by David Archer
“Take your shot.” He raised a fist and then extended a single finger, the signal for his men to burst into the house from any direction they could find, and then the window he was looking through exploded as Vincent’s bullet crashed through it.
Mitch had just aimed his pistol at Sam’s face, but then it vanished. He stared in shock at where his right hand had once been, but the second shot made him completely unaware that it was gone. The fifty caliber bullet from Johnny Vincent’s rifle had blown his head completely apart, and the other men were suddenly scrambling for cover even as they tried to figure out where the shots had come from.
Some of them caught on quickly and the room erupted with automatic weapons fire. What was left of the window disintegrated, but Rob was already gone. He reappeared a moment later at another window, the big Desert Eagle in his hand shaking everything with its thunder.
Sam drew his own Glock and grabbed the girl, who was screaming inside the bag over her head. He dragged her back, trying to get her out of the line of fire if any of them turned back toward him, but two of Mitch’s men got between him and the door, raising their rifles. Without even thinking, Sam snapped off a brace of double-taps, and both men dropped with a pair of holes in each of their chests.
Reese had ducked down and was crawling toward the door as fast as he could go. He was almost there when it suddenly burst inward and two of Rob’s men came rushing in.
Bobby, who had ducked when the shooting began, suddenly jumped up and shouted something. He started to aim his machine pistol in Sam’s direction, but Sam squeezed off another shot that caught him center mass. He went down, a spreading stain just over where his heart would be, as Sam fired at another man who was trying to bring a rifle to bear on him.
“Go, Sam,” one of the soldiers shouted, his own weapon spraying bullets around the room. Sam pulled the girl by her arm toward the door, still screaming, and then they were outside. The gun fire continued inside for another few seconds, but then everything became eerily silent.
Across the street, people were looking through windows, trying to figure out what was happening, but no one was stepping outside. Rob came from around the side of the house, then hurried inside while Sam yanked the bag off the girl’s head.
“Amber? Amber, relax, you’re safe, now. My name is Sam, I’m going to get you back to your father.”
The girl was nearly hysterical, but suddenly she threw her arms around Sam and clung to him. Sam held her as she sobbed, and then looked up as Rob Feinstein came back out of the house.
“They’re all down,” he said, “but a few of them are still breathing. I lost one man, Billy Jamison, took a round through his right eye. Nobody else was even hit.”
Sam shook his head. “I’m sorry, Rob,” he said. “I’ve got to call this in.” He took out his phone and dialed 911.
“911,” said the operator, “what is your emergency?”
“My name is Sam Prichard, and I’m a professional investigator. My people and I have just affected the rescue of a kidnap victim in Sheldon, Illinois. There was gunfire and I have numerous dead and injured. I need police and medical personnel at my location.”
“Yes, sir,” the operator said. “I show your location at 217 Waldron Street in Sheldon, is that correct?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Yes, sir, officers and emergency personnel are responding. Please do not leave that location.”
“I have no intention of it at this time,” Sam said. He hung up the phone and then dialed another number immediately.
Amber was still clinging to him and he was keeping one arm wrapped around her as she wept. He put the phone to his ear and waited for it to be answered.
“Mr. Prichard?”
“Yes, sir,” Sam said. “I have somebody here who wants to talk to you.” He put the phone to Amber’s ear, and he could hear McCabe calling her name. The girl looked up at Sam, then took the phone.
“Daddy?” She pulled away slightly, and Sam let her go so she could talk to her father. “Daddy, they were shooting guns, and I was so scared…”
Evan Reese suddenly appeared in front of him. “Wow, that was crazy,” he said. “I thought we were going to get killed for a minute there, but at least we got her back. So, you and me, we’re all good now, right? Because, like, there are sirens coming this way in a hurry, so I want to make sure everything’s okay between you and me.”
Sam looked at him and smiled. “Everything’s fine, Evan,” he said “because I still need you at the moment. You cooperated, and you did help me get the girl back safely, but I don’t think we’re quite done. Keep cooperating, everything goes fine, but if you cross me just one time, I'll place you under arrest as an accessory to kidnapping and murder.”
