Red Cell Seven

by Stephen Frey

  Troy whipped around, and his mouth fell open as he realized what was happening. Travers had backed off a few steps and was aiming a Taser directly at him.

  “What…what the hell?”

  “I need to take that with me,” Travers said, nodding down at the clear bag and its precious contents. “But you’re staying. I’m going to tie you up and leave you in here. I’ll send someone up for you when I’m back to the trailhead. I promise.”

  “I’ll die.”

  “There’s that possibility. It’s a bad deal, Troy, but that’s the way it’s going to be.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Troy asked incredulously.

  “Stewart Baxter told me everything.”

  Troy gazed at Travers, even more perplexed. “You met with Baxter?”

  “Yeah, and he convinced me that your father and Roger Carlson knew about and backed the assassination attempt on President Dorn. That it wasn’t just Shane Maddux’s idea. It was a whole RCS deal. It came down from the top.”

  Troy was convinced that wasn’t true and that it had originally been Maddux’s idea. But did it really matter? In the end, Carlson and his father had definitely backed the plan. “How would Baxter know that?”

  “Maddux told him.”

  “What?” That made no sense at all. “Baxter knows Shane Maddux?”

  “Apparently, his kid and Maddux go way back. Anyway, Baxter told me all about the two original Executive Orders. Baxter had no idea where this one was, but I figured this was what we were coming out here for. Carlson spent his summers out here as a teenager, and he was a mountain climber. He knew this area very well. I checked it out. It all made sense.”

  “Does President Dorn have the other original?”

  “Yes.”

  “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  “What?”

  “It means Baxter had Carlson’s wife killed.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “She’s missing. No one’s seen her for a week. Baxter must have had her killed. It’s the only explanation, Major. President Dorn may even know about it.”

  “No way,” Travers said firmly, raising the Taser. “I don’t believe that, either.”

  “Major, if you take this original and give it to Baxter, you’re destroying Red Cell Seven forever.”

  “If RCS is trying to assassinate the president of the United States, then that’s what I should be doing. That’s what my instincts tell me, and they’re usually right.”

  “No,” Troy shot back. “Think about what we accomplished in Florida. Think about how many people we saved.”

  Travers swallowed hard as he gazed steadily at Troy. “It’s…it’s a hard decision. I’ll grant you that, Troy.”

  “Don’t do this, Major. Forget about me; I don’t matter in all of this. But think about the country. You’re putting it in terrible danger if you take this Order to the president.”

  He was sounding exactly like his father now, but Bill was right. Not about assassinating President Dorn, but about everything else. Troy understood that now. Bill and Carlson should not have backed the assassination attempt, but Red Cell Seven had to survive. It was too important to national security. What had happened in Florida had proved that to him. Maybe RCS wasn’t for him personally anymore, maybe he’d lost the edge. But the country absolutely needed the cell. It was a vital piece of the intelligence puzzle. Traditional U.S. intel units might have taken weeks, maybe even months, finding Daniel Gadanz and the death squads. Many more people would have died. More schools probably would have been attacked. The economy would have imploded. The spiral would have been catastrophic. The enemies would have won.

  “You’re a good man, Major Travers,” Troy said. “Don’t weaken the country you love so much. President Dorn doesn’t understand what needs to be—”

  The dart struck Troy in the side of the neck, and he dropped like a sack of dirt.

  Travers slid the Taser quickly back into his belt, then leaned down and picked up the bag Troy had just dropped. “I promise I’ll have someone come back and get you, kid.” He slipped the bag into his coat pocket, grabbed a coiled length of rope from over his shoulder, and began to kneel down next to Troy’s shuddering frame. “I’m sorry, Troy. I don’t like—”

  “Major Travers.”

  Travers bolted up when he heard the voice coming from directly behind him in the cave. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded, turning quickly to face the person.

