Red Tide

by Peg Brantley

  “How could you tell?”

  “There aren’t a lot of things that will make a man sweat, especially an FBI field agent. Must be the dogs.”

  Nick focused on driving.

  “You’re attracted to my daughter, aren’t you?”

  “She’s nice,” he said noncommittally.

  Bryce Taylor barked out a rusty laugh. “You mean, except for the dogs.”

  A chuckle burst from Nick’s lips. “Yeah,” he said. “Dogs bite.” Suddenly he relaxed.

  “Did you know Jamie didn’t get her first dog until I retired and we moved to Aspen Falls?”

  “To tell you the truth, we didn’t talk much about her dogs... or her history.”

  “Ah... got it. Visceral. Sexual.”

  Nick chose not to respond to Bryce Taylor’s assertion. The conversation was getting a little out of hand, and it was closer to the mark than Nick wanted to admit. He redirected the discussion. “Tell me about Blanton. Why were you after him?”

  “I didn’t have a name because he’d changed it but Blanton’s been on my short list for the last seven years. Nothing dramatic—the list just kept getting shorter.” Taylor visibly stretched.

  “For killing your wife?”

  “Why else would I be after him?”

  Twenty-five minutes later, he had an entirely new appreciation for what motivated Jamie Taylor, and for that matter, her sister. Even the dogs lost a little of their threat. Any FBI agent worth his salt could understand that a mission is a mission, period. “So, Mr. Taylor, do you think you’ll be able to handle confrontation with Teague Blanton without your personal mission getting involved? We’re risking the lives of both of your daughters, not to mention the lives of many more people.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Convince me. You’ve been after this guy for ten years. He took your wife, and she died an unspeakable death.”

  “I said I’m fine, Grant. Leave it alone.”

  “Look, the fact is, you and I don’t know each other. We’re about to enter into a situation where we’ll have to rely on each other, so your advice to leave it alone pretty much sucks.”

  “Okay... you might be right, given any other set of circumstances, but he has my daughters. They are the best things I have left, and my only connection to the most amazing woman in my life.”

  “And yet you walked away from them.” Nick thought about the daughter he hadn’t even known about until recently. Would he end up abandoning her because of his inability to parent? How different would that be than just walking out?

  “I didn’t abandon them. They were grown and on their own. Politics being what they were, I had the best chance of bringing him to justice. My wife deserved that, and so did my daughters.” He looked pointedly at Nick. “So yes, I left. I made a choice, and I’ve lived with it. Now, shouldn’t we strategize a bit before we get to Denver? Let’s talk.”

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Jamie glared at Teague Blanton. “You’re planning on harming those people, aren’t you?” She watched as he assembled the last bits of the drone. “Teague, what are you planning?”

  He finally looked in her direction. “Oh, dear, sweet Jamie. I’m not planning on harming anyone.”

  Jamie sucked in a breath.

  “I’m planning to kill them... within minutes... while I watch.” He cocked his head. “What do you think they’ll do when they realize they’re dying? And that the person next to them is dying?” A dreamlike mask settled onto Blanton’s face. “Will they reach out? Will they express their love? Their fear?” He looked at her. “What exactly will they do? How intensely will they feel?”

  Jamie twitched with recognition. “You’re sick! You’re evil!”

  “Oh, no, no, no. I’m simply committed to becoming more than I am, to increasing my experience.”

  Jamie was incredulous. “By killing people?”

  “It’s more than that. It’s enabling them to push down to their deepest emotions. It’s giving them the opportunity to connect to the things that really matter in their lives and to express what they find. They’ll flood the air around them with raw emotion.”

  Jamie tried to digest that information. “And that will benefit you how?”

  Teague Blanton pinched the upper part of his nose, then began to massage it, harder and harder. Tension spread into the air.

  Shit. Jamie stumbled, clambered for a way to redirect the conversation. “Okay, how is the drone going to help you?”

