by RM Brewer
Jodie saw two of the men get hit, one man's chest exploding in a spray of blood, the other shot directly in the forehead, bits of the back of his skull coming off, slapping into a tree and oozing down to the forest floor. She stifled the urge to vomit. She crept closer to see if she could see the third man. He jumped up within five feet of her, a shocked look on his face. She didn't want to shoot him.
"Stop. FBI. Lower your weapon."
The man raised his gun. She pulled the trigger and watched as her bullet struck him in the mouth. Jodie could see blood and bits of teeth and bone spraying out the side of his face. The man fell backward, still holding his gun. Jodie ran up to him, screaming, "Drop your weapon. Now." The man let the gun fall to the side, clutching his chin. Blood poured from his eye and forehead. A hole about the size of a tennis ball was blasted through his cheek. Jodie approached, her weapon aimed at his forehead. She called out, "Bob, all three of them are down. That makes seven. Two in the cabin, two behind me, and these three. Are you okay?"
"I'm right here, Jodie." Bob's voice was close now. He approached and knelt down next to the wounded man. "Who sent you here?" he said, grabbing the man's collar. "Who in the fuck sent you here to kill us?"
"Bob, he can't answer you. Let it go." Jodie gently pulled Bob off of the man, whose eyes fluttered and closed. His body went limp.
Bob put his hand on the man's neck to feel for a pulse. "That definitely makes seven. Before these guys started shooting, Isaiah called me. He said he was having problems getting through to your cell. He said we shouldn’t trust anyone, not even the Bureau."
"Tell me about it after we get out of here. Right now, let's get whatever we can from the cabin. Everybody's waiting up the road, by Nick's truck," Jodie said. She sensed all along that something was wrong with this situation. Yet, it still surprised her that the Bureau could be involved in such a heinous attack on innocent people.
Jodie and Bob went into the cabin. Bob stuffed belongings into suitcases and Jodie packed food and water. She grabbed the weapons she took earlier from the two men she and Mei disabled.
"You're bringing their suitcases?" Jodie asked.
"Yeah, if someone searches the cabin, which is likely, I don't want them to know who was here, so I grabbed all their stuff. I'll go throw them in the Camaro," he said.
"The Camaro? Are you going to burn them up? The car's still on fire." Jodie's confusion turned to enlightenment as she realized what Bob was telling her.
"Actually, I think the Bureau will be buying Leah a new car," Bob said, with a sheepish grin on his face. "Hers is the one burning. I hope she wasn't too attached to it. Let's get going."
Grabbing as much as she could in one load, Jodie flew out the door and ran to the Camaro. Bob followed along and went back in for the next load and a fire extinguisher, which he emptied on Leah’s burning car. Jodie crammed everyone's belongings in the back seat and the two jumped in the Camaro.
Chapter 17
Isaiah sat at his desk, wondering if his phone would ring again. He knew Jodie was in trouble, maybe deep trouble, and he needed more information. Since she asked him to look into the old military facility, he'd become more confused by the moment. In the records he searched, the facility appeared to be completely abandoned. Scratching a little deeper under the mound of closure records, he found something that surprised him. A company named Exim Genetics had apparently purchased some equipment from the installation. The disassembly of that equipment was contracted out to another company, which was a subsidiary of none other than the Gypsum Corporation.
From cases he'd worked on, Isaiah knew the best way to follow a lead was to find the money trail and track it back to its source. He arrived at his office early on Saturday morning, and went to the records room, finding a box related to the old military facility. He pulled it from the shelf and set it on a large table. Much of the information he was looking at had been redacted, with the amount of text struck so substantial that he couldn't really discern the meaning of most of it.
He walked over to the microfiche station, wonder- ing if the FBI would ever move into the twenty-first century and digitize the information. Yet, there was something comforting about looking at the records without being in cyberspace where someone could be watching. As he suspected, he picked up the money trail with Exim Genetics, only to come to a dead end.
