Exile Hunter

by Preston Fleming

  “Patricia, please forgive me,” Linder began. “I didn’t mean to be sharp with you. We were all worried for you after hearing what happened at the camp. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Pray for Roger,” she said softly, staring at the floor. “Poor man, I’m afraid marrying me didn’t turn out the way he expected.”

  “We all will,” Linder replied.

  “It’s odd,” she went on distractedly. “I feel Roger’s presence now, though I don’t ever expect to see him again in the flesh.”

  Linder waited a long moment before speaking.

  “Now that the government has retaken the camp, they’ll be cracking down hard on anyone with a record of opposing the regime,” he explained. “You’re on parole, so you may be safe. But if there’s a roundup, I’ll be a target. So, I need to go away for a while, at least until things calm down. My offer still stands if you and Caroline want to join me. Who knows, if we play our cards right, maybe we can get you both back to London.”

  Patricia looked away.

  “I’m sorry, but I’ve decided to stay,” she replied. “I have a good job at the truck depot and I don’t want to lose it. Besides, Caroline has to get an education, and the schools here aren’t so bad. When she turns eighteen, she can make her own decisions, but until then, it’s up to me.”

  “It’s your call, Patricia,” Linder affirmed. “But bear in mind that, as a former detainee and a child of a moneyman, Caroline won’t be admitted to any accredited college, and will probably never get a residence permit outside Summit County, Utah. Is that the life you want for her?”

  Patricia Kendall pursed her lips and anger flashed in her eyes but she did not answer.

  “Okay, then, have it your way,” Linder responded, aware that he had no standing to argue the point. He swallowed and took a deep breath before speaking again.

  “Listen, there’s something else I want to tell you before I go,” he added. “It’s that I haven’t been truthful with you about something you ought to know.”

  “About what?”

  “About my work for the government. You and your friends were right. I did go to work for the CIA in the Middle East. But after the global pullout, I didn’t leave intelligence work. What I did was transfer from the CIA to the DSS. When civil war broke out, I worked undercover against the rebel militias in Cleveland, and was there when your father’s people looted the downtown banks. I was also posted to London around the time you and Roger were there. But I want you to know that my work back then was never directed against you or your family.”

  Patricia’s mouth opened and she drew a sharp breath, while expressions of surprise, anger, fear, and sadness swept across her face in rapid succession.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she answered at last, grasping the kitchen chair before her as if for support. “Just tell me one thing. Did you take any part at all in the action to kidnap our family in Beirut?”

  Linder bit his lip, for he could think of no answer that would absolve him.

  “Yes. But I was brought in at the last minute,” he blurted out, forgetting the carefully worded apology he had intended to deliver. “I didn’t know the whole plan. What happened was not at all what...”

  “That’s enough,” she declared, holding up a hand to silence him. “I don’t need to hear any more.”

  “I tried to help your father. That’s what got me in trouble...”

  Patricia cut him off again.

  ”No, stop,” she said. “Now get out and don’t ever come near me again.”

  * * *

  Linder did as he was told. Nothing he might say could justify his role in what had happened to Patricia or her family. He still believed he had done the right thing to confess, but he must have been out of his mind to expect that she could ever forgive him. He had held her image close to his heart all these years—for what? What was the meaning of their lives intersecting in Beirut and of his crossing a continent to find her, when all it came to was this?

  He returned to Mrs. Unger’s bungalow in a stupor, questioning every decision that had led him from Beirut and Virginia to the Yukon and then all the way to Coalville. By the time he arrived outside the back door, he felt utterly drained from the mental and emotional turmoil.

  Once inside the kitchen, he found Mrs. Unger laying the table for dinner and Caroline at the kitchen counter doing her homework. Both looked up expectantly as he entered.

  “Patricia came home just as I was about to leave,” he told them. “She was feeling pretty low and I got the impression she wanted to have some time to herself while news filters in from Kamas. She apologized for not showing up at school and said it might be best for Caroline to spend the night here.”

