Constant Fear

by Daniel Palmer

  “You ‘engaged’?”

  “I shot him.”

  “Shit,” Haggar muttered. “And how do you know the other information?”

  “I have access to the underground-tunnel system at the school. I overheard conversation from a pit underneath the stage. That’s where I also found three additional dead guys.”

  “You killed them?”

  “No, somebody else did.”

  “Who did?” Haggar asked.

  “Look, I don’t know. I don’t know how many hostage takers there are, or what they’re armed with. But I think it has something to do with missing money. A lot of money. Two hundred million, I heard one of them say. I told Ellie they might be Mexican, or South American, but I don’t know. One of them is called Fausto.”

  “That’s all really helpful information, Mr. Dent. Now you need to get out of there right away and let us do our job.”

  “Aren’t you hearing me?” Jake said. “There’s a deadline. One hour.”

  “Yeah? And now you listen to me. You might be doing a lot more damage than you realize.”

  “The bomb,” Jake said. He needed something to build up his damaged credibility, and this was it.

  “What bomb?” Haggar asked.

  “You know. A radioactive bomb of some sort. It’s all bullshit. It’s a lie. It’s a trick. They’re trying to buy more time.”

  “Yeah, and how do you know that?”

  “I heard him say it.”

  “From under the stage,” Haggar said.

  “That’s right,” Jake answered.

  “You know what I heard?” Haggar growled. “I heard you think the world is coming to an end. I heard that you store food somewhere, and lots of it, and guns, too, and you’re just waiting for the day when all hell breaks loose.”

  “That has nothing to do with this,” Jake said.

  “How do I know that you’re not just looking for any excuse to make that day happen sooner rather than later? You already shot one guy, you said. Hell, maybe you’re tired of shooting things with four legs.”

  “I’m not crazy, if that’s what you’re saying,” Jake said. “I don’t want to hunt people.”

  “I’m not saying anything except you have to vacate the premises.”

  “They won’t negotiate. They know you won’t honor any exchange for immunity.”

  “Please, Jake,” Haggar said. “Let us do our job and you do yours by getting the hell out of there.”

  “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re coming in.”

  Haggar went silent. It lasted long enough for Jake to think the phone connection had dropped.

  “Okay,” Haggar said at last. “Okay. We’re going to take your word for it. We’ll go in hard and fast. But you get out of there first.”

  “You got my word.”

  “What are you wearing? We need to make sure my teams know you’re not a threat.”

  “I’ve got on full-camouflage gear, and my face and hands are camo as well.” Jake also gave Haggar his size and weight measurements. He said he would exit by the Society Building.

  “Easy enough. I’ll mobilize our teams and we’ll try to establish communications with the terrorists.”

  “I don’t think these are terrorists,” Jake said.

  Haggar didn’t respond to that.

  “One of them is Fausto,” Jake reminded him. “I think he’s their leader.”

  “Right. Fausto.”

  “There’s a deadline,” Jake added. “Less than an hour now. You’ve got to go quick.”

  “Not a lot of time for us to work with, but we’ll get it done. Thanks for your service here, Jake. I mean it. Now, please, for the sake of your son and the other kids, get out.”

  “Okay,” Jake said. “I’m leaving now.”

  “Good. The school is surrounded by police, SWAT, and FBI. You see somebody with a gun or a badge—I want you to turn yourself in to them. Understood?”

  “Understood,” Jake said.

  “We’re on this, Jake,” Haggar said. “We’re going to trust you. Now you’ve got to trust us. You got it. Right?”

  “Got it,” Jake said. “Don’t let my son or any of his friends die.”

  “We’re going to do everything we can. But you’re the danger to them right now. Just turn yourself in.”

  “I’m on my way,” Jake said, and he ended the call.

  From his belt buckle, Jake unclipped his Bearcat handheld. He powered on the device and navigated to the stored frequency for the Winston PD.

  The chatter was consistent and sounded a lot like air traffic control managing a busy airport.

  “Team One checking in. No change.”

  “Sniper Team Three. No change.”

