by Scott Blade
He turned and left the airport.
Outside, in the arrivals lane, he was greeted by a Mercedes with tinted windows. Inside, he met John Lane and one of his guys. They didn’t get out of the car to greet him. They just waited for him to open the back door and slide into the seat. He shut the door, and the car drove off.
Chapter 33
CAMERON RODE IN THE BACKSEAT OF CORD’S SUV. It was nice. Plenty of room for him compared to the cars he’d been riding in lately. The interior of the car was silent. Even though he hadn’t been arrested in months, he felt like he was under arrest. The back of Cord’s SUV felt like the backseat of a police car. In a way, he was under arrest, awaiting an uncertain fate based on a stupid plan to try to get a young girl back from a madman. He wasn’t fine with the scenario, but what choice did he have? It was ingrained in him to aid those who needed help.
They had been driving for forty minutes on the outskirts of DC. They stayed mostly on the interstates and highways surrounding Virginia. Cord didn’t know where to go, so they just circled around, waiting for Rowley to call with news from Lane.
The day had been long, and they’d been mostly silent until Cameron said, “Hey, guys, why don’t we stop for some coffee and food? I know the situation is tense, but you gotta eat. I know I do.”
Lucas craned his head back and said, “Can’t eat.”
Cameron said, “You have to.”
“We eat when Raggie is safe. Not before.”
Cameron said, “You got a problem with me?”
Lucas said, “I don’t know you. The only thing that matters to me is getting Raggie back.”
“And we will.”
“If you’re so sure, then you can wait till later to eat.”
Cameron said, “Okay, try to look at it from my point of view. I’m probably going to my death for a girl I’ve never met. The least you guys can do is let me have a last meal.”
Cord said nothing. Lucas said, “You’ll be fine. Do your part, and we’ll get you both out.”
Cameron said, “Even death row prisoners get a last meal.”
Lucas turned all the way around in his seat and pointed his fat finger at Cameron’s chest. He said, “Stop saying that! Stop implying it’s your last meal! Your last meal means Raggie’s last! Get it?”
Cameron didn’t react. He stayed quiet and looked straight ahead at Lucas. He wasn’t angry. From what Cameron could tell, Raggie was probably like a daughter to Lucas, and all the guy wanted was the same as any parent would want. He wanted to get her back.
Cord said, “Look. We can stop up here and go through the drive-thru at this McDonald’s. But we can’t leave the truck. Okay?” Cord looked into the rearview mirror. His eyes met Cameron’s. He said, “Get whatever you want. I’m buying. We’ll sit in the parking lot while you eat. We need to wait for Rowley to call anyway.”
Lucas turned back in his seat and faced forward. Cord turned into the McDonald’s driveway and drove through the drive-thru. He ordered two coffees. One for Cameron and one for Lucas, even though Lucas never acknowledged it. Cameron felt his appetite slip away but knew that he had to eat. “Eat while you can and sleep while you can” was one of his mottos.
He ordered a double cheeseburger. Plain. No catsup and no fries. And a large coffee.
Cord paid for everything, and they pulled around to an empty parking space near the exit. He left the engine on and handed Cameron the coffee and a brown bag with the burger inside. They sat there in silence for fifteen minutes while Cameron ate his sandwich and drank his coffee.
Lucas spoke first. He said, “Something’s wrong.”
Cord said, “Relax. Nothing’s changed.”
“But why hasn’t that bastard called Rowley yet?”
Cameron said, “This is why. It isn’t about the girl. It’s about you. He wants to scare you.”
“Well, it’s working.”
Cameron stayed quiet.
The silence was penetrated by Cord’s phone ringing. He must’ve had it turned all the way up so they’d hear it.
He swiped the screen and said, “Yeah.”
The voice on the other end said something that Cameron couldn’t hear.
Lucas watched Cord’s face like a dog waiting for his master to give him an order.
Cord said, “Yeah. Okay.” And then, “Got it. Text it to me.”
