by Sharon Sala
The dining hall was full. Families were at their tables feeding babies as they fed themselves. Archangels were sitting about in the normal groups and enjoying their food as the girls filed in.
It took a few moments for them to realize the new Sprite was with them, and then silence fell when they saw her face.
But it was the look of anger and disdain on her face as she stared back at them that made them turn away. They looked at each other in shock and disbelief, and then down at their food, but their appetites were gone.
The girls sat at the one long table, separated from the others by their status as food was brought to them. But when they gave Jordan her plate, she got up and headed back to the kitchen with it, even as one of the men began following her, demanding she go sit back down.
She stopped and then handed him her plate.
“Then you take a bite of everything on my plate to prove to me it’s not been poisoned or drugged.”
The man frowned. “That is not our way!”
Jordan pointed to her face. “Jud Bien has been banished from Fourth Dimension for defending me after this happened, and the Master made him leave me behind. So if you think I feel safe in any way, you are crazy. Look at me. Is this your way? My father is gone and I am now a hostage, and you, by your presence alone, are complicit of abetting kidnapping. My mother is a lawyer, and this is a federal offense. I eat nothing unless someone else tastes it first. And if I die, you’re all guilty of murder.”
Aaron Walters walked into the dining hall just in time to hear her say you’re all guilty of murder. He heard their gasps, saw the shock on their faces and braced himself when all eyes turned to him.
“I will taste her food,” he said, waving his hand in a grand gesture of sacrifice.
Jordan turned around, then opened herself up to his thoughts and felt a moment of victory. The Master of Fourth Dimension was afraid.
“You can’t possibly believe I would put anything into my mouth that you’ve touched. You’ve already done enough to me,” she said.
One of the Archangels came out of the kitchen. “If it pleases the Master, she may come into my kitchen and put food on her own plate.”
Aaron waved his hand and walked out of the dining hall. As things stood now, his morning greeting would fall on deaf ears. He should have done away with both of the Biens, but it was too late now. The damage had already been done.
* * *
Jud had driven away from the compound with a knot in his gut and the image of his daughter’s brutalized face before him. He couldn’t think about the hell he’d brought down on them for trying to figure out how to save her, but he knew he couldn’t do it himself. He had to call his ex-wife. She was a lawyer. She would know someone who could make all this right. Whatever it took. Whatever he had to do. If it meant spending the rest of his life in prison, it would be worth it.
Around 3:00 a.m. he realized he’d missed the highway he meant to take and wound up in Berea, Kentucky. He stopped at a Red Roof Inn, and when he got into the room, he dumped his bag on the floor, kicked off his shoes and rolled over onto the bed. He didn’t have the guts to call Tara just yet and talked himself into resting first.
He closed his eyes, and the next thing he knew, it was daylight and nearly noon. The events of the night came flashing back as he got up and staggered to the bathroom. He stripped and showered before putting on clean clothes, then sat down on the side of the bed and took out his cell phone.
He was about to unleash a maelstrom of epic proportions down on Aaron Walters’s head, and for the first time in over two years, he called home.
Thirteen
The drive from Lexington to Shawnee Gap was longer than Agent Raines expected it to be, and he’d quit listening to the chatter back and forth between the others over an hour ago. He spent the time scouring social media and checking his messages to see if there’d been any new intel on Jud Bien or his daughter. But since there was none, the original plan was all they had.
When Richards suddenly announced, “We’re here,” Hank looked up from his phone. All he saw was a narrow dirt road in front of them and trees on both sides, as thick as feathers on a duck’s back.
“Where’s here?” Hank asked.
“We’re about five miles up the mountain from Shawnee Gap, and about a mile from the compound,” Richards said.
“Claustrophobic as hell in here,” Hank muttered, thinking what this would be like after sundown.
Then, all of a sudden, they’d driven out of the trees and into a small clearing. The sight of two more government-issue SUVs parked in front of an old two-story cabin settled some of his initial discomfort.
“Home, sweet home,” Richards said.
“What is this place, anyway?” Raines asked.
“One of our safe houses. The proximity to Fourth Dimension is purely a coincidence,” he added, before he pulled up and parked.
The front door opened, and two armed men walked out.
“The tall one is Barry. The one in camo is Willis. There are two more agents on duty here, but they’re probably up a tree somewhere,” he said, then got out as they came to greet him.
“Guys, this is Special Agent Raines, and Special Agent Chavez. Help me unload their gear and then we’ll talk.”
A short while later, the men were sitting at a table drinking warmed-over coffee, listening to Raines explain the parental kidnapping and the plan to try to get inside the compound.
* * *
When Charlie and Wyrick drove into Shawnee Gap, it was immediately obvious how little the town actually was. It had two blocks of Main Street, including a grocery store, a post office, a café, a gas station and about twenty or thirty houses that they could see.
Charlie pulled up to the curb of the post office and parked, then turned to Wyrick. She had her laptop up and was checking a GPS setting for the Fourth Dimension compound.
“Where do we go from here?” Charlie asked.
