by Robert Boren
“Oh, really?” Dobie asked.
“I’ve got somebody,” Gabe said.
“Sue,” Dobie said, smiling. “She’s a good woman, but she’s not here.”
“I’ll get together with her as soon as I can,” Gabe said.
“Okay, I’ll see you guys later,” Jake said.
***
George and Heidi walked into the clubhouse. The general was at the front table with Malcolm, Agent Williams, Ted, and the privates, eating blueberry pancakes and sipping coffee.
“Great to see you guys,” George said as he walked up. “I’m George. You must be Agent Williams.”
“Yes,” he said, standing and shaking hands. “And this must be Heidi. Great to meet you both.”
“Likewise,” George said, as Heidi smiled. “Let’s get some coffee, honey.”
They got coffee and returned, sitting down at the end of the table.
Okay, here’s the situation,” General Hogan said. “Jeb, Rosie, and Dick Branson are being held in the same place. We know the location, but we’re waiting for pinpoint information.”
“You mean the exact building?” George asked.
“Yeah,” General Hogan said.
“These creeps are holding Dick Branson too?” Ted asked. “He’s an old friend. He’s a bad ass, too. They’ll have problems with him.”
“Who’s working the location info?” Agent Williams asked.
“Ned Branson,” General Hogan said. “And his Special Forces outfit.”
“Really, now?” Ted said. “Met him once. Scary guy if he’s mad at you.”
“Yeah, Ned and I trained together,” George said. “I met Dick once, but don’t really know him. He’s several years older than Ned and I. Never served with him.”
“So what’s the plan?” Ted asked.
“Daan Mertins left that note,” General Hogan said. “He wants to trade Jeb and Rosie for Frank, George, and me.”
“How about Dick?” George asked.
“They didn’t have Dick until after they snatched Jeb and Rosie,” General Hogan said. “We’ve verified that with Ned. If we’re lucky, they don’t have any idea that Dick is connected with us. I suspect they’re trying to use Dick to get back at Ned.”
“Why?” Malcolm asked.
“Dick and Ned were in a battle with the UN before Dick got snatched. They killed a whole mess of UN peacekeepers, including several of the leadership. One of them was the co-commander of the whole operation in Arizona and New Mexico.”
“Wonder how much that hurt them?” Malcolm asked.
“Lots,” General Hogan said.
“Hey, whatever happened to that WTO group?” Heidi asked. “The one that was touring the Southwest?”
“They vanished,” General Hogan said, “shortly after the shit hit the fan in Europe.”
“Think they’re still alive?” Malcolm asked.
“I’m sure they are,” General Hogan said. “They fancy themselves the new ruling elite. Put this shit together. Bankrolled it. They’re pulling the strings. They think this is a safe place for them when Europe goes to hell in a handbasket. We’ll make sure they get a nasty surprise. We’re going to kill all of them.”
“Wonder if WTO traitors are as much fun to blow away as serial killers are?” Malcolm asked, a wide wicked grin on his face. “I kinda lost out with Scotty.”
George chuckled. “Yeah, how did Scotty meet his end, anyway?”
“Old couple at a campground did the heavy lifting,” Agent Williams said. “We won’t talk about the rest.”
“There more of that clan we need to worry about?” Heidi asked.
“They’re about played out,” Malcolm said. “There is another related clan, but they’re far away, and they probably don’t care enough to come after us.”
“Good,” Heidi said. “How about the dungeon? We gonna turn it over now?”
“I wouldn’t,” Agent Williams said. “At least not for now. The FBI won’t care anyway. All the principals in the cases are dead. They’ll just confiscate everything and dump it in a warehouse. They’ve got enough problems of their own right now.”
“What about the movies you guys found?” Heidi asked.
“We brought them with us,” Malcolm said. “We’ll watch them later, but the rescue is more important.”
“Yeah,” General Hogan said. “We need work out our strategy.”
“We gonna give ourselves up for the exchange? That ought to smoke them out,” George said.
