Double-Back (Jake Waters Book 3) (28 page)

Friday Morning, May 20

San Jose, California

"Very nice place you have here," Tony noted, as he and Jake finished off their morning breakfast. 

Tony had already had the guided tour, including a look at the security features that Jake had installed.

"You need to upgrade your perimeter alarms," Tony said.  "What you have is very good, but it's a couple of years old.  There are better options to be had now.  People have become familiar with the older design, and while the average criminal would be out of his league, there are those who might be able to breach your security."

Jake nodded.  He knew his alarms were actually a bit better than most industrial sites would have, having acquired the equipment through Susan and some of her contacts.  But he also knew that developments in that area were far from static, and that Tony would know what he was talking about.

It was good to be home, but the place seemed quiet and far too empty.  He really missed Karin and Janna, and it felt wrong to be here while they were still off hiding somewhere, even though they should be having fun.  Hopefully this would all be over soon and he could get back to his family.

They'd talked with Carlson and now had her and Norm's arrival time.  They also had the information on the safe house they would be using.  Jake and Tony had used Google Earth to have a look at the area a short time ago.  Soon they'd be on their way to the airport to meet his friends driving in from Reno.  They had called a short time ago and indicated they were just approaching the Bay Bridge.  They had arranged their initial meeting at the Golden Gate National Cemetery located close to the airport.  Tony and Jake intended to be in place well in advance of his Reno buddies.   There was a distinct location at the end of Circular Drive which would make it easy to see if anyone was attempting to get close to them, although that would mean that Jake's cover name and home location had been blown, which shouldn't be possible.  A lot of effort had been put into ensuring that remained secret, and if that had been discovered, they had another serious problem.

After the meeting they would adjust the teams, then go separately to the airport to meet Jim Laney.  Nate and Jake would meet the agent when he disembarked, while Tony and Eric would hang back, watching for any sign that Jim's arrival was being monitored. As much as possible it was important that the other side was unaware of Tony, and Eric for that matter.  If they thought Nate was one of the surprise participants in the events that took place in Brooklyn, so much the better.  It was possible that if anyone had been assigned to watch for Jim, they would be focused on the hotel room he would never visit, but Jake knew that the airport would be the more likely focus of their attention.  Those watching would know that Jim didn't have to go to the hotel, but he had no choice but to disembark from the flight.  Jake was going to meet him openly because he wanted the other side to know he was in the area, that was cornerstone of their plan after all, and this was the first chance to flash his face for their cameras.

Once Laney had been picked up, the plan was to go and have a closer look at the safe house.  Once again, it didn't matter if they were followed.  That would simply make it easier when Susan and Norm arrived.  The goal was to have the others aware of where they were staying.  It was important to know who the watchers were and how many of them there were.

They took the Nissan Pathfinder Tony had rented using one of his company provided identities.  For the same reason, Nate and Eric would be arriving in a rental car that they had acquired under an assumed name.  Jake had helped Nate acquire the fake ID after he'd dragged him into a number of his previous adventures.  That had been before Nate had gotten married, and he was certain he was going to hear from Nate about Brenda's displeasure.  She was now one of those who knew about Jake's ability, but didn't approve of Nate being involved after learning some of what had taken place in the past.

Traffic had cleared somewhat, but was still not moving at full speed.  Even so, they arrived ahead of the others as planned, and they parked and waited, watching for the gray Toyota they'd been told to expect.  Nate wouldn't be followed this early in the game.  Until he was spotted with Jake or one of the others, he was simply another uninvolved visitor in the area.

"Here they come," Tony said, spotting the sedan before Jake did. 

Jake climbed out of the Pathfinder and looked down the narrow roadway that led along the perimeter of the cemetery.

"It looks like them," he agreed.

The car pulled to a stop behind the Pathfinder, and moments later Nate stepped out of the rental and walked over to Jake, his eyes briefly scanning Tony as he took Jake's hand in his own. 

"I hope you can work this one where I end up not being called," he said.  "Brenda is less than happy with either of us at the moment."

Nate was referring to what had happened several times in the past where he had helped Jake out, but by the time everything was finished and Jake had made multiple Back-Track loops, he hadn't been involved at all.

"I can't promise anything," Jake replied, "but that's how we're hoping this will work out." 

He examined his long time friend.  Nate was about his height with darker hair, but their body shapes were very similar.  One of the best handgun shooters Jake had ever seen, they had become friends when Nate had taught him how to perform in IPSC competition shooting.

By this time Eric had come around from the passenger side.  Eric was several inches shorter than either of them.  He was also considerably stouter than either of them, and while he looked to be a bit overweight, Jake knew that little of the padding was fat.  With a somewhat boyish face, and reddish-blond hair cut short with a small circular bald patch on top, he didn't look like someone who had survived two tours of combat duty.  He was also extremely skilled with edged weapons, an interest he had picked up in the Far East.  Jake knew he made an annual trip to either Thailand or the Philippines to further hone his expertise in that area.  He was also an expert long-range shooter, competing in thousand yard matches regularly.  A hunter, his stalking skills were nearly as polished as Tony's.

"Eric," he said, taking his friend's hand.

"It's been a while," Eric replied as he flashed Jake a grin.  "What have you got going this time?"

Eric had learned about Jake's ability more recently than Nate, and had only been involved in one of the actions the time when Nate had brought Jake to Reno when Eric's brother had been caught in a complicated situation.

