Dark Coup (12 page)

“It’s a date,” Kyle said without thinking.

“Yes,” she said, “it’s a date.”

Chapter Twelve

“What in the world are you doing,” Eric asked Kyle when he came back from a five-hour reconnaissance and surveillance patrol of Clint’s main encampment.

“Huh,” Kyle said as he looked up from his phone and then put it away, “oh, nothing.  Yes, I heard you coming; no, I wasn’t asleep at the wheel.”

“No,” Eric said, “but your mind is still somewhere else.”

Kyle shook his head and looked in the general direction of Clint’s camp.  “This is going to sound stupid,” he said, “but I wish I could call her.”

Eric made a noise that sounded like a cross between a snort and a sigh.

“See,” Kyle said.  “I told you it was going to sound stupid.”

“No,” Eric said.  “It’s not stupid and I wasn’t laughing.”

Eric took a deep breath after he sat down and leaned against his ruck.  “It’s not stupid at all, Kyle,” Eric said again, “and I know exactly what you mean.  If you were fifteen we would call it a crush, and if this was an office we would call it…” Eric shrugged.

“Being a middle-aged man with a crush,” Kyle said.

“Probably,” Eric said with a sad smile.  “Look, Kyle, I know I’m the one who originally brought it up but are you sure this is really a good idea?”

“We already talked about this, Eric,” Kyle said, and then sighed.  The way Eric asked, Kyle wasn’t sure exactly what point he was trying to make. 

“There’re only two of us, Kyle,” Eric said.  “We have no idea what we’re walking into; regardless of any intel Amanda can bring us.  You and I both know you’d never run an operation with your men under these circumstances.”

“I have to do this,” Kyle said, “even if it means going it alone.”

“Why,” Eric asked.

“Because it’s not just a crush,” Kyle said.  “I think I’m in love, and I can’t just walk away.  I won’t just leave her there.  I won’t abandon her.”

Eric looked at the sky for a few seconds, trying to gather his thoughts.  “Kyle,” he said.  “Listen to yourself; actually listen to what you’re saying.  You,
we,
still have no viable plan.  We still have no idea how many people would be for or against taking Clint down. Are you really willing to go through with all of this just because you think you might be in love?”

“Maybe I can convince Amanda to just leave then,” Kyle said.

“You know she won’t leave without William,” Eric said, “but what if she or William won’t leave without somebody else, or a whole family?  What then?”

“I’ll figure something out,” Kyle said.  “It’ll work out, Eric.”

Eric wanted to choke Kyle.  “Things don’t always work out,” Eric said softly.

“It has to,” Kyle said.  “I know it will.  It sounds corny, but I want to spend the rest of my life with Amanda.”

Eric froze.  For a few seconds he forgot to breathe.  The phrase had been like a slap in the face.  Kyle honestly hadn’t meant anything by it, but it hit Eric like a physical blow.  Eric blinked a couple of times and then got up, turned around, and started walking out of camp.

It wasn’t until Eric stood up without saying anything that Kyle realized what he’d said and how it must have come across.  He felt like the world’s biggest tool.

“Eric,” he said, but Eric didn’t react to his name.  He didn’t turn around, didn’t wave Kyle back, nothing.

“Man, I really screwed up there,”
Kyle thought. 
“He didn’t take anything with him…I hope he’s coming back.  Please be coming back.”

…

Kyle was making dinner when Eric came walking back into camp.  He’d been gone for almost three hours and Kyle had really started to worry.  When Eric had been gone for about half-an-hour, Kyle realized he didn’t even have his radio on his belt and all he’d taken with him were his pocket knife, his sidearm, and anything he’d been carrying in his pockets.

“Hey,” Kyle said.  “Look, I’m sorry, man.  I didn’t even think…”

“Don’t,” Eric said, interrupting Kyle who was half-a-sentence from apoplexy.  “You didn’t do anything wrong and I’m not mad at you.  I’m not even mad, really.  I’m still grieving. I will be for a long time.  But I don’t blame you for what you’re feeling.  I’m happy for you, Kyle.  Really.”

Kyle was still embarrassed, but nodded in understanding.  “Thanks,” he said.

…

June 22, 2013 - Promised Land Army Base, Natchez Trace State Park, Tennessee

“Mathis,” Ben said as he sat down in the interview room–or, in this case, interrogation room.

