Zero Day

by David Baldacci

  else. That’s why his car was gone. Anyway, I went inside.” He stopped, his face draining of any remaining color.

  “You saw them,” Puller said.

  Dickie nodded slowly. “I’ll see ’em in my dreams, in my nightmares till I die.”

  “Very poetic,” said Cole sarcastically.

  “What did you do then?” asked Puller.

  “I was going to leave. But I heard something, something from the basement.”

  “What was the sound?” Puller tensed. A lot would depend on the answer.

  “Like a squeak, like somebody stretching something.”

  Puller eased. “Okay. What next?”

  I had my knife with me. I called down the stairs. Thought it might be Larry. I didn’t want him to shoot me. No answer.”

  Cole said in an incredulous tone, “So you went down into a basement in a house full of dead people in the middle of the night because you heard a sound? You know, in addition to the crime shows, you might want to take in a few movies like Halloween and Friday the 13th. You never go into the damn basement, Dickie.”

  “But you went down there,” said Puller. “What happened?”

  “And that’s when I saw him. Larry, just hanging there.”

  “Did you make certain he was dead?” asked Cole. “Or did you just turn tail and run, leaving him there?”

  “He was dead,” said Dickie. “I seen dead guys in the Army. I checked his pulse, looked at his eyes.” He paused, then forced it out. “He was dead.”

  “Then what?” asked Puller.

  “I got the hell out of there. I ran out the back.”

  “And then just kept going?” Puller tensed again.

  Dickie let out a long breath. “No. I… I stopped running. I felt like I was gonna barf. I squatted down there in the woods. Maybe ten minutes or so. Got myself together. Then I heard a car pull up. Thought it was maybe the cops. Or…”

  Puller said, “Whoever killed Larry coming back?”

  Dickie nodded. “If it was, I wanted to see the son of a bitch. Call the cops on him.”

  “Or her,” said Cole. “It could’ve been a woman.”

  Dickie pointed a finger at Puller. “But it was you. Saw you go in. Didn’t know who the hell you were. But then I saw your jacket. CID. Knew what that was. Larry told me the dead guy was Army. That explained why you were there.”

  “And then?” asked Puller.

  “Little while later heard another car pull up.” He pointed at Cole. “You that time. That’s when I took off.”

  “And that’s when I saw you out the window,” said Puller. He looked at Cole. “Story coincides with what we know.”

  She nodded and then glared at Dickie. “Would’ve been nice to know this before. I should arrest you for withholding material evidence.”

  “And for just being stupid,” added Puller. “So were you and Eric friends?”

  “I knew him. He was in Xanadu.” He held up his arm. “I told you I got a tat sleeve like his.”

  “When you went into the Halversons’ house that night did you know that Eric and Molly were across the street dead?”

  “Of course I didn’t.”

  Puller let this answer hang there.

  “I was worried about him, though.”

  “Why?” asked Puller.

  “Stuff.”

  “Stuff got a name?”

  Dickie shrugged. “Not that I ever heard.”

  “Any reason why Eric and Molly would have wanted a soil report done?” asked Cole.

  “Soil report? Nope, no reason I know of.”

  “How about a meth lab?’ asked Puller. “Got any ‘stuff’ on that?”

  “Eric didn’t do meth.”

  “Okay, but did he make it to sell? That’s the key question.”

  Dickie didn’t answer right away. “I think I need to lawyer up.”

  “Think or know?” asked Puller while Cole looked at him warily.

  Puller pushed off from the wall and stood next to Dickie. “Let’s look at this intelligently, Dickie. See how it affects you. Will you take a couple minutes to do that with me?”

  Cole said, “Puller, he said he wanted to lawyer up—”

  Puller shot her a glance and she closed her mouth. He turned back to Dickie, put a hand on his shoulder. “Just hear me out, Dickie, what do you have to lose? The Army kicked your ass out. Didn’t let you serve when I know you wanted to. This is a second chance for you to do something for your country.”

  Dickie mumbled, “I’ll listen.”