The man’s eyes shot wide open. “Murder? But she wasn’t even hurt, there’s no murder…”
Sam grabbed him by his shirt collar and dragged him close till they were nose to nose. “One of my men died in there,” he growled, “along with several others, and a security officer was killed the night she was abducted. Under the law, if somebody dies during the commission of a crime, all of those who were involved in the crime are responsible for the death and charged with murder. You may have a lot of friends, Evan, but I’m pretty sure that most of them would drop you like a hot potato over this.”
Denny and Darren showed up then, after one of Rob’s men had told them that everything was over. Sam looked at Denny and shoved Reese in his direction. “Hold on to this piece of crap for me,” he said. “Until I’m sure I’m done with him.”
Wendy and Harvey came rushing up at that moment, and Wendy shoved the microphone toward Sam.
“Mr. Prichard,” she said, “you just rescued a young girl from her kidnappers, and it turned into quite a firefight. Can you tell us if the girl is safe?”
Sam bit back the urge to tell Wendy to wait and put on his tired but happy face. “She is,” he said. “Wendy, all I can tell you at the moment is that she is safe, and that her kidnappers did not escape. We’re waiting for the sheriff to arrive at the moment, and I'll be able to give you a better statement after I’ve spoken with him.”
NINE
The Expedition pulled up at the end of the driveway and Indie got out and hurried to Sam. She threw her arms around him and he hugged her tight in return.
“Oh, God,” Indie said. “I heard all the gun noise, I was scared to death, Sam.”
“I’m fine,” he said. “I even managed not to get shot, this time.” He squeezed her again, then let go and looked her in the eye. “But I think I know what Beauregard was warning me about. It turns out Wegner’s nephew was one of the kidnappers, and he just got killed.”
Indie put a hand to his face. “I’m sorry, Sam,” she said. “But, yeah, that’s probably going to make him pretty angry. Dammit, I hate Beauregard!”
Sheldon was a very small town in a rural county, but the Iroquois County Sheriff’s office was quite efficient. Within less than ten minutes, the house was surrounded by more than a dozen sheriffs and state police vehicles, and five ambulances had arrived.
Sheriff Ken Mackie was one of the first to arrive, and one of the men directed him to Sam. Sam showed them his ID, including the DHS endorsement.
“Prichard, what on Earth happened here?” Mackie asked. They were watching the paramedics bringing people out on stretchers.
“The young lady is Amber McCabe,” Sam said. “She is the daughter of Roland McCabe, CEO of McCabe Electronics. She was kidnapped out of her bedroom three nights ago, part of a plot to force Mr. McCabe into an unfavorable business alliance. My team and I were called in to investigate, and managed to track down an individual who had been involved in the scheme. That let us learn that she was being held here, and we attempted a nonviolent rescue. Unfortunately, her captors decided to open fire, and we were forced to return it. Ms. McCabe was unhurt, and I’ve already notified her father that she is safe. He’s arranging a flight to come and pick her up as soon as possible.�
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Once the scene was secured and the medical examiner called out for the dead bodies, the rest of the follow-up was moved back to the sheriff’s office. The FBI arrived shortly thereafter, and Sam had to go through his entire report again. His DHS credentials, along with his reputation, were enough to impress the agents, however, and he and his people were finally released after three hours of questioning and paperwork. Amber would remain at the sheriff’s office in the care of a couple of female deputies until her father arrived in a couple more hours.
Wendy Dawson was in news heaven. After Sam had introduced her to the sheriff as the CNN reporter, she had been allowed to stay close while they discussed the situation. Both Sam and the sheriff answered numerous questions for her on camera, and then Sam gave her the go-ahead to send the footage back to her studio for editing and release.
As they were getting ready to leave, Rob called Sam aside. “Sam, I need to stay here. There’s going to be some paperwork about Billy’s death, and I need to make arrangements to have his body transported back to Denver for burial. The guys, they’d like to stay with me. Do you need me to send some with you?”
