Foreign Threat

by Mitchell Goldstein

  Suddenly it occurred to him that he should make contact with Sweetpea. If something did go wrong, she should know to get into contact with the right authorities. It would be fun to contact her anyway to just regroup his mind and thoughts. He really just wanted to take a few minutes to get away from this bad dream and talk to an old friend. He wanted to remember what normal life was like and learn if anything new had happened during the past few weeks.

  The library was a cute, older building. The walls were brick, and it looked like an old, one room school from years ago, with the smell of mildew in the woodwork.

  Steve searched for computers. He wondered if he’d made a mistake. What happened if there was no computer in this public building?

  No sooner did he start panicking than he glimpsed two computers in the corner. He dragged his feet as he proceeded in that direction, knowing that once he got into that account, he would initiate mayhem for this small town and himself. The aisles were quite narrow in order to fit everything into this small building, but after about thirty seconds of shuffling, he could delay no longer.

  Steve was ready to get to work. He logged on and then looked around as if someone were already monitoring him. It took only a few seconds for the computer to warm up and get him to the Internet. He pulled the folded piece of white paper from his back pocket and hesitated only for a second before typing information regarding the foreign account. Once he clicked enter, he decided to stay in the account and look around. If it was going to be the connection that sent them after him, he might as well pretend the account was actually his.

  Steve poked around for about five minutes to make sure that the computer was tracked without difficulty. They probably had it tracked within a few seconds, but he needed to be sure they’d come after him. After he felt there was sufficient time to get busted, he logged out of the account.

  He quickly typed Sweetpea’s account info into the chat search engine.

  She was waiting for him again. “Where the hell are you? I have been so worried about you! Are you okay? Is there

  anything I can get for you? Do you have enough food?”

  Steve thought she was being a little over protective but knew that she was only concerned about his welfare. Unlike the general public, she didn’t recognize him as an outlaw but as a guy in a lot of trouble with the wrong kind of people.

  “Hey, I am doing great,” he typed back. “Just hanging out in Ely. Thought I would do some off-season camping since I really didn’t get a chance to go this summer. How about you?”

  “Steve, that is not funny! I have been terribly worried. You drop concerning messages and then have to leave so quickly. Are you okay?”

  Steve debated just how much to tell her about his intentions, but he did want her to get some information in case something unplanned was to happen to him. He quickly told her his camp and kayak plans and which rivers he was going to be on, and then it was time to get off.

  They said their goodbyes. She told him to be careful, and he laughed to himself. “Thanks, Mom!” he jokingly typed. “I promise to be good, and safe!”

  Steve waited at the computer for a few minutes, just staring into the empty screen. Everything was in place, and now his plan was in motion. He wondered how long it would take those men to make it to Ely and how many people there would be. Maybe the real CIA agents would blend with the bad ones and arrive at the same time. Maybe they were all involved with this situational drama together after all.

  Steve shook his head. He couldn’t really believe that everyone was on this same side of this mess.

  He knew he had at least a few hours before trouble would arrive. It was early evening, and he figured that, by morning, there would be a few new people in town. His plan was to head to the grocery store for a few more things. He spent about twenty minutes in town getting what he needed, including a fantastic pair of binoculars. After his shopping spree, he made his way to the top of his hill and set up camp. Tonight he wouldn’t allow himself a fire. He didn’t want to attract attention to himself prematurely. He ate a lukewarm dinner and some snacks. He wrapped himself up with his sleeping bag but stayed sitting up. He was not going to miss anything.

  Chapter 45

  As Steve was tucking himself in for the night, a foreign delegate from the Middle East with a strong accent was busy on the phone lines. “We need to pass it on that Carmichael is located in a town in Minnesota called Ely. He tried to access the account! He is trying to make a run for it, and we need to locate him before he takes all the money. You need to pass this on, and we need them to find and kill him once and for all.”

  The return voice on the other end of the phone also had a Middle Eastern accent. “Relax, relax, my friend. We will capture this Mr. Carmichael, and then we will be able to complete our plans with no other worries. We need to contact our friend in Minnesota to get his team to take care of this Carmichael.”

  Click.

  Another phone call was placed. “Good evening, my friend. I am calling with the whereabouts of a Mr. Steve Carmichael. Once I give you this information, I trust you will complete our mission as previously discussed. I don’t want any more loose ends. My friend, he is in Ely, Minnesota. I don’t know where that is, but I trust you will greet Mr. Carmichael with open arms. There is no room for any more errors. I hope you understand that if there are any more problems, the deal will be off.”

  A voice with an American accent responded, “Yes, I understand completely. Dr. Carmichael has been evading us, but my team will finish him now. You should have no worries.” Agent Thomas hung up the phone, and the phone lines went quiet.

  Chapter 46

  The information had been passed to the appropriate parties. Although Steve did not know the specific content of those conversations, he knew that they were taking place. He knew they were making plans to hunt him down and do away with him. Steve knew that if he were to make any mistakes, then they would win and he would die.

