by Bryan Koepke
“Yeah, I didn’t want to tell you this, but I was able to access the personal laptop of that reporter, Thomas Billington,” Haisley said.
“So, let me get this straight. You hacked into Mr. Billington’s laptop computer?”
“I wouldn’t say hacked, but I was able to gain access remotely. It wasn’t hard. There wasn’t much security protecting it,” Haisley said.
“Okay, what did accessing Billington’s computer gain you?”
“Nothing at first—well, nothing until I discovered a trail that told me Billington had gotten into Karl Rhodes’ computer,” Haisley said.
“So, what I’m hearing you say is that you got into Billington’s logs and found that he had accessed Karl Rhodes computer?”
“Something like that. But the second or third time I logged in to Billington’s computer, I was looking at his files when a video window popped open and I realized that a black-haired woman was on my computer looking at me via my webcam,” Haisley said.
“What did you do when you realized that breach?”
“I overreacted and pulled the power cord.”
“You said overreacted. Why did you say that?”
“Because they had me. My killing the power didn’t do anything. Data goes at the speed of light. I’m a lot slower than that.”
Dixon chuckled loudly. “So what else did you get?”
Haisley reached into his jacket. “It’s all here.”
Chapter 55
The hired assassin put the GPS unit back into the pack and zipped it closed. Julian pulled the strap of the 30-06 rifle over his shoulder and started down the hill through a pine forest toward the cabin. On the way he thought about how to end this. He was more than tired of this fucking asshole bodyguard getting in the way. For an ex-cop or whatever he was, this guy was good. He’d pulled Karl and Candice out of the U.K., stashed them in that luxury condo in Denver, and after being fired upon retreated to this area in nowhere Colorado. If not for Candice Carlyle, the guy in the green GTO would have won this duel.
Julian stopped and listened and then ran hard across the rocky soil, pulling in his abs to brace his core as he went. He’d missed his workout first thing in the morning. He was off grid, off plan, and slipping. He slowed as he went up the last fifty feet of a tall bluff. It was dotted with moss-covered rocks and the pines were spaced out. He took in a long breath and felt a sharp pain in his lower ribs.
Julian brought his hand up to his chest and placed his palm on the point of the pain. It was flat, which was good, maybe only a cracked or bruised rib. He took a few steps, venturing forward, and stopped just as the cabin came into view. Through the window stood Karl Rhodes and Candice. She looked good to him in her short shorts. Too bad he would have to kill her.
He studied the roofline and the tops of the windows on the back side of the house. That was it, the place he’d scoped out early that morning. He dropped the pack and reached down, ignoring the pain that flared again as he set the rifle on the bag. Julian squatted and felt a pull of his right knee. I’m getting too old for this.
He leaned forward onto all fours and crawled slowly up the slope until he could see the entire back side of the dwelling. Out ahead in his field of view he spotted a group of rocks that were the same as the ones he’d seen earlier. Patches of orange, green, and black moss dotted the rocky outcropping.
It would make a perfect place to fire from. It was close enough for him to make precision shots, yet far enough that he could retreat if a threat came his way. He’d use the rifle, wait until just before dark and then plant a bullet in the side of Karl Rhodes’ skull, just behind one of his eyes. The temple shot, as Julian called it, was one of his favorites. There was no recovery—quick, clean, and precise.
Just then the back door to the cabin sprang open. It was the same guy that had been driving the GTO in that parking lot back in Denver. The bodyguard was tall, maybe six foot one or two with shaggy brown hair. Julian pulled the rifle off the backpack and looked through its scope at this guy. One pull, one bullet, and this fucker would be down. It would be oh so easy to kill him off right now, but that wasn’t the plan. He’d wait and take them both out at the same time. Two shots—one dead, two dead, like ducks in a pond.