  Linder could see the worried look in Caroline’s eyes.

  “Don’t worry, she’ll be good as gold in the morning,” he assured her. “Your mother is a survivor.”

  “Besides,” Mrs. Unger added, “you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want, darling.”

  “I heard about Kamas at school this morning,” Caroline replied impassively. “I know that Roger is still there and they’ve killed a lot of prisoners. I’m sad for the prisoners. And I’m sad for mother, too, but not for Roger. He’s not my father, in case you didn’t know. All he cares about is himself. And he’s the one who got us into this mess.”

  Her quivering chin and shimmering eyes told a different story. She had placed her hopes for protection in Roger once, it seemed, and he had let her down. Now that Roger was likely dead, she and her mother were all alone. Perhaps from a childish sense of hope, she expected Linder to step in. But he could not see how that could be, for he must soon go, too.

  After dinner, Linder and Caroline cleared the table and worked as a team to wash and dry the dishes. When they finished, Linder sat across the kitchen table from where Caroline had set out her homework and asked if he could have a word with her while he finished his coffee.

  “Do you remember a while back when you asked me how I found you?” Linder began, “And I told you about the dream that led me to your mother?”

  “You’re not going to tell me that you made the whole thing up, are you?” she demanded in a petulant voice.

  “Not at all,” he assured her. “That much of what I told you is true. But I left out the part about why I came to Coalville. Would you like to know the rest of the story?”

  “I suppose so, if it’s not too much of a downer,” she replied warily.

  “You be the judge. Anyway, not very long ago I was a prisoner like you and your mother. In fact, they sent me to the same camp as your stepfather, to cut timber in the Yukon Territory, not far south of the Arctic Circle. I met Roger in the camp hospital, when both of us were in pretty lousy shape. Roger’s heart was failing and he didn’t think he had long to live.”

  Caroline gazed at him with renewed attention.

  “When I learned who Roger was,” Linder continued, “I told him about how your mother and I met long ago and he and I became friends. Over the next couple of days, I did what little I could to help him. On our last day together, he asked me to look after you and your mother if I ever got out of the camps. But when I woke up the next morning his bed was empty. I assumed he must have died in his sleep.”

  “So how did you get out?” Caroline asked.

  “I escaped,” Linder answered. “And then I walked. For over two months. When we started, there were six of us. I’m the only one left. So I’ve had to ask myself, why me?”

  Linder paused to drink the remains of his coffee.

  “I couldn’t find a reason for it,” he went on. “So I decided to create one. That’s when I remembered my promise to Roger and came here to find you and your mother.”

  “And now we get to the part where you tell me you’re going to leave, right?”

  “I’m sorry,” Linder said. “Now that they’ve retaken the camp, there will be a security crackdown all across the Wasatch Front. If I’m around when it happens, it won’
t be long till the feds find me and send me back north. Believe me, Caroline, if there were a way for me to stay, I would. And if I can come back, I will.”

  “But what about Mom and me?” Caroline protested. “Will they arrest us, too, and put us back in some camp like before?”

  “You and your mother were paroled. You didn’t escape,” he corrected her. “And you both seem to have something the government wants, so they seem inclined to be decent to you. Your mother is right about wanting to keep you here to finish school. Believe it or not, there are far worse places in America to grow up than Coalville.”

  “When?” she interrupted. “When do you leave?”

  “Early tomorrow morning.”

  “For how long?”

  “I don’t know,” he answered.

  “Can’t you take me with you?” Caroline pleaded. “You must know that Mother isn’t well. She’s killing herself and I can’t bear to watch it. Soon she’ll be gone, too, and I’ll be here all by myself.”

  Linder reached out to hold Caroline’s hand and longed to hug her but did not dare.