  “Same here. This is Orange Team Two. We got the back of the Academy Building.”

  “SWAT Team One. All clear by the library.”

  This was all interesting and entirely expected. But Jake was waiting for word about him to come through the command vehicle. Jake had read enough police procedures involving crisis situations to know that a Mobile Command Post would coordinate all field-unit activities. These specialized vehicles contained a complement of radio and telephone communications equipment, as well as advanced audio and video surveillance technology. Haggar would relay Jake’s description to the MCP, and they, in turn, would communicate it out to the field. But Jake wanted to hear something else.

  “Mission command reporting a white male dressed in camouflage gear, face and hands camouflaged as well, expected to leave Pepperell Academy near the Society Building any moment. The subject is six-two, about two hundred pounds. Do not engage. If any units see him exit, try to detain, but he’s not necessarily a threat.”

  “Any change in the plan? This is SWAT Team Four asking.”

  “Negative. Situation is unchanged. Hold positions and maintain surveillance. That’s the order.”

  “Hold positions.”

  Jake lowered the volume on his scanner. There was nothing else for him to glean. Things were status quo. No change in the plan. Of course. Jake didn’t doubt that for a minute. Haggar didn’t believe him, or wouldn’t trust him. It was as simple as that. The implications hit Jake hard. The FBI was going to try to negotiate with a bunch of killers who intended to string them along for at least an hour. At least until Fausto’s deadline, until his son and his friends were dead.

  Jake tried to put himself in Haggar’s shoes. Would he have done anything different? Not a chance in France. Haggar had been right to try and draw Jake out of the school. Making entry was the biggest risk during any hostage crisis. The bad guys could take cover, and shoot from the shadows. Out in the open, it was much easier and safer to engage and separate the hostiles from the friendly. Haggar had done what he could to get Jake to stand down. But it wasn’t going to be enough.

  Jake headed back for the tunnels, when his cell phone rang. He checked the number and saw it was Ellie.

  “I’m heading out,” Jake said.

  “They’re not coming,” Ellie whispered.

  “Say that again.”

  “Nobody is going to come into the school. They’re not willing to believe you. Haggar won’t take the chance. They’re going to try to negotiate.”

  “What about you?” Jake said.

  “I’m calling, aren’t I?”

  “I’m not crazy, Ellie,” Jake said.

  “I know.”

  “They’re going to kill them all, my son included.”

  “I know. Sweetheart, I know. I believe you. I do. I just wish you had told me. You can trust me, Jake. All the way.”

  Jake was overcome with emotion, but forced his mind to clear. He remembered something, something he had forgotten to tell Haggar. Something important.

  “Do some digging on someone named Javier,” Jake said, recalling what Fausto had said onstage. “He may have a connection to the school or the money. I don’t know. They did something to him. Something with a drill.”

  “Who are these
people?” Ellie asked.

  “All I know is that they’re killers and they’re brutal.”

  “Jake, please, please be careful.”

  “Thank you, Ellie. Thank you for not lying to me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I listened to the scanners. I knew they weren’t coming in. You didn’t have to tell me, but I’m glad you did.”

  After a pause, Ellie blurted out, “I love you, Jake.”

  Jake kissed his fingers and put them gently to the phone. “I’ll tell you how I feel when I see you,” Jake said, and ended the call.

  No time for good-byes. According to Jake’s stopwatch, Andy and his friends now had less than forty-five minutes to live.

  CHAPTER 39

  Jake made another phone call before he descended back into darkness. He needed to speak with Lance.

  “Jake! Jake, is that you?”

  “Listen, Lance, I don’t have a lot of time. You’ve got to try and convince Haggar I’m not crazy.”

  “What?”

  “No time to explain. He’ll know what it’s about. Just tell him I’m not nuts. It’s going to go down in here pretty soon, and I’d rather not go at it alone. Tell them to engage. If they hold back, all these kids are going to die, and that includes my son.”

  “Andy? Where is Andy? I’m really lost here. You’re not making any sense.”