The man was carrying two white plastic trash bags. He followed him with the scope and noticed for the first time a low-fenced area twenty feet behind the cabin. It was tucked in close to the garage and the deck. The bodyguard dropped the bags and pulled open a wooden gate on this small structure. Julian zoomed in and watched him dump the garbage into a big black plastic trash container that looked like it might be bear proofed. Then he spotted it: a white thousand-gallon propane tank. It sat there ready for action.
*
Julian peered through the small opening of the rifle’s scope. He sighted through the rear window of the cabin all the way through the front window. People were climbing into the green Pontiac. Time was precious. Were they leaving for good or merely getting into the car to head out to lunch?
He knew the propane tank was the key to their demise, but he also knew he’d be hard pressed to make the tank explode unless he’d prepared it first. Julian set down the rifle, reached into his backpack, and pulled out a red highway flare. He took off in a sprint and felt the pain of his body as he closed in on the cabin.
He took less than a minute to get to the wooden enclosure that held the large propane tank. Julian raised the circular steel lid on the top and saw that the pressure gauge indicated that the tank was at 76 percent full.
He turned his head toward the cabin and could see movement out front. Good, they haven’t gone yet. I just might be able to pull this off.
He struck the opposite end of the road flare, lighting it. Then Julian jammed the flare into the ground next to the wooden fencing and ran back toward his rifle. The flare started shooting its red-hot plume of fire a foot into the air. He took off in a sprint, covering ground quickly. As he ran he wondered if he was far enough away. If he pulled this off, the explosion would be massive.
Julian dropped to the ground and took the 30-06 rifle in his hands. He could feel his heart pounding deep in his chest. If this had been any other situation, he would have waited for his body to recover, his heart rate to slow, and his breathing to calm before squeezing the trigger, but there wasn’t time. This was a one-shot deal.
He panned right, aiming through the scope into the rear window of the cabin. Out front he saw the bodyguard. He’d gotten out of the car and was walking toward the front porch of the house, where Candice stood. It looked to Julian like she was arguing with someone who was out of the range of view. The young woman was waving her arms in the air. Karl Rhodes, his original target, stepped into view. His mouth was moving, his face screwed up, and he looked very upset.
Julian took a deep breath and pulled the tip of the rifle away. Panning slowly, he found the spot he’d aimed at earlier. It was a six-inch gap in between the wooden enclosure that held that huge propane tank and the edge of the gate he’d seen the bodyguard open earlier. From what he could discern it was the flattest part of the tank’s outer wall, and if lucky the bullet wouldn’t be deflected by the curvature of the metal.
His right index finger went to the cold steel trigger. The fore grip of the rifle rested upon the backpack propped on top of a section of flat rock. Julian braced on the trigger. The single shot would pierce the steel wall of the tank letting the flammable liquid propane fuel escape. The jet of escaping gas would hit the flame of the burning flare and…
Chapter 56
Reece bit his tongue. If he had been in charge, he’d have transported Karl and Candice to town by now. They’d have been on a shuttle back to Denver and out of his hair, but Marie insisted they go on a little adventure together down in Breckenridge. It would give him some time to cool off and enjoy his guests.
Nothing since he’d agreed to protect Karl had gone like Reece expected. A few days earlier he would have done anything Marie wanted, but that was before he
’d seen her fighting for the attention of her ex husband. Did she really want him back, or was she just trying to press his buttons and pull Karl off his mistress’s scent?
He shifted the GTO into reverse and backed it toward the cabin’s porch. Karl and Candice were arguing. In the short amount of time he’d known Karl Rhodes, it was the first time he’d witnessed him loosing his cool. Good, maybe they’ll have a blowout and we’ll have to leave them in town to their own devices.
Reece hit the gas pedal, revving the car’s engine as if to say hurry up, and then he looked in the rearview mirror. Karl pointed toward the car. Candice was waving her hands in the air, and they were obviously fighting over something. Then Rhodes took his mistress by the arm and yanked her off of the porch. The man was clearly overreacting. Still, he too had tired of this spoiled woman’s drama.
