“I promise, I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something,” Kevin told Michelle as he left the lake house amid the moonlight of early morning.
After receiving the news about the escape in Ft. Worth, and calling to check on Evan’s status, Kevin had picked up some water and extra food and driven up to the lake house to see if Evan was, by some chance, there, or to give Michelle and Mrs. Parker an update in the likely event he wasn’t.
“Please,” Michelle responded, “Please let me know as soon as you hear something.”
“Don’t worry, I will. If he somehow makes it up here, just sit tight. Don’t try to contact anyone. I’ll check back within the next few days.”
After watching Michelle go back inside, Kevin walked along the dirt road about a half mile, got into his car, and began the drive back to the city.
_______________________
“Bleeker, sorry for the early call. It’s Costello.”
“What is it?”
“Cameron just met with Evan Parker’s wife at a little country house a few hours outside of town.”
“How do you know it’s Michelle Parker?”
“There’s an SUV parked out front. I ran the plates and they came back to Evan Parker.”
“Fair enough. Where are you now?”
“At a little service station down the road from the house. What do you want me to do?”
“For the time being, nothing. Get back to the city. Don’t let anyone see you out there. I’m in briefings with the White House Chief of Staff throughout the morning, but I’ll catch a flight back early in the afternoon.”
“Should I assign anyone out here?”
“No, I don’t want to spook anyone. If Parker’s family has been hiding there this long, and they feel it’s safe, they won’t be going anywhere. Just keep an eye on Cameron.”
Chapter 69
“Are you all set back there?” Tom Langham asked.
“All set,” Declan responded.
“Good, we’re next in line for takeoff. Relax, make yourself comfortable and we’ll be back stateside in about eight hours. We’ll land in Oklahoma City to go through customs, then we’re off again to our final destination.”
“Do you think we’ll have any issues with customs?”
“Nope, none at all. I’m longtime friends with most of the people at Oklahoma City, so we’ll be just fine. Sit back and enjoy the ride. We’ll be up in the air shortly.”
_______________________
After double checking Declan’s coded response in the email forwarded by Louis, Kevin Cameron deleted the email and sat back in his chair trying to determine the best way forward. Declan was clearly bound for the lake house. Kevin just had no idea when or by what means. Strangely, the situation was somewhat complicated by Evan’s unanticipated freedom and the fact that, due to his escape, Kevin had no idea where Evan was or what had become of him. He could only hope Evan was alive, because if he was, the odds were favorable that Evan would try and make it back to his family at the lake house.
Kevin’s phone rang. He looked at the caller id to see it was Bleeker. “This is Cameron,” he answered.
“Cameron, any news on the Parker front?”
“Only that Evan Parker escaped from the Ft. Worth detention facility, or at least he’s presently unaccounted for.”
“I heard about that. Any line on where the rest of his family may be?”
“Still working on that. I may have something.”
“Good. What about Parker? A little bird informed me that you’ve been in contact with Louis Martino.”
His voice giving nothing away, Kevin replied, “It seemed like a good place to start, seeing that Martino clearly has inside info that could only have come from Declan. I figured he might have an idea as to Declan’s whereabouts.”
“Good instincts. And?”
“Still developing, but I did receive a response from Martino, so it could be promising.”
“Excellent. I’ll be in town later this afternoon, in a few hours. I’ll call when I land, but I want to meet you and Costello for a full briefing. Understood?”
“Of course. I’ll clear my afternoon.”
“Good. I’ll call when I’m on my way.”
Kevin hung up the phone and sat back again, rubbing his temples. Clearly Bleeker had been tracking Louis Martino’s emails, a risk Cameron had been aware of, but had been willing to take. Knowing Bleeker as he did, Kevin knew it was safest to operate under the assumption that Bleeker was also somehow aware that the rest of the Parker family was at the lake house, otherwise the question would not have been posed.
For Kevin to have any effectiveness, he had to remain on the inside of the operation, and for that to happen, he had to retain Bleeker’s trust. Mulling over his options, Kevin knew the only way to do that was to lay everything out for Bleeker in the briefing, including Declan’s response. From Bleeker’s perspective, Declan’s family was only worth keeping alive for as long as they could be used as bait. By telling Bleeker where they were, and that Declan appeared to be coming back for them, Kevin hoped he’d be able to keep everyone alive for at least a couple more days.
_______________________
“Just another three and a half hours or so,” Evan said to Jessica.
“Do we have enough gas to make it without stopping again?”
“Yeah, we should be okay.”
“Good. That last stop made me nervous.”
“Me too. Lots of desperate people out there. It’ll be good to get off the road.”
“What do you think we’ll find at the lake house?” Jessica asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think the feds or anyone knows your family is up there?”
“I don’t think so, but I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.”
“What’s it like?”
“It’s gorgeous. It’s a small little town. The house is on a medium sized lake, nothing fancy, but it’s in the middle of a wilderness area full of rolling, wooded hillsides. My brother and I used to play in the woods all day when we’d go up there.”
“What did you play?”
