by Rachel Grant
The purpose of a false flag at a hate rally was to undermine the very groups trying to stop the spread of fascism, racism, and white supremacy by making it look like the anti-fascists, protectors, and counterprotesters were the violent ones. In this instance, she guessed that they’d planned to blame the bridge bombing on Uncle Josh, claiming he was trying to kill as many White Patriots as possible. Make it seem like the Raptor-Bond Alliance was the problem.
Her gaze landed on Tisdale as the truth and horror sank in. Congressman Tisdale had encouraged the White Patriots to take the bridge. He’d known the bomb was going to go off. He wanted it to look like Uncle Josh had set off the explosive, once the White Patriots were on it.
“You’re trying to get Raptor labeled as a terrorist organization, aren’t you?” Her mind raced with the implications. This was even more than keeping Uncle Josh and Arthur Bond from protecting counterprotesters. This would bring down a sitting US senator and destroy a paramilitary organization—one that would provide resistance if the White Patriots took up arms.
Tisdale’s gaze hardened, but he didn’t respond, instead he looked to her father, waiting for an answer.
Ari shrugged. “So blame it on Arthur Bond.”
“Why would Bond kill his own partner in the endeavor? The association with Raptor is what made it work.” Tisdale paced. “Jesus. You fucked up everything. First, you bring the girl, not my sister, and you let your brother die?” He paused in front of her father, but Ava noted he stayed out of her dad’s reach. “I got you out of jail for this. I can send you back to jail just as easily.”
Her dad showed zero remorse, and Ava knew why. He simply hated Uncle Josh more than he cared about staying out of jail. He’d probably never intended to do what Tisdale wanted. Her father was loyal to no one.
How had he and Uncle Josh come from the same family?
But then, how had Maddie and Alan Tisdale come from the same mother?
“Listen, Tisdale, we both know you got me out so I’d get nailed for planting the bomb and you’d claim my brother hired me to blow up the bridge. That was your false flag scheme, and I wasn’t interested in being your patsy. So I did it my way.”
Ava shifted Maddie on the couch, repositioning her to a more natural position, then she sat down next to her and scooted and lifted until Maddie’s head and shoulders were on her lap. She ran her fingers through her hair, gently probing, and found the growing goose egg that explained her unconscious state.
“What did you hit her with?”
“None of your business,” Hoffman answered.
“But it’s mine, Hoffman. She’s my sister, and you screwed up her abduction and now this.”
Ava felt Maddie’s shoulders stiffen and wondered if she was waking. Her breathing remained even, and her eyes stayed closed.
“We saw an opportunity to grab her before she learned about the Norway bones and took it. You don’t seem to get it, Tisdale, we don’t need you as much as you need us. You haven’t done squat for the cause, but you want our votes.”
“I’m the one who hacked her Facebook account and saw the post about the skeleton theft and pulled it down several times before she could see it. And when it kept getting reposted, I’m the one who warned you she was going to figure it out. Thanks to Troy”—he glared at Kocher—“making her suspicious.” He turned back to Hoffman. “And you do need me, because when I’m in the Senate, I’ll get the treaties dissolved based on the DNA test. This is a long game, and you know it.”
Ava lifted Maddie’s hand, adjusting the position of her arm, and felt the slightest squeeze.
She’s awake. Thank God.
“I’m sick of the long game. We should have taken over the tribal lands already,” Hoffman said.
“Yeah, because that worked so well with Malheur.” This was said by Clifford Nielsen the fourth, who entered from a door on the right.
Ava had thought they were in his office, but of course, this room had a table, not a desk, and a comfortable seating area with couches and plush seats, where she was with Maddie now. This must be his outer office, for group meetings.
Had he been in his office the whole time? So much for the fleeting hope that Tisdale and the others were using this space without permission. Nielsen was in this up to the top of his high-rise.
