Mark Young - Off the grid

Two hours after launch, Richard had sat down with the target for dinner and revealed all he knew about him. The man seemed to melt before Richard’s eyes as his misdeeds were revealed: illicit sexual encounters covered up thirty years ago, a business deal gained by twisting political arms using White House clout, and the revelation of an offshore account the man socked away for a rainy day, proceeds from ill-gotten gains. By dinner’s end, Richard had an invaluable source inside the White House, a man with direct access to the President.

He laughed, thinking about another staff member in the office of the Director of National Intelligence, who had the audacity to scoff at the notion anyone might be able to penetrate U.S. safeguards protecting nuclear launch codes. As they sat over lunch in a private conference room inside Langley, Richard listened as this moron listed all the safeguards in place. He just nodded in agreement, all the while thinking about Megiddo’s pending capabilities. Just for kicks, he had the staffer run through the Megiddo system. Now, he had another convert, a man who had become the CIA director’s confidential advisor.

A vibration in his upper pocket alerted him to another incoming text. He glanced at the words and ground his teeth as the message became clear. This was impossible. Anger welled up inside.

Collette must have been captured-or killed. Gerrit and the others were coming his way.

Strait of Juan De Fuca

Gerrit sat in the captain’s chair, steering away from the protected waters of Puget Sound and worked toward the open waters of the Juan De Fuca Strait. To the west, a yellow globe began to set in the sky, although they still had a few hours of daylight left. Just enough to get them past Port Angeles before darkness descended.

They were making good time. He wanted to use these few moments at the wheel to go over their next plan of attack.

Beck Malloy was out of position to help, but the FBI agent made some calls and marshaled reinforcements coming in by chopper once Gerrit gave the word. He was sure Beck failed to mention that they would be following the orders of a person wanted for questioning in several murders. Kane’s compound, perched on a cliff, had finally been identified and construction plans for the site emailed to Willy’s computer. Aerial shots of the site had also been downloaded.

“Mr. G, here’s the layout as I see it.” Willy sat at a small table next to Gerrit. “Because of its isolation, I think Kane went a little light on security. The only access to the property is one roadway. There is a large helipad near the main house, and the rest of the property looks like trees, rocks, and heavy forest-stuff like that.”

“Where is our best access?”

“From the water-but not directly. Here, take a look.” Willy angled the laptop to allow Gerrit a view.

After studying the screen for a few moments, Gerrit pointed to an aerial snapshot of the entire area. “Just east of the cliff, there’s a small inlet where we can anchor and cruise our way to shore in the Zodiac. Once on land, it looks like a steep climb to the ridge-tough but doable. Then if we just follow that ridgeline, we’ll emerge east of where the lab’s located. Once we scout the landing site, Beck’s people can land and secure the target. Remember, we need the element of surprise. They may be expecting us. My goal is for us to stay in the shadows and call in reinforcements to take on Kane’s security.”

Willy nodded. “From there, we can spread out and take the-”

“Not you, Willy. Alena and I will handle any armed security. I need you to focus on the technology we need to gain an upper hand. Heat sensors, aerial reconnaissance, any intel you can grab from Kane’s computer system. Until we get Beck’s people on the ground, it will be just the three of us against a small army. Bad odds. I want you to feed us whatever surveillance footage you get from the satellite in real time. The colonel is getting you clearance. They have designated airtime specifically for this operation. For you.”

“For little ol’ me?” Willy said, a look of anger on his face. “Ah, shucks, Massa, you sho’ been good-”

“Stuff it, Willy.” Alena’s sharp tone cut through the cabin. “This is no time for your stupid jokes.” She emerged from the galley below, shooting an angry look at both men. She seemed to avert her eyes from the drawing lying on the table.

“How come you and Mr. G. get to do all the kung fu stuff, and I get stuck playin’ with a computer?”

Alena frowned. “Frankly, you have no martial arts skills, Willy. Bang’n in the woods back home doesn’t cut it. We need your technological expertise. And we need it now.”

“It’s bang’n in the hood-not woods.” Willy clenched his jaw. “Can’t you at least give me a gun?”

Alena’s face softened. “Okay. One handgun…but don’t shoot anyone. Deal?”

Willy shrugged and looked back at his computer. “Guess it will have to do until I earn my black belt. Then…watch out!”

Alena’s jaw clenched. Even Willy’s humor didn’t loosen her up. Something seemed to be troubling her. Gerrit turned toward the computer. “Alena, you want to take a look before-”

“Why do I have to take a look? I’ll be following you the whole time. You are the one with uncanny recall, Einstein.” She whirled toward Willy. “And you, just do what Gerrit says. It is time to get serious. No more jokes, you hear?”

Willy took one look at her and hung his head. “I just thought I’d help you guys hit the place. Not hold back again and watch you have all the fun.”

“I need your eyes and ears, Willy.” Gerrit jumped into the conversation, trying to calm the others down. “It’s critical. Okay?” Gerrit watched Alena looking outside. “You okay?”

She wheeled around and joined Willy at the table. “No, I am not okay.” She took a deep breath. “We still do not know where Joe is being kept. And Kane must know by now that we are still alive and kicking.”

Gerrit shrugged. “Maybe we got lucky. It might take days for them to dig through all that debris before they find out our bodies are missing.”

“What if he tried to reach Collette directly?”

“Stafford’s going to take care of Collette and the others. Put her and the bodies on ice until he hears from us.”

She gave him a hard look. “Do not underestimate Kane. He has eyes and ears everywhere. Look at…Redneck.” A look of sadness washed over her features.

“Everyone here has been tested, Alena. We’ve all come under fire. Only Redneck failed the test. The rest of us are all good.”

Her face stiffened. “Let us just get this over with soon. We need to find Joe and get Kane under wraps-once and for all.”

A yelp from Willy drew their attention back to him. “I’m up and running. We have just enough light to get a fix on the place.”

The feed zeroed in on the coordinates of Kane’s compound. “Print that overview out, will you?”

Willy nodded at Gerrit, sending the image wirelessly to his portable printer. “Here it comes. I’ll make several copies.”

As soon as a copy became available, Gerrit asked Alena to take the wheel while he studied the layout. “Seems simple. See the main house? Everything must be in that area.” He pointed to what appeared to be a large, multistory building. Just like the site plans showed, only one roadway connected to the building and several small structures on the compound. The road led down the mountainside, finally connecting with other roads east of Port Angeles.

Willy was looking over his shoulder. “Mr. G, see that?” He pointed to structures near the main building. “Looks like satellite dishes for sending and receiving. They must be moving massive amounts of data through those towers. I’d sure like to get a closer look.”