He hung up the phone and looked in the rearview mirror. He said, “Lane wants to meet you. Looks like we got a plan.”
Then Cord stopped speaking and got out of the SUV. He walked to the rear of the truck and popped open the rear hatch. The door went up slowly on its hinges. Cord leaned in and said, “Get out for a minute.”
Cameron unlatched his seatbelt and opened his door. Lucas did the same. They all stood at the rear of the vehicle.
Cord opened a small, rectangular black case. It must’ve been some sort of Secret Service kit because inside was an unloaded SIG Sauer P229, the clip fully loaded and in a separate groove that held it in place in the case. Next to it was a miniature flashlight and a radio. Then there was a small compartment containing a bunch of random everyday items. One of them was a small black-headed nail. It was less than a half inch in length.
Cord picked it up and said, “This is a GPS tracking device. It works like a cell phone tracker. As long as the battery is good, I can see its location on my phone. To turn it on, twist the head like this.” He twisted the head and said, “To the right means it’s on. To the left is off. The battery life is short. It’ll work for up to five hours, and then it’ll be dead. To charge it, you need a special charger which you won’t have.”
“So you have to find me within five hours, or I’m as good as dead?”
“We’ll have you in two hours—or you’re on your own.”
Cameron said, “Great. What’s the range on this thing?”
Cord said, “Don’t worry, it’s good. We won’t be too far away. Hopefully we can get to you in an hour.”
Cameron said, “When?”
“That was Rowley. Lane called him and agreed to give proof of life and give Rowley another day if we deliver you to him.”
Cameron said, “Doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.”
“It’s the best we’re going to get. Remember, we’re right behind you.”
“I’m sure he thinks that as well.”
Cord said, “Look, Lane was in the Army and then in prison. We don’t know what he’s been doing for the last year, but we know that the Secret Service has the best equipment that technology has to offer. Our jobs precede all civil liberties.”
“You don’t have the best technology. I’m sure of that. In a free market, the private sector is always better than the public. But I get what you’re saying. This guy’s been in prison for years and probably had ideas about what to look for. But how’s a nail not suspicious?”
“Show me the bottom of your shoe.”
Cameron sat back on the back of the SUV and pulled his shoe up.
Cord said, “It goes into the bottom of your sole like you stepped on it. It won’t show up on most metal detectors. And hopefully, they won’t look too closely at your shoes. It’s the best we can do.”
“Don’t you guys have satellites and all that? A drone maybe?”
“We do, but we can’t use them. That kind of equipment will take time and raise eyebrows. Remember, we’re far off the reservation on this.”
“I got it.”
Cord stuck the tip of the nail into Cameron’s shoe and hammered it in, and then he said, “Okay, step down on it, and it’ll go in. It’s not long enough to pierce through the shoe, so don’t worry about stomping around on it. If you get into a situation and need to run, don’t think twice. Also, if they find it, I doubt it’ll make any difference.”
Cameron said, “Yeah. I’m dead no matter how this plays out.”
“That won’t happen. We’ll get to you first.”
“How long do I have to wait?”
“Lane promises
he’ll give Rowley another twenty-four hours, but we aren’t going to wait that long. Forty-five minutes. No more than an hour, tops. If you haven’t been brought to Raggie’s location by then, we won’t wait any longer. I don’t care what Rowley says. I know you’re really going out on a limb here for us. I’ll come and get you. You have my word.”
Cameron looked at Lucas and said, “Don’t forget about me.”
For the first time all day, Lucas smiled. It was slight, but it was there. Cameron bet that under different circumstances, Lucas was probably a warm guy. Maybe he even laughed a lot. Many of the cops Cameron had known growing up had a great sense of humor. Most of them knew that there was a time to be serious and a time to laugh—and both were equal in the eyes of a policeman. Their jobs were so stressful that having a good sense of humor was imperative to mental stability. And in Cameron’s experience, the sicker the sense of humor, the better the cop.
“So where are we going?”
Cord said, “First we’ll meet with Graine. Then we go to a subdivision about fifteen minutes from here.”
