by Bryan Murray
CHAPTER 11
The following morning Jake and Sarah deplaned and cleared customs in Rome, looking like two typical ski tourists, where a smiling Steve Caplan was there to meet them with the rental SUV already fitted with snow tires and ready to go.
Jake and Sarah were delighted to see their old friend and Jake marvelled at how quickly John Mulroney had managed to spirit Steve away from his nosey CIA colleagues, for what had been explained to them as a sudden vacation opportunity.
After they had hugged one another, Steve looked at Jake, a wry smile on his face. “Lemme guess, you had to drag me away from the hottest date I’ve had in the last six months, just because you couldn’t resist my charms, so you invited me on a ski vacation?”
Jake grinned. “If that were only true, old buddy, I’ll explain when we get in the car.”
Steve was still curious. “To drive where?”
“The ski resort about two hours east of here,” he passed the portable GPS to Steve with the route already pre-programmed in. “This should get you there!”
With the bags in the trunk and ski’s (for authenticity) loaded on the roof rack, they gradually made their way out of the airport to retrace the original route of the ski tour, up into the Apennine Mountains towards the ski resort.
Once they had gone through the craziness in the inner city, they finally headed out onto the E80 highway so that Steve, who was driving, could relax a little. He turned to Jake.
“Okay, I’m all ears?”
He then sat there in shock as Jake explained the almost impossible task ahead of them with the clock already ticking at what seemed the speed of light.
When he had finished the story, Steve looked at Jake and shook his head disdainfully. “My God! We’ve got just over four to five days to find two needles in a frozen Italian haystack and also rescue them from the long arms of a bunch of Al-Qaeda terrorists, how many we haven’t a clue and hope like hell they don’t kill the kids when they see us coming!”
“In a nutshell, old friend!”
Steve was thinking out loud. “So, where the hell do we start?”
Sarah replied. “Well, our main lead is the two secret service guys who tried to stop the abduction. They’re standing by to debrief as soon as we get to the resort.”
“And then what?” Steve was still very sceptical.
“And then we hope for a damned miracle!” Jake added.
* * *
Three hours later, after checking into the resort under false names and settling into their rooms, Jake, Sarah and Steve, all dressed like tourists, were having a quiet drink in the bar with Kevin and Gary, away from the other guests, who included amongst them the ski group from the University, who were still enjoying themselves at the bar.
As the five people chatted out of earshot of the other residents, they had, however, been spotted by Gina who was watching them with a curious look in her eye.
Jake reassured the two despondent agents that they had done all they could have done under the circumstances and asked them to describe in detail all they could remember from the night of the abduction. Sarah was making notes.
Kevin was the main storyteller and he described what had happened, pretty much as he had done originally to Deke Winston. Jake, Sarah and Steve listened in silence until Kevin had finished. Sarah was the first to speak.
“First of all, guys, Jake and I would have done everything exactly as you did. When you were out-gunned and they were getting away, you did the right thing to rush back to grab Gary and a set of wheels to follow them.”
The two guys looked a little more relieved as Jake then continued. “Which brings us to this driver of the snowplough?”
Kevin nodded. “Yeah, that sonofabitch came out blocking the road and letting the bastards get away!”
Sarah was curious. “Do you think he was in on the abduction?”
Gary spoke up. “We’ve both talked about that a lot and we feel pretty sure he was. That kind of dumb insolence is pretty easy to spot!”
“What was he like? Would you recognize him again?” Steve asked
“You bet. He was a big, ugly dude with a beard, about 300 pounds!”
“Did you check if this snowploughing service was legit?” Jake inquired.
Kevin nodded. “Yeah, we didn’t want to make waves, but we spotted the highway treatment depot down the hill and we even saw the guy but we didn’t want to make a move until the cavalry arrived.”
“And what hours does this guy work?”
Gary checked his notes. “Looks like he comes on his shift after the slopes are closed to get the roads ready for the next morning. In fact, he’s due on duty in the next hour or so.”