Marie, in the front seat next to him, laughed. She placed her hand on his thigh, but he ignored her and instead shifted the car into drive, easing forward down the drive, figuring if Karl and Candice wanted to come they’d see he was leaving and make tracks. Marie leaned over and hugged Reece, planting a big juicy kiss on his cheek. One part of him wanted to turn and kiss her, but instead he pressed down on the brake. Karl appeared at the right rear. Opening the door, he shoved Candice halfway across the backseat. Rhodes followed and Reece was surprised by the determined look on the man’s face.
The next few seconds happened so fast. The rear door slammed shut, he rammed down on the accelerator, letting the irritation he was feeling pour into the gas pedal. The car flew down the dirt driveway to the first curve just thirty yards past the porch. He cranked the steering wheel to the left, and that was when he felt the percussion. He heard the sound before he realized what was happening. He reacted, suddenly mashing down harder on the accelerator and propelling the car forward. They were headed straight toward a grove of aspen trees just past the right side of the driveway. He was trying to pull left, but something was pushing them sideways off the road.
The nose of the car went over a short drop, compressing the suspension. The noise of the blast was all consuming. The scream from the backseat was mouse-like in comparison to the sound of the explosion. “Ka-boom.”
He felt the compression of the shocks as they tried to resist the bounce of the four thousand pound car going off the dirt driveway. His eyes went to the rearview mirror as he tried to wrap his mind around the sound, searching for an explanation. He saw an all-consuming fireball rising upward, taking with it his house, the garage, the ATV’s, the keepsakes he’d pulled from his parent’s closets.
A raft of tears came suddenly. He wasn’t sure from where or why. He held back the scream he so wanted to yell. There was a huge flush of anger within Reece as he swerved off the driveway, still pressing hard on the gas pedal, fleeing from the wild scene behind them. He missed the trees and yanked the steering wheel back left to get back on the road. He had to leave the chaotic scene as fast as possible. Nearing the end of the long driveway he jammed on the brakes and slid to a stop looking rearward as a deluge of wood, brick, and dirt came pummeling down.
The short yellow grass that had earlier surrounded his home was all ablaze now and the spot where he’d just been parked waiting was covered with a pile of burning boards.
“Hand over that phone. In my hand now.”
Candice responded instantly handing it over the back seat and letting it drop toward Reece. Karl started to open the left rear door of the Pontiac.
“No. Stay in the fucking car or he’ll murder you,” Reece yelled, lowering his foot back onto the gas pedal and tearing out of the driveway onto the dirt road that led back toward town. With his right hand on the steering wheel and Candice’s phone in his left hand, he drove as fast as he could and also dialed 911.
“911. What’s your emergency?” the operator said.
“There’s been an explosion. There’s a terrorist at 87674 Mountain View Lane with a high-powered rifle. Send the fire trucks and the police.”
Chapter 57
Down in the town of Fairplay, Colorado, Reece held the gas hose and sniffed at the fumes as he filled up the tank. His thoughts drifted back to a scene years past with his father when they’d been hunting along the Missouri River. It was dark and his father had been passing gas stations in search of something a little less expensive. Reece remembered worrying that they’d run out of gas. He’d experienced this problem before with his dad. They’d pass a series of perfectly good stations looking for something cheaper.
“Do you mind if I ask where we’re headed?” Karl Rhodes said, interrupting Reece’s train of thought.
“When has my minding stopped any of you people from doing whatever you please?”
“I’m really sorry about your house, Reece.”
“Sure,” Reece said, still feeling like he wanted to punch something—or someone.
“I should have been firmer with Candice,” Karl said, jumping at the noise of a semi truck as it whizzed by the gas station on the two-lane highway.
“It seems like you should have done a lot of things. But you don’t do much, do you?” Reece said, not wanting an answer. “I think it’s time for you three to go back to where you came from.”
