Bug Out! Part 13: Finale

by Robert Boren

  “Great to meet you, General Hogan,” she said. Shirley was a woman of about forty five, with coarse blond hair tied back, and a face that was serious but with a hint of tomboy. She locked eyes with General Hogan, and he smiled.

  “So nice to meet you,” he said, shaking her hand warmly.

  “That’s Chuck Goodnight,” Hopper said. Chuck looked like a cattle baron from about 1870.

  “Great to meet you, General Hogan,” he said.

  “You related to the Charles Goodnight?” the Sheriff asked. “You look just like him.”

  “Sure am,” he said, smiling. “Named after him too. Student of the old west?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “They call me the Sheriff.”

  “Heard of you,” Chuck said. “Good to meet you.”

  “That there is Jacob Orr,” Hopper said.

  “Related to Simon?” General Hogan asked cautiously.

  “Cousins,” he said.

  “You know what happened to him?” the general asked.

  “Yeah, he died at the place we’re in now. Gabe’s place.”

  “Sorry,” General Hogan said.

  “Me too, but it was war,” he said. “If we dwell on that, our enemies will win.”

  “You’re right,” the general said. Hopper nodded in agreement.

  “The last two are Walter Stennis and Hector Gonzales,” Hopper said.

  “Is that whiskey I see?” Walter asked. He was tall and thin, clean shaven, with a dashing look and a bright smile.

  “Figures you’d hone in on the whiskey,” Hector said, laughing. He was a large Mexican man with shoulder-length black hair, wearing a black leather biker’s vest. “Good to meet you guys,” he said.

  “Likewise,” Walter said.

  Charlie had drinks in front of everybody. General Hogan raised his glass. “To a good alliance.”

  “Here here,” Hopper said. They all drank, and Charlie refilled.

  “How did the rescue mission go?” Charles Goodnight asked.

  “We got them out, and hit the facility with an air strike,” General Hogan said.

  “Good, glad to hear it,” Hopper said.

  Jackson, Earl, and Jerry walked over to the bar. “How about some of that whiskey?” Jackson asked.

  “Coming right up,” Charlie said, pulling more glasses out. Jake joined them, with Terry and Clint. They got introduced, and picked up their glasses.

  Jake held his glass up. “To old friends and new.”

  Everybody had a drink. Charlie pulled a fresh bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet behind the bar and opened it.

  “You guys got a lot of booze,” Chuck said.

  “Yes, this place was fully stocked when we got here,” the Sheriff said.

  “You’re drinking from the private stash of the Nighthawk Road Killer,” Kurt said.

  “Billy and Jesse said something about that,” Hopper said. “There really a dungeon down there?”

  “Oh, yeah,” General Hogan said. “We’ll show it to you later. Don’t want to open that trap door with all these people in here.”

  “Why?” Jacob asked.

  “Smells like death,” the Sheriff said.

  “That’s for sure,” Billy said. “Being in there creeped me out. I thought there was somebody in there with us whenever it got dark.”

  “You know that Jason Beckler and Earl Wilson probably sat at this bar, right?” Jake said. “I still feel it down here. I don’t like to be in here alone.”

  “Do tell,” Shirley said. “Fascinating place.”

  “Oh, it gets better,” the Sheriff said. “The men who killed Black Dahlia drank here too, if we can believe Malcolm Davis.”

  “No way,” Charles Goodnight said.

  “Malcolm brought back some home movies from the Nighthawk hideout in Columbus, Ohio,” Jackson said. “When he gets back, we’ll watch them. Good chance that the Dahlia murder is on that film.”

  “Geez,” Hector said. “That would be worth something.”

  “After seeing some of the films from this place, I probably won’t be watching,” the Sheriff said.

  “How is your other away team doing? Heard from them lately?” Hopper asked.

  “It’s been quite a few hours,” General Hogan said. “I’ll call them in the morning. They’re probably asleep by now.”

  As everybody was drinking and enjoying themselves, General Hogan nodded at Hopper.

  They walked off together.

  “Where they going?” Shirley asked.