  CHAPTER

  64

  PULLER SNAGGED A CHAIR with his right hand, swung it around, and set it directly in front of Dickie. When Puller sat down in it, his knees were almost touching the other man’s.

  “I’ll let you in on some top-level stuff, Dickie, but in return, I need some things from you. You’re patriotic, right, want to help your country?”

  “As much as the next guy. Like you said, I’d still be in the Army serving if they hadn’t pulled that crap on me.”

  “I know. I hear you. I served with gays and straights. Didn’t matter to me so long as they could hit the target they were shooting at and had my back when I needed it.”

  Dickie looked more comfortable. “So what’s going on?”

  “Trouble’s coming to Drake, Dickie. In fact, it’s already here. All these people dead, some of them your friends.”

  “I know that. I know, man.”

  “But it’s not just those people. The Feds think something big is coming here. Really big.”

  “To Drake?” Cole said, obviously stunned by this news.

  Dickie said, “Big like what?”

  “If I knew then it wouldn’t be such a problem. But I don’t know. And if that situation stays the same then we’re all screwed, you see that, don’t you?”

  Dickie nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “I knew you were smart. Mechanized guys all have to be smart. Lot of stuff to remember with all the equipment you guys had. I just had to worry about my gun and personal gear. You guys were wheeling around in thirty-ton armor.”

  “Ain’t that the truth. I drove the Bradley. And even the damn Abrams. And I was good.”

  “I bet you were. Army’s loss. Don’t ask was a bunch of crap anyway.”

  “Damn sure was,” agreed Dickie.

  “So something big is coming. People dead, pieces not adding up. Weird chatter coming out of Drake that federal ears caught. Now what I need from you is some HUMINT. You know what that is, right?”

  “Sure. Human intelligence.”

  “On the ground, here in Drake. You know stuff. You know people. You know folks who knew Eric and Molly. Your old man works for Trent.”

  “You think Roger Trent is involved in this?” Dickie said sharply.

  “I don’t know who’s involved and who isn’t. That’s why I need your help. You up for it?”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Listen. Go to places. Sit with folks. Listen some more. Don’t make it obvious. Don’t play detective. I just want you to do what you normally do, but just do it differently. Listen, pay attention. Something seems weird, remember it, get in touch. Okay?”

  Dickie was already nodding. “Okay. Sure.”

  Puller handed him a card. “My contact info. I assume you know how to reach Sergeant Cole.”

  Puller rose.

  “That’s all?” said Dickie. “I can go?”

  “You’re not doing me any good sitting in my motel room. I need you out there. Give you a chance to serve your country again, even if your country did screw you over.”

  Dickie rose, looked at Cole, and then put out a hand to Puller.

  “Ain’t been many folks willing to give me a shot like this.”

  “I’m not most folks.”

  “I had you pegged wrong, I guess.”

  “I guess we did the same to you,” noted Cole.

  “You need a ride?” Puller asked.

  “No,
I’m cool.”

  After Dickie left, Cole said, “And you didn’t tell me something big was coming to Drake because why?”

  “Because I was told not to. And then I decided to disobey orders.”

  “What’s it based on?”

  “Chatter NSA picked up. In Dari. Justice is coming. Whatever is going to happen will happen soon.”

  “Dari? What the hell is that?”

  “Dialect spoken in Afghanistan.”

  “Afghanistan? You heard that in Drake?”

  “Apparently so. At least in the vicinity of. Couldn’t get an exact location. And it was encrypted in old KGB code. And it was sent out shortly after the murders. Gotten DHS’s blood pressure up.”

  “What else do you know?”

  “Not enough, that’s for damn sure. You know one thing Dickie didn’t explain.”

  “What’s that?”

  “How did he get to the Halversons’ that night? Didn’t drive. No car out front. He ran into the woods. Escaped that way. Long way back to town.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Complicated guy. Who would’ve figured.”

  “You think he knows more than he’s telling us?”

  “I think he’s caught between a rock and a hard place. He’s involved in something that he doesn’t want us to know about. But I don’t think it’s connected to the chatter.”

