They followed her on foot with a half block buffer and lost her when she entered a building down the street.
“What’s that place?” Buzzard asked.
“Food distro. Probably just out on a shopping run. You hang out here and watch the door and I’ll keep an eye on her inside.” Viper walked up to the shop entrance and cursed under his breath as a security guard got up and blocked the door. He looked at the guard’s outstretched hand. “What?”
“Membership card.”
“Come on, I just want to grab a drink. It’s hot as shit out here.”
“Members only, Brother. Can’t let you in without a card.”
“Fine, I’ll apply inside.” Viper took a step forward but the guard blocked him.
“Doesn’t work that way. You gotta call and set up an appointment first.”
Viper chuckled and reached into his back pocket. “Look. I’m going to be a nice guy and give you this.” He took a twenty out of his wallet. “You’re going to take it, I’m going inside to buy a drink, and your boss will never know the difference. That’s me being a nice guy. You don’t want to see me when I’m not nice.”
The guard looked down at the money and then back into Viper’s eyes for just a second. The rent-a-cop easily had fifty pounds on him, but the look in Viper’s eyes quickly drained his resolve. He snatched the bill and nodded at the door.
“Smart choice.” Viper walked in and was greeted by a wall of conditioned air and canned music. The distro was one of the nicest he’d been in. No wonder it warranted a guard outside. He walked the aisles past wealthy housewives and nannies until he finally saw Sara in the produce section sorting through tomatoes. He grabbed a box of instant rice and pretended to read the back. As he watched her, he didn’t have his hopes up in the slightest. It was obvious she was just doing what it looked like she was doing. Shopping. No nervous glances around the store, no pretending to read labels. They already knew Razorback hadn’t made contact with her electronically, and even if he’d managed to somehow slip her a message, it was obvious his wife wasn’t meeting him here. Viper allowed himself to relax slightly as he strolled down the aisle. At least he got out of that damn car and away from Buzzard’s constant smoking.
He took a chance and got closer, walking directly behind her as she finally found the perfect specimen and put the tomato in a bag. He caught a whiff of her perfume or shampoo and his pulse quickened. She was something to look at, that was for sure. Another reason to resent that prick Sanderson. He knew it was petty thinking, and besides, he’d banged chicks way hotter than her all the time. But it still bugged the shit out of him.
Viper smiled as he picked up a grapefruit and gave it a healthy squeeze. The stake-outs wouldn’t last much longer. Pretty soon he’d be spending some quality one on one time with the lovely young Sister Sanderson in the interrogation room.
*****
Sara took her receipt and slid her face mask down before picking up her grocery bags. Her hunch was right. The quick trip to the store made her feel a lot better and now that her stomach had settled she was starving. She found a wonderful roast, two nice big potatoes for baking, and a few fresh veggies for a salad. She even picked up a six pack of that fancy beer John liked so much even though it cost more than a case of the regular stuff. In the meantime, she looked forward to devouring the potato chips and jar of banana peppers when she got home. She would’ve thought it was way too soon for crazy pregnancy cravings, but when she saw the chips on the shelf, she practically ripped open the bag right there in the store.
“Sara!”
She turned around at her name and saw a woman jogging across the street waving at her. She called out her name again and smiled. Sara struggled to place the woman’s face, but she had no idea who she was as she trotted up.
“Hey! It’s so good to see you!” The woman ran up and wrapped her arms around Sara.
Sara stood stiffly with her grocery bag ladened arms by her side while the woman hugged her. “Uh, I think…”
“Pretend you’re happy to see me,” the woman whispered urgently in her ear. “You’re in danger.” She backed out of hug and held onto Sara at arm’s length. “How are you? God, it’s been forever!”
“What?”
The woman’s voice dropped to barely a conversational level but the huge smile remained on her face. “You need to smile and pretend you know me, right now. John sent me.”
“Oh, ah. Hey!” Sara smiled despite her heart pounding in her chest. “Hey, how have you been?”
“Here, let me grab one of those.” The lady took one of the bags and wrapped her arm around Sara as she led her across the street. “See the red car?” she whispered. “I’m giving you a ride.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Please, just get in. They’re watching us.” The smiling woman opened the car and waited for Sara to get in. Sara looked down the sidewalk. “Don’t,” the woman hissed. “Just get in.”
Sara got in the old car. The floor was littered with trash and it smelled like something died in the back seat. She watched as the woman rounded the hood and hopped in the driver side. “Hang tight, toots. We’re going for a ride.”
“Wait, what’s going on? Who are you?”
“You got a husband John?” the lady asked. Sara nodded. “All I know is, him and his buddy offered me two hundred bucks to pick you up back there. Some pretty good acting if I do say so myself.”
Sara shrieked as the back seat behind her slammed down and a man crawled out from the trunk. He held up his hand. “Easy, I’m a friend.” He glanced through the back window and squeezed the woman on the shoulder as she turned the corner. “Good work, Shirley. That was perfect.”
Shirley snapped her gum and beamed at him in the rear-view mirror. “No problemo, cutie. You know, my offer still stands. Toss in an extra hundred and I’ll do you and the other guy at the same time.” She winked at Sara. “My two for one special this week.”
“Maybe next time. Just get to the warehouse.” He looked back again and ducked down. “Shit. Shouldn’t be surprised, but