Michelle keyed in the text and fired it off.
Five minutes passed and then she got a response.
Michelle read it twice to make sure she was actually seeing what she was seeing.
“Sean?”
“Yeah.”
“I think we might have a lot more access to Tyler than we thought.”
“Why?”
“Because apparently his fake stepmom has disappeared too.”
CHAPTER
26
THEY DIDN’T MEET AT THE PANERA, or at the pool.
It was a spot off a rural road about ten miles west of where Tyler lived. When he pulled up in his dad’s pickup truck, Sean was already there.
Tyler climbed out of the truck and looked at him.
“Where’s Michelle?” he asked.
Sean pointed over his shoulder. “Right behind you.”
Michelle pulled up in her Land Cruiser and got out. Sean eyed her. “Any problems?”
“No one followed him,” she reported.
Tyler glanced sharply at her. “I didn’t see you following me.”
“That’s sort of the point,” she said, coming forward and standing next to them.
The air was chilly and damp and the sky overcast. They all shivered at the same time.
She said, “Let’s do this in one of the vehicles.”
“Not yours,” said Sean quickly. “I hold the line against having meetings in Dumpsters. Let’s use my sedan.”
Giving him a brief scowl, Michelle followed them over to the Lexus and they climbed in. Michelle sat in the back keeping watch out the windows while Tyler and Sean sat in the front.
“Tell us about Jean,” Sean said. “Why do you think she’s disappeared?”
“She’s always at home when I get back from swim practice. She makes dinner. She nags me about homework. Always.”
“But she wasn’t there tonight?” said Michelle. “No dinner, no nagging.”
“Not only that. Her car is gone. And her clothes too.”
“Any note?” asked Sean. “Text, phone message?”
Tyler shook his head. “But I asked one of the neighbors. Mrs. Dobbers, the old lady across the street, said she saw Jean leaving around noon. She said she saw her put a suitcase in the trunk.”
“Any reason why she would head out somewhere?” asked Michelle. “Sick relative somewhere close? Anything happen between the two of you?”
“I don’t know about any sick relative. She never mentioned anyone. She and I had some words the other night. But it was nothing more than usual. She wasn’t mad or crying or anything.”
“What did she say exactly?” Sean asked.
“That she was sorry my dad was gone too. That we were all we had left. That got me mad. I told her I’d rather be an orphan.” He looked embarrassed. “I shouldn’t have said that. It was stupid.”
“But she didn’t break down crying or anything?” said Michelle.
“No. I just walked. Oh, I did tell her I was going to get to the truth. And that I was hiring you guys back to look into stuff.”
“Bingo,” said Michelle.
Sean nodded and looked at Tyler. “I think that’s why she left.”
“I don’t understand. What does she have to worry about? I just want to find my dad.”
“This is just speculation,” began Sean.
“And we could be wrong,” added Michelle.
“What!” Tyler snapped.
“Your dad married her really fast. They didn’t seem to have a lot in common. You weren’t even invited to the ceremony at the courthouse. That doesn’t sound like your dad, does it?”
“No. That’s what I’ve been saying.” He stopped abruptly and his eyes widened in realization. “Are you saying it was all made up?”
“It could be,” corrected Sean. “But right now it’s just a theory. We have no proof. Not yet anyway.”
“Why would my dad do that?”
“We learned some things about your dad today, Tyler.”
“Tell me,” he said quickly.
“He wasn’t really in the reserves. He was still in the regular Army.”
“What?” Tyler exclaimed, looking stunned. “My dad never told me that.”
“He probably was barred from doing so,” said Sean. “We believe he was on a special mission for the military in Afghanistan.”
“But I don’t understand. Why would he need to pretend to marry someone for that?”
Sean said, “There could be any number of reasons. He was going to be gone, Tyler. He had to have someone here to look after you. You couldn’t really live on your own, not at your age. It might have been his only option. And they might not have even been married. You didn’t attend the civil ceremony, right? You said they just showed up and said they were married.”
Tyler looked away, his lips trembling. “So it was all a lie. He just lied to me.”