Reece pulled the hose from the filler nozzle on the gas tank and returned it to the pump. Pulling down the hinged license plate, he put the cap back on the gas tank and let the plate snap back shut.
“I’ll pay for your house, Mr. Culver.”
“It’s insured,” Reece said, not knowing if the insurance covered fire as a result of an assassination attempt.
“I owe you.”
“No, you’ve got that wrong. You owe your wife Marie. You owe her tons of respect. I can’t believe what you did back in Glasgow. I mean, it’s one thing to have an affair, but the way you let her see you with her best friend, and now you act like it’s nothing,” Reece said.
“I’m sorry about your cabin, but you sir, are out of line. How dare you lecture me about my wife?”
Reece instinctively made a fist, and he used every bit of willpower he could summon not to square off against Karl Rhodes. It wasn’t about the way he treated Marie, or that the cabin had just blown to bits while Reece was using every resource he had to keep this man alive. What was bothering him was the way these people thought he’d just continue taking care of them.
He went to the passenger’s side door of the car and reached in through the open side window. Once he had the glovebox open, Reece pulled out an old map of Colorado. Both of the women were still inside the gas station doing who knows what.
“Here,” Reece said, handing the map to Karl. “This should help you find your way to Vail.”
*
Reece took a right at the intersection of highway 285 and 24 and then headed north into the town of Buena Vista, Colorado. He’d flown in before and landed at the Central Colorado Regional Airport. It felt good being alone in his car. Up ahead he spotted the sign for a motel and figured he’d stop, call his insurance agent, and figure out what to do next. The buzz of Candice’s cellphone ringing on the seat next to him caught his attention. He picked it up and saw that it was a 719 number – the area code for the portion of the Colorado Mountains he was now in. Didn’t take them long to call. Reece ignored the call, knowing this wouldn’t be their last attempt.
Once he’d checked into the motel, he found his way to his room and laid down on the bedspread. I wonder what Haisley is up to.
“Culver, what’s going on? Where are you?” Haisley said.
“You’d never guess.”
“Try me,” Haisley said.
“I’ve got a better idea. How about you tell me what you’ve been up to?”
“Hmm. It’s that good chaperoning that bunch, huh? Well, things have certainly grown exciting over here.”
“What do you mean?”
“You remember I was looking into Thomas Billington’s laptop in an effort to find the hack into Karl Rhodes home computer. Well, I found more than I ba
rgained for.”
“How so?”
“It turns out there is a group working out of Scotland that hacked into Rhodes’ computer. I figured out the general proximity of one of their IP pings when they were tied into Billington’s laptop remotely. Anyway, I was on that laptop one night a while back when I found some images of what looked like an RAF airbase from the Second World War.”
“That sounds like a lucky find. So, you think that’s what led to Billington’s death?” Reece said.
“Maybe, or something better,” Haisley said.
“Better? What do you mean?
“I found a video of what looks like a drone command center. In the movie are two pilots, both women. One with short black hair and get this. She has a tattoo like the one you saw on that woman that came out of the hotel in Tarbert that day.”
“Drones. Did I hear you right?”
“Yeah, it gets better. I had a visit from Inspector Dixon of Scotland Yard while I was walking home one night. Then I took a drive up north to see if I could locate the place I saw in the video. I figured the hacker and the drone pilot might be the same person,” Haisley said.
“Yeah, so were they?”
“Well, that wasn’t immediately apparent, but then one night when I was on my way home, I spotted a light on in the bedroom of my flat. I called Dixon and pulled back. We ended up downtown at his office after he and a few of his guys swept the place. Whoever broke in trashed Karl Rhodes’ computer and swiped the hard drive,” Haisley said.
“You backed it up. Right?”
“You know my habits, don’t you? Anyway, we ended up downtown and I handed off the flash drive to Dixon.”
“This whole thing is taking on an international flair,” Reece said.
“How so?”
“We were in Denver a few days back when the shooter took aim at Karl Rhodes,” Reece said.