The Perfect Clone

by M. L. Stephens

  Matt filed in behind him. He picked up the Community land line before going through the motions of dusting off the available chair and a taking seat of his own. “I need to order delivery,” he said into the receiver. “I need a New York strip—cooked medium, a loaded baked potato, steamed vegetables, a tall soda and two waters delivered to room 107. No, that’ll be all, thank you.”

  Richard drummed his fingers on the desk as he waited for the tech team to locate and transmit the files. “Here it is.”

  Matt walked over so that he could see the image as well. “Looks like a stretch of pavement running between two corn fields. I can certainly understand Frank’s concern regarding the young woman.”

  “If I were on a casual outing and came across a damsel in distress on this stretch of road, I’d say yes. But take a closer look and tell me what you see.”

  Matt leaned into the screen as Richard enlarged the image. “Corn,” he replied flatly.

  Richard zoomed out on the image then clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair. “What do you see now?”

  Matt wasn’t sure what Richard was asking for. He still only saw corn.

  Mr. Avery unclasped his hands and moved to the GPS locations. Once he saw that one of their sedans was parked at the safe house, he relaxed a bit. Ben had mentioned two prisoners, so it only made sense that Cara would take them there for questioning.

  He switched back over to the corn field. Grabbing the land line, he dialed back into the tech room. “Locate Frank. I want to know exactly where he is.”

  After a brief pause the tech returned. “He’s in his room, sir, room 107.”

  Richard breathed a sigh of relief. “Who am I speaking with?”

  “Charlie Jones, sir,” the man replied.

  The sense of urgency in Mr. Avery‘s voice was obvious. “Great. Listen Charlie, I want that room locked down, and I want it locked down now. No one is to come or go. No phone calls, no television, nothing. I want his cell phone disabled immediately. I want it sealed tight. You got that?”

  “Lock down on room 107 initiated. Lock down complete. Cell phone disabled.”

  “Charlie, I need you to listen very carefully. You are responsible that room 107 remains on lockdown until you receive face to face instructions from me saying otherwise. Sleep on the control panels if necessary. Is that understood?”

  Charlie was ready to take charge of his responsibility. “Yes sir. I guarantee it.” Richard returned the receiver to its cradle and looked back at the image.

  Matt was confused. “At the risk of sounded stupid, what’s got you fired up?”

  Richard continued to stare at the monitor. “You said yourself, that all you could see on this stretch of property was corn divided by pavement. That’s because that’s all there is to see. There is no place in broad daylight for seven men to hide.”

  Richard pulled up an internet search of a late 80’s model Honda Civic and pointed to the picture. “Tell me Matt. Do you see how seven, heavily armed men, one girl and a healthy sized Frank are all going to squeeze into that little car; especially during the light of day when it’s possible for traffic to pass by?”

  Matt shook his head. “I see your point. Frank said there weren’t any other cars on the road and that’s why he assumed it was safe to pull over.”

  Richard interjected. “There weren’t any cars at the time. But can you tell me, that by the time it would have taken seven men to set an ambush and then wait for another vehicle to arrive at the scene so they could all make their getaway, that they weren’t worried about another vehicle coming by? Mind you, according to Frank, these men were heavily armed. I don’t pretend to assume that our rebels are the brightest of the bunch, but they’re not idiots either. Ben said that almost all of the bodies had identification on them and there weren’t any guard dogs or cameras on site to warn them of our approach. Ben also said that the weapons were standard home defense type items with the exception of the C4 that was strung to the doors. He said there wasn’t anything meeting the criteria of heavily armed. Does this sound like a group that could sneak up out of a corn field in plain day light and take one of our own men?”

  “Not unless he wanted to be taken. I’ll be damned—” Matt planted his butt on the edge of the desk, for once not concerned with any grime that might soil his perfectly pressed slacks. “Do we need to contact our team to let them know?”

  Richard considered his options. He could alert the team to his suspicions. But that would cause anyone else that might be helping Frank to discontinue whatever it was that they were supposed to do, thus keeping a traitor hidden. On the other hand, he could sit back and hope that Cara pieced it all together and smoked out any other possible traitor herself. Running the scenarios around in his mind, he opted to go with his grandfather’s advice on this one. He’d hold his cards and let the opponent make the next move. Cara was as smart as they came. He had to trust that she’d come out on the winning end of this deal.

  “No. I think it’s best if we leave this one to Cara. Let’s just hope she’s as smart as I think she is.”

  “Let’s hope she’s smarter,” Matt uttered.

  Chapter 23

  With the prisoners secured in separate rooms at the back of the house, the guys had crashed wherever they could.

  Tank and Ethan had claimed the third bedroom, which suited the others just fine since no one else could deal with their robust snoring.

  Cara had each man pulling a two hour watch throughout the night with her taking the last two. She chose last shift so she’d have time to think.

  Jack had told her where to find the man that had given the orders, and strangely enough, she was familiar with it. She recalled staking it out when she first came to work for Richard.