  The nose rubbing lessened, then stopped. Blanton dropped his hand to his side only to come up again in a weird, grandiose theatrical gesture. He dipped his head. “I have concentrated one of the most lethal natural toxins known to man in powder form: saxitoxin. It’s nearly perfect on its own when conditions are right, and I know how to duplicate those conditions: create the toxin; distill it and increase its potency. In the history of man, no one else has been able to do this. I have changed history.”

  He looked at Jamie as if he expected applause.

  Jamie forced herself to continue watching him. Keep him talking.

  “Of course, I had a few trials and errors. The formula took a great deal of tweaking, and then I had to consider the method of delivery. I have the United States military to thank for their drone program. Without this wonderful airborne friend, my plan would require a much more complicated strategy.”

  He opened another crate and pulled out the pieces to build a second carrier of death.

  “Two?”

  “Probably overkill.” He smiled. “But I’ve got one chance to pull this off, and a good plan always makes room for error.”

  Jamie wanted to ask where the saxitoxin was, but she didn’t trust herself, or him, not to do something stupid. I have to think... fast.

  Jax moaned and opened her eyes. Jamie made sure she was in Jax’s line of vision. She watched her sister’s eyes clear and then fill with panic. Relief swept over Jamie as the panic was replaced with control and intelligence.

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  “Okay. Wake up. We’re in Denver.” Nick didn’t have to repeat himself. The man riding shotgun popped open one eye and then the other. Nick checked the GPS. They would arrive at their destination—the Ritz-Carlton unless they got better intel—in less than fourteen minutes. Sheriff Coble and the deputy would meet them there. DPD would stand by.

  Bryce Taylor stretched as well as he could in the passenger seat. “Damn, would you look at the traffic?”

  “Game day. It’s going to get worse the closer we get to the stadium.”

  A dog barked in the back of the SUV. Nick tensed.

  “Here’s what you have to know about those dogs, Nick. Just as you know your job, they know theirs. It will be like a choreographed show. Don’t get in their way, and they won’t get in yours. They’ll also follow your commands, so speak clearly.”

  “Commands?” Nick hadn’t even considered that he’d have to talk to the dogs. He didn’t know any commands other than sit and stay, and somehow those didn’t feel appropriate given the circumstances.

  “Jamie’s dogs are trained to find people who want to be found. They’re not DEA or ATF, so her commands won’t be coded. She would have taught them basic words to respond to when they hear them. Maybe a few hand signals as well.”

  “Hand signals?” Nick felt less and less able to deal with the situation. “Look, maybe you ought to go in with the dogs. I’ll get there my own way.”

  “We’re not even sure where there is, Cowboy.” Taylor pulled two energy bars out of his pack and handed one to Nick.

  “My daughter would never raise a mean dog. You have absolutely nothing to fear from them. Now, do you want to hear the commands I think Jamie has taught them or do you want to wing it?”

  Chapter Seventy

  Jamie watched as Blanton loaded each of the drones with their payload of saxitoxin. These are the worst moments of my life. She figured one way or another she was going to die. Once again, she thought of the heroes on 9/11
who had sacrificed their own lives to save thousands.

  “Okay, girls. Time for us to move.” Blanton gestured stiffly. “Get up.”

  Jamie flinched at his touch as he hauled her to her feet. She’d made her decision and was no longer afraid. All she wanted was an opportunity. Given any window, she’d take Teague Blanton out regardless of the cost. And she knew her sister would do the same, given the opportunity.

  Jamie noted he left everything but them where it was. The greater distance between him and his drones, the better. She complied as he urged them toward the elevator.

  During the ride down, Blanton kept a hand on her back, like a date. What a complete bastard. She looked for a chance, any chance, to swing the balance in her favor.

  “We’ll have a little time for some intimate experiments regarding human emotion,” he said as the doors opened at the basement level.

  It finally became clear to Jamie what Blanton was after, and logic told her that regardless of what he experienced or how many he killed, Teague Blanton would never get what he wanted.

  But he didn’t know that. As long as he didn’t know, maybe she could figure out a way to leverage their position.

