by Thomas Bloom
“My thought too,” Tamourini said. “He’s been watching us. Shit. He’s going to run. We need to put out an APB and see if we can catch him before he’s too far away. What’s he likely to be driving?”
Just then Dusty’s service phone rang. He almost ignored it but glanced at the screen. It was Croft.
“Croft, where are you. What’s happening?”
“I watched everything this morning. Okay, you’ve got me but I’ve got you.”
“How’s that?”
“I’ve got your kids. If you do anything to pursue me I’ll kill one of them and then if you don’t stop I’ll kill the other one. I need a day. If you don’t do anything in that day then I’ll leave them alive. I don’t kill kids. Oh, by the way. I’ve got my service phone and I saved one of the FBI phones. I’ll be monitoring all frequencies. Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t kill your kids.”
Dusty felt like he’d been slugged in the gut. He called Tamourini on the FBI phone and said “meet me in the parking lot with Amanda, now. Big problem.”
When they got out of Amanda’s car Dusty raised a finger at Tamourini and took Amanda aside.
“Croft just called me. He’s on the run and he has our kids. He says if try we to intercept him he will kill them.” Amanda went weak at the knees and Dusty had to grab her and lower her to the ground. He knelt beside her and spoke in her ear. “This is the worst thing that could happen but we have to stay functioning. We can’t let him hurt our boys. Just wait a minute while I fill in Tamourini.”
“Okay,” Tamourini said. “Don’t tell any of your people. Believe it or not we have a procedure for something like this. I need to get to a land line. He may be monitoring your frequencies and mine but he can’t monitor ma bell.”
“Christ, I just thought of something. What about Mrs. Johnson? She was with the boys. Our house is five minutes away and we have a land line.”
They found Mrs. Johnson tied to a chair in the kitchen with a huge welt on the side of her head. Dusty untied her while Amanda called 911. Tamourini was already on the land line. “It was your deputy Croft,” Mrs. Johnson said. “I opened the door and he hit me with the butt of his gun. Why would he do a thing like that? What about the boys?”
“He has them but you can’t say anything to anyone about this. Do you understand me?”
She nodded her head. “But why?” she asked.
“I’ll visit you in the hospital later and explain. But don’t say a word to anyone. We’re telling the ambulance attendants when they get here that you slipped and hit your head on the kitchen counter. Are you understanding me?”
She nodded her head again.
Once Mrs. Johnson had been taken by the EMT unit Tamourini sat at the kitchen table and motioned for Dusty and Amanda to join her. “Here’s the deal. We’ve set up a totally secure network that’s independent of normal channels just in case we have a situation where a bad guy can listen in to our usual frequencies. In order to activate this we have to have the clearance of a superior and then enter an access code. I have the clearance and have entered the code in my unit. Give me your phones and I’ll clear you in.”
“First thing,” Amanda said, “is Mrs. Johnson’s vehicle is gone. It was a Chevy Impala a few years old and grey. That must be what he is in. He didn’t want to take a police cruiser—too obvious.”
“Well, he said he needed a day. That narrows it down to about 500 miles maximum. But we have no idea what he has planned. I can put units out for surveillance but we have to have some idea of where to look. Did your boys have cell phones?”
“Yes, but surely he would have taken those.”
“Just in case, give me the numbers. Also, give me Mrs. Johnson’s full name and address. That way I can get her plate number and VIN number.” Amanda scrolled through her contacts and gave Tamourini the numbers and the information on Mrs. Johnson.
“We’ll put out a tag on these numbers. If one of them is active we can track it. Let me call these in. We’ve got a tech guy in Detroit who’s a genius with this kind of thing. Also, I’ll have him track down the VIN number and plate number on Mrs. Johnson’s vehicle.” She left the room to make her calls.