Sean, seeing the hurt look on Tyler’s face, added, “Which shows how much your dad cared about you. He didn’t want you to be alone.”
“That’s bullshit,” yelled Tyler. “If he really cared about me he wouldn’t have pulled crap like this. He would have told me the truth. He told me he got married. He made me live with Jean for a freaking year. And it was all a bunch of lies?”
Michelle said, “We don’t know that for sure, Tyler. Like Sean said, it’s just one theory.”
“I bet it’s true,” exclaimed Tyler. “I could tell my dad didn’t really love her. They never held hands. I never saw them kissing. I never even saw them hug the whole time. It was all crap.”
Sean looked at Michelle and drew a long breath. “The mission must have been really important, Tyler, and a long time in the making if he purportedly left the military a year ago and then ‘married’ Jean in preparation for it. You know when soldiers go into combat they can’t tell anyone where they are, not even their families.”
“I know that, okay? But this is different.”
“It’s a little different but not entirely. Apparently your father’s mission was really dangerous and really covert. They chose him for it, which shows how much the Army thought of him. He sacrificed a lot. But most of all, leaving you.”
“And not being able to tell you anything, Tyler,” added Michelle. “I bet that was just eating away at him.”
He glared at her. “You’re just saying that stuff to make me feel better. Well, I don’t feel better, okay? My dad lied to me. It’s that simple.” He was silent for a bit and then blurted out, “What sort of mission? And is it finished?”
Michelle said, “We’re not exactly sure what the mission was. Apparently, to deliver something in Afghanistan.”
“Will he be coming back home then? Is he really alive?”
Sean replied, “Unfortunately, I can’t answer any of those questions, Tyler, because I don’t have the answers. I can tell you that apparently something went wrong with the mission. I can tell you that the Army believes your father is alive. They just don’t know where he is.”
“Was he captured?”
“Don’t think so. If he’d been captured, I doubt he would have been able to email you.”
“They could have captured him after he emailed me,” Tyler pointed out.
“Yes they could,” Michelle agreed.
Sean said, “There’s something else you need to know.”
Tyler looked at him apprehensively. “What?”
“A friend of mine who gave me the information about your dad was shot today at a local mall. Michelle and I were actually there. There were three gunmen. We managed to subdue all three.”
“We managed to kill all three,” Michelle corrected. “Before they could kill us.”
“You killed people?” Tyler said, looking astonished. “At the mall?”
“I’m afraid so. And a police officer was also killed.”
“And you think this had something to do with my dad?” Tyler said slowly.
Michelle said, “We don’t have any other a
ctive cases. And the shooters did look like, well, like former military although they carried no ID.”
Tyler looked at Sean. “That bruising on your face? Was that from what happened?”
“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” said Sean quickly.
“Will they be able to find out who the men are?”
“If they’re in some database somewhere, the answer is yes. If they’re not, there’s no guarantee.”
“So they came to the mall to get you and Michelle?”
“They wanted us to come with them. We just politely declined,” said Michelle.
Tyler looked back at her, his face pale as cream. “I’m sorry. I never wanted anything like this to happen.”
Michelle gripped his shoulder. “It’s okay, Tyler. It’s not your fault. It comes with the territory.”
Tyler glanced anxiously at Sean. “I hope your friend gets better.”
“Thanks,” said Sean. “Me too.”
They all sat in silence for about a minute.
Finally, Tyler said, “I’m not sure what to do now.”
Sean said, “Well, the most pressing issue is, with Jean gone, what happens to you? You’re sixteen. I don’t think you can live on your own.”
“But nobody knows that Jean is gone, not really,” said Tyler.
Michelle said, “An excellent point.” She looked at Sean. “He can stay with one of us.”
“I have to go to school,” said Tyler.
“That we can manage,” said Sean. He looked at Michelle. “I think we need to double-team this. My place with both of us there. When Tyler’s in school, we can do our job.”
Michelle nodded. “Sounds workable.”
Tyler said nervously, “Move in with you guys? Hey, maybe I could stay with Kathy’s family?” he added hopefully.
“And maybe put them in danger?” pointed out Sean.
Tyler’s face fell. “I didn’t think of that.”
