Suspicion At Sea

by Nichols, Amie

  “Well, here's the deal. Ellie is going nowhere without me,” I broach, firmly, even though Ellie would probably rather do anything at this point than agree with me on this. She would say under normal circumstances she doesn't need protection, but on this, I’ll assume she wants me there.

  “Lyle can stay here with Suzy, after all, isn't she now in FBI protection,” Ellie points out. How can they argue with that?

  “Fine, whatever, but I'm not responsible for him,” Denny sneers.

  “Thank God,” I retort, getting a snarl from the redhead.

  The van we go in is decked out with computer equipment and a small arsenal of guns. Denny drives, the rest of us in the back. Cody sits at the computer screen as Ellie hands out ear pieces to everyone.

  “Let's get Tommy on the line now,” Ellie says, standing next to Cody. It's a bumpy ride and she has to hold onto the small table the computer is attached to. There are jumper seats on the other side of the van, where I sit and enjoy the view of her leaning over the table.

  “Hey, Tommy,” Cody says, and I hear a male voice in my ear piece. It's been awhile since I've used a com, so it startles me at first.

  “I've been hacking into some of the signals on Bailey Island. Luckily it seems to be a very low tech town. I should be able to triangulate just where the camera feed is,” Tommy says.

  “I think there'll be two feeds. The original cameras, I would imagine, feed to a computer in the building. It's the other ones I'm most interested in,” Ellie speaks to Tommy.

  “Yes, princess, I will do everything in my power to get that for you,” Tommy says, and I can hear his tone change talking to Ellie. And why is this Tommy calling her ‘princess’?

  “Thanks, gorgeous, I knew you would.” Ellie laughs and flirts right back. Like she just remembered I was in the van, she moves her head to look behind her. She gives me a wink, I'm guessing to put me at ease with her phone talk with Tommy. I wink back, but don't think this won't get brought up later.

  I’m watching Cody and Ellie converse back and forth when the van swerves causing Ellie to lose her balance. My instincts kick in as she bounces off Cody as he tries to turn in the chair to catch her. My arm goes out and she lands on it just before her head goes careening into the rear panel doors. Bringing her to my lap, I stare in her eyes for a second to makes sure she is okay.

  “What the fuck?” Cody and I say in unison to our dumb-shit driver.

  “Something on the road,” Denny yells back, not with an ounce of apology in his voice.

  “It's okay.” Ellie puts her warm hand on my cheek, her legs draped over mine. I realize I have a death grip on her when her words make me relax. “You can let me go,” she smiles.

  “I will if you sit,” I raise an eyebrow to see if she will fight me on it. It's okay if she does, I'm fine with her on my lap.

  “Guys, we have one problem,” Tommy speaks, getting everyone's attention.

  “What is it Tommy?” Ellie asks, answering the voice in our ears.

  “There is a very bright security light on the property of the warehouse. It's going to be like daylight as you try to get in.”

  “Can't you shut it down?” Cody asks.

  “If it was hooked up to the power grid I could. The whole property has its own generators. It's completely dependent on itself. This will be a job for Lyle's arm.” Tommy laughs at what seems to be an inside joke. Cody smirks at the comment.

  “Lyle's not here,” Denny bites bitterly.

  “There are four coms, who else is there?” He seems panicked, picking up on Denny's tone.

  “The SEAL,” Denny answers before anyone else has a chance.

  “Justin is here, Tommy,” Ellie speaks, moving over to the seat next to me. “Lyle is with Suzy, I'm sure between these three men we can knock out the light,” Ellie says calmly, trying to deflect the anger Denny is emitting.

  “You'll have to park a little ways down the road to avoid being seen. I have eyes on you so I will be able to watch from the sky.”

  “Drone?” I mouth to Ellie who nods.

  “Any movement?” Cody inquires.

  “Negative.”

  The van pulls to a stop and Ellie stands, putting on a bullet-proof vest labeled FBI. She hands me one and Denny opens the rear doors grabbing his. Ellie hands me a gun, and holster.

