“What missing children? Like I said, this is a setup.”
“Only it’s not. The kids are out there somewhere, and you are their only chance. I assure you, the mission is not a setup. And I am not the one who leaked your plans.”
“If you didn’t, someone working with you did.”
“On that we agree.”
Ananke blinked, not expecting his response.
“Whether you quit or not,” he continued, “the leak will be identified and plugged. But I would very much appreciate it if you would remain on the job. I think the children are in more danger now than ever.”
Ananke didn’t want to believe him. She’d worked in the business for years, and knew clients lied all the time. But as much as she hated to admit it, her senses were telling her he was sincere.
Crap.
“Your mole might know where the children are,” she said. “It could save a hell of a lot of time.”
“So you’re staying?”
Hoping she wouldn’t hate herself later, she said, “For now.”
“Thank you. If I am able to identify the leak in time, I’ll pass on whatever I learn, but you should operate like you’re not getting anything from me. In fact, unless something vital comes up, it might be better if we don’t communicate again until the mission is complete, one way or the other.”
If this really was a trap, that was also not the response she would have expected.
“That works for me.”
33
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
THE LEAK COULD have come from only one source.
Tuesday.
The Administrator had told the man the field team was on its way to Tonopah.
And yet, Tuesday being the leak didn’t make sense.
He wasn’t involved with the kidnappers. He was, for all intents and purposes, a victim. His only goal would be seeing the kidnapping resolved with no harm coming to anyone.
No, Tuesday did not pass on the information. But he was, perhaps unwittingly, the source.
The Administrator’s boss suspected someone was trying to sabotage the Committee.
What better way to do it than to tap into Tuesday’s conversations?
The Administrator called his personal tech specialist. “I need a bug check. Covert. The potential victim cannot be aware of what you’re doing. Whatever you find out, you will report only to me. Under no circumstances do you remove any bugs unless I give you the okay.”
34
REST STOP
THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, NEVADA
ANANKE HEADED BACK to the Explorer, still not sure she’d made the right decision to stay with the job.
“Hey, can I talk to you?”
She looked over her shoulder and saw Ricky walking, still gingerly, toward her from the restroom.
She almost kept going but he’d catch up to her eventually, so she turned and gave him an annoyed, “What?”
“Relax,” he said, nearing. “I’m your friend, remember? And it ain’t my fault he went all Evel Knievel. He’s the one who decided to speed down the highway on a flat tire.”
“Maybe. But he would have never been in that car if you hadn’t let him get away.”
“Okay, look. I may have made a mistake.”
She stared at him, expressionless. “You may have made a mistake.”
“And if I did, I just wanted to say, I’m…sorry.” The word seemed to stick on his tongue before he could get it out.
He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes but she said nothing.
He groaned. “Come on. I’m laying it out here. Aren’t you going to forgive me?”
“You haven’t admitted to anything so you haven’t really apologized, have you?”
“Well, I kinda did.”
“Kinda?”
“Kitten, if we’re going to—”
Her eyes narrowed, stopping him.
“What did I say? Oh, crap. Sorry.” He looked genuinely surprised that last word had come out of his mouth. “What I was trying to say was, if we’re going to be working together, then—”
She raised a finger in front of his face. “One time. That’s all. When this is over, we go our separate ways. Understand?”
He screwed up his mouth, his brow scrunching together. “Uh, I think perhaps you’re the one who doesn’t understand. Didn’t they—”
The driver’s door of the Explorer opened and Dylan stuck his head out. “Rosario’s got something.”
Ananke hurried over and climbed inside, happy to be away from whatever bullshit Ricky was attempting to sell her. He followed a few paces behind.
“I think we found them,” Rosario said.
“Might have found them,” Shinji’s voice chirped from the computer, his image in a small video box in the lower right corner, over a satellite map that filled the rest of the screen.
“Where?” Ananke asked.
“Somewhere in here.” Rosario pointed at a red circle, about the size of a half dollar, overlying the center of the map. It covered a good portion of a desert valley about seventy miles to the north of their current position.
“That looks like a whole lot of nothing,” Dylan said. At the map’s current wide magnification level, there didn’t appear to be any roads running through the circle, and the nearest highways were at least a dozen miles away.
“Took the words right out of my mouth, buddy,” Ricky chimed in.
“How do you know this is the place?” Ananke asked.
“Cell-tower records,” Rosario said. “Shinji used them to create a history of where the dead man’s phone went.”
“And this is where he went?”
“After starting in Yosemite and then heading east at the same time and route as the RV.”
Ananke grinned, any lingering doubt that the kids had been in the RV gone.
“The phone traveled all the way to this point.” Rosario touched the map just below the highway that cut across the north end of the circled valley. “And then it disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Ricky said.
“Anywhere north or south of the highway and you’d lose cell signal.”
“So he drove off into the desert?”
