Vandiver said, “Those things are worse than sitting your bony ass on a wooden pew in church as a kid. But I guess I’ve put some meat on my bones since then, so these miniature stools don’t bother me much.”
He chuckled. I chose not to assess the size of my ass, even if half of it was hanging off the chair. I couldn’t complain, not since we were finally in mission mode, supporting Archie and the electrical crew inside Camp Israel from the back of a white FBI van, otherwise known as a Mobile Telecommunications Command Center, or MTCC.
“I’m not seeing the data,” Gretchen said from the speakerphone.
“Hold on,” Vandiver replied, then he moved over to another keypad and punched in a code of some kind. “Gotta have ten levels of security if you work for the government.”
Another screen built into the wall panel lit up and then hundreds of lines of numbers and letters scrolled down the screen. Archie had apparently been able to insert the flash drive into a networked computer. Data started flooding in.
“Gretchen,” Vandiver said, “I think we’ve got the connection set up now. You should be receiving data, which should create a virtual trail for you to start gathering intel on our suspects.”
“I can see it now. Thanks. I’ll start working on it.”
Vandiver turned to me. “I appreciate being able to use your team. My tech guy is working another case down in Boone County.”
“Boone,” I said quietly.
“Let’s keep the line open, Gretchen,” Brad said over the speaker. “Nick and I are huddled up in that conference room near your cube at the office.”
“Yeah, sorry I couldn’t stick around. Just got this new dog, and he would destroy my new place if I didn’t get home. He’s chewing on a bone and sitting on Brandon’s lap on the couch.”
I could practically see Nick roll his eyes. Kind of wished he and Brad were here with me.
“Gretchen, if you find any piece of evidence at all that might take you down another rabbit trail, hand it off to Nick and Brad,” I chimed in.
“I was just about to say the same thing.” Nick’s voice sounded garbled.
“You feeling okay, partner?”
I could hear Brad snicker. “Your so-called partner just took a second bite of something that spilled all over his shirt. And I gotta say, it’s stinking up the whole office. Wow, dude.”
“It’s called a salmon sashimi with blue cheese and white miso puree, thank you very much.”
I heard lips chomping on food.
“We’re here for the long haul, Alex. Anything you need,” Nick said.
“As a matter of fact…” Brad’s voice trailed off for a moment, then, “I’ve finally got some data back on our two favorite deacons whose trails became cold in Ohio.”
Vandiver paused for a second, joining me as I listened more intently. “You have our attention, Brad.”
“Both of them had their names formally changed through the court system there in West Virginia.”
Vandiver jumped in. “Don’t tell me, biblical names.”
“You guessed it. Malachi and Jamin.”
“Those are two on the list we’ve documented from various folks around town who have interacted with members of Camp Israel. They’ve been on our short list of folks who might be in charge of the camp,” Vandiver said.
“So while we technically still have a gap in time for Malachi and Jamin, we’re slowly filling it in with more information,” Brad added.
I strummed my fingers on the small counter as Brad continued. “In case you’re wondering, I did a little research. The name Jamin means right hand. And the name Malachi means my messenger or my angel.”
“Have you found any recent pictures of Malachi and Jamin?” I asked.
“Still searching. I’ll let you know. Once again, we’re on this until the end.”
The end. I couldn’t envision what that looked like at this point.
An electronic chirping noise pierced my ears. “What is that?”
“Got a call coming into the MTCC,” Vandiver said, moving to his right and reading a dial. He punched a green button on his panel. “Vandiver here.”
“This is Norm. We’re on our way out. Couldn’t fix the problem, but I guess you guys know that, right?”
“I appreciate you helping us out,” Vandiver said.
“Yes, thank you,” I added.
I wasn’t sure Norm heard either of us. “Yeah, and we’re being escorted off the property. Dude in a truck is right behind us. Probably up until we get through their front gate and onto the main road.”