Now it was Nielsen’s turn to glare at Hoffman and Kocher. “Also, unlike Malheur, I own half the land. If we can get the treaties dissolved based on the DNA, we can declare our Aryan homeland without the feds coming after us and then we’ll take the Painted Hills and the rest of the National Monument. It’s our land. Our legacy. Our right. But you”—Nielsen jabbed Ari in the chest—“have fucked everything up by getting your brother killed when we needed to use him. The false flag at the bridge won’t work now. And when we destroy my archives and torch the Kocher museum, without your brother, we’ll have no one to blame. Maddie’s disappearance would have been the perfect motive for him to go after the museum. We had him set up perfectly to take the fall for sabotaging everything and erasing all the evidence, including the Kocher family papers and mine, and you killed him.”
No one was paying attention to her. Ava shifted in her seat as if repositioning Maddie. She slipped the small nail file from her pocket, then stroked Maddie’s cheek before again reaching for her hand. She slid the file under Maddie’s palm and closed her fingers around it while the men continued talking.
“We can still torch the house,” Kocher said. “Maddie didn’t photograph the skeleton—NAGPRA wouldn’t allow it.” He smirked at that. “I’ve already replaced the skeleton with the real one that was in the same vault.”
“That only takes care of the papers,” Nielsen said. “Bones won’t burn in the brick-lined vaults, and a second DNA test will be demanded after the first results come back.”
Kocher shrugged. “The bones will be repatriated and reburied by then. No way would the tribes give us the bones back for a second test.”
“Except Maddie contacted the Norwegian museum and police and told them she found the skeleton among the Kocher collection. The bones can’t be repatriated now. Not until that investigation is complete.”
“When did she do that?” Kocher asked.
“This morning, right as the rally was starting,” Tisdale said. “She logged in to Facebook and saw the post in her leftist archaeology group. Between that and Warner’s death, we’re screwed.”
“Then we’ll use explosives to make sure the vault doesn’t survive the fire and all the bones get mixed together,” Kocher said, his voice turning pleading. “No way to know what skeleton to test, then.”
“We can’t use explosives without someone to pin it on,” Tisdale said. “Not when Maddie will have disappeared after reporting a crime.” His gaze flicked to his sister. The bastard had the nerve to look regretful.
“Blame it on him, then,” Kocher said, pointing to Ari. “He’s the one who killed Warner.”
She flinched every time her uncle’s death was stated as fact.
“Plus he knows explosives,” Kocher added.
“Pin it on me, and I’ll let everyone know the golden boy here sprang me from jail so I could blow up the bridge for the big false flag show.”
Ava assumed the golden boy was Alan Tisdale. She’d looked up things like the Aryan Nation since Uncle Josh started the trainings, and she could see how Tisdale would fit their mold. Unlike Maddie, he was blond and blue-eyed.
“So, are you really super racist, or are you just using the White Patriots to get elected?” she asked.
Tisdale turned his glare on her.
She tightened her grip on Maddie. “She’s your sister.”
His eyes flickered at that. So maybe he had a soul in there somewhere. Not like Ari, who’d wanted Uncle Josh to die under the bridge.
He can’t be dead. He can’t be.
“Get her out of here,” Nielsen said. “It was stupid to bring her here in the first place.”
“She said she saw me leave my coat
under the bridge.”
“So what?” Tisdale said. “That proves nothing.”
“I don’t like leaving witnesses, and she’s ratted me out before.”
Ava realized her dad was enjoying this. He really didn’t care about Nielsen and Tisdale’s agenda. He used them to get out of jail and was making his own rules, such as grabbing her because it suited him.
He took a step toward her, probably seeing his opportunity to use her to get out of the room. “Where am I taking her?”
“Not you,” Nielsen said. “Hoffman, take her down to the interview room behind security until we figure out what to do with her.”
She gripped Maddie’s prostrate form. “I’m not leaving Maddie.”
“You really don’t get a choice in the matter.”
“Hey, we can blame the fire on the girl,” Kocher said. “She was so distraught over Warner’s death and Maddie’s disappearance, she burned the house.”
“Then killed herself, just like her mom,” Ari added.