“Yes.” She tapped the map. “If he had gone north, towers would have picked the phone up again when he reached this point. And if it had gone south”—she drew an imaginary border between the bottom of the circle and the highway on the south end—“it would have pinged towers along here. In fact, that’s—”
“Unless he turned off his phone and pulled out the chip,” Ricky said. “So in reality he could have stayed on the highway.”
Rosario forced a smile. “He could have, yes. But he didn’t. As I was about to say, the southern towers did pick him up the next morning at around eight right here.” Again, she touched the screen near the southern highway.
“The guy could have still gone somewhere else,” Ricky argued. “Say he turned off his phone once he was away from the towers, headed in another direction for the night, came back in time to drive all the way south, and then turned it on again and make it seem like he was in there the whole time.”
Rosario magnified the map, brought the desert valley closer. “The only roads through that entire area are these.” She pointed out four and adjusted the map to center on one of them. “This is the one that goes the farthest south. It’s dirt, one lane, and looks in terrible shape. It also ends about thirty miles short of where the phone reappeared. So he’d have to make his own way from that point, which would take him hours. He wouldn’t have had time to go anywhere else and get back.”
“Or,” Ricky said, “he drives all the way around on the nicely paved state roads, hops off in the south, drives into the desert until he’s out of tower range, turns his phone back on and voila. He looks like he’s been driving across the valley, but in reality the whole trip only took him two, maybe three hours tops.”
As much as Ananke wished she could tell him he was an idiot, his alternate scenario—tho
ugh a stretch—was possible.
“One more piece of information,” Rosario said. “We also tracked the number for this V person who called the dead man. His phone disappeared at the same place and time, only his has not reappeared.”
Ricky shrugged. “He could have disabled his phone, too.”
“This is why I said might,” Shinji said. “But it’s the best lead we have.”
“And least convoluted,” Ananke said. “I think we should concentrate our effort within the circle, unless anyone has a better idea.”
She looked around to make sure the others agreed. Even Ricky nodded.
“So you agree now?”
“I never said I didn’t. I was just pointing out that there were alternate explanations. You’re not looking for a group of yes men, are you?”
She shook her head. “I…appreciate your input.”
Grinning, he said, “Thanks, boss.”
Ananke looked at the computer again. “That circle covers a lot of ground. We need to narrow things down. I doubt they’d go far from one of the dirt roads. Can you see if anything jumps out?”
For the next few minutes, Rosario traced each road through the target area. When she finished, she’d found three places of interest.
Two were homesteads, a couple of miles apart. Each looked long abandoned, the houses and other buildings in various states of decay. Some of the structures, however, did appear intact enough to be used by the kidnappers.
The third location was an old mining facility halfway up the hillside on the east, about five miles from the closest homestead. Two decrepit buildings flanked a partially collapsed scaffolding over the shaft opening. There was also what looked like a flattened area large enough to park several vehicles.
It would make a lot of sense for the kidnappers to use one of the locations as their base, instead of setting up camp in the wilderness. Still, Ananke knew, she and the others couldn’t completely ignore the latter possibility.
She had Rosario move the map until the highway at the north end of the valley was visible.
“Zoom in there,” Ananke said, pointing.
A moment later, a turnout on the north side of the highway sat center screen. Leading from it into the desert was a dirt road that ended after a quarter mile.
She tapped the dead end. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but that looks like a ridge.”
Rosario studied the map for a second. “I believe so.”
“From there, we should be able to see the whole valley.”
“A good portion of it anyway.”
Ananke leaned back, a plan coming together in her mind. When she was ready, she said, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Rosario and Dylan, you’ll take the Explorer back to Tonopah and pick up a few things we’re going to need. As soon as you’re done shopping, the rest of us will meet you here.” Ananke pointed at the ridge again.
“So that means you’re going to be riding with Leecie and me?” Ricky said, looking far too happy.
“No. It means you’ll be riding with me.” Ananke held out her hand. “Keys.”
“Hold on there. I drive the truck.”
“Keys.”
“It needs a man’s touch. We both know it.”
Liesel whacked her elbow into Ricky’s ribs. As air rushed out of his mouth, she said, “Give Ananke the keys.”
The keys exchanged hands.
“And my name is Liesel, not Leecie. You will not forget this.”
In a strained voice, Ricky said, “No. I guess I won’t.”
35
THE BUNKER
CARTER WAS BEGINNING to worry.
McGowan had yet to reach Danny. This was especially troubling given that McGowan had passed on a tip from their employer that someone might have found out where Danny was.
Did his silence mean they’d captured him? Because if they got him talking, they’d find out about the camp soon enough and would be coming for Carter and the others next.
McGowan, however, was more angry than worried. “The asshole probably left town as soon as I warned him and is halfway to Vegas already.”
Carter looked out at the motionless and soul-sucking desert from the shade of the RV’s awning. God, he’d be glad to get out of there. He hated brown. He never wanted to see brown again unless it was on a beach.
