by Warren Ray
“You think?”
“Yeah, there’s no way we could have outrun them.”
“So, what are we gonna do then?”
Winters looked at her face. She wasn’t anxious but more curious. “Not sure yet, but whatever it is I don’t think we should be in any hurry.”
“Well, we got more supplies than they do.”
“Yes, we do.”
“So, we can outlast them,” she said in earnest.
She was correct; they could outlast whoever was searching for them. They had everything they needed and then some. The biggest problem was not knowing where the enemy was and waiting for them to make a move. You never knew how long it would take. These gang-bangers could be well motivated to wait days, maybe even weeks. They may have roadblocks up ahead or to the south.
“Whatcha thinking?” asked Collette.
Winters hesitated, as it was too much to explain.
Collette tilted her head. “Road rules, Cole,”
“Of course, how could I forget,” said Winters, as he reached over and pulled some grass out of her hair.
Collette ran her hand through her black hair and shook her head. “All gone?”
“Yep.”
“Good. Now, road rules.”
Winters scoffed and then stated his concerns about their situation.
Collette nodded as she absorbed what he was saying. “Why don’t we find a car to steal and use it to look around?”
Winters raised an eyebrow impressed with what she said. “Now, you’re thinking like a good soldier.”
“So, I’m not just a pretty face?” she joked.
“Or a pretty princess.”
Collette laughed. “Oh, yeah, that shirt.”
“So, what else should we do?” asked Winters wanting to find out just how creative she was.
“Well, for starters, we should, like, mix up these supplies and put an equal amount in each truck and, like, hide two of the trucks. Back when we had to turn in our supplies, we hid some in separate piles, that way if they, like, came looking and found one, we’d still have more.”
Winters nodded. He had already thought about leaving two of the trucks behind and coming back for them later, though it would be better to get all three out of there. He needed more information before he decided which way to go.
For now, it was a waiting game, and he wouldn’t make a move until he was confident the way was safe for them. While he wanted to get back to Jackson and deliver much-needed supplies, another day or two wouldn’t be life or death.
Chapter 72
Green hopped into his car and pulled out of the parking garage to go meet with the former FBI man, Jacob Gibbs and his son Kyle. Gibbs had called earlier to say he wanted to show him something that couldn’t wait until their next meeting out in Manassas.
Green agreed on the condition that he and Kyle would provide the beer. He had already promised his friend Sam to go out for one. He needed one after learning what had happened today in Jackson.
The cops had assisted Mordulfah and his new army in storming the town and pushing the Shadow Patriots out. They took control of the small city and were in the process of rounding up any stragglers who weren’t able to escape.
Causality numbers weren’t in yet, but early estimates put the figure somewhere around forty. Green didn’t know if that included only Shadow Patriots or some of the citizens too. No telling how many of them had been taken, prisoner. There were probably enough young girls to satisfy Mordulfah’s perverted tastes. Green cringed at the thought but had to remember who they were dealing with and be honest about it. He was a pedophile plain and simple and needed to be killed.
The taking of the town had been devastating news and Green wouldn’t be able to relax until he had all the details. He didn’t know if Winters was one of the dead or if he had even made it back yet. When he last talked with him, he said he was bringing in supplies but had to go to Iowa first. He had a couple of teenage girls to return home before he went to Michigan.
Green did some quick math and didn’t think, with all the mileage, he could have made it back to Jackson yet. If he wasn’t there, then how would he be able to find his guys? Will they have to come back to Winnipeg to regroup? That would take too much time, especially if they had prisoners to be rescued.
Mordulfah was the kind of man who liked to extract payment for deeds perpetrated against him. He’d make a big spectacle out of it by turning it into a celebration for his men. He’d already taken heads from his own men, so it wasn’t a stretch to think he would execute prisoners.
The thought sent shivers down his spine as he turned onto 21st NW to pick up Sam at the State Department. He saw him up ahead and double-parked.
“Hey, thanks for picking me up,” said Sam as he climbed in and gave Green a fist-bump. “Damn car is in the shop again.”
“No problem,” said Green as he pulled away.
“What’s up? You look stressed.”
“I do?”
“Yeah, man, you do, which is weird because you should be celebrating with all the talk around town about the street art.”
Green was surprised it looked so obvious. He gave Sam a brief summary of what happened in Jackson.
“Oh, damn. Man, that sucks, and you’ve no idea who was killed?”
“No, I don’t, but I don’t think Winters was there, and I’m pretty sure, if they had him, I would have heard about it.”
“Yeah, probably so.”
“But yeah, other than that, the street art is a major hit, even with Reed.”
Sam’s eyes grew wide. “You heard from him?”
“Yep. Said he was leaving the art alone for now, that it would be a good release of pent-up frustration.”
Sam started laughing. “Good thing none of them were of him.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll tell ya what though, it was all anybody was talking about at work,” said Sam.