“Mainly cowboys and Indians. The Lone Ranger was our favorite. We would pretend we were the Lone Ranger and Tonto. There’s a cave about a few hundred yards from the house, up in the side of one of the rockier hillsides. That was our main hideout, the place we’d meet up in case of trouble, which inevitably came in the form of cattle rustlers or bandits. The cave had two entrances, one on each side of the rise, basically cutting through the hillside.”
“Sounds like the kind of place we could use nowadays.”
“Absolutely.”
“What was on the other side?”
“Back then, nothing but a big clearing and thirty or so acres of farmland. Now, there’s a little private airport over there, but it’s hardly ever used.”
Chapter 70
Bleeker stepped quickly and confidently into the conference room, where Costello and Kevin Cameron sat waiting. “So, hit me. What do we have?”
Costello looked to Cameron, who spoke up, “Well, as you know, I’ve made contact with Louis Martino, with the hope of getting a message to Parker to the effect that his brother had been picked up and his family needed help. To my knowledge, Martino passed the message to Megan Neary and sent back a response not long ago.”
“And, do we have a nibble on our hook?”
“I think we may.”
“What about the family, where are they?”
“Parker’s mom, sister-in-law, niece and nephew are hiding out at a place a few hours outside the city. It’s a small lake house that’s still titled to Parker’s parents.”
“Have you made contact with them?”
“I have. At this point, they believe I’m working to try and get them reunited with Evan and to safety somewhere.”
“Any word on Dr. Parker?”
“None. He was sent down to the detention facility in Ft. Worth. There was an inmate upri
sing a few days ago and he’s been unaccounted for ever since. I suspect he’s either dead or, like his brother, on his way to the lake house.”
“You don’t have any surveillance on the lake house though?”
“No. I wanted to keep it to myself, keep it low key. If they suspect me, the game is off. As things stand, with the family supposedly sitting safely at the lake house, they make good bait. A potentially easy grab.”
Bleeker sat back in his chair and ran the various scenarios in his head for a few minutes. “You’ve done good work, Cameron. Does the family have any communications out there?”
“No, nothing. Otherwise, they’d have been a lot easier to track.”
“True, but that works to our benefit now that we’ve found them. Does Parker know they’re at the lake house?”
“I believe so.”
“But, because they don’t have any phones, internet or any other way to communicate, he has to go there himself to find out.”
“Agreed.”
“So, until he gets there, he has no idea who’s at the house.”
“True.”
“I want Parker to find us at the house, not his family. Get four men together and a van. I want to take the family tonight, get them out of the house and into custody before Parker shows up. We’ll take the house, remove the family, and take up positions inside.”
“Bleeker,” Kevin interrupted, “why don’t we just leave them there? They’re the perfect bait now.”
“They’ve already served their purpose. As things stand, I have no control out there. I don’t have surveillance and I don’t have consistent reliable intel. Parker isn’t dumb. He’ll scan the area for signs of surveillance units before heading for the house itself. If he finds anything outside, anything at all, it’s over and he’ll never try for the house. We have to be set up inside waiting for him, without any signs of our presence outside. That means we need to take the house ASAP, so we don’t risk Parker beating us there. Costello, get the men together. I want to move out within the hour. Cameron, you’re with me. Let’s go.”
_______________________
Tom Langham landed the plane softly onto the small airstrip about two hours before sunset. One of the two airport attendants came over to the plane, talking to Tom about how long they’d be on the ground and his fuel needs.
Once he’d finished speaking with the attendant, who’d gone around to one of the four hangars on site, Tom stepped back into the cabin. “You all set?”
“I am,” Declan replied, tucking the loaded Lone Ranger into his belt.
“Here, take the Remington too,” Tom said. “Hopefully there’ll be no need for it, but better safe than sorry.”
“Thanks, I will.” Declan took the rifle and looked it over. Tom handed him a box of rounds.
“And do you have the cell phone I gave you?”
“It’s in my backpack, along with the jacket, cash and silver coins. Just in case.”
“You can never be too prepared.”
“Agreed,” Declan said. “Okay, the entrance to the cave is about three quarters of a mile through the forest due east from here. I’ll go through and come out on the other side, on a rise above the house and about two hundred yards away. There’s a chance we’ll come back by car, but if there’s no rush I’d prefer to make the trip back by foot, so just keep an eye out and be ready to fire up the plane.”
“I’ll be ready to roll.”
“And, Tom, if for some reason I don’t come back with them, stick to the plan and don’t wait for me, okay.”
“I’m not so sure about that one. Megan made me promise to look after you.”
“Tom, I’m serious. This mission is to get my family to safety. That’s the priority here and if it doesn’t happen, we’ve failed. If it comes down to it, don’t wait for me. If I get left behind, I’ll meet you like we discussed.”
“Nineteen hundred hours, exactly thirty days from today at Lakefront Airport in New Orleans,” Tom responded.
“Got it.”
“Okay,” Tom answered with reticence. “You have my word. If it comes down to it, I won’t wait, but I hope it doesn’t.”
