“Right, because I talk in the middle of a rodeo arena all the time.”
“Two minutes.” Dana offered what she hoped was a confident smile.
Ben assumed his military stance, feet spread and arms clasped behind his back, while he surveyed the south side of the arena. He looked as if he expected Drogan to charge through in a tank. Red had all four parts of his screen up and running. Reggie held the phone in his hand.
At Dana’s signal, he tugged on his hat, punched in the number from memory, and pushed talk.
Dana nearly choked when Drogan answered on the second ring. Every hair on the back of her neck stood up as adrenaline pumped through her veins.
“Reggie. It’s been a long time.”
“They’ve been keeping a close eye on me. This was the first chance I’ve had to call you.”
Dana and Ben had gone over possible questions Drogan would have for him. Reggie actually had some improvement on the script they’d drawn up.
“And who is they, Reggie?”
“My mom, people.”
“People.” Drogan’s voice sounded calm, normal, almost good-natured.
It made Dana’s skin crawl. Made her feel dirty in a thousand different ways.
“I want my money. You promised, and you owe me.”
“You blew up all my materials, Reggie. I’d say you’re the one who owes me.”
“I lost my house because of you.” Reggie’s voice rose as Drogan baited him.
Dana kept shifting her gaze from Red’s screen to Reggie and back again. The computer had found a lock and was beginning to zoom in. She made a motion with her hand for Reggie to keep Drogan talking.
“We both know I couldn’t leave any evidence in your jam room, Reg. You should have been more careful.”
“You told me they’d deliver the goods at nine-thirty after she went to work. This is all your fault.” Reggie’s voice was a shriek now. There was no acting on his part. All the fury he’d been holding inside was pouring out on the grounds of the arena.
Ben walked over, stepped in front of the boy, and held up four fingers. They needed four minutes.
Reggie pulled in a shaky breath. “I want my money. My family has to start over, and we need that money.”
“Aren’t you a good boy, Reggie. It’s possible we could arrange a transfer of funds. There is one more job I have. It’s dangerous though. If you think you’re man enough…”
Dana started shaking her head. When Reggie didn’t seem to get her message, she waved her hands. He was not to agree to do anything for Drogan. She had been clear about that in their meeting.
“What is it?” Reggie said.
“Meet me at Elizabethtown. Have Mr. Tafoya drive you—no one else, not even Angela.”
Reggie had frozen as soon as Drogan had said the name Tafoya. Ben was down to two fingers and continued to stand directly in front of him. Dana heard Drogan mention Angela, knew he must be referring to her, but she could only watch in fascination as the screen on Red’s computer zoomed in on northern New Mexico.
“When?” Reggie asked.
“One hour,” Drogan said. “That should give you plenty of time.”
“Where at in the town?”
“It’s a ghost town. I’ll find you.”
“All right, but bring the money.”
Drogan laughed. It was a frightening sound. “One more thing, Reggie. Tell Angela I’ve started another mosaic. She never should have come back to Taos.”
Then the line went dead.
Sixty-two
Dana had no reaction to Drogan’s last words. None.
She heard them like you would hear music playing in the background as you shop for groceries.
One part of her mind even understood what he had said, and the inherent threat in his words. The rest of her—the blood coursing through her veins, her tongue as she bit down gently on it, even the image of Ben as he stood in front of her speaking—it all seemed sort of frozen.
Then, quickly, like falling awake from a dream, everything around her and in her came alive with rushing clarity.
The tremor began in her left arm.
Red was hollering that Drogan’s location had been south in Santa Fe.
Reggie had plopped down in the dirt and was turning his cap round and round in his hand.
Ben’s hands were rubbing her arms, warming her. Why was she suddenly so cold?
And she understood with perfect clarity that Drogan meant to kill her.
This time, instead of being afraid, it made her extremely angry.
She stepped away from Ben, tapped her comm unit, and spoke to Cheryl. “Get Clay on the line. I need three teams ready to go in ten minutes. I also want the Albuquerque office alerted and covering all northern roads, stopping anyone who meets Drogan’s description.”
She turned to Red. “Get Tafoya on the phone. I need him here—now.”
Walking over to Reggie, she squatted down in the dirt. When he raised his gaze to hers, she saw the fear in his coal-black eyes. Saw his frustration and understood it. “He’s not playing fair, Reggie. He never has.”
Reggie shook his head and wiped at the tears she wasn’t supposed to see.
“I promised your involvement in this ends here, and I hoped that was true. I don’t think Drogan’s going to hurt you though. It’s me he wants. If you’re willing to go to Elizabethtown, and if your mom agrees, I would appreciate the help.”
He’d put the cap back on and was nodding before she’d finished.
“You’ll have to wear a Kevlar vest, kid. Sure you’re up to it?” Ben held out his hand to help the boy up.
“Long as none of my friends see me.” He dusted off his pants. “I’m going to look like a total nerd.”
“What are you saying?” Ben patted the front of his vest. “Women tell me I look cool in this.”
“Red, get Mrs. Mifflin on the line.” Dana turned at the sound of a truck and saw Tafoya driving up under the bright lights.
