“No, I need to take the car in case I have to run out
and pick up something for her.”
“Okay.”
Michelle stayed with Tom for a few hours at the FBI
house and waited for Ryan and Dallas to return. All four had unproductive trips,
and the team briefed each other on their progress hunting Derek and Joshua.
With almost no new information, the brief lasted only a few minutes. Michelle
grabbed her gear and headed out the door.
When she arrived at Kristina’s, a man in tattered white
coveralls and a baseball cap was sitting on the front porch reading a magazine.
She also observed a windowless utility van parked beside an open manhole near
the curb at the edge of the front yard. When she reached the porch, she noticed
the tiny clear spiral tube running from the sentry’s ear disappearing down the
back of his paint splotched clothing. She also noticed the butt of his
automatic rifle peeking out from a pile of newspapers at his feet. He reached
up and tipped his hat.
“Good evenin’, ma’am. May I offah you a tall cool drink
of lemonade?” he asked in an embellished southern accent.
“You’d make a thousand dollas selling that from a stand
on the cawnah,” said Michelle in an equally embellished accent.
“I’d make a million if you sat beside me with your
smile, pretty lady.”
“Well, I do declayah. How many are posted?” asked
Michelle, dropping the accent.
“One in the van with a much bigger gun than mine,” said
the man, losing his accent as well. “Two around back in a shed with a three-sixty
of the yard. Two more inside. And then of course, yours truly sipping lemonade and
enjoying this Africa hot weather in coveralls. My name is Patrick Webber,” he
said, offering his hand.
“Michelle Dobbs, but you should already know that,” she
said, giving him a firm handshake.
“Yes, ma’am. We’ve been expecting you. Dr. Anderson is
up in her room reading. That’s pretty much where she’s been since she arrived.
I’m sure she’s looking forward to the company.”
“Apparently, not mine,” said Michelle, confusing Patrick,
who didn’t pry.
“If you need anything, let me know. These are my guys.”
“I appreciate it, Patrick. I have to say, if your guys
are associated with the New Orleans team, she’s in good hands.”
“Thank you. I was CIA for three years before joining
Steve’s outfit. The pay is much better, and the lines are less blurry.”
“I know the feeling,” said Michelle, finding herself
lingering too long with the attractive young team leader. “Maybe I’ll send my
application in when my tour is up.”
“I’ll put in a good word.”
“Thank you,” said Michelle, entering the house. She
closed the door behind her and stood in the foyer shaking her head. “Maybe I’ll
send in my application? Damn you for getting in my head, Tom.”
“Michelle,” greeted Kristina, startling her from the top
of the stairs. “I thought I heard someone come in. Who were you talking to?”
“The only person that ever really listens…me. How are
you?
“Oh, I’m fine. I have my books,” said Kristina, making
her way down the stairs. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Something to eat?”
“No, thank you. I’m actually supposed to be asking you
those questions,” said Michelle, following her into the kitchen.
“Well, these gentlemen are as doting as the group in New
Orleans,” said Kristina, opening a bottle of water. “A girl could get used to
this.”
“It would drive me crazy, but if you’re sure you don’t
need anything, I’ll leave you to your reading.”
“Oh, you have to leave so soon?” she replied quickly.
“I don’t want to disturb you,” said Michelle, trying to
make a fast exit.
“Disturb me? I’ve been cooped up inside with a bunch of
serious-looking guys carrying guns. They’ve been very accommodating, but I have
to admit there’s been a lack of conversation other than asking if I need
anything. Would you mind staying just a little while longer?”
“I guess it would be okay,” said Michelle, reluctantly
taking a seat at the table. “I can catch you up on the case.”
“Actually, I’d rather talk about anything else. It’s the
reason why I’ve been doing so much reading, you know, so I don’t have to think
about what’s going on out there. I guess I just tend to worry about everyone
involved. This may be hard for you to understand, but Peter and Richard were
good guys. Derek as well.”
“It is difficult to understand after witnessing what
they’ve done,” said Michelle. “They may have been good guys at some point, but
they’re not anymore.”