Perhaps McGowan was right. Perhaps Danny had made a run for it. Perhaps everything else was still fine.
Perhaps.
But Carter would be a fool to bank on that. Nope, from this point forward, he needed to look out for number one.
As nonchalantly as possible, he pushed out of his chair and walked toward the RV entrance.
“If you’re going inside, grab me another beer, would you?” Nyland asked.
“Sure,” Carter said.
“And a bag of those spicy Doritos.”
Carter nodded.
Five minutes later—after stuffing into a pillowcase a few bottles of water, some food, and other items he thought he might need, and stashing everything in a cabinet near the door—he brought Nyland his beer and chips.
“You not drinking?” Nyland asked.
“Maybe later.”
“Your loss.” Nyland raised his can. “Cheers.”
Carter lifted an imaginary can of his own. “Cheers.”
36
NORTH OF NOWHERE
ANANKE LEANED AGAINST the truck and swept her binoculars across the valley. All but the very eastern edge was now in shadows. In another forty minutes, twilight would be in full bloom.
Even at maximum magnification, the ridge they were parked on was too far away for her to make out either of the homesteads. Ananke could, however, see the dark spot that was the scaffolding around the mine entrance. Too distant to tell if there were any cars or RVs near it, though.
Dominating the center of the darkening valley was a wide tan scar of a dry riverbed, created by eons of flash floods. Ananke checked the sky to make sure no rain clouds were gathering. Thankfully it was clear from horizon to horizon.
“Here they come,” Liesel said from the other side of the truck.
Ananke lowered the binoculars and watched Dylan drive the Explorer up the dirt road to the ridge. As he parked, she, Liesel, and Ricky—who’d been lying across the truck’s tailgate—walked over to meet Dylan and Rosario at the back of the SUV.
Dylan opened the hatch and pulled out a box. “We were only able to find four, so someone will have to go without. Even then, our choices weren’t all that stellar, either.” He pulled out four satellite phones.
“They are bigger than I wanted,” Rosario said. “And not all the same brand, but they will do.”
As long as a pint glass, the phones were also as thick as paperback books—thankfully closer to Misery than The Stand on the Stephen King scale.
“I don’t need one,” Ricky said. “I work better alone.”
“You’ll be working alone, all right, but you get one,” Ananke said. “And you’ll answer every time I call.”
He bowed his head dramatically. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Rosario, you’ll be with me,” Ananke said. “So we can share.”
Though they had comm gear, the signal quality would drop off considerably outside a couple of miles. Since the team would likely spread out farther than that, the satellite phones would fill in when the comms didn’t work.
“Well, this is dumb,” Ricky said as he finished mounting the phone’s headset in one ear and the comm’s in the other. “I look ridiculous.”
“You do,” Rosario said, her ears boasting their own wraparound look. “But it has nothing to do with the headsets.”
Ananke, Dylan, and Liesel burst out in laughter. Ricky glared at them before he, too, joined in.
After the laugher died down, Rosario handed out the other items they’d picked up: flashlights, zip ties, and black clothing. By the time they were all geared up, the sun had set.
“Rosario and I will check out the farthest homestead. Ricky wil
l drop us off on his way to the mine. You two,” Ananke said to Dylan and Liesel, “have the closer place.” She paused. “Before we go, disable all vehicle lights. Interior, brake, headlights, reverse. Don’t miss anything. Once we’re out there, no one should drive within a mile of any of these places. Park and walk the rest of the way. As close to the top and bottom of the hour as possible, check in with me.” She paused. “Ricky, you’ll be higher than any of us.”
“I like the sound of that!” he said.
“Elevation-wise.”
“Right. That’s what I meant.” He winked at the others.
“If you determine the mine is unoccupied,” Ananke went on, “I want you to scan the valley and look for lights. If they’re out there roughing it somewhere, they’ll have something on.”
“You’re thinking like a hunter,” Ricky said. “I like it.”
“Anyone have questions?” Ananke looked around. “No? Good. Let’s find those kids.”
__________
THE TWO VEHICLES entered the desert south of the highway in tandem, with Ananke leading the way in the truck.
As much as she wished they could race to their destinations, they had to be ultra-cautious. Navigating the two ruts in the sand that served as the dirt road was reason enough. Without the assistance of lights, it was all the more difficult. Even more important was keeping the sounds of their engines at a minimum to avoid alerting the kidnappers. At least they didn’t have to contend with the moon, as it wouldn’t be rising until the wee hours of the morning.
“We just passed out of cell range,” Rosario announced.
Which meant they had entered the circle where the kids were being kept.
Hopefully.
They drove for another twenty minutes before they reached the fork in the road where the truck would part company with the Explorer.
Ananke triggered her comm. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Dylan said. “You, too.”
The vehicles veered off in different directions, two black blobs moving through the gray-black night.
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