She met him at the entrance to the arena. “We need your help.”
“Tell me what to do.”
She summarized the phone call, leaving out Drogan’s final comment.
“Have you been to Elizabethtown?” he asked.
“I’ve been through it.”
“It was once seven-thousand people,” Tafoya explained as they walked back to where Ben and Red were packing up the equipment. Reggie moved closer to the old man while he continued his story. “At its height, there were gold and copper mines. Plenty of outlaws too.”
Dana tucked her hair behind her ears. “Now it’s a tourist town, right?”
“Could call it that. Mostly, it’s a ghost town like Drogan said. There are maybe seven buildings left. In the old days, the Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad used to go by there.”
Dana looked to Ben.
“I’m on it, boss. Maps of the railway lines.”
“What concerns me more,” Tafoya admitted, “is the area has a history of evil.”
“What do you mean?” Dana asked.
“Surely you’ve heard of the serial killer, Charles Kennedy.”
Dana nodded as a shiver ran down her spine.
“The cabin he used isn’t far from there.”
“Say, Tafoya.” Reggie pulled off his cap, creased it, and set it back on his head. “You don’t think an area can be like a vortex of evil, do you?”
“No, I don’t, Reggie. All of the earth is God’s creation, and I believe all of it is meant for good. I’m not sure Drogan knows that though.”
“We’re ready here,” Red said.
Dana looked at the four men around her. Reggie might as well be considered a man. She was going to depend on him to do a man’s job. They were all, without exception, good men.
A part of her wanted to slip back into the frozen place where she had temporarily sought refuge. It provided numbness so she could rest for a while.
Instead, she squared her shoulders, gave them a grim smile, and said, “Le
t’s roll out then.”
Sixty-three
Ben realized Dana would never stop surprising him.
She’d recovered faster than a jackrabbit could cross a road. There’d been a moment in the arena when he thought Drogan might have won. Terror doesn’t have to be delivered via a bullet to incapacitate someone.
Twice Drogan had used Angela’s name. Both times he’d obviously meant Dana. There was no doubt now that he intended to harm her.
But Dana had held together. She was made of tough stuff, pretty much like Erin had described to him. He smiled at her as he sped east out of Taos.
“Why are you smiling, Marshall?” She was studying the maps of the railway lines.
They’d been closed for years. He had marked the spots Drogan might try to use.
“I think Drogan ought to be scared. He doesn’t know what he’s up against.”
Dana peered over at him in the darkness of his truck. They’d decided it would be less obvious than the Humvee. In addition, two Humvees were speeding through Wheeler Peak Wilderness, planning to meet them from the north. Reggie rode three miles ahead in Tafoya’s truck. Another Humvee was five miles further back behind them.
“You know what I can’t figure?” She closed the ruggedized laptop and rested her head against the back of the seat. “Why an hour? If he was in Santa Fe—”
“He wasn’t. That’s my guess anyway.”
“But the trace—”
“He bounced it. We saw his ability to do so with the surveillance devices he left in our office. Should have expected it with the phone.” Ben ran his hand through his hair, then checked his watch. They’d make it, but it would be close.
“You think he’s already there?”
Ben shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe this is a wild goose chase. He enjoys yanking our chain, letting us know he’s superior.”
Dana turned her head and stared out into the night. Finally, she sighed and looked back at him. “Did Clay tell you about the disguises?”
Ben shook his head.
“There were at least two incidents on the cameras where we’re fairly sure we caught Drogan, but he was wearing disguises. Clay’s been working with a layering program that cuts through facial disguises.”
“Like mustaches and glasses?” Ben tried to focus on the road, but he couldn’t help staring at her to see if she was serious.
“No. The program would have seen through anything superficial immediately. We think he’s been using prosthetic effects.”
“You mean Nutty Professor stuff?”
“Exactly.”
“Wow. What else does this guy have up his sleeve?”
Dana drummed her fingers on the laptop. “He knew we were looking for him. So he must have figured out we had been inside the cabin, inside his room.”
“Because he made the comment about the mosaic.”
Dana nodded. “So he also realized we’d seen his board with his drop points.”
“And he was testing our programs.”
“He always seems one step ahead.” Dana ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it out of the clasp, closing her eyes for a moment.
Ben wanted to tell her to rest a while, but he knew they didn’t have time.
“Did you ever finish the book?” Her eyes were still closed, but she obviously wasn’t sleeping.
“Yeah, I did. Nina and I agreed. Drogan sees himself as the lead character, Tom.”
Dana sat up, cornered herself in the truck, and stared at him. “But Tom was an admirable character if I remember correctly. How could Drogan possibly identify with him?”
“Both lost their land. Tom spent some time in prison, and Drogan knows he will go to prison if he’s ever caught.” Ben fidgeted under her gaze. “The connection I saw was more about the anger though. Steinbeck describes a simmering anger that ferments and grows until it can’t be contained.”
“You could certainly describe Drogan the same way.”
Ben heard the resignation in her voice. “He’s not going to win, Dana.”
“How do you know that?” She turned back around in the seat and opened the computer on her lap. “It’s a nice thing to say, but there’s no way you can know for sure. Bad guys win sometimes.”