Mathis nodded once to Ben, but didn’t say anything.  His attitude since his capture had been…aloof; completely different from anything he’d displayed in the eight years that Ben had known him.

“So, still nothing,” Ben said.  “I don’t qualify for rank or even a title anymore?  Just a head nod.”

“As I’ve said, I no longer recognize your authority,” Mathis said.  “I never have.”

“And why is that,” Ben asked.

Mathis pursed his lips into a small frown and shook his head, but said nothing.

Ben leaned forward.  “Today is going to be different, Mathis,” he said.  “Today you are going to talk to me.  Today, you are going to tell me whatever I want to know.”

“No,” Mathis said.  “It won’t be any different than any other day in the last week, with one possible exception.  You might finally get angry enough to make a mistake.”

Ben gritted his teeth and left the room.

…

June 22, 2013 - Fort Rucker, Alabama

“Major Sanford,” Lieutenant Cliff Hodges said as he knocked on the door frame.  “I’m sorry to interrupt, Sir, but there’s something I think you need to see.”

Lieutenant Hodges had been the Colonel’s liaison during the mission against Ft. Campbell a week ago.  He was also one of the few people that Sanford had discussed his misgivings about the Colonel with.

“Here, or,” Sanford let the question hang.

“If you would come with me,” Hodges said.  “It’s something that was recovered during the raid.”

That piqued Sanford’s interest as he thought he’d already seen or heard about everything that they had found.  Sanford locked his laptop in his desk and started following Hodges to the warehouse they were currently using to store everything they’d deemed of value that couldn’t, or shouldn’t, be left at Campbell.  He was surprised when Hodges instead took him to one of the vehicle-maintenance depots, and even more surprised when it was the one furthest away from the Administration buildings.

“Dare I ask,” Sanford said.

“I’m not sure you would believe me if I told you, Sir,” Hodges said and led Sanford through the building and out the back.

In the lot was a HMMWV, or Hummer, with an Expanded Capacity Command and Control system.  It
looked
like it was being repaired but it had several antennae fully extended, which was decidedly non-standard practice for a vehicle undergoing maintenance.

“Ok, talk to me, Hodges,” Sanford said.

Hodges held up one finger and opened one of the doors to the Hummer.

…

Ben walked into the interrogation room for the second time, and this time he wasn’t alone.  Neither man said anything, but the person accompanying Ben was carrying what looked like a large, metal toolbox.

Ben stood across the table from Mathis and placed both hands on the table in front of him.  “We’re going to talk,” he said.  “
We
, you and I, two people.  I’m going to ask questions and you are going to provide answers.”

“No,” Mathis said, but was cut off when Ben slapped the table.  Mathis smiled ever so slightly.

Ben took out a second set of handcuffs with only one cuff attached to three links.  His assistant reached into the toolbox and handed Ben a cordless drill and a screw, which Ben used to fasten the handcuff to the wooden table.

Ben then went around behind Mathis, uncuffed his left hand from his manacles and brought it to the table.  Mathis was watching Ben the entire time over his shoulder and missed what Ben’s assistant had been doing.  Ben cuffed Mathis’ left hand to the table and walked around to the other side of the table.

Mathis finally took notice of what was now laid out on the table to his left side.  A dozen tongue depressors, a stack of gauze, and several strips of tape.

Mathis quirked another smile.  “That’s supposed to make me talk,” he asked.

Ben leaned towards Mathis and for the first time, Mathis wondered if he might not be as hard as his former boss.  “No,” Ben said.  “
You’re
going to make you talk.  I’m just going to help.  Those are splints.”

The smile disappeared from Mathis’s face.

“I’m going to ask a question,” Ben said, “and if you
choose
not to answer, or I don’t like the answer you choose to give, I’m going to break a joint in one of your fingers.”

“You wouldn’t,” Mathis almost gasped.

“I will,” Ben said.  “Whether or not I do is entirely up to you.  I am perfectly capable, and at this point more than willing, to break every joint in your hand.  You cost the lives of seventeen of my men, and I had to leave behind eighty-one more.   I’ll start with an easy one, one I
know
you know the answer to.  How long have you been in contact with Olsen behind my back?”

…

“What am I looking at,” Sanford asked.

“We found this,” Hodges indicated the laptop and what appeared to be a homebrew radio, “powered on and running when we did a sweep of the base.”

