by Noah Rea
Then Jim paused as if to catch his breath.
“I will get a note out on all postings about the Fairfax killing that Benjamin Raines has been cleared of Rebecca’s death. We won’t give details yet, but that will take nearly all of the heat off of you.”
I couldn’t respond very fast and Deb thanked him for us. Then I thanked her for helping me. She held my hand.
Deb and I went on about our trucking and house planning and we didn’t hear from Jim for a couple of days.
Then one morning about 11 am we got a call from Jim. He was excited.
“We have a black SUV spotted. Are you in a place where no one can hear your phone?”
“Yes we are at home.”
“Good, the tech guys say I can patch the sound through to you. Be sure not to make any noise so they won’t hear you. The Texas State Police have a black SUV they are following going out of the Dallas metro area. They are staying well back to keep from alerting the SUV. Their radios are using a new frequency that the scanners don’t pick up yet. The SUV is northeast bound on I-30. They don’t want to engage it until it is out of town farther so they are fewer people around.”
“If you are ready I will patch the sound through to you and you can listen in on the police radio. Don’t forget to not make a sound.”
“Okay, we got it.” Deb and I both said quietly.
Then we heard a couple of low pitched clicks and then we could hear a low static in the background. Very little was being said. They were using police codes so we didn’t know what they were saying all the time. Deb got on the computer and searched police codes so we could follow what was going on. She increased the screen font so when she put in a code the meaning would come up large enough to easily read.
Someone was calling out mile markers and since that happened about once a minute they were going about sixty miles an hour.
“Unit 16. Why are we doing the take down here? Do we realize there is a concrete median wall, a ditch, two lanes of interstate in this direction, another ditch, a frontage road, another ditch and a fence?”
“Unit 4. There are less people here.”
It was quiet for several seconds.
“Unit 16. There is a lot of space to cover from concrete wall to fence.”
“Unit 4. 10-3, ”
Then we heard them say there were nine units currently in place with five ahead of the SUV and four following. They were not together so no one that saw them would be suspicious. They also had a couple of swat teams they were scrambling. The lead car tailing the SUV had two officers and they already had their M16s ready.
“Unit 4. Code 11.”
That meant call up the swat teams. They were getting ready.
Then we heard a louder command than we had heard before.
“Unit 4. Code 3.”
Someone had told them to approach the SUV and all of a sudden the voice activity jumped. There were lots of people checking in or something but lots of people were talking now. A helicopter that was a couple of miles away said the SUV was slowing down. Maybe they picked up the police chatter. Everyone was listening now. Every time the lead car had passed an exit the cars that were blocking that exit got in behind the lead.
Then we heard the lead car tell about closing in on the SUV with lights and siren on. They had just passed an interstate exit so the SUV could not easily get off. There was no reaction from the SUV for several minutes. Three police cars blocked the next exit and three blocked the on ramp anticipating possibly even being rammed by the SUV.
The lead car was about 100 yards back now and everyone was pulling off the road except the SUV. So it became obvious in about two minutes that they were following the SUV and not one of the other vehicles. Within another minute or so the SUV took off. The lead car stayed with it reading off his speed every few seconds. They were now going 145 miles per hour. The SUV moved to the right lane probably expecting to exit and when they got close enough to see the exit blocked they pulled over to the second lane and went faster.
About ten miles ahead the police stopped some semis and got them crossways to the interstate. They had it blocked from the concrete median wall to the fence beyond the frontage road and the three ditches. It must have taken five or six semis to span that far. There were more police cars joining the take down and were heavily blocking the exits.
Now all the chasing cars were side by side and four deep in each lane and growing. There were more police cars on the frontage road running two and three deep there. The helicopter got in closer. One swat team was about three miles northeast from the trucks. They entered the interstate at an off ramp going southwest on the northeast bound side of the road. They would be coming up on the semi trucks in about another couple of minutes.
Another swat team was about to get on the interstate just behind the SUV. The police now had blocked all on ramps and off ramps with at least tripled up cars so the SUV couldn’t easily get off the interstate that way.
You could feel the tension in the air. The officers’ voices were getting louder and the pitch of their voices was getting higher. The lead car got closer and used their loud speaker to tell the SUV to pullover.
The back doors of the SUV opened and two men lying prone across a seat opened fire on the lead cars. The police backed off and told everyone they had been fired on with fully automatic weapons. They had taken fire and now everyone knew they were in a gun battle with no doubts about the intent in the SUV.
The take down was getting closer and it wasn’t looking easy. Within about another minute the SUV was in sight of the semis blocking the highway. It quickly slowed down and then stopped and then sat there for a second.
The pursuing cars all stopped about 300 yards back and made a blockade.
Then the SUV turned around and headed back toward the chasing cars. They were only a few yards between them now and the SUV was headed for a ditch to try to get around the blockade. Several cars deep were blocking everything from the median wall to the fence. They now had a blockade in both directions. The police cars were three deep most places and now were five deep on the interstate. More cars were filling in the gaps by the second.