Before she turned back to her maps, she added, “You make sure Reggie and Tafoya make it out of this alive, Ben. They are your priority. You understand me, right?”
He knew what she was telling him. He didn’t like it one bit, and he fully believed he could have two priorities. No need to get in an argument now though.
“Sure, boss. I understand.”
Sixty-four
Ten minutes later she received her first report from Clay. “The spybots have tagged him. He’s at the Hotel Mutz, and it looks like he’s alone.”
“There’s a hotel?”
“It’s a ruin,” Tafoya’s voice over the comm unit surprised her. The man sounded like a natural though. “Only two walls are still standing.”
“Any idea why he’d choose it for his setup location?” Dana asked.
“Top of the hill,” Tafoya said. “He’ll see us all coming from at least five miles away.”
“Any ideas, Ben?” She closed the laptop in disgust. The railway lines didn’t offer any hope as far as she could tell. At least they didn’t seem much of a threat either.
“Put me in the bed of Tafoya’s truck. Once we pull in, I can cover them, or provide a distraction.”
“What if he has night vision goggles?” Red asked.
“Then I’ll have to shoot faster than he does.”
Dana stared out into the darkness. “If someone has a better idea, I’m listening.”
The comm unit was empty as they all hurdled toward Drogan’s trap.
“All right. Tafoya pull over and let’s transfer Ben. All other vehicles, maintain a distance of six miles, repeat six miles.”
“I don’t like it, Dana.” Clay sounded angrier by the minute. “We’re at ten miles now. Two of my men can hoof it in by the time you get there. He won’t see us coming on foot.”
“All right. Do it, but I want them in contact the entire time.”
Ben had pulled the truck over behind Tafoya as she spoke with Clay. Picking up his rifle and pack from behind the seat, he smiled and tossed her the keys. “Go easy with the Chevy, boss.”
“Finally, he lets me drive his truck.”
The look he gave her was filled with such tenderness. As he walked past her, she had the craziest idea he intended to stop, take her in his arms, and kiss her. That thought was quickly followed by the memory of her pushing him away.
He gave her a mock salute. “See you in a few.”
Then he lowered the tailgate of Tafoya’s truck and climbed in, leaving the tailgate down. He waved at her once as they pulled away.
Sixty-five
Cheryl’s voice came over the comm unit, alerting Ben to the fact that they were coming in view of Elizabethtown. The GPS coordinates for all vehicles had been programmed into the master grid and were displayed on each vehicle’s onboard panel. Dana had been able to view it on her laptop since Ben’s truck wasn’t exactly retrofitted with the latest technology.
Ben tapped on the cab of the truck once, indicating Tafoya should slow down so he could roll out. He’d left the tailgate down so he wouldn’t have to go over the side. No doubt Drogan was watching from on top of the hill.
He’d have night vision goggles, but there was a possibility the heavy metal of the older truck would keep him from seeing the third body signature. Ben had positioned himself directly behind Tafoya, hoping to buy himself the five seconds he needed to escape detection.
His strategy was to drop out and roll while Drogan had his goggles on the truck and the road behind the truck.
No plan was perfect. What this one lacked in good common sense, it made up for in audacity.
Ben inched his way to the end of the tailgate. When he felt the truck begin to slow, he let his body fall the rest of the way to the groun
d. Once there, he rolled to his right.
His directions to Tafoya had been clear. “Find me a spot near a ditch.”
The man hadn’t disappointed him. Ben hit the nestle of weeds and lay there, waiting to hear the ring of gunshots. When he didn’t, he snapped on his own night goggles and raised his head.
Drogan was alone at the top of the hill behind the only wall at the Mutz Hotel with three windows—if you could call holes with no glass windows. Since there was no roof or adjacent walls, the entire description seemed a bit of a stretch.
Ben briefly scanned the other six buildings. “Confirming Drogan is our only contact.”
“Can you tell if he’s armed?” Dana’s voice was tense.
He knew it was agony for her to wait out-of-range.
“Negative. He’s holding a cell phone and wearing night vision. Tafoya’s stopped in the middle of the street, five hundred yards from the hotel.” Ben set up his rifle as he spoke. “I have him in my scope.”
At that moment, Drogan ducked behind the thick, brick wall.
“Take the shot, Ben.”
“He stepped behind the south wall of the hotel.”
“Probably why he picked it,” Cheryl said. “Those walls are at least three feet thick. It would take a mortar round to pierce them.”
“Reggie’s phone is ringing,” Dana said. “Looks like it’s him. Reggie, take it slow and easy. Ben is right behind you.”
“Hello.”
“Reggie. I see you found me.”
“I found the town, if that’s what you call this place.”
“Indeed, it is. And you brought Mr. Tafoya. I’d like you both to step out of the vehicle.”
“Why should we? I’m done doing what you tell me. Where’s my money?”
“You and I have unfinished business. You’re going to do one more favor for me. Then I’ll give you what I owe you. Now step out of the truck with Mr. Tafoya and walk toward the hotel.”
Hidden (Jacobs Family Series Book 1) Page 22