Isaiah took his laptop out of his briefcase and turned it on. A minute later, he typed Exim Genetics name into the search prompt. A web page appeared, expounding Exim's work on the human genome project. He scrolled through the information, not finding what he wanted and went back to the search prompt, where he typed in 'Exim Genetics subsidiaries'. A list of over twenty companies appeared. Searching each of these names, he found dozens of subsidiaries under each of the twenty companies listed. "You're buried pretty deep under all of this, aren't you, Gypsum?" Isaiah said. His heart began to race when he read the names of lead scientists associated with genetics research. At the bottom of the list, two familiar names appeared. Evan Watts, followed by Helen Watts. Jodie's parents. Evan was listed as a consultant, while Helen was identified on the web site as the lead geneticist. Isaiah hoped they weren't tied to anything that could put them in danger, too.
He recorded the names of the companies, comparing them to FBI lists of federal funding recipients. Four hours later, Isaiah added up the grand total. He was shocked that almost two trillion dollars had been funneled through these corporations since the 1950s. He wondered what Gypsum was up to and why the government payments were buried so deep within the records of its subsidiaries. The realization that he should be scared was slowly creeping into his consciousness. This kind of money would be protected. If this much effort was expended in burying the money trail, obviously, there was a secret involved. A big secret. If anyone knew he was on to Gypsum, his life could be in jeopardy. The odd thing was, all the information was available in the FBI records. Why hadn't anyone uncovered this money trail yet? The answer to his question was obvious. No one at the FBI would be uncovering anything if they were already involved in it.
He came upon several more documents with blacked-out text, but could make out a few words and numbers here and there. It seemed that whatever plan was being discussed, it involved something referred to as '49'. Isaiah felt his face flush when he made out the word 'catastrophic'. He wrote the information down, thinking he'd discuss it with Jodie, later, when he heard the outer door of the room opening and closing. Isaiah stuffed his notebook and laptop in his briefcase. He quickly replaced the contents of the records box, stored it back on the shelf and made his way to the door, finding no one. Isaiah cursed himself for leaving his service revolver at home. But, how could he have known he might need it in the records room?
Isaiah left the room and headed for the parking garage. He opened the exit door and turned, walking head on into Roger Emmetts, a young agent in his division. "Hi, Roger," Isaiah said, trying to catch his breath.
"Working on weekends again, Isaiah? No rest for you, huh?"
"Actually, I just thought I'd finish up a few things and take a couple days off next week. The Nelson thing is over with and I haven't had time off in quite awhile." Isaiah tried his best to look sincere.
"Headed anywhere special?" Emmetts said.
"No. I might do some fishing, but mostly, I just want a few days away. I better get to it. You have a good week, Roger."
"Yeah. You too. Have a good time."
Isaiah walked up to his car and opened the door. He could see Roger Emmett's reflection in the driver's side mirror. The man was still standing in the same place, with an odd expression on his face. Isaiah wondered if he should even get in the car, but forced himself to push thoughts of exploding vehicles out of his mind and sat down. His hand shook as he pushed the key into the ignition and turned. The car started.
Isaiah drove home and pulled in his driveway, pressed the button on the garage door opener remote, pulled in and turned the car off. He closed the garage door and
checked the security panel. Still activated. He punched in his security code and the deactivation light illuminated. Once inside, he went directly to the cabinet he stored his handgun in and removed it, slipping the shoulder holster over his arm and sliding the gun in the cradle. He stepped over to the side of the window and pulled back the shear drapes enough to see the unmarked car wedged in between two other parked cars on the street. Someone was tailing him. Either they followed him home or were waiting for him. Regardless, it would only be a matter of time before they paid him a visit, only he didn't intend to be there to welcome them.
Isaiah grabbed a duffel bag and stuffed it full of clothing, food and ammunition. He exited into the hallway of his duplex and reset the alarm. Then, he ran up the back stairs to the roof entrance. Crossing the roof to the other side of the duplex, he climbed down the fire escape, which was not visible from the roadway. Isaiah jumped off the ladder and hit the ground running. About ten minutes later, he came to a car rental agency he'd used on several occasions. The owner knew him as an FBI agent and understood the need for discretion, so didn't object when Isaiah asked to pre-pay in cash.
