Ken Goddard - Double blind

"What the hell…" Bobby LaGrange started to ask when Lightstone interrupted.

"Don't even ask," he warned. "First things first. How's Susan?"

"She's fine." The ex-homicide investigator smiled as the happy cricket chorus started up again. "Got her tucked away with a couple retired cops we know out by the Rogue River. She's got her. 357, her fishing rod, and a couple of first-class bodyguards. Said to come get her when we were finished playing, but not to hurry." LaGrange allowed his eyes slowly to sweep the warehouse. "So all the crickets got loose, huh?"

"It's not a subject we talk about in Larry's presence," Lightstone suggested gently. "So what are you doing here?"

The ex-homicide investigator shrugged. "Susan doesn't need me around to bait her hook, and I figured you boys might need some help sorting out the good guys from the bad guys." A glint of something decidedly cold and malicious flickered across Bobby LaGrange's still-smiling eyes. "I was heading this way when I ran across Stoner and offered to take over his surveillance of Charlie Team. In retrospect, I guess I should've come here and helped Larry instead." He scanned the warehouse once more, but no trace of amusement remained in his smile.

Henry Lightstone knew that look all too well. Bobby LaGrange would not tolerate even the idea of someone making a threatening move toward his treasured wife.

"So what's Charlie Team doing now?" Lightstone asked as they all sat down in the folding chairs that Dwight Stoner set up in a tight circle.

"From what little I saw, not much," LaGrange reported. "At a little after six, everybody went into what Dwight told me was the team leader's room at the motel. I waited around for something to happen, but nothing did. So at seven, I linked up with Mike and we headed over here. If anybody else was surveilling them, I sure didn't see it."

"Me neither," Mike Takahara added, "but I did pick up something with one of my scanners that might explain…"

"Wait a minute, Mike," Larry Paxton interrupted, the familiar no-nonsense supervisory tone back in his voice. "Before we get into that, I want you all to hear about Henry's new job."

Relieved to see Paxton assuming control again, Lightstone told them about his activities in and around the Dogsfire Inn and the Chosen Brigade compound during the past three days.

"Where exactly is this training compound?" LaGrange asked when Lightstone finished.

"Direct line, a little less than a mile northwest of here." Lightstone described the route he'd taken to get to the warehouse. "There's a rough trail of sorts, but it branches off in several places along the way. Pretty easy to get lost if you don't have a compass and a map. It's about fifteen minutes away if you take the long way around by road."

"You going to be able to find your way back to your bike?" Mike Takahara asked dubiously.

"Yeah, sure, it'll just take a while." Lightstone glanced down at his watch. "In fact, I've got to get going pretty soon. I'm supposed to be back at the compound by eight to help with some kind of night training exercise."

"Don't worry about it," LaGrange assured his former partner. "I'll drop you off at the gate."

Lightstone started to argue that he shouldn't reestablish the link to the LaGrange ranch, but Bobby LaGrange remained adamant.

"Don't worry about it," he repeated. "They've probably already seen us together anyway. This way, maybe one of them'll decide to follow me around for a while." The ex-homicide investigator's expression made it readily apparent that the idea appealed to him very much.

"I don't think so," Lightstone countered. "At least not tonight anyway."

"Oh, yeah? Why not?"

Lightstone described what little he knew about the night exercise, and then relayed his growing concern that something very big — and presumably very dangerous — involving the Chosen Brigade and Charlie Team had been set into motion.

"A thousand-dollar bonus for one night of playing tag in the woods with a bunch of self-righteous, anti-government loonies? I don't think so," Larry Paxton muttered. "You're right, Henry, these assholes are up to something, no doubt about it. The question is, what?"

"Actually, I think I might know the answer to that." Mike Takahara's remark caused all eyes to turn instantly in his direction.

I think they plan to draw Charlie Team in, using Boggs as bait."

"What?" all five voices echoed in unison.

"What makes you think that?" Larry Paxton demanded.

"I tapped into one of Charlie Team's cell phone calls earlier this evening."

"Hey, wait a minute," Bobby LaGrange said, "I thought you said you guys were all using encrypted cell phones now."

"Yeah, we are." Mike Takahara shrugged.

"So then how…"

"We, uh, managed to acquire Charlie Team's encryption code when we were all at Glynco a couple weeks ago," the tech agent explained.

"That was how we knew all about their plan to hide Donato and Green up in the loft, and have Marashenko hide her gun under a rock by the dirt path," Thomas Woeshack added cheerfully.

"But which, naturally, never showed up in our exercise reports," Dwight Stoner further elaborated for Bobby LaGrange's benefit.

"A minor discrepancy. Nothing worth bothering Halahan or Moore about," Larry Paxton said dismissively as he zeroed in on Mike Takahara's comment. "So what's the deal with Boggs?" he asked the tech agent.

"We know Charlie Team's been trying to work out an illegally guided hunt at the Windgate National Wildlife Refuge with one of the Chosen Brigade members, right?"

All five heads nodded.

"Well, according to the conversation I picked up between Donato and Riley, one of their local contacts apparently called Donato at his motel room, told him the hunt was on for tonight, and not to worry about any problems with the local game warden because they knew exactly where Special Agent Boggs would be all evening."

"And just where is that?" A perceptible edge replaced the exhaustion in Larry Paxton's voice.

Mike Takahara shrugged. "I couldn't tell for sure from the conversation, but I got the impression that Charlie Team thinks the Chosen Brigade managed to capture Boggs — apparently sometime after he walked out of Providence Hospital — and that they're hiding him until they can put him on trial."

"For what?"

"Who knows." The tech agent shrugged. "Being a law-enforcement agent. Representing the federal government. Intruding on the God-given rights of local deer poachers. Something like that."

"What the hell kind of sense does that make?" Paxton demanded.

"Hey, I only tap the conversations. I don't psychoanalyze them."

"So what's Charlie Team going to do? Notify Halahan and have him send us in as backup?" Dwight Stoner asked hopefully.

"I don't think so." Mike Takahara shook his head. "In fact, not only do they seem to have no idea that we're here, I got the distinct impression they're planning to play hero."

"Oh no…" Lightstone whispered.

"You mean they intend to send Donato and LiBrandi in on the illicit hunt, tag everybody, and then try to take everybody down and rescue Boggs… all by themselves?" Larry Paxton's face turned a distinctly paler shade of brown.

"That's the way it sounded to me." The tech agent nodded solemnly.

"Oh, shit." The Bravo Team leader said what every one of them was thinking.

"We need to call them. Right now," Henry Lightstone declared emphatically. "I don't give a damn what Halahan said. They may think they're taking on a bunch of incompetent losers, but from what I've seen and heard, they're walking right into a nest of ex-Army Rangers."

"Assuming these ex-Rangers are part of the plan," Larry Paxton reminded his wild-card agent.

"Hey, if they're not, fine. We end up looking like a bunch of idiots. Who cares?" Lightstone shrugged indifferently. "But if I'm right, and this night-exercise deal is nothing more than a setup to trap Charlie Team, then everything's going to go to shit real fast. And if it does," the covert agent went on, "we're going to lose a bunch of agents."