Counterfeit Road

by Kirk Russell

  ‘About an hour.’

  ‘There you go. It’s in their backyard.’

  She answered email on her phone and looked out the window as they crossed the desert. They didn’t get there before dark and couldn’t see anything and drove on. They crossed the state line, ate at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino and then looked for a motel.

  Raveneau said, ‘I’ll wake you very early.’

  La Rosa closed the door to her motel room without answering. He opened his. There was a bed, worn carpet, a small bathroom with a faucet that leaked and whose hard water left brown-red stains in the dirty bowl. He showered. He thought it through again and picked up his phone and called Coe.

  ‘You’re home,’ Coe said.

  ‘No, we’re near the eastern edge of the Mojave Desert close to where the President will visit tomorrow. I think there’s a real problem here. Let me tell you why.’

  FIFTY-NINE

  Before dawn Raveneau knocked softly on la Rosa’s door, but not before he had another conversation with Coe.

  ‘Your name has made it all the way to the White House, Raveneau. But it turns out a San Francisco homicide inspector’s speculation isn’t enough reason for the White House to cancel. They want evidence. They see a perception issue after already having canceled San Francisco. But on the upside our analysts here don’t think you are crazy at all and we’re going to get help from the Air Force. I asked for something quiet with lookdown capacity that will fly until the President has come and gone. It went up very early this morning from Edwards Air Force Base and it’ll float around up there until after the President has come and gone.’

  ‘What time is he due here?’

  ‘Noon, and you’re right, this is a road that runs through the project and up over a mountain to the town of Ivanpah. There’s a camp near the base of the mountain that biologists use. Two from the Wildlife Heritage Foundation are there right now.’

  ‘Yeah, we saw the road last night but that was about all we could see. Who else outside the contractor is working in the area?’

  ‘There may be others, but looking at satellite photos the project looks like it’s surrounded by desert.’

  ‘How do you know about these biologists?’

  ‘Oh, there was a dispute we kept track of over whether these solar thermal plants should get built or not and some threats made online by unrelated splinter groups who were opposed to the plant. The two biologists have been out there for the last eight days so they were out there before the White House changed travel plans. I got that from the site superintendent a few minutes ago. I can text you the names of the biologists. Desert tortoises got relocated ahead of the build and they’re monitoring them.’

  ‘OK, do that and if you have the site superintendent’s name send that too. We’ll go see him first.’

  ‘He’s there right now.’

  ‘Are there agents coming here from the Las Vegas field office?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Too many of us on the project will be a dead giveaway.’

  ‘They’re going to work the periphery and the Secret Service will have a problem with you being too active.’

  ‘We’ll check out the biologists this morning. Give the Vegas agents my cell number. There’s a golf course nearby there with a bar and a place to eat. We can use that as a spot to meet if there’s a reason or a need. What about Casey or Colin Greiston?’

  ‘No leads on Casey but he left some writings that suggest he would not let himself be taken prisoner. You can interpret that however you want. Greiston is cleared at some high levels and we’re being asked to prove our interest in him, but I didn’t want to do anything until I talked with you. Basically, he’ll get told we want to interview him. Do you want him to get advance notice?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Two more things about the biologists, first thing is you need a four-wheel drive to get to their camp. The second thing is they’re due to leave this morning ahead of the road closure today. Everything gets shutdown for the President’s visit. He’s flying into Las Vegas and they’ll helicopter him to an airport in Jean and drive from there. Do you know where Jean is?’

  ‘Yeah, we’re close to it right now. It’s just off the highway. We went by there last night.’

  Raveneau was in his new Hawaiian shirt and the one light jacket he took to Hawaii, but it was much colder here. La Rosa wore a T-shirt she bought at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino. In their rental they looked like tourists, holding paper cups of coffee against the cold as they drove toward the Ivanpah dry lake bed and the first sunlight touching high on the gray desert mountains ahead. When they left the highway they could already see the construction site. A few minutes later they knocked on the door of a construction trailer with lights on inside.

  The superintendent was friendly and excited about the Presidential visit. Because of his earlier conversation with Coe, he knew who they were. He was hazy on why they were here but printed them a map, sketched some additional dirt roads, and answered all the questions he could about the biologists and where the President would tour.

  Raveneau showed him the enhanced photo of Greiston made from the video.

  ‘Have you seen anyone who looks at all like this?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘We’ll show it to the biologists. They’ve been out there awhile. Maybe they’ve seen somebody. How do you communicate with them?’

  ‘Radio when they are at their camp on the mountain. Otherwise cell phones work fine.’

  The superintendent tried to reach them now by radio but didn’t have any luck before leaving for what he said was a quick meeting at the tower. Work was underway at the base of the four hundred fifty foot tower. When the three sites of the project were finished mirrors would focus sunlight on the tower and superheat water to drive a turbine to produce electricity.

  Raveneau and la Rosa went back to their car and were glad to get the heater on. The morning was cold and windy. Coe called after they drove the roads on the superintendent’s map.