"Sure. Whatever the feds need. You'll need a receipt, though, won't you?"
"Yeah. When I return it," Isaiah said. "If I need to keep it longer, can I give you a call?"
"You got it, pal. Ain't a big run on SUVs in downtown San Francisco, anyways."
Isaiah thanked him and jumped in the SUV, stopping only to send Jodie a text message. He was on to something and didn't know what, exactly, but knew he needed to warn Jodie that it was something big. He sent her the text and then took the phone battery out. Isaiah headed toward the back roads to Crescent City. With any luck, he'd be there by morning.
* * *
Jodie drove up the road slowly with the headlights off, scanning for any movement. She turned into the neighbor's driveway. Nick's truck was nowhere to be seen. "Oh no, I hope we can find them."
"Think you just did," Bob said. Nick stepped out from behind some bushes in front of the cabin.
He approached the Camaro. "Man, we were really worried about you. It sounded like World War three was going on back there." Nick reached out and touched Jodie's arm. "You're probably gonna want to see this." He motioned toward the cabin.
Jodie turned the car off and got out.
"We got here and noticed a light on in the cabin. I went up to tell your neighbor what was going on and we found him there," Nick said, pointing to a crumpled body lying beside the house. "Looks like he got it in the forehead. Mei checked him out. Sorry, but he's dead."
Jodie bent down by her neighbor. There he was, his kind face staring back at her. One of the only people she wanted to remember from her childhood who was still alive. But, now he was gone. "Let's get out of here," she said, holding back the tears. She wanted to cry, but felt like screaming more than anything. She knew she couldn't take the time to do either. They were in grave danger.
"Where's your truck, Nick?" Bob asked.
"Christy drove it up the road a bit. Just in case things didn't turn out well on your end. I thought it would be safer," Nick said.
"Good man. Jodie, are you okay to drive? You look like it would be best if you took a breather."
"I'm fine, but, yeah. Why don't you drive for a while. I don't know where Nick is going to sit, though. We've got the whole car packed."
"Got that taken care of," Nick said. "We borrowed your neighbors' trailer. It had two ATVs on it. I thought we could use them if the going got rough. I left one here in case I needed to get out quick. I can ride it back to the truck. By the way, we went inside and raided his gun cabinet, too. I hope that's okay with you. None of us wanted to be unarmed again."
Bob shot Nick a look of concern. "I don't know. That sounds like a recipe for disaster. Who all has a gun now?"
"Everyone except Noah. Christy says her husband taught her how to shoot. Mei and I target shoot all the time, so I know she knows what she's doing. Leah has never shot a weapon, but promised not to kill any of us." Nick waited for a response.
Jodie and Bob stared at each other. "Well, let's be on our way then, shall we?" Jodie said, thinking this wasn't the time or place to discuss gun safety.
Nick walked behind the tree line while Jodie surrendered her keys to Bob and got in the passenger side of the Camaro. The sound of a small engine echoed across the forest and the ATV burst out from the trees and stopped.
"Ready?" Nick said.
"Yeah, you first," Bob said.
Jodie felt like she had a few days earlier. Unraveled. The fear, shock and sadness of the attack, along with the loss of her neighbor, gripped her in an icy embrace. Neither Jodie nor Bob spoke as they followed Nick up the forest road. As they drove, Jodie couldn't help but notice the way Nick's body dwarfed the ATV. Images of an elephant riding a tricycle at the circus flashed in her mind. On any other day, she and Bob would have laughed themselves silly about it, but today, she felt anxious and irritated.
"I need to call Isaiah before we lose the cell tower. We will in a couple of miles. I'll have to take the chance and tell him where we are, or no one will know what happened to us. It probably won’t matter anyway, because I think the people chasing us are well aware of our position." She pushed the speed dial on her cell. It rang once and went directly to Isaiah's voicemail. Jodie left a message describing their situation, telling Isaiah what happened and where they were headed.