Vandiver pointed at the GPS signal on the laptop screen. “Yep, we see you moving west. Glad you’re safe, even if you’re being escorted. Archie, nice work on getting the program run on their computer.”
“That’s what I was just going to mention,” Norm continued. “It’s just me and Donny. This big, hairy guy named Ezra came into the shed while we were working, telling us Archie had said he would need to stay there until the electrical problem was resolved. Donny and I knew that was our signal to get the hell out of that place.”
“Crap,” Nick said through my cell phone. “Now we’ve got one of our own being held hostage. Just what we need right now.”
“Hey, you’re still paying us double for this work, right?” Norm asked.
“Yes, we’ll still hold to our agreement.”
“Cool. Mum’s the word on our end,” Norm said. “Hope your mission impossible works out okay.”
The line clicked dead. Vandiver didn’t move, just stared off into space.
“Are you guys still on the line?” Brad asked.
“We’re here,” Vandiver said, then he pursed his lips and shook his head. I could tell he was steamed.
“You’re thinking Archie screwed up,” I said.
“He’s being held hostage, Alex. Of course he screwed up. I should have known this was going to happen. What else could have happened? It’s Archie Woods we’re talking about. Mother—” He bit into his lower lip and set his elbow on the counter so hard it shook the keyboard. “How the hell am I going to explain this one to Pittsburgh…shit, to DC?”
“Don’t tell them. Not yet anyway.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? I have to tell them. An FBI contractor is being held hostage, Alex.”
“Then let me go in after him.”
He closed his eyes as muffled sounds came through the phone.
“Alex, you can’t do that,” Nick said. “No way. Not alone. Not without a tactical squad alongside you and a plan in place.”
Vandiver jumped in before I could respond. “And you think the brass would be okay with a tactical operation on this camp when we have no evidence of weapons on the property?”
“I’d bet my left arm they’ve got more firepower than all the police and sheriff departments in the three surrounding counties,” I said.
“Proof. We need proof,” Vandiver said, smacking one hand into the other. “On top of that, this Ezra person didn’t come right out and say, ‘We’re holding Archie hostage.’ He gave a lame excuse about ensuring the electrical situation is resolved before they let him go.”
“You guys are controlling the power going into that camp, right?” Nick said, a hint of agitation in his voice.
“Yep.”
“Then turn that shit back on.”
I heard muffled voices in the background again as Vandiver and I locked eyes.
“I know what you’re thinking, Alex.”
“What?”
“Given that they might very well know Archie is working for the Feds, this could turn into one of those prolonged standoffs. And who knows what might happen over a week, four weeks, or even four months?”
I nodded, knowing he was taking this down a certain path.
“I can read your mind. You’re thinking this might be the only chance you’ve got to get inside and get your mother out.”
“And Archie too,” I added.
“Even that dumbass too.”
He stoppe
d talking, his fist propping up his chin.
More noise from the phone. It sounded like Jerry’s voice.
“I can do this, Vandiver. I’ve got the training, and I understand the sensitivity of the situation. I know we can’t afford a shootout and a bunch of dead people.”
He scratched his chin and looked at the phone. “I want to, Alex. I really do. But—”
“Remember what Claudia told me. That camp is a cesspool of criminal behavior. Rape, incest, abuse…” My breathing was becoming more rapid along with my heart rate. I released a lungful of air to avoid hyperventilating, then continued. “Archie’s not the only one being held against his will. This isn’t the nineteenth century. Slavery isn’t still legal, right?”
“Alex, come on. Get real.” Vandiver kneaded his forehead, his eyes closed. He was on the fence about the decision, which meant I was halfway there.
Just as I was about to add another point to my case, I heard from my cell phone what sounded like a car door shutting, then the revving of an engine. I ignored it for now.
“James, don’t make me get sentimental on you, or ask you about your mother…what you would do to save her.”