  A man with dark good looks smiled an easy half smile as he calmly leveled a .44 Magnum at Travers from ten feet away. “I’m Jack Jensen, Major Travers. Troy’s older brother.” Jack nodded to his right as an attractive brunette moved up beside him. She was training a .44 Mag on Travers as well. “And this is Karen Morris. She’s going to be in charge of you for the next few minutes while I take care of my drooling kid brother. I’d advise you to do exactly as she orders. She’s the one who saved you in North Carolina. As I believe you saw there at the Kohler farm, she’s good with a gun. She’s very accurate and not at all afraid to pull the trigger.”

  “WE’VE GOT to get going,” Troy muttered as he sat with his back against the cave wall, right beneath the spot that had hidden the Executive Order for so many years. It had been nearly half an hour since Travers had tased him, and he was feeling better. “Seriously.”

  “You need a few more minutes,” Jack countered with a wry grin as he crouched beside his younger brother. “Seriously.”

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Troy murmured as he glanced at Karen.

  She was a few yards away keeping an eye on Travers. Jack had hog-tied him and put him into Troy’s Dark Star sleeping bag. They were going to leave him here—as he had been going to leave Troy. They couldn’t trust him on the trail.

  “I’m not really here,” Jack answered. “You’re hallucinating, Troy. I’m just a figment of your imagination.”

  “Thank God. I was worried there for a second I might have to share Mom and Dad’s estate with you.” He glanced up into his brother’s eyes. They’d already gone through the initial emotional backslapping scene as soon as Troy’s tremors had settled enough for him to grab Jack. “Seriously, what are you doing here?”

  “Watching out for you. Someone has to. You can’t seem to do it for yourself.”

  “I mean,” Troy said quietly, “on earth. What are you doing alive?”

  Jack chuckled. “Oh, that.”

  “Yeah, that.”

  Jack’s grin faded. “It was all Dad’s idea. He figured Maddux would come after me, so he beat the bastard to the punch. I was wearing Kevlar on the porch that afternoon.”

  “But I saw the blood coming from your mouth.”

  “It wasn’t real. Just one of those prop cherries.”

  “But you—”

  “You took off across the field right after the shot to chase down the shooter. I was into the ambulance and gone by the time you got back.”

  “That’s right,” Troy murmured as he thought back on it. “It was instinct.”

  “The plan was for Dad to yell at you to do that, but he didn’t even have to.”

  “No, he sure didn’t.” Troy thought back on how Bill had been about to tell him something in the office. This had to be it. But in the RCS tradition, he’d kept the secret. “I was sure I could run the bastard down.”

  “The only people who knew were Dad, the guy who shot me, and the EMTs. Even Mom didn’t know.”

  “They didn’t even tell Karen,” she called out loudly. Her voice echoed in the cave. “And when everything calms down again, your brother and I are going to have a very long conversation about that, Troy.”

  Jack laughed. “Sorry, baby.”

  “You ever do that to me again, Jack, and I’ll shoot you myself. And you won’t have Kevlar on when I do.”

 
“Good to know, Karen.” Jack touched his chest. “I’ve still got a bruise from where the bullet hit me, even with the Kevlar.”

  “I bet.” Troy glanced up as it occurred to him. “So you were the one who got Maddux in the cemetery. You were the one who took him to the house and put him in that cell in the basement.”

  “I was keeping an eye on Karen from the shadows, too. I really think he would have killed her if I hadn’t shown up.”

  “I think you’re right,” Troy agreed.

  Jack turned his head to call to Karen over his shoulder. “Maybe because I saved her life that night, she’ll go a little easier on me when we have that talk.”

  “Maybe,” Karen called back. “Maybe not.”

  “You know Dad let him go,” Troy said somberly.

  “Really?”

  “You know why?”

  Jack shook his head.

  “There’s a tape of Dad and Rita Hayes,” Troy said quietly so only Jack could hear him.

  “As in the Rita Hayes who was Dad’s EA all those years?”

  “As in that one.”

  “The Rita Hayes who’s missing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it the kind of tape I think it is?” Jack asked hesitantly.

  “Yeah, and Maddux has it.”

