by Sam Cheever
Which reminded her. “So. Where do we go now?"
Alastair frowned, “Back to the safe house, right Alf?"
His brother frowned. “I didn't want to tell you this until we got where we're going."
Alistair groaned. “Now what?"
"The safe house was broken into right after we left. Apparently they found something there that told them where we'd be."
His intense gaze met theirs in the mirror. Alastair frowned, thinking. Then he realized he'd made notes on his laptop about the meeting. “They got my computer?"
Alfric nodded.
"Shit!"
Angie felt her stomach clenching. “How did they find the safe house?"
Alfric shook his head. “That's the big question isn't it?” He sighed, “I'm sorry, Stair, Angie. But Clovis has the perfect hideaway for you."
Alastair's face folded into a doubtful frown. “Clovis?"
Alfric chuckled. “Don't worry. I think you're gonna like it."
* * * *
* * * *
Clovis met them at the gate.
Brita was with him but there was no sign of Percy. She walked over to the car with Clovis and stuck her head in the car. “Are you two okay?” They nodded. “Good. I'll have somebody bring your stuff from the house as soon as I can. In the meantime Clovis can provide what you need. It won't be pretty, but it will be serviceable."
Clovis snorted, “Nothing prettier than Marine uniforms, cop."
She smiled at him, “Right.” Turning to Alfric she extended her hand. “Nice work Agent."
Alfric took her hand and shook it. “Take it easy on Percy, huh? He was doing what he thought best for you and the family. He was trying to keep you out of it in case something went wrong."
Her pretty face darkened in a scowl, “How? By making me look stupid and inept?"
Angie grimaced at Alastair. It didn't look good for Percy. Alastair shook his head.
Clovis climbed into the front seat with Alfric. Brita stepped away from the car.
As they drove away, Angie turned in her seat to watch Brita speak to the guard and then climb into her car. Then she turned back around and spoke to Clovis, “A military base?"
Clovis turned in his seat and grinned. “No safer place for you. Especially where we're going to put you."
Angie turned panicked eyes to Alastair.
Alastair touched her knee and warm tremors slid through her at the contact. “Exactly where is that, Clovis?"
Clovis grinned, “You'll see."
They passed through another gate after about fifteen minutes. Angie was surprised at the size of the base and she was equally surprised by the change in scenery as they drove around it. The landscape had quickly changed from the expected one of long, low, brick and cinder block buildings to wide fields of grass and flowers and then into a densely wooded area split only by a rutted dirt road with the occasional unmarked fork or crossing. Clovis explained that the Marines needed to train for all types of terrain and all types of battle conditions. And while a densely wooded terrain in the US was a vastly different thing from a rain forest in the Congo, the basics were close enough to allow them to train in the special tactics needed to fight in a moist, heavily treed area.
After a while they emerged from the dense, natural forest into a world totally unlike anything they'd ever seen. They passed through another fence line that surrounded hard, parched looking ground which they soon realized was covered in sand. The bright white sand, which started out as just a thin cover over the vegetation free ground, thickened until, as they approached some kind of low-slung structure in the distance, it spread in rolling mounds as far as the eye could see.
It looked like a desert.
Alastair, who had been staring out at the changing landscape silently for several moments, suddenly jerked and looked at his brother. “Middle East?"
Clovis nodded. “Desert training. We even have heating coils buried under the sand to simulate the temps our guys will experience in the desert. We turn them off at night and let the cold take over. Like a real desert. It's really pretty cool."
Alastair nodded.
As they drove further into the desert-like terrain, something large and brown became visible in the distance. After about fifteen minutes, the H2 pulled up to the tall, rocky face of a wide, sharp-edged hill and stopped.
Clovis saw Angie staring at the hill. “One of the things we've had to learn about fighting terrorists in the Middle East is how to do battle in caves. And, since the enemy lives in them, we've learned how to live in them too. Of course our temporary living quarters are a bit fancier than theirs.” He grinned. “But other than that we've tried to make the training center as much like a real combat situation as possible."