The SUV turned back toward the semis and went about 300 yards that direction and then turned around. They came at the blockade gaining speed as fast as they could. They were going to try to ram their way through.
The police were yelling on their radios now. The ones on the interstate were bracing for impact. The SUV was probably going to hit them going at least 75 miles per hour. The impact was enormous. Cars flew back and spun around in all directions like the worst NASCAR wreck you had ever seen. The chain reaction totaled most of the cars close to the impact and slowed the SUV but didn’t stop it. It was down to about ten miles per hour now and burning rubber to push the last cars out of the way. The remaining two cars in each lane were just pushed out of the way simply because the SUB was bigger and heavier. It left two piles of mangled cars behind them.
There was a lot of chatter about where the SUV was and about the well being of the policemen in the blockade. This time the police had opened fire on the SUV but it was armored and their bullets didn’t seem to be effective. The SUV had totally broken through the blockade.
More police cars pulled onto the interstate in pursuit. Deb and I couldn’t tell but it sounded like there must have been over thirty police cars by now. Then we heard a swat truck was pulling on the highway southwest of the car blockade and ahead of the SUV. Then the swat guys saw the SUV about a mile ahead and closing really fast. They headed toward each other like they were playing “chicken”.
Then the swat van turned sideways blocking as much of the two lanes of the highway as it could while other cars filled in. The police and swat team started exiting their vehicles. Swat had a couple of .50 caliber rifles and began to unload on the SUV driver and front tires.
The SUV wouldn’t be able to ram the Swat van out of the way and if they went in the ditch at the speed they were going they would proba
bly turn over. It started to slow down and headed for the ditch by the concrete median wall. They intended to ram the cars there and try to break through again.
Then the passenger side front tire blew and the SUV swerved toward the median wall and hit it. The driver was really good because he kept the SUV from rolling or getting out of control. He bounced off the wall and straightened the van toward the cars and hit the gas. The front tire was digging into the soft dirt but the SUV was picking up speed. There were now .50 caliber holes in the windshield so the driver wasn’t safe in the seat any longer. They shot out another tire on the driver side and though the engine RPMs got louder the van was slowing down. A .50 caliber shot took out the SUV motor with a loud whine and killed all their power. They weren’t going anywhere now.
All the doors of the SUV flew open and the real firefight began.
A couple of guys from the SUV jumped the median and ran out into the west bound traffic trying to flag down a vehicle they could commandeer. A police car east of there stopped and a couple of officers jumped the concrete wall and blocked traffic so no more cars came close to the guys on that side. The helicopter was close enough and police beside the median were close enough they opened fire on them trying to pin those guys down. One was down quickly in a lot of blood and the other dropped to the pavement and was prone trying to shoot back at the police behind the wall and in the helicopter. That was a real losing position and he soon dropped his weapon and raised his hands.
The firefight was now focused on the SUV. There was blood running out of the SUV. There still were lots of shots coming from inside. The driver had dropped out of sight and was probably one of the two firing through the side doors. Two others were firing out the back doors. Then there was a loud cease fire command on the radio. The police stopped firing. A policeman on a loud speaker told the SUV people to lay down their guns and come out slowly with their hands in the air.
The SUV guys quit shooting. It was silent for what seemed a long time. Then there was chatter. An open palm was shown at the side SUV door. People were coming out without guns. One was okay and was helping another one who was bleeding badly and couldn’t stand without his help. The driver wasn’t moving. Another guy in the SUV was badly wounded and could barely move. He dropped his gun. There was one more in the SUV who was badly wounded and unconscious but still alive.
There were ambulances at the scene in just a couple of minutes. Several dozen ambulances had been scrambled from all over. The state police had been afraid there would be a lot of injuries. The policemen in the first breached blockade appeared to be okay. They were shaken up and several were headed to the hospital but none had broken necks, backs or other bones. Several were badly bruised up but they would be okay.
A few policemen at the shootout had been hit but nothing was life threatening. The amount of damage would take some time to estimate but they had stopped a SUV with very serious killers.
Then Jim came on while the background static quit.
“Okay, you got a ring side seat as far as hearing what was going on. Don’t we wish we had seen it?”
“Not from up close I don’t.” I said.
“Those guys are in real trouble.” Jim said. “They knew that or they would not have tried so hard to escape or fight it out. Some probably felt they were better off dead than being captured. They will likely get the death penalty…after about ten years. Well add to that about three years in court.”
“We are not listening to the Texas police anymore as I’m sure you can tell. They will be busy for awhile but we will get a full report in a few days. I will forward a copy to you. It should be good reading. I wonder if the killers got off a call to their boss before they were taken down. We will probably have that answer in a few days as well.”
