B.B.U.S.A. (Buying Back the United States of America) (17 page)

“I guess, if possible, back to D.C. would be nice.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll have someone call to let you know what time to pick us up at the airport, and you better get some ice on Marcus’ nose.” Bob hung up the phone and turned over to get a couple more hours of sleep.

Leo awakened as the sun first appeared on the horizon. It was cold in the car since he’d had the sunroof cracked. He could still hear the distant rumble of motorists passing on the freeway in the background.

He grabbed his toothbrush and headed for the restroom. After brushing his teeth, splashing cold water in his face, and using the facilities he felt ready to hit the road again. If all went well he would reach Denver by late afternoon. Leo knew he would have to kill some time till Doug got off work, so figured he might even take in a movie or visit a museum.

He contemplated turning on his cell phone and calling his best friend but dared not risk it again. Hopefully his best friend received his strange package and would be anticipating his possible arrival. He walked around the car, checking the tires and admiring the vehicle in the morning light. It was a beautiful car. Leo stretched his body to one side, then to the other side, and got back into the small vehicle. He pulled a cool can of No Fear out of his duffel bag, opened it and drank a third of it before placing it in the cup holder by the driver’s seat. He made a face; the drink tasted bitter after having just brushed his teeth. He started the engine, put on his seatbelt and prepared to merge back on to I-80 from the rest stop. He felt refreshed and encouraged and looked forward to seeing Doug soon.

Florin, John and Bob sat comfortably in the little restaurant, sipping coffee and hot chocolate. Bob was visiting with the waitress that remembered Leo. They found out that he had asked her for directions to a nearby motel in order to soak in a Jacuzzi before having to endure a fifty hour train ride on Amtrak.

They finished their breakfast and left the waitress a generous tip before leaving the café. Although the men hoped they might finally intercept Leo at the motel, none really expected to find him there. Bob had this sinking feeling that the memo from the previous evening regarding his cell phone use in Nevada, coupled with the Amtrak ticket, probably meant that Leo was actually on the train.

At the new Best Western motel, Bob swiftly identified himself as an undercover narcotics officer with the DEA and proceeded to question the young man behind the reception desk. The clerk claimed that he had seen the man in question briefly before his shift ended the previous afternoon, however he did not remember the man’s name or to which room he was assigned. Bob asked him to check all guests’ first names and see if anyone had the first name of “Leo.” No guests had registered with that first name. Bob insisted that he call the clerk that checked him in.

Finally the harried man gave in to calling the other employee at home who had checked Leo in the previous day. A tired Dennis told the clerk on the phone that the man in question was a Mr. Fullmer, but that he had expressly asked not to be disturbed. Dennis also told him not to give out the room information before clearing it with the manager, as divulging private guest information could get them caught up in a lawsuit. Dennis liked Mr. Fullmer and he really didn’t think he could have been mixed up with anything bad.

The resident manager was called by the young desk clerk. He quickly came down from his upstairs apartment and talked to Bob, who appeared official and showed him what seemed to be proper identification. The manager capitulated and provided Bob and his men with the name, room number and a programmed scan card to open the room. The staff was instructed to stay off the second floor until the agents had completed their work, and the manager asked him to please be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible as to not disturb other motel guests. Bob obliged the manager with a nod, handshake, and a pat on the shoulder and assured him no one would even know they were there.

The three men walked quietly up the half-flight of stairs to the second floor and turned down the long hallway. Bob unbuttoned his jacket to allow easy access to his 9mm side arm. The group eased their way down the hall, stopping at room 214.

John withdrew his pistol and screwed on his silencer. Bob nodded at John, and withdrew his own silencer as well and tossed the room key to Florin with a motion for him to unlock the door. Florin inserted the card key, and waited for the red lights to turn green and gently pressed down on the door handle.

The door made a squashy sound like wet tennis shoes as the rubber seal on the bottom broke the airtight vacuum between the room and the hallway. Florin stepped back, and John and Bob both entered the room with weapons drawn. John turned on the bathroom light and quickly secured the small bathroom. Bob eased around the corner of the main room aiming at the beds which appeared to be occupied. Florin waited for John to join Bob, and then flicked on the main light illuminating the entire room. Bob had his gun pointed at the nearest bed and was prepared to squeeze off a round as soon as Florin turned on the light. But, when the room lit up, it quickly became apparent that no one was in either bed. The crumpled up beds merely held a few stuffed pillows.

Florin turned around and opened the coat closet, making sure no one was hiding in the small space next to the ironing board. It, too, was clear. Bob and John searched the room, went through the garbage, looked under the beds, examined the notepad on the dresser for pen indentions, and called the front desk to see if Mr. Fullmer had placed any calls. Everything was a dead end, except for Leo’s dirty clothes, crumpled in a pile on the floor. Florin pulled a receipt from the left front pants pocket of Leo’s pants. It was a Hertz rental-car receipt for a Toyota Camry.

“Well that just confirms what we already knew. We must have just missed him at the airport. While Ervin was boarding a plane, he was renting a car.” Bob shook his head. “Damn it! All along we’ve just been a step behind him. I bet that was Leo in Nevada using his own cell phone. He probably would have had enough time to drive that far. But that still does not explain the Amtrak ticket or why he would even mention it to the waitress. Maybe he rented the car to drive over to Portland to board the train. We might find the rental car in a parking lot near Union Station. Perhaps he was using the phone on the train at the Reno stop. Who knows for sure?” He still wondered what Leo’s ultimate plan was. It disturbed him, having so many pieces of the puzzle but not being able to connect them all just yet.