Sam laid a hand on his shoulder. “I think this is over, at least for now. We should be all right. I'll see to it that Ron arranges a flight for you, so you can all come back with him as an honor guard.”
The big man looked at Sam for a moment, and Sam noticed a single tear on his cheek. “Thank you, sir,” Rob said. “That’ll mean a lot to the guys.”
After that, Sam called Wendy and Harvey aside. “I want the two of you to be here when Mr. McCabe arrives,” he said. “You want to get that for your news story, anyway, right?”
Wendy smiled. “That’ll be the icing on the cake, Sam,” she said. “We’ll take it easy on them, though. I’m sure they’re going to be dealing with enough reporters over the next few days.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “But, once again, it was you that broke the story.”
The drive back to Chicago was uneventful, but Indie decided to take a slightly different route back to the airport, anyway. The path took her through parts of the city, and she was amazed at just how beautiful it was in some places, while obviously run down and dysfunctional in others.
Sam was looking out the window and pointed at the signs along the road that indicated landmarks. “Wish we had time,” he said. “I’ve never been to Chicago before, I’d love to look around.”
Indie smiled. “Maybe we can come back on vacation, someday.”
“Like any of us are ever going to get a vacation,” Denny grumbled. “Your husband, love, is a slave driver. All we do is work, work, work.”
Darren, who had been leaning against the window on his side, said, “You wouldn’t know what to do on vacation, anyway.”
Evan Reese, stuck between the two men in the back seat, suddenly leaned forward. “So, what is it we need to do next? You said you weren’t done with me yet. What did you mean by that?”
Sam turned in his seat to look at him. “It’s pretty simple,” he said. “We got the girl back, and that was our primary goal. Now, I want the people who were responsible for this. I have reason to believe that somebody is going to be pretty angry about the people who died back there. It’s most likely going to be the ones who were behind the kidnapping, so I want to get to them before they get to me.”
The man looked at him, trying to seem confused. “What? I already told you, it was Heinrich. He’s the guy who hired me, and you heard that guy back there, they were working for Heinrich, too. Hell, one of them was his freaking nephew.”
“But Heinrich is part of an organization, right? That means there was more than just one person involved, and I want to know who all of them are. You’re going to help me find out, because I want each and every one of them brought to justice, both for the girl and for the men who died because of this.”
“The only one I know about is Heinrich,” Reese said, “and I already told you I’d be happy to have something happen to him. I’m supposed to call him and tell him where to meet the guys who supposedly have what he wants, so it would be pretty easy to set that up for you to be there.”
“Now you’re catching on,” Sam said. “Because that’s exactly what I have in mind.”
They were getting close to the airport, so Sam took out his phone and called the pilot. The company that provided the plane had switched the flight crews while they were busy, but the pilot’s phone was one that was passed from one pilot to another. The new guy was happy to file a flight plan back to Ithaca, and said the plane would be ready to go by the time they arrived.
They got to the airport and went through the process of turning in the vehicles, then made their way to where the Gulfstream was waiting for them. The pilot, a tall, thin man, was waiting by the boarding steps.
“You’re Mr. Prichard, right?” he asked. Sam nodded and shook his hand. “Okay, I was told to let you know that we are going straight back to Denver. I had filed the flight plan for Ithaca, but I just got the call that your boss wants you back home. Oh, and I’m supposed to tell you that your other associates back in Ithaca are coming back on another flight this evening.”
Sam nodded again. “Thank you, I appreciate it.” The pilot climbed inside and went to the cockpit, and Sam reached into his pocket for his cell phone. It showed four bars of service, so he quickly dialed the number that would connect him to his boss, Ron.
“Sam,” he said as he answered. “I understand some congratulations are in order.”
“Well, we managed to find her,” he said, “and Mr. McCabe is on his way to pick her up as we speak. I have a question for you, though. Back when you were with DHS, did you ever hear of a guy named Heinrich Wegner?”