  ‘We’re getting some feedback from the air,’ Coe said. ‘We’ve got a vehicle coming off the mountain and moving your way. That’s probably the two biologists trying to get out of there before the President arrives. Can you see them? They started driving a few minutes ago and they’re on the southeastern face. That’s the road I told you about that runs through the project and then on over a mountain to Ivanpah.’

  ‘We’re on the road right now.’

  It took Raveneau several minutes then he caught a reflection in sunlight. But there was no need to hold the binoculars and track them all the way down. There was only this road. He lowered the binoculars, looked at the gray-green of the mountain and knew they were most likely just what they claimed to be. That got reinforced even more as they made several stops when they came off the mountain and started down the sloping plain.

  ‘Stopping to look at tortoise burrows,’ Coe said, and they had him on speaker phone now. Raveneau’s phone sat up on the dash, its volume turned up. ‘That’s what they do. It’s why they’re there. The superintendent told me they usually check in with him on their way out though sometimes they just phone and let him know they’re gone. Basically, if his truck is there they stop and let him know they’re leaving.’

  ‘OK, got it, and we’ll see them as they come out.’

  Raveneau was less sure of his theory this morning and it agitated him. The solar thermal plant had three sites and none were very far along yet, so the President’s visit would be largely symbolic. Considering how far along the project wasn’t, it was probably a short visit.

  ‘Is that the tortoise fencing?’ la Rosa asked, and pointed at silver mesh attached to the fencing alongside the road and no more than knee high.

  ‘Looks like it.’

  Raveneau gauged the distance to the mountains. If the biologists weren’t making stops they’d be out by now. He turned back toward the dry lakebed and highway as la Rosa said, ‘They must be mo
ving the visit up.’

  Three black Suburbans were just arriving. They drove toward the superintendent’s office and la Rosa was guessing they were Secret Service vehicles. Raveneau picked up his phone to check the time before calling Coe.

  ‘Have you heard anything about the visit getting moved up? I’m asking because it looks like the Secret Service has arrived.’

  ‘No one has said anything to me. I’ll make a call and let you know.’

  ‘Thanks. How clearly are the Air Force guys seeing the biologists?’

  ‘They told me the one getting out checking the burrows needs a shave. Is that clear enough?’

  ‘Plenty.’

  Another ten minutes went past and Raveneau’s mind was racing. The biologists still weren’t in view but were moving faster and should drive past soon. As they waited la Rosa said, ‘When they go past maybe we should follow and if they leave the project we can head to Vegas and catch a flight home from there.’

  ‘Here they come.’

  Raveneau saw sunglasses and hats and a tinted windshield that made it hard to read features. He read Heritage Wildlife Institute on the driver’s door. There was similar white lettering on the back. They drove straight through. They didn’t slow. They didn’t stop at any burrows or ostensible burrows anywhere on the project site, nor did they stop at the superintendent’s office even though his pickup was there.

  Maybe they saw the big black Suburbans and decided to get out while there was still time. Could be they were picturing getting breakfast somewhere with a clean table and a waitress rather than their campsite.

  Raveneau turned to la Rosa. ‘Let’s get the superintendent to call these biologists. Their cell phones will work now.’

  La Rosa didn’t follow him up the metal stairs of the construction trailer and Raveneau was inside when four helicopters in a line veered from the mountain and swept overhead. He saw their shadows sweep across the road. The biologists didn’t answer their cell phones. The superintendent tried and so did Raveneau as he looked out the window at the helicopters. Could be the White House decided to do the tour by air, but the superintendent said no, the President was still coming. The Secret Service had confirmed that a few minutes ago.

  Raveneau nodded, then asked, ‘Can I borrow your truck?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I need to go up to the biologists’ camp.’

  ‘It’s a company truck, I’m not supposed to ever loan it out.’

  ‘Bend the rules, these are special circumstances and I don’t have a four-wheel drive. It won’t take fifteen minutes to get there and I can’t get in an accident. There’s no one to run into.’

  ‘They already left.’

  ‘Yeah, we saw the Heritage Wildlife vehicle go by.’

  ‘Then why go up there?’

  ‘I’ll get the truck back to you in forty minutes.’

  Raveneau held his hand out and the superintendent reluctantly handed him the keys.

  SIXTY

  After la Rosa climbed into the cab Raveneau engaged the truck’s four-wheel drive, then lowered the window to talk with two Secret Service agents who were suddenly interested.

  ‘Where are you headed?’

  ‘To a camp the tortoise biologists use up on the mountain. It’s fifteen to twenty minutes up that road.’ He pointed at the dirt road rising into the scrub. ‘Want to come with us?’

  ‘The road may be closed when you come back down. If it is, you’ll have to wait until after the visit.’

  ‘How much time have we got?’

  ‘Not long.’

  Raveneau handed his phone to la Rosa after they pulled away, saying, ‘We’re hoping Coe calls before we’re out of cell range. I’m driving. It’ll be easier for you to talk to him.’

  But Coe didn’t call and the road was hard and fairly smooth so they made good time. Or at least they did until hitting a patch of sand before the mountains. On the mountain the road got rockier and narrowed.