  “You have certainly proven a lot more difficult than your mother did.”

  Chapter Seventy-One

  “Agent Grant, I’m Deputy Linda Jane Roberts. I’m at the Blanton house and I’ve found something you need to know about.”

  “Speak to me, Deputy.”

  “Teague Blanton is a real estate developer, among other things. We’re just beginning to uncover all of his holdings. One of them is a large apartment complex near I-25 and Colfax.”

  “I’m not familiar with the Denver area. Why is that piece of real estate important?”

  “It’s a stone’s throw from Sports Authority Field, and I believe the Denver Broncos have a home game today.”

  “Good work.”

  Nick clicked off, pulled to the side of the road and input a new location. He called Coble and told him to alert the DPD but make sure they stood down until he knew for sure the apartment complex was the right place. It was too late to come up with any plausible reason to stop the game.

  Five minutes later, Nick turned his SUV into the main parking lot of the Rocking Horse Apartment Community. Bryce pointed out the trademark curvature of the stadium and they drove slowly toward that end of the complex. The place was enormous. Three high-rise apartment buildings were connected by parking garages. A clubhouse doubled as a leasing office, and the landscaping incorporated xeriscape plants with just enough grass that it looked both interesting and lush.

  “You’ve been tracking Blanton for ten years,” Nick said. “Any ideas?”

  “Let’s park and see if the dogs can pick up anything.” Bryce opened a paper bag and pulled out a pale yellow t-shirt.

  “Where did you—”

  “While you were worrying about Jamie’s animals, I found her laundry hamper.”

  Nick backed into a parking place in the farthest row. No other cars were around them, and evergreens were dense on the driver’s side and at the back of the vehicle.

  Bryce hopped out of the passenger side like a twenty year old kid and pulled up the back door before Nick had his own closed.

  “C’mon, Cowboy.”

  Bryce placed leashes on both dogs.

  “I’ll take Gretchen,” Bryce said. “You take Socrates. We’ll head off in different directions and see whether the dogs come up with scent. If either of them catches something, one short whistle. If either is a bust, two shorts.” He handed a silver whistle on a chain to Nick and put a second one around his own neck.

  “How do you know the names of the dogs?”

  “Their collars, Cowboy—their names are on their collars.”

  Nick hadn’t gotten close enough to look.

  “Look at me,” Bryce commanded.

  Nick looked up.

  “Can you do this? There’s a lot at stake here.” Bryce’s gaze darkened and bored into Nick’s. “If you can’t do this, I’ll do it by myself. I’ll get it done, but it’ll take longer.”

  Nick nodded. “I’m okay. Let’s go.”

  Bryce held Jamie’s shirt up to both dogs and their response was immediate. “Find Jamie.”

  Nick was barely aware that Bryce and Gretchen had hauled off. It was all he could do to keep up with Socrates.

  Socrates moved at a good clip. He was excited and loving this game. Nick guessed he’d probably played Find Jamie before. Nick was also glad that the dog was at the end of the leash, pulling and not closer to Nick.

  Within thirty seconds, Socrates began moving back and forth in a search pattern he probably used when looking for lost hikers, and he slowed down significantly. Nick was hopeful as they approached a side entry door to the building, but Socrates didn’t seem to find anything there that smelled like Jamie. He couldn’t help saying, “Find Jamie, Socrates. Find Jamie.” Nick had never before talked to a dog, not even his old Queenie.

  The dog backtracked, then walked in a circle. He whimpered.

  What the hell did that mean? Bryce hadn’t said anything about a whimper.

  “Find Jamie.”

  Socrates moved off and sniffed but nothing got his attention.

  This wasn’t working. Nick jerked on the leash in exasperation, then froze when he realized what he’d done. He fully expected an attack from the dog. It didn’t come.

  Not quite willing to take his eyes off the big beast, Nick knelt. Socrates sat next to him, and lapped the side of his face. Then the dog whimpered.

  Nick wiped his face. “I get it. We didn’t find her.”

