Look, Crigler, I’m the one in the field, not you. Don’t try to micromanage me at this point. I can walk away from this little enterprise just as fast as I started it.”

  Crigler was silent for several moments. “Is that a threat?”

  “No, it’s a promise. I do this my way or you can find someone else. It’s very simple.”

  Once again, there was silence on the other end of the cell phone call. Finally Crigler said, “Very well. What’s your plan?”

  “I’m going to watch the apartment for a while, see who comes and goes. But, I need to know what you want done with Diminski.”

  “Find out where the money is. Once we have this information, his usefulness ceases. Would you agree?”


  “Yes.”

  “Good, glad we agree on something. As you just said, you’re the one in the field. Make it happen.”

  As usual with Crigler, the call ended without another word. Weber stared out the window of the empty loft apartment. The lock on the second floor loft had been easy to pick, and it provided an excellent location to survey the fugitive’s apartment building and the surrounding area. By five in the morning, he had located three teams of two men, all of whom were too interested in the fugitive’s building.

  At seven, all three teams left the area. While he hated to assume anything, the possibility of another group of watchers taking over seemed very likely. If they had, he couldn’t spot them.

  At eleven forty five, two cars pulled into the parking lot of the fugitive’s building. The black man and the big white guy stepped out of one car and waited for someone to get out of the other. Weber smiled as he focused on the man who stepped out of a dark gray Mustang. FBI agent Sean Kruger stood, surveyed his surroundings, closed the car door, and followed the two other men into the building.

  Thirty minutes later, the woman emerged from the building, followed by the big man. As she got into the passenger side of a Ford Fusion, Weber realized she was being driven somewhere. He left the empty apartment and quickly returned to his car several block away. Having driven by the building where the woman worked, he drove to an intersection along the route. As he suspected, the woman was being escorted to her place of work. The Ford passed by the intersection two minutes after he arrived. Turning right out of the intersection, he followed at a discrete distance. As they pulled into a convenience store, five blocks from their destination, Weber drove past and continued on until several blocks beyond her office building. He turned around and drove back, just in time to see Mia get out of the car next to the building’s entrance. Weber watched as the driver escorted the woman into the building and returned to the car. After positioning the car in a parking space on the far side of the parking lot, he shut the engine off and stepped out.

  ***

  The young man driving Mia to the office was pleasant enough, but spoke very little, except to tell her his name. When they arrived at S&W Technologies, it was twelve forty and the parking lot was busy with employees coming and going to lunch. He parked in front of the main entrance, quickly ran around to the passenger side, let Mia out, and followed her to the front door. As she was walking into the building, he said, “What time should I pick you up?”

  “I should be done by three this afternoon. Anytime it’s convenient for you afterwards.”

  “I’ll be here at three.”

  Mia smiled. “Thanks, Mike.”

  As soon as she was safe inside, he parked the car and called Major Knoll. “Sir, she’s in the building. I’m to pick her up at three.” He listened for a few moments. “Yes, sir.”

  ***

  At three o’clock, Mia’s Ford pulled up to the front entrance and she hurriedly walked down the stairs and got into the passenger side of the car. As she shut the door, she turned to the driver, and with a little surprise said, “Where’s Mike?”

  As the driver pulled away from the curb, he turned to her. “Mike’s not feeling well. I’m your driver.”

  Mia looked at the big man now driving her car; she knew if there had been a change in plans, JR would have called her on her cell phone. She said with cool detachment, “You’re the man looking for JR, aren’t you?”

  “Very good—you catch on quick.” He pulled onto the street and headed east, accelerating to the posted speed limit. “Now, we can make this easy for all of us, or we can make it difficult. It’s very simple. My employer wants to know where the money is.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Where’s Mike? Did you hurt him?”

  “I don’t have time for playing games, lady. Your boyfriend stole a lot of money, and it’s time to give it back. The man who drove you this morning is fine. He’ll probably be stiff and sore for a few days, but he’ll survive.”

  Weber turned right onto a major north south artery of the city and headed south. His destination was thirty miles south of town in a remote rural area. Several years earlier, he’d been to the location for advanced firearms training. After checking with the owner, he knew no one would be at the facility for the next ten days. There would be plenty of time to complete his plan.

  ***

  At four in the afternoon, JR’s concern for Mia intensified. She was due back at the apartment no later than 3:30 p.m., but no one had heard from her. Knoll had made several calls to Mike, which went unanswered. JR had called her cell phone numerous times with no answer, each call going straight to voice mail.

  Finally at four fifteen, his cell phone rang. It was Mia’s cell phone number. “Where are you? I was getting worried.”

