The Alberta Connection

by R. Clint Peters

  Vince paused. “If the Army gave John the passwords.

  “It appears that Samuel and Dennis invested in Frank’s office complex, the one that went bankrupt. That would answer the question of why they were tagging along with Frank. As soon as I get the documents, I will bring you up to speed.”

  5:00 AM came too early, but Ryce wanted to be in Suite 425 before Dianne and her two friends departed Fargo. He thought they had two choices. They could go west on I-94 or south on I-29. Travelling west would eventually take them to Montana. If they drove south, Ryce had no idea where they might go.

  He also wanted to check his laptop. He had left the Air Force search program running when he and Tanya had departed the office the previous evening. He said a silent prayer as he clicked the mouse.

  Ryce let out a cheer so loud that Tanya came running from the conference room.

  “You certainly sound happy.”

  Ryce cheered again. “I have a reason to be happy. We have a name for the third man at the cabin.”

  Ryce paused as he read the service record.

  “He is Tony Matlock. He was a captain in the Air Force, but got busted out in 1994.”

  Ryce highlighted the service record and pressed print. “This Tony fellow was not a nice person. He got in a fight with his ex-wife and impaled her with the handle of his bar-b-que brush. He got life, but somehow disappeared during a transfer between detention facilities.”

  Ryce stood, walked into Suite 424, picked up the service record he had just printed, and walked back to his office.

  “The photo with the service record looks like the man I saw at the cabin. We have two dead guys and an escaped convict who are killing people. Something doesn’t fit here.”

  Ryce tapped on a few keys on his laptop, stood, took Tanya’s hand, and started toward the conference room. Before he could walk five steps, his laptop began to gurgle. He spun and returned to his desk.

  He had accidently pressed continue when he wanted to press cancel. A new service record was displayed on Ryce’s screen. It had the same photo, but a different name. Ryce scanned the service record of Reginald Anderson. Reginald had died in 2003.

  This was something Ryce had not expected. Ryce pressed the continue button once again. A service record for Robert Welch replaced Reginald Anderson. Robert was also dead. Ryce frowned. He now had two dead guys and an escaped convict with the same photo in their service records. Could things get any more confusing?

  No more Air Force service records were found after Robert Welch. Ryce loaded the Navy access codes, and restarted his search of the Navy database. Using the photo for Andrew Lyste, Ryce found Simon Caldwell, who died in 1998, and Perry Kline, who also died in 1998. Gregory Lyste also had two additional service records. They were James Woodward, who was listed as having died in 1968, and Farley Westfall, who was not yet deceased. At least his service record did not list him as dead. Ryce was not confident the records were accurate.

  Ryce wrote the nine names on his doodle pad and walked to the conference room. Perhaps searching the names would provide information that the photo search program could not.

  At 10:00 AM Idaho time, the Caravan was reported near a Cracker Barrel in Bismarck. Dianne seemed to be making much better time without Frank as a passenger. Ryce opened his laptop, selected the program he had worked so hard on to predict where the group was going, and sadly clicked delete. With the FBI tracker, his efforts were no longer needed.

  Ryce leaned back in his office chair. In two days, he would be in Monroe, WA. After he met with David Bolt in Monroe, Ryce would organize the new headquarters of the JBTF. He needed to pick someone to run the place for a few days, but he had several candidates to talk to Tanya about. As soon as things were running smoothly, he and Tanya would fly to Billings and pick up some necessities. Tanya could drive her Charger to Idaho, he would pick up his Ram, and they would then caravan to Seattle. When Ryce had suggested Tanya allow her Charger to be placed on a car carrier, he thought she might actually faint.

  Ryce and Tanya had little to pack for the flight to Seattle. It would take less than fifteen minutes to clean out the closets in the apartment. The bathroom would need less than five minutes. They had no other possessions in the apartment.

  Kenny had flown to Billings with Phil and would be coordinating the packing and transportation of Ryce and Tanya’s household goods. He would also oversee the packing for every other agent in the Billings’ office. Ryce expected Kenny would not arrive in Seattle for at least ten days.

