don’t. You starting to follow now”? Gordon was stunned by my reasoning, “I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion, but keep going”?
“When you told me about how they beat the crap out of you and Joey, and then Joey died”. Gordon nodded. “Since they’re about to be eighteen, they can be tried as adults, and I doubt that Frankie’s Uncle would be too pleased with Frankie if he left any witnesses. I think Frankie’s Uncle set
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the whole thing up so Frankie could escape this place alone, and join his Uncle where ever the hell he is”. “Are you sure your last name isn’t Holmes, you like Sherlock”?
I don’t know if this is from all of the Criminal Minds
I’ve watched, or if my Dad’s DNA of reasoning is kicking in. My Dad could watch any mystery program and within ten minutes would tell you how it ends. That used to piss off Mother to no end.
Perhaps we’ve got Frankie and his gang figured out (Hopefully). We still had to make sure that The GTO was disabled while they are in Bay Ridge Jewelers getting the diamonds. More planning was needed and we would need the Sheriff’s assistance with that. There remains only one question, can we get to Agent Boling as she’s trying to get to me?
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“Are you sure, and you scanned the hard drives. What about backups, I know that Landers would have insisted on at least two backups”. Her two colleagues had completed their sweep of the vehicle used by Landers and Marrick. “Look Boling, this vehicle is clean, there’s no paperwork, they must have dumped their phones somewhere, and the hard drive contains nothing but encrypted files which we can’t access”.
Agent Boling looked at him with contempt, “What do you mean you can’t access it. Christ Doug, you’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember, plus it’s only a hard drive”. “What I’m saying is, the person who had this laptop put in a nasty virus, so if we try to open one of the files, the whole thing fries, and poof, no information. This guy is freaky good Boling”. “Not anymore”, she replied with the sinister calm of Hannibal Lector.
Agent Boling called the Director; it didn’t even ring once as he picked up, “Any news that will put me in a good mood”? “They picked everything clean, not one usable piece of information I’m afraid”, she replied. A brief moment of silence followed by, “Pity, I take it the computer is set to self-destruct, so to speak. What about backups, any luck there”?
“I’m afraid not, it seems our project put them onto me and they cleaned house. No phones were found, no backups either but I doubt they had time to send them off in the mail, so I’m not sure what they did with them. I highly doubt that
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anything they attained would prove useful”. “Perhaps Agent Boling only we don’t have the luxury to trust that line of thinking. Now are you sure that you didn’t see anything following the Agents demise”, the Director asked?
“Not a thing, after watching confirmation that our targets had been identified and that the mission was complete, I was on the phone with you, but still watching the target area, and I did not see any other motion until I arrived on scene”. “I see, do you think perhaps our project happened to stumble upon these, or should I go under the assumption that all is well and not to worry”. Agent Boling absorbed that bit of sarcasm from the Director; knowing exactly what he wanted. Without missing a beat she replied, “I’m on it Sir”, and ended the call.
Agent Boling knew that the Director would not pull any punches in this matter, she knew he was right but wished that he would give her a little credit for knowing how to get the job done. She was tired of the politics with the Bureau and this endeavor would enable her to retire a wealthy woman and without the politics form the bureau for which she has had much contempt for these many years. Soon she would be able to say goodbye on her terms, and not those forced upon her.
Agent Boling turned back to her colleagues who were wrapping up their work, “So Doug, did you find a suit-able means of transportation for me”? “Oh ye of little faith Boling, it’s out back and the keys are up in the visor”, Doug replied. “You left the keys in the car”, she snapped? “Relax this shipping yard has been closed for years, only a few of us lucky ones have access. It will be fine, no one’s going to fuck
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with it. This is only one of many abandoned shipping yards in Seattle Boilng I assure you, we are very much alone”.
“Why don’t you have your partner take my vehicle back, and you hang out with me for a couple of more days; there’s more work to do”. “Copy that Boling, let me make a quick call and then fill me in on the juicy details”, Doug replied with enthusiasm.
She was ready for this to be over, all she had left to do was to get rid of the Sheriff and apprehend Billy. She had her plan ready and now with help at her disposal, she could con-centrate on Billy and let Doug have the fun of terminating the Sheriff. The little misfit gang of Mafia wannabes would be the last of her worries.
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the sherIFF returned in about an hour appearing in a fresh uniform and hair that was still somewhat wet from his shower. Gordon and I had gone over our plan again for Friday night to make sure we were both on the same page. I had confidence that our plan would work, Gordon was less than enthusiastic about it, but was willing. I can’t say as I blame him after what he’s been through lately.
The Sheriff closed his office door and in his right arm he was carrying a paper bag which he sat down on his desk. He put one hand in the bag and brought out a tennis shoe and tossed it at me, “Here you go Billy”. “Thanks”, I replied. “You were right about the Base being bugged. I found one under the lip of Mr. Watkins desk, and a second one just right inside the window by where you two sleep”. The Sheriffs phone rang.