Jake’s mind was made up. “Okay, let’s go. We’ll find him, follow him and then beat the truth out of him!”
Kevin looked at Jake. “He’s a big dude, Jake?”
Jake smiled. “Big dudes scream as loud as little dudes when they’re missing a kneecap!”
Before they got up to leave, Jake had another thought. “Oh, by the way, what happened to the two local girls who enticed the boys outside?”
Kevin explained. “This was what convinced us that they were in on the abduction.”
“How do you mean, Kevin?” Sarah was curious.
“It was on the TV the next day that their bodies were found in the woods, a bullet to their heads!”
Sarah understood. “I see what you mean. The Arabs weren’t leaving any loose ends!”
“That’s what we thought.” Gary added
Jake was ready to go. “Okay, let’s go find this ugly snowplough driver. We won’t all leave at once, see you in the parking lot in five minutes. We’ll use our SUV, Kevin.”
“Okay, we’ll go first.” Kevin replied and he and Gary drank up and left casually, shaking hands with the trio as if they were friends parting company after a beer.
Across the bar, Gina was still watching them, a curious look in her eye.
* * *
There was light snow in the air as the SUV with the Americans parked out of sight under the trees, just down the road from the highway service depot. They sat and chatted for a while until Gary spotted movement near the main gate when a car drove into the compound where the snowploughs were parked.
Through binoculars, Kevin watched as the big man climbed out and walked into the office, his lunch box in his hand. “That’s him!” Kevin whispered. “Probably getting his instructions for the night.”
Kevin had been right and just minutes later the big man came out of the office, his lunch box and now a sheet of paper in his hand and headed over to one of the parked snowploughs. He climbed up into the cab and slowly drove out of the compound up the road in the swirling snow. The Americans in the SUV followed at a discreet distance.
Just a couple of miles up the road, the snowplough turned left up a narrow lane and when Steve at the wheel followed, he had to quickly pull over at the side of the road when the snowplough turned into a clearing and stopped before the driver switched off the lights.
Jake looked at Steve. “What the hell’s he doin’?”
“Damned if I know.”
Jake’s mind was made up. “Okay, Steve, you and I will move in closer and check him out. You guys stay here,” he looked at Steve. “You packing?”
“You bet,” was the reply. “I’ll also take my night goggles.”
“Okay, sit tight, guys, we’ll be back.” Jake and Steve got out of the car and silently made their way up through the snow-covered trees at the side of the road to the edge of the clearing where the snowplough was parked. Steve put on his night goggles and looked towards the window of the cab of the snowplough.
“What’s happening?” Jake whispered.
“Sneaky devil!” Steve replied. “That sonofabitch is drinking a bottle of Scotch!”
Jake was thinking fast, his Glock now in his hand. “Okay, we need to get his fat ass on the ground while he’s still sober, so give me time to get around the other side.
Then you approach the driver’s side and signal that you need help and while he’s distracted I’ll hit him from behind, okay?”
Steve grinned. “Sounds like a plan. Ya know this is the most fun I’ve had since we chased those bastard Nazis!”
Jake grinned. “Okay, on a count of 20 make sure you move and when you start waving and shouting at the driver, I’ll be in through the other door?”
Steve nodded. “Here we go.”
Jake moved stealthily around the far side of the snowplough and on a count of 20, Steve came over to the driver’s side and started shouting in Italian and waving his arms for help. “Can you help me?” he screamed and the driver looked down from taking a further drink, put the top on the bottle and wound down the window.
“I’m lost and trying to find the ski resort?” he inquired in Italian and as he finished the sentence, up in the cab, the Driver felt the cold steel of Jake’s Glock in the back of his neck. Jake screamed out. “Okay, Steve, get the bastard down.”
The Driver was already panicking when he saw Jake’s gun and the no nonsense look on his face and when Steve screamed for him to get down from the cab, he almost fell down into the snow with Jake right behind him.