  “And another thing,” Jake said, not wasting a second on backstory. Lance would figure it out eventually. “This is all about money. A lot of money.”

  “What?”

  “Andy and his friends were involved in something. There was a theft. I told Ellie about someone named Javier. Does that mean anything to you? Javier?”

  “No,” Lance said, but then stuttered, “I—I—don’t know. I’d have to think. I’m rattled.”

  “All right. You do that and tell Ellie what you come up with.”

  “What are you doing, Jake?”

  “I’m doing what I do best. Surviving, big brother. I’m just surviving.” Jake ended the call so he could return to the catacombs.

  The call to Lance took another five minutes off the clock. Forty to go.

  Jake went as quickly as he could, but not recklessly fast. The tunnels were full of obstacles that could cause serious injury from a full-speed impact. While any second could be Andy’s last, Jake also believed that Fausto would honor his own deadline. Why, exactly, he couldn’t say. It was a gut feeling. Fausto sounded sadistically playful in the conversations Jake had overheard, as if he would relish each minute as it ticked off the clock. The fear of death for him would be as intoxicating as any drug.

  Yes, Fausto would wait the full hour, Jake felt certain of it. But, Jake reminded himself, it was no longer an hour.

  He had figured on spending fifteen minutes navigating the tunnels. Ten to gather supplies. Twenty-five off the clock. The rest of his plan would take another ten minutes to execute. Thirty-five minutes total before he could engage. Jake had about a five-minute buffer, and the margin for error was wider than the Amazon. His other choice was to stand down, leave the school, get taken into custody, plead his case to Haggar, and then bury his son.

  Wasn’t going to happen.

  The beam from Jake’s headlamp bounced across the familiar walls, revealing all the places where he needed to duck, crawl, or slouch. Otherwise, he was running. He went under the Terry Science Center, the library, Gibson Hall, and the Society Building, where he had left a dead man splattered on the bathroom floor. Jake took the tunnel to the Groveland Gymnasium, and at last he returned to the section of tunnels that was home to his bug-out location.

  For a few panicked seconds, Jake fumbled with the new key for the door lock on his bug-out location, cursing under his breath, and eventually got inside.

  Jake turned on the lights and checked his stopwatch. The whole trip went faster than expected, leaving him an extra minute on his deadline. One minute added to his buffer. Aboveground they would be looking for him. There would be chatter on the Bearcat—“Has anybody seen Dent? Anybody?” Haggar would be nervous. He’d press Ellie to make Jake follow the order.

  All this was happening, but none of it was of concern. If SWAT or the FBI made entry into the school, Jake would figure it out eventually. In the meantime, he’d be taking necessary action.

  It didn’t take long for Jake to locate the items he had come to retrieve. The flares were stored in the larder, away from the gasoline. Nearby was a case of tactical smoke grenades, with smoke output of 25,000 cubic feet. More than enough. He grabbed a handful of Cyalume Chemlights, military-grade infrared light sticks. They were just like regular glow sticks—bend, snap, crack—but the light emitted was invisible to the naked eye. With the night vision goggles, though, a few of those sticks would provide more than enough illumination.

  He had seven mags of ammo for the AK-47—one loaded, three on his chest rig, three on his battle belt. Jake decided to include a few additional mags of pistol ammo inside a small backpack, along with an extra flashlight and four pieces of the rebar he had scavenged from a construction site.

  He grabbed his tactical helmet and attached the night vision optical to the J-bar. He adjusted his Kevlar, inspected his guns, and paused to check his gear in the full-length, wall-mounted mirror. His face and hands were still covered in camo paint, mixed with tunnel grime. The tactical helmet fit snugly on his head. The rest of him was geared up: chest rig, battle belt, ammo, flares, glow sticks, smoke grenades, knives, two pistols, a Glock, the Ruger, and his rifle.

  He was ready for war.

  CHAPTER 40

  Ellie had just hung up with Jake when Haggar whistled to her from behind. She blanched when she saw him. She had shared sensitive tactical information with a possible threat. Although Jake had obtained the same intel on his own, Ellie’s actions were quite possibly criminal. Not that she regretted her choice. She believed Jake, and her goal was to convince Haggar of the same.