  “I don't think so,” Denny objects as I check the clip.

  “Oh, come on, you know I'm well trained,” I stare at him. “If something goes south, you know damn well that I can help.” I know he hates me, he has made no secret of that, but even he can't deny this.

  “Whatever,” he says, realizing it’s obviously not worth his time in arguing.

  “There is a stretch of trees half a click east that will get you to the light without being seen. It will take you to the edge of the light's beam. You can stay hidden while you take it out,” Tommy instructs as Denny starts walking.

  “I'll take the rear,” Cody whispers, motioning for Ellie and me to go after Denny. Walking through the tree line is not quiet, but as Tommy said, there isn't a soul in sight. We're not worried about being heard, just seen.

  Chapter 41

  Ellie

  “I've triangulated the signal for the original camera feed, just like you suspected, it is in the warehouse,” Tommy says as we reach our spot.

  “And the other feed?” I ask Tommy as I watch Denny pick up a small rock and throw it as hard as he can, missing the light by a mile.

  “Patience, princess,” Tommy chuckles.

  Cody and Justin join in, chucking pebbles at the security light that is at least thirty feet in the air.

  “How come I still see light down there,” Tommy razzes, and I giggle as the guys make this into a competition. The rocks are landing everywhere, making quite the ruckus.

  “Tommy, hopefully the second cameras don't have sound.” Saying this makes all of them stop to wait for the answer.

  “No, you can make all the noise you want. Well, within reason, that is.”

  With that, the throwing commences. I grow impatient and look around for the right rock. I pick up one about the size of golf ball, move in front of the boys just to the edge of the light’s reach, and they all stop to watch. With one good throw of the heavy rock, the bulb bursts, bringing darkness upon us.

  “Good job, boys,” Tommy praises.

  “Hey, what makes you think it was one of the boys,” I speak up, wanting credit for the throw.

  “Oh, princess, just when I thought you couldn't be more perfect,” Tommy lets out a garbled moan and Justin tenses up. I have to say that he has held his tongue very well with Tommy's comments.

  “Watch it, Tommy, you are getting Justin's panties in a wad.” Denny snickers with an evil grin.

  “Fuck you,” Justin responds.

  “Okay, guys, we have a window here. Not sure how long it will take whoever put those cameras up to show up when they see the light is out. So I suggest you do this later,” Tommy reprimands.

  “Cody, do you have the device?”

  “Roger.”

  “Place it as close as you can to the cameras without being seen,” Tommy instructs. We all take off in a slow jog toward the building. I stop in front of the keypad, hugging the door out of sight of the camera. Justin and Denny stay around the corner of the warehouse where there are no cameras. Cody, to my left, sticks a little black box to the metal exterior just below the camera.

  “Code, Tommy,” I order into the com.

  He rattles off different possibilities, such as birthdays and phone numbers of Jade's family. Every code gets me a red light.

  “Try simple, like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,” Justin loudly whispers from his spot around the warehouse.

  “Go for it,” Tommy agrees, and I punch in the numbers. Getting a green light, I open the door. We all file in, and I shut the door.

  “How the hell did you know that?” Denny's tone is accusatory.

  “Jade is a dumbass, I've told you this,” Justin replies,
like it explains everything.

  The warehouse is practically empty; containing only a few live water tanks that are unfilled and some wooden crate shipping boxes that Cody and Denny go straight to. Using a crowbar they find on a shelf, they pry them open. Underneath a layer of straw is an assortment of weapons; fully automatic guns, grenade launchers, hand guns, and a ton of ammunition. Every box they pry open is more of the same.

  “This confirms what we suspected,” Denny announces, looking around the room. “We just have to figure out the delivery system.”

  I glance up and see a loft, and what looks like an office area. I point up and we ascend the stairs that are along the wall.

  Inside is an old metal desk with a computer, a few filing cabinets, and a raggedy couch that has seen better days. The whole room smells musty and damp. I switch on the desk lamp and move the chair to stand in front of the computer. Touching the mouse, the screen comes out of sleep mode revealing a screen that is not password protected.