“So, how are the guys?” asked Kristina, changing the
subject. “How’s Ryan?”
“Dallas and Tom are good. Ryan hasn’t been sleeping very
much, but he seems to be okay.”
“He does seem like a very intense person,” said
Kristina. “I can’t help but feel a little responsible for his lack of sleep.”
“Why would you feel responsible?” asked Michelle.
“I mean having to worry about lugging me everywhere
while trying to find Derek and Joshua.”
“Oh, I don’t think he’s worried about that. In fact,
he’s probably more relieved you’re here. If anything were to happen, I’m sure
he’d rather be here. You’re right, he is a fairly intense person, but that’s
what makes him effective.”
“You seem like a pretty close group,” said Kristina.
“When I was working at the lab, or anywhere else as a matter of fact, people
tended to shy away from me. I never really became close to anyone. I had
friends, but they always kept their distance. I’m sure I was partly to blame
since I was always so involved in my work, but there were many times I wish I could’ve
just hung out with them, you know, let our hair down and relax.”
“I think they might have been intimidated by you,” said
Michelle, defrosting a few degrees. “Being an attractive, driven woman with a
big brain tends to humble folks. They don’t know what to do with you, so they
keep you at arm’s length. Speaking of people keeping their distance, imagine
carrying a gun and a badge. It’s crickets and tumbleweed whenever I walk into a
room at a social gathering.”
“Well, at least it’s nice to know there are other women
out there like me.”
“Kristina, there are very few women out there like us.
No offense, but we both walked into the men’s club without a club. Most of them
don’t know what to do with us, so they try to ignore the fact we’re even there.
We have to be more creative about how to make enough noise to get noticed
without getting kicked out.”
“Very true,” said Kristina with a smile.
Michelle and Kristina sat at the table talking for over
an hour. They discovered they had more in common than either thought. In a
predominantly male working environment, they both enjoyed the rare opportunity
of not having one in the same room.
*****
The chartered aircraft landed at Hartsfield
International Airport in Atlanta late in the evening. Two vehicles were waiting
for the six men which included Alex and the banged up Red Team. They were
looking forward to paying back Ryan and Dallas for the painful gifts they
received in Baltimore.
“I want the other guys to wait at the hotel,” said Alex
to Paul of Red Team. “I want you to follow Michelle and Tom. According to the
GPS data, they’re usually together. Right now, it’s showing everyone at the FBI
house. I’ll be tailing Ryan and Dallas. One of them will eventually lead us to
Dr. Anderson. When they do, I’ll be the one taking her this time. Ryan will
find it difficult putting me in a dumpster.”
*****
Scott Wilson stood in front of Colonel Brown’s office
door and took several deep breaths. His instincts told him to turn and run, but
he knew Ryan wouldn’t have a chance if he lost his only inside source to the
lab. But more importantly, he knew Ryan had Kristina. If he left, they’d be on
their own. She’d be on her own. He knocked on the door and entered the office.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” asked Scott nervously.
“Yes, I did,” said the Colonel with a rare friendly
greeting. “Please, sit down.”
Scott had been wary of the Colonel since he started
working at the lab years ago, but was on high alert sitting in front of the man
running the show. The Colonel wasted no time showing his cards.
“I understand you’ve been talking to Agent Ryan
Pearson.”
“Yes, sir. We’ve had contact at each of the crime
scenes. I only relayed the information you instructed me to divulge.”
Two security personnel entered the office and stood
behind Scott. His pulse skyrocketed as the Colonel watched the scientist turn
pale.
“No, Scott. You told him much more than that. In fact,
you told him exactly where to find Dr. Anderson. We know he has her, but not
for long. Alex and a team are in Atlanta getting ready to separate the two.”
“That’s crazy. Why would I –”
The Colonel put his hand up for Scott to stop talking – It
worked.
“The next words that come out of your mouth are going to
be critical to your survival and hers. You have no idea how bad you fucked up,
son. You need to start unfucking yourself right now. The only way that’s going
to happen is if you tell me everything you told him and everything you gave
him. And yes, I know about the autopsy reports. If you even think about tap
dancing around what I want, I’ll end your life right after I show you photos of
how I ended hers. The only chance you and Dr. Anderson have to walk away from
this is for you to come clean.”