  The agents in the conference room had been listening to the morning’s audio tracks. When Ryce read the transcripts, he noticed that the primary conversation was about where they were going after Billings. Ryce checked the distance between Fargo and Billings. Billings was twice as far from Fargo as the group had been travelling with Frank. Would they arrive in Billings tonight or wait until tomorrow?

  One of the male occupants wanted to go directly to the border crossing point “near Seattle.” Unfortunately, the actual location was only referred to as “B.” Dianne reminded the two passengers they would not be paid unless they delivered the laptops to “Grant.” Then they could go where ever they wanted.

  Ryce checked two files on his laptop. One contained the nine names of the three men who were occupants of the cabin. The other had the names of the four former FBI agents who had been murdered at the cabin. None of the names on either list included anyone with a first or last name of “Grant.”

  Ryce called Matt to see if everything was a go for the observation team. Matt laughed.

  “It better be a go. I just checked my credit card. Damien got a new sleeping bag, two new fishing poles, and two hundred bucks in new tackle. I still haven’t gotten the bill for the groceries. At this rate, I might find they spent five hundred dollars on steaks.”

  When Ryce reassured Matt that the expenses would be reimbursed, Matt laughed.

  “This card was issued by Homeland Security. I simply sign an authorization to pay once a month. I had Doug check the card limits when I was in Idaho. There is no warning on the card until it gets a five thousand dollar single purchase. I don’t think a few hundred bucks in fishing gear will cause any problems.”

  Russ and Damien were camped at the same location that Ryce had slept on his last night on the mountain. Ryce chuckled to himself. Matt was right. Russ and Damien would blend into the landscape. Terry Maywood was five feet four inches tall and weighed more than three hundred pounds. He was a logistics expert. Terry Maywood would never be mistaken for someone who knew how to use a fishing pole.

  Ryce walked out to the conference room. Tanya was chatting with one of the agents. He found a chair next to her. Did she want to go back to Billings and help Kenny with the move? Or did she have someone she could recommend?

  Tanya thought for a minute. “Send Veronica back with Kenny. They have been seeing each other for about four months, and I am sure they would rather not spend two weeks apart. Besides, I don’t want to be separated from you for more than five minutes.”

  Ryce returned to his office and composed some emails. Veronica was scheduled to fly to Seattle with Ryce in the morning. Ryce needed to find a flight for her to Billings. Could John provide the Gulfstream G650? If not, Ryce would need to find a commercial flight.

  Ryce and Tanya decided that the headquarters cafeteria was OK for today’s lunch. As they walked in, they saw John sitting alone at one of the tables. After walking through the serving line, Ryce and Tanya placed their trays across from John. John looked at Ryce and grinned.

  “I can take care of getting Veronica to Billings. The Gulfstream is waiting at the Pendergast Airport. Phil is in the ready room.”

  Ryce thought for a moment and then looked at Tanya. “Did you let Veronica know about going to Billings? I sent her an email, but I haven’t gotten a reply.”

  Tanya shook her head “no” and then opened her cell phone. Veronica answered on the second ring. After a short conversation, Tanya informed John
that Veronica would be at the airport at 8:00 AM the next morning.

  When Ryce and Tanya returned to Suite 425, it was after 2:00 PM. Ryce checked the tracker on the Grand Caravan. Dianne was averaging more than 60 MPH. At 10:00 AM Idaho time, she had been in Bismarck. Four hours later, she was near Miles City, Montana. Ryce guessed that Dianne and her companions would be in Billings in less than three hours.

  For a brief moment, Ryce regretted closing the Billings JBTF offices. It would be beneficial to have someone in Billings to get an eye on Dianne. However, they had the FBI tracking device telling them where the Caravan was located. Would Dianne stop in Billings?

  Ryce checked the mileage from Billings to the next best place to stop. Butte was almost four hours away from Billings. Ryce was confident his night would not be interrupted by a call telling him the laptop thieves had continued past Billings. He walked to the conference room, took Tanya’s hand, and walked from Suite 425. This could be the second to last family dinner Ryce and Tanya would attend for some time.

