Линкольн Чайлд - Crooked River

The rest of the chief attendant’s announcement was drowned out by the clamor of people pulling out cell phones, jumping up and opening the overhead bins, struggling with their roller bags, and pushing and shoving each other. Coldmoon just sat morosely, letting his change in fortune settle in. He’d signed in his handgun at the LEO checkpoint before boarding, and after five hours in the cramped seat it felt like a lead weight, hanging from his shoulder beneath the jacket. Fucking Tallahassee. By rights, they should be landing in Fort Myers, but now he had hours of driving through a storm to look forward to.

His gloomy reverie was interrupted by a vibration in his jeans — and not the kind he appreciated. His phone, muted but not switched off, was ringing. That would probably be Pendergast.

He pulled out the phone. A 212 area code — a New York number he didn’t recognize. It probably was Pendergast, ready to put Pickett on the line to applaud him. Great — sloppy seconds were his favorite kind of congratulations.

This was probably just a figment of his foul mood. He’d know soon enough. Lifting the phone to his ear, he said: “Special Agent Coldmoon.”

“Agent Coldmoon,” came a feminine voice, “it’s—” The rest was drowned out by what sounded like a wind tunnel.

“What?” he said. “Who is this?”

He heard the same voice uttering a command to shut the window, and suddenly the wind tunnel died away. “Lady, I can’t see a thing through the windshield,” came a plaintive voice.

“You can open it again in a moment.”

Now Coldmoon recognized the voice. It was Constance Greene, speaking to what seemed to be a driver.

“Constance?” he said.

“Yes. I’ve been trying to reach you for the last quarter of an hour.”

“I just landed now. Tallahassee — they had to divert because of this storm. What’s up? Where are you?”

“Never mind. Have you heard from Pendergast?” There was an urgency in her voice.

There was a brief commotion on the other end of the line. “Like I said,” Coldmoon heard the driver tell Constance, “Estero Bay runs almost all the way to Bonita Springs. You gotta tell me where to turn off.”

“As I told you: where the police are going to be!” Then, speaking to Coldmoon again: “Did he say where he was going next? What he planned to do?”

“No. Why?”

“Because I think he’s been abducted.”

Coldmoon, who’d been getting ready to join the queue leaving the plane, froze. “What?” This sounded crazy.

“I heard it on your police scanner. They found the burned remains of a Range Rover similar to the one he was driving. A witness mentioned helicopters, automatic weapons, some kind of firefight. A dead man was found in the rear seat, burned.”

Holy shit . Coldmoon was on his feet and in the aisle now, heading for the exit. “Anything else?”

“I got a call from Roger Smithback, the journalist. He spoke of a large shipment of missing drugs, apparently stolen along with some migrants abducted at the U.S. border in Arizona. It’s somehow connected to the feet.”

“Wait. Did you say migrants abducted at the border?”

“Yes. In trucks.”

“ Trucks? What kind of trucks?”

“A convoy of government trucks, identical, their numbers painted over. Ten-wheelers. Covered in canvas. Drums bolted in front of the driver.”

This matched the story he’d heard from El Monito — matched it exactly.

Coldmoon left the gate and began making his way toward the main terminal. “Those drums are air cleaners, mounted over the left front fenders. We’re talking M813 troop transports, most likely equipped with side racks, troop seats, and tarpaulins. Drug gangs don’t use those — the U.S. Army does. Did he say where they were going?”

“Just a moment.” The phone was muffled briefly; then Coldmoon could hear Constance talking to the driver. “Over there. See the flickering orange light, just below the horizon? Head that way, as quickly as you can.”

“Lady, there’s no road, and I don’t have pontoons. Oh, jeez, now there’s red and blue lights coming on, too — looks like your cops.”

Coldmoon could hear sirens passing.

“Keep driving until you find the turnoff.”

“But my car—”

“I’ll purchase your car.” And then, Constance was back with Coldmoon. “I need to go.”

Coldmoon said, “Are you sure the Rover was Pendergast’s?”

“I’ll call you back when I know more.” And then the phone went silent, leaving Coldmoon standing there, looking at it, in the middle of the arrivals section of Tallahassee International Airport.

Mark Macready, actuary by profession and currently between jobs, had never liked his wife’s idea that he use his new Lincoln Navigator and become a driver for Uber, as a way to make ends meet during this rough patch. He liked it a whole lot less right now, driving in the rain on a gravel road, through swamps and stands of pine trees at fifty miles an hour, heading — as far as he could tell — directly toward the bay.

“Go faster,” said the crazy woman in the seat behind him.

Even though it meant increasing the chances of a head-on collision with some tree, Macready complied. He knew that reasoning with this passenger from hell was useless at best, and at worst encouraged threats. She’d already agreed to pay him $1,000 extra for this ride, tossing a crumpled mass of hundred-dollar bills into the front seat. That money, which he needed dearly, was the only reason he hadn’t ended the trip prematurely.

A savage bump, then the scrape of a branch along his window. “That’s going to leave a scratch,” he said, easing off on the accelerator.

“Maintain speed.”

Another bump, this one almost bottoming out the suspension, and then suddenly the trees fell away and, through the steady rain, Macready could see there was open marshland ahead of them. They were closer to whatever was going on than he’d realized; police lights were striping the vegetation less than half a mile away. If it weren’t for the dark night, he’d stick out like a sore thumb.

“Here. Stop,” came the low voice from behind him.

Thank the Lord . Macready did so with a strong sense of relief.

“Thank you, Mr. Macready, for what I realize was not quite the trip you expected,” the young woman said. “Now I’m going to ask you to turn off your engine and remain here until I return. It might be fifteen minutes; it might be longer — I can’t be certain.”

She opened the door, filling the big SUV with the sound of thrashing rain. Ignoring it, she slipped out. A moment later, she knocked on his window. Macready lowered it halfway.

“By the way: if you’re thinking of stranding me here, I’d strongly advise against it. I’m not one to forget ill treatment.”

He swallowed. “I’ll be here,” he replied.

He turned off the engine. Shit . Was this for real? He watched as the woman began moving away, her gray warm-up suit quickly lost in the wind and rain. Macready closed his window, then settled in disconsolately to wait.

Constance stayed low, using the surrounding vegetation for cover as she approached the scene of police activity. She paused and could hear the distant crackle of radios and the murmurs of conversation. Bright torches lanced here and there through the soggy darkness, and one stationary light threw a bright pool of yellow onto an area just to the south.

She began moving forward again. The area was marshy bottomland, riddled with muddy holes. Activity around the scene of the crime seemed subdued. A bolt of lightning split the sky, with the crash of thunder.

She came to a place in the swampy ground where she could see a group of people had recently passed, with crushed vegetation, broken branches, and muddy footprints filled with water, all headed away from the scene. These must be the abductors. Following the trail, she came to an open area, the grass flattened in a spiral pattern and in the center, and two parallel marks that were evidently from helicopter landing gear. If Pendergast had been abducted, this was where it had happened. She looked around carefully, but could see no shell casings, no splashes of blood, no sign of struggle or violence.