  According to Jack’s squealing confession, the man he worked for was Vicky’s cousin. Apparently, Vicky’s parents were unaware of her extracurricular duties. Jessie’s internet search had revealed that the father was a loan officer at a bank and also a member of the local Masonic Lodge. But her cousin, on the other hand, was a radical activist in opposition to what he dubbed the N.O.W., or the New World Order. He was a small time thug really. He clearly worked for someone bigger; she just had to find out whom. It was time to give Mr. Avery a call.

  “Yeah,” he sounded occupied.

  “You know that I generally act first and ask for forgiveness later, but I’m not touching this one without a ‘go ahead’ from you. Were you filled in on last night’s activities?”

  “Yes. I hear it was messy but productive.”

  “Yeah, well, the mess is about to get even messier. That’s why I’m calling.”

  Richard could hear the frustration in her voice growing. “Discontinue this call. I’ll contact you via web. You know the drill.”

  Cara hit the end button on her phone and laid it on the table. Shit, she didn’t want to wake Jessie up, but he was the tech guy in their group and this had to be sorted out. Cara walked over to the couch and slapped his arm with the backside of her hand. Jessie caught her hand before it landed and peered at her through a half opened eye.

  “What’s up?” Although his voice was groggy, Cara knew he could snap her wrist in a flash. That’s the way she’d trained her team to operate.

  “I have a web date with the boss. I need you to set me up.”

  The man released her wrist and stood up. “Not a problem.” Flipping open his laptop, Jessie entered his password and opened up a network tunnel. He liked this particular version of the network security, because it diverted his internet address to anonymous network servers before establishing a working connection. It made his internet service port appear to be from somewhere in the Bahamas—if traceable at all. Mr. Avery would be using the same protocol, but the way the in-house tech had set his up, it would probably be directed to a port in Great Britain, Africa, or who the hell knew where. After establishing a secured connection, he dialed in via internet link using their integrated web phone. The rule o
f thumb was verbal communication only, with the aid of voice-altering software and absolutely no visuals, names, or places. Jessie pushed the laptop toward Cara. “You’re in.”

  Richard’s altered voice came through the computer speakers. “Talk to me.”

  Cara’s altered voice replied. “I’ve got a location on the local small time HQ and operator, but you’re not going to like it. I think that one of our players also plays for the other side. I don’t have enough Intel at this point to determine who it is.”

  Mr. Avery’s voice sounded calm considering what she’d just told him. “Stake it out and gather what details you can. I want a face to face with you as soon as you’ve acquired more information.”

  “I’ll gather what I can out here and report back to you, but it’s going to take some internal digging as well.” Cara hated doing stake outs. They were part of the job, but the boredom of just sitting grated on her nerves.

  “We’ll discuss the details when you get in. For now, take advantage of the situation and do some digging.”

  Cara’s deeply altered voice replied. “Roger that.”

  Mr. Avery ended the call. Jessie slid the computer over and shut down the connection.

  Talking to Jessie but directing the words to no one, Cara stated the obvious. “It seems the dam has sprung a leak. We need to plug it.”

  Jessie offered up his own thoughts. “Let’s hope it’s just a single leak and not indicative of more to follow.”

  Cara stared at the man sitting next to her. “Yeah, let’s hope.”

  *********

  Pebbles crushed under the weight of the black sedan as it coasted down the old abandoned logging road.

  “There’s a cattle guard on the left, drive over it and we can ditch the car in that field behind the tree line.” Cara recalled having done the same thing last time she’d been here.

  Luke parked the car then stepped out onto the frost covered grass. The trees had shed most of their greenery already, but the brown wisteria vines that had twisted and wrapped around the trees during the summer still provided a decent amount of cover. The smell of snow filled his lungs. Luke thought about the last time he’d seen snow.

  He remembered a glistening white blanket covering the Earth’s surface and thinking that the snow crystals sparkled like diamonds under the reflection of the stars. It was nature’s perfect portrait, a portrait of new beginnings. That image was forever branded in his mind. It was the last thing he recalled seeing before he’d shot his first deer at the age of nine, the last pure thought he’d ever had. When he’d reached the wounded deer, his young life had changed. The red liquid had seeped into the white powdery ground as the deer had labored to breathe. Hot breath had steamed against the cold night air. He’d found the deer’s acceptance of its role as prey, bitter sweet and had felt no remorse for what he’d done. Looking down at the creature, he’d thanked it for providing him with food, and then delivered a kill shot, putting the creature out of its pain.

  That had been his first above ground training mission, to live off the land. He’d learned that necessity took precedence above everything else. He’d let five deer get away that week while he’d fought against the elements, his hunger, and the idea of killing an innocent creature. When he became physically and mentally exhausted due to the lack of sustenance, he’d finally made the choice to do what it took to survive. He had never struggled with the choice again. The sound of a zipper invaded the silent night, interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back to the present.

  Cara led the way as Luke and Jessie followed closely behind. When they came to another wood line, Cara sank to the frozen ground. “Let’s spread out. This is a recon mission only. If the place is vacant, I want entrance and a quick work up on any digital equipment. Since this is reported to be the local HQ, there may be guards posted around the perimeter. Let’s move.”