They then pushed the man at gunpoint over to a large tree at the side of the snowplough. Jake turned to Steve. “Okay, now we begin the interrogation.”
When Steve mentioned the abduction of the two boys, Jake could tell instantly by the man’s eyes as he shone his flashlight in them that he had something to hide.
The man tried to act dumb and profess his innocence until Jake suddenly put a bullet into the tree trunk just beside the man’s head after which the big, bearded man started to sing like a bird.
In answer to Steve’s skilful interrogation, he told them he had been paid by a bunch of Arab mercenaries, who worked for the highest bidder and that he had been paid to make sure they got away from the ski resort safely and to stop any traffic following them.
When Steve asked the man where they could find the men involved that night, he became very nervous and refused to answer until Jake put another bullet into the tree just at the side of his head. He then told them that the men were heading for a cabin on the edge of Blue Mountain Lake. That was all he knew, he didn’t know which cabin.
Jake looked at Steve. “We’ve got a problem, buddy.”
“Tell me about it?” Steve sighed heavily.
“If we let this SOB go, he could tell those Arabs we’re on to them and if we kill him, the road crew will find the body when he doesn’t return, see that he was shot and then, when the Arabs hear of it on TV, they’ll also know we’re onto them!”
Steve was thinking clearly. “So, we need to take him well away into the woods and leave him where he’ll get hypothermia before he’s found. We cover him with the rest of his Scotch so they’ll think he got drunk and wandered away from the snowplough taking a wrong turn!”
Jake looked at him in admiration. “Don’t let anyone say you’re just a pretty face, that’s a goddamned awesome plan!”
He then prodded the nervous man at gunpoint back to the American’s SUV and pushed him in the back of the vehicle, following him with his gun still in the man’s ribs. The latter was totally unaware of what price he was about to pay for working with terrorists.
Jake turned to the others. “Okay, we’re gonna drive way out into the woods where we drop this guy, cover him with Whisky and leave the SOB to freeze before he reaches civilization.”
Kevin nodded. “I assume he talked then?”
“Sang like a bird!” Steve replied. “Now we know these bastards are holed up in a cabin on the edge of Blue Mountain Lake. Too dark to find it tonight, so it will have to be morning.”
Sarah was listening. “That’s why he isn’t already dead, Jake?”
Jake smiled. “There you go!” as the SUV rolled off into the swirling, freezing snow.
* * *
The following morning, the big guy had been found dead from exposure, just a short distance from the snowplough by a search team from the highway service depot. He had almost made it back, which would have been a major problem for Jake and his team if he had succeeded.
The authorities had assumed that the man had wandered away from his vehicle and being drunk he had fallen in the snow and passed out. An assumed conclusion was accidental death in adverse weather and it had kept the involvement of Jake, Sarah and Steve from being mentioned, much to their relief.
CHAPTER 12
It was now Day Three and as Lorenzo was eating breakfast on the balcony of his villa, he received a phone call advising him that there were three strangers at the ski resort who were not your typical snow-skier types. Apparently they had been chatting to two of the students who had been on the same tour with the boys who were kidnapped.
Lorenzo thanked the caller before he put the phone down and instead of being upset, he had a cunning smile on his face. “So far so good.” he mused before pouring himself another cup of coffee.
The telephone rang again and this time it was Genaro calling from the cabin.
“Yes, Genaro?” Lorenzo answered.
“Good morning, Don Lorenzo,” Genaro replied. “I just wanted to let you know that the man who was driving the snowplough that helped us to get away, was found dead near his snowplough this morning!”
“What happened?”
“They say he froze to death after he had been drinking heavily and fell in the snow not far from his snowplough.”
Lorenzo smiled and thanked Genaro. “Thanks for the call, Genaro, now you need to proceed with the second stage of the plan. Well done!”
“Thank you, Padron,” Genaro replied. “I will be in touch when we get to the next safe house.” he went off the line.