“I get it, and I would move mountains for my saintly mother, God rest her soul.” He crossed himself. “But I’ve known my mom for my entire life. She’s been there each step of the journey. Not to be cruel, but what if your mom is inside, and then you find her. Euphoria, right? Well, what if she’s so brainwashed that she doesn’t want to leave or, even worse, that she turns you in to the camp leaders? And then I’ve got two agents being held hostage.”
I could feel my jaw start to tighten. The local FBI chief made a valid point. But I’d traveled over thirty years of my life without a mom, without feeling the unwavering, unconditional love that I’d naturally provided for Luke and Erin. And, oddly enough, I had this sensation that Mom was searching for the same thing in return, if she were still alive. If she actually lived in that camp.
Lifting from my seat, I attempted to stretch my back and nearly bumped my head on the van’s roof.
“You’re thinking about going in there alone if I don’t give you the green light, aren’t you?” Vandiver had both elbows on his knees, his furrowed brow pulling his eyes closer together.
“It’s a free country, Vandiver. I like to hike, get in a good workout. Who knows where that could take me?”
“I could arrest you right here and now. Put handcuffs on you and wait until the horde of agents get here.”
“And I could kick your ass right here and now,” I said, wondering if he was serious, and fully prepared if he was.
He started shaking his head again and blew out a disgusted breath. “Dammit, Alex. You’re killing me with this.”
I heard another voice over the speakerphone, like someone else had joined Nick and Brad.
“Guys, do we have another visitor?” I couldn’t afford for my extracurricular activities to become public knowledge, especially within the FBI.
Then I heard the sound of wind blowing, followed by a vacuum noise. “Guys?”
“Sorry, just going through security at Logan,” Brad said.
My eyes widened, and I looked at Vandiver.
“Alex, we’re coming down to help you,” Nick said. “We’ll be on an FBI jet in fifteen minutes.”
“How did you get this past Jerry?”
“Jerry is the one who told us to get our asses down there,” Nick said.
Brad jumped in. “He told us if we gave a damn about you, we wouldn’t just sit there and pick lint off our coats. Then he said to get our asses down there and he would deal with the consequences later.”
“Damn,” I said, suddenly at a loss for more words. But Vandiver wasn’t.
“You got your SSA’s approval to conduct a search-and-rescue mission on private property without a warrant?”
Brad and Nick were giving each other directions, then Nick finally said, “Jerry walked in on us, and I told him everything. Just put it all out there. He said he’d take the heat and play stupid until sunrise.”
Sounded like Jerry.
Brad added, “He told us to be safe and to not make him look bad.”
I couldn’t help but feel comforted by their acts of kindness. Got me a little choked up. “I don’t know what to say, guys. Thank you.”
“Alex,” Gretchen chimed in from her home base, “you know I’d be there if I could, or should. But I’m better off here, doing my research on this data. I’ve already got a pot of coffee brewing. I’m on this all night. And by sunrise we’ll have a solid trail on the pair, Malachi and Jamin.”
I looked at Vandiver. “She will come through. She always does. And that will give us more evidence.”
He huffed out a breath and opened his palms. “This place will be crawling with FBI and ATF agents within two hours of me making the call.” He turned and clicked his mouse a few times, then checked the time on his watch. “You’ve got until sunrise.”
***
It was ten minutes past three in the morning, and snowflakes as large as ping-pong balls were dropping from the sky.
Brad eyed me and then Nick, and then proceeded to use long-handled wire cutters to snap the middle barbed wire on the fence surrounding Camp Israel. He made one more snip six feet to the right, providing just enough room for Nick and me to scoot between the highest and lowest wires without snagging our black jackets. Once I got to the other side, I shined the tiny flashlight up ahead and saw nothing but hillside, trees, and falling snow.
“Alex,” Brad said from behind me.
I turned and saw his hand reaching across the wires. I took hold. Our grip wasn’t gentle; it was strong and empowering.
“Do you want to take a trip over the Christmas break…just you, me, and the kids?” he asked.
“You’re asking me this now?” I chuckled.
“Let’s go,” Nick said, a few steps in front of me.
