Bug Out! Part 6: Motorhome Mayhem in the Rockies

by Robert Boren

  Jasmine, Jane, and Hilda looked at each other and smiled. They followed Gabe as he went out the door. The men all got up and headed to the door. Jerry looked over at Frank.

  “Frank, why don’t you do some internet searches, like you were talking about? You’re more valuable doing that than you are sticking spikes in the ground.”

  “Yeah, I agree,” Jeb said. “Find us those bad guys. Check around Hilda’s park. Maybe you can track where Phil and his merry band of cretins are hiding out.”

  “Okay, I’ll do that,” Frank said, going back to the PC. He sat down and started thinking. Phil either has a base nearby Hilda’s park, or we got very lucky and saw him exactly at the right time, after he’d made a significant road trip to get there. No way, he thought. This guy is around Hilda’s area somewhere, at least a good deal of the time.

  “You not working with men outside?” Rosie asked, hobbling over.

  “No, they asked me to try to find out where Phil and the cretins are holed up.”

  “Oh, good. You valuable there more,” she said. “You call airport yet?”

  “No, we don’t want to do that yet. Tomorrow. We don’t want to call there from here…Gabe and the Deputy will call from town.”

  “Safer,” she said. “I leave you alone. Want coffee?”

  “No, thanks, Rosie,” Frank said. She hobbled away and he focused on his job.

  “I know that Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef are nearby,” he said to himself. “Wonder if they have cameras? They’re both National Parks. Let’s see if I can get on their private networks.”

  Frank worked on that, and was into the National Parks system in no time.

  “Cheeseball security here,” Frank muttered, laughing. He navigated to the administrative tools section, and found the menu for security cameras. It was segregated by state. Frank scrolled down to Utah and clicked on it. Bryce was up towards the top. He opened the folder. There were weekly camera files. He clicked on the camera for the current week. He could get real time and saved. He picked saved. There was a main gate camera, one by the office and restaurant, and another by the entrance of the main camping area. There were several along different parts of the hiking trails too, but all of them had the “off line” icon over them. He clicked on the main gate cam, and brought it up. Deserted, from what he could tell. He started running forwards through the week at high speed, slowing down when he caught a glimpse of a vehicle. The only vehicles he saw were ranger cars. He checked the camera by the office as well. Same thing. Nobody around but rangers, and they didn’t show up very often, in that week anyway. Same with the cam by the entrance to the camping area. No campers to be seen.

  “Dead end,” he said to himself. “Let’s check out Capitol Reef.” He backed out of Bryce and went back to the menu page. Capitol Reef was just a little ways down the page from Bryce. He clicked on it. Same basic thing…front gate cam, office area cam, camping area entrance cam, and a lot of trail cams. About half of the trail cams showed offline. He went to the front gate cam first, for the current week. The camera was focused on the gate and a parking lot on the side. There was a ranger car parked in the diagonal spot near the gate kiosk. He did a fast forward. The car stayed there, for the whole week, without moving, day and night.

  “Hmmmm, now this is interesting,” Frank said to himself. He got out of that folder and went to the prior week, same cam. The car was still there at the beginning, so he fast forwarded. It sat there for that entire week. Then he went to the prior week and checked. The car was there for that entire week, too. It didn’t move once. Then he checked the week before that. The car was still there, but there was a flash of a dark vehicle. He stopped and backed up. It was a red-neck looking truck. It pulled off out of sight of the camera. Then nothing more for the rest of that week until right at the end. Several trucks came through the gate in a stream, moving quickly. He slowed down the frames to try to get a good look into the car windows. No dice…too much glare. He couldn’t see anything but soft shapes. He counted three SUVs and two pickup trucks.

  Mary came in the door with Earl.

  “C’mon, we’ll get it cleaned up,” she said. “Hurt?”

  “Not too bad,” Earl said.

  “What happened?” Frank asked, turning around.

  “Oh, nothing much. I just cut myself on that damn razor wire,” he said, sheepishly.