Amanda sat at the kitchen table with her head in her hands. She was shaking. Dusty put a hand on her shoulder. “Hang in there. It’s not over yet. If the boys are his protection he will not hurt them if he is not provoked. Look, he let Mrs. Johnson live. He kills but he kills on his criteria. I believe him when he says he doesn’t want to kill kids.”
“But he’s a madman. We can’t count on him acting rationally or playing by any rules.”
“Maybe so. But perhaps the best thing that could happen is that he makes a clean get away and doesn’t harm the kids. We have the rest of our lives to track him down.”
Just then Tamourini came back into the room. “We’ve got an active on both phones. One of them is here but the other is on I-94 south of Holland, Michigan. Somehow one of your boys must have hidden a phone on his person. Our guess is that he’s headed for Chicago O’Hare which is the closest place in that direction he could get an international flight.”
“Which phone is active?” Amanda asked.
“The one ending in 2462. But it was only on for a few seconds and then off again. My guess is that he’s very low on charge and is trying to conserve what is left. But he’s being very smart. He’s knows that the phone can be tracked.”
“That’s Elliott’s, he the oldest.”
“Let’s talk,” Dusty said. “If you use this information to get close to him it could mean the end of our kids. Right now he’s no threat to anyone except our children. We want you to lay completely off and let him do whatever he’s going to do. If he gets on a plane at O’Hare and leaves our kids alive then we have forever to track him down.”
“Give us some credit,” Tamourini said. “This is not the first time we’ve done this. We may confirm his passage at a distance but he will not ever know we are watching. But here’s the choke point. Let’s say he is headed to O’Hare and gets there clean. What does he do next? He can kill your kids and walk away with no loose ends or he can leave them tied up in the trunk, which is where I guess they are, and risk their making a ruckus and being found. Then every cop in the airport is looking for him. We want to be there when he arrives if we don’t get him earlier.”
“How could he shoot them without attracting attention?”
“Look, this guy has shown himself to be immensely resourceful. He could have a hypo in his kit. He could just strangle them. He could use a hose to feed the exhaust into the trunk, or whatever. The point is we can’t give him that opportunity.”
“Okay,” Dusty said. “But Amanda and I are heading for Chicago. I don’t know what we can do but we can’t just sit here.”
“I’ve got a better plan. There’s a helicopter in route that will take me and part of the team to O’Hare. You go with us. You get there quicker and, to be honest, then I can be sure you don’t do anything rash. I know your kids are at risk but the worst time to make decisions is when you’re personally involved.”
“Deal,” Amanda said.
Dusty told his dispatcher that he had a family problem and would not be in the next day and that Chief Deputy Croft would also be out. The Senior Deputy was to take over. “If anything unusual happens, anything at all, call me at once. Understood?”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay,” Tamourini said. “There are three primary routes by which he could reach O’Hare. We’ve got spotters in two locations on all three. We have identified five alternate routes he could take by not using the Interstates. We have a spotter on each. If he went the entire way on local roads he could evade us but it would take forever.”
“What if we don’t spot him?”
“Then we flood the airport with every officer available. Half in the terminal and half spread over the parking areas. “We’ll concentrate the terminal team in the international area because we’re pretty sure he’s planning to leav
e the country.”
“We’re missing something here,” Dusty said. “Say he makes it to the terminal with the boys, dead or alive. He still has to check in, wait for his flight, and then spend hours in U.S. airspace where the flight can be recalled. The more I think about it, the more I think he’s not traveling under his own name. Also, you’re missing something else. There are two airports in Chicago—O’Hare and Midway. Suppose he’s headed for Midway?”
“We thought of that,” Tamourini said. “But there are no international flights from Midway.”
“But there are flights from Midway to other international airports.”
“You’re right, Dusty. But look, we’re very good at what we do but we’re not superhuman. All we can do is play the best odds with what resources we have.”
“What happens if you spot the car,” Amanda asked.