  Jack grimaced. “Terrible.”

  “It gets worse.” Troy took a deep breath. “I think Dad had Rita killed,” he said softly. “He thought she had the tape, but it was Maddux.”

  They were quiet for a long time.

  “I can’t believe it,” Jack finally murmured.

  “You were lucky to be dead.”

  “I guess.” Jack shook his head. “Well, it let me be the one to correspond with Jennie. She didn’t know who I was, so it wasn’t like she could tell anyone I’d faked my murder.” Jack raised an eyebrow. “She’s a nice young woman.”

  “Yeah, well—”

  “We’re just lucky Lisa never showed her a picture of me.”

  “True.”

  “She likes you a lot, Troy.”

  “I like her, too.”

  “Good.” Jack patted Troy’s shoulder, then gestured at Travers. “I feel bad leaving him here. I mean, I understand why he sided with Baxter. But I don’t see any other way.”

  “There is no other way,” Troy agreed, making it to his feet with Jack’s help. “He’s a good man, but we can’t take the chance that he’d try to grab the Order on the trail.”

  “You sure you’re okay?” Jack asked.

  “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

  “Maybe we should stay here in the cave tonight. It’s already dark out.”

  “I don’t want to wait. I want to go through the night.” Troy tapped his coat on top of the pocket that held the bag with the Order inside. “We’ve got to get this thing out of here and safe as soon as possible.”

  “Okay.”

  Jack turned, but Troy caught him by the arm. “Thanks, brother,” he murmured as they hugged again. “It seems like you’re always saving my ass.”

  “Hey, what’s an older brother for?”

  TROY, JACK, and Karen had gone only twenty feet from the cave opening when six forms appeared out of the snow that was whipping wildly through the high rock walls of Bonny Pass. The assailants were on them before they could even draw their guns.

  “Get off her!” Jack shouted when Karen cried out in pain from beside him. One of the men had clasped her roughly by the upper arms and squeezed them together behind her back, stretching her shoulders terribly. “I swear I will—”

  “You will what?” a seventh man demanded as he appeared in front of them out of the gloom. He was short and wiry, even with the cold-weather gear.

  “Shane Maddux,” Jack whispered in amazement.

  “Wasn’t I supposed to have killed you?” Maddux asked sarcastically. “With a rifle from three hundred yards, right, Jack?” He took a few more steps forward so now he was directly in front of Jack and very close. “You’re looking pretty good for being dead.”

  “I guess your aim wasn’t that great.”

  Maddux grinned smugly. “Let me tell you something. If I wanted to kill you, I would.”

  “How did you know we were here?” Troy demanded.

  “Your father told me. I had something he wanted very badly. Two days ago we traded that for the information I wanted. It was a good trade. Here I am.”

  “You wanted to know where the original of the Executive Order was hidden.”

  “The one Roger Carlson wasn’t keeping on hand,” Maddux confirmed. “I told Bill that if he tried to get in touch with you after the trade, I’d kill all of you when I got here. Judging by your reaction to our arrival, Bill kept his word. He’s a wise man.” Maddux took several steps to the side in the snow so that now he was standing in front of Troy. “Give me what I want.”

  “You’re not getting anything, Shane.”

  Maddux nodded to the men standing behind Troy. As they tightened their grip on Troy, Maddux reached inside Troy’s coat and pulled out the clear plastic bag containing the Executive Order. “Well, that was easy enough. I guess now I can—”

  Suddenly Karen broke free. As she stumbled forward, she reached for the .44 inside her coat, turned as she fell into the snow, and fired back at the man who’d been holding her and was now coming at her. She fired once, killing him instantly with a bullet through the chest.

  Troy and Jack struggled violently to free themselves as Karen turned her gun on the men holding the brothers. She hit one of Jack’s captors in the shoulder and one of Troy’s in the side, and the brothers broke free.

  As she swung the .44 Magnum toward Shane Maddux, he shot her in the head with his favorite pistol—a Winchester .22.

