Agreeing, Tate looked over at the log and stone visitor center. The snow had already coated the ground, and the mountains in the distance would have seemed majestic in their beauty if he was not staring at them, wondering if Nora was uninjured and warm enough. Inside, he quickly took care of his business and then headed to the vending machines.
“Save your money.”
He turned and spied Levi leaning out of a doorway near the back. Joining him, he walked into the Rangers’ office where Levi was checking the security camera.
“So far, it doesn’t look like they stopped here.” Levi jerked his head toward the side and added, “You don’t have to waste your money on crappy vending machine coffee. Pour a cup over there and we can take it with us.”
Walking to the back counter, he poured fresh coffee into a travel mug. “Anything useful?” he asked, nodding toward the screen.
“Nothing. They didn’t stop here.”
He blew out his breath in frustration, then felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Checking the caller ID, he answered. “Mom. You’re supposed to be taking care of Dad.”
“Honey, none of us can get settled until we hear from you. Please tell us what’s going on.”
“Dad doesn’t need this now—”
“And if you think he’s going to stop worrying, then you don’t know your father!”
He squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds, uncertain of what to say.
His mother sighed. “I know you’re doing everything you can to bring Nora back to us. Can you just give me anything that I can tell your father to ease his worry?”
“We’ve got a line on where she was taken. My team is working on getting more intel, and I’m nearby with the FBI agent. I’ve even got a team member who’s on his way out to help. Mom, all I can tell you is that I will bring her back. Your job is to convince Dad to rest and trust in me.”
The airwaves were silent for a few seconds before he heard, “I can do that, Frankie. I’ll take care of your dad and we trust in you.” He was about to disconnect when she jumped in again. “And when you find her, tell her we all love her.”
“Will do, Mom.” Disconnecting, he leaned his head back against the glass window, his gaze out over the snowy vista beyond the visitor center. Even with a storm predicted, there were vehicles still on the road. Just like in Maine, the people here were used to driving in inclement weather. Several pulled in to the visitor center, probably for the crappy coffee as much as a chance to run to the restroom.
Taking a sip of his, he had to admit Levi was right—it was definitely better than what he would have paid for at the vending machine.
After a moment, he noticed a woman walking from the parking lot, and as she entered the center, she headed directly to the ladies’ room. A niggling of recognition moved through him, but he couldn’t remember why she seemed familiar. She was wearing a heavy coat, but her legs were clearly covered in nursing scrubs.
Walking toward the main doors, he moved into a position that allowed him to keep an eye on the ladies’ room door. Surreptitiously holding his phone, he aimed the camera toward her as she moved back through the reception lobby. Snapping several pictures, he watched her carefully as she walked to the vending machines.
Levi walked near and whispered, “What have you got?”
“That woman. I’ve seen her before but couldn’t figure out where. She’s a nurse at the hospital. I’ve seen her for the past two days in the cafeteria.”
“There’s probably a lot of people that work at the medical center in Rawlins that live in Laramie. She may travel this road every day going back and forth to work,” Levi said.
“Maybe.” He glanced to the side and held Levi’s gaze. “Right now, we’ve got shit. Unless you’ve got something better to do, I say let’s follow her for a little bit, just to see where she goes.” The woman was leaving the building, and he watched to see which car she was heading to before looking back toward Levi.
“Works for me. I’ve followed a lot of leads in my career. Some went nowhere and others turned into gold. I’m not about to ignore anything right now.”
They headed out to the parking lot and climbed into the SUV. Calling LSI again, Tate said, “Sending you a photograph of a woman. I know she works at the medical center in Rawlins, but I need to know anything else you can tell me about her.” Sending the picture of her as well as her car tag, he heaved a sigh. “Jesus, this is a long shot.”
After leaving the visitor center parking lot, they followed her at a safe distance and immediately noticed she was not driving toward Laramie. She soon turned off the highway onto a smaller road, heading to the west in the direction of Elk Mountain.
