‘I thought you’d been taken off of this case, Lieutenant.’
‘I’m just curious. Someone said something to me today and I was wondering if I should report it to the lead investigator, that’s all.’
‘Knowing you for all these years, I can’t help but think that you are spinning the truth a bit but I’ve never been very good at stonewalling you, have I, Lieutenant?’
‘No reason to start now, is there? It might look suspicious.’
Marguerite laughed. ‘Yes, that is what I said at the scene and in fact, since then, I’ve gotten confirmation – the explosive substance was ammonium nitrate, a commonly used fertilizer.’
‘Thanks, Spellman. Good to know.’
‘Someday I’ll get the whole story, right?’
‘Scout’s honor, Spellman,’ Lucinda said and hung up the phone.
That meant that Lucinda still had to include Tilly on her suspect list, even though her instinct told her that it was a very long shot. Brittany Schaffer would go on the top of the list for the moment. On the other hand, Chet Bowen was so unlikely it was laughable.
Captain Holland raced past her office door, shouted, ‘Whoa,’ then stuck his head through the opening. ‘My office, now, Pierce,’ and he was off again.
What now? Lucinda wondered as she grabbed her incomplete report and followed him down the hall.
As soon as she set foot in his office, Holland said, ‘Where is Special Agent in Charge Jake Lovett?’
‘I don’t know, sir.’
‘Do you have any idea where he was planning to go today?’
‘No, sir. I got a message from him saying that he might not get back tonight but he didn’t say where he was going.’
‘Are you holding out on me, Pierce?’
‘No, sir. If it was part of the investigation, he wouldn’t have said anything to me on the phone. He wouldn’t want anyone to know he was violating orders to leave me out of the loop.’
‘Are you saying he thinks his phone’s tapped? Is this pure paranoia or does he have something to back that suspicion?’
‘He does think his phone might be tapped. When I questioned him on that point, he told me that when the FBI and ATF are working together, anything is possible.’
‘Yeah, he’s got that right,’ Holland said with a nod. ‘But you have no idea of where he might have gone.’
‘No, sir. What’s going on?’
‘No one has been able to reach him for hours.’
‘Hours?’ Lucinda said. She whipped out her iPhone and punched Jake’s name on her favorites list. Her heart sank when it went straight to voicemail. ‘Hey, Jake, just as soon as you can, call me. It’s important.’ She looked at Holland. ‘Nope, I couldn’t get him, either. When did anyone last talk to him?’
‘He called his office and said he’d be on the road and wouldn’t have the best reception at all times, but that was almost five hours ago. They’re getting a bit frantic and called over here, asking for you. They settled for me since you weren’t here.’
‘Do they know what he was working on?’ Lucinda asked.
‘They said he was involved in the search for Connelly.’
‘What happened to Connelly?’
Holland ran down the bizarre events of that morning, from the visit to Dr Singh’s office to the taking of two hostages.
‘Hostages? You’ve got to be kidding. Is that just the FBI’s language or is ATF seeing it that way, too?’
‘We all are, Pierce. Our police department is lead on the search for the man. So far, nothing. Lovett was supposed to be helping us out.’
‘Who’s in charge here? Have you spoken to whoever is in charge?’
‘Yes, I ordered him to make finding Lovett a priority but he went over my head and got the order countermanded.’
‘Call dispatch. See if they know anything about where Lovett was going or what he was doing today.’
‘I should have thought of that,’ Holland said as he snatched up his phone. He asked, listened and jotted down a few notes. ‘Thanks,’ he said and disconnected. ‘He went to the regional ATF office to see if anyone there had any idea of where Connelly might have gone. He never reported back.’
‘I’ll go there and see what I can find out.’
Holland slid the notations he had just made across the desk. ‘Here’s the address and name of the officer manager. Just call me if you go anyplace else. I can’t have you disappearing on me, too.’
‘You got it.’
‘I’m serious, Pierce.’
Lucinda was already out in the hall but she hollered back, ‘Yes, sir!’