  The three of them carefully and purposefully made their way to the little wood frame house. There hadn’t been any guards posted in the woods, which seemed strange. The driveway was empty and the lights were out. There was a man sitting on the front porch and one kicked back in a chair next to the rear entrance.

  Several hours passed without a guard change. Cara whispered into her watch, “I need to see inside without drawing attention, so this won’t work. I’m going in the front alone. Jessie, cover me in case it goes bad. Luke, I want you to stay in the rear.”

  Jessie shot back, “You’re one crazy bitch; you know that?”

  “Crazy is as crazy does and it seems to me we’re in this together.” Cara loved playing the odds.

  Luke chimed in. “Crazy my ass. She’s insane.”

  Cara offered up one last comment before ditching her earpiece. “Insanity beats the hell out of a frozen ass any day— later boys.”

  Cara worked her way back to the road, putting her earpiece and Colt where she could easily locate them after she finished. She just hoped her acting skills were still as good as they used to be.

  Jessie held up his night vision binoculars and watched Cara walk down the drive way. The man on the front porch stood up.

  Cara’s voice came to them via her watch. “Sorry to bother you, but my car broke down. Could I use your phone?”

  “Haven’t you ever heard of a using a cell phone lady?” The man was obviously annoyed that his nap had been disturbed.

  “Yeah, well, that’d be great if I could afford one.”

  “Well, I don’t have a phone.” The man sat back down and leaned his chair against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Cara stopped at the bottom step and kicked against it as she tucked her hands in her coat pockets. “Damn, it’s cold out. It’s probably going to snow soon.”

  She looked back toward the way she came. “I jumped a few deer on my way up, hope I didn’t screw up your hunting plans for the night.” She turned to leave.

  “What do you know about hunting?” The man eyed the woman harder.

  Pivoting back around she continued to play the part. “Not much other than the meat’s good. My cousin likes it though. He scored a twelve point last week. He says he’s having it mounted.”

  The man leaned forward. “Does he hunt around here?”

  Cara continued to look back and forth between her feet and the man. “Yeah, that’s why I’m out here. I was taking him and his buddies some beer. They’re camping out a few miles down the road. Dang car died on me though. Guess I’d best get to the next house and see if I can find a phone.”

  “You’re not from around here, are you?”

  Cara’s internal alarms started to go off, but she remained in character. “No. My old man’s not a real nice guy, so I’m kind of hiding from him. I’ve been staying with my cousin the last few months while I look for work and get myself settled. You know—closest living relative and all that.”

  The man sat the chair legs back on the porch and walked over to the door, opening it up. “Come on in. Sorry for the brush off but we don’t take kindly to strangers around here.”

  “I can understand that. Thanks.” Cara said as she entered the house.

  The man reached down to an end table that was stuck between two recliners and turned a yellow corded push button phone in her direction. “Here you go.”

  Cara sat down at the edge of the recliner closest to the door and dialed the only topside number she knew, Chang’s Chinese restaurant. The man walked into the kitchen while she carried on a desperate plea for road side assistance with a confused non-English speaking girl.

  Cara ended the one sided conversation by returning the receiver to its cradle, unplugging the phone cord in case the restaurant called back.

  She stood up and walked toward the kitchen, tripping on her way in. Cara grabbed for the kitchen counter closest to the entry way and planted a bug. “I still haven’t gotten used to these boots. My cousin insists that I wear them when I’m out. He says my canvas tennis shoes don’t go with my overall vampire look.” That got a deep throate
d agreement from the man.

  “Thanks, I really appreciate it. One of his buddies just got off work and is headed this way. Says he’ll meet me at the car. Mind if I use your bathroom while I’m here?”

  “Sure, it’s down the hall to the right.” The man eye balled her as he chugged down a can of cheap beer.

  Cara opened up the door on the left and peaked inside. She’d hit pay dirt. Computer set up at a desk, guns and ammo were strung out across the bed. She eased the door closed and snuck inside the bathroom. She waited a minute before flushing the toilet, then turned on the water faucet and unlocked the bathroom window. If they did get a chance to get past the rear guard, they’d have a quiet way inside. Before she walked out, she double flashed the lights to signal their access point.

  Cara stepped out of the bathroom. The man from the front porch stood at the end of the hall, blocking her exit. “Thanks again for letting me use the phone and your bathroom.”

  The man stepped aside. “It’s no problem. You tell that cousin of yours to make his own beer runs from now on. It doesn’t sit well for a little woman like you to be knocking on strange doors at night.”

  Cara put on her ‘I’m so grateful smile’. “I’ll tell him. Hey, thanks again.”

  “It was a pleasure talking to you.” The man held the door open for her as she left.

  Cara bounced down the front steps, stuck her hands in her pockets and started down the drive. The man resumed his position on the front porch.

  The man hollered out. “Good luck with the car.”

  Cara turned and waved goodbye. The act wasn’t over until she was out of sight. She made her way down the road until she was out of view and then walked into the woods. Positive that she hadn’t been followed, she retrieved her gun and earpiece and headed toward the car. “Hey guys, let’s wrap it up. I’ll meet you at the car.”