It had been two days since Alex started shadowing Ryan
and Dallas. He still had no idea where they were hiding Kristina. The GPS
embedded in the agent’s phones made it easy for him to keep his distance and
stay concealed. Late in the evening on the second day, the locator map in
Alex’s laptop showed all four agents in the FBI house. His senses were alerted
when he observed Ryan leaving the house alone, but the GPS signal indicated no
movement. Alex called his team and told them to prepare to move as Ryan’s car
left the driveway.
Twenty minutes later, Alex contacted Colonel Brown to
inform him that he had Kristina’s location. Red Team mobilized from the hotel
and set up positions around the house as Alex waited for Ryan to leave. They
noticed one unidentified sentry in the backyard and another in a van parked by
the curb. He estimated there would be at least two more inside.
Ryan was in the house for thirty minutes before
reappearing on the front porch. He drove away, leaving the perimeter protected
by only two of Steve’s men. Red Team had four men ready to assault the house
from the back as Alex and three others were poised to take the sentry in the
van. All had orders that nobody inside was to be left alive. Alex would take
out Dr. Anderson himself.
A few moments before Alex gave the order to advance,
Steve’s men made it easier for the assault team. Both the front and back
sentries abandoned their posts and entered the house. They would have had a
slightly better chance of survival if they had skipped dinner and stayed
outside. Their absence allowed Alex’s assault team to creep up to the doors
undetected and seal everyone’s fate inside.
Alex keyed his radio three times, signaling both teams
to breach the doors. It was unnecessary to use the battering rams to knock them
off the hinges. Steve’s men didn’t lock them when they entered. Nearly every
light was on as they silently crept into the house. When the two teams met in
the middle after quickly clearing several rooms downstairs, they were engulfed
in darkness as the power was cut off from the street.
At the same time, a radio jamming device was activated,
rendering their communication equipment useless. Red team bolted for the back
door when they realized they’d been set up, but they were met by a blinding
floodlight and several orders to freeze. The first man out raised his weapon.
He was cut down by automatic fire before he could squeeze the trigger. Each
muzzle outside was suppressed with a silencer. The only sound heard were the
metal clicks of the firing mechanisms.
Deciding where to set up the decoy house was as
important as its function. It was adequately isolated from any potential
collateral damage to bystanders or witnesses. The second man out took two
rounds to the chest before he could react. The remaining weapons from Red Team
quickly hit the ground as all hands went up in the air.
During the chaotic few seconds of discovering it was a
trap, Alex separated himself from the sitting ducks. In the blink of an eye, he
jettisoned himself through the large living room window and accelerated to
nearly forty miles an hour. He disappeared through the neighbor’s backyard
before the agents or Steve’s men could put their gun sights on him.
Dallas was the first to approach the surrounded and
stunned Red Team. He was also the first to spot the vehicle following Ryan when
he had left an hour earlier. Whenever someone went to check on Kristina, another
agent followed them as if they were the bad guys. When Ryan was alerted to the
tail, he drove to the decoy house they had set up prior to Kristina’s arrival.
The two guards posted outside entered the house and donned their night vision
goggles as they set up in their ambush positions upstairs. Tom and Michelle
directed the eight-man strike team Steve stationed less than a mile from the
FBI house. The hunters were being hunted as soon as they arrived at the decoy. Dallas
was pleased to see the two men he and Ryan disabled in Baltimore.
“Hi, guys,” greeted Dallas. “Fancy running into you
again. No old ladies or pretty scientist here to beat up. Just us stupid feds.
Man, that’s gotta piss you off,” he said as Ryan entered the house.
Without saying a word, Ryan walked up to Paul of the
Colonel’s Red Team who had chased Kristina down an alley less than two weeks
earlier. He stared at him for a brief moment and then knocked him off his feet.
He hit him square in his semi-healed nose. He leaned over the man writhing in
pain.