Bug Out! Part 10: RV Race to Battle (4 page)

Frank reached around the side of the PC and grabbed his pad of paper and a pen.

“Okay, go ahead, Rami.”

Rami read codes off to Frank, which he wrote down, and then read back.

“Okay, Frank, you’ve got it. This will have to be temporary. How long do you need it?”

“Can we have the account for a week?”

“Yes, Frank, I’ll be able to cover it for that long.”

“Great, thanks so much, Rami.”

“Don’t mention it. Take care of yourselves. Good luck.”

“Thanks, you too.”

Frank handed the phone back to General Hogan.

“All set,” Frank said.

“What did you set up, exactly?” Jerry asked.

“Before I left work, we were working on an ultra-secure web meeting tool which we could use for communication between satellite launch sites and the factory,” Frank said. “We were using the commercial product for our non-classified satellite launches, and had such good luck with it that we wanted to duplicate it for the classified side.”

“The commercial one was WebEx, right?”

“Originally, but we eventually went with a similar tool from another vendor who was giving us a deal,” Frank said.

“So the away team will go in with Bluetooth headsets on, and have constant contact with the technical team?” the General asked.

“Yep,” Frank said. “We’ll give you real time info on movement, and real time coordination.”

“That’ll be perfect,” George said.

“Yeah,” General Hogan said. “We can talk to each other in the field, too, right?”

“Yep, we’ll all be in one big meeting, and anybody can talk. My only caution is that we must keep down the chatter, or it’ll get confusing.”

“Okay, so here’s what I propose,” General Hogan said. “Frank, Jane, Jasmine, and I will be the command post here, serving up information and communicating using this tool.”

“If Jerry’s on the away team, I don’t like that idea,” Jasmine said.

“I know, Jasmine,” the General said softly. “Look at it this way. We’re a team. We each have a valuable role to play. You’ve already proven yourself quite well in the role I’m suggesting. Having you in that job will make a successful mission much more likely. You’d be protecting the away team. That will improve the chances that Jerry comes back alive much more than you going with him.”

Jasmine sat silently for a minute.

“You know he’s right, honey,” Jerry said.

“I know, I know,” she looked away. “Don’t have to like it, but I’ll do what the team needs.”

“Good, thank you,” General Hogan said. “Let’s move on, then. We know we need the archers, and they’ll be right up front. Jeb, Kurt, and Malcolm, you okay with that?”

“Yes sir,” Malcolm said.

“I’m ready,” Kurt said.

“Me too,” Jeb said.

“Good, thank you,” the General said. “Sharp shooters?”

“The Sheriff, Earl, Jackson, Kurt, Terry, Charlie, and Jeb are all good,” Jerry said. “Oh, and George with that .50 cal, of course.”

“Mortars?” the General asked.

“Earl and Jackson have the most experience,” Jerry said. “I’m checked out on them too.”

“Technical support?” the General asked.

“That would be me,” Jerry said. “Since Frank and Jasmine aren’t going.”

“Who’s going to protect the park?” Jane asked.

“Well, we already know that Dobie is staying here with his dogs,” Malcolm said. “How good are Jake and Gabe?”

“Don’t know about Jake’s fighting ability,” Jerry said. “But he’s a good tech guy. If something breaks here, he’d be able to fix it. Gabe’s pretty good with a rifle and a scatter gun, but his best strength is his ability to improvise. He appears a little nutty, but he’s brilliant.”

“Okay, let’s start paring this down,” the General said. “I’m going to suggest that the oldest sharp shooters who aren’t bow experts stay home and guard this place. There might be a lot of climbing around.”

“The two that fit that bill are the Sheriff and Charlie,” Jerry said. “You guys okay with that?”

“Well, Hilda will be happy,” Charlie said.

“Are you guys going to send Terry?” the Sheriff asked.

“I’d say yes,” Jerry said. “He’s a crack shot, and he’s fast.”

“If there’s a way I can fit, I’d like to go,” the Sheriff said.

“Okay, I’m good with that,” General Hogan said.

“Trish is going to have a fit,” Jane said.

“Nobody is going to be forced into this,” General Hogan said. “If Terry doesn’t want to go, that’s that.”

“Agreed,” Charlie said. “Terry will opt to go. Trust me.”

