End Game

by David Baldacci

  “Roger that.”

  Robie aimed the launcher at a spot in front of the wave of ATVs.

  Four-three-two-one.

  He hit the trigger and the RPG left the launcher, arced upward, and then came down within a foot of where Robie had been aiming.

  The explosion rocked the still air, sounding like thunder from the storm bearing down on them.

  The car and the ATVs did what Robie had expected. They stopped and through his optics he saw figures jumping out of the vehicles and taking cover.

  Reel spoke into his ear. “Nice touch.”

  “See if you can get a look in the car now.”

  He could hear Reel’s steady breaths in his ear until she said, “The driver has exited. He and another man have taken up cover behind the vehicle.”

  “Anyone else in the car now?”

  A few seconds went by. “There’s something in the backseat, Robie. It could be a person. It could be Luke Miller.”

  “That’s what I’m figuring. They brought him along alive to witness the fun before they put a bullet in his head. I need the guys outside the car to leave that immediate area but leave the car operable.”

  “On it in five.”

  Robie loaded his last round into the launcher and moved forward, keeping low, but also keeping his night optics on the car that was less than half a football field from his position.

  He counted off the five seconds and on the fifth beat Reel’s sniper rifle thundered. Two rounds hit right next to the car. The third passed right over the trunk. The fourth kicked up dirt a foot to the left.

  The two men hiding there did the only sane thing. They ran for it.

  Robie was now in a full sprint.

  “Robie, they’re on the move.”

  “Burn ’em right after I fire. Move them all away from the vicinity of the car.” Robie stopped, knelt down, hefted the launcher to his shoulder, took aim, and fired.

  The RPG flew a short distance and then hit the dirt about sixty yards to his right.

  An instant later Reel’s rifle opened up and she rained bullets down on the men from right to left and left to right. Dirt, grass, and rocks flew up in the air near the men. Reel was not aiming to kill them, just to get them to move. Her rifle was her cattle prod.

  Robie was sprinting once more and reached the car five seconds later.

  He ripped open the door and checked the backseat.

  Luke was back there, trussed up, gagged and unconscious, but Robie could find no visible wounds.

  Robie checked the man’s pulse, found it, slid into the driver’s seat, turned the key, and the engine came to life.

  He said into his headset, “I’m taking him to the Yukon. Disable the ATVs. Then meet me there.”

  He hit the gas and the car jumped forward. Immediately, shots rang out and several pinged off the skin of the car. Robie ducked as one blew out the rear glass, with a shard of it slicing across the back of his neck. The blood dripped onto the seat.

  Then Reel opened fire, and this time her rounds connected with rubber.

  Eight shots later every one of the ATVs was rendered inoperable with an incendiary round smack in its gut that had ignited the fuel tanks. Explosions rang out over the darkness even as the rain started to pour. And then came the lightning, which lit the sky like detonations in the clouds, and the following booms of thunder were very nearly deafening.

  And then came the hail, and the burning ATVs were quickly doused, but still unable to move.

  Robie reached the Yukon at the same time Reel raced into view. Together they lifted the still-unconscious Miller into the back of the Yukon. They jumped into the front seat and Robie took the wheel.

  Reel eyed up ahead. “You going to run the gauntlet?”

  Robie shook his head and looked behind him. “I’m going to make a new road. We’ll pick up Holly on the way.”

  He slammed the Yukon into reverse and the four-wheel-drive vehicle hurtled backward until Robie spun it into a J-turn, and with the truck pointed the other way, he hit the gas and the Yukon leapt forward.

  They had gone a quarter of a mile when Reel said, “There she is.”

  Sure enough, Holly was struggling along in the darkness over the uneven ground. She was now drenched with rain. She heard them coming but apparently couldn’t see it was them, because she started to run away.

  Robie sped up, and once they were beside her Reel rolled down the window and called out to her. Holly immediately stopped running.

  “Get in!” called out Reel.

  Holly grabbed the door handle, threw her suitcase in, and followed right behind it.

  She slammed the door behind her and Robie accelerated.

  “Luke, oh my God! Luke!”

  She put her arms around him and started sobbing. “Oh, please tell me he’s not dead. Please.”

  “Probably drugged.” said Robie. “Nearest bus station?”

  “But what about Luke’s car?”

  “Not happening. The bus station?”

  “There’s a Greyhound station sixty miles to the west on the main road.”