  “Let’s go into the kitchen and wash it out,” Mary said. They walked back there. Rosie followed them in.

  “Ouch!” Earl cried.

  “Don’t be sissy,” Rosie said. Frank cracked up. They came back into the main room, a paper towel wrapped around Earl’s hand.

  “Let’s get in the light,” Mary said, leading him over towards the front window. She removed the paper towel.

  “Bad?” Earl asked.

  “No, you don’t even need stitches,” Mary said. “I’ll close it with a butterfly after we put some dressing on it. But no more hard work for you today. Try to avoid using the hand too much.”

  “Alright,” Earl said. He watched as Mary put ointment on the cut and then put on the butterfly bandage. Then she wrapped the hand with gauze and taped it up.

  “Go help Frank,” she said to him. “If it starts bleeding again, tell Rosie. She’ll let you know if it’s bad enough for me to take a look.”

  “Yes, I do,” Rosie said.

  Earl walked over to the PC and sat down next to Frank.

  “You okay?” Frank asked.

  “Sure, no big deal. Find anything out?”

  “Yeah, there’s something going on at Capitol Reef National Park.”

  “Interesting. That’s a little ways from Hilda’s park. Maybe about seventy miles or so.”

  “There’s a ranger car that’s been at the front gate without moving an inch for about three weeks. I was just going to go to the prior week to see if it arrived then.”

  “Anybody else show up?”

  “Yeah, first a pickup truck….looked decidedly redneck. Then later in the week, three SUVs and a couple more pickup trucks came in. After I’m done with the front gate cam, I’ll see if I can see anything with the other cams.”

  “Could you see into the car windows?”

  “Nope, too much glare,” Frank said, as he loaded the next prior week.

  “Ah, there we go. No car at the start of this week.” He fast forwarded, until he saw the car arrive, on the last day of that week. “There he is.”

  “Look, that guy is carrying a lunch box,” Earl said. “He’s coming to work for the day…ten to one.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

  “You know what the phone number for the front office is?”

  “I can get it. It’s on another page.”

  “Do it, and I’ll call,” Earl said.

  “You sure we want to be doing that? What if they can track the cellphone?”

  “I doubt they think anybody knows where they are, so they probably aren’t set up to do that. I’ll call up like I’m an RVer looking for a campsite.”

  “Alright,” Frank said. He navigated to the front of the admin section, and then went to the page with phone numbers. “There it is….front office.”

  Earl dialed his cellphone. It rang a few times, and then it was answered by a woman.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi. Is this the Capitol Reef front desk?”

  There was a pause on the line, and Earl could hear the receiver being covered with a palm, and faint murmuring going on in the background.

  “Hello?” Earl asked.

  “Sorry. Yes, this is the front desk at Capitol Reef Natural Park. Can I help you?”

  “Yes, I’d like to book a few days there. Do you have spaces for a 40 foot motorhome?”

  “I’m sorry. The park is closed due to all of the issues in the area.”

  “No, really?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry.”

  “Is there anywhere else around there that I could park my rig overnight? I’ve come a long way. I’m t
oo tired to drive any further.”

  Earl heard the woman cover the receiver again.

  “Hello, are you still there?” Earl asked, grinning at Frank.

  “Yes, there is a place where you can overnight. Got a pencil?”

  “Yes,” Earl said. “Shoot.” He pulled out his pen and Frank slid over a small pad of paper.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Go ahead with the address.”

  “Do you know where Route 24 is?”

  “Yes,” Earl said.

  “This place is a few miles east of the turnoff for Teasdale. Go past 6th Street, and turn south on the dirt road right after it. Follow that back a few miles.”

  “Great, thanks very much,” Earl said. “Bye now.” He ended the call.

  “Well?”

  “That was no American. Spoke very good English though…no accent at all.”

  “How do you know she isn’t an American?”

  “Capitol Reef Natural Park. LOL. Anybody here knows its National park.”

  Frank laughed.

  “Oh,” Earl continued, “and when I said ‘shoot’ for the address, she didn’t know what I meant.”