She didn’t think her father could still hurt her, and yet that little suggestion took her breath away. Literally. She could not breathe.
Nielsen cocked his head. “Does she have a driver’s license? Can we make it plausible?”
She gave her father a nasty glare. She didn’t have a license because he’d refused to teach her or pay for the school. She had just gotten a permit because Uncle Josh had signed her up for a class in the fall.
“She doesn’t have a license, but she knows how to drive.”
“Knowing which is the gas and which is the brake doesn’t mean I know how to drive.”
“But it’s enough for an emotionally disturbed girl who has just lost everyone who matters to her,” Tisdale said. He directed his next question to her dad. “Has she been seeing a therapist? Someone who can verify she’s got issues?”
“Probably. My brother is sucker enough to pay for that shit.”
She wanted to launch herself off the couch and scratch both men’s eyes out. Her body shook with the rage that pulsed through her.
She did nothing, just gripped Maddie’s hand and wondered how the hell she was going to get out of this.
“I like it,” Nielsen said. “We’d have to drop the explosives angle so the crypt would survive, but the papers would burn and redirect suspicion. We can stage it to look like she grabbed Josh Warner’s car after reading Maddie’s farewell letter. Knowing Maddie abandoned her, she goes to the Kocher Mansion and burns it all down, then drives off a bridge and into the river.”
“Wake up my sister. We need to know who else she called and if she’s done anything with the real estate records so we can start plugging those leaks.”
Maddie tensed again, but then her body went slack. Her eyes remained closed and her expression blank. Ava didn’t know how she managed it considering her own brother had betrayed her, except maybe it was the simple fact their lives depended on it, so she found a way.
Hoffman crossed to the sofa in front of Ava and reached for Maddie.
Ava held Maddie firmly. “Back off.”
“Mr. Nielsen says I need to wake her.”
“Don’t make this harder on yourself, little girl,” Ari said.
Her dad never called her by her name. His placeholder was very much meant to make her feel small and weak. “My name is Ava, asshole.”
“Ava, let Mr. Hoffman take Maddie,” Tisdale said. “She needs to wake up.”
Hoffman leaned down and yanked Maddie’s left arm. Her right shot out in a flash of movement, and Hoffman screamed and grabbed his face, falling backward.
It was like having a catfight on her lap, but ten times worse.
Holy shit, from the blood seeping between his fingers, she guessed Maddie had stabbed him in the eye with the nail file.
Maddie sprang to her feet in a recovery move similar to what they’d been taught at the training a week ago. She charged Hoffman before he could gain any sort of balance and kicked him in the balls.
Ava leapt to her feet, ready to back Maddie up, but she was grabbed from behind by her father.
Hoffman curled over, but attempted to lunge for Maddie. He slammed into her, knocking her back into the couch. He grabbed Maddie by the throat with his bloody hands.
“Enough!” Nielsen shouted. “Kocher, stop him.”
Troy Kocher tried to pull Hoffman away, but Hoffman kicked backward, so Kocher reached for his Taser and shot Hoffman.
The man spasmed, but didn’t release Maddie, so Kocher pulled the twitching man back even as he held the trigger.
Hoffman fell to the floor, and Kocher released the trigger. Hoffman lay there for a moment, breathing heavily, then he lunged for Kocher, who pulled the trigger again, making Hoffman drop again.
“This thing is fun,” Kocher said, pulling and releasing the trigger.
“Stop it,” Nielsen said.
He tucked the weapon back in his belt, and this time, Hoffman didn’t move.
“She stabbed me in the fucking eye,” Hoffman croaked.
“You drugged me and put me in a trunk,” Maddie said, calm in spite of Hoffman’s bloody handprints that covered her neck. “And today, you hit me and knocked me out.” She kicked him in the ribs, and Ava cheered inside.
Maddie was a little more badass than she’d expected.
“Hoffman, go down to security. Your brother can patch up your eye.”
“I need a doctor.”
“You’re wanted for kidnapping by the Portland Police Bureau and the FBI,” Tisdale said. “No doctor unless you want to go to prison.”