  They raced on with the storm chasing them the whole way. Ten minutes later Robie worked his way over to an asphalt road, while Reel checked the GPS.

  She directed him to the town with the bus station, and they arrived there over an hour later.

  By this time Miller had woken up, and he and Holly were hugging in the backseat.

  As they slowed to a stop at the bus station, Reel checked her phone.

  She said, “A bus is leaving for Denver in thirty minutes. You can get there and then make plans to get to LA. Bus, car, train, or plane. Do you have money?”

  Miller nodded. “I got credit cards. Luckily, those dumb shits didn’t think to take my wallet.”

  “They were tapping your phone,” said Robie. “That’s how they knew where you were meeting both times. And if they’re tapping your phone they may be able to trace your credit cards. Do you have cash?”

  “Probably not enough,” conceded Luke.

  Robie and Reel took out their wallets and gave them what they had.

  “This should be enough to get you out of the state,” said Robie.

  “Thank you so much,” said Holly. “And we will repay you. I swear.”

  Luke put out his hand for Robie and Reel to shake, “I want to thank you both. You saved my ass and Holly’s.”

  After they shook hands, Robie said, “You can clean up in the restroom. How did they get a hold of you? An ambush somewhere?”

  “Exactly. Then they shot me up with some drug.”

  As they climbed out of the truck Reel asked Miller, “Were you really that bored that you had to join those guys?”

  “It was beyond stupid,” said Miller sheepishly. “But they talked a good game, at least initially. I pretty quickly figured it out and just wanted to escape.”

  “Remember to take the swastika off,” said Reel. “Hard to make the right kind of new friends with that on your head.”

  “Right,” said Miller.

  “And get rid of your phone,” added Robie. “They can track it even when you’re not using it.”

  Miller reached into his pocket, pulled it out, and chucked it into a nearby trash can.

  Holly hugged both Robie and Reel and said, “Thank you so much.”

  “Call your sister,” said Robie.

  “I will. Look, I know all that stuff I said about my family and all. The truth is, I was jealous of Valerie. You’re right, she wears the uniform. She was out there fighting the good fight. Risking her life. I thought no matter what I did that I could never measure up to that. So that was my problem, not hers. She’s been nothing but supportive of me, no matter how many mistakes I made. I know she loves me and I love her.”

  “Sounds like something you should tell her yourself, at your first opportunity. You don’t want to squander chances with your family,” added Robie, drawing a quick glance from Reel. “You never know if you’ll get a second shot to
make it right.”

  Holly smiled. “Good advice. I’ll take it. And I hope you find Mr. Walton.”

  “We will,” said Reel. “Guaranteed.”

  As they drove back to Grand, Robie said, “Think they’ll be okay?”

  “I think they have a far better shot of surviving than we do. They’re getting out of the storm. We’re heading right back in.”

  Chapter

  27

  “I CAN’T GUARANTEE your protection,” said Valerie Malloy. “I don’t have enough resources, and the state police aren’t going to come up with any.”

  Robie and Reel were sitting opposite Malloy in her office. Deputy Bender was standing next to her.

  “We can look after ourselves,” said Reel curtly.

  “Did my sister tell you anything else about this Clément Lamarre?”

  “No, just what we told you,” said Robie. “Do you know him?’

  She shook her head. “Missing people. Hoods. Armed guards. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean.”

  “It means people are being held against their will,” interjected Reel.

  “That I get. But is it the skinheads?”

  Bender said, “What about Doctor King and his group?”

  “That’s a possibility,” said Malloy. “Although they were helping Holly.” She turned to Robie. “She really was okay?”

  “She was fine when she left us. We dropped her and Luke at the bus station. It was leaving shortly after we left.”

  “And you really think he’s a good guy?”

  “I do, for what it’s worth. It was a plus in my book that the skinheads were trying to kill him.”

  “Maybe they discovered what Clément told her somehow. Maybe through JC Parry. Maybe they’re the ones involved in that.”

  “And you say JC Parry has also vanished?” said Bender.

  “As far as we could tell. We saw no sign of him and he left his dog behind, as you know.”

  “I found a temporary home for it,” said Malloy. “I hope JC gets back to reclaim it.”

  Robie said, “And it’s clear now that he was the go-between with Walton and Holly. He wasn’t acting as Walton’s guide. He didn’t need one.”

  “That was a good catch on your part,” conceded Malloy. “I should have seen that one.”