“Yeah, this is Sheriff Pasco, who am I talking to”? The voice on the other end waited a second then added, “Can you confirm that this is a secure line”? The Sheriff looked con-
cerned, “Let’s just say it’s the only secure line in town”. “Very good Sheriff, I’m Adrian Montrose with NSA and was good friends with Agent Marrick. He forwarded this number to me as a secure line, but I needed to make sure. I have some information that you might find useful”.
“How do I know you’re who you say you are”? “Fair enough Sheriff, I have all of the information that Marrick
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sent me with a note that he made two backups, I take it they’re in your possession”? The Sheriff exhaled and said, “I have one, the other is being looked at by some of our local authorities”. “Great, now the first thing to get off the table is that I was granted clearance to dig into everything Agent Boling has been up to, and as we speak we have people planting a GPS device on her newest mode of transportation. Audio devices have also been attached to various parts of her car to insure we can pick up any conversation she is having and will be able to tell where that call either originated or is going to”.
The Sheriff had a half grin as he must have been enjoying the news he was getting. “Just one question, “What happens if she runs a scan to detect electrical devices, and how in the hell did you find this stuff out so damn quick to get out in our neck of the woods. I thought you boys were located back east”? “True but we have resources nationwide, and our new audio devices are undetectable. Our systems here are set up to where we can find anyone or anything in a matter of seconds, once we obtain information like Marrick had sent me.”
“Okay, I’m all ears, what have you come up with so far, the Sheriff asked? The Sheriff could hear Adrian tapping on his keyboard in the back ground. “First off, looks like we have a location in Nevada for whatever he was trying to find. It’s a little town called Round Mountain, or at least around I’m guessing there is some facility that you are trying to locate. Well anyway we have repositioned some satellites with the coordinates from Round Mountain and should be able
to pull up useful footage in a couple of hours”. “Hours, I
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thought you said seconds was all you needed to find something”? “It took just seconds to find the place, but unfortunately the satellites have to be in position before we can zoom in and have a clear look”.
“Sorry, just a little on edge since Agent Boling tried to punch our ticket with a speeding city truck”. “Understandable, I was able to get some video from one of our other satellites, and maybe you can explain to me how a huge truck like that did an immediate 90 degree turn. I’ve never seen anything like that before and I’ve seen some strange shit”. The Sheriff looked at Billy, “Yeah I could tell explain it to you, just not right now”.
“Not a problem, I did want to let you know that I’ve sent you a link on an email I just sent you that will give you real time GPS readings on Agent Boling. Just click on the link and follow the instructions”. The Sheriff had almost said
thank you, when it occurred to him, “You know I don’t recall giving you my email”. “Please I’ve got your emails in front of me from the last two months as well as cell phone activity for you and your Deputies”.
The Sheriff was getting a bit annoyed, “One might consider that invasion of privacy”. “One might also say that murder is an invasion of life, like my Friend Marrick”, Adrian added. “I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t check out all avenues before pursuing a solution”.
The Sheriff couldn’t argue with that, “Sorry, I have to remember that it’s not only been tough on us. Do you have a number that I can get back with at if I need to”? A moment of silence ensued and that worried the Sheriff. “My apologies, had to make sure that I was still alone. I won’t be giving
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you a number, for this activity is on my own dime. You might say I’ve gone rogue, just not in the same manner as Agent Boling. This is personal, so if there is any new information, I will contact you at this number. You are sure that this is a secure line”?
“Definitely, I had this installed two years ago, so as long as I have a green light blinking on the receiver, it’s secure”, The Sheriff answered. “Before you go can you maybe hide that video of the truck for a while”? “Consider it hidden, I’ll be in touch”, and the line was silent.
The Sheriff felt a little better with the news of being able to keep tabs on Agent Boling. He was still a bit unnerved that his emails and calls were so easily available, but he understood the reasoning behind it, no matter how much it pissed him off. This bit of information would aid him greatly if she decides to make another move which he figured would be sooner than later.
The Sheriff hung up the phone and looked at Billy and Gordon, who appeared as though they were anxious to find out about his conversation. “Okay, which one of you is good with computers”, Before the Sheriff realized that Billy could not come near one. “Sorry Billy, kind of forgot”. “That’s okay, who was that on the phone”, Billy Inquired? I sat down in one of the arm chairs far away from the Sheriff’s computer. “That was a friend of one of the agents that was shot, and he is going to help us keep tabs on Miss Fussy Britches”, the Sheriff replied. The Sheriff brought up his email and got up from his high back chair and pointed to Gordon, “There you go, it’s the email he sent. He said to click on the link and follow the directions”. Gordon sat down and started pecking
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away on the sheriff’s keyboard. “Oh shit, ultimate cool”, Gordon exclaimed. “He said that Agent Boling was switching vehicles and they already had someone plant GPS on her alternate vehicle to track her” the Sheriff added. Gordon
took a closer look on the monitor and muttered, “What’s she doing in Seattle”.