Hodges bent down to retrieve something from under the seat.  “This was duct-taped on top of the laptop,” Hodges said, “on the palm-rest.  Right over where the hard drive sits.”

“What is that,” Sanford asked.

“It’s a magnetic tape eraser,” the Sergeant running the radio gear in the Hummer said and glared at Hodges.  “And I really wish it was about fifty feet from the inside of this vehicle, Sirs.”

Hodges covered his smile well, but Sanford completely understood the Sergeant’s unease.  One push of the button and the hard drive would have been toast beyond their ability to restore.  Pre-event, maybe they could have put it back together…maybe.  Now, there would have been no way.

“Duly noted, Sergeant,” Hodges said.  “I don’t think we’ll be needing it anymore.  I did discharge it a number of times before bringing it anywhere near the truck.”

The Sergeant wasn’t mollified but didn’t really have a choice in the matter and just kept silent.

“That doesn’t answer the first question,” Sanford said.  “I see a laptop and what I can only assume is a radio of some kind.  Homemade, I would assume.”

Hodges turned to the Sergeant, Tuttle the nametape said, and nodded.

“It’s a HAM radio, Sir,” Tuttle said, “and don’t let the fact that it’s a homebrew fool you.  Whoever designed and built it knew what they were doing.  It’s limited to a couple of bands but I’m impressed.  The laptop though, that’s the key…”

…

“So you’re telling me that there is a whole separate, what,” Sanford waved his hands in the air, “secret communications network going on out there?  It’s happening on frequencies that we can monitor right now, but all we’d hear is static unless we ran the transmission through the laptop to decode it?”

“Pretty much,” Hodges said.

“And why am I just now hearing about this,” Sanford asked.

“Because we weren’t absolutely positive about it until we picked up a transmission,” Hodges said, “and were able to decode it in real time on this rig,” Hodges pointed to the laptop and HAM combination, “while getting nothing but static on Uncle Sugar’s multi-million dollar state-of-the-art receivers.”

Sanford sat back in the increasingly uncomfortable seat and folded his arms.

“There’s one other thing,” Tuttle said.

Both Hodges and Sanford looked at Tuttle, since nothing else had come up during any of the conversations Hodges had had with Tuttle.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about it and,” Tuttle paused for a second, “there are only a couple of options that make sense.  I say that because we found the laptop with the user logged in and the decoder running.  The first possibility is that the person who was using this pushed the button when they left, or thought they did, and expected to wipe the drive, or they truly thought they were going to be coming back.”

Tuttle looked at the Lieutenant and the Major and then continued.  “The second possibility is that we were meant to find it.”

Sanford didn’t say anything but looked at Hodges.

“You can speak freely in front of Sergeant Tuttle, Major,” Hodges said, knowing what Sanford was thinking.  “We all share the same concerns.”

Sanford nodded.  “In that case,” he said, “I don’t think it matters.  We have it now and we need to make sure we use it wisely, if at all.  Who else knows about this so far?”

“A total of five people now,” Hodges said, “including the three of us.

“There were three of us clearing the building,” Tuttle said.  “I told them I’d take care of the radio while they handled the rest of the building, since it was electronic.  They wouldn’t know the difference between a HAM radio and a toaster oven.”

“Good,” Sanford said, “for now we’re going to keep it that way.”

Chapter Thirteen

Kyle greeted Amanda with a hug the second time they met in the middle of the night, and got a kiss on the cheek in return.

“How are things going in camp,” Kyle asked.

“About the same,” Amanda said, “for everyone except me.  Clint is really trying to turn up the heat.  He was busy today—working. I mean really working for once, with one of the ranchers we’ve been trying to work out an agreement with.  That’s the only reason I was able to make it tonight. He was exhausted.”

“I’m glad you were able to,” Kyle said and paused.  “I really missed you.”

Amanda reached out and took his hand.  “I missed you too,” she said.  “I know we agreed you wouldn’t show up at the field anymore, but I kept checking as I got near the end of the row, hoping you might be there.”

“You don’t know how close I came to showing up,” Kyle said with a smile.  “Eric and I think we’ve come up with a way to get you out of there, though, with anyone else who wants to leave.  You need to meet him, too, although he isn’t going to stay for long because someone needs to be on patrol.”