“Me too.”
“Good luck and God speed.”
With that, Declan put his small backpack on, looped the Remington over his left shoulder, and stepped out of the cabin onto the tarmac. He slipped around the plane and darted quickly across the runway, disappearing into the forest.
Chapter 71
Declan found the cave entrance exactly where he remembered it. Aside from the airstrip, nothing had really changed in the area over the years. He flipped on his flashlight and headed into the cave, which essentially cut through the hillside, acting as a tunnel from one side to the other. Aside from a tight, narrow passage of about twenty feet shortly after the opening, the remainder of the path was relatively wide and easily walkable. Numerous smaller tunnels branched off from the main path, but Declan knew each twist, turn, fall and rise along the way.
About fifteen minutes later, he emerged in the late afternoon sunlight on the other side, in the rocky cliffs about sixty feet above, and a few hundred yards away from the lake and lake house below. The sun was just beginning its slow descent as he emerged from the darkness of the cave into the softening light. He flipped off the flashlight and put it back into his jacket pocket, then moved quietly and swiftly along a little switchback trail leading down from the cave entrance. The trail was just one of many which had been made over the years by his family. There were numerous little trails in the woods around the house, which his family had worn out during their time there. After he’d descended about 30 feet, Declan ducked down behind some brush, in an area giving him a relatively clear view of the house and the general surroundings.
He initially scanned the area with his naked eye, easily able to make out the house and Michelle’s SUV parked below. Raising the Remington, Declan peered through the scope, which afforded a magnified view of the forest surrounding the house. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful. Seeing and hearing nothing unusual, and sensing nothing out of the ordinary in the surrounding forest, Declan proceeded down the trail, which would ultimately bring him to the back of the house, which overlooked the lake.
As Declan neared the end of the trail, he began to hear what sounded like tires rolling along the gravel road leading to the house. He stopped for a second to listen closer and was clearly able to make out the sound, which grew louder and more discernible. At that point, Declan pulled the Remington off his shoulder and sprinted down the last twenty feet of the trail to the back side of the house. He heard the tires come to a stop in front of the house, and ran around the side, toward a brushy spot where he’d have a good view and a clear shot if necessary.
Reaching the spot, he dropped to the ground behind the brush and took aim with the Remington. The car had stopped next to Michelle’s SUV. Declan listened for the door of the house to open, or for any sound coming from inside the house, but all was silent. He peered through the scope as the car doors opened, first spotting a girl who looked to be in her early-twenties, and, then, Evan.
“Oh, thank God,” he said to himself. Unable to control himself, Declan hopped up and called out, “Evan!”
Evan turned and saw his brother, coming out from behind the bushes. “Declan!”
They met outside the house and embraced. “What are you doing here?” Evan asked. “I thought you left the country.”
“I did, but Kevin Cameron got word to me that you all were in trouble, so I came back. I’m so happy to see you. I can’t tell you how happy I am.”
At that moment the front door of the house flew open. Will and Charlotte rushed toward their dad, arms outstretched, with Michelle running behind them, tears flowing from her eyes. Evan turned from his brother and hurried to meet his wife and children. As Will and Charlotte reached him, Evan dropped to his knees and his arms were suddenly, finally, filled with his children again. Michelle also rushed down toward her husband, fallin
g to her knees as well, and the four hugged each other as never before. Evan couldn’t contain his happiness, nor did he try. The joyful tears flowed freely from his eyes.
Declan saw his mom standing on the front porch, her watering eyes raised toward the dimming heavens. He hurried to her, more thrilled to see her again than he could have imagined. Aside from Megan, the entire family was again together, despite everything that had been put in their respective paths. Jessica stood by the car, also crying, taking in the family’s reunion, and wondering whether she’d ever see her own brother again.
Chapter 72
Following Declan’s instructions, the family hurried about the lake house, each gathering a backpack’s worth of possessions, making sure to get their passports, any essentials, and anything of value that could be stuffed inside.
Declan had decided it best to take the trail and cave path back to the airstrip, not wanting to run the risk of encountering anyone on the road. He moved Jessica’s dad’s car around behind the house, where it wouldn’t be in plain sight if anyone were to come out there. After that, Declan stood outside on the front porch, as the sun set, nervously scanning the area and listening for any indication of other people.
Evan stepped out onto the porch, approaching his brother. “This is truly a miracle,” he said. “All of us together again.”
“Absolutely,” Declan responded. “Now God just has to get us all on that plane and safely back to Peru.”
“You sound like a man who believes God’s capable of doing just that.”
Declan turned to his brother and smiled, replying, “It took some time, but I am.”
“I can’t wait till we have time to talk. I want to hear the whole story.”
“For now, let’s just say my eyes have been opened and I’m confident, for the first time ever, that, someday, I’ll finally see dad again. That we all will.”
“What a wonderful day that will be.”
“I just pray it isn’t today.”
Evan smiled and nodded in agreement.
“I think everyone’s ready,” Jessica said, coming out of the house.
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