  “But I don’t know why you recruited him to help us. Especially if you think he’s involved in something criminal.”

  “I’ve spent most of my adult life reading people. Especially soldiers and those formerly in the ranks. My instinct tells me that Dickie wants to help. I think he went to the Halversons’ that night because he suspected something. Or someone. What I think he wanted was just another chance to prove the Army screwed up in discharging him. So I gave it to him.”

  “Well, if he gets killed that second chance will have come at a big cost.”

  “Most second chances do. And most of the time they’re worth it.”

  “When he went to the Halversons’ do you think he knew Treadwell and Bitner were sitting dead across the street?”

  “I think he might have known. I think he probably tried to call and got no answer. I think he might have gone over to their house that night too, but couldn’t get in. The place was dark. He couldn’t have seen the bodies from the window. And there were no signs of forced entry.”

  “So what’s his connection with Treadwell? Not just the Harley club. He’s scared.”

  “Seven people have been killed. He should be scared. Along with everyone else.”

  CHAPTER

  65

  COLE LEFT TO TAKE CARE of some paperwork back at the station. They arranged to meet later. Puller drove off in his car. Three minutes later he parked and sat there thumbing in a phone number.

  The voice said, “Mason.”

  “Agent Mason, it’s John Puller.”

  Puller could hear the squeak of the man’s chair as he presumably leaned back. While the normal world went on around them, Mason was working 24/7 to keep the monsters at bay.

  “I’m glad you called. We got one more piece of chatter and some additional intel that have combined to ratchet this sucker up to a new level.”

  “I thought it was pretty high already. What new stuff do you have?”

  “Another KGB code-encrypted piece of Dari. This time they said some shit about Allah the great and good. That didn’t get me excited. What did get me excited were numbers.”

  “What numbers?”

  “A date, Puller. They gave us the D-day, at least that’s what we think.”

  “And what was the date?”

  “You’re not going to like this because I sure as hell don’t. Three days from today.”

  “You said you had other intelligence. Does it at least give us some idea of what they’re planning?”

  “Yes, the mystery on that score is finally solved. And that’s the real scary part. There’s a gas pipeline that runs through Drake, northwest corner of the county.”

  “Okay.”

  “We didn’t think anything of it, really. Pipelines are natural targets, but not that popular because the human damage potential is not that significant. This pipeline supplies natural gas for three states: West Virginia, of course, Kentucky, and Ohio. The pipeline is owned by a Canadian outfit but operated by an American company. Trent Exploration. From what you told me you’ve had some interaction with Roger Trent, right?”

  “Right.” Puller thought rapidly. “You think anyone at Trent is involved in this?”

  “I’m not ruling out any possibilities at this point.”

  “But what’s the vulnerability of the gas pipeline? And even if they did blow it up, how much damage are we talking about? Like you said, it would be limited.”

  “The structural damage could be severe, but manageable. And then you’d have disruption of service. Not that sexy for a terrorist. They like body parts hanging from trees, not gas customers complaining because their stovetop isn’t working. And there are resources in the area that can respond to any damage to the pipeline and bring things under control.”

  “Okay, so the pipeline is the target?”

  “We don’t think it’s that simple.” He paused and Puller could visualize the man organizing the words in his head. “What’s a very popular tactic that the Taliban employs in Afghanistan? You should know this better than most.”

  Puller did know better than most. “A feint and then the real hit. One bomb to draw in the first responders. Second bomb goes off to kill them.”

  “Right, only here we believe it’s a variation on that tactic. We believe the attack on the gas pipeline is a diversionary tactic.”

  Puller felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. “So what’s the real target?”

  “If that gas pipeline explodes first responders from a hundred-mile radius will get there ASAP. That’s not guesswork. There are tri-state teaming agreements in place in the event that pipeline goes up in flames. Those resources are committed to that contingency and they can’t be stood down for any reason.”

  “Okay.”

  Mason continued. “Now, there’s lots of forest in that area. It’s been dry as hell. You could be looking at a fire that could cover three states and fed by a mountain of gas, at least until they could shut it down. As