“Thanks for everything, guys. Bye.” Jim said and with his normal brief parting was gone.
Chapter 15
Follow the Money
Jim and Seth found out about the dead guy in the black SUV in Manassas because the police had asked the FBI if they wanted in on the investigation. The body had been removed from the SUV by the time they got there, but the SUV was still there. It was on a nearly deserted road with few houses, which led to a dead end just up the hill from a river. Jim helped Seth get tire imprints before the wrecker hauled it off. Jim asked where the autopsy would be done and asked that he or Seth get a copy of the DNA.
When they compared the tire prints to the one Mike had gotten from the vehicle at Ben’s house, it was a match.
The next day they got the official DNA report, and it confirmed the guy killed in the SUV was a match with the skin under Rebecca’s fingernails. Jim told us someone was getting nervous and was eliminating anything that pointed to them. If they knew about their SUV in Texas then they would really be scared. They would like everyone to believe that this Manassas SUV and killer was the only one. But the Texas shootout would put that to rest. That probably meant the Manassas guy was already dead when the Texas take down started. SUVs like these had literally been seen all over the US. But it was another attempt to divert us from their identity. “It also tells us that whoever is behind all this is getting some information out of the FBI.” Jim said.
I took a minute to respond. “You mean the bad guys can get into your computer or something and get data that is supposed to be secure?”
“Some but not all. We know they have gotten some information that is only available to a limited number of people inside the FBI. But some information they are not getting, and we don’t know why yet.”
Jim said he was nervous about Dr. Robinson and maybe a few others with regard to the lives and well-being of their patients.
“That clears you, Sam. In a couple of days, we’ll have that in-house investigation in writing, and as long as there are no missing pieces, we’ll do a press release announcing that Bentley Raines has been cleared of killing his wife. So you should be able to relax a little.”
“It can’t happen too quickly,” I said.
“Rebecca’s parents have been asking if we knew your whereabouts, and they’re concerned about you. They knew you didn’t do it. Since you don’t frequent her parents’ part of the world that much, it might be best to have them meet you somewhere. Except it will be totally up to you whether you want to be Ben or Sam. You have essentially put yourself in witness protection. That is how I’m treating it in official documents. That makes some things easier to cover.”
“Do you think the black SUV people are monitoring their phone?”
“They probably are but they may be shutting down the SUVs. We just don’t know right now. We can tell by what is happening as their top priority is to protect the secrecy of those at the top.”
“You know I’m talking to Rebecca’s parents as Sam a friend of Ben’s, right. I don’t talk to them much. Have they lost my phone number?”
“They may have. They haven’t heard from you for awhile so they may be anxious about you still being alive.” Jim said.
Could you give them a secure phone like you gave me so I could call them?”
“Not likely, but I’ll see what I can do,” Jim said.
“Okay,” I said. “What will you do next to try to solve the case?”
“Following the money trail usually was the best way to find the lead criminal. So far, that trail most often led to the IRS. But not always, so it’s a little confusing. Getting more information over time will probably clear it up.”
Jim signed off with his usual, “I’ll let you know,” and was gone.
We’d thanked Jim and were both quiet for a while. Deb asked me if I was OK, and I said I was relieved but not sure the killers weren’t still looking for me. She asked if it changed anything between us.
I almost laughed.
Then I took her hands and looking into her eyes, I told her the only difference I could think of was whether she wanted to be Mrs. Adams or Mrs. Raines or both. I asked her why she was insecure about it.
She said I had
a lot of money before and lived very well, and she wasn’t sure if I would want that lifestyle back. I told her I would be able to do accounting officially, and I had made good money, but my clients had moved on. I would have to get new clients, and I didn’t think I wanted to do much accounting work again at least for a while. Besides, I would have to use the Raines name or sit for the CPA exam as Sam. I didn’t really want to do either one.
And, I reminded her that she had told me no name change or anything could be used as an excuse to get rid of her. And I was keeping her forever, so it was only what we wanted our lives to look like going forward. I said my life as an accountant was long hours in an office with much less time at home than I wanted. If I did want to be an accountant, I certainly didn’t want to do business the way I had. I might do some from home, but I wouldn’t trade any amount of money for time with her.
The next morning I woke up early and was watching a beautiful sunrise when Deb came and found me with a cup of coffee. She asked what I was doing up so early.
I told her that God and I had made a beautiful sunrise.
She laughed and asked exactly what my part was in that big endeavor. I told her God made the sunrise, and I was grateful, repentant, and merciful. It was all I was able to do, but it was my part, and God said we were even. She was sure that was enough.
We went to an RV campground, and I used a phone there to call Rebecca’s parents. I told them someone was still trying to kill me. I said that I had been cleared by the FBI of Rebecca’s death. I told them that I loved them and still wanted them to be my family. They nearly cried on the phone. I told them I would call again but couldn’t talk long when I called. I asked if they needed any money or anything, and they said no.