Alastair nodded. Angie gave the hillside a strange look. But it wasn't until Clovis touched her shoulder and said, “Come on,” and started heading towards it that she turned pale.
"I ... I can't go in there.” Her large green eyes widened in fear.
Clovis looked at his brother. Alastair put an arm around her shoulders. “What's wrong, Ang?"
She shook her head. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with unshed tears and looked luminous in her paper white face. “I have claustrophobia. I used to have nightmares about being in a dark, tiny underground place."
His gaze softened and he pulled her close, kissing her on the forehead. “I'm a little afraid of small places too. But maybe this isn't that bad. Can you come in with me and check it out and then, if you can't handle it we'll just pull a couple of cots out under the stars and stay outside."
Angie swiped at a tear that had escaped and smiled. “We could do that. That's a good idea."
Alastair grinned back. “It will be just like camping out.” She nodded and he turned with his arm still around her shoulders, leading her toward the cave. There was a door set into the wide arc of the cave's natural opening. It was set into cement and stone. From the door, stairs descended into a darker space.
Angie broke out into a sweat.
"I used to have these dreams when I was a kid, where I got lost in this cave and kept bashing my head on those things that hang down from the top...” He turned to Clovis as they hit the first step. “Is that the stalactite or the stalagmite, bro?"
Angie hesitated on that step, her eyes darkening in fear.
Clovis came up and put a large, square hand on Alastair's shoulder, “Stalactite.” He gave the shoulder a painful squeeze, “And you dreamed you hit your head because Percy and I were standing over your bed smacking you."
Alastair's eyes widened, “You what? I was terrified of caves and dark places because of that dream."
Clovis laughed and dodged a punch from his younger brother by nine months. “It was your stupid dream, Stair, we just added the special effects."
Angie laughed with them, momentarily forgetting about her fear as they started descending into the structure. “Why did you dream about caves anyway?"
Alastair shook his head, glancing over his shoulder at Alfric, who had been on his phone and joined just in time to hear Angie's question.
"Because we went spelunking one year for a family vacation in Southern Indiana.” Alfric answered her with a grin.
Clovis laughed, “And this one cave was full of bats. They were hanging from the ceiling and they were perfectly still."
"Until Stair sneezed and his nose whistled."
Alastair clapped himself on the forehead, “God, I hate when that happens."
"And that stirred the bats up. Unfortunately for Alastair he was standing in the opening and they wanted through it.” Clovis laughed, shaking his blond head. “The whole contingent of bats headed right for his head."
Angie covered her mouth with her hand in horror, her laughing green eyes met Alastair's. He shivered theatrically but he was laughing with his brothers.
"You should have seen him dive to the side to avoid them."
Alastair shuddered, “I hit my head on a stalactite and mom and dad
thought I was dead for sure."
Alfric smacked him gently on the arm. “But he was just cowering on the floor, his little white girly arms crossed over his head."
Alastair frowned, “Hey, I was seven years old. Cut me some slack."
Clovis laughed, “So after that, every time we'd see him asleep and waving his arms around his head like this...” Clovis and Alfric both made their arms limp and swung them comically around their heads, “we'd go over and smack him on the forehead."
Alfric and Clovis gave each other rock knuckles and Angie screwed her lips up so she wouldn't be caught laughing, “That's awful!"
Alastair nodded enthusiastically, “You see, an unbiased opinion, you're both jerks, and Percy too."
This only made the two brothers laugh even harder.
Angie gave Alastair a commiserating look and shook her head. “I'm glad I never had any brothers."
Alastair muttered, “Tell me about it.” But he was smiling.
"So,” Clovis said, “What do you think?"
Angie gave a little start and looked around. The Honeybun brothers had succeeded so well in distracting her that she hadn't even noticed she was underground.
