“He sounds like a nice guy.”
“One of the best.” In truth, Aaron was one of the few people Jase had considered sharing his past with, but he’d always held back. Now there would be no other choice. They reached the edge of the town of Silver Mountain. Jase remembered it was similar to Eldorado in layout, the main street lined with rows of tourist shops and a handful of restaurants. Instead of driving through the town, he took one of the back streets.
“Aaron’s place is about as off the grid as mine. He told me once that he liked the solitude of the mountains because it helped him put things into perspective. He owns a two-hundred-acre ranch that you can only reach by driving down a ten-mile dirt road.” Jase could certainly understand Aaron’s need for solitude. The type of work they did made it hard to adjust to normal civilian life. Sometimes being alone was the best way of dealing with the nightmares.
Once outside of town, Jase drove slowly up the steep mountain road until he spotted the simple gate leading up to Aaron’s place tucked up against Silver Mountain. When they reached the house, he pulled the Land Cruiser around behind it and parked. The seclusion of the place could prove either to be the perfect hideout or the makings of the worst ambush ever. He noticed Reyna staring at the house.
“Jase, there’s a light on.” She pointed at the second floor. He saw it, too. A tiny light shone through slatted wood blinds. Had Aaron forgotten to turn off a light upstairs or was someone in there?
“Stay here. Let me have a quick look around inside.”
He started to get out, but she stopped him. “Jase... wait.” Her voice caught over his name and he turned back. Even exhausted, she was lovely. She had the type of eyes a man could get lost in.
He gave himself a mental shake. He was getting soft.
Reyna closed the space between them and went into his arms. After a second’s hesitation, he held her close. She was like a safe place in a terrible storm and he breathed in the fresh, clean scent of her. She smelled like the mountains he loved. Like a promise yet to be fulfilled.
He clung to her until she pushed away and he let her go.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
“I will.” With one final searching look her way, he drew the weapon and got out of the vehicle.
SIX
With the exception of the light, the house appeared empty. He hadn’t seen any movement from inside.
Jase stepped up onto the deck, opened the top of the light fixture. The key had slid to the bottom.
He took it out and unlocked the door, then slipped inside. The first thing he noticed beyond the quietness of the place was that it was warm. Jase slowly crept upstairs to the room in question. He gripped the doorknob, counted to three to himself and swung the door open. The room was empty. In the corner, a tiny nightlight lit the place. He let out a huge sigh of relief and searched the rest of the upstairs. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
After a thorough search downstairs yielded nothing, either, Jase went back to the SUV. “Everything’s good. Aaron just left a nightlight plugged in.” He gave her a reassuring look. “We should be safe here.”
Once they went inside the house and locked the door behind them, Reyna stopped in the entryway and stood perfectly still with her eyes closed. Then she looked over at him and smiled. “This feels wonderful.”
He grinned at her enraptured expression. “Yeah, it’s amazing the things we take for granted—like heat and a dry place to stay.”
“Yes. How long can we stay?”
He wished he had a clear answer to give her. “I’m not sure. I want to get a look at those files and we need to lay low for a while. These people obviously have a lot of manpower on the ground.” He glanced at his watch. “Aaron should be calling soon. I’m praying with his help we can find a way out of this.”
Reyna followed him into the great room and sank down on the sofa. The crazy pace they’d been on since they left his house was taking its toll on both of them. Jase took off his jacket and sat down next to her. He wanted to be close. His desire to protect her ran deep.
“Why don’t you stretch out on the sofa for a bit? Try and get some rest.”
Before she could answer, his phone chirped and he picked it up. Aaron’s number appeared on the screen. Jase answered the call and put it on speaker so that Reyna could hear.
“Davis, I’m hoping you made it there safely?” Aaron’s booming voice came through the phone. He sounded tense, as if he were spooked about something.
Jase and Reyna’s gazes locked. “Yes, we’re here, Aaron. Is everything okay?”
“I’m not sure.” Aaron hesitated. “I got a call from a friend right before you texted me. He’s been monitoring the ham radio for a while and there’s a lot of unusual chatter out there about a couple of fugitives. A man and a woman. If they’re talking about you, it sounds like they’re organizing a massive manhunt and they’ve looped in the local authorities. What kind of trouble are you two in?”
“I wish I knew,” Jase told him with an exasperated sigh. “I’m here with my...friend, Reyna Peterson.”
“Good to meet you, Reyna. It’s a shame it has to be under these circumstances.”
Reyna smiled. “Me, too. Thank you for giving us a safe place to stay.”
“That’s no problem. Now, what’s going on, Davis, and how can I help?”
Jase realized he had to start with the truth. He just hadn’t imagined how hard it would be. “Aaron, I need to tell you that my name is really Jase Bradford and I’m former CIA.” He hit the broad strokes of why he had faked his death, then went on to explain about Eddie dying and the reason he and Reyna needed his help now.
Aaron blew out an audible breath. “Wow, and I thought I’d seen some bad things during my time with Special Ops. You think whatever’s on the laptop is connected to what happened to your team?”
