Mark Midway Box Set: Mark One, Mark Two, Mark Three, and Mark Four

by John Hindmarsh

  As Anna was speaking, the door opened and a voice offered, “Although I believe we’d all like to hear the details.” The speaker was Schmidt. “Always assuming Alex is strong enough, of course?”

  Niland whispered to Alex, “That’s General Schmidt—he’s a good friend.”

  “I thought you had meetings to attend?” Anna said. She ignored the wide-eyed expression on Alex’s face.

  “Later. For now, I’d like to hear Alex’s story. Do you think you can cope?” He directed his question at Alex.

  “Yes, sir,” Alex whispered. “From the beginning?”

  “That’s usually the best place to start any story, I’d say. Can I sit here?” He indicated a chair next to the bed. “Anna, you should sit, too. I suspect this is going to take a few minutes. These two live wires can stand. They look as though they’re not letting Alex go—or maybe it’s the other way around?”

  The three children smiled. Niland said, “We thought we’d lost Alex at the—at the place where all those killings took place—Camp Brewer.” He turned to Alex and asked, “How did you escape?”

  “I hid in my room when the shooting started, when I realized what was happening—those men were going from room to room killing everyone. I worked out how to do what you do, you know, making people not see or hear you. It’s as though you turn invisible. I did that. The people—the killers—opened my room door and I hid. I turned invisible and they didn’t see me. I could hear them shooting as they went. I was so f-frightened.” Her grip tightened. Neither Gabrielle nor Niland protested. “After an hour or more, I heard some more shooting. Later, after a long time, I heard an aircraft arrive. I decided I had better find out what had happened. I kept myself hidden, in case, when I went outside. I saw all the dead soldiers and some dead children, I knew them all—they were from the same birth group—my sisters and brothers. And I saw you all with Mark and someone else.”

  “Scott Gilmore—he’s Cerberus and an ex-FBI agent,” Anna clarified.

  “I-I suppose. I didn’t know what to do. Mark went away and returned with a motor vehicle. You loaded it up—I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t release whatever was making me invisible.”

  “Go on,” urged Schmidt when she paused, his voice gentle.

  “I climbed into the back of the vehicle—it was large, there was lots of room. I curled up and slept. When you—with Mark—arrived at his house—I still kept hidden. I was so frightened. I waited for you to unload and when you finished, I hid at the back of the house. Later, I found the shed and decided to stay there, where I felt safe. I used to raid the kitchen for food. I thought you would be mad with me because I’d kept myself hidden and no one could see me. My other brothers and sisters—they all died. I lived. I don’t know why. I cried every night. When you left, when you went away, when you left me all alone, I didn’t know what to do.”

  Gabrielle reached her free arm across Alex and hugged her tight. “We’re here. You’re safe with us. We’ll look after you, I promise.”

  Anna nodded her agreement. Niland squeezed her hand.

  Schmidt said, “We’ll make sure of that. Tell me, how did you survive after Mark and everyone left?”

  “There was some food in the pantry, so I had that until it ran out. Some people arrived and set Mark’s house on fire. I was so frightened with all the shooting and explosions. The police came and arrested those criminals and I stayed hidden. Everything seemed to be—overwhelming. I kept hidden. I cried.”

  “How did you survive afterwards—the pantry was empty—when there was no more food?” Anna asked.

  “I—I won’t get into trouble if I tell you, will I?”

  “No, my dear, we’ll all protect you. That’s what we’re here for.” Anna looked at Schmidt.

  He nodded his head, a reassuring expression on his face. He said. “Alex, don’t worry, no one is going to punish you for anything. I agree with Anna, we’ll protect you.”

  “I worked out how to go shopping. I hitched a ride into Belmont, I think the town is. I went to the closest shops. The first time I—I was attacked by a man, the driver who picked me up. When he grabbed my hands, I was able to stop him. After I stopped him, I made him take me to the shops, made him forget he’d seen me. I—I stole food—I couldn’t pay, I was starving.”

  “So you made visits, did your—er—shopping, and afterwards returned to your hideout?” Anna asked.