“We’re driving unmarked cars. First, we cruise up and check it out. Actually, we’ve already had three probables. One was a mom and dad with a load of kids in back. One was a very old man who looked nothing like Croft. The third pulled off the highway and a single man got out and went into a Walmart. We checked the plate and the VIN—no match.”
“But suppose you check it out and it looks like it’s him?”
“Then we start to accumulate assets on his tail. When we make our move we want him completely surrounded with no place to run. We want a minimum of three vehicles and preferably more. We don’t want this ending in a shootout on a busy highway with your kids in the car.”
Just then Tamourini’s phone buzzed. She answered, listened and said, “Okay, thanks.”
She turned to Dusty and Amanda. “That was our tech guy. We just got another beep on your son’s phone. He’s still on I-94 near South Bend, Indiana. But I’m getting more and more nervous about the ID. I’m wondering if he has somehow switched vehicles. He has to know that if he’s in Mrs. Johnson’s vehicle he can be spotted at any time.”
“Well we can be sure he’s not driving his own pickup. So where and when did he get a substitute? And if he changed vehicles he would have had to transfer the kids.”
“I’m back to my identity thing,” Dusty said. “If he’s got false papers he could have rented a car in the other name.”
“Then tell me where he got the ID. He would need a good credit card, you can’t rent a car or buy a ticket anyplace except at the airport with cash. He would also need a valid driver’s license and, of course, a good passport. You don’t pick that stuff up at your local convenience store.”
“No idea,” Dusty said. “But we know he’s resourceful. Also, if he does have another car where would he have put Mrs. Johnson’s vehicle?”
“There’s a Walmart just a block and half away from here and its open twenty-four seven,” Amanda said. “He could have locked the kids in the trunk of another car, driven Mrs. Johnson’s car to the Walmart parking lot and been back here in ten minutes. But every modern car has an emergency release in the trunk. The boys know about that because I showed them, just in case.”
“Croft knows about it too. He could have just cut the cord to the release handle.”
“Let’s check,” Tamourini said.
A few minutes later they were cruising the Walmart parking lot. “Shit,” Amanda said. “There it is. I recognize that little dent in the rear bumper.”
Tamourini double checked the license plate and VIN number. “Okay, I’m calling in the spotters. We have no idea what he’s driving so we have to hope we can pick him up at O’Hare. Let’s hope your boy can figure out when they hit the airport and give us at least one more beep. The helicopter will be here in twenty minutes. We’re going to use a vacant field we found just east of town. It will agitate the neighbors but there’s nothing I can do about that.”
A half hour later they were airborne and headed southwest over an ice covered Lake Michigan. A little later they had the Illinois shoreline in sight and could see the Chicago skyline. The pilot was communicating with the O’Hare tower to get a landing clearance. Just then Tamourini’s phone buzzed.
“What’s up,” she asked. Then her face went white. “Goddamit,” she cried. “We got another beep, he’s pulled off the interstate and he’s headed for the south side of town. That’s Midway. “I’m so sorry Dusty. You were right and we have no assets there.”
She yelled at the pilot. “It’s Midway, not O’Hare. Get a clearance.” Then she got on her phone and started barking orders. “The team at O’Hare is thirty to forty minutes away even with emergency lights on. The closest spotter is twenty to twenty five minutes away. We will be there first. Midway is a lot smaller than O’Hare but it’s still too much for three people. Based on the last beep he’ll be there about the same time we will. We’ll have to watch the parking areas and hope to get lucky.”
Tamourini was busy with her laptop. She looked up. “There are various parking lots scattered around the airport. The closest is the hourly. Let’s go for that.”
She turned to the pilot and showed him the screen. “We want to land on the top deck of this parking ramp.”
The pilot raised his eyebrows and got on his mike. A few seconds later he turned to Tamourini. “They will not approve that. I’m required to land at the far end of the airport.”