“I’m not good with that,” Heidi said.
“We’ve got a big problem with Frank, too,” General Hogan said. “I doubt Jane will go along with sending him into their nest. I’m not even sure I’m okay with it. He’s more important than Jeb, Rosie, or Dick.”
“Maybe we should fake his death,” Agent Williams said. “And just give him George and the general.”
“Interesting idea,” Malcolm said, looking into space.
“Uh oh, I see that devious mind of yours working,” George said.
***
Frank and Jane were getting ready to leave their coach when Jane’s phone rang. She looked at it. “Sarah. I’ll put it on speaker.” She accepted the call and set the phone on the counter.
“Mom?”
“Sarah, everything okay?” Jane asked.
“No,” she said. “I talked to my friends in Portland. Two of them were approached last week. One of them mentioned Boise.”
“Oh, no,” Frank said. “You need to leave now, pumpkin.”
“I told Hank about it, and he said the same thing. We’re packing right now. We’ll be out of here within the hour.”
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Jane said.
“It’s not your fault, mom,” she said. “Thanks for warning me.”
“Where are you going?” Frank asked.
“Hank’s friend has a place in Montana. Nobody knows about it. We’re going there for now. It’s out in the boonies. Hunting lodge.”
“Good,” Frank said.
“Try to keep your stress down, honey,” Jane said. “Remember the baby.”
“I’d have worse stress if we stayed here,” Sarah said.
“Okay, sweetie, take care,” Jane said.
“I will,” she said. “Gotta go.”
“Bye,” Frank said.
“Be careful,” Jane said. She ended the call, and looked at Frank through tears.
“Well, now we know, at least,” Frank said. “We need to talk to General Hogan.”
“What’s he gonna do about it?” Jane asked.
“Maybe we can use this to our advantage,” Frank said. “Maybe we could lay a trap for the enemy in Boise, and use them to get to Daan Mertins.”
“Okay, let’s go talk with him,” Jane said.
Chapter 3 – Derek and Duchess
Frank and Jane walked into the clubhouse and approached the table where General Hogan was running the strategy meeting.
“General Hogan, can we interrupt for a moment?” Frank asked.
“Of course, Frank,” he said. “Agent Williams, this is Frank and his wife Jane.”
“It’s an honor, sir,” Agent Williams said, standing and shaking hands. “Nice to meet you, Jane.”
Thanks,” Jane said. “Same here.”
“Okay, what’s on your mind?” General Hogan asked.
“We just got off the phone with our daughter in Boise. Daan Mertins is tracking her.”
“Shit,” General Hogan said. “How do you know?”
“She moved to Boise from Portland a few months ago. Some creeps were asking her Portland friends where she went.”
“Any of them tell?” General Hogan asked.
“Yeah,” Frank said.
“She needs to leave,” George said.
“She is,” Frank said. “They’re on their way to a hunting lodge in Montana right now.”
“We were thinking about using this,” Jane said. “For a trap.”
Malcolm chuckled. “Yeah, may be a g
ood way to capture some of Daan’s operatives. Know the address?”
“Of course,” Frank said. “I’d want to let Sarah know what we’re doing, but I can call her cellphone.”
“Okay, here’s what I propose,” General Hogan said. “We use our military resources with Ned’s team to rescue Jeb, Rosie, and Dick. We send a second team to capture the operatives who are after Sarah in Boise.”
“You’ve already got the teams in mind, don’t you?” George said.
“Yeah,” he said. “You and my boys go with Ned. It’s a Special Forces operation. By the numbers. We should ask Jerry if he wants to join also. I know he’s got experience.”
“Jasmine will insist on going with him,” Jane said.
“I’ll insist on going with George,” Heidi said.
“Okay, she’s proven herself, and so has Heidi,” General Hogan said.
“And the other team?” George asked.
“Malcolm, Ted, Agent Williams, and Dobie with his dogs,” General Hogan said.
“Can we afford to let the dogs leave the park?” Jane asked.