“Okay, we have three jeeps and a Humvee,” the General said. With equipment we’ll be taking, we must keep the Humvee at four men. Jeeps?”

“We have a couple two-door Wranglers, and one four-door Wrangler Ultimate,” Jeb said. “Four men in each would be the limit, especially since we’re taking mortars and that .50 cal sniper rifle. The Ultimate has a little more storage in the back.”

“So we have sixteen seats,” General Hogan said, “and only thirteen men. Perfect. Room to spare.”

“Oh, by the way, I did check the terrain,” Jasmine said. “I wouldn’t take anything but the Jeeps and the Humvee. It looks pretty rough, especially as you near the target area. Plan on taking some time to get back there.”

“Okay, then we’re set,” Charlie said. “Since we know the bad guys are looking for us via satellite, I want to meet with the people who are staying here. We must be ready to defend this place, because if we get taken out, the eyes and ears of the away team will be gone.”

“That’s a good thought,” Frank said. “Better re-check the generator too, just in case.”

“Right,” Charlie said. “We’ve also got to worry about the serial killers, right?”

“Well, yes and no,” Malcolm said. “I think we have at least a week before they arrive. They’re still playing games on the eastbound road.”

“Uh oh, you see something else?” George asked.

“Yeah, another girl found on a dirt road. They had time to play with her,” Malcolm said, a grim look on his face. “They found fluid from two different men in her. A pretty young lady named Amanda Smith. She was only nineteen. Disappeared from a street right next to a university in St. Louis.”

“Oh, no,” Jane said. “That’s so sad.”

“They’re only one state over,” Jasmine said.

“True,” Malcolm said, “but they’re on the far side of Missouri, and I have a pretty good idea where they’re going. Remember the home base in Columbus, Ohio that I was talking about?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jane said.

“I’d worry more about the enemy than those guys,” Frank said. “Seriously.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “We know what to do. I’ll lead the home team. We’ll have our defenses ready.”

“It’s still unlikely that they can get past the border,” General Hogan said. “General Kincaid set nothing up. I confirmed that earlier.”

“Can you check for all authorizations, regardless of who signed them?” Jerry asked.

“Yeah, I can,” the General said. “Good idea. I’ll get on that now.”

“When do we expect to kick this off?” Jeb asked.

“I can get the satellite access shut off tomorrow,” the General said. “Think you guys can be ready to go by mid-morning?”

“Yeah,” Jeb said. The others nodded in approval.

“Okay, we’ll activate the plan tomorrow morning,” the General said.

“I think I’d better go talk to Terry,” the Sheriff said.

“Home team, meet me up by the front of the room,” Charlie said. “Dobie, could you go get Gabe and Jake, please? And find Hilda and Mary?”

“On it,” Dobie said, leaving the clubhouse.

George walked out on the porch. Heidi was leaned against the rail, looking out. She turned and smiled when she saw him. “Plans made?”

“Yeah,” George said, taking her into his arms.

“When?”

“We leave tomorrow morning. Probably be back the next day.”

“How dangerous is this going to be?” she asked.

“We have a pretty good chance of pulling it off with minimal casualties,” he said.

“Can I go too?” she asked.

“I’d feel better if you didn’t,” George said. “But I won’t stop you. You’re valuable. You’ve proven that more than once.”

“Let’s sleep on it,” she said.

***

Howard helped Scott up the stairs, and onto the couch in the living room. Blake and Kerry heard them and rushed over.

“You feeling better, Scotty?” Blake asked.

“Yes, much better, thanks to you two,” he said, smiling. “As long as I’m around, you won’t have to be afraid of anybody.”

“Howard let us out,” Kerry said. “Where’s mom?”

“She’s in the basement. She won’t hurt you anymore.”

“Is she dead?” Blake asked.

“No,” Scott said. “But she’s tied up. She’s getting a time out.”

Howard chuckled. “Yeah, a time out. Do you boys know her boyfriend?”

“Bobby Joe,” Blake said, a terrified look on his face. “They aren’t coming here, are they?”

“They might, but we’ll take care of them if they do,” Scott said. “Did they hurt you guys?”

“Yes,” Kerry said, “Mom told them to.”

“Where do they live?” Howard asked.

“Back home,” Blake said.

Scotty looked at Howard. “Michigan.”

“That’s a ways. How do we tip them off?” Howard asked. “They might not know where she is.”