I swept my flashlight across his face. “One second.”
“Yeah, now,” Brad said. “I want you to have something to look forward to. And to not forget what you mean to Luke and Erin.” He paused. “And to me too.”
I kissed the top of his hand, held it against my cold cheek. “I can’t forget. I…you mean everything to me.”
I could just make out his dimpled smile and the wink of his eye. “Be safe.”
“Always.”
“I’ll be listening.” He pointed at his ear, then jogged back over to the four-wheeler that brought the three of us to the northeast corner of Camp Israel, where the terrain was the most difficult, but where Vandiver felt certain we could enter the hundred-acre property unabated.
So far, he’d been right.
I flipped around and wondered where Nick had gone. I swept my flashlight left and right, but saw nothing more than huge snowflakes, pine needles, and tree trunks. I then punched the button on the back of my earpiece.
“Nick,” I whispered loudly.
“Over here,” he said from off to my left. A second later, his head appeared from the other side of a tree. “Nature called. You ready to roll?”
I nodded and angled my flashlight directly in front of us, pointing downward. I was still in amazement that Vandiver had no night-vision goggles at his disposal. Hell, I knew I could find two pairs at one of a dozen stores back in Boston. But as Vandiver reminded me, we were decades away from Boston.
As Nick and I slowly cut across the hill, maneuvering in and around trees and other wild brush, I felt like we were even on technology support. On the negative side, roaming the woods with flashlights put us in danger of people seeing us long before we would see them. We were hoping the camp leaders wouldn’t have anyone positioned in the woods as a lookout, and once we picked up a visual of the buildings, then we would have to pocket the flashlights and use our bare eyes.
But the one positive was helpful. I asked Nick to validate the comm device in his ear.
“Can you read me?” he asked, then he tripped and fell
onto his knees, blurting out a nice string of expletives.
“You can take the man out of Boston, but you can’t take Boston out of the man,” I said, noting the stump that had caused his fall. I stepped over it and went to his side to help him up.
“You okay, old man?”
“Screw you. I’m not old. Getting better, wiser with time. Like a fine wine,” he said, brushing off wet leaves and needles as he stood up and flexed his knee.
“Did you hurt it…your knee?”
“I’m fine. By the way, I’m a Brooklyn man, not a Boston man.”
“How could I forget it with that accent?”
We pushed forward another hundred feet, and just before a small clearing, we stopped behind three prickly bushes. I pulled my phone from a zipper pocket, right next to my three extra clips of ammo. I opened an app I’d downloaded back in the MTCC van and watched the circle spin. This was Vandiver’s other surprise. Without Archie knowing, he had inserted a GPS chip into Archie’s watch, realizing it was too easy to lose a phone or have it confiscated. That gave us a huge advantage in figuring out where Archie was being held. The app was good within five feet.
A blue dot flashed across the tiny screen.
“Moving in the right direction,” I said to Nick, knowing that both Brad and Vandiver could hear us through the earpiece.
We forged ahead, my eyes on the lookout for anything that moved. Vandiver had said it wasn’t uncommon to run across coyotes, opossums, deer, black bears, and in small hidden caves, any number of bats.
“You see anything on four legs?” I asked Nick, who was positioned about twenty feet to my left.
“Nothing so—”
Something bolted out of the darkness just in front of us. I went for my Glock in my shoulder holster, but fumbled with the flashlight. I had no visual confirmation on what was out there…or who.
I could hear four-legged clomps pounding the surface as I moved my handgun to eye level and finally gripped the flashlight. I swept left and picked up the back end of a white-tailed deer as it pranced deeper into the woods up the hill.
“Holy shit, look at that thing move!” Nick said.
“If your blood wasn’t flowing before, I guess it is now,” I said.
“I almost shot him, Alex. That would have alerted anyone on the mountain, human or animal,” he said, breathing heavily.
The Alex Troutt Thrillers: Books 4-6 (Redemption Thriller Series Box Set Book 2) Page 68