  ‘We’re looking for two faded orange tents. The superintendent told me it’s about a half mile up and behind a rock outcrop that blocks the sun, but also makes it possible to drive past it without noticing. He said at the half mile mark start watching.’

  ‘And we’re doing this because the biologists didn’t answer their cell phones?’

  ‘We’re doing it to be certain. They don’t always answer their phones. They didn’t stop and check in with the superintendent before leaving.’

  ‘But now they’re out on the highway and the FBI is following them, right?’

  ‘That’s what Coe said.’

  ‘You don’t think that’s happening?’

  ‘It’s probably happening.’

  ‘They can get pulled over and asked for ID.’

  ‘They’ll have ID no matter what and we’re almost here.’

  But they weren’t. It was closer to a mile and they were midway up the mountain before they spotted the tents.

  ‘Remind me never to loan you my car,’ la Rosa said, as they got there.

  ‘If we don’t find anything we’ll drive back much more slowly. We’ll enjoy the morning. We’ll go get coffee at the golf course and fly home.’

  It was desert beautiful this morning, the winter sky blue and clear, a line of dry brown mountains etched at the horizon. The Ivanpah lakebed below was white, almost silvered in this light. They started at the first tent and didn’t have to go any farther. Raveneau didn’t even unzip the mosquito netting flies were trying to get through. Bright morning sunlight hitting the tent fabric illuminated the interior and he and la Rosa looked in at dark dried blood on the floor of the tent. He saw multiple bullet holes on the tent floor and realized they were shot from where he was standing leaning over looking in.

  It took them a few minutes to get their heads around it, and then Raveneau guessed they were shot while they slept and then dragged and buried somewhere around here.

  ‘But we can’t look for them. It’s why they weren’t answering their phones. It’s why the two men didn’t stop. The superintendent wouldn’t have recognized them and realized something was up. And I really screwed up. I should have asked the superintendent for a radio. We’ve got to get back into cell range fast.’

  La Rosa kept trying her cell phone and Raveneau drove very hard. He slid through the dry switchbacks ignoring la Rosa’s frightened gasps. He hoped someone would see dust rising and put it together. He hoped they were in time. By now the President was on the ground and in a car. By now he was close. He fishtailed through the bad sand and then pushed the truck as they dropped down the alluvial plain toward the solar sites and the highway.

  La Rosa got a ring, but the call dropped. She tried again and as she got through Raveneau slowed so she could hear Coe.

  ‘We found dried blood and bullet holes. Inspector Raveneau and I believe something very violent happened and firearms were involved. The biologists may have been murdered. Someone needs to stop the Wildlife Heritage vehicle and stop the President’s tour right now.’

  Raveneau spotted vehicles and knew the tour was already underway. He turned to la Rosa. ‘Describe this truck to Coe. He needs to tell the Secret Service not to shoot us.’

  But now he doubted there would even be time for that. They were almost back to the project and as the agents had warned, the road was blocked. And he could see the President’s entourage below and starting to turn up this direction. There wasn’t going to be time to explain anything to anyone. They skidded to a stop where the road was blocked and the two agents had their guns out as Raveneau yelled at them.

  ‘Stop the President’s car! Get him out of here now! There may be bombs buried in the roadbed. We’re going around you to block them from coming up.’

  He didn’t wait for their answer and gunned the truck. One of the Secret Service agents swung his gun and got ready to shoot. Raveneau registered that out of the corner of his eye but didn’t stop. They slid around the nose of the Suburban and bounced hard through a drainage ditch and back on to th
e road. Now he drove as hard as he could straight at the vehicles coming up the road. As soon as they started to react he hit the brakes hard. He turned the truck sideways and yelled at la Rosa, ‘Run toward them.’

  They ran toward the vehicles and then there was a flash of light and a roar and more light as the view in front of him bent and wavered. He felt a slamming blow on his back and was off his feet tumbling forward. One moment he was looking at the vehicles and a Secret Service agent ordering them to stop, and then he was looking at a blue sky and couldn’t hear anything. He looked for la Rosa and saw her sitting, bleeding from her right cheek. He tried to speak to her and his voice was faraway as he got to his feet calling to her.

  He looked up at a column of black smoke and the billowing cloud of dust. The superintendent’s truck was sheared in half, part of it burning in the sage, the cab pointing nose up at the sky. The black Suburban up the road was lying on its side and all but one of the vehicles below had turned around and were driving hard away.

  Raveneau focused on walking to la Rosa. He got his balance back though his ears rang with a high-pitched whine. He helped la Rosa to her feet and then someone helped them. She’s OK, he thought, and ran a hand over the knot on his head. Blood ran from his elbow and he knew his right shoulder had road rash and his shirt was wet and torn. La Rosa could barely put weight on her right knee. He put an arm around her to help support her and someone restrained him, saying, ‘We’ve got her. We’re getting an ambulance. You need to sit.’

  But Raveneau didn’t sit. He walked up and looked at the craters the bombs left. He saw where they joined. When he walked back down he found his phone and the battery lying on the road. He put it back together and it rang almost immediately. Raveneau had to turn the sound all the way up to hear Coe.