Kirk Russell - Counterfeit Road

Raveneau and la Rosa went back to their car and were glad to get the heater on. The morning was cold and windy. Coe called after they drove the roads on the superintendent’s map.

‘We’re getting some feedback from the air,’ Coe said. ‘We’ve got a vehicle coming off the mountain and moving your way. That’s probably the two biologists trying to get out of there before the President arrives. Can you see them? They started driving a few minutes ago and they’re on the southeastern face. That’s the road I told you about that runs through the project and then on over a mountain to Ivanpah.’

‘We’re on the road right now.’

It took Raveneau several minutes then he caught a reflection in sunlight. But there was no need to hold the binoculars and track them all the way down. There was only this road. He lowered the binoculars, looked at the gray-green of the mountain and knew they were most likely just what they claimed to be. That got reinforced even more as they made several stops when they came off the mountain and started down the sloping plain.

‘Stopping to look at tortoise burrows,’ Coe said, and they had him on speaker phone now. Raveneau’s phone sat up on the dash, its volume turned up. ‘That’s what they do. It’s why they’re there. The superintendent told me they usually check in with him on their way out though sometimes they just phone and let him know they’re gone. Basically, if his truck is there they stop and let him know they’re leaving.’

‘OK, got it, and we’ll see them as they come out.’

Raveneau was less sure of his theory this morning and it agitated him. The solar thermal plant had three sites and none were very far along yet, so the President’s visit would be largely symbolic. Considering how far along the project wasn’t, it was probably a short visit.

‘Is that the tortoise fencing?’ la Rosa asked, and pointed at silver mesh attached to the fencing alongside the road and no more than knee high.

‘Looks like it.’

Raveneau gauged the distance to the mountains. If the biologists weren’t making stops they’d be out by now. He turned back toward the dry lakebed and highway as la Rosa said, ‘They must be moving the visit up.’

Three black Suburbans were just arriving. They drove toward the superintendent’s office and la Rosa was guessing they were Secret Service vehicles. Raveneau picked up his phone to check the time before calling Coe.

‘Have you heard anything about the visit getting moved up? I’m asking because it looks like the Secret Service has arrived.’

‘No one has said anything to me. I’ll make a call and let you know.’

‘Thanks. How clearly are the Air Force guys seeing the biologists?’

‘They told me the one getting out checking the burrows needs a shave. Is that clear enough?’

‘Plenty.’

Another ten minutes went past and Raveneau’s mind was racing. The biologists still weren’t in view but were moving faster and should drive past soon. As they waited la Rosa said, ‘When they go past maybe we should follow and if they leave the project we can head to Vegas and catch a flight home from there.’

‘Here they come.’

Raveneau saw sunglasses and hats and a tinted windshield that made it hard to read features. He read Heritage Wildlife Institute on the driver’s door. There was similar white lettering on the back. They drove straight through. They didn’t slow. They didn’t stop at any burrows or ostensible burrows anywhere on the project site, nor did they stop at the superintendent’s office even though his pickup was there.

Maybe they saw the big black Suburbans and decided to get out while there was still time. Could be they were picturing getting breakfast somewhere with a clean table and a waitress rather than their campsite.

Raveneau turned to la Rosa. ‘Let’s get the superintendent to call these biologists. Their cell phones will work now.’

La Rosa didn’t follow him up the metal stairs of the construction trailer and Raveneau was inside when four helicopters in a line veered from the mountain and swept overhead. He saw their shadows sweep across the road. The biologists didn’t answer their cell phones. The superintendent tried and so did Raveneau as he looked out the window at the helicopters. Could be the White House decided to do the tour by air, but the superintendent said no, the President was still coming. The Secret Service had confirmed that a few minutes ago.

Raveneau nodded, then asked, ‘Can I borrow your truck?’

‘Why?’

‘I need to go up to the biologists’ camp.’

‘It’s a company truck, I’m not supposed to ever loan it out.’

‘Bend the rules, these are special circumstances and I don’t have a four-wheel drive. It won’t take fifteen minutes to get there and I can’t get in an accident. There’s no one to run into.’

‘They already left.’

‘Yeah, we saw the Heritage Wildlife vehicle go by.’

‘Then why go up there?’

‘I’ll get the truck back to you in forty minutes.’

Raveneau held his hand out and the superintendent reluctantly handed him the keys.

After la Rosa climbed into the cab Raveneau engaged the truck’s four-wheel drive, then lowered the window to talk with two Secret Service agents who were suddenly interested.

‘Where are you headed?’

‘To a camp the tortoise biologists use up on the mountain. It’s fifteen to twenty minutes up that road.’ He pointed at the dirt road rising into the scrub. ‘Want to come with us?’

‘The road may be closed when you come back down. If it is, you’ll have to wait until after the visit.’

‘How much time have we got?’

‘Not long.’

Raveneau handed his phone to la Rosa after they pulled away, saying, ‘We’re hoping Coe calls before we’re out of cell range. I’m driving. It’ll be easier for you to talk to him.’

But Coe didn’t call and the road was hard and fairly smooth so they made good time. Or at least they did until hitting a patch of sand before the mountains. On the mountain the road got rockier and narrowed.

‘We’re looking for two faded orange tents. The superintendent told me it’s about a half mile up and behind a rock outcrop that blocks the sun, but also makes it possible to drive past it without noticing. He said at the half mile mark start watching.’

‘And we’re doing this because the biologists didn’t answer their cell phones?’

‘We’re doing it to be certain. They don’t always answer their phones. They didn’t stop and check in with the superintendent before leaving.’

‘But now they’re out on the highway and the FBI is following them, right?’

‘That’s what Coe said.’

‘You don’t think that’s happening?’

‘It’s probably happening.’

‘They can get pulled over and asked for ID.’

‘They’ll have ID no matter what and we’re almost here.’

But they weren’t. It was closer to a mile and they were midway up the mountain before they spotted the tents.

‘Remind me never to loan you my car,’ la Rosa said, as they got there.

‘If we don’t find anything we’ll drive back much more slowly. We’ll enjoy the morning. We’ll go get coffee at the golf course and fly home.’

It was desert beautiful this morning, the winter sky blue and clear, a line of dry brown mountains etched at the horizon. The Ivanpah lakebed below was white, almost silvered in this light. They started at the first tent and didn’t have to go any farther. Raveneau didn’t even unzip the mosquito netting flies were trying to get through. Bright morning sunlight hitting the tent fabric illuminated the interior and he and la Rosa looked in at dark dried blood on the floor of the tent. He saw multiple bullet holes on the tent floor and realized they were shot from where he was standing leaning over looking in.