Wyrick pointed. “We take that blacktop road that forks off this highway and goes up the mountain.”
“By any chance would you have contact information on Special Agent Raines? We may not have to look for a place to set up camp if we can settle in at their location.”
“I have his cell phone number,” Wyrick said, then picked up Charlie’s phone and punched in the numbers. “Do you want it on speaker phone?” she asked.
He nodded.
So she hit Call, then put the phone back in the docking system as it began to ring.
Fourteen
Hank Raines was reading daily reports from their stakeout when his cell phone rang. He glanced at caller ID and then frowned.
“Holy shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Chavez asked.
“Charlie Dodge is calling me.”
“Who’s Charlie Dodge?” Duran asked.
“A private investigator out of Dallas. He’s the one who found that Dunleavy dude who went missing up in Denver,” Hank said, then answered.
“Hello. Special Agent Raines speaking.”
“Agent Raines, this is Charlie Dodge. I’m—”
“I know who you are, Mr. Dodge. How did you get this number, and what do you want?”
“We’re good at stuff like that,” Charlie said. “And I thought I’d give you a heads-up that my assistant and I are in Shawnee Gap and about to head up the mountain. Tara Bien hired me to find her daughter, and I think you’re on a similar trip. Is there any chance we can talk about this?”
Hank was shocked. “How did you find out where Fourth Dimension was located?”
Charlie chuckled. “I told you. We’re good at stuff like that. So do we have permission to approach?”
The group had been listening in on the conversation, and Willis gave Hank a thumbs-up.
“Tell him to start watching the blacktop road about five miles u
p. We’ll send a welcome party to guide him in,” Willis said.
“I heard that,” Charlie said and disconnected.
“Well, now,” Hank said, “I’ve always wanted to meet this man. He said he had his assistant with him. If that’s the infamous Wyrick, I can’t wait.”
“What’s so special about him?” Willis asked.
“Her,” Hank said. “Word is that she makes the Dallas PD nervous, which makes me curious.”
Willis frowned. “Hey, Barry. Let the guys know what’s happening so they can guide them in.”
“Will do,” Barry said and left the room.
* * *
“You heard the man,” Charlie said as he backed away from the curb. “We have a welcome party waiting for us five miles up.”
“And us without a hostess gift. How embarrassing,” Wyrick said.
Charlie grinned. A sense of humor was something she was short on, but when she did make jokes, they were spot-on and sarcastic.
As soon as he drove onto the blacktop, he marked the mileage so he’d know when he was getting close, then started up the mountain. He was curious as to what the FBI really knew about Fourth Dimension, and not sure how they were going to receive the information Wyrick got from Peter Long when they interviewed him in prison.
Regardless of what they could tell the Feds, they couldn’t act on it without solid proof, but he and Wyrick were not bound by the same restrictions.
Wyrick was tired of the car and ready to be out of it for a while. Knowing they were almost at their destination was a relief, but with a few more miles to go, Wyrick spent the time on her laptop, checking out all of the feelers she kept on Universal Theorem, making sure they’d backed off from stalking her. When she didn’t find any indications that they were back on her trail, she logged in to the office site and began answering email.
“I’m reading the office email and business is booming,” Wyrick said. “Too bad we’re not there to capitalize on the inquiries.”
“What do you mean?” Charlie asked.
“A man belonging to one of Dallas’s finer families wants you to dig up some dirt on his daughter’s college boyfriend.”
“I do not tail cheating spouses or dig up dirt. Respond with your usual tact,” Charlie said.
Wyrick fired off a four-sentence paragraph and hit Send.
“Done,” she said.
“That was fast,” Charlie said. “Did you remember the tact?”
“I said, thank you,” Wyrick muttered, and kept reading and typing until Charlie began to slow down.
When he did, she looked up. Two armed men dressed in camo were standing in the middle of the road.
“It appears we are overdressed,” she said, then logged out as Charlie stopped and rolled down the window.
“Sir, may we see some identification?” one of the men asked.
Charlie flashed his driver’s license and his private investigator’s license.
“This is Wyrick, my assistant. Special Agent Raines is expecting us,” he said.
The man leaned down for an eyes-on-the-passenger look.
“Ma’am,” he said, and then took a step back and gave Charlie the instructions. “Drive forward until you see a narrow one-lane road to your left. Turn there and drive until you come out into a clearing. Raines will be waiting for you.”
“Thanks,” Charlie said and accelerated past them.
Wyrick was watching them in the side mirror. She blinked, and the next time she looked they were gone.
“That’s creepy,” Wyrick said. “One second they were standing in the road and now they’re not. How did they do that so fast?”
Charlie shrugged. “They’re just good at not being seen, and speaking of seeing things, here’s our road.”
He turned left, slowing down to maneuver through the old ruts and potholes at the entrance.
“This place is creepy. It wouldn’t take five minutes to get lost up in here,” Charlie said as he accelerated slightly up the narrow lane.
