Storm Surge (Quantum Touch Book 5)

by Michael R. Stern

  “I can't unless you're in your office.”

  “Hold again.” Fritz gritted his teeth. “We're about a twenty minutes away from you,” said the president. “If anyone's there, stay back. We'll bring help.”

  “Jim Shaw's with us. And we have guns. Hurry.”

  * * *

  When they stepped through the portal, the pigs' noise covered any sounds they might have made. Fritz pointed at a head in the pen, what most certainly had been human. Not yet dark, they crept to the barn wall. Jim waved them against the wall, and peeked around the front corner of the barn. They had a clear path.

  Fritz tugged the barn door wide enough to see inside. A tall, white-haired man faced the rear, his hands on his hips. A loud machine in the back covered their entrance, and they ducked behind a tractor wheel.

  From the left side room, a young man emerged carrying a knife and a chain saw. In the dim light, the knife glinted a shade of red.

  “She's all yours.”

  “Joe, remember what I said. Not here.”

  “I want to see how bad I can scare her. Then I'll get them out of here.”

  Fritz nodded to Ashley. With guns ready, they jumped from hiding.

  “Hands up,” Fritz ordered.

  The young man ran to the right rear corner and ducked behind a backhoe, and raised a rifle resting against a tire. The older man snorted, but raised his arms. “Sit down.” Ashley rushed toward the left front corner, and then as he knelt down, a muzzle flash preceded a buzz passing his right ear. A moment later, the rifle's report filled the room.

  Jim kept watch on the man, his gun pointed toward the hidden shooter. Aiming at movement, Ashley squeezed the trigger of his rifle. The bullets hitting the walls sounded like someone knocking, except for one thud. In the shadows, Jim could see a form thrown backward.

  “Joe, come out. They'll shoot you if you don't,” the older man said.

  “Mr. Gilbert, circle to your left. Mr. R, keep him covered.” Jim raised a sniper rifle and peered through the scope. No movement and no answer prompted Ashley to run straight at the hidden man as Jim approached from the flank. The crumpled body remained motionless as the remains of his brain slid down the wall.

  Jim hurried to Fritz and the old man sitting on the barn floor. “He's dead, Mr. R. Let me take it from here.” He told the man to put his hands behind his head. As handcuffs clicked, the barn door opened and Mel Zack snuck a peek around the entrance. She pushed the door wide and the president scanned the dimly lit barn. Too dark to make out detail, he saw Fritz holding a rifle.

  “Get down. We haven't checked for others,” Fritz said.

  “I'm alone, now,” said the older man. “Nice to see you, Mr. President. I would be more hospitable, but I am a bit indisposed.”

  “Shut up,” Fritz said. “Where's Linda?” Fritz pulled the pistol from his belt.

  “Do you have a light in here?” the president asked.

  “The box is on that wall, above the workbench,” said the man. Mel aimed her flashlight on the switches.

  “Be careful. It could be a trick,” Fritz said. With the pistol aimed, he grabbed the old man's shirt at the neck. He said again, “Where's my wife?”

  “Ah, of course. You're Mr. Russell.”

  Mel flipped a switch.

  “Who are you?” asked the president.

  “A gentleman farmer, living out my days in comfort.”

  “You've killed a lot of people.”

  “You have, certainly. But I've never killed anyone. I would like my attorney to be present if you intend to arrest me.”

  “This will go much easier if you answer my questions.”

  “Easier for you, perhaps.”

  Mel brought two folding chairs from the corner, and Jim put the prisoner on one, facing the president.

  While the others were busy with the prisoner, Ashley walked to the rear of the barn. Three doors faced him. Holding his pistol in front, he pushed the right side door open, the room where Joe headed. Too dark to make out anything clearly, a body dangled by the wrists in the middle of the room.

  “Hello?” he called, unsure of what he was seeing.

  A weak, female voice said, “I'm here. Help me.”

  “Linda, is that you?”

  “Who is it?”

  “Ashley.”

  “Thank God. I'm hurt, Ash. Get me down.”

  “Where's the light switch?”

  “To the left of the door. How did you get here?”