  Haggar bounded down the trailer’s front steps with purposeful strides. “Who was that?” he asked.

  “Jake,” Ellie said. She had no reason to lie, and Jake had every reason to call her.

  “Is he leaving?” Haggar said. “We need him out of there, and that’s that.”

  “I can’t tell you what he’s going to do,” Ellie said. That wasn’t a lie, either.

  “No offense, but you two have a history, and I’m not comfortable with you talking to him without one of my agents present. Understood?”

  “Understood.”

  “That’s an order, Sergeant Banks.”

  Haggar was a sharp-eyed leader, Ellie thought. “Yes, sir,” Ellie said.

  “Look, I appreciate all your help here. We’re going to get out of this just fine. It’s going to take time, that’s all.”

  “Sir, do you really believe this is terrorism?” Ellie asked.

  “Who else uses dirty bombs?”

  At first, Ellie wasn’t sure what to share, but she erred on the side of openness. “Jake thinks it’s about money. That’s what he said to me just now.”

  “Yeah? Jake also thinks the world is coming to an end any day now. Maybe he thinks Bigfoot somehow got his hands on all that cobalt-60.”

  Ellie strained to smile. “I know you’re putting extra surveillance on the Academy Building,” she said. “So you must not think he’s completely crazy.”

  Haggar looked annoyed. “I take every opportunity I’m given and exploit it to my advantage,” he said. “So we’re looking at that building a little extra hard. Big deal. Doesn’t mean Jake’s on the Red Unit now. It means we have heat-detection equipment in place and it’ll help us validate his claim.”

  “If you use every opportunity to your advantage, why not work with Jake? He’s on the inside. He can help.”

  “He can get himself or those kids killed. That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “What if he’s right?” Ellie asked. “What if there’s no bomb and we have less than an hour? We could lose the ki
ds.”

  “If that’s the case, I’m going to have a hard time sleeping at night for the rest of my life.”

  “Then believe him,” Ellie said.

  Haggar glanced at the trailer. For a moment, Ellie thought he was going to change his mind. “We’re working on making contact with the terrorists,” he said. “That’s the protocol and that’s the plan. I’m not about to enlist the help of a civilian under any circumstance.”

  Ellie backed off. She had more that Haggar needed to know. “During our call, Jake mentioned somone named Javier,” she said. “He’s convinced this whole thing has to do with money.”

  “Money?”

  “That’s what he said. I mean, what terrorists do anything in the name of money?”

  Haggar took a breath. He looked to the sky as if the answers would come from there. “Hell, this whole damn situation is a gigantic Charlie Foxtrot, if you ask me. Look, Ellie, if you’re hot on this Javier lead, then go figure out who he is and let me know what you learn.”

  It was as much as Haggar would budge. Ellie raced her cruiser home to get Kibo before her fishing expedition began. Where she lived was en route to her destination. Hours ago, Ellie’s other two shepherds had gone to a neighbor’s, but Kibo stayed behind. He didn’t transition to new environments like the other dogs. Even though he wasn’t a trained police dog, Ellie still wanted to take him along for the ride. At that moment, she needed the comfort of his companionship. It would help to ease her unremitting worry for Jake.

  Ellie arrived home a little after sunset. The clouds were gone, and a bright crescent moon shone down like a mischievous grin against a darkening sky. It didn’t take much light from town to block out the stars, but a few were twinkling off to the west. More would appear, once night settled in.

  Off in the distance, SWAT helicopters, spotlights illuminated, circled over The Pep in a tight pattern. Her home was built on top of a high hill, which offered tremendous views of the valley. Far below, Ellie observed pockets of strobe light activity, patches of blue and red that appeared to burn the forest in a multicolored flame. Many of the deployed units, Ellie knew, had taken advantage of the encroaching darkness to keep well hidden. She also had a clear view of the campus buildings. Most of them still had their lights on.