“There are less than two hundred people that live in Elk Mountain town,” Levi commented.
Tate was impressed with Levi’s surveillance driving in the sparsely populated area. Far enough away so that she would not realize she was being followed, and yet they could easily see where she was going. Turning onto a smaller road before she got to the little town, she slowed her speed as the snow fell heavier. Levi fell back so that she could not see him in her rearview mirror, but the snow made it easy to discern her tire tracks.
Radioing his location, Levi asked, “Billy? What’s your location?”
“South of Walcott on Highway 130, on my way to Saratoga.”
“How close are you to Pass Creek Road?”
“I just passed it. Why?”
“We’re following a nurse that Tate recognized from the hospital. She’s turned onto Pass Creek Road just before you get to the town of Elk Mountain.”
“Nobody lives out there except a few ranchers,” Billy said. “I’m on the western side of Elk Mountain. Do you want me to go back north and get on that road coming from the West?”
“Yeah. It’s just a hunch we’re following, but it’s all we’ve got right now. Tate’s people have told us that the Jeep passed highway marker 252 according to the cameras, but we don’t see them on any of the cameras closer to Laramie.”
“So, they got off around Elk Mountain, too,” Billy surmised. “Gotta tell you, though, with the snow coming down, I don’t know how long our vehicles will be able to make it. I’ll call for snowmobiles and can get the sheriff’s snow coach.”
“Put that call in to have them ready but not dispatched right now. I want to continue to follow her to see if she’s meeting someone.”
“I’ll come from the other direction and squeeze her in between both of us.”
Just as Levi disconnected with Billy, Tate’s phone rang again. Levi chuckled and shook his head. “Hell, it’s like Grand Central Station here.”
Silently agreeing, Tate answered, knowing it was Josh. “Got something on the woman?”
“Her name is Mary Bingle. You’re right about her employment. She’s a pharmaceutical tech at Rawlins Medical Center. Twenty-four years old. Single. Lives in an apartment complex in Rawlins. Here’s the interesting part. Her record is clean, but I did a quick check on her immediate and extended family. She’s got an uncle named Porter Watkins, who did time in the Wyoming State Penitentiary for meth production about fifteen years ago. Before that, he’d been in a local jail at the same time David Carlson was incarcerated. Coincidence? Maybe. I’ll dig and see if I can find more.”
Tate turned his head and met Levi’s gaze. “Still may be a hunch, but she may be our best lead.”
Continuing to follow the tire tracks in the snow, they discerned her turn onto a smaller road climbing in altitude.
“Slow down!” Tate called out. “She stopped up ahead.”
Calling Billy, Levi gave their location. “She turned onto Mill Creek Road but stopped about half a mile up. If you can make it to the intersection we just passed, I’ll let you know what happens.”
“You think she’s going to meet someone?” Billy asked.
“I think she’s gone as far as she can in the snow, and she’s just sitting in her car. My guess is she’s calling for rendezvous.”
Tate’s fingers itched for action. It was part of almost every mission to have to sit and wait. He often thought his teen years spent hunting in the hills and mountains around the ranch gave him the perfect mental attitude for that endeavor. Waiting for the prey. Patiently watching. And then striking when the moment was right.
But now, with Nora’s life in someone else’s hands, the terror that clawed at his heart made it hard to just sit. If there’s any way You can send this message to her, God, let her know I’m coming.
15
Nerves stretched tautly, Nora perched on the edge of the sofa. As strange as it seemed, sitting closer to David felt safer than in one of the chairs by herself. The sound of a phone ringing cut through her thoughts, causing her to jump.
Porter put the phone to his ear. “Yeah? How far did you get? So, where are you?”
She listened to Porter’s barrage of questions and, having glanced at the continuing snowfall outside, wondered if he was talking to the person bringing the medication.
“We’ll send somebody down.” Disconnecting, Porter looked at David and said, “She got almost here, but her shit car can’t get up the mountain. She’s right at the bottom on Mill Creek Road.”