Lucinda popped the bubble light on top of her car and tore off to the ATF office. When she reached the federal building, she bristled with impatience as the guard at the gate checked her identification and called in to confirm. As the gate slowly started to rise, she fought off the urge to ram right through it.
Would the office manager be cooperative, she wondered as she waited for the elevator, or would she get nothing but bureaucratic crap? She hated just standing around – but eight flights were a bit too much to handle.
Lucinda burst into the office, startling Maggie Lazarus to her feet. Lucinda held up her badge before Maggie could press the silent alarm. ‘I’m here about FBI Special Agent in Charge Jake Lovett.’
‘What about him?’
‘No one has seen or heard from him since he left to come see you. Did he get here?’
‘Yes. We talked about Agent Connelly and where he might have gone.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘The only place that he indicated was a new lead was the cabin that Agent Connelly’s brother owns over at Smith Mountain Lake. Give me a second and I’ll pull up the address,’ she said as she sat down in front of her computer and tapped on her keyboard. Maggie jotted it down on a piece of paper and handed to the lieutenant.
‘Thanks. If you hear from Lovett, or hear anything about him, call me or Captain Holland at the police department,’ Lucinda said.
When Maggie nodded, Lucinda headed out the door, down the elevator and back to her car. She punched the address into her GPS, reported in to Captain Holland and hit the road heading west.
She’d just finished the first fifty miles of her journey when her cell phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw Jake’s name. Was it actually Jake or was someone else using his phone?
THIRTY-SIX
Jake stayed down but moved toward the rear of the car, brushing bits of glass and debris off his clothes as he went. ‘What the hell’s wrong with you, Connelly?’
‘Nothing. It’s the rest of you all who are wrong.’
‘The rest of us. Jeez, Connelly, I come out here to help and you shoot at me. Damn, you shot your own freakin’ car.’
‘Don’t bullshit me, Lovett.’
‘If I didn’t come out to help you, then why the hell didn’t I bring back-up with me?’
A moment of silence and then Connelly said, ‘You still have to throw out your gun. No need to put your hands on your head but I can’t have you coming out here and shooting me.’
‘OK, OK,’ Jake said. ‘If I toss out my revolver, will you stop pointing that shotgun at me?’
‘I will as soon as your weapon is tucked into my waistband.’
Jake knew it was a risk to give up his weapon but it didn’t seem as if he had any other choice except to start firing and hope he survived. He didn’t much like his chances and he didn’t care for the idea of shooting another member of law enforcement.
‘Still got you in my sights, Lovett. Don’t try anything,’ Connelly said. ‘OK, you can come out now.’
Jake stood and saw the shotgun still aimed right at him. He ducked down and shouted, ‘C’mon, Connelly, we had a deal.’
‘All right,’ Connelly said. ‘Listen, I’m opening the breech.’
Jake heard the distinct sound and stood again. He didn’t take his eyes off Connelly, alert to any sudden moves, as he walked out from behind the S
UV. ‘OK, brief me on what’s going on.’
The two men walked inside as Connelly ranted about the Muslim terrorists he had inside the cabin. Jake didn’t argue with a single one of Connelly’s crazy assertions; he just nodded his head.
‘There they are,’ Connelly said, pointing into the kitchen. ‘Those bastards were casting spells and bringing curses down on my head.’
Jake shook his head. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You had to have been out there long enough to hear them. You heard that gobbledygook, didn’t you?’
‘Oh, that. Jeez, Connelly, they were praying. Weren’t you, guys?’
The two men appeared very confused but nodded at Jake just the same.
‘Muslims don’t pray,’ Connelly said.
‘Now you know that’s not true, man. You’ve heard the calls to prayer from the minarets – shoot, they answer the call to prayer five times a day.’
‘That’s what they tell us – but they’re not really praying; they’re bowing to Satan. That’s all Mohammed is – another name for the devil.’
Jake looked hard at the two men cuffed to the appliances, hoping they’d get his message to play along with his plan without really knowing what he was doing. ‘Well, see, that’s just it, Connelly. These guys aren’t Muslims.’
