Mindhunters 4 - Deadly Intent (47 page)

The moment she was gone, Stephen turned to him, all trace of husbandly indulgence replaced by a deadly expression.

“What’s the latest weather report for the area up there in the forest?”

“Snow and blowing snow through tonight, possibly continuing into the morning.”

“Decreasing a sniper’s effectiveness.”

Adam cocked a brow. Clearly the man had a rudimentary knowledge of tactical operations. “It will be a challenge,” he conceded.

“Cramer has experience in that area. My security chief? Maybe you can use him.”

“I’d assume any shooter the Summit County Sheriff ’s SWAT team has on the unit has more up-to-date practice, training, and experience.” He wasn’t surprised that the man would try in some way to insert himself into the plans. A man like Mulder hadn’t amassed his fortune by allowing others to make decisions for him.

“I understand how difficult it is to sit back and let the author of those notes pull your strings.” Stephen’s look was sharp, but Adam didn’t flinch under it. “That’s what I would feel in your place. Helpless. Compliant. It wouldn’t set well with me either.”

After a long moment the man nodded. “Burns like a bitch, I have to say. But then I imagine you feel much the same way having your team up there where the action is while you accompany me to the bank.” He gestured to Adam’s leg.

The man had unerringly placed his finger on a wound that still throbbed. Most of the time he liked to think he’d made his peace with the physical limitations he’d live with for the rest of his life.

Some days he knew that was a lie. So he gave a slow nod in return. “Burns like a bitch,” he admitted.

Chapter 17

“It’s one thirty.” Kell crowded around the propane heater in the center of the circle of vehicles on the road and tried to convince himself he could feel his fingers again. “One and a half hours until the money transfer. We don’t have much more time to wait on a decision, Sheriff.”

“You know, Agent Whitman warned me about you, Burke.” Sheriff Preske’s voice was snappish. “He didn’t exactly sing your praises.”

“That’s only because he’s not a karaoke fan. But I think he harbors a secret desire to have my baby.”

“Burke’s solid, Sheriff.” Kell looked at Agent in Charge Travis with no small degree of shock. “Abrasive as hell, but solid.”

That last was more like what he expected from the man. He hunched closer to the heater and withstood an urge to turn and warm his backside. In doing so, he cast another concerned look at Macy. Was once again taken aback by her foreign appearance.

They all looked like special op polar bears. The gear that had been distributed had included two-piece white Ghillie Suits and gloves and matching helmets equipped with LED headlights. Those had gone on over their outerwear.

The armored vests had gone on under it.

Macy looked like a cub amidst the bears, but her suit fit surprisingly well. The sheriff had heard there was a woman on the team and had brought gear to fit her.

There were enough personnel in the area to make Kell more than a little jumpy. But the combined forces of search and rescue, Forestry, CBI, and the sheriff ’s office SWAT team meant they could afford to break into two teams, each on for an hour and a half, giving everyone a chance to at least partially unthaw around the heaters or inside a vehicle.

“Last weather report predicted no end to the conditions.” Everyone’s head turned when Macy spoke. She’d been silent, drinking a hot chocolate from the huge container that had been brought up with the rest of the supplies. “Wind speeds of thirty-five miles an hour with gusts up to fifty. I’m sure your shooter is good. But adjusting for those sorts of speeds is dicey at best. With the poor visibility because of the snow . . .” She left the rest of the thought unsaid, but there wasn’t a man there who couldn’t complete it.

Crosby, the sniper, would have been blown out of the tree he’d finally chosen if he hadn’t tied himself to it. “Your man can’t stay out there until morning.” Kell felt compelled to point out the obvious. “The flashlight lanterns were turned off in the shelter nearly an hour ago.” He and Macy had been on duty, and he’d been damn glad when he’d seen it. Maybe it meant the girl had been given a few more hours.

But hours were all she had.

“The weather up here is hard to predict.” Preske pushed up his face guard and mask to wipe away the ice forming on his mustache. “It’s a big area. It can be cloudy and snowing in one spot and ten miles away the sun is shining. There’s still a chance the weather will calm before dawn. And as soon as the guy stirs, Crosby will have him.”

Kell subsided. It wasn’t like Preske would be making the final decision in any case. He was checking in regularly with Whitman and Raiker, who were already on their way to the bank. The final decision would be theirs.

Kell edged his way over to Macy and silently she held out her hot chocolate for him. He took a long drink and handed it back to her. It was barely warm, although it had been steaming minutes ago. “How you doing?”

“Getting nervous,” she murmured back. He huddled closer to keep their conversation between themselves. “I just can’t shake this feeling . . . Dodge doesn’t have reason to wait long. Why would he? Every moment he stays here is a step closer to getting caught. It’s conceivable that he’s waiting to be given the word before killing her. But after the money is paid, why wouldn’t that word come sooner rather than later? You’d think he’d stand a better chance of getting out of here in the dark.”

“This storm is going to slow him down as much as it does us.”

“Little consolation if . . .” She stopped herself from saying it. But he knew exactly how the thought would end.

Little consolation if the girl was already dead.

“If it were just our group, with Raiker at the helm alone calling the shots, I’d feel a whole lot better about this,” he muttered. But he’d been on multiagency teams plenty of times during his stint with the Baltimore PD. Too many chiefs, not enough Indians. Snipers that thought they were flawless. Tactical teams too ready to go in before negotiations were given a chance to work.