"I'll explain a little later," Jake said.  "We have someone to pick up at the airport first."

Then he turned and introduced Tony to the others.

"Just to give you an idea of the seriousness of this situation, Tony's a covert operative for one of the more secretive agencies the government has, and the rest of our team is FBI.  The people we are dealing with have made several attempts to kill some of us, but at the moment I'm their prime target."

"Why are they after you?" Eric asked.

"Because they suspect I'm the Back-Tracker who has been thwarting their plans," Jake said. 

"They know about you?" Nate asked, visibly surprised.

"They suspect it's me.  You see, our problem with these people is they have their own Back-Tracker."

"They have someone who can do what you do?" Nate asked.  "That has to be complicated."

"You have no idea," Jake agreed.  "We'll fill you in later, but for now we have to get to the airport.  Nate and I will meet Jim Laney.  Nate knows him from before.  Eric, you'll ride with Tony and your task for the moment is to verify whether anyone is watching us, or attempts to follow us when we go to the safe house we've arranged."

Tony checked his watch and warned them they needed to get going.  Jake nodded and pointed toward the cars.  He climbed into Nate's rental car, while Eric climbed into the Nissan with Tony.  They stayed together until they exited the cemetery, but then Jake had Nate drift off, loop around the block, and drive into the airport well behind Tony.  By the time they were parked, Tony and Eric were positioned where they could watch Jake and Nate when they made their way into the waiting area where Agent Laney would exit security.  Tony had briefed Eric hurriedly on the situation, explaining they had pictures of the people they were after, but none of them could be here waiting for Laney.  If there were spotters, they would be people they hadn't encountered before.  Tony and Eric had split up in order to better monitor the area, and so as not to appear to be together.  Jake and Nate stood off to the far side, watching the exit gate where passengers were already making their way out of the arrival hall and heading toward the baggage claim area.

Jim Laney was the fourteenth person to step through the security gate into the waiting lounge.  He smiled when he spotted Jake and Nate waiting. 

Since Jim only had the single carry-on bag, they headed directly back toward their parked car, and soon were on the way out of the airport, going west until they intersected highway 280, which they turned onto heading south.  They continued south until they reached highway 92 which they switched onto heading almost directly west. 

"Have you heard from Susan?" he asked after they had settled into the drive.

"She called this morning with directions to the safe house," Jake confirmed.  "We're going there now.  Tony and another friend you haven't met yet will be watching to see if anyone has any interest in us.  Even if they do, we'll lead them to the place, since we want them to know where we are anyway.  If that happens, they will stay out of sight and see where our watchers end up going after they are confident they know where we are.  Susan is supposed to call us before she and Norm leave to give us any information Shaun has turned up on them."

"This will take us to Half Moon Bay," Jake explained as they crossed Crystal Springs Reservoir.  "We'll turn off well short of the town itself.  The FBI safe house is in the more rural country between here and the town."

They drove at a leisurely pace, giving the limited traffic plenty of opportunity to pass them if they were so inclined.

"There's no one following," Tony informed Jake when he called.  "It appears they weren't able to get anyone in place soon enough.  That means they'll be eager to see where Susan and Norm go tonight."

It also meant they could all simply drive up to the safe house, which was convenient.  None of them had seen it, and it would be useful for everyone to be able to become familiar with the layout.  Tony had already indicated he wanted to scout the area outside the house and see what opportunities existed to set up a sniper position.

"We turn left at the next road," Jake instructed Nate as he watched the map on the phone's display.  "We are just over half a mile from the turn."

Nate made the turn and they both watched for the small road that would take them to the house.  It was less impressive than they expected, and they almost drove by, but the navigation app was insisting this was the place.  They hadn't seen a house, but the stands of trees were effectively blocking their view off to the right side of the road.  The land here was rough, with periodic clusters of trees, rolling and irregular hills, and lots of brush and grass.

The small road was lightly graveled, and made a wide arc around the copse of trees that had blocked their view.  The loop followed the contour of the land, gradually turning back toward the road where they could see the house.  It was situated on a small hilltop, with an open view in all directions.  The trees to the west that had hidden the structure from the road came closest to the house, and they were at least fifty yards away.  In every other direction the view was open for a couple of hundred yards, although the uneven nature of the landscape would provide a number of pockets where one could hide.  Getting to the hiding spots would be challenging, however.

The house itself was moderately sized.  Made of stone, it had two attached garages, one with three doors and the other with two.  They pulled up next to the garage, and Jake opened the garage with the numerical code that Susan had provided.  Inside was another alarm which he disabled, and a special key box which opened with the same code as the garage.  Inside he found multiple sets of key and remote openers they could use for the garages.  They made a quick check of the facility, which had strategically placed windows that gave clear views in all directions around the house.  Then they moved the cars inside and closed the doors.

"What a mess," Eric said once the situation had been explained to him and Nate.  They had pictures of Jeff, Natalie, and Paul spread out on the large oval dining table.  Jake had provided verbal descriptions of the others that he'd seen at the ambush in Brooklyn, but they didn't have names or details on them.

"What is your plan?" Eric asked.

"That's not well defined at the moment," Jake admitted.  "We felt it important to move them away from their home base of operations, and see who came.  We believe that their Back-Tracker would have to come along. We also believe it's Natalie, but that is an educated guess based on what has happened, and could be wrong.  We need to see what they do, and react accordingly.

"It sounds like you hope to kill her given the opportunity, and verify that they can't Back-Track any longer," Nate observed.