  “Your mother loves you too much to let go of you until you’re old enough to make decisions on your own. And if she hasn’t recovered in time to go back to work tomorrow or the next day, I’m sure you can stay with Mrs. Unger until she gets back on her feet. If you change houses, be sure to leave your forwarding address with her and I promise I’ll find you, one way or another.”

  Caroline’s chin trembled and a tear streaked down one cheek before she rose from her seat and rushed at Linder, pressing her face against his chest. He did not have the heart to resist and wrapped his arms around her narrow shoulders, as if that simple gesture would last for her as long as Patricia’s young embrace had endured for him.

  * * *

  The following morning, Linder rose at dawn and left the bungalow, carrying nothing but a small daypack he had filled with a change of clothes and other basics. At Jay’s apartment, he hopped into his friend’s company-owned pickup for the ride to work. As planned, upon arrival at the vitamin facility, Jay released the day’s work orders and left the building a few minutes later for the parking lot. Linder followed a short while later.

  “Just got a call from Dad a couple minutes ago,” Jay said as soon as they met outside. “He wants to see us before we go.”

  “Anything wrong?” Linder asked.

  “Let’s find out,” Jay replied.

  When Linder and Jay opened Larry Becker’s office door a few minutes later, they found Larry seated on the sofa with Deputy Eldon.

  “Don’t worry, boys,” Larry reassured when he saw the pair exchange worried glances. “Eldon and the Sheriff are on our side.”

  The deputy sheriff acknowledged the two younger men with a formal nod before speaking.

  “I promised your father a long time ago I’d give you a head start if trouble was headed your way, and that’s why I’m here. You all know what happened today at Kamas. It came down a lot harder and a lot sooner than anybody expected, and it’s hard to know where it will end, but the fallout is already here.”

  “What sort of fallout?” Jay demanded.

  “As I was telling your father,” Eldon continued, “a swarm of federal agents landed in town this morning aiming to round up suspects on their watch list, especially former prisoners and undocumented persons. Both your names came up.”

  “Holy shit,” Jay cursed.

  Then Eldon turned to Linder.

  “But there was another agent who also zeroed in hard on the Kendall woman and anybody associated with her. He didn’t seem to have connected you two, but I expect that when he does, it could mean trouble.”

  “What makes you think that?” Linder probed.

  “He’s not from around here,” the deputy replied. “He flew in from Washington and seemed to know all about the Kendall woman, as if he’d been on her case from the start. And he wasn’t letting anything get in his way.”

  “Can you describe him?” Linder asked.

  “Late thirties, maybe six foot two, lanky build, fair hair combed straight back, and cold blue eyes with the look of a rattler ready to strike,” Eldon answered. “Why, you know him?”

  “Yeah, and he’ll know me if he sees me or gets his hands on a recent photo. Where would he be now?”

  “He left our office about a half hour ago, just before I drove down here. My guess is that he was on his way to find Mrs. Kendall.”

  Jay opened his mouth to speak next but his father interrupted him.

  “I want to thank you for coming here and talking to us the way you did,” Larry broke in. “Give my best to the Sheriff and give him my solemn promise that none of us will tell anyone about our meeting here today.”

  “We truly appreciate that,” Eldon answered. “The Sheriff’s a family man, too. We just want to do what’s right.”

  When the deputy had left the room, Jay had his turn to speak.

  “So, Tom, was there anything you wanted to tell us about the Kendall woman? She wouldn’t happen to be the person you were searching for at the reassignment centers, would she?”

  “Good guess,” Linder replied with a weak smile. “It’s a long story. How about if I tell you on the road? If that agent is who I think he is, it’s best we get going.”

  “Ditto that,” Larry agreed. “Your underground contacts are waiting for you in Heber. The plan is to move you out to North Dakota by separate routes. Now that the feds are in town, you’ll have to take the back roads to avoid checkpoints.”

  “Just to be on a safe side, Dad, I’d like to switch cars for this. Do you mind if we drive the new company SUV to Heber? We’ll leave it in the lot behind the old supermarket.”