  Several hours later, Steve was sleeping on his perch when he heard the echo of car doors slamming shut. He quickly opened his eyes and focused down on the town. Just as he had hoped, two black SUVs were parked outside the library. He glanced at his watch and saw it was already 8:30. He had no idea what time the library opened, but it was obviously closed now. The men looked like small ants from where Steve was sitting, but he could see that the doors wouldn’t open for them even without the binoculars.

  The men must have started with the library because they were tracking the computer, not the man. Steve was confident that the men would eventually make their way to the coffee shop and find the info they wanted from fellow diners. Steve used the binoculars for a while to see with whom the agents came in contact. He noticed that they had a picture of him to show people. It would only be a matter of time before the men showed it to someone that Steve had talked to at the coffee shop.

  Steve figured he had a while before the men would have all the information and supplies that they needed. He broke the tedium of watching the town to open a bottle of juice. While having a bite to eat for breakfast, he jotted notes and kept track of every detail he could grasp about the men. It was a team of four men driving only two vehicles. Steve scanned the vehicles with his binoculars multiple times but never saw anything to suggest other men. He was able to recognize the man he had encountered in the locker room, Agent Thomas, but he wasn’t sure if the men were the same as before.

  It didn’t matter who was there, just how many people he had to deal with. The numbers were important; the thugs themselves didn’t matter as much. The men finally made their way to the coffee shop and spent a great deal of time in there. Steve hoped they were talking with a few people from his visit yesterday. Nearly an hour passed before they came out of the coffee shop and headed toward their cars. Good, thought Steve. They found the bait and took it.

  The SUVs headed to an outfitter where they could buy the essentials to get them through an unknown camping experience. Steve imagined the humor of seeing four
men in business suits shopping for gear that would ordinarily be used with rugged attire. Nevertheless, they spent nearly two hours inside, presumably shopping and plotting their adventure route. They were probably using clues from the conversation at the coffee shop to plot on a map. Steve hoped they wouldn’t hire a guide. That would mean another innocent bystander who did not need to get hurt.

  Eventually they filed out. They had several bags of supplies. Steve had binoculars but not x-ray vision. He really wanted to see what was in the bags to get a better idea of how well they were prepared to weather the great outdoors. He was pleased to see their two canoes. Those guys would never be able to keep up with Steve in the rapids or anywhere else on the water given the maneuverability of his kayak. Two points for Steve, he thought.

  Steve could see backpacks and paddles, but he could not see what or how much food they had. With good advice, they would have meals enough for seven days. No fishing poles protruded from the shopping bag. Steve jotted a few more notes and then felt he should get going so they wouldn’t catch up with him paddling in the middle of the lake. They wouldn’t need a close proximity to shoot Steve on open water, but he didn’t want to give them that opportunity.

  He gathered his belongings, mostly garbage at this point, and then hiked down to an isolated lake access. He found his kayak where he had left it near the secluded shore. He knew the place from camping as a kid. He got his kayaking skirt on now and hurried out on the water. He paddled in the direction to his first campsite, the one he had mentioned to the townspeople. There he would begin his adventure.

  Steve figured he had at least four hours before they would reach the first site, but he had a few traps to set up for them. His kayak cut through the water without much difficulty, providing him a safe advantage over the CIA thugs.

  As he paddled, he contemplated whether to start the action that day or let them set up camp and orient themselves on the island first. Meanwhile, Steve noticed that water was choppier than it had been the day before, which would give him even more time to get organized ahead of the canoes.

  Once Steve was close to his site, he looked back but didn’t notice any canoes. Once on shore, he climbed a tree to spy on Ely with his binoculars. He couldn’t find any canoes near shore, which meant plenty of time to check his traps. The first stop was a deep pit. He had shoveled that while attached to a rope to be able to get out after the pit was completely dug. He tried to make it close to twenty feet deep to ensure that whoever was to fall in would not be able to get out. If two men fell in at the same time, they still wouldn’t be able to stand on each other’s shoulders to get out.

  Steve walked another two hundred yards to where he had marked off the next trap. The bear traps were set up just as he had left them. Steve knew this would be fatal unless the men were to leave and get medical help immediately. The traps were designed with the strength to sever the leg of whatever bear – or man – stepped on it. If a poor human victim were by himself for any period of time, he would probably bleed to death. Steve felt a touch of guilt at the prospect, but he reminded himself that his intended victims had already killed more than one innocent soul. The traps were in perfect position. He would just have to remember the exact location so as not to land on it himself as he dashed by.

  Before examining the last snare, which was meant for two, he took a break with food and water. He had left two rope traps adjacent to a hornet’s nest. As if it wouldn’t be bad enough to hang upside down, he anticipated a nice greeting from the hornets.

  He was thinking about this last trap when he thought he heard voices off in the distance. He froze. There was no way those thugs could have made it out this far in such a short time. He jumped up and started to run to the shore. No sooner did he get to his kayak than he saw the canoes. The weather and winds had calmed down, and the waves were almost non-existent. Steve’s pursuers were only about a hundred yards away from the shore. With a panic-stricken face, Steve heard them scream out, “Hey, there he is! Let’s get going!”