Lucas said, “Where’s Graine going to meet us?”
“He left a half hour ago. Rowley called him straight away. He should be here soon.”
SEVEN MINUTES LATER, GRAINE PULLED INTO THE PARKING LOT. He drove a green F150 pickup. Chrome rims. It looked brand new.
Cord said, “Here he is,” and walked over to the driver window.
Graine rolled the window down, and the two of them spoke for about ten seconds. Cameron was out of earshot and couldn’t hear them, but he saw Graine pull a Heckler & Koch MP5 up from his lap. He handed it to Cord, who took it in his hand, not even looking around to see if anyone was watching him. Cameron guessed that being a Secret Service agent made him not care about what bystanders saw or thought.
Cord reached into the window with his free hand and grabbed a second MP5. He nodded at Graine, who nodded back and rolled up his window.
Cord returned to the back of the SUV where Cameron was still seated, and he handed one of the MP5s to Lucas. Both men checked their weapons. They pulled the clips out, saw the rounds, and then reinserted them. They readied their weapons and were now locked and loaded.
Cameron felt naked. He’d never left his life in the hands of others before—not that he’d ever been in a situation like this before, but he hadn’t been too far from it. He’d learned from some situations of his own.
Cord looked at his watch and then at Cameron, and he asked, “Ready?”
Cameron said, “As I’ll ever be. Let’s shoot the moon.”
Cord looked puzzled. “What?”
“It’s from hearts.”
“What?” Cord asked again.
“It’s a card game. It’s an expression. Like throwing a hail Mary.”
Cord nodded.
Cameron stood up and looked back at Graine, who smiled at him. Then he returned to the backseat of the SUV.
Cord and Lucas got in, and they drove off. Cord programmed the address into his dashboard NAV system, and they followed the instructions.
Chapter 34
CAMERON THOUGHT OF LI, and for a split second, he thought about telling Cord to pull the SUV over and jumping out. He imagined telling them to take a dive off of a cliff. He imagined returning to Li’s apartment and to all the glorious pleasures that came with being there. In particular, he focused on her bed and the accommodations that came along with it.
Then he looked forward out of Cord’s windshield and saw they were coming up to a subdivision on a huge piece of land—acres of land. Windsor Estates was spelled out in huge block letters on a brick sign out front.
They drove through the gates and past an abandoned guard post. Cameron wondered why there was no one there because the first couple of houses were huge and looked expensive. They were much newer than the houses in Rowley’s neighborhood and probably twice the price even though they were much further outside the district.
They drove the length of the main street and gazed at the houses. They were all large and had different designs. Some were white. Some red. All were brick with long driveways.
Cameron noticed something else. The driveways were empty. As they drove on and turned a corner and then took a curve to the right around a small but thick forest of trees, he realized why. He realized why Lane had picked this subdivision as a meeting place. It was because it was so new and expensive that the only street that was developed was the entrance. The rest of the place was a maze of unfinished mansions and large houses. Some were closer to completion than others, but none were inhabitable. Not yet.
Probably no one even lived in the first set of houses. There were yards with unmanned bulldozers and small cranes. There were piles of lumber and stacks of covered brick. One house was half-built and had a half-constructed fireplace protruding out of it but no roof. Another had a hole dug for an in-ground swimming pool but no driveway. None of the houses toward the end of this street had glass installed in the window slots.
And there wasn’t a construction worker or a person in sight.
Cameron looked forward and said nothing. He looked down at the NAV screen and saw that they had another turn to make, and then they would be at the location.
They made the last turn and came to a short street with several abandoned houses that were still under construction. The street was littered with vacant trucks and the same kinds of vehicles they’d seen in the previous yards. It looked like they’d run out of money while constructing the houses. Probably couldn’t sell any of the ones they’d already built, and that’s why construction had stopped. Maybe the finance company had pulled the plug because of the lack of sales. Or maybe the city had shut them down due to violations and fines that needed to be paid. Whatever the reason, it was impossible to imagine that they weren’t in danger in this location. There were countless hiding places. Rooftops. Abandoned vehicles. It was a Secret Service nightmare. Even without the military-style training from his mother, Cameron could still tell it was bad because of the looks on Cord and Lucas’s faces. They looked less than confident.