  “There’s a bus service—most of the time I rode without paying. When a shopkeeper gave me some cash—it was a reward, cos I told him one of his employees was robbing him—I was able to buy a ticket.” She looked shamefaced. “Sometimes.”

  “The winter must have been freezing cold for you?” Schmidt questioned.

  “I found things in the house and in the sheds—before those men destroyed everything. A sleeping bag. Some blankets. The shed had electricity and a heater. It was solar-powered and had a storage battery, I think. The water was cold, though. I—I didn’t wash every day.”

  After a pause, Schmidt said, “Are you able to tell us what happened yesterday?”

  Alex bit her lower lip. “Y—yes, I think so.”

  “You were aware of the police presence?”

  Alex nodded her head. “I’d gone to do some shopping. There’s another way to get onto Mark’s property—there’s a track down to a road, and another shed—it’s for cars, I think. I always go that way, it’s closer to the main road. When I came back, after I did my shopping—some birds—ravens—three of them—they’re my friends—stopped me. Well, they hopped in front of me so that I had to stop. I feed them crackers, and they like me.”

  “The ravens stopped you?” asked Gabrielle.

  “They knew something was wrong, that I was in danger. They gave me a key.”

  Niland and Gabrielle spoke in unison. “They gave you a key?”

  “Yes, one of them dropped it on the path for me.”

  “Was the key for the garage?” Schmidt asked.

  “I—I checked. It opened the garage. It was empty, no one had been there.”

  Anna said, “What did you do after that?”

  “I got my things from the shed—there’s a hidden way in through the back. I took my sleeping bag and some other things back to where I had left my backpack with my shopping. It was too full. I couldn’t carry it all, and I’d hidden it off the trail.”

  “And?” Schmidt prompted.

  “I heard a shot. It came from near the shed. I went back as quietly as I could, to see what had happened. Someone had shot the policeman.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I was afraid, so afraid. I ran back down the trail. I must have forgotten to hide myself, because two men followed me. I reached the garage and was trying to unlock the door, to shelter inside, when one of them shot me. It hurt.” She touched the dressing on her head. “It’s not bad, now.”

  “What did you do?” Anna reached out and held Alex’s hand, sharing it with Niland.

  “I—I’m not sure. I hadn’t touched their hands. I was afraid because they had shot the policeman. I—I suppose I was angry that they’d also shot me. The man without the gun was telling the other man to shoot me again; he said I could identify them. The man with the gun started to aim at me. I reached out and told him to shoot the other man. After—after he did that I made him shoot himself.” Alex looked at the general, her face fearful, her eyes damp with tears. “I didn’t know what else to do. They were going to kill me.”

  “We’ll look after you,” said Niland.

  “No one is going to do anything to you,” confirmed Schmidt. “You defended yourself. I agree with Niland, we’ll look after you. Thank you, Alex, for telling me what happened. I’m sorry I made you relive the horror.”

  By now Alex was crying into Anna’s shoulder and Niland and Gabrielle still were holding onto her. Anna hugged Alex. “Shhh. We’re here. We’ll take care of you.”

  Chapter 13

  “Major Dunlap, I’m General Schmidt. I’m leading a pr
esidential task force responsible for investigating certain recent events in Massachusetts. With me are FBI Special Agent in Charge Charles Thoroughgood, Special Agents Dennis and Thompson, and Major Helen Chouan. I believe you’ve received an email from the State Governor’s office instructing you to extend every possible assistance to us?” He did not introduce the three MPs from B Company.

  “Er—Yes, General. Please, everyone take a seat.” Dunlap indicated seats around the meeting room table. A whiteboard covered an end wall. Various police banners and photographs haphazardly decorated a longer wall. The opposite wall was blank. Steel cabinets were lined up along the wall with the entry doorway. Major Dunlap was uniformed, as were Schmidt and Helen Chouan, although Dunlap’s was the formal dress of the Massachusetts State Police. “I think we have enough room—we use this room for training and briefings. I really don’t know if I can—tell me, what is this about?”