  “Strategy session,” Charles Goodnight said.

  “Yeah, probably,” Charlie said. “We should give them some time.”

  “General Hogan married, Charlie?” asked Shirley.

  Charlie got a grin on his face. “Widowed. He’s a good man.”

  “I can see that,” she said.

  ***

  Hopper and General Hogan walked down the long hallway to the pantry, then up the stairs into the kitchen.

  “Impressive complex,” Hopper said. “Even better than Gabe’s place, and that’s pretty good.”

  “Yes,” he said. “It’s not bad. A little creepy when you know what went on here.”

  “Lots of people killed by those maniacs?” Hopper asked as he sat down.

  The General turned on the lights and then joined him.

  “Yeah, killings and torture. That dungeon isn’t for the faint of heart. There’s a drawer full of teeth, and another full of jewelry.”

  “Jewelry? Valuable?”

  “No, it’s jewelry that high school and college girls would wear. That stuff got to me the most of anything down there. Especially the pieces that have inscriptions on them. I have a couple of daughters.”

  “Oh,” Hopper said. “Something else is bothering you.”

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “What?”

  “The chopper hit the front building,” General Hogan said.

  “The one that had the nerve gas in it?” Hopper asked, looking alarmed.

  “Yeah. Don’t worry, we got it out of there this afternoon.”

  “It’s in a safe place?”

  “I think so. It’s sealed and buried. Deep.”

  “Thank God. You think the chopper knew what was there?”

  “Good question. I think it’s a possibility.”

  “That’s not good,” Hopper said. “Mole?”

  “Maybe,” General Hogan said. “We’ve got a bunch of new people here.”

  “You talking about my team?” he asked.

  “No, Clint’s people. I don’t know all of them.”

  “You’re sure about your core team, though?” Hopper asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. How about your team? Was there much dissent about our alliance?”

  “Not nearly as much as I expected,” Hopper said. “The rank and file were happy. They’re tired of this war, and they never did like being allied to the Islamists. It was a lot easier to convince them to join you guys.”

  “Well, that’s good,” General Hogan said.

  “By the way, there’s two people I recognize down there,” Hopper said. “From the very earliest days. They were part of the original group from Williams, Arizona.”

  “Way before my time,” General Hogan said. “Who led that group?”

  “Don’t remember the last names. Hank, Dave, Ken, Lewis were the principals. Oh, and Philip, but he got promoted away from our little group.”

  “Which of our guys did you recognize?” General Hogan asked.

  “Earl and Jackson,” Hopper said. “It’s not a problem for me. You know them. If they’ve been with this group since Williams, I wouldn’t be worried.”

  General Hogan pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit Charlie’s contact.

  “What’s up, General?” Charlie asked.

  “Hey, Charlie, could you come up to the clubhouse, and bring Earl and Jackson?”

  “Sure,” Charlie said. “Anything the matter?”

  “No, not at all, just want to ch
at about something,” General Hogan said. He put his phone down.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Hopper said.

  “I want everything to be above board,” General Hogan said. “I’ve fought alongside these two, so I know they’re good men. It doesn’t hurt to lay cards out on the table so neither you or them worry about it.”

  “Okay.”

  “Any of your other people know them?”

  “No, it was before their time,” Hopper said.

  Charlie came out of the kitchen with Earl and Jackson, both of whom looked nervous.

  “Hey, General,” Charlie said.

  “Hi, guys,” he said. “Have a seat, and don’t be nervous.”

  Jackson and Earl looked at each other apprehensively as they sat.

  “You recognized us,” Earl said to Hopper.

  “Yes,” he said. “Williams, right?”

  “Yeah, but we ditched that group for this one,” Jackson said. “We gonna be okay?”

  “I’ve got no problem with either of you,” Hopper said. “General Hogan thought it would be a good idea to clear the air, that’s all.”

  “Took us a while to prove our loyalty back then,” Earl said, looking down. Then he looked up at General Hogan. “Did the others tell you we were sent into this group as spies?”

  “No,” General Hogan said. “Never heard that. Doesn’t matter.”