‘Then why do they have that crap on their heads?’ Connelly said as he snapped his shotgun closed again.
‘Because they’re undercover, man. And you just about blew their cover in this so-called doctor’s office.’
‘Undercover?’ Connelly said. ‘Why didn’t they tell me?’
‘They weren’t allowed to tell anyone. They know how tricky those Muslims are. You could have been one of them. How would they know?’
‘I don’t believe you, Lovett. If there was an undercover operation, I would have known.’
‘Yeah,’ Jake said with a sigh. ‘I’m sorry, Connelly, I really am. They told me I couldn’t tell you. I argued against that decision but got nowhere. I had to follow orders.’
‘They who?’
‘The FBI, man. I can’t tell you how stingy the home office is with information. I don’t know how many times I’ve told them that we need to work with the ATF. But you know how the brass is – everywhere. They get all pissy about their territorial imperatives. You know that. But listen, Connelly, you and I – we can make a deal on the side. We can agree to share everything with each other. Screw those other guys.’
Connelly studied Lovett’s face. ‘OK, Lovett, say I believe you – what do you think we should do now?’
‘Easy, Connelly. We’ve got to get back to work. We’ve got to get these special agents back to work. We’ve got to catch the damn Muslim bastards that blew up the high school. We sure can’t do it out here in the middle of nowhere.’ Jake prayed that he’d laid the foundation and struck the right tone to make his act credible. Dr Singh and his patient still appeared bewildered but at least they’d done nothing to give the lie to anything he had said.
‘I can’t say I totally trust you, Lovett. But what you’re saying does make a lot of sense. But why did you just leave me there in his office? Why didn’t you tell me then?’
‘I was ordered not to tell you, Connelly, and I thought, for sure, these guys would level with you if I wasn’t around. So I left. I had no idea they had this much discipline. You gotta admire men who can maintain their cover when they’re under adversity.’
Dr Singh finally spoke. ‘I am sorry, Agent Connelly, that I felt an obligation to continue in deception. It is my training, I fear. We have been so indoctrinated that it requires intensive deprograming for us to let down our masks.’
Ohmigod! That was brilliant, Jake thought. He flashed Dr Singh a tight smile. ‘So c’mon, Connelly, let’s get this show on the road – who knows what those terrorists have been plotting while we’ve been away? Hand your shotgun to me while you get those cuffs off and get the hell out of here.’
‘Do your rear doors have automatic locks?’ Connelly asked.
Jake snorted. ‘I’m driving a sweet 1966 Impala Super Sport, buddy – what do you think?’
‘Then we’re taking my car – just in case these guys have you fooled.’
‘Your car has no windshield, Connelly – remember?’
‘I’m not real comfortable with this. You gotta put the top up on your car.’
‘Good idea, Connelly. And first sign of trouble, I promise, I will pull over and we’ll deal with it – you and I – and if they try running off, I won’t stop you from shooting them. Can we go now?’
Connelly looked around at the three faces, passed his shotgun to Jake and walked over to unfasten Dr Singh’s cuffs.
Jake stifled the sigh of relief that wanted to escape. He reached out and pulled his revolver out of Connelly’s waistband.
Connelly spun to face him. ‘I knew I shouldn’t trust you.’
‘Oh, relax,’ Jake said, sliding the weapon into his holster. ‘I was just thinking you were right to be cautious. What if they are double agents? I don’t think they are, but why take chances? One of them could have grabbed that gun just as easily as I did. Now –’ Jake patted on the outside of his jacket – ‘it’s all tucked away so it’s not a temptation for anyone.’
Connelly squinted his eyes and studied Jake again. Then his shoulders dropped as he released the tension. He patted Jake on the shoulder and said, ‘Sorry, man, I’m not used to having someone on my side these days. I’ve been telling them about the problem and no one takes me seriously.’
‘I talked to your office manager; I think she did,’ Jake said.
‘Well, yeah, but I don’t think she could shoot an elephant standing four feet away,’ Connelly said as he chuckled. He stepped over to the patient and unlocked his cuffs. ‘OK, Lovett, let’s hit the road. You two,’ he said, wiggling his finger at the two other men, ‘you walk out first and get into the back seat.’