  “Tommy, there's no password,” I tell him what I see.

  “That's good, they are a bunch of dumb assess, aren't they?”

  “It's what I've been saying,” Justin adds, I see the smirk on his face.

  “Okay, doll face, put the plug in the USB drive so I can remote in. Let's see what these idiots have been up to,” Tommy instructs me and I find the tower on the floor, inserting the USB into it.

  Instantly we see the screens flashing as Tommy searches the computer.

  “Here's something interesting.” The screen starts flashing with maps. Tommy stops on one so we can have a better look. It's a map of the entire eastern seaboard with points from Maine all the way down past the Gulf of Mexico. Each point is what looks to be about fifty nautical miles out from the coast. There is a series of numbers listed at each point.

  “That's not latitude and longitude.” Justin leans in next to me to see the map better.

  “There are about fifty of these maps all with different codes and points,” Tommy says as Cody leans in on the other side of me.

  “What else is different about the maps?” Justin asks Tommy.

  “The dates at the top. Each one is different, and they are old dates. Here's one that is July 11, 1960, and this one is September 17, 1954, now this one is July 16, 1951. I don't see any kind of order to the dates. And these maps are current, present day maps.” Tommy is sounding puzzled, which doesn't happen very often.

  Everyone is silent as we stare at the maps, trying to make sense of the numbers and the dates.

  “I would think they are meeting points, but how would they know what or who they are meeting?” Denny speaks, breaking the silence.

  “I have all the maps copied. You guys need to get out of there before whoever is watching notices that the light is out.”

  “What about the feed, did you find out where they are going to?” I ask.

  “No, princess, it's bouncing off IP addresses all over the world. It's going to take me some time. Now, please get out of there while you are still undetected.”

  Chapter 42

  Justin

  “Why have the authorities not been in there yet, and how come there is no media attention?” Ellie asks of no one in particular.

  “We are not sure. If it hadn't been you bringing my attention to it we never would have found out that Fausto was on the move,” Cody answers.

  “How is that possible? I know my dad called the coastguard for help.” Just another mystery in the long line of things that are just not right.

  Everyone is silent for a few miles.

  “I think it's a cipher,” Cody breaks the silence. He's staring at the map on the computer screen in the van.

  “What do you mean?” Ellie stands to look over his shoulder at the map. I want to yell ‘sit your ass back down’, but I know it won't do any good. So I stand next to her, one hand on her hip, the other gripped to a hand hold on the ceiling of the van.

  “See the series of numbers,” he points to the map. “It would be like from a book or something. Third page, tenth line, fourth word, and so on until you form your sentence.” He glances up at Ellie. “It could be a name of a boat, a password, or even both. Some of these look to be about six or seven words long.”

  “That would explain why their communications are never caught,” I add. “At least I'm assuming you've been trying to monitor offshore communications.”

  “Of course we have. Why don't you tell us a little about offshore communications, Justin?” Denny's words are knife sharp, as he digs into me even more.

  “Denny, for Christ's sake, that's enough,” Ellie shouts, putting her hand over mine that is rested firmly on her hip.

  “I think it is about time lover boy starts spilling what he knows,” Denny yells from the front of the van, clearly not happy that Ellie put him in his place.

  “Top secret, get that through your thick skull,” I yell back. I can hear him grumbling unintelligible words as we take the last turn to the cabin.

  Once out of the van I sense something is wrong. So does everyone else, because we all run for the cabin. On the floor is Lyle, shot between the eyes. Blood is pooled around his head, his legs wrapped behind him, and his hands tied behind his back.

  “Goddammit,” Cody yells, stepping up to Lyle. Even though it is clear as day the man is dead, Cody still checks for a pulse. I think I'm in shock for a second, when my mind clears.

  “Suzy,” I roar, stepping over the body and running to her bedroom. “Suzy!” I bust through the door.

  “Suzy!” Now Ellie and Cody are calling for her. Cody runs outside with a flashlight and starts calling her name.