“We just got forty more seasoned fighters here,” General Hogan said. “I think we’ll be okay.”
“How many men does Ned have?” George asked.
“Sixteen,” General Hogan said. “You might know some of them.”
“I’m getting a little old,” George said. “Most of my buddies have been out of that world for years.”
“Some of them re-joined when the shit hit the fan,” General Hogan said.
“We still gonna pretend to give up our people?” Malcolm asked.
“They probably won’t play ball without all of them,” General Hogan said. “We already talked about getting Frank in the middle of this. I don’t think we should risk it. Pity, because it’d be a good way to flush them out if Ned can’t figure out the pinpoint location.”
“Well, I think we ought to get double mileage out of this situation,” Malcolm said.
“What do you have in mind?” George asked.
“We leak that Frank and Jane are heading to Boise to save their daughter,” Malcolm said. “Send them there with us, but don’t let them get into the middle of things. Then we offer up the other two, telling Daan that Frank is gone. They’ll agree, because they’ll think they can still get all three.”
“You are a devious son of a bitch,” General Hogan said, chuckling. “Why weren’t you ever in Special Forces?”
“I was never too good at following orders, general,” he said, smiling. “Couldn’t even stay in the LAPD.”
“What about our park?” Jane asked. “They know where we are. Why don’t they just send a big force here and wipe us out?”
“They don’t control this area,” General Hogan said. “Probably looks a little too much like Gettysburg to them. I expect them to send small forces here to mess with us, but they know a bigger troop movement in this direction would draw a big response from our military. They’d never make the Kansas border.”
“That doesn’t mean we should let our guard down,” George said. “They could do a lot of damage here with a few mortars. We need to monitor the drone carefully. If anything happens to it, we need to be back on the roofs.”
“Agreed,” General Hogan said. “One other question – are we in danger from any remaining serial killers?”
“No, general,” Malcolm said. “I think that chapter is over.”
“Good, then we can focus on the enemy,” he said. “I’ll work the timelines, and talk to Ned. Maybe we can get his team out here for a visit.”
“How soon should we take off for Boise?” Jane asked.
General Hogan thought for a second. “Early tomorrow. That operation has to be going before the Special Forces operation starts.”
“Okay,” Jane said. “I’ll call my daughter. Want to join me, Frank?”
“Yeah,” he said. They left the clubhouse, with General Hogan behind them.
***
Dobie, Gabe, and Jake walked down the first row of coaches, meeting with each of the families, introducing Duchess.
“Just folks like us,” Gabe said. “Feels safer to have them here.”
“I’ll say,” Jake said. “The guy in this rig has guard dogs.” He knocked on the door, causing dogs to bark. A smiling young man came out, with long blonde hair and a blonde beard.
“Hey, Jake,” he said. “I’ll bet this is the guy you were talking to me about. The K-9 Trainer.”
“Yep, that’s Dobie and Duchess,” he said. “And his Uncle Gabe. Guys, this is John.”
“John Harper. Damn glad to meet both of you,” he said, smiling, shaking hands with both of them.
“You train dogs too, John?” Dobie asked.
“I’m working on it,” he said. “But I can’t call mine real K-9 dogs. They are good watch dogs, though. Very protective. Good companions too. I’ll bring them out.”
He went into the coach and brought out two dogs on leashes, a large Rottweiler and a Pit Bull. They nuzzled Gabe, Dobie, and Duchess, then sat and looked up at their master.
“Beautiful,” Dobie said. “Seen any action?”
“Yeah,” John said. “The Pit saved my life once. His name is Zack. The Rott’s name is Millie. She rules the roost between the two of them. Zack is real quiet unless I give him the attack command. Then he’s hard to turn off. Have to use a break stick on him sometimes. He’s killed two Islamists and a militia guy.”
“He ever been in dog fights?” Dobie asked, looking him over.
“Well, he was a rescue, and he’s got scars, so I’m guessing yes,” John said. “He’s really obedient, though. Shows no aggression to friends at all.”
“You should introduce them to the others,” Dobie said.