Sheriff Pasco leaned in a little closer to the monitor, “My guess is that they are digging through the Agents vehicle for clues, only I doubt they find any considering they gave Billy the flash drives”. Gordon asked, “Can you access your email in the patrol car”? The Sheriff nodded. Gordon looked over at Billy, “That will help him know where she’s at, but doesn’t do us much good unless we’re in the car with him”.
The Sheriff turned and started opening one of the cabinets directly behind him. He took something from the cabinet and handed it to Gordon. “Now these phones are a bit different from those you buy, with this you can access my email and then you can set it up like you did on mine. I will send the email address to just that phone. That much I remember how to do. That way you can watch the blinking dot on the screen and know where she’s at as well”. He then
handed Gordon a charger.
I felt rather slighted at first, everybody had a new toy except for me, and then it hit me that I might melt that new phone of Gordon’s if I got too close to him. Now that I think about it, I had a new toy, a couple actually and I’m still trying to learn how to use those without blowing shit up. I decided to be big about this and not whine that I didn’t get a phone.
It took a while for me to realize it, but I was walking around with my left tennis shoe in my hand. I get distracted
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easily, what can I say. “Oh, I almost forgot, Mr. Watkins said whoever wanted to go to the Movies Friday night that the van would be leaving at 7:45”, The Sheriff added. I sat down in one of the padded arm chairs to take off my walking boot and put on my other tennis shoe to join in with the normal walkers again when I felt something slip in my right shoe. I finished removing my boot, then started on my right shoe. It felt like the insole may have come loose which is nothing new for me; I come from a Family of sweaty feet. I’ll take sweaty feet for 400 Alex, and the answer is, yes a loose insole. What are crappy shoes? I watch too much TV. The insole was indeed loose and as I started to grab the edge of it and push it back in place was when I saw it. “Sheriff, you might want to see this”. I handed him my shoe and asked him to lift up the insole. “I’ll be damned Billy you’ve been bugged”, The Sheriff declared. He pulled out the insole and removed a tiny little computer chip I guess with a small wire hanging off of it. The sheriff looked at me and added, “Now we know how she’s been keeping track of our whereabouts; that sneaky Bitch”, the sheriff cut himself off short and said, “Billy, I’ll need to see your jacket, and you might want to check your belt as well”. The Sheriff took my jacket and mumbled to himself as he sat down in his chair, “I’m going to hang that bitch by her buster browns”. I didn’t know the meaning of that other than its intention seemed violent in nature; I was good with that.
After a few minutes of searching, the Sheriff found another bug tacked on to my jacket right under the collar. My belt returned negative results. I was putting my belt back on when the Sheriffs phone rang, scaring the crap out of all
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three of us. You could say we were a bit jumpy. “Damn, if that would have been a bit louder I might have crapped myself”. Gordon and I chuckled over that one.
“How many times do I have to say, just send him to my office”, and the receiver made a loud landing back in its cradle. There was a knock on the door and the Sheriff re-
sponded, “It’s open”. I lost all control of my jaw muscles as I’m sure that it was hanging on the floor, when in walked Detective Hargrove, who must have suffering from the same affliction as myself as his mouth just hung open for a second before saying, “You”. I couldn’t argue with him on that point, for I was, me.
Pointing at me Detective Hargrove asked, “This is my Niece’s boyfriend that needs help, you got to be kidding me, he’s a walking Armageddon”? Whatever he just said didn’t really register, because I was too focused on the Boyfriend part. Once again I felt like nothing else mattered except to be in Jennifer’s arms. I believe that I could really get used to that feeling.
Detective Hargrove continued his rant and I suppose I couldn’t blame him for that, although he had no business putting his hands around my neck. As far as him loading his shorts like an infant, well I have no control over what comes out of me that gave him no control over what came out of him.
“Will you settle the fuck down before you give yourself a heart att
ack Hargrove, I’m well aware of what Billy’s capable of, probably more so than you”. Detective Hargrove seemed all out of gas, as he was red in the face and plopped down on one of the Sheriff’s chairs. He was pulling some papers out
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of his jacket pocket while giving me some sort of death stare; I doubted that it would work, but he seemed to be trying awfully hard.
“Here, this is what my guys came up with so far about what was on that flash drive”, as he leaned over and tossed the papers at the Sheriff. “You want to explain to me what all this crap means, and how in the hell is the Director of the FBI’s financial transactions are of interest to any one, and more importantly, who came up with this information”?
That was quite a mouthful spewing out of Detective Hargrove as Sheriff Pasco was trying to figure out exactly what he was looking at. “Ron, what are all of these phone records, and who is it we’re supposed to be looking for”? “There, down at the bottom of the last page Walt”.
Sheriff Pasco scrolled down at the bottom of the papers and smiled, “Well what have we here; it looks like our Little Miss agent has had numerous calls to the Director of the FBI”. The Sheriff looked at me and then back at Detective
Hargrove, then back to the pile of papers. Directing his at-tention back at the detective the Sheriff said, “You think that maybe Agent Boling and the top dog at the FBI are in this activity together as a team. That makes Billy a very special commodity for these folks but I’ll be damned if I know why”?
The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by Page 16