* * * *
* * * *
Brita threw the report down on her cluttered desk and scowled at the bulky man sitting across from her. “How the hell did you let this happen, Gates?"
The man lifted fleshy shoulders toward his big, red ears and shook his head. A fat bandage covered the spot on the top of his head where he'd taken a pistol butt to the skull. “I was just watering the pots on the front porch and bam, I was down."
Brita stared hard at him. “Did you really think the damn flowers were more important than your job?"
He shrugged again. “The witnesses were gone and I didn't know it was a choice between the two. Besides, I hate to see flowers wilt."
Brita scrubbed a hand over her face and blew air noisily through her lips. She was already so angry at Percy and now she had to be grateful to him for getting Alastair and Angie out of the house. If they hadn't left an hour before Detective Gates got clocked on the head they might be dead right now. “This is like a damn movie,” she muttered, “a bad one."
Gates nodded, “What we need to figure out is how they found out where the witnesses were being held."
Brita screwed up her face, the obvious conclusion making her stomach churn and boil with fear. “I guess we need to consider that we might have a dirty cop on our hands."
Gates looked down at his size twelve feet and kept silent. No cop likes to think that's possible.
Brita dropped into her chair. She sat for a long moment, reluctant to say what she had to say next. But finally she pulled a small pad of lined paper close and grabbed a pencil. “Okay, let's figure out who knew where the witnesses were being held."
Gates lifted his big head and straightened in the chair. “It's gonna be a long list."
She frowned, the pencil poised over the paper. “I know. But it has to be done. And until we figure out where the leak is I'm not going to tell anyone in the department where I'm keeping the witnesses now.
Gates frowned, “Not even me?"
Brita's gaze softened. She'd known Joshua Gates for almost ten years. He was a good cop and an even better man. But at this point she didn't want to trust anyone except Percy's very capable family to keep Angie and Alastair safe. Everyone else was subject to that tiniest bit of uncertainty that made them impossible to trust. She smiled at Gates to soften the message, “Sorry."
He stared hard at her for a moment and then nodded. “I understand, Brita. You're doin’ what you need to do.” He took a deep breath and then settled his weight forward, resting his thick forearms on his thighs. “Okay ... Clarice would know where we'd stashed them because she had to assign the safe house. As usual, we sent the updated list of protected witnesses to the District Attorney's office. My replacement, Willie Blanks knew, I don't know if he told anyone or not. He knows he's not supposed to but he tends to blather after he's had a few beers so we should probably check out the bar across the street ... see if anyone remembers him coming in there recently and spouting off. The shift cops who've been doing periodic checks of the house knew..."
Brita nodded, writing fast.
Her phone rang and she grabbed it. “Muldane.” She frowned. “Did you find it?” She glanced at Gates and rolled her eyes. “All right. Keep looking and let me know as soon as you do.” She hung up the phone and dropped her head into her hands, sighing wearily.
"Bad news?"
Brita looked up. “They lost the Escalade."
"Are you shitting me? How the hell did they do that?"
She shook her head. “Apparently a couple of bystanders crashed between us and the Escalade and our perps escaped back down the highway before we could get a car clear."
Graves shook his big head, “Shit, Brita."
"Yeah. Shit it is."
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Eleven
Other than the arching rock walls and ceiling, the space didn't look like a cave. It was sparse and well ordered, a stainless steel kitchen gleamed at them from one side. Bunk beds, stacked and bolted to the wall, filled the opposite wall. The space between held several clusters of tables and chairs, which created informal gathering areas. The floor beneath their feet was covered in rubber tile and unadorned.
It was cool and just the slightest bit damp in the cave. She thought she could hear water running somewhere in the distance. Angie rubbed her arms and glanced up. The ceiling was natural rock, but bare light bulbs strung on thick, black wire, hung from it to provide stark but adequate lighting in the space. She wiped sweaty palms on her jeans and took deep breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart. “Needs a few rugs, maybe some paint.” Her voice cracked a little but she was proud to find that it sounded fairly normal.