  “Let's get you out of here. It's a long story.” He found the switch, but the light didn't show him what he expected. Staring at her back, he saw raw meat, almost skinless. Her legs were striped, her hair cut short, blood trickling over her shoulders and down her back. A closer look showed a cut along the back of her neck that circled to the front. He walked around to face her. Puffy eyes, bruised, and bloody from her mouth and nose, a cut across her throat turned his stomach. He found the chain and lowered the hook enough to free her hands, but her legs buckled. When he took off his jacket to drape over her, she said, “Don't. It hurts too much. He's going to kill me, Ash.”

  “He's dead, Lin. Can you stand or sit? I'm afraid to touch you.”

  “He sliced me everywhere. Leave my feet flat. The hook will hold me up. Ash, his name is Thomas Koppler. He's Koppler's older brother. Look close. They even look alike.”

  Ashley told her he would get help and be right back.

  He ran out calling for a medic. “Mel, we need an ambulance. Linda's a mess.” Mel disappeared, but Fritz asked, “Is she safe?”

  “They've made her look like hamburger.” Turning his gaze to the prisoner, he said, “I have some unfinished business here.”

  “No, Ash. Not now,” the president said. “Check the other rooms.”

  “What is your name?” the president asked. The man looked back with a blank stare.

  Mel Zack said, “I've called a helicopter with a medical team.”

  'Thanks, Mel. Now, who are you?” the president began again.

  “What do you want to do with him, Mr. President?”

  “Not a local jail, that's for sure.”

  “Why a jail at all?” Fritz asked. He pointed the pistol. His anger at the president waned, but his reaction to the man was clinical. Dead offered the best solution to him.

  “Because we have to,” the president said. “And I have two years of questions I want answered.”

  “Someone should check this place,” Fritz said. “The pig pen has human remains, I think. With that backhoe, even more might be buried in the fields.” Then he hurried to the back of the barn.

  Ashley repeated the careful entrance to the other rooms, slow and step-by-step. In the one on the left, he rubbed along the wall for a light switch and turned on a dim, bare bulb, hanging from the ceiling. In front of him, another limp body, taped hands draped over a hook. A quick scan of the shadowy corners showed an otherwise empty room. Refocusing on the only other living being, he stepped closer, looking at the blood tracks down her back, not all new. I know that scar. He took two short steps in front of her. He stared at her face, familiar, but she had blonde hair and blue eyes.

  “They told me you were dead,” she said, weakly. “Can you let me down?”

  “I could never get a straight answer. I can't tell you how happy I am that you're alive. But you look so different.”

  “The eyes are fake, the hair is dyed. But the knife cuts hurt like hell when I breathe.”

  He followed the rope line over the pulley to the wall. “Can you stand?” She said she could, if she put her arm over his shoulder, but she warned him not to touch her. “As he cut, I had the image that he was going to make steaks out of me.”

  “A medical team is landing now. The president's here. We caught the bastard.”

  “Joe?”

  “Is Joe the young guy?” She said yes. “He's dead. I shot him.”

  “He did this. The other guy is Richemartel, and Richter. He's Koppler's brother. But Joe did thi
s. Koppler never touched me. He just asked me questions.” She held his hand, her arm slung over his shoulder, and although barefoot, Jane shuffled out of captivity.

  The sound of helicopter blades rattled the barn walls. From the doorway, Fritz looked at Linda from behind. Ash had been right. Skin in strips failed to conceal the torn muscle through the clotted and clotting blood. He walked in front of her.

  “I'm here, Lin. A medical team is landing now. Can I do anything?”

  “I can't believe you're here. He whipped me. He was going to cut my head off. How's TJ?”

  “He's fine. Mary is back. He's with her.”

  Mel Zack led the medical team straight to Linda. Fritz stepped out of the way. The doctor said to Linda, “The pain of getting you out of here will be excruciating. Ms. Russell, we need to knock you out.”

  “Just get me out of here.”

  “I'll be right back. There's a hospital about fifteen minutes away.”

  “You'll be okay, Linda,” Fritz said.

  “He was going to kill me. I told Koppler's brother, I guess he's Koppler too, about the portal and that you're the only one who can make it work.”

  “You're alive, that's all that matters.”

  “Call my father and tell him I'm alive.”