As she ended the call, the question Noah asked earlier nagged at her. What if Isaiah was in trouble, too? And now, she'd left a message with a map directly to them. After about ten minutes, Nick slowed and pulled off to one side. He waved for them to wait and drove behind an embankment.
Jodie finally broke the silence. "We've seriously underestimated what's happening here. As a matter of fact, I'm really not sure what's going on anymore. What could be so important about what any of us knows that someone would want us all dead?"
"What really disturbs me is not knowing what the Bureau’s connection is," Bob added. "As naïve as this sounds, I’d like to think there’s more transparency in the federal government than what we’re seeing right now."
"Tell me exactly what Isaiah said."
"He said we shouldn’t trust anyone on this, including the locals or the State Police because he thought they were being misled. He didn’t say why, but I got the sense he didn’t feel too safe himself. One thing’s for sure, it looks like we're all determined to find out what’s going on now," Bob said, pointing at the truck. Nick's truck was on the road now, moving, towing the trailer with the two ATVs. Noah was sitting in the front seat with Christy driving, Leah poked a shotgun out of the back window, and Nick and Mei crouched in the bed of the truck, each armed. Only Hunter seemed to be enjoying himself, with his head out the side window of the back seat, the wind streaming through his fur.
Jodie had a bad feeling about the entire situation. "Good God. They have every right to defend themselves, but I worry about them shooting each other." Pulling out her cell phone, Jodie said, "I'm going to try Isaiah one more time." She opened the phone to find no signal bars. "Bob, stop. We need to go back down to get a signal."
"We can't stop now. We've got company."
Jodie looked in the rear view mirror. Behind them, the forest canopy was dimly illuminated by headlights, some distance back.
"We have to block this road," Bob said. "Slow them down somehow."
"I have an idea. Signal Christy to stop," Jodie said.
Bob waved his hand out the window and the vehicles slowed to stop. Jodie jumped out, yelling out orders, spurring the group into action. Nick backed the ATVs off of the trailer and Bob pulled up past the truck, where the road became very narrow, flanked by embankments on both sides. Mei and Nick pulled the ATVs in front of Bob. Bob jumped out of the Camaro, ran back and unhooked the trailer.
"This should be about the right length," Nick said, sweat streaming down his forehead. Bob went to his side and the two men tugged and pushed the trailer i
nto position, perpendicular to the roadway, wedging it between the embankments. Nick grabbed a tire iron out of the back of the truck bed and slammed the pointed end into each of the four tires of the trailer, while everyone else threw whatever rocks and branches they could find in front of it. "This won't stop 'em for long, but should give us a few minutes," Nick said, tossing the tire iron back inside the truck bed.
Bob and Jodie ran back to the Camaro. Nick and Mei each mounted an ATV, and Christy started leading them up the road again in Nick's truck. Their caravan of four-wheel drive truck, ATVs, and Camaro moved as fast as it could, headlights off.
Jodie sensed they were missing something altogether. It was as if they were being forced up the mountain into a death trap. "Somehow, we're going to have to find a signal to get in touch with Isaiah again. Maybe you should have left me down there. I could've hidden in the woods and called."
"No way. If they're tracking our cell phones, they'd have found you. Just in case, here's my cell. Take the batteries out of both of ours. We don't have a signal anyway."
Jodie pulled the back off of Bob's phone and took out the battery, handing the pieces of the phone back to him. She was about to flip her own phone over and saw she received a text message. "Isaiah sent me a text." Jodie pushed the text button and read. "It says, STOP 49." She ripped the back plate of the phone off and took out the battery. "Stop 49? What could that mean?"
"I don't know, but I think we're gonna find out even if we don't want to."
They drove on for another twenty minutes to a point where the road, or what was left of it, narrowed again, and Nick raised his arm, calling up to Christy to stop. They came to a halt in the middle of the roadway and Jodie knew she'd be saying goodbye, probably for the final time, to her beloved Camaro.