  “You’re thinking that the location they sent you will be a trap?”

  “Probably,” Earl said. He handed Frank the slip of paper. Frank input the info into a map web page.

  “This place is in the middle of nowhere. Look at the terrain.”

  “Wish we could get ahold of General Hogan,” Earl said. “I’d love to call in a drone strike.”

  “Yeah, you and me both.” He noted the latitude and longitude on the piece of paper that Earl had given to him.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m going to make a call.” He pulled his cellphone out and dialed. It rang a few times.

  “Rami here.”

  “Rami, it’s Frank.”

  “Frank! How are you? I’ve been so worried.”

  “We’re surviving. How are you doing?”

  “Much better, now that they lifted martial law in Cali.”

  “Good, I was hoping that was going to be the case.”

  “You coming home soon?”

  “No, Rami, too many dangerous places between here and there.”

  “I take it you need something.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got the coordinates for a location that probably has enemy fighters congregating.”

  “Really. Do tell.”

  “Still have contacts in the agency? Sam Watson, for instance?”

  “Sure do. Want me to call him with this info?”

  “Yes, I think I’d like to ruin these guy’s whole day,” Frank said. “I’m sure Sam would relish that as well.”

  “Alright, what are the coordinates?”

  Frank read them to Rami.

  “Alright, I’ll get this to him. Can I tell them who it came from?”

  “Yes, go ahead. I trust Sam.”

  “Okay, Frank. Anything else I can do?”

  “Yeah, can you tell me the codes for the birds we have over Utah and Colorado?”

  “Sure, got a pencil?”

  “Yeah,” Frank said, motioning to Earl. He handed Frank the pen and paper.

  “We have two. One is infrared, the other high res camera. The Infrared one is IR332547. The other one is HR55548. You know the passwords. I made sure your accounts stayed open.”

  “Thanks, Rami. You don’t know how important this is.”

  “No problem, old friend. Take care of yourself. I want to see you again someday.”

  “Me too. Talk to you later.” Frank stuck his phone back in his pocket and grinned at Earl.

  “Wow, I had no idea you could do stuff like this,” Earl said.

  “Let’s get on the gate camera again, real time,” Frank said. He went to the real time page and clicked on the camera. “Watch for cars driving out of the gate while I go grab my iPad from Jane’s purse over there.”

  “Will do,” he said.

  Frank trotted over to the credenza over by the kitchen door, and pulled the iPad out of Jane’s purse, then trotted back over.

  “Anything?” Frank asked as he got back over there and pushed the power button on the iPad.

  “Not yet….oh, crap, look!” he said. “The two pickups and an SUV just drove out the gate. There were about four guys in the back of each pickup.”

  “Rednecks or Pajama boys?”

  “Looks like rednecks to me,” Earl said.

  “Yes!” Frank said. He got on the iPad and started up the browser.

  “What’re you going to do with that?” Earl asked.

  “First I’m going to access the high res camera satellite and zoom in on the coordinates, to see if Sam blasts those guys.”

  “Who’s Sam again?”

  “Agency. Head of the drone operations over the USA.”

  “Oh. You know this guy from work?”

  “Yeah, and from college,” Frank said. “There, I’m in.”

  “What are you going to do after that?”

  “I’m going to search Capitol Reef ‘Natural’ Park,” Frank said, snickering.

  “Oh,” Earl said. “Good idea, but if they’re smart, they’ll be hard to see. Lots of caves and deep rock formations there. Easy place to hide.”

  “There’s the ambush area,” Frank said, showing the iPad screen to Earl.

  “Wow, that resolution is insane,” Earl said. “Wonder how fast they’ll get there?”

  “Judging by the distance on the map display, I’m thinking at least ten minutes.”

  Rosie hobbled over. “You two want coffee?”

  “Oh, that would be great, Rosie, but you can’t carry that, can you?” asked Earl.

  “No need to carry, cart in kitchen. I roll over.”

  “Excellent. Thanks,” he replied.