  As the doctor left Linda, Ashley and Jane were leaving the other room. The newly arrived medical team ran to help. Dr. Clark introduced herself and examined the wounds. She said she needed to stop the bleeding and they shouldn't move. The medic carried a chair from the corner and they gently lowered Jane.

  “We'll need to get her to a hospital fast. Each time she moves she starts bleeding,” the medic said.

  Jane said, “I can't see what I look like, but I can feel every inch of every cut.”

  “He was precise, ma'am. He cut you just deep enough to make you bleed without hitting anything vital. He set you up for a long, slow death.”

  “Where are you taking her?” Ashley asked.

  “Not sure yet. My partner just ran for bandages. I'll tell you when she comes back.”

  The medic told them that an ambulance had been called. Dr. Clark told Jane she wanted to wrap her in gauze. “Do you think you can handle it? It'll hurt but keep the bleeding contained.” Jane said she would try. “I'll be right back. I need to get my other patient ready to travel.”

  As the medic began to roll the gauze, Jane gasped and gritted her teeth. “I like the beard, Ash. How did you get here?” She flinched and groaned as the gauze grew tighter.

  “With Fritz. We were looking for Linda.”

  “Linda's here? Was she in the other room?” Ash nodded. “And she's alive? She was tortured, Ash. I could hear her screaming most of the afternoon.”

  “He whipped her. And beat her.”

  “She's been here for a while, only a day less than me.”

  “Be still for now. We can swap stories later.”

  “We have a lot of catching up to do.”

  The same happy expression that had been a permanent fixture for so long returned. “And a wedding to plan,” he said, as tears rolled into his beard.

  Satisfied that enough guns aimed at Koppler, the president went to see the captives. Linda had been sedated, removed from the hook, and laid on the gurney. As she was wheeled out, the president said, “I'm so sorry, Linda, but I'm glad we found you. Dr. Clark is one of our best trained docs. She'll take care of whatever needs to be done.”

  He walked to the other side of the barn. Ashley glared at him as he approached.

  “Jane, I'm glad Ashley is here. I'll explain later. Now let's get you put back together. Ashley, I owe each of you an explanation and an apology, which I've been hoping to be able to offer since spring.”

  “You could have told me,” Ash said.

  “I could have told you both. We'll talk later.” Jane was lowered face down on the gurney.

  As she was wheeled out, Ashley said, “I'll see you in a little while. I love you.” She smiled up at him.

  The ambulance siren blared, dust obscuring the view as it drove away, carrying two patients Ashley cared about. Standing next to him, Dr. Clark said she would fly to the hospital with the president. Her team had gone in the ambulance.

  “What now, sir?” Mel asked.

  “General Beech has made arrangements for Mr. Koppler and we'll be having some conversations, uninterrupted.” Fritz had seen that look before, clenched jaw, tight lips, furrowed brow, and a laser stare. By contrast, the man smirked, undisturbed by the president's anger.

  “So then, we're done?” Fritz asked. Mel lifted the man to his feet.

  Fritz caught a subtle motion in the corner of his eye. He pushed the president back, and sidestepped in front, as a boot swung, and a silver glint flashed from the toe. Although grabbed by the two agents behind him, the motion ripped a gash across Fritz's mid-section. Richemartel grimaced at having missed his target again. Ashley grabbed Fritz as he fell, and cushioned his head on his lap. Blood gushed and Ashley put his hand over the flow, pressing down, as Dr. Clark knelt next to Fritz. Almost wishing the blood to go back in, a gentle buzz tickled his fingers the harder he pushed. Two secret service agents and Jim Shaw pushed a gurney to where Fritz moaned in distress. By the time the helicopter whirred into action, and the gurney was secured, Fritz had left consciousness. He was dying.

  Chapter 39

  COVERED IN FRITZ'S blood, Ashley walked around the corner and stared at the fluorescent rectangle. I wonder how Tony's doing. “Mr. President, the portal's open. I need to go home. I can't go to the hospital. Please make sure they take care of her.”

  “Ashley, I'll be with them. The helicopter will take Koppler to General Beech.”

  “I'm sorry I just didn't shoot him. I'll call Linda's and Jane's parents. I'm sure they'll want to be here.” The president told him the hospital's name.