  CHAPTER 35

  TROY AND Jack sat in a waiting room of New York–Presbyterian Hospital in Midtown Manhattan. It had been a week since all hell had broken loose on Bonny Pass and five days since Karen had been transported from a Casper, Wyoming, hospital to this facility in New York City on the Jensen G450. But she was still in intensive care. She hadn’t yet regained consciousness from the head wound, and her prognosis wasn’t good.

  “The doctors here are the best in the world at what Karen needs, Jackson,” Troy spoke up, using the nickname he’d missed using so much. A nickname he thought he’d never use again. “Mom made sure of that while we were bringing Karen home.”

  “I know.”

  “She’ll make it.”

  “I…I hope so,” Jack said haltingly. “But they’re not sure, brother.” He was leaning forward with his face in his hands as he sat on a couch opposite Troy’s chair. “I…I never should have let her come with me to Wyoming. I should have known better, Troy.”

  “Remember, brother, I’ve known Karen longer than you have, a lot longer. She’s an awesome young woman, but she’s one of the most stubborn people in the world. Once she knew you were alive again, she wasn’t going to let you out of her sight. She loves you that much.”

  Jack took a deep breath, rubbed water from his eyes, and then cleared his throat, embarrassed at his emotions, even in front of his brother. “That’s exactly what she said,” he agreed in a gritty voice after a few moments. “I love her that much, too.”

  “I know.” Troy understood what Jack was thinking. “And if you hadn’t followed Travers and me out there with her, I’d be dead right now. Maddux wouldn’t have kept his promise to Dad. We both know that. It wouldn’t have been in his best interest to let me live, and he always acts in his own best interest.” Troy paused. “You saved my life, Jack…again.”

  “Karen saved your life.”

  “You both did.”

  “And Maddux got away…again.”

  “There’s nothing we could have done. He’s slick. We both know that.”

  “And he h
as the Executive Order.”

  Karen being shot was the worst part of what had happened. But Maddux escaping with the bag and its precious contents was a close second.

  In the end, Troy, Karen, and Jack had shot three of Maddux’s accomplices before the other three had taken off into the gloom. Then they’d gone back into the cave and freed Travers, and each man had taken turns carrying Karen’s limp body down the mountain to Troy’s vehicle at the trailhead. They hadn’t stopped once for food or even rest until Karen was in the Casper hospital emergency room—after which they’d all gotten treatment themselves for exposure and dehydration.

  “Where do you think Dad is?” Jack asked.

  “I called First Manhattan. The woman I spoke to said he was taking two weeks off for a vacation in the Caribbean with Mom.” Troy glanced down the hallway. Cheryl was just coming back from changing Little Jack’s diaper. “We know that’s not true. He told Mom he was going on a business trip to Europe.”

  “You think Mom knows it was a lie?”

  Troy nodded. “Yeah, she’s too smart to be fooled anymore. But I don’t think she cares that much. I think she’s carrying what she cares about.”

  “Where do you think Dad really is?”

  “I don’t know, Jack. I’m not sure I care.”

  PRESIDENT DORN smiled serenely at the television as he and Baxter sat in the Oval Office watching the CNN news report. The anchor had just announced the capture of the last member of the death squads—and Dorn was getting all the credit.

  He only had one of the Executive Orders, true. So Red Cell Seven was still legitimate. But sooner or later he’d get the other one. He’d learned long ago to enjoy huge victories in the moment, and this was most certainly one of those victories.

  “You’re a hero,” Baxter said loudly. “The country adores you. You’ve solidified your legacy.”

  Dorn’s smile grew wider. “I am a hero. And they should love me.”

  “By the way, sir, Major Travers is—”

  “Not yet, Stewart,” Dorn interrupted, still soaking in the accolades from the newspeople and from the series of interviews CNN had done in Washington and New York with citizens on the street. Everyone was being effusive with praise for the efficient and effective end to what had essentially been a nationwide hostage situation. When the report was over, Dorn looked over at Baxter. “Now what was that?”