Wyrick eyed the forest as they passed through it, glancing often in the side-view mirror. The farther they drove, the less visible the road was behind them, making it look as if they were being swallowed up by the trees.
Then, all of a sudden, they drove out into the clearing.
“Maybe we won’t have to pitch tents after all,” she said, more than happy to see an old but well-preserved two-story cabin.
Then the front door opened and several men came out onto the porch.
“The tall one is Hank Raines,” Wyrick said. “I recognize him from his picture. The one beside him is his partner, Luis Chavez. I don’t know who those other two are.”
“You mean there’s something you don’t already know?” Charlie said. “Well, hell, now I’m gonna have to fire you.”
“You can’t. You don’t know the passwords to your own bank account,” Wyrick muttered as Charlie pulled up and stopped.
Charlie grinned. “Play nice with these dudes. We need them.”
“I don’t play with anyone, but I will remain cordial,” Wyrick snapped.
“Good enough,” Charlie said.
Wyrick grabbed her laptop as they got out of the Jeep and proceeded toward the cabin.
* * *
Hank watched them approaching, thinking their personal appearances were just as impressive as their reputations. For a big man, Charlie Dodge moved with an easy stride, but it was Wyrick who intrigued him. He hadn’t expected her to be so tall, or so bald...or without boobs. He saw all this within seconds, and then shifted focus as the duo came up the steps in unison.
Charlie extended his hand. “Special Agent Raines, thank you for seeing us.”
“You gained the audience when you said the magic words Fourth Dimension,” Hank said. “This is my partner, Luis Chavez. Joining us are Agents Willis and Barry.” He led the way inside, where they were introduced to Richards and Duran, whom Wyrick promptly ignored.
The first thing that caught her attention was a mounted elk head hanging over the fireplace. The glassy-eyed stare was distracting, and the massive rack of antlers was obviously what got the poor beast killed. She doubted the Feds had anything to do with the trophy’s presence, but out of sympathy for the elk’s demise, she glared at them anyway.
Agent Willis was curious about the woman’s appearance, and when he saw her staring at the elk head, he offered a little insight.
“That’s our mascot, Randy. He came with the cabin. We thought about calling him Rudolph for obvious reasons, but since he’s an elk instead of a reindeer, we went for Randolph, instead.”
Willis was smiling as he waited for her reaction to the joke when she turned her head.
“Were you speaking to me?” Wyrick asked.
Willis frowned. She sounded just like his ex-wife.
“Uh... I saw you looking at the elk head and thought I’d fill you in on—”
Wyrick interrupted. “We’re looking for a kidnapped child named Jordan Bien. Unless you can fill us in on anything that has to do with her, I have no desire to discuss trophies or trophy hunters.”
The room was suddenly silent, save for the shuffling of feet.
Hank Raines stifled a grin. She was living up to her reputation nicely, and poor Willis had just bombed out on trying to start a conversation with the first woman he’d seen in a month.
“Mr. Dodge, if you or your assistant would like to freshen up, there’s a bathroom just down that hall to your left. Barry has—”
Wyrick walked out of the room.
“...just started a fresh pot of coffee,” Hank added, then looked at Charlie. “Was it something I said?”
Charlie shrugged. “Hard to say, but I’d guess she’s just a little road-weary. She took down a wife-beater back in Noland when we stopped to refuel. Delayed us some in getting here.”
<
br /> The agents were stunned.
“What do you mean, took down?” Chavez asked.
“I was outside filling up the Jeep. She heard screams as she walked into the gas station and found a man down on the floor beating the hell out of his ex-wife. She broke a broom over his head, then had to drag him off the woman’s body before she could text me for help. Basically, I cuffed him as he was coming to, then waited with her for the cops and ambulance.”
“Damn,” Chavez muttered.
When they heard her footsteps out in the hall, they stopped talking.
“Okay, boss, what’s the plan?” Wyrick asked.
“I think it’s time for us to pool our information,” Charlie said.
Wyrick followed the men to the long wooden table, then sat down and opened her laptop.
“Fresh coffee if anyone wants some,” Barry said.
Charlie glanced at Wyrick, who was already pulling up notes. She shook her head no without looking at him.
Dammit. How does she always know what I’m going to ask? He sighed, then went to get a coffee for himself. When he saw the cookies on the table, he picked up a handful on his way back and set them down near her, just in case.
Wyrick saw them, taking note they were chocolate, and picked one up, took a small bite, and then leaned back in the chair, waiting for the rest of the men to join her.
“You’re welcome,” Charlie muttered.
Wyrick turned her laptop toward him so he’d have access to the notes she’d just pulled up.
“You’re welcome,” she said, and when she heard his sigh of disgust, she leaned back and ate the rest of the cookie.
The men took seats at the table, waiting for Charlie to begin, and so he did, beginning with the backstory of Jud and Tara Bien, then the abduction and Tara’s desperate attempts to find out where they’d gone, and how she figured out Jud might have taken her to Fourth Dimension.
At this point, Hank interrupted.
“Okay, now I have questions. Was Tara Bien given the location to this site?”