  Larry Becker agreed and shooed him out the door. Linder followed behind, stopping in a vacant office on the way to make a phone call.

  “Sharon?” he asked when the call went through.

  “Oh, Tom!” came Sharon Unger’s anguished reply. “Armed men with badges came to the house this morning looking for Patricia. When I told them I evicted her and didn’t know where she went, they threatened me! I was so frightened that I forgot Caroline was still asleep in the back bedroom! Thank God they didn’t search the house. But they’re sure to find Patricia one way or another. And now I’m worried that they may go to the middle school for Caroline. What shall I do? Should I send her to school anyway?”

  Linder hesitated. “She won’t be safe there if you do,” he said.

  “But what reason can I give to keep her? She’ll surely want to go.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” he agreed, “and the school will check on her if doesn’t show up. No, let her go there. I’ll think of something else.”

  Linder hung up the receiver and stepped out onto the curb, where Jay was waiting in the company’s SUV. Once aboard, he told Jay a carefully edited version of his relationship with the Kendalls that omitted any reference to his work for the DSS. Then he told Jay to stop the vehicle just before entering the highway onramp toward Heber.

  “Listen, it’s only 8:15,” he told Jay. “Patricia’s job starts at nine. We might still be able to catch her at home if she’s as hung over as I expect she’ll be. Sharon said the agents didn’t have her new address, so there’s not much risk of bumping into the DSS there yet. But if we see any sign of trouble, we can abort. Are you game?”

  “Let’s try it,” Jay replied with grim determination.

  They turned north toward Coalville and, on arriving in town, found no signs of stakeouts anywhere near Patricia’s rental house.

  “Drop me off on the next street. I’ll go in through the back just to be safe,” Linder instructed.

  But he came back a few minutes later empty-handed.

  “Nobody at home. Either they got to her or she’s left for work,” Linder reported. “Let’s beat it in case they’re one step behind us.”

  “Where to?” Jay asked, as stoic as before. “Didn’t you say she works at the Wanship truck depot? Do you think w
e still have a shot at catching her there?”

  Linder looked at his watch.

  “Almost nine-thirty. Even if the feds haven’t arrived there and we found her in time, we wouldn’t get far. Every inch of the place is covered by security cameras; they’d be right on our tail. No, I’m afraid we’ve lost Patricia for now. But I have another idea. Hang a right on 100th East. We’re going to the middle school.”

  A few minutes later, they arrived at the school just in time to notice a blue government sedan outside the front entrance with a shaven-headed driver asleep at the wheel.

  “Keep going around the back,” he directed. The middle school’s rear parking lot held only a scattering of beat-up pickups, minivans, and school buses, with not a government sedan or SUV in sight. Jay parked between two minivans only a few spaces from the fire lane.

  “Okay, I need you to wait here and look inconspicuous,” he added. “If I’m not out in five minutes, you’re free to go on to Heber without me. But as soon as you see me come out, I want you to pull up to the curb and prepare for a fast getaway. Got it?”

  “Are you nuts?” Jay asked in disbelief, at last questioning Linder’s instructions. “Do you really think you can go in there, find the Kendall girl, and bring her out just like that, in five minutes?”

  “I already know where her classroom is,” Linder answered. “I just need to find a way in and catch some good luck on the way out.”

  “Even if you get inside, what makes you think the girl would agree to go with you or that the school would let her?” Jay pressed. “How old is she, anyway?”

  “Fourteen. But you don’t know Caroline. I think she’ll come,” he replied. “And I couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t try.”

  “I still think you’re crazy,” Jay answered at last. “But I’m with you.”

  “Okay, here goes.”

  Without another word, Linder fished a hard hat and a set of blue coveralls out from under his seat and pulled them on. Then he withdrew a pair of sunglasses from his daypack along with an improvised mouthpiece that completely altered his bite and jawline. The combined effect rendered him nearly unrecognizable.