Bob sent John and Florin to the Hertz lot by the airport to determine where Leo was supposed to drop the car off, and to make arrangements to be notified immediately if the car was turned in anywhere in the United States. Florin and John had entered one of the four waiting cabs outside of the motel. The cab drivers knew that guests would be checking out soon and were lined up to make a fare.

Bob finished conversing with the motel manager and thanked him for his cooperation, and asked that he be contacted on his cell phone if Mr. Fullmer happened to return to the motel. He headed back to his own motel to make a few high-level calls that would get him the necessary cooperation from law enforcement officers in to track down Leo’s car. After several calls he had assurance that law enforcement agencies in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado would be alerted and on the lookout for what they referred to as “the most common car on the road;” a light gold, four-door Toyota Camry. He had done all that he could, but realized finding that particular car would be nearly impossible. Still he placed a higher priority on the Utah and Nevada State Police, thinking they might be the first to encounter him. On the off chance that a State Trooper caught up to the right Camry, Leo would at least be detained until they could catch up to him.

Although Bob loved a good hunt, he was becoming much more anxious about Leo, his family, and the entire situation, as the men who sat in a cabinet office in D.C. would not approve of any mistakes or miscalculations. Too much was at risk. He knew that at his level in the B.B.U.S.A., screw-ups resulted in complete replacement, and it would not come in the fashion of a forced retirement sipping margaritas on a beach in Maui, but inevitably by disappearance.

He could feel his blood pressure rising. He contemplated his options if he could not contain the situation. Running would be fruitless. Swallowing a bullet would be a coward’s way out, but the quickest and easiest way to end it all. He figured he would either take Leo out, or die trying. No other options were now available.

Picking up the phone, he made the necessary calls to arrange the transfer of both Carl and Marcus back to D.C. at the end of the week. He knew his superiors were concerned with the Western District. He was a perfectionist and hated being scrutinized or questioned. Until recently his district was pretty flawless. Reputation was a strange thing. Reputation took years to gain and seemingly only a few minutes to lose.

The phone rang. Bob had come to dread answering the phone. Somewhat agitated, he relented and picked up the receiver.

It was just John, reporting in from the Hertz Rental Center. Leo had rented the Toyota Camry for a week, but gave no destination. He could drop it off at any Hertz center in the United States.

Bob instructed them to leave their cell number for the manger to call if and when Leo’s vehicle was turned in, and then to return to the motel. His deep fatigue was probably related to the fact that he felt that they had lost Leo’s tracks entirely. The game was over. It was time to concede that for now, at least. It was time to pack up the conference room and their personal belongings and head back to Boise.

Two hours later, they secured their weapons with the TSA Security Office, checked their bags and boarded the last plane of the day to Boise. While waiting to board their flight, John made a quick call to Marcus and made arrangements for him to meet them at the airport.

The three companions refrained from socializing. All were lost in their own thoughts. Most men on Bob’s team were naturally competitive and hated to surrender or give up, but they all recognized that there was nothing further to be gained where they were, the trail had temporarily ended.

David finally freed his hands; he removed his blindfold, and carefully ripped off the duct tape binding his hairy ankles. It was excruciating. He could not imagine women willfully waxing their bikini lines.

When he first sat up, he felt so dizzy he almost lay back down. He could see in the early daylight that the room was trashed. Blood splatters and puddles were abundant. He eased up, leaning heavily against the nearest wall. He could feel dried blood along the side of his head, behind his ear, and partly down his neck. He walked to the doorway on somewhat shaky legs. Besides the pool of dried blood at the foot of the bed, he noticed blood droplets leading out the door and down the hallway. David followed the blood trail to the guest bathroom.

He found a bloody towel crumpled on the floor, and a few splatter droplets around the sink and on the mirror. He also examined himself in the mirror to ascertain the damages he’d sustained. He had a small cut above his left ear, and the ear itself had a nasty cut that might require a few stitches. For the most part, though, he just had a visibly bruised lump stretching from his temple to the back of his left ear.

David washed his face with cold water and used a clean wash cloth out of the linen shelves next to the sink to wash off the dried blood on his head, neck and ear. After cleaning himself up he looked much better, but it hurt to breathe. He gently pulled up his T-shirt to reveal a fist-size bruise on his lower ribcage. He was sure that his ribs were at least cracked, if not broken.

He walked back into the room, examining the damages and trying to remember the chain of events that had taken place the night before. The end table to the left of his bed was smashed, and blood was smeared on the wall above it. The bedspread was still crumpled up on the floor next to the bed and end table. The remaining blankets and sheets were in disarray and splattered with blood droplets. David painfully got dressed. He had a hard time putting on shoes, so he finally resorted to wearing his slip-on shower thongs.

He walked to the front entrance, noticing a few droplets of blood here and there that stood out on the white Berber carpet. David checked the door and found it still unlocked. There appeared to be no signs of forced entry. He silently cursed himself for making it so easy for the intruders to gain access to him.

He picked up the phone, retrieved the security agency business card that Sarah had left him, and called their number to report the incident. Within minutes, four security officers were viewing David’s room and asking questions. The owner of the company showed up and called the local police. Since there was no sign of forced entry, and nothing was missing, the police felt at a bit of a loss. David was unable to even give a description of the assailants. There was no doubt that something had taken place in that room, but no one was sure exactly what had transpired. Two security officers escorted him to a minor emergency clinic a couple of miles from the house and waited for him to receive care.

David was suffering from a concussion and told not to drive. His suspicions were confirmed-he had two cracked ribs, and needed a few stitches on his left ear. After filling his prescriptions for pain pills and Ibuprofen to curtail the swelling, he was taken back to the house by the security agency officers. They assured him that they would beef up patrols to the house and each night a security officer would personally go ring the doorbell and confirm that he was okay. He thanked them for their concern and everything they had done to help.