He could hear Ron tapping on computer keys. “Don’t think I did but… Give me a minute, checking the file on this guy. Looks like he’s known as an information and weapons merchant, but he’s mixed up with some rebel army group based in Nigeria. What about him?”
“If our boy Reese is telling the truth, then this is the guy who arranged the kidnapping. I was planning to set him up for an arrest, but now that you diverted us back to Denver, I’m not sure what to do. To be honest, I have a very strong feeling that this guy is going to create problems for me. It seems Beauregard foresees somebody being really angry over the people who died today, and since one of them was this guy’s nephew, I’m thinking it must be Wegner.”
“And you could be right,” Ron said. “We are bringing Steve and Walter and the girls back home today, too, and you can put Mr. Reese in one of our guestrooms. It’ll be pretty late by the time you get back here, so we might as well just sleep on this and discuss it in the morning.”
“That will work,” Sam said. “If there’s one thing I’m learning about this corporate life, it’s that it doesn’t leave time for nearly as much sleep as I want.”
“Yeah, but we pay you pretty well. You can’t have everything, right? All right, I'll see you in the morning. McCabe is extremely happy with how you handled this, Sam, so all of you will be hearing about those bonuses when we get together tomorrow.”
“See you then, boss,” Sam said. He ended the call and looked over at Reese. “Well, there’s been a little change in plans,” he said. “We’re not going back to Ithaca, we’re on the way to Denver, where my company is based. You will be our guest for the night, and then we’ll figure out what we’re doing about Heinrich in the morning.”
Reese’s eyes were wide and round. “Hey, I’m supposed to call Heinrich this evening, remember? If I don’t give him something, he’s going to be…”
“He’s probably worried about whether you even made it out of that mess alive, by now. Don’t you think he would know that it turned into a firefight? Wendy’s report is probably already on CNN, so he’s going to hear about it if he hasn’t already. I don’t think waiting until tomorrow to call him is going to make that big a difference, and it will give us time to come up with a cover story for how you got out of the
re alive and without being arrested.”
The flight attendant offered to make them dinner, and everyone accepted. It was simple fare consisting of roast beef sandwiches, potato chips and soft drinks, but it was welcome. Once they had eaten, Sam and Indie drifted off to sleep while Darren and Denny sat up to keep Reese company.
The flight wasn’t very long, and they landed at Denver at just after seven p.m., local time. Roger was waiting when the plane taxied to a stop.
“Been hearing about how well things went, Sam,” Roger said as they climbed out of the aircraft. “You did one hell of a job out there.”
Sam grinned at him. “Thanks, Roger,” he said. “It was a team effort, though.” He squeezed Indie’s hand.
“And it’s a hell of a team you’ve got,” Roger said. “You got any luggage to grab or anything?”
“No, just our carry-ons. All the rest was with our other team members in New York, so I guess they brought it back with them.”
Roger grinned. “Okay, then, let’s get you folks home. We got a room set up at HQ for your guest, and Ron asked me to stick around and keep him company for the night. The boss man says to let you get some rest tonight, but then he wants to see all of you first thing in the morning to talk about what happens next.”
Roger led Sam and the rest to the big Ford passenger van he was driving, and they all climbed in. Sam let Denny take the front passenger seat while he slid into the seat behind it with Indie. Reese and Darren took the next seat, and Roger put the van in gear.
Indie suddenly slid across the seat to lean into Sam, and he put an arm around her. They rode like that all the way to his house, where everyone got into their own vehicles and headed for home. Sam and Indie went to the door, where they found a note from their mothers. It said that they’d taken Kenzie and Bo up to the cabin for a couple of days, and to call when they were ready for them to come home.
It was still relatively early in the evening, and neither of them were terribly tired after napping on the flight. After twenty minutes of staring at the television screen and finding nothing worth watching, Sam suddenly grabbed Indie’s hand and pulled her to her feet.