  “We have reason to believe that some members of your troop were engaged yesterday in a road blockade on the Northern Expressway. We would like to interview them as soon as can be arranged. The vehicles involved are on this list.” He handed a printed sheet to the State Police major. He didn’t mention the details were from a camera in Mark’s Volkswagen, which had uploaded clear video images to Winter Security. “In particular, we wish to interview Lieutenant Joyce and Sergeant Trevors.”

  “Well—I don’t know. These men are on duty. I doubt you have jurisdiction—”

  “Charles, please present the warrants to the major.” Schmidt waited for the FBI agent to hand copies of the warrants to the police officer before he continued. “Dunlap, if I hear another negative or uncooperative word from you, I will arrest you for obstruction. Those warrants give me and my team the authority we need.”

  The major paled. “You can’t come in here and ride roughshod over me and my men—”

  “Your men were involved in criminal conspiracy, murder, and kidnapping. Possibly terrorism. I don’t know how far these criminal activities reached—perhaps you were involved? Certainly both internal staff and your state troopers are of interest to us. There were at least three deaths yesterday and your men were involved. There was a major traffic incident: your people blockaded the Expressway, and a number of civilian vehicles were damaged—you’re certainly aware of all this?”

  The major nodded his head. He licked his lips but did not speak.

  Schmidt continued, “We’re looking for two vehicles.” He handed Dunlap a printed sheet with details of the black BMW and the Volkswagen Touareg. “These appear to have been taken under control by your men.”

  “I’ll have to contact my—my senior officer. There is a chain of command for this type of inquiry, you know.”

  “You have already received a communication from the governor—he’s top of the chain of command pyramid for you. I’ll read out the message he sent to you, in case you’ve forgotten what it says.”

  “Now, listen, this is most irregular. I’ll protest—”

  “Major, I have a letter of authority signed by the governor, which will allow me to remove you from your post, if I want to. You’ve seen the warrants we have for your arrest for obstruction of justice, one federal and one state. Do I use these or will you co-operate?”

  “Damn you. Joyce is one of my best troopers.” He looked towards the door. It was blocked by a large MP. “Okay. I’ll arrange for him to be called in. Yes, and the other troopers.”

  “Don’t create any alarms. Get them here for a review meeting at 5:00 p.m. Tell them the governor wants to know why the Expressway was closed and you want personal—face-to-face—reports. I assume you have a larger room where we can all meet? Good. Special Agent Dennis and two members of my team will be your new best buddies for the remainder of the day. They’ll help you make calls, re-arrange your schedule for the afternoon, safeguard your cell phone, and so forth.”

  The two other men were from the 145th. All—including the FBI agents—were Cerberus. Schmidt did not mention that the major would be accompanied by his new best buddies until all the troopers had reported in. Indeed, their escort would continue for some time after that, until he, Schmidt, was convinced the major was not involved in any way in Mark’s kidnapping. Without that conviction, the trooper would be placed under arrest. “We need some space here to set up an operations center.”

  “Sure, sure. This room, the one next door. Take control of whatever you need.”

  “Dennis, return with the major once he’s organized calls to bring in the troopers involved. He needs to include the desk guy, too.”

  “Yes, General. We’ll look after our best buddy for you.”

  The small group headed out of the room, Dunlap in the lead. Schmidt addressed his team after the door to the meeting room closed. “Of course, we’re going to encounter obstructions. However, we’ve got the state governor’s support, plus the state attorney-general’s, and from a federal perspective, everyone from the president down has been briefed, and are in full support. We’ll use the next thirty minutes for catch-up, make sure our people are up to date.”

  He called Linda Schöner and when she answered, he said, “Linda, you’re on speaker. Charles and his team are listening, also Helen. Did you get more details from Brian Winter?”

  “Yes, he’s been extremely helpful. Not unexpected; he lost some good people. His team, when they picked up Mark, apparently installed cameras in Mark’s vehicle; the cameras transmitted videos back to Winter’s monitoring team. We now have videos of the chase, of the shooting of the driver, of the shooter, and of most of the police involved. The image quality is excellent. Audio also, in support. We’ve confirmed the license plates of the five patrol vehicles.”