“Oh, already did that with everybody but those who were gone,” he said. “I’ll get to the rest as soon as they’ve got a few minutes.”
“Good,” Dobie said. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” John said. “We’ll have to talk dogs later.”
“Hell yes,” Dobie said, grinning.
They started towards the next coach.
“That Pit Bull any good as a guard dog?” Gabe asked.
“Not everybody can train them well,” Dobie said.
“Why, too aggressive with people?” Gabe asked.
“Only the ones who’ve been mis-treated and mis-bred,” Dobie said. “Pit bulls have an interesting history. Dog fighting is a horrible disgrace, but when it was acceptable, the breeders were doing a good job. They destroyed dogs who showed any aggression to humans as they were growing up. That made for a dog that was very gentle around humans, even children, but deadly in the fighting ring.”
“I’ve read about that,” Jake said. “The AKC was originally a dog fighting organization.”
“Yes, it was,” Dobie said. “Since there’s not as much focused breeding on Pits anymore, you have to watch them. A good one is as gentle as they’ve ever been, but you never know.”
“How are they as guard dogs?” Gabe asked.
“Overkill,” Dobie said. “They’re incredibly fast and extremely powerful, and they don’t feel pain like other breeds do. If they’ve gotten ahold of you, the chances of getting out of it alive aren’t so good. That’s why you get all the media reports about them killing people.”
“Wouldn’t that make them good K-9 dogs?” Jake asked.
“Not really,” Dobie said. “You don’t want a K-9 dog to kill the suspect. You don’t want guard dogs to kill intruders, either. That can land you with a manslaughter charge, or worse.”
“One of the women lives in this coach, with her teenaged son,” Jake said, smiling. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door. It opened, a smiling woman coming out. She was in her early 50s, black hair that was graying, and a slim athletic build. She was wearing tattered jeans and a peasant blouse.
“Hi, Clara,” Jake said. “This is Dobie and Gabe.”
“So nice to meet you two,” she said, beam
ing, her eyes resting on Jake. His face turned red, and he looked down at the dog.
“This is Duchess, the last of Dobie’s dogs.”
“Beautiful,” she said, coming down and squatting in front of her, letting her sniff her fingers. Duchess took to her right away, nuzzling and licking her hand. “What a sweetheart.”
“Yes, she is,” Dobie said. “She likes you.”
“Hey, Frankie, come on out,” she said. “Bring the kids.”
Another woman came out, about the same age as Clara, a shy smile on her face. She had a hippy girl look her, wearing a long muslin dress and beads, her long blonde hair turning gray. She looked at Jake and smiled warmly. Jake got weak in the knees. Gabe grinned and elbowed Dobie.
“This is Frankie,” Clara said, grinning as she watched Jake looking at her.
A teenaged boy and girl came down the steps. They glanced at each other as they watched Jake and Frankie.
“This is Britney and Josh,” Clara said.
“Sister and brother?” Gabe asked.
“No,” Frankie said. “Josh is 18, and Britney is 17. Keeping them apart can be a challenge.”
“Mom!” Britney said, looking embarrassed. Josh got a sheepish grin on his face.
“Oh, so you’re chaperones?” Dobie asked, chuckling. “Must be tough living in the same coach.”
“Oh, we don’t live in this coach,” Frankie said. “We’re in that coach over there, in the next row.” She pointed at it. “We spend a lot of time together, though. Clara and I have known each other since grade school.”
Dobie introduced Duchess to them.
“Well, we best be going on to the next coach,” Jake said, eyes still on Frankie.
“Why don’t you come by my place later?” Frankie asked. “I’ll cook up some brownies.”
“Love to,” Jake said, grinning as they walked on.
“New girlfriend?” Dobie asked, laughing. “She’s cute.”
“She an ordained minister too?” Gabe asked, cracking up.
“Be nice, you guys,” Jake said, embarrassed smile on his face. “This is Clint’s place.”
Clint heard them, and came out. “Howdy,” he said, smiling.