Jase furrowed his brow. It was too much of a coincidence otherwise. “My gut is telling me it has to be connected. Whatever is on it is obviously extremely important to someone.”
He took the laptop from the bag and let out an admiring whistle.
“I’m looking at the laptop now. It’s state-of-the-art. Looks like it’s equipped with a sunlight-readable touchscreen, a fingerprint scanner and some antitheft features. It appears impenetrable, but Eddie obviously cracked the code somehow...” He glanced Reyna’s way. “Any idea where he got it?”
“No, none.”
Jase studied it closer. “It’s military grade, but I’ve never known any of our people to use this particular type of laptop.”
Aaron was silent for a second. “I’d need to get a look at it. Can you use the video call feature on the phone? It’ll be the next best thing to me being there.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll call you right back on it.” Jase hung up the phone and brought up the video chat feature. While he waited for Aaron to pick up, something on the side of the laptop caught his attention. The wireless modem was disabled. There was no way to access the internet. Eddie was making sure no one could track the laptop.
When Aaron appeared on the phone’s screen, Jase showed him what’d he’d discovered.
“You’re right about the importance of those files,” Aaron told them gravely. “Something’s on there worth killing for. We have to figure out what.”
Jase noticed something else. “It looks like at one time the laptop had a tracking device installed on it. Eddie must have removed it, as well.”
Once the laptop was running, he saw what Reyna had told him about. There were two sets of files. “What’s wrong?” she asked, noticing the taut expression on his face.
He pointed to the screen. “You were right about part of the files being encrypted. My guess is Eddie wasn’t able to decode it before his death.” Jase turned the phone so that Aaron could see what he was looking at. “Any ideas?” he asked.
&nb
sp; Aaron studied the laptop for a second, then said, “I’ve never seen anything like it before. Without knowing what software the owner used, I wouldn’t even know how to begin to crack that code. We’re going to need some help.”
Jase had an idea, but it meant reaching out to an old contact.
“Let’s hope the second file is less complicated,” he said as he clicked on it. It contained a group of photos. There were half a dozen similar pictures showing a caravan of Humvees moving through a mountainous region.
“Why encrypt one set of files and not the other?” Aaron asked the obvious question.
Jase sat back in his chair and thought about the photos for a moment. “Because they really are two separate files. I think Eddie took the photos. He was doing surveillance on someone...or something.”
The pictures were time stamped, the date more than six months earlier. Jase enlarged one of the photos. He could see inside one of the Humvees. It was loaded with weapons.
“The military wasn’t performing operations in the mountains of Afghanistan at that time, were they?” he asked Aaron.
“Not to my knowledge.”
Jase blew up the photo as much as he could. The driver certainly wasn’t military.
“These aren’t our men.” He pointed to the driver, who was obviously an Arab. “I’m guessing the weapons are stolen.”
He turned to Reyna. “You said Eddie was the only one from his unit who died. If the entire unit was involved in the mission, then why let them live and kill Eddie?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense,” she said in frustration.
Jase leaned closer to get a better look at the weapons. “Aaron, that’s some serious artillery they’re moving.”
He showed it to his pal, who studied the photo for a moment. Aaron then hissed out a breath. “It could do a lot of damage. Where do you think they’re transporting them?”
Jase had spent enough time in Afghanistan to recognize the rugged mountain region. “That’s near the border of Pakistan.”
Aaron’s mouth tightened. “Once they get the weapons over the border, there’ll be no getting them back. The tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan are terrorist controlled for the most part.”
“Exactly.” Jase brought up the next photo. It was a surveillance photo of massive amounts of weapons being stored. Jase could make out at least a dozen men moving the weapons into the building.
Reyna glanced over his shoulder. “I can’t even imagine how much they’ve managed to store up by now. What are they planning...?” The two of them stared at each other in alarm.
“That’s a good question,” Jase said. “Who knows how long they’ve been doing this. These pictures are over six months old. In the terrorist business, a lot of things can happen in that amount of time.”
“We have to find out who’s behind this before it’s too late,” Reyna whispered. “I want to know who was responsible for taking Eddie’s life.” She leaned closer and studied the photo and he was aware of her in a dozen different ways. The smell of her perfume tantalizing his senses. Her warm breath against his cheek. The feel of her knee gently nudging his. He forced himself to concentrate of what he was doing.
Jase enlarged the next photo. It showed what appeared to be some type of camp in the desert. There were more than a dozen tents set up. Men dressed in desert clothing carrying various types of weapons, their faces hidden from view. He honed in on a table set up outside one of the tents. It held a dozen or more surface-to-air launchers.
“I can’t believe it...” He showed it to Aaron.
“Some type of training camp, maybe?” Aaron suggested.
“That’d be my guess.” Jase flipped through the pictures once more. “The question is how do all the photos fit together? And who’s behind this? Without the information in the encrypted file, we’re playing a guessing game.” He ran a weary hand over his eyes.