“Yep, same here. Although it was more quiet whispers.”
“Well, ya, can’t blame them, seeing how Perozzi visits your building…often.”
Green chuckled. “Not anymore.”
“So, what’s Gibbs’ deal?”
“Not sure yet, but he said it was important.”
“Can’t wait to hear,” said Sam as he stared out the window.
Green headed over to where they had brought Perozzi’s men after they kidnapped them. It was in an old garage with no chance of prying eyes to spy on them.
Green tapped his horn and waited for the garage door to finish opening before driving inside.
Kyle stood off to the side holding a couple of beers from a cooler.
“Dad has some great news,” said Kyle as he handed the cold beer to Green and Sam.
They walked into the office that had the same musky smell as the rest of the place. An old metal desk sat against one wall and an old couch against the other. Wood paneling on the walls gave the room a 70’s vibe, and it even had an old TV with rabbit ears sitting on a table.
“Major, thanks for coming by,” said Gibbs extending his hand.
Green grabbed it followed by Sam.
“First off, the street art has really been a hit around town,” smiled Gibbs, holding his beer up for a toast.
They raised their bottles and clinked them before taking a sip.
“Amazing what a little thing like that can do.”
Green nodded and told him about his phone call from Reed.
“Glad none of them were of him,” said Gibbs.
Green didn’t want to spoil the celebration but needed to give them an update on Winters, and of Mordulfah’s attack on Jackson.
“That’s very disappointing,” said Gibbs. He held his bottle up again. “To the Shadow Patriots.”
“Here, here,” came the responses before they took another sip.
“So, what’s your news?” asked Sam.
“Glad we got the bad news out of the way first,” said Gibbs. “I have two things to tell
you.”
Green looked at Sam before turning back to Gibbs.
“The first thing has to do with that laptop you retrieved from Pruitt’s place. We’ve finally been able to take full control of it.”
Green raised an eyebrow at the news. He had taken the laptop along with all the cash before burning the house down with Pruitt’s corpse sitting in his Porsche. They had been trying to break into the computer ever since. He didn’t understand the process, only that it would take some time, if even they could.
“We’ve got financial records of payments made to him and many others from Perozzi and Reed. It includes a list of people he’s been using, and it can tie him to the murder of Senator Kelly.”
Green let out a frustrated sigh. While it was good news, they still didn’t have a way to make it public. They already had recordings of Perozzi and Reed talking about the bombings. What good was the information if nobody heard it?
Gibbs recognized the distraught faces exhibited by Green and Sam. “I know what you’re thinking. So what? We have no way of getting it out to the public.”
“That would be correct,” said Sam.
“Well, there’s other things, we’ve been able to retrieve from his computer like more blackmail pictures.”
“Come on already,” said Sam in an excited tone. “Get to it.”
“I’ve got some salacious photos of Alexander Dauber with a whole bunch of girls, most of them in their early teens.”
“Whose Alexander Dauber?” asked Green.
“He’s in charge of all the broadcasting in the country. Everything you hear or see on the news or anything that’s on TV, it all goes through his office.”
“Everything?” said Green as he turned to Sam who wore a grin from ear to ear.
Gibbs nodded. “Everything. He’s the man Reed and Perozzi have been using to get all the propaganda out to the masses and shutting down dissent. They’ve either been blackmailing or rewarding him with young girls this whole time.”
Green took a gulp of beer and finished it off. “But will he play ball with us?”
“Oh, I’m sure he will. Besides his lovely wife, he has two teenage daughters that I don’t think will be too happy to know he’s having sex with girls no older than they are.”
“No, I don’t think they’d like that,” said Green as he popped open another bottle.
Gibbs finished his beer and reached for another. “Our only dilemma will be contacting him. He knows who I am and we can’t expose you, Major.”
“I could meet with him,” offered Kyle.
“No, because if he finds out who you are, then he’ll know it’s me and Sam can’t because he’s a State Department employee. Any kind of a picture from any camera could be used to match up your ID.”
Green thought about the situation. There was one person who could be trusted to do the job. “Then it has to be Stormy.”
Gibbs considered this for a moment.
“They’re already after her anyway,” said Green.
They gave him a puzzled look, so he told them what happened earlier when a cop pulled her over.
Everyone then agreed she was the perfect person. She was someone they would underestimate, and she could handle herself under pressure. Since Reed was already looking for her, it wouldn’t expose anyone else in the group.
This next step was going to be their most dangerous move because they didn’t know how Mister Dauber would react. Would he go along with them, relieved that Reed no longer had the pictures or would he call him for help? If the latter turned out to be the case, they would set Stormy up and grab her.
It was worth the risk because if they could find a way for all the information they had to be released to the public, then the country would scream for Perozzi’s and Reed’s heads and, in turn the presidents. Exposing them would be a massive step in taking back the country. They’d lose all power and be basked in the harsh reality of who they really were, murdering traitors of America.