  Steve had not planned to start the chase on this shore just standing around. He had wanted them to be much further into the island and closer to the traps.

  He frantically jumped into his kayak, quickly remembering that he wasn’t wearing his kayak skirt. He jumped out, put the skirt on, and leapt back into the kayak. He paddled his kayak as he had never paddled before. He took off along the shore, unsure where to go. If he were to take off into the middle of the lake, he would be nowhere close to the traps, foiling his every plan. He didn’t know where to go along the shore either. The island was quite large, and to just paddle around the lake would serve no purpose.

  As Steve wasted time contemplating his next move, the agents were moving into gunshot range. Just then, Steve noticed an entrance to a small river. He was not sure exactly which river it was, but he had no choice as a loud gunshot sounded.

  The entrance was narrow, but once through, Steve smiled to himself: sharp turns filled the path ahead. He glanced over his shoulder and shouted, “Oh, shit!” They were catching up with him much quicker than he thought they could paddle. He paddled faster as he heard another gunshot. He was moving as fast as he could, dodging overturned trees and boulders in the river. The current was not moving very quickly, so he had to make that speed up with his own strength.

  Steve was a little unsure of where he was in the island, and he definitely was not familiar with the river, but he didn’t have time to care. They had twice the horsepower per canoe, and they were more comfortable with the canoe than Steve had predicted.

  Steve wondered if the river would get the best of him, but then he caught a sound that was music to his ears. It sounded like a loud washing machine. As he paddled forward, the churning of water got louder and louder. “Rapids!” he shouted with relief. He realized where he was and exactly which rapids he was fast approaching. He had been on them before, but it had been a while. He didn’t have time to look them over now. He figured it would take at least class three rapids to knock over the canoes.

  As he turned the next bend in the river, great delight filled his face. They were easily class four or five rapids. The water was already moving quite fast but only accelerated as Steve continued forward. He knew that those canoes wouldn’t stand a chance against these rapids. The holes were huge and strong, the eddies few in number. Even with the most experienced hands, canoes were no match against those rapids. Within seconds, Steve started to bounce from one current to the next.

  After about two hundred yards, Steve found a small eddy to pull his kayak and watch the enemies. By this time, the four men had started down the rapids. They actually were doing all right as they hit the first few rapids, so Steve turned himself around and continued downstream. Unexpectedly, a current caught an edge of his kayak and nearly rolled him over. He gave the river a quick and sharp slap with his paddle and bounced upright in no time. He moved on without a moment to breathe.

  The next two hundred yards were incredibly difficult. Steve barely made it through. He found another small eddy and turned his kayak around in order to observe the canoes as they chased him.

  The first canoe held Agent Thomas, and it was doing okay. The second canoe was having more problems getting down the rapids. Suddenly it flipped over a large rock and into a huge strong hole. One of the men popped out of the hole right away, as did the canoe, but the second paddler in the canoe did not come up.

  Steve glanced at his watch and noted the time, 3:52. He continued to watch in disbelief. Nothing has gone accordingly to plan, but this situation was still working to his advantage. Steve knew that, after seven minutes, the missing guy would be a dead man, and the only thing that would pop out of the water then would be a lifeless body. Holes were notorious for taking people’s lives. They acted as a suction device, pulling water back deep into the river as the current flowed over rocks. The bigger the rock, the faster the water current and the more dangerous the hole. As time went on, the likelihood that this

  man wo
uld survive was decreasing.

  3:58 was the time when Steve checked his watch again. He

  turned his kayak to pull out of the eddy, but he wanted to watch a few more minutes. This was not how he planned any of his victims to perish, but he didn’t care much as long as he was one person closer to living a normal life.

  After ten minutes, Steve felt comfortable moving on. He knew the three other men saw him take off. Steve took one peek back and saw them fussing over the canoe and trying to grab the supplies that had fallen out when it overturned. Steve decided to catch the next eddy just to see what they would do.

  He saw all three men get into one canoe and paddle toward shore. Steve figured they had decided to bag the rapids and just get to dry land. He noted where they were, assuming they would set up camp nearby. He was certain they were done for the day, as they still need to pitch a tent and gather wood for a fire to dry their clothes and other supplies. Steve eddied out and went down stream to a safe place for portage and to find his camp. There he could keep an eye on where the other three set up their camp.

  Chapter 47

  Steve shot the rapids for about a mile more before he decided that he should get to shore and locate his camp. The monstrous rapids were a lot of fun, but they seemed to go on for a long stretch.

  He looked up stream and unsurprisingly saw no one. He knew they wouldn’t waste time trying to fool him by pretending to get out and then jumping in their canoes once Steve was out of sight. They would never have survived those rapids anyway.

  Steve pulled his kayak up on to shore and covered it with brush, ready in case he needed a quick getaway. He looked around to see if he recognized where he was on the island. He noticed a thinning out of trees to his left and figured it would be close to the lakeshore. He made his way through the trees toward that break but soon realized that he was wrong and completely lost.