Reyna touched his arm. “You’re tired. You just need food and rest. You’re working off sheer adrenaline alone. Maybe we should take a break. Things always look much clearer once you’re rested.”
He hoped she was right, but he had a bad feeling. A whole lot of people had died because of the secrets contained in those files.
He tried not to show Reyna his uncertainties. “You’re right, and I will soon. In the meantime, why don’t you try and get some sleep? Aaron and I will keep working the photos.”
She hesitated, then said, “I could use a shower. Is it all right, Aaron?”
For someone not accustomed to being on the run, she had held up amazingly well.
“Make yourself at home. The guest rooms are upstairs. Take your pick.”
“Thank you.” She smiled wearily and left them alone.
Once she was upstairs, Aaron said, “You know, I was serving in Afghanistan around the time of your attack. The CIA kept a tight lid on it, but I remember hearing whispers about it from one of the men I worked with who was CIA. It wasn’t right, what happened to your people.”
Jase swallowed back the lump in his throat. “No, it wasn’t. We lost a lot of good people that day.” As always, his thoughts drifted to Abby. She was so beautiful and so intelligent. He still missed her terribly.
“I’m going to text my friend Tim. Maybe there’s something new coming over the ham radio. Hang on a second.” Aaron’s image disappeared and Jase fought back the bitter memories once again.
It took only a matter of minutes before Aaron returned. “I don’t get it. Tim said the thing was exploding with noise earlier. Now it’s as if they’ve gone radio silent. I don’t like it.”
Jase agreed. “I’m going to reach out to one of my old contacts. See if we can set up a meet. He’s an expert in encryption. I’m hoping he can crack the code to unlock the second file.”
Aaron nodded. “Good idea. Use the Jeep in the garage. Get your vehicle out of sight as soon as you can. They’ll be looking for it.”
“Thanks, Aaron, I will.”
“I’ll have Tim monitor the situation. See if he can find out anything more about what happened there today. I’ll check back with you in a couple of hours. But Reyna’s right. You need some rest. You look dead on your feet.”
“I will,” Jase assured him before he ended the call. As much as his body craved rest, the encrypted file was taunting him with its hidden answers.
It had been years since he’d last spoken to his former linguistics professor so it took him a few minutes to remember the phone number. He typed it in but couldn’t hit the call button. He hesitated to bring the danger following them to his friend’s door. Unfortunately, he needed answers and they were running out of time.
In addition to being a language specialist, Bryan Northcutt was one of the best decoders Jase had ever worked with. He’d used him numerous times during his days at the CIA and Jase trusted him completely. Along with Jase, other members of the CIA routinely used Bryan’s services. There was no way his old friend wouldn’t know about his assumed death. He couldn’t imagine what Bryan would think about hearing from a dead man.
Lord, please help us. We need Your insight and Your protection.
* * *
When Reyna came back downstairs thirty minutes later, Jase was standing by the kitchen window. His hair was damp from the shower, his shirt buttoned loosely.
He seemed lost in thought. He turned when he heard her walk in.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, because she didn’t like the serious expression on his face.
He managed to smile for her sake. “Yes. You couldn’t sleep?”
“No, I’m too keyed up,” she told him.
“I spoke to my old college professor earlier. He’s an expert at encryption. He’s agreed to meet with us tomorrow morning in Aspen Grove. I hate leaving the protection of this place, but we need the rest of the information to figure out what we’
re up against.”
Reyna wasn’t sure how she felt about the news. As much as she trusted Jase to make the right decisions, the risk they’d be taking by going back out in public without knowing the full extent of the danger they faced was staggering.
Jase watched her and seemed to read all her worries. “It’ll be okay. We’ll take Aaron’s vehicle. They won’t be looking for it.”
She slowly nodded. “You trust him?”
He was quick to reassure her. “I do. You can, too.”
Reyna wished that she could be as trusting, but the only person she had any confidence in now was Jase.
She noticed him favoring his left shoulder. She could tell it was still bothering him.
“Let me take a look. Make sure your shoulder’s healing properly.”
“I’m okay,” he muttered, trying to act strong, but she could tell that stress and the lack of sleep hadn’t helped much with the pain.
Reyna shook her head. “You’re not. I saw a medicine cabinet upstairs. I’ll see if there’s something we can use. Why don’t you have a seat at the kitchen table, and I’ll be right back.”
She didn’t give him the chance to protest. Running upstairs, she retrieved some gauze, tape and something to clean the wound.
Jase struggled to unbutton his shirt, but even the slight movement was painful.
“Let me help you.” She stepped close, inches from him, and he tensed. Reyna didn’t look at him as she finished with the buttons, then gently slipped the shirt off.
The wound looked the worse for wear. Their time on the run hadn’t done it any favors. As she worked, she was aware of him watching her closely.
“How does that feel?” she asked once she’d finished.
He reached for his shirt, winced as he put it on, and slowly redid the buttons. “Better, thanks.”
Rocky Mountain Secrets: Rocky Mountain Sabotage ; Rocky Mountain Pursuit Page 25