David nodded and sighed, lifting his hand to gently touch his forehead. “Go. Your old truck should make it down and back just fine.”
She knew that Kenneth had left through the back door of the cabin earlier but had no idea where he was. Porter grabbed a heavy coat and tromped out the front door. Five minutes later, he returned, shaking and kicking the snow off his clothes and boots. “I told him that I was getting ready to head out.”
A flash of light moved across the front window, and Nora watched as the truck’s headlights backed away and then turned. David leaned his head back against the sofa cushions and closed his eyes. Glancing to the corner of the room, she observed Bob in a similar position, snores indicating his sleep. Kenneth came into the room and looked down at her. She wanted to hold his gaze to show bravery, but her entire being quivered in fear, so she stared at her clenched hands instead.
“I gotta go to the back.”
His announcement caused her to look up, uncertain of his meaning. “Oh… okay.”
“I can’t just leave you free here. I’m going to have to secure you.” Before giving her a chance to respond, he added, “Do you need to go to the bathroom first?”
Secure? Pushing that new fear to the side, she nodded. If he was going to lock her into a room, she didn’t want to be stuck without a bathroom. She forced her legs to hold her as she stood and nodded. “Yes, please.” She followed him to the door right behind the kitchen. The door across from her stood open and she glanced inside. Two bunk beds sat against the far wall but most of the room appeared to be filled with boxes.
Answering her unasked question, Kenneth said, “Uncle David likes to be prepared.”
She assumed he was referring to David stockpiling for the inevitable government takeover or foreign invasion. A few of the boxes looked old and she wondered if his supplies were as outdated as some of his medicine. Having never met a prepper, she was uncertain what to expect. She sucked in her lips, kept her thoughts to herself, and turned toward the bathroom.
“There’s no window in there. No way to get out. Don’t waste my time trying, so just do what you gotta do.”
Jerking her head up and down in a nod, she moved by him. Closing the door, she looked for a lock. A small slide bolt was the only thing available, and she quickly latched the door before she noticed there was barely any room to move around. Besides the toilet, there was a tiny shower and a minuscule sink. Taking care of business, she washed her hands then shook them dry, not trusting the old towel draped over the shower curtain. Looking into the mirror, she stared at her reflection. Pale, bruised, and shaky, she barely recognized herself. And this nightmare is less than a day old!
As soon as the latch was slid back, the door opened to Kenneth standing right outside. Her gaze dropped to his hand, and her breath caught in her throat as she saw the length of thin chain in his hand. “No, please, no!”
“I got work to do and can’t trust you. Got no choice.”
“There’s a snowstorm outside, and I don’t have a coat or boots. There’s nowhere for me to go,” she argued.
“Come on.” He grabbed her by the arm and escorted her back to the living room. He wrapped an end of the chain around her wrist and snapped it with a small padlock. The other end of the ten-foot length was locked around the handle of the refrigerator. He looked at his handiwork and chuckled. “Not the most secure, but it’ll work.” Pulling on his boots and heavy coat, he opened the back door and once again disappeared outside, letting in another blast of cold air.
Stepping through, he slammed it shut, leaving her shivering as she sat perched on the sofa. Bob was still snoring, and David appeared to have fallen asleep. Not wanting to wake them with the noise of the chain rattling, she wiggled her wrist to see if there was a way for her to escape. He had secured it tightly, keeping her from sliding it off her hand. Her gaze followed the length of chain to the refrigerator and she wondered if that end would be easier. I’ve got to do something. Swallowing the fear, she stood and walked into the kitchen, praying that there would be something she could use to pry open one of the chain links.
Tate nodded toward Levi, and they slipped along the shadows next to the road, separating as they neared Mary’s vehicle. The small SUV would have performed well on most of the snowy roads, but it was not suited for snow-covered mountain terrain.