  Two short whistles sounded from the distance. Bryce hadn’t found anything either. Nick shoved himself to his feet and the two, man and dog, walked back to the SUV together.

  “What do you know? No bloody gouges in your skin or anything.”

  Bryce opened the back of the SUV and both dogs bounded inside. While Bryce secured their travel cages, Nick called the sheriff. “This isn’t the place. Call DPD.”

  Then he searched his cell records and hit the Call button.

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  “Deputy Roberts, anything else? The apartment complex was a bust.” She spoke to someone else in the room for a moment, then said, “We have a long shot, Agent.”

  “I’ll take it.”

  “Blanton has a new high-rise building. It’s still under construction, but it’s also near the football stadium.”

  Nick input the address at 16th and Federal into his GPS. He thought he could get there without help, but he couldn’t afford to be wrong.

  He looked at his watch. Two-thirty. The game started at two-fifteen. They didn’t have much time. Nick figured the attack would come in either the second or third quarter to maximize the number of targets. Fans tend to arrive late, leave their seats at half time, and even in a close game, they’ll often leave early to avoid traffic.

  Ten minutes later he pulled in behind the high-rise. The parking lot was almost empty, the result of the Denver PD stepping up parking enforcement in the areas surrounding the football stadium during games. Nick pulled his credentials out of his wallet and placed it on the dash. Maybe if they saw that an FBI agent owned the vehicle, it wouldn’t get ticketed and towed.

  The two men walked behind the SUV, each of them scouting the surrounding neighborhood. It was quiet, strange to hear a little traffic on Federal Boulevard and know there was a game going on right across the street with tens of thousands of fans, and yet the neighborhood just two blocks away remained still and peaceful. The warm afternoon sun gave the area a lazy feeling.

  A muffled cheer surged out of the stadium, and Nick and Bryce looked at each other.

  “Gretchen or Socrates?” Bryce asked.

  Nick reached for the leash attached to Socrates and waited.

  Bryce once more pulled out the yellow t-shirt and held it down for the dogs to sniff. “Find Jamie.”

  Chapter Seventy-Three />
  Blanton knelt and bound Jax’s legs, then moved to Jamie and did the same. “I got lucky with your mother. She was so unsuspecting. She began as a retribution, turned into an object of hope, and then ended with disappointment.”

  Jamie swayed. Teague Blanton had killed her mother. No wonder he targeted us. No way will this monster win, not if I have anything to do with it.

  As Blanton stepped out, Jamie thought, Now’s my chance. She looked around the basement. Some wooden forms for concrete were piled neatly in one corner, and a large number of boxes and crates that had contained building supplies had been flattened and stacked next to them. Jamie didn’t know when she’d seen such neat construction crews. Some odd scraps of metal in a much messier pile were waiting to be carted out and dumped. There was a large double-doored metal storage unit against the far wall. Maybe there’s something in that cabinet I could use.

  Jamie inch-wormed over to the cabinet and considered how to get it open. She got to her knees, then tried to push the handle up with her head. It didn’t move. Locked. The cabinet wasn’t flush against the wall. Maybe she could tip it over somehow. She tried ramming it with her shoulder. The unit didn’t budge. She closed her eyes in pain.

  Something pushed on her sore shoulder. Jax. Her sister gestured toward the pile of scrap metal and the two sisters hurried to try and release their bonds.

  Jamie applied her tightly wrapped hands to a large piece of sharp metal. Jax did the same. When their hands were finally freed, each sister unleashed her ankle wraps. Jax slowly pulled the tape off from her mouth, leaving it dangling in her hair.

  Together, they pried open the cabinet. Flammables. More than a dozen bottles carried the warning labels on them, and most of them were full. As part of Jamie’s job with Search and Rescue, they’d spent one weekend training with the fire department. Jamie tried to remember what she’d learned.

  Fire moves up and out. She looked around for the ventilation shafts. There would be more than one. They’d make piles of wood and cardboard under the vents and create a trail with the flammable liquids between each pile so it would quickly spread. They needed a source to ignite them.