“Kerry, does Bobby Joe live with your mom?” Scott asked.

“Sometimes,” he replied.

“Not helpful,” Howard said. “They might not know she’s here.”

“Oh, I think they do,” Scott said. “Remember what she said about the
surprise?”

“Yeah, but she might be bluffing. For all we know, they might not be together anymore.”

“That thought has crossed my mind,” Scott said. “Johnny could probably tell us. I’ll call him.”

Scott pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed.

“Johnny?”

“Yeah, Scott, what is it? I’m working.”

“Oh, just a quick question. How’s the chances that Emma is still with the biker dude?”

“They were all here last month. Had a big party at the house. Brought in a band and a bunch of people. I could hear it all the way over at my place.”

“Thanks, that answers my question. Talk to you later.”

“Okay, Scotty. Bye.”

Scott looked over at Howard. “Yeah, they’re still together. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are around already. They were just here for a big party a month ago.”

“Well,
it is
Saturday,” Howard said, grinning. “They’re probably off work. Wonder if they’ll be over tonight?”

“There’s only two bars in this crappy town,” Scott said. “If they’re in town, I’ll bet they’ve shown up in at least one of them.”

Scott looked at his phone again, searching for nearby bars. He called the first one.

“Hello, is this Rocket’s Bar and Grill?”

“Yes sir. What can I do for ya?”

“Seen a group of bikers there this morning or last night?”

“Nope, can’t say that I have.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Something the matter?”

“No, just trying to locate my friends.”

“Well, they might have gone to Crusty’s. It’s down the street. Want the number?”

“Sure, thank you kindly.” Scott looked over at Howard and winked.

“It’s 555-335-4287”

“Thanks.”

“My my, people are so helpful here,” Scott said, as he dialed the number. Howard laughed.

“Hello, is this Crusty’s?”

“Yes, can I help you?”

“I’m looking for my friends. They’re bikers. They been in there today?”

“Yeah, there were some bikers here earlier. They got a little too rowdy so I asked them to leave.”

“Sounds like my buddies. You know where they went?”

“They were talking about a vineyard about twenty miles north of here.”

“Great, thanks.”

Scott put his phone down. “What kind of biker gang goes wine tasting?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Howard said, laughing. “This will be too easy. They probably aren’t even armed.”

“Yeah, probably not,” Scott said. “Wonder if any of them are wearing their Bluetooth headphones from work?”

“What’s that?” Kerry asked, a dull look on his face.

“Bobby Joe works at the bank,” Blake said. “Remember? He’s got one of those things. I saw it in his ear before. It looks funny.”

Scott and Howard cracked up.

“You know what sucks about this?” Howard asked.

“What?” Scott asked.

“These guys are going to go out with the kind of image they want, but they ain’t gonna deserve it.”

“Yep,” Scott said. “When they drive in here, we’ll pull your class C across the driveway. With those fences on both sides, they won’t be able to escape.”

“What’s in the back?” Howard asked.

“The dirt road ends a little ways back. Last I looked, there was barbed wire fence, around the part of the farm that Emma sold off.”

“We better go check. We don’t want any of them getting away,” Howard said. “Feel up to a little walking?”

“Yeah, it’d do me good,” Scott said. He stood up, and looked over at Kerry and Blake, who were listening intently. “Hey boys, there any guns in the house?”

“Yeah, but they’re locked up, in the closet upstairs,” Blake said.

“Why don’t you show us?” Howard asked.

“Sure,” he said, “but we don’t have the key.”

“No problem,” Howard said. “I got the keys from your mom, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kerry said. “That’s how you let us out.”

“I’ll wait down here if you don’t mind,” Scott said. “Don’t want to overdo it.”

Howard nodded and turned to the boys. “Lead the way.”

The boys scampered up the stairs, with Howard hurrying to keep up. They got to the big landing. There were three doors: right, left, and straight ahead. They opened the one that was straight ahead and walked in, looking back at Howard to make sure he was still behind them. The room looked like a guest bedroom. It was large, with an old brass bed in the middle, unmade. It smelled like stale beer. The twins pointed to a closet door on the right side of the room.

“The guns are in there,” Blake whispered.

Howard tried keys and found the right one quickly. He opened the door and was hit by the smell of gun cleaning fluid. There was a chain hanging, so he pulled it, turning on the light.