  “That’s good,” said a gruff male voice. “You should be worried.”

  JR froze and was silent. He put the phone on speaker and motioned Kruger and Joseph closer to the phone. “Who is this?”

  “Who I am is immaterial. What is important is you have something that my employer wants back.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Where’s Mia?”

  “She’s with me.”

  “If you hurt her…”

  “She’s healthy, for the moment. Now shut up and listen.”

  Kruger wrote a quick note, handed it to JR. It said, “Can you trace phone location?”

  JR nodded. “Okay, go ahead, I’m listening.”

  The voice on the phone said, “I saw an FBI agent enter your apartment this morning. Let me talk to him.”

  JR looked up at Kruger, handed the phone to him.

  Kruger took the phone. “I assume this is Adam Weber.”

  There was silence on the other end of the call. Finally the voice said, “I was told you were good.”

  JR went to his laptop and started typing. Kruger watched him. “What do you want?”

  “I’m going to make this very plain. Do not get involved. If you do, the girl will never be seen again. My business is with the man calling himself JR Diminski. Do you understand, agent?”

  “Yeah, I understand. But, you need to understand something as well. If any harm comes to the girl, I will make finding you a national pastime. You won’t be able to hide anywhere. Do you understand me, Weber?”

  “I’ll call back in thirty minutes.”

  The call ended and Kruger looked at JR, who smiled. “Mia turned on the GPS function on her cell phone last night. Normally, I don’t feel it’s necessary for the phone company to track you. But in this situation, both our phones have it turned on. Her phone is thirty miles south in Christian County, just off Highway 160 on State Highway 5 heading west.

  Kruger looked at Joseph and then JR. “What’s down there?’

  JR shook his head. “Don’t know, lots of hills and trees I assume.”

  Knoll walked to the door. “I need to send someone to check on Mike. I’ll be right back.”

  ***

  Thirty minutes later, JR’s phone chirped. It was Mia’s phone again. “Yeah.”

  “Where’s the money?”

  “I don’t have it on me, but it’s safe.”

  “Okay, here’s how this is going to work. I want the location of the funds, the account numbers, and passkeys. You have to bring them in person. Then, once I verify the information, I’ll tell you where the girl is located.”

  “What if I give you the information and you forget to tell me where Mia is?”

  “Guess you’ll just have to trust me. Now, I’m going to give you some directions. If you’re not here in an hour, the girl dies.” Weber gave JR the information and ended the call.

  JR showed the directions to Joseph, who nodded. “I believe I know where he is. There’s a police and civilian firearms training facility located there. It’s owned by a friend of mine. The place is very remote and secluded. He’ll be hard to find once he’s on the compound.” He turned to JR. “Can you find t
his on Google Earth?”

  JR nodded.

  Kruger said, “Call your friend and tell him what’s going on.”

  Joseph shook his head. “Nobody’s there. The compound is unoccupied. He takes his vacation this time of year.”

  “Damn.”

  “These directions take you to the north side of the property.” Joseph went to the laptop JR was using and pointed at the screen. Displayed was a Google Earth shot of the compound. He placed his finger on a road labeled Molly Avenue and said, “This is the main entrance.” He moved his hand to the right, tapped another road named Stoops Lane, and continued. “Sandy and his team will insert here. JR, you will drive to the first dirt road on your left. Make the turn and follow till it ends. Have your cell on, so we can keep track of you, plus give you updates.”

  JR nodded and made sure the small Bluetooth ear bud was properly inserted in his right ear. He checked to make sure the GPS function on his cell phone was turned on. “Guess I’d better get going.” He turned to Kruger. “Whatever happens, I appreciate your belief in me.”

  Kruger smiled and put his hand on JR’s shoulder. “We’ve got a good plan, we’ll find her. Now let’s go.”

  They walked to the parking lot and met Knoll who was talking to the remaining three members of his surveillance team. A fourth member had been sent to check on Mike. Each man was dressed in camouflaged hunting outfits, purchased the previous evening at Bass Pro Shops, several miles from JR’s apartment.

  Knoll said, “We got a call from David. Mike is awake and talking. While he was waiting to pick up Mia, a large man walked up to his car and claimed to be from security. The guy wanted to know what he was doing in the parking lot. As Mike lowered the window to talk to him, the guy pulled a Taser and shot him in the stomach from about two feet. He was pulled out of Mia’s car and dumped on the grass. Mike lay there until someone found him and called an ambulance. He’s got a severe burn, but otherwise is okay. Dave will stay with him. The rest of us are good to go.”