  “Who sent you in?” Hopper asked.

  “Hank and Dave,” Earl said. “Bastards. We were leaving the group when they caught us.”

  “Oh, yeah, I remember now. It wasn’t their idea. It was that blowhard Philip,” Hopper said.

  “Don’t call him Phil,” Earl said, chuckling. “Figures. Hated that guy.”

  “He was all proud of himself for setting that up. You never passed any info, though. They thought you guys got your throats cut.”

  “Hank, Dave, and Ken didn’t live long after we joined this group,” Jackson said. “Frank and the others took them out on the road.”

  “I remember,” Hopper said. “That was an early rallying point.”

  “We aren’t under suspicion again, are we?” Earl asked, eyes tearing up.

  General Hogan looked him in the eye. “I would trust either of you with my life, and that’s the truth,” he said. “Really. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Any of the others from that group still around?” Jackson asked. “We aren’t going to get questioned over and over, I hope.”

  “I’m the only one left from that group,” Hopper said.

  “What happened to the others?” General Hogan asked. “This group kill them?”

  “No,” Hopper said, eyes narrowing. “They got ambushed by a creep named Officer Simmons.”

  “Now there’s a blast from the past,” Earl said, smiling for the first time since the got into the clubhouse.

  “Who was that?” General Hogan asked.

  “Double agent,” Hopper said. “A real son of a bitch.”

  “You know what happened to him?” General Hogan asked.

  “He was found dead in a small town, near Hilda’s park,” Hopper said. “Heard that from Lewis, before he disappeared. Never found out who killed him.”

  “Jerry’s wife Jasmine killed him, but I helped,” Earl said.

  “I was there too,” Jackson said. “Earl got wounded in the process.”

  Hopper’s eyes welled with tears. He extended his hand to Earl. “I want to shake your hand, brother.”

  Earl shook with him, and then Jackson.

  “I think we’ve settled this,” General Hogan said. “How about another drink?”

  “Hell yes,” Hopper said.

  Charlie, Earl and Jackson went back down, General Hogan and Hopper following slowly.

  “We still may have a problem,” Hopper said. “A mole.”

  “I know,” General Hogan said. “We’ll keep our eyes open.”

  ***

  Frank woke up to a sunbeam through the window. The park in Pocatello was peaceful overnight, with few coaches coming and going. He turned and saw Jane lying next to him, her back towards him, breathing softly.

  The phone rang, and Frank struggled to grab it before it rang again. He put it to his ear.

  “Frank?”

  “Hi, Charlie. How are you?”

  “Great,” Charlie said. “Jeb, Rosie, and Dick are safe. They pulled in here at about four in the morning.”

  “Oh, that’s great news,” Frank said. Jane turned towards him, groggy eyes questioning.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Jeb, Rosie, and Dick are back in Kansas,” Frank said.

  “Thank God,” Jane said, sitting up.

  “How did the fake battle go, Charlie?” Frank asked.

  “Almost like clockwork,” Charlie said. “I’ve got a hangover from the party we had last night with our new allies. They’re good people, by the way.”

  “Good, I was hoping,” Frank said. “What did you mean by almost?”

  “One of the attack choppers fell on the back fence. No coaches got hit, but it was real close. Lots of cleanup to do. That wasn’t the bad part though.”

  “Uh oh,” Frank said. Jane turned towards him, worried.

  “A chopper hit the front office before it got shot down,” Charlie said.

  “Tell me you got the nerve gas out of there in time.”

  “Oh, we did, but we aren’t sure if they knew it was there or not,” Charlie said. “If they knew about it, we might have a mole.”

  “Shit,” Frank said.

  “Not good, but don’t worry about it now. I know General Hogan and Field Marshal Hopper were talking about it last night. It hasn’t fractured our relationship.”

  “Good,” Frank said.

  “You guys gonna make it to Boise today?”

  “Yeah, it’s not too far,” Frank said. “Three and a half hours, according to the map app.”

  “Good,” Charlie said. “I’m anxious to have you guys back here.”