Clovis clapped her on the back, not as hard as he would hit his brothers but hard enough to make her stumble forward. “She'll do, Stair. She's a Marine through and through."
Alastair grabbed her so she didn't fall. Angie grinned up at Clovis. “Thanks, Clovis. That's high praise coming from you."
He nodded and motioned toward the bunks. “You'll find a couple of changes of uniform there, and blankets, pillows, towels, etc. The lav's in there,” he pointed toward a passageway towards the back of the cave. Soap, shampoo, and toothpaste. The shower's a bit cold but the water's clean and fresh.” He grinned, “There's a natural waterfall a ways back. The kitchen is equipped and there are some basic foodstuffs, but we'll send someone to check in every day to see if you want to go to the NCO club for lunch or dinner.” He stood looking around as if trying to figure out what else they would need. Suddenly he headed into the kitchen area. “Oh yeah, and if you're going to be out in the sand at night, use this...” he lifted what looked like a camping lantern off the counter. “It's a black light."
Then he turned to Alfric. “You ready?"
Clovis and Alfric left after promising to return the following day to find out how they were doing. Angie and Alastair stood in the cave for a moment, looking around. Alastair could tell by the pale and sweaty aspect to Angie's face that she was battling her fear of underground spaces. He made a sudden decision. “You know what. Even though you're handling this underground thing extremely well..."
She gave him a quivering smile.
"I think I feel like sleeping outside under the stars tonight. Are you game?"
Angie's face brightened in a wide smile. “You wouldn't mind?"
Alastair shook his head. “I love to camp out. Besides, I think I might have one of those cave nightmares if we stayed in here tonight.” He gave her a mischievous grin.
She laughed, “That's almost enough to make me stay underground. It may be my only chance to smack you on the head when you go like this...” and she proceeded to mimic Clovis’ and Alfric's imitation of Alastair fighting off the bats.
He laughed. “Cruel woman."
&
nbsp; "I'll get the pillows and blankets."
"And I'll get the goodie bag my mom gave you. We'll have a picnic."
* * * *
* * * *
Brita answered her phone on the fourth ring, her breathing harsh as she said, “Hello?” She'd run all the way across the room to grab it before it swung over to voice mail.
"Detective Muldane?"
Brita dropped into her chair, putting her hand over the mouthpiece while she took a couple of deep breaths and settled her heart rate. “Yes."
"This is Selma Burns."
Brita's eyes widened and she grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil. “Mrs. Burns. Have you heard from the kidnappers again?"
"No I haven't. But that's no longer important. I've heard from Debra. She's apparently escaped."
Brita dropped her pencil and sat back in her chair. Her face showing her surprise. “Escaped? How? When? I need to speak with her right away."
"I'm sorry Detective, she won't tell me where she is or who kidnapped her. I tried to get her to tell me ... really I did. But she's always been so stubborn. Just like her father I'm afraid."
Brita's mind raced. “Mrs. Burns, do we have your permission to trace the phone call?"
There was a thought filled silence, “Trace the phone call? Why, yes, I guess you could do that. I want you to find my daughter, Detective. I'm very worried about her. I'm afraid of what she'll do."
Brita had been signaling for her partner to get him started on the trace but the woman's words stopped her cold. “What she'll do, Mrs. Burns? What do you mean?"
Brita heard the woman sigh. “I think she might do something stupid, Detective Muldane. I'm ... I'm afraid she's going to try to blackmail the kidnappers."
* * * *
* * * *
Brian Davies sat in his late model Mercedes sports car and stared up at the window of the room where Debra was staying. He knew she was dabbling in things that were way beyond her ability to control and it scared the shit out of him. The way he figured it he had two choices. He could either go ahead with helping her do what she wanted to do ... or he could do what he knew he should, and save her from herself.