  Chapter 27

  Ryce and Tanya walked into Suite 425 a little after 8:00 AM. His first stop was the status board now hanging in the conference room. Ryce reread the latest GPS tracker report twice and then turned to one of the agents at the conference table.

  “Can you re-run that tracker location? If Dianne and her friends ate where the status report says they ate, we won’t have to worry about them leaving Billings. The place they stopped at for breakfast is known locally as Botulism Barneys.”

  Ryce waited until the agent completed the tracker query. Dianne was actually at Botulism Barneys. Ryce called Tanya over.

  “Hey, hon, do you remember Botulism Barney’s? Also known as Rick’s Real Ranch Bar-B-Que? Dianne stopped there for breakfast. Well, at least they stopped there. I didn’t know Rick’s had a breakfast menu.”

  Ryce stared at the status board for a few more seconds, turned to Tanya, kissed her, and walked to his office. Something decidedly strange was going on. On his worst day, Ryce would not eat at Rick’s. What was Dianne doing at Rick’s? Rick’s was six miles north of where they had stayed for the night, and four miles away from I-94.

  Ryce checked the contact list on his smart phone. He had two close friends on the Billings PD. He picked one and pressed dial.

  Tanya walked into Ryce’s office while he was talking to his friend in Billings. As soon as he flipped his cell phone closed, he looked over at her.

  “I called Dean Hawthorne on the Billings PD. He is taking a ride to Rick’s to see if the Grand Caravan is still there. If it is, he will check out the restaurant and see if Dianne and her friends are still inside. I am sending him some pictures just as soon as I get a kiss.”

  Ryce was pleased with the smile that encompassed Tanya’s face. She walked across the office and sat in his lap.

  “Honey, I love you more and more every day.”

  Ryce’s cell phone interrupted the kiss. Ryce flipped the phone open, and pressed the speaker button.

  “This is Ryce.”

  “Ryce, this is Dean Hawthorne. The Dodge Caravan is gone. Rick’s has a new owner and a breakfast menu. I know, it is not reasonable. The Dodge departed Rick’s heading northbound on US-87. I had a cruiser do a soft tail. The Dodge was still going northbound when they went past the north access to Rattlesnake Reservoir. I will do a little more digging around on the new owners of Rick’s. Tell Tanya I still love her, even though she married you. When she permanently dumps you, I will take her back.”

  The cell call went dead. Ryce looked over at Tanya.

  She smiled and said, “I am not planning to dump you, but Dean does have a nice Dodge Challenger.”

  Ryce called up Google Maps on the monitor. US-87 went north for approximately eighty miles and then turned west. Eventually, it arrived in Great Falls. Dianne was not going to continue to average sixty mph. The road she was now travelling was mostly posted for 55 mph, with many areas posted at 45 mph, and some posted as slow as 35 mph. US-87 was heavily patrolled. It was the route often used by anyone who didn’t want to use the interstate.

  Ryce called Matt. If Dianne’s destination was Great Falls, Matt could easily set up an observation post near Malmstrom AF Base. They had the FBI tracker, but some eyes on the trio would be a terrific thing.

  The audio bug in the Grand Caravan continued to confirm that Dianne was meeting someone named Grant in Great Falls. She was at least six hours from the meeting. Ryce was confident he had all the pieces in place.

  Ryce walked to the conference room to watch the tracker reports on one of the 42-inch monitors. The display on the monitor was almost in real time. The conversion program displayed the results less than three seconds after the report was received. Ryce chuckled, and remarked to Tanya that it almost looked as if he were watching his own GPS. Tanya poked him in the ribs.

  “That is GPS, you silly rabbit.”

  Ryce decided he could wait in the apartment as well as in Suite 425, and the apartment had a marvelous bed where he could stretch out. He took Tanya’s hand, told the agents working in the conference room to call him if they needed him, and they left the office.

  Ryce interrupted his nap only long enough to drive with Tanya to the chow hall for lunch. A little after 3:00 PM, he was awakened by his vibrating cell phone. He heard Tanya grunt in disgust and then felt his cell phone being placed on his chest.

  “Answer that thing before I throw it across the room.”