Ari let out a nasty laugh. “You’ll like the joint, Hoffman.”
The former security guard turned and left the room, her dad’s laughter following him out the door.
She wriggled from his relaxed grip and went to Maddie’s side. Maddie wrapped an arm around her, and Ava leaned into her and whispered, “I’m sorry I ran off. I was worried about Uncle Josh.”
“I know, honey.” She raised her gaze and glared at her brother. “I have a feeling we’d have ended up here even if you hadn’t run off.” She spoke louder, directing her question to Tisdale. “You sent Ari to the hotel to find me, didn’t you?”
He shrugged in a way that just confirmed her words.
“But how did you know where I was? I didn’t even tell Mom the name of the hotel.”
“She was hurt by that, by the way.”
“She’s going to find out. You can’t escape this.” Maddie cocked her head. “You found me because I logged in to Facebook today, didn’t you? When I logged in on Mom’s computer a few weeks ago, you used that to get my password.”
“Mom always said you were smart.”
“How did you use that to find our hotel? Wait. The login with the hotel Wi-Fi. You managed to get my IP address from my Facebook account once you had access.”
“I was starting to worry when you hadn’t logged in to Facebook in over a week.” He smiled. “But then when you logged in today and I had your hotel, one of our guys was able to use the hotel Wi-Fi to hack all your online activity. I even got your room number from the login. I read every email as I was being driven to the rally. What I don’t know are the phone calls you made.”
“This was always about the bones, wasn’t it?” She looked to Kocher. “Shields stole the remains when he was in Oslo for the curators’ conference so I would fold them into the collection—legitimize them—and then you’d run your DNA test and use that to undermine tribal treaties.”
Ava had to agree with Maddie’s mom. She was smart.
“You said she was the best person to handle the NAGPRA contract, Tisdale,” Nielsen said, “because you could control her.”
Maddie’s gaze jerked to her brother. “You were the reason I got the contract?”
“Yes,” Tisdale said.
“And Nielsen was involved from the start.” Her gaze turned to C-IV.
“Of course he was,” Tisdale said. “I asked him to invite you to the charity ev
ent so I could get you and Kocher to smooth things over.”
“That failed,” Maddie muttered.
“It wasn’t my fault you left early,” Kocher said defensively.
Tisdale sighed. “But it is your fault she called Warner for help that first day and not me. You were supposed to drive her to her powerful and politically connected brother, not hired muscle.”
Ava had to stifle a laugh at how Tisdale saw himself.
“You said come on strong and she’d call you if there was a problem. Not my fault she had a boyfriend you didn’t know about.”
Maddie rocked backward on her feet and landed on the couch, bringing Ava with her. Then she let out a loud, bitter laugh. “I didn’t have a boyfriend. I made him up. I didn’t call you, Alan, because I knew you would be a condescending ass if I asked for your help.” Maddie wrapped her arms around her stomach and laughed. “I wouldn’t have met Josh that day if you hadn’t told Troy to intimidate me.”
She cocked her head. “What was your plan there? Wait, don’t tell me. You planned to delve into the political ramifications of the project with me. You were going to push me to request a DNA test. I’m sure your argument would have been to put the debate to rest once and for all—a debate which, by the way, doesn’t exist—and when I didn’t follow your script, you told Shields to run the test anyway.”
“It was our first plan, yes,” Tisdale said. “But we knew it was a longshot. The test would have been seen as more valid if you were behind it.”
Maddie turned to Nielsen and shook her head. “If I hadn’t called Josh instead of Alan, you wouldn’t have seen us in the lobby together. He wouldn’t have been in Nielsen Tower that day for you to change your mind and decide to hire him.”
“I’d have hired him anyway. Once he started coordinating protection for the counterprotesters, I needed control over him. That you knew him was just a bonus.”
“Was I supposed to find references to your great-grandparents?”
He shrugged. “We expected it. I wanted to know what you’d found because your work will back up my claims on the land.”