As he crept along, he could see that she was sitting in the driver’s seat, wrapped in a thick coat. Levi knocked on her window, and she jumped. With the snow swirling, visibility was low and they hoped that worked to their advantage.
Rolling down her window, she said, “Took you long enough to get here! I’m freezing—”
“FBI. Keep your hands where we can see them,” Levi announced.
Mary squeaked but immediately lifted her hands in front of her. “What is this? I got stuck on my way home and need help!”
Tate opened the passenger door, spying the bag sitting next to her purse on the passenger seat. She jumped and her hand darted out toward the bag, causing Levi to order her to keep her hands up, once again.
Hearing someone approach, Tate looked over his shoulder and nodded as Billy pulled to the front of Mary’s SUV. Alighting from his vehicle, Billy and his partner jogged over to the passenger side next to Tate.
“What have you got?” Billy asked.
“Good timing. This is your jurisdiction, so I’ll let you take a look inside the bag.”
Tate slid to the side, allowing Billy to lean into the SUV. He opened the bag and said, “Well, well. What have we got in here?”
Tate leaned close, but the swirling snow made visibility difficult. Billy turned and held the bag open for him. After looking at the contents, he stood up and called out to Levi. “Prescription antibiotics from Rawlins Medical Center, and it looks like enough pseudoephedrine to keep a meth lab going for a bit.”
“Those are for me! I’ve been sick!” Mary called out.
Tate snagged her phone from the passenger seat and checked her call log. “She received a call almost two hours ago from a number in her contact list as Porter. She called back to that same number twenty minutes ago.”
“You don’t understand—they’ll kill me if I don’t meet them,” she cried as Levi reached in to place his hand on her arm. He handed her to Billy’s partner who escorted her toward the sheriff’s SUV while Billy placed the sack of prescription drugs in an evidence bag. Once it was secured and labeled, he did the same with the phone.
Billy handcuffed Mary, then assisted her into the backseat. Slamming the door, he turned to the others. “Do you want me to take her in now or wait for someone else?”
“She called someone to meet her here. She must be expecting them soon or else she knew her car would get buried in the snow and she might not get out. Why don’t you
back up to stay out of sight and wait to see if we can get whoever was sent to meet her?” Levi suggested.
Nodding in agreement, Billy climbed into the front of his SUV and backed down the road. Levi looked toward Tate and grinned. “Want to pretend you’re Mary?”
“Fuckin’ hell. Just what I always wanted to do.” Moving back to Mary’s vehicle, he leaned in to push her driver seat back to allow for his long legs and climbed inside. The snow had already coated the windshield, and he left it alone, allowing the white blanket to obscure who was sitting inside. Knowing Levi would have moved out of sight, he leaned his head back and waited.
Almost ten minutes later, right on cue, a black shape was moving toward him. Finding a spot out the driver’s window that he could peer out of, he watched as a pickup truck rumbled to a stop. He remained still as someone alighted from the truck, wrapped in a thick coat and boots, and began walking toward Mary’s SUV.
Pulling up the hood of his coat, he turned his face away from the window. A sharp rap of a knuckle on the glass was followed by, “Wake up! Give me what you brought. I gotta get the shit up to David before he gets sicker, and you’ve got to get outta here before you get stuck here all night. If you freeze to death, it’s not going to do us any good.”
As Levi came up behind the man, Tate threw open the door.
“FBI. Keep your hands where we can see them,” Levi ordered once more.
“Shit!” The man turned as though to flee, and Tate jumped from Mary’s vehicle, his weapon drawn.
Billy approached, making another arrest. “Looks like I got my quota today, boys.”
Pulling out the man’s wallet, Levi perused his ID. “Porter Watkins. I believe we have your niece sitting in the back of Deputy Perkins’ vehicle, ready to be taken to the county jail. Looks like you’ll be joining her for a family affair.”
Porter remained silent, his face cut in stone as Billy handcuffed him and marched him over, placing him with Mary in the backseat.
Tate (Lighthouse Security Investigations Book 6) Page 12