‘Good thinking, Connelly,’ Jake said, making sure he was behind Connelly as Dr Singh led the small procession down the dirt driveway to where the Impala was parked. Jake kept up his act, spouting anti-Muslim garbage until Connelly dozed off and filled the air with a loud snore.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Charley was surprised when she and Amber approached Amber’s home. It was a cute little bungalow in a revitalized part of town. The lawn was mowed, daffodils lined the sidewalk with cheer, pots filled with amaryllis added color to the front porch, everything appeared neat and tidy. Knowing what happened to Amber, Charley had expected to arrive at a dark, miserable hovel – something more in keeping with the evil acts the four walls had witnessed.
Amber slid her key into the lock but before they could open the door, they heard Andy sobbing, ‘No, no, no.’
Amber hurried inside and said, ‘Andy it’s me. It’s OK.’
The little boy threw himself at her, wrapping his arms around her waist and sobbing into her shirt.
‘Mom still asleep?’ Amber asked.
Andy nodded his head up and down, wiping his nose on her clothes. Then he pulled back. ‘I don’t think I got it all, Amber.’
‘That’s OK,’ Charley said as she pulled out her iPhone and flipped on her flashlight application. ‘Look what I have. We’ll find every little bit with this.’
‘You sit down over here, Andy,’ Amber said. ‘We’ll get it all. You just rest for a minute and try to calm down, OK?’
Charley and Amber peered at every centimeter of the fireplace, using a pair of tweezers to pick the smallest bits out of the mortar and uneven surface of the bricks. When they were satisfied, they moved on to inspect the carpeting around the hearth. That area proved a bit more difficult: extracting little glass slivers from the tufts was exasperating.
They stood back and sighed, rubbing on their lower backs when they finished. ‘That’s it, Andy,’ Amber said. ‘We got it all.’
Andy gave them a weak little smile from beneath his reddened eyes and runny nose. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered.
&
nbsp; ‘Go get his things,’ Charley said, ‘and let’s get out of here.’
‘Go on, Charley,’ Amber replied. ‘We’ll be OK.’
‘You will not! Your mother is still conked out. That man will be back here any minute. You can’t stay here. And we can’t leave Andy. Get his things and let’s go before it’s too late.’
‘If I take Andy away from here, we’ll both be in trouble.’
‘If your mother’s boyfriend comes back, you’ll both be in trouble.’
‘Well, we got all the glass up,’ Amber objected.
‘But he’s drunk, Amber. He could do anything. And if I go home and leave you here, I’ll be in trouble.’
‘Oh, Charley, you don’t know what trouble really is. If I’m not here, he might do to Andy what he did to me. I can’t let that happen. It was a mistake to leave. Andy’s not safe.’
‘That’s why I said we need to take him with us.’
‘If Mom wakes up and he’s gone, she’ll freak out.’
‘Leave her a note – but hurry. We have to go,’ Charley pleaded. She could hardly stand still to talk to Amber. Her knees wobbled; she felt shivers running up and down her spine. The urge to flee fought with her best intentions.
‘I don’t know,’ Amber wailed.
‘I do. Let’s go.’
The snick of a key going into the lock froze them all in place for a second. Then Charley grabbed Amber’s hand and reached out and latched on to Andy’s as they ran down the hall. ‘Which one is your room?’ Charley asked.
‘That one,’ Amber said, pointing a little further down the hall. They ran into it and shut the door.
‘Where’s the lock?’ Charley asked.
‘He took it off,’ Amber wailed.
Down the hallway, a male voice echoed. ‘Andy! Where the hell are you? Come out, you little bastard!’
‘Hurry. Help me, Amber,’ Charley said as she pushed a chest of drawers toward the doorway.
Andy whimpered and stuck four fingers of one hand into his mouth.
‘Sssh, Andy,’ Charley urged.
A fist pounded on the door. ‘You in there, you little bastard?’
‘The bed,’ Charley whispered. ‘Help me push it.’
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