“There is just one other thing, Tyler,” said Sean.
“What?”
“Did you try to contact your dad? After you got the email?”
Tyler shook his head. “I thought about it. I wanted to, but…” His voice trailed off.
Michelle said, “But you were afraid he might not answer?”
Tyler nodded his head. “And if I try to email him now, other people might find out. They’re probably monitoring my emails. You said he was on this important mission and everything.”
“Probably,” said Sean. “But you can write him from another email account. And you can use your code so he’ll know it’s you.”
“How do you know about our code?” Tyler asked, looking suspicious.
“Didn’t we tell you?” said Michelle. “We rock at code breaking.”
Sean added, “Well, at least we know someone who rocks at code breaking.”
“But then they could break the code too,” persisted Tyler.
“Anything’s possible. But we think it’s worth the risk to contact your dad and see what he says.”
“We can’t be sure it’s my dad, not just from an email.”
“No, but I don’t think a face-to-face is a possibility right this instant. For now, we need to get your things and take you where you’ll be safe.”
Tyler glanced up at him. “Where I’ll be safe?”
Sean looked directly at him. “Yes. Because after what happened at the mall today we need to take every precaution we can. Right now, none of us is really safe, Tyler.”
CHAPTER
27
THE MAN HAD A PROBLEM, a large one, but not unsolvable.
Forty-eight hundred pounds was a big part of it, but not all. At least it had gone where he had planned for it to go. But Sam Wingo was still out there. And then there was the son, Tyler Wingo. And on top of that he had lost three men at a mall.
He had assets but they weren’t infinite, and it wasn’t like he could hire the replacements he needed quickly and quietly. It all took time. That was the thing he didn’t have much of: time. He had a lot left to do and the minutes were ticking fast. The window of opportunity was just that, a window. It closed at some point and would not come back. All elements of his plan had to come together at the exact right time.
At this moment he had the two faces imprinted on his brain: Sean King and Michelle Maxwell. Former Secret Service, now private investigators. They had royally screwed up his plans and cost him valuable assets on the ground.
Problems all around. He didn’t like problems. He liked solutions.
He would figure out the solution to each of these problems, including King and Maxwell, and get this mission back on track. He had every incentive to do so. He had been planning this for a long time, assembling the pieces he needed. But soon, if things went as they should, he could finally let it go.
He took a cab to the airport and shortly was on a jet climbing into the sky. He arrived at his final destination and took a moment to slip on the lanyard with his ID badge and his creds settled against his chest. They marked him as a government contractor full of security clearances. He had once served his country in uniform. Now he was really serving only himself.
He picked up his car at the airport garage and drove to the “big house,” as he always had referred to it. He passed through security. His creds would get him into many places here. All the ones he needed to get into, anyway. He walked down one long corridor, turned left, and kept going, passing military personnel all along the way.
Since he was no longer in uniform he never had to stop and salute. But there were so many enlisted personnel and officers here that there were designated “No Salute Zones.” Otherwise, personnel would be spending all their time doing that.
He nodded to a few he knew but said nothing. Everyone was bustling to get somewhere else. It was just that sort of place. No time for much chitchat.
He knocked before entering the office that was situated on the last corridor he had turned onto.
“Enter,” said the voice.
He opened the door and looked around.
This was the outer office of the Army’s assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics, and technology. The assistant secretary was a civilian now, a retired two-star who ran a program that decided how billions in defense money would be spent in the Middle East. There had been scandals and fraud and waste in this sector during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Investigations and commissions had ensued and folks had lost their jobs and their careers; some had gone to prison. The current assistant secretary, Dan Marshall, was in his sixties and had a sterling reputation as a scrupulously honest administrator. He had come in and cleaned house, and things were running a lot more smoothly by most accounts.
The woman behind the desk looked up at the man, smiled, and greeted him. He asked for Marshall. She picked up her phone and buzzed the interior office.
A few moments later Marshall came out of his office. He smiled and came forward, not with an extended hand to shake but with both arms out for a hug.
“Alan, my favorite son-in-law, welcome back. How was your trip?” he
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