  Ryce checked the caller ID. The call was from Matt. As Ryce was answering the call, he got up and walked out of the bedroom.

  “What do you have, Matt?”

  “We just picked up the Dodge Caravan east of Clara Park. It is heading west on 10th Avenue South. I will keep you informed.”

  Ryce flipped his cell phone closed and walked back into the master bedroom. Tanya was sitting on the bed, looking toward the door. Naked.

  Ryce smiled.

  “Do you know where Clara Park is in Great Falls?”

  Tanya looked at him with a big grin. “I might tell you if I get a kiss.”

  After a long kiss, Tanya smiled at Ryce. “No, I don’t remember where Clara Park is located.”

  Ryce walked to his laptop and pulled up Google Maps. As Montana was being displayed, he wondered why he did not use MapQuest. He could not think of a reason, other than his favorite tab was set to Google Maps.

  He followed 10th Ave S to Clara Park. Tanya pulled up a chair and began watching over his shoulder. She giggled. She had suggested they go to Clara Park on their second date. They sat in one of the parking lots making out until one of Great Falls finest flashed his light into Ryce’s Dodge. It was Dean Hawthorne, who transferred to Billings PD a year later.

  Ryce must have remembered the evening in Clara Park. He took Tanya’s hand and led her back to their bed. He was interrupted halfway through the first kiss.

  Ryce saw the call was from Matt, and, for a moment, thought about pressing the ignore button. Tanya had slipped on a bathrobe and was walking into the bathroom. Ryce pressed the answer button and then the speaker button. Tanya poked her head through the bathroom door.

  “You have reached the cell phone of Ryce Dalton. This is a recording.”

  Matt began to laugh. “If my memory is correct, getting this particular recording on your cell phone means you are having dinner with Tanya, in the Biblical sense. I hate to interrupt, but we got the Caravan entering I-15 North at Country Club Boulevard. Two of my people and two Great Falls PD are following it. So I don’t incur the wrath of Tanya, I will send you text messages from now on.”

  Tanya stomped out of the bathroom, pushed Ryce onto the bed, and jumped on his stomach.

  “So he knows about having dinner with your wife in the Biblical sense?”

  Ryce started to laugh and then stopped. “The first night we were together, you walked into the Great Falls office with a grin that would make a great white shark blush.”

  Tanya laughed. “That was different. I had to pr
ove to the Great Falls office that I wasn’t leaving town for a nunnery.”

  Ryce pulled her close. “You look a lot better than any nun I have ever seen.”

  As Tanya got off the bed and walked to the bathroom, her parting comment was, “How many of these nuns have you seen in the Biblical sense?”

  Ryce walked to his cell phone to check his latest text message. Would he ever win? For that matter, did he even want to win?

  “Ryce, the Dodge got off at Exit 286. It drove to The Cattleman’s Cut Supper Club, where a man in a black Silverado Quad-cab met them. We ran the plates, and it is registered to a Delbert Grant.”

  Ryce chuckled. That must be the “Grant” that Dianne had said they needed to meet.

  Matt continued.

  “Dianne removed a large diamond-plate case and a wheeled travel-bag from the Caravan and placed them in the pickup. Grant passed out thick envelopes to the two men with Dianne, and then they got back into the Caravan and drove off. I have a couple people tailing the Caravan.

  “I was parked in a position which gave me a full view of the front window. When Dianne got into the truck, she and Grant wrapped up for several minutes. Sort of looked like you and Tanya. Lol”

  Matt had typed “lol” so many times, it had filled two lines on the message.

  “Dianne and Delbert left here a couple minutes ago, heading north on I-15. Where are they going? I-15 will take them to the Sweet Grass border crossing, or if they follow your route, I-15 will also take them up to the cabin you were observing. I have two agents tailing the pickup and have informed Russ and Damien what to look for.”

  Ryce sent a short “Thank you” text to Matt and then walked into the bathroom. They now had no way to track either the laptops or Dianne electronically. And, since the single transmission after ordering pizza, the LoJack on the Pentagon laptop had been silent. Matt did not have sufficient people to run a rolling tail. If he had four additional vehicles, it might be possible.