They reached the end of the NAV systems directions, and Cord pulled over to the side of the road. He put the SUV in park and left the engine running.
He turned to Cameron and said, “From here, we go on foot. It’s the house up ahead.”
Cord hadn’t pointed it out, but Cameron knew which one he meant because as soon as he stepped out of the SUV, the garage door to the house opened in a slow, somber movement. And he saw a dim light, probably hanging from a ceiling, creep out from under the lip of the door. Like a giant mouth opening wide to consume him, the garage door stopped when it was all the way open, and a voice from Graine, Cord, and Lucas’s past came out of the shadows.
John Lane said, “It’s good to see you fellas again.” He moved out of the garage onto the driveway and said, “Come forward.”
Cameron saw that Lane was a well-built guy, younger than Cord and the others but still in his fifties. He had thick gray hair and a beard to match. He wore a black windbreaker with a black shirt underneath and green camo pants. He had his hands out and up and far apart so that the agents could see he wasn’t carrying a gun.
Lucas didn’t wait any longer. He jumped out of the SUV. He pointed the MP5 over the door and lined Lane up in his sights. He shouted, “Where is she?”
Cord jumped out after him and backed him up even though this wasn’t a part of the plan. He didn’t want to leave Lucas out there alone, nor did he want to show any disunity between them in front of Lane. Standard SOP when confronted with the enemy.
Cameron was out in front of the SUV and already at the end of the driveway. He prepared his knees to make a leap in case he had to hit the deck.
Lane said, “Guys. This wasn’t a part of the deal.”
Lucas shouted, “Where?”
Cord called out just loud enough for Lucas to hear him. He said, “What’re you doing?”
Lucas ignored him and repeated his request. “Wh
ere?”
Lane said, “Would you shoot and kill an unarmed man? A man who’s not carrying a single weapon?”
Lucas raised his gun higher, stock in tight to his shoulder, and cheek tucked down. He stepped away from the SUV and walked out, covering Lane. He said, “I’m not going to ask again. I’m going to shoot you if you don’t tell us. Right here. Right now. No more games.”
Stupid move, Cameron thought.
He looked around, scanning the house. The lights were out in every window. Depending on how many guys Lane had brought with him, every one of them could’ve had an armed bad guy positioned in it.
The only move Cameron had was one he hadn’t learned in his years studying military combat or from crime investigation tactics with his mother and her deputies. It was from elementary school. It was the fire safety rules they’d learned. When on fire, always Stop! Drop! and Roll! When the first bullet was fired, he figured he’d stop, drop, and roll to the right. Then he could fast-crawl to a tree stump that was big enough to hide behind.
Cord repeated, “What’re you doing?” This time, he said it loudly enough for Lane to hear it.
Lucas said, “No more bullshit!”
Cord didn’t question his friend anymore. This was the play they’d made, and he was committed.
Lane said, “I don’t have a weapon, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely unarmed. You know that there’re other guys here with guns. They’ll shoot you dead as soon as you fire one shot.”
Lucas said, “I don’t need more than one. You’re either going to walk out of here alive or not. One way or the other, this’ll end here.”
Graine was behind Lucas, back at the SUV. He also had his MP5 up to his chin and focused on Lane, eyes squinting through the glasses. He said, “Lucas! What da hell are you doing? You’re going to get her killed.”
Lucas said, “I’m doing my duty. I swore allegiance to the president. Either they will release Raggie now, or they never planned to. We can’t let them push Rowley into doing this.”
Lane stayed quiet and stared into Cameron’s eyes, and then he looked him up and down, seemingly fixated on how much he looked like a picture of Jack he’d gotten hold of. Perhaps it was the same picture Cameron had memorized, Jack’s graduation picture from West Point.