Looking out at the clear, blue Mediterranean below, Lorenzo took another sip of his coffee and sat back with a knowing smile on his face.
He realized that the Americans were doing exactly what he had expected them to do. They had sent in an undercover team to try and get the boys before the execution deadline, but he was too smart for them.
There was no way he was going to let any sloppiness jeopardize the additional fifteen million that he intended to collect from Al-Qaeda, until he was sure that his entire plan was going to work.
* * *
In the White House, the stressed-out parents of the two boys were anxiously awaiting a call from Jake concerning the progress to date. Both Elizabeth and Maria looked pale and tired.
When Jake came through on a secure line direct to the Oval Office, he brought the President up to speed on what they had found out concerning the deaths of the two girls who had lured the boys outside and the fact that they had tracked down and terminated the snowplough driver who had been involved in ensuring the terrorists got away with their captives.
The President was listening intently. “So, what’s your next move, Jake?”
“Well, sir,” Jake replied. “We’re heading out this morning to try and locate the cabin where they are holding the boys and then hopefully come up with a strategy to rescue them, always assuming the man we terminated was telling the truth.”
The President was very grateful for the call. “Well, keep the Vice-President and I fully informed, Jake and good hunting today, remember the clock is ticking.”
“We will, sir. I’ll be in touch.” Jake went off the line.
The President and Maria then headed for their morning briefing on all the other nasty things happening around the world, but finding it very difficult to keep the thoughts of their children out of their minds. Maria looked tired and it was obvious she had not been sleeping well the past few nights.
CHAPTER 13
That morning it was a hive of industry in the cabin by the lake as Genaro and his men were getting ready to move on to the next location in the master plan.
Before moving out, however, the Doctor had insisted on an additional therapy session with Jeff and after drugging his juice once again, the Doctor was b
ack inside Jeff’s mind implementing his deadly instructions even further into the boy’s subconscious.
When the session ended and the customary gunshot was heard, Jeff awoke once again, totally unaware of what had just happened. In the next room, each time that Andrew had heard the gunshot ending Jeff’s therapy sessions, not realizing what was going on, he seriously expected that it may have been his friend Jeff who had been on the receiving end of the bullets!
He heaved a huge sigh of relief each time that he saw that Jeff was still alive. When they were brought into the main room and their hands were untied for a while. They noticed immediately that their guards, still wearing masks, looked like they were getting ready to move out.
Jeff stood patiently looking out of the windows that were steamed up from the cold weather outside. For no apparent reason he suddenly found himself writing the words ‘It’s Showtime’ absent-mindedly in the steam on the window.
Andrew was watching him closely. “What does that mean?” he asked.
“Haven’t a clue!” Jeff replied.
* * *
Outside the snow had stopped and further down the lake on a pristine, sunny morning, Jake, Sarah and Steve headed down the road alongside the lake, using binoculars to check out some of the lovely cabin homes along the water’s edge.
Kevin and Gary had already returned to the US on the early morning flight as the trio drove along in search of what could be the right cabin location with their only flimsy clue being that they were looking for a red Fiat SUV. Not exactly solid directions.
Steve, who was driving, looked across at Jake. “This is like finding a red Fiat in a black and white haystack. If they parked it in a garage, we could already have driven past the cabin already!”
“I know, but it’s all we’ve got to go on.” Jake replied.
Sarah was looking ahead and she spotted a lady, wrapped up in warm clothing, out walking her dog. She tapped Steve on the shoulder. “Why don’t you stop and use that boyish charm of yours. See if she’s seen the Fiat?”
He smiled. “Good idea!”
He pulled up alongside the attractive, middle-aged woman, wound the window down and told her in Italian that they were trying to find the cabin where their friends had driven out for a few days skiing, but they didn’t have the address, just that they knew their friends were driving a red Fiat SUV. The woman thought a moment before nodding negatively and Steve wound up the window and continued up the road.