Let me talk to them. “This is agent Tamourini with the FBI. We have an emergency involving a life or death situation. I’m not asking for permission. We’re just advising you what we are going to do. We can sort it out later. Can you connect me with security? No? Okay then, you call them and tell them this. We are in pursuit of a man in his thirty’s who we believe has two children in the trunk of his car. We don’t know what he is driving. He is Caucasian, average height and average weight. We don’t know what he is wearing. If they see anyone who fits this description acting suspiciously please detain him and check the trunk of his vehicle. We have agents in route and will be there in ten or fifteen minutes.”
She turned to the pilot. “Go for it.” The pilot shrugged and said “let me see that diagram again.”
A few minutes later they settled into a vacant area on top of the hourly parking deck. “Stay here,” Tamourini cried. “When security gets here just show them your ID and tell them to wait for me to contact them.”
“Let’s each take a floor,” Tamourini said. “Amanda, you start here. Dusty you go down one. I’ll go down two. Check everything out and then we’ll keep going down. Pay special attention to anyone just pulling in. Keep your weapon ready but don’t pull it. Assume he’s armed but we can’t start a fire fight if there’s a chance your kids are in the car. If you think you see him just call me and keep him in sight. When we have enough assets here we’ll just box him in.”
They raced through the parking ramp. The few cars coming in were not suspect. They finally stood at the main entrance staring at each other.
Amanda started to lose it. “Oh God, my boys. We’ve missed him.”
Tamourini’s phone buzzed again. She listened intently. “They’ve got several beeps in a row from your son. He’s alive. My tech says the best he can tell it’s coming from next to the terminal.”
Just then an airport security vehicle drove up with its emergency lights on. The officer stuck his head out the window and cried “out of the way, now.”
Tamourini ran to his window holding out her ID. “FBI, we have to get to the terminal right away. This is an emergency and it’s a life or death situation.”
“Look lady, I’ve got my orders. Get out of my way or you’re under arrest.”
“Shit,” Tamourini said. “Sometimes you just have to.” She pulled her service weapon and put the muzzle against the officer’s temple. “Out, now. Keep your hands in sight or I’ll shoot.”
The officer slowly opened the door and exited the vehicle. “Amanda, Dusty, take his weapon and throw it in the bushes then handcuff him to the guard rail.”
“Lady, you have no idea how much trouble you are in.”
“And you sir failed to obey the ord
er of a federal officer who properly identified herself and declared an emergency. We’ll see who’s in trouble. Dusty, you drive. I want to stay on the phone. Just follow the signs to departures. Amanda, see if you can raise Midway security and explain what’s happening.”
They found their way to the departure section of the terminal about five minutes later. Nothing unusual was happening--some cars and taxis stopping to let off departing passengers, two vacant police cruisers at the end of the terminal. Where were the officers? Nothing was stationary except the two police cruisers.
Just then Amanda spoke up. “I finally got through. They said the only thing unusual happening right now is an abandoned car in the arrival section. They’re clearing the arrival section of the terminal and calling the bomb squad.”
“Jesus,” Tamourini cried. “He outthought us again. Tell them to forget that. It’s not a bomb it’s two kids in the trunk. How the hell do we get to arrivals? I left my computer in my car.”
Dusty jumped from the car and collared one of the bag agents on the curb. A few seconds later he jumped back in the car. “Two minutes,” he said.
When they got to the arrival section there were security cars at both ends of the drive through area with their lights on. The officers were holding up all incoming traffic. Tamourini jumped out, showed her badge and asked the officer for permission to enter.
“Sorry, lady. I have to get clearance.”
“This is an emergency. We have very good reason to believe that there are two children locked in the trunk of that car.”
“Well, we have good reason to believe it might contain a bomb. You’ll have to wait.”
“Shit,” Tamourini said. “In for a penny.” She pulled her weapon and held it to the officer’s chest. “I’m a federal officer and this is an emergency situation. You’re interfering in a FBI investigation. Give us two minutes to check. If it’s a bomb then it’s our problem. Is the car still running?” The officer nodded, his eyes on the weapon.