  She's nowhere to be found, and our car is still here.

  “This is all your fault,” Denny growls through gritted teeth, kneeling next to his dead partner. He slowly moves his head up toward me with hatred in his eyes. My heart is beating a mile a minute. My sister has been taken and this asshole is blaming me.

  Ellie is on the phone. I don't know who she is talking to, but she is telling someone we have an agent down and to put out an APB on Suzy. Her words start to fade away when she starts describing what she looks like.

  The room is hazy as Denny slowly stands, facing me. His body is tense, his head still down toward Lyle.

  “Shot execution style,” he mumbles under his breath. “Do you know who does that?” His lifts his head ominously to stare at me.

  I just stare back, my thoughts are muddled as I think of poor Suzy in the hands of one of the most dangerous criminals in the world.

  “Answer me,” Denny screams. Before I can judge what is about to happen, he charges me, slamming me into the wall with his forearm on my throat.

  “Denny!” I hear Ellie shout as she rushes in.

  “He has my sister,” I snarl, his face as red as his hair. I don't fight back, not yet. We stare each other down waiting for the other to make a move.

  “Get off him!” Ellie is pushing on Denny who doesn't budge. He is so focused on me he doesn't even seem to notice she is there.

  “Guys,” Cody comes in from outside, “this isn't going to help anything. And you’re messing up the fucking crime scene.”

  “How did they know about this place?” Denny is so close to me I can feel his breath. His lip curls and his eyes narrow.

  “They have my sister,” I repeat, now pushing him off me. He flies back, knocking into Ellie and he turns around like he's going to start swinging. That's when I move, grabbing his arm just before it makes contact with her. Wrapping his arm around his back, I push him to the floor with one knee on his back. His face is sideways smashed into the floor, breathing hard as he fights for air, trying to get up.

  “I'm only going to say this once,” I bend down more so I'm right in his ear. “My fucking sister is missing. You can help us or you can be handcuffed to a chair,” I state, my words hard and direct. “If you ever so much as think about touching Ellie again I. Will. Put. You. Down.” I dig my knee deeper into his back and he
groans. Spit flies out of his mouth as he tries to breathe. I let him loose, and stand, wiping the sweat from my brow.

  Cody and Ellie are standing in shock watching us. Denny takes a few seconds before pushing himself up onto his hands and knees, coughing as his breathing returns to normal.

  “This is not over,” Denny spits, standing again. “Don't think for one minute this is over.” He walks toward the bathroom and slams the door shut.

  I turn toward Ellie, and tears well in my eyes.

  “Justin, we will find her.” She runs to me, wrapping her arms around my waist, laying her head flat against my chest.

  “She's so helpless, she has no survival skills,” I mutter, I don't even know where to go from here. What do we do? Where do we start looking?

  “I promise you, we will get her back.” Ellie grabs my face in her small, strong hands. I just nod, placing my hands over hers.

  Chapter 43

  Ellie

  “Tommy, we need to know where that feed is coming from, now,” I order into the phone. I called in and reported about Lyle and Suzy. State patrol arrived shortly after the incident between Justin and Denny. Lyle is still on the floor with a sheet covering him. I walk away from the scene to the front deck to focus on what Tommy is saying.

  “I have an address, you're not going to like it,” Tommy voice cracks. He and Lyle were close, and I can tell he is trying to stay strong, but Tommy is not a big tough guy. He doesn't lash out and try to beat someone up when he's sad and angry.

  “Where?” I ask, trying to ignore my emotions. I have to find Suzy, that is most important right now.

  “The main feed is coming from the B&B you were staying at.”

  “What...are you sure?”

  “Yes,” is all he says.

  While on the phone it's like the cavalry has arrived. More FBI agents, local police from the surrounding counties, and many more state patrol.

  I search out Justin in the hoard of men in uniforms and FBI jackets and see him talking to his father. Ben Bennett has his head down, his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose. Justin puts his hand on his father's shoulder in an awkward attempt at comforting.