  “If the skinheads are the ones with prisoners, where would they be holding them?” asked Robie.

  “They have a compound about twenty miles east of here,” said Bender. “It’s a fortified camp. Nobody goes near there unless they have business with them.”

  “Sort of like the King’s Apostles folks?” said Reel.

  “I’ve been out to Doctor King’s,” said Bender.

  “So have I,” added Malloy. “The skins are a whole other story. And you’ve shot up a bunch of them and now you’ve wrecked their ATVs. They’re going to want blood.”

  “Well, they kidnapped Luke and were trying to kill him and Holly. Would you rather we just left them to fend for themselves?” snapped Reel.

  “I didn’t mean it that way. I’m incredibly grateful that you helped Holly. I’ll never be able to repay you for that. I wish she had told me what she was planning to do. I could have helped her.”

  “You ever been there?” asked Reel. “To the skinheads’ compound?”

  “Once. To serve a warrant to appear.”

  “What happened?”

  “I served the warrant and they never appeared.”

  “And you let that slide?”

  “I had no choice. The witness against them disappeared, and the case fell apart and was dismissed.”

  “Tell us about the compound.”

  “There’s nothing for miles around it, which means they can see anyone coming from a long way away.”

  Bender added, “It’s got a perimeter wall, with concertina wire on top of it. There’s only one road in and out. There are guard towers all along the perimeter. They have their own water source and a generator for electricity.”

  “How many people are there?” asked Robie.

  “About a hundred or more,” replied Malloy. “At least there were when I went out there. There’re probably even more now. They’ve got lots of firepower.”

  “Any idea how they generate the cash to pay for all that? When I asked the bartender how the Apostles make a living he suggested drugs or guns or human trafficking. But he said he really didn’t know.”

  “I don’t believe that Doctor King and the Apostles are involved in any of that,” said Bender. “But the skinheads sure could be. They definitely got money. They come to town every so often and buy whatever they need and pay in cash. So they’re getting it from somewhere.”

  “They’re like a cancer,” added Malloy. “I’d love to cut it out but I’ve got nothing on them, so my hands are tied. Any time they do something wrong, people vanish or clam up or get paid off. You saw what happened after they shot up the town. The state police dropped their investigation. I argued with them until I was blue in the face, but they’re not following up. I think palms are getting greased high up. Or maybe people are just afraid.”

  “Who’s the leader over there?” asked Reel. “The equivalent of Doctor King?”

  “You’re going to think this is funny, but it’s not,” said Malloy. “He calls himself Dolph.”

  “As in Adolph?” commented Reel. “Wow, how creative.”

  “Yeah. I guess he doesn’t feel he even needs a last name. He sometimes wears an old Nazi uniform with medals and everything.”

  “Have you had interactions with him?” asked Robie.

  “A few times. He’s an older guy and slick. Comes off as more of a college professor than a hatemonger. But he runs that group with an iron hand.”

  Reel glanced at Robie.

  Malloy noted this and said, “What?”

  Robie replied, “We know a little bit about the neo-Nazi movement. We spent some quality time with them a while back. And it didn’t end well for them. But we had firepower on our side that we’re apparently going to lack here.”

  “How do the Apostles and the neos get along?” asked Reel.

  Bender said, “They don’t. Simple answer is they hate each other.”

  Malloy nodded in agreement.

  Reel said, “Well, that might be useful down the road.”

  “Could be,” said Malloy.

  “We need to find out about this Clément Lamarre person,” said Reel. “He’s got to be the key to this.”

  “How so?” asked Malloy.

  Robie answered, “He told Holly about the prisoners. She told Parry, who told Walton. Walton visited her at the rehab, and shortly thereafter he was taken. So was Parry. That’s the connection. We thought maybe this might have something to do with his past, but Walton has been coming out here for years and nothing has ever happened to him. But then he finds out about these prisoners, starts poking around, and boom, he goes missing.”

  Reel added, “If Lamarre saw the prisoners, we need to figure out how. Maybe he worked near the place where they’re being held, or was passing by where it was happening.”

  Malloy said, “I started digging into the scrapbook you left me. Ran down some leads. But I found nothing. Most of the people associated with Walton are either dead or they’ve moved from the area. Claire Bender is one of the few left.”

  “This is all about his present, not his past, I’m convinced of that,” said Reel. “We need to find Lamarre.”

  “Which means we go back to the rehab facility,” said Robie.