  “I’m anxious to see Jeb and Rosie again,” Frank said. “Missed both of them.”

  “Okay, I’ll get off the line now. You two be careful, okay?”

  “Will do,” Frank said. He ended the call and set down his phone.

  “Sounded encouraging, mostly,” Jane said. “What was the problem?”

  “Oh, maybe nothing,” Frank said.

  “Spill,” she said.

  “One of the choppers hit the front office.”

  “Well, better that than the clubhouse,” she said. “We weren’t using that for anything but stor … shit, the nerve gas.”

  “Yeah,” Frank said. “Don’t know if they knew anything about that or not.”

  “If they did, they’re either listening to our conversations, or we have a mole.”

  “Right,” Frank said. “But like I said, we don’t know. It might have just looked like a good target.”

  Jane looked out the window. “Looks like our friends are getting up. There goes Dobie with his dogs.”

  “Yeah, I guess I should get up and take ours,” Frank said.

  “You go ahead, and I’ll get some coffee going.”

  “Sounds great, honey,” Frank said. He got dressed and left the bedroom. Jane got out of bed and dressed as she heard him leave the coach. She picked up her phone. There was a text message from the middle of the night. Her heart pounded as she picked it up and looked at it.

  “Oh no!” she said, rushing out into the salon, checking out the window. Frank was already down the road about twenty yards with Lucy. She put on her slippers and ran out the door, phone in hand. “Frank!”

  He turned, smiling at first, but then looking concerned when he saw her expression.

  “Look,” Jane said, handing him the phone. He saw the text message.

  Mom, they found us.

  Chapter 14 – Reunions

  “What do we do now?” Jane asked, tears running down her cheeks.

  “Let’s talk to the others,” Frank said. H
is face looked grim as they rushed over to Malcolm’s rig.

  “What’s the matter?” Malcolm asked as he came down his steps.

  “We got a text in the middle of the night from Sarah,” Frank said. “They’ve been found.”

  “Shit,” Malcolm said. Agent Williams and Ted came out.

  “What’s that I heard?” Ted asked.

  “Sarah sent a message from Montana. They found her,” Malcolm said.

  “You tried calling her yet?” Agent Williams asked.

  “Calling now,” Jane said.

  “Bring it inside and put it on speaker,” Malcolm said. They all climbed the steps of his coach. Jane put the phone on the kitchen counter as it rang.

  “Mom? Thank God,” Sarah said, sounding tense.

  “Sarah, honey, we’ve got you on speaker in Malcolm’s rig. Your father is here. What happened?”

  “Somebody contacted the owner of the lodge,” Sarah said. “Hey, honey, come here. My folks are on the phone.”

  “Hi,” Hank said. “Who’s on?”

  “Hi, Hank, this is Frank, Sarah’s father.”

  “Jane here, Sarah’s mom.”

  “Ted Crowley, LAPD.”

  “Agent Williams of the FBI.”

  “Malcolm Davis.”

  “Holy shit, Malcolm Davis?” Hank said.

  “I told you he was with them,” Sarah said.

  “What’s happening?” Agent Williams asked. “Have they made contact with you yet?”

  “No,” Hank said. “Not yet, but they know which town we’re in. It’s tiny. Once they get here, they’ll find us in a hurry.”

  “What are you doing?” Frank asked.

  “Loading up camping gear, and heading for the back country,” Hank said. “I’ve got a four-wheel-drive truck, and I know this area like the back of my hand. It won’t be easy for them.”

  “These guys have access to satellite imagery,” Frank said. “Where are you?”

  “Stop!” Malcolm said. “Don’t say it. They’re probably monitoring the phones.”

  “Drop box?” Frank asked.

  “Yeah,” Malcolm said.

  “I’ll set it up,” Ted said. “Write the number down for me. I’ll call them back on my phone with the instructions, and then we’ll have George relay the info over to us.”

  “Did you friend tell them the address?” Jane asked.

  “No,” Sarah said. “The local sheriff made the UN let him go. There’s no UN presence up there, thank God.”