  Ashley, Jim and two agents remained at the barn. Agent Sharp informed Ashley that he'd been ordered to escort him to New Jersey. The other agent planned to drive to the hospital and stay with the president.

  “We should go now, Mr. Gilbert.”

  “Call me Ashley.”

  * * *

  “WHAT DO YOU want?” Tim answered the phone.

  “This is Ashley Gilbert. Let me talk to Emily.” A moment later, her voice asked the same question.

  “I don't want anything.” Their unfriendly reaction left him just short of shouting. “We found Linda. She's on the way to a hospital in Virginia. I'll call you later, with the location.” The phone went into his pocket as he pondered how quickly contact with her husband had altered Emily's attitude. When his phone buzzed against his leg, he ignored it.

  * * *

  “WHAT HAPPENED, Ashley,” asked Nat, aghast at the blood-soaked mess.

  “Long story. And I think you'll get a Pulitzer.” Ash watched as she stood, a look of glee replacing the anxiety of the previous moment.

  “Where's Fritz?” she asked.

  He gave a very short and incomplete version of the past hours in the portal. “Let's go to Fritz's. I've got to figure out everything, and arrange to care for TJ. I'll tell you the whole story then.”

  The grim faces, and the addition of Bill Sharp, told Mary part of the story. She offered drinks, but Ashley went to get his own. When he stood, his shadow, Sharp, mimicked him. “Relax Bill. I know where the liquor is. I'm not going anywhere.” With a bottle in hand, he plunked a couple of ice cubes in a glass.

  “I'd have done that, Ash,” Mary said.

  “Jane wouldn't like that. She would expect me not to let you wait on me.”

  After a couple of sips and a large sigh, he pulled one of Fritz's pads in front of him. “Anyone have a pen?” Three wagged in front of him. He began to make a list.

  “Hi, Lois. It's Ashley Gilbert. Tell George that Fritz and I will be out indefinitely.”

  “Why? What's happened?”

  “If you want the whole story, come to Fritz's now. I'm not telling it again.”

  “Se
e you in ten minutes.” He heard her call George as he disconnected. He pushed more buttons.

  “Hello, Ashley.”

  “Emily, we found Linda in Virginia, but she's in bad shape. I understand you're worried, but can you please come here? Someone needs to help Mary with TJ. He told her a condensed version of the evening's events, but didn't mention Fritz. All the while, Tim shouted in the background.

  “Look for us in the morning. Too bad we can't use the portal,” she said.

  Next, he called the Barclays. Jane's mother pick up.

  “Mrs. Barclay, this is Ashley Gilbert.”

  “Yes, Ashley, what is it?”

  “Jane is in a hospital.” He explained what had happened, but didn't answer questions.

  Before she disconnected, she said, “Ashley, you should start calling me Mom.”

  He tossed the remainder of his drink down, licked his lips, and poured another. While he added ice, the doorbell rang and George and Lois walked in. As he retold the tale of the rescue, he pictured each scene. “What's weirdest in all this, when I held Fritz, and pressed on the wound, I felt a tingle, like Fritz has always described when he twisted the doorknob to open the portal. Just weird.” Jim Shaw nodded to the faces turning to him as a second source. “That's all I can tell you, for now. The president said he would call when he had something to report. But I'm going back to the hospital tonight. I'm not letting Jane out of my sight again. Bill, you can come, or not, or I'll drop you off. But I'll be going shortly.”

  “Ashley, I can't let you do that.”

  “Shoot me now. You can't stop me.”

  “I think we've had enough violence for one night,” Lois said. “Mr. Sharp, you can hold me as a hostage until he comes back.”

  “I forgot to call Fritz's parents,” Ash said. “I don't have their number.” Natalie told him to check Fritz's computer. She had filled page after page of a yellow pad. His face had turned pale. Natalie noticed and asked what happened. “With all that's just transpired, I just remembered I killed a man tonight. My best friend saved the president again. Linda's back looks like hamburger. But Jane is alive. All this time, the president didn't tell me. And we're the ones who found them. We're the ones who solved this mystery, and Fritz can't be here to celebrate. Is it possible to be happy, sad, and angry, all at the same time?”