  “Yeah, thanks, Rosie,” Frank added. “You’re a real sweetheart.”

  She nodded and headed back to the kitchen.

  Charlie walked into the clubhouse. He saw Earl and Frank in the corner and walked over.

  “What are you guys up to?” he asked. “No good?”

  “We set a trap for some of the cretins by Hilda’s park,” Frank said, grinning. “I just got coordinates for these guys to an old friend I have in the agency. Hopefully we’ll see a drone strike sometime in the next half hour.”

  “Wow. You’ll have to tell me how you pulled this off, but don’t spend time talking to me now.”

  “What are you up to?” Earl asked.

  “Just came down to get some coffee and water for the Sheriff and Deputy and I,” Charlie said. “Then it’s back to the roof.”

  “Frank, there goes two more vehicles, through the gates at Capitol Reef,” Earl said. “SUVs.”

  “They can’t be sending everybody over there,” Frank said. “They aren’t that stupid.”

  “I don’t know, they’re pretty dumb,” Charlie said.

  “Look, there they are, pulling down that road!” Frank said, holding out the iPad.

  “They stopped, right there in those trees,” Earl said. “Wow, you can even see the guys jumping out of the pickup trucks! That’s some detail. There are four guys leaving the SUV, too.” Earl looked over at Frank and Charlie, grinning.

  “Uh oh,” Frank said. “Look, they’re getting ready to high-tail it!” The men were scrambling to get back into their vehicles.

  Suddenly there was a bright flash on the screen, and the vehicles all disappeared in smoke and flame.

  “Bull’s-eye!” Charlie shouted.

  Frank was working his fingers on the iPad, trying to move eastward on along the road.

  “What are you looking for?” Earl asked.

  “Those other two SUVs,” he said. “Look, there they are. They’re turning off into that town there. Shit.”

  “That must be Torrey,” Earl said. “Nice little town.”

  “What’s the matter, Frank?” Charlie asked.

  “Somebody tipped these guys off. Probably someb
ody in the agency.”

  Chapter 17 – Enemy Hideout

  “Keep that satellite image on those SUVs!” Charlie said, as the three men huddled around the PC. Frank was watching the feed on his iPad, moving it along with his fingers.

  “Shit, they’re pulling into that motel…look,” Frank said. The tops of the two SUVs could be seen parking towards the far side of the building, at a motel on the outskirts of Torrey. All of a sudden Frank’s phone started to ring. He looked at it. Washington DC area code. He handed the iPad to Charlie.

  Jeb walked in, taking his shoes off and putting them just outside the door, on the veranda. He walked over to Charlie, Earl, and Frank. “What’s going on?”

  “Looks like the cretins are holed up around Capitol Reef,” Charlie said. “We just tricked them into trying to ambush somebody. Feds got some of them with a drone, so we’re following the survivors using a satellite feed. Friggin amazing.”

  “Keep the iPad on these guys while I take this call,” Frank said, as he answered the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Frank?”

  “Who’s this?”

  “What do you mean, who’s this. It’s Sam. Don’t you recognize my voice?”

  “What happened on the night before Thanksgiving, in 1977?”

  “Oh, I get it. We picked up the dean’s MG and turned it sideways in the parking stall. He got boxed in and couldn’t go home for a few hours.” He cracked up. “Surprised they didn’t expel both of us.”

  “Bingo,” Frank said, laughing. “So good to hear from you, Sam.”

  “Why didn’t you contact me before?”

  “Didn’t think I’d be able to,” Frank said. “You know there’s a mole between you and whoever flew that drone, right?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “We were watching. Right before the drone strikes hit, the targets figured it out, and were trying to get back into their cars to take off.”

  “Son of a bitch.”

  “It gets worse. Two SUVs left Capitol Reef a few minutes after the targeted folks did, and they didn’t get very far down the road before we realized that they got tipped off and were high-tailing it. We’re watching them now, via the satellite. They’re in a little town called Torrey, attempting to check into a motel off of Hwy 24.”