  “You have enough to identify the shooter?” Schmidt had not heard that item of information.

  “Yes, my analysts are using facial recognition software against a large number of government databases to see if we can discover who he is. Also, the helicopter’s landing and take-off were caught on the rear-facing camera installed by Winter’s senior man. While the helicopter was emblazoned with large letters indicating it was FBI—which we consider to be false—we hope its registration numbers are genuine. We’ve only partials, so it’s a bit of a struggle. My team are researching, both for ownership and flight plans.”

  “Good, good.” Schmidt rubbed his hands together. “We’ve met—that is, Anna and the children and I—met with Alex. It’s an interesting story. Yes, she’s Cerberus, survived the Camp Brewer massacre, and hid herself for months. She was shot and remained conscious long enough to have the shooter take out his associate. She forced the shooter to kill himself. Alex is one dangerous young lady. I’m going to recruit her when she’s older.” He looked at the FBI special agent in charge. “Charles, anything yet on that dead shooter and his companion?”

  “They had no papers; we haven’t found a vehicle anywhere nearby, and assume they were dropped off for whatever reason. Tattoos indicate they may be Russian. Their prints are being checked by Homeland Security and by our people. We should have feedback by end of the day.”

  “Russians? Their involvement must be a coincidence, surely?” Schmidt mused.

  “That’s our conclusion, too. We can’t work out what they were doing. Perhaps they heard Mark was visiting his property and wanted to—er—kidnap or kill him—revenge motive, most likely.”

  “Sounds about right. At least the shooter did us a favor; he shot himself after killing his associate. Helen, you’ve set up an outside command post?”

  “Yes, I have some able people involved, as you know. They’re monitoring cell phones—at least those we’ve traced—of the troopers involved. Sergeant Trevors is top of our list. He’s a desk jockey working inside the state offices and is more likely to hear of our presence. If he does, he could try to escape or at least warn his fellow-conspirators. We’re using voice delay on his cell phone calls, which will cause his call to drop out if it looks as though he is warning anyone. If that happens, we’ll imm
ediately arrange for his arrest.”

  “Good. Let’s hope he doesn’t pick up on anything. Anyone—anything else?”

  Linda said, “General, we’ve received a trace on the helicopter. Well, we have a candidate based on the partial registration numbers in the video. Surprise, it’s not FBI. Corporate owned—Delaware. We’ll try to track down the shareholders, which likely to be a lost cause—I expect their names and addresses will be cutouts. As soon as we discover a flight plan, I’ll let you know.”

  “That’s good news. Charles, tell your people it wasn’t an FBI chopper—they’ll be relieved, I’m sure.”

  “I’ll do that, now.”

  “Thanks everyone.” Schmidt disconnected the call. He checked the time. It was 3:00 p.m. He had hours to wait. He set off to find coffee.

  Chapter 14

  Jamie Grovers was perplexed. He knew of Archimedes Schmidt, who was probably ten years younger, although he had never worked with the man. He’d certainly been on the path for rapid promotion. Grovers didn’t fully comprehend why O’Hare and Cromarty were so determined to get their hands on him. Midway, he thought, was a more useful resource, given his genetic engineering knowledge. He was both intrigued and alarmed at the apparent actions undertaken by O’Hare to protect Cromarty’s business plans. But capturing Schmidt? That project was doomed to failure—Schmidt was not someone you tried to capture.

  Grovers had retired at sixty-three, only two years after his promotion to brigadier general. He’d realized his promotion had been rushed. The Army had wanted someone to hold a post that was responsible for a sensitive nuclear establishment while it dealt with the previous incumbent. Grovers held that post for two years, after which he had been quietly asked to retire. It was either agree or face the public humiliation of a trial for conduct unbecoming—he and a major’s wife had been caught in flagrante delicto. He had retired without any fuss. The MPs from 145th had done an efficient job of gathering and presenting evidence.