And most scary, heads from various alphabet agencies wrangling over the best course of action. Either delaying the proper response until it was too late or making a decision based on politics and turf rather than on the reality of the issue.

“We just have to wait and hope that Raiker does his thing.” Unconsciously he tried to shove his hands in his coat pockets for extra warmth. Was reminded that the suit covered them. “He’s the only one I trust to make a decision like this.”

Paulie Samuels was entertaining himself by practicing card tricks. It went without saying that he had a deck on him at all times. It was a habit the man had to keep himself calm and Adam knew him well enough to avoid getting sucked into the showmanship.

Right now he was seated at a polished cherry conference table in the bank president’s office, spinning cards on his finger and shaking them from his sleeve. Sitting down next to him, Adam watched for a moment before saying, “Have you had any more attempts to bypass the security on our financials?”

The man looked up. The ace spinning on his index finger never faltered. “How’d you know? Right after I sent the bastard a little virus that should have turned his machine into a crispy critter, it wasn’t forty-eight hours before there was another attempt.”

Adam drew a deep breath. It was only when a person had something to hide that this sort of news would be so disturbing. He had more to hide than most. “And . . .”

Paulie lifted a shoulder. His tie today was covered with miniature slot machines. “Didn’t get any further than he did the first time. Not as far, actually, because I was ready for him and had a dandy little detour set up for him. It’ll be weeks before he can rid his machine of the blizzard of spam and porn notices I sent him.”

“How do you know it’s the same person?”

“Because he doesn’t have a big arsenal of tricks. I recognize his patterns.” When Adam didn’t answer, his friend looked at him in surprise. “Hey, you aren’t worried, are you? I’ve got your back, Adam, always. Instead of destroying his hard drive, I thought I’d send him a Trojan horse. See if we can get a glimpse of who we’re dealing with.”

“Spyware?”

Paulie’s expression looked pained. “For you less technical people, that’s as close as you can probably come to understanding it. But if we’re lucky, we’ll get some idea of who we’re dealing with. Because while he’s busy getting rid of the spam I loaded him with, I’ll be going through any e-mail accounts, online banking transactions, documents . . . just as good as sitting at his computer myself.”

Adam gave his friend a faint smile. “Good job.”

The man’s gaze drifted back to the cards. He turned over his hand and showed the queen of spades cupped in his palm. “I’ll remind you of that when we negotiate my next contract.”

With a flicker of amusement, he said, “I’m sure you will.” Adam noted Whitman come in the room and rose to join the man in the doorway.

“Sheriff Preske just reported in. Your man Burke is getting antsy.”

“Hardly surprising. What’s the weather report?”

“There’s always the slight chance it could get better by morning. But the forecast calls for several more hours of snow and winds.”

“Damn.” Ordinarily a sniper was their best chance to avoid harm to the girl. It was hard to avoid collateral damage when a structure was breached. His gaze traveled over the man’s shoulder to the Mulders sitting at a table with the bank president. The couple’s hands were clasped.

“They’ve got to go in,” he murmured and was relieved when the CBI assistant director nodded.

“I agree.”

“And the sooner the better. We might have more time if the transfer is physical, but if it’s to be electronic . . .”

It appeared that he and Whitman were on a rare similar wavelength. “Then the girl doesn’t have much more time.”

Preske walked back into the group huddled around the heaters, attempting to hook the radio onto the belt at his waist as he did so. “New game plan, people.”

Kell and Macy turned at the man’s pronouncement. They’d been readying with the rest of their team to head back into place surrounding the cabin, to relieve the men there right now.

“We’re going in.”

“Hallelujah.” Kell flexed his hands. The pronouncement filled him with a sense of relief. The trepidation filtered in moments later. He didn’t have to be told how chancy a breach was. But with both Dodge and the girl hopefully sleeping, they stood a decent chance of getting the girl out alive if they cut off Dodge before he could get to her first.

A big if.

“Burke!” the sheriff barked. Kell moved into the circle. “How good a look did you get at that door today?”

“Not as close as I wanted. But the whole structure is made to be portable. To knock down and set up easily. The door won’t be reinforced. You could go with either a mechanical or ballistic breach.” Looking closer, he saw that the man had unrolled the drawing he’d made of the structure. “What do you have for new intelligence?”

“Misha and Cody are on the ground in back with night vision binoculars. No lights on inside. They haven’t seen anyone through the window since they went on duty.”

So in other words, no changes.

“They’re our two most experienced members with the thunderbolt. They’ll be the primary entry team.” The man stabbed his finger at the drawing of the window. “Hillis and Voss will wait for the signal and use the bang stick to rake out the window and toss in the flash bangs at the same time the other two are going through the door.”

“Santeen, Wilder, and Matthews serve on our secondary entry team.” He looked up then, seemed to guess the thoughts of the others in the circle staring at him. “Don’t worry, boys. You’ve got a spot at the party. Whitman says Burke and Travis will follow the secondary team in and secure the hostage. Morgan, Neely, and Sachs will bring up the rear and help provide cover as you clear the area. Make sure to pick up goggles from the gear we brought. The grenades will have the place full of smoke. You got the best look inside, Burke, because it was still daylight when you got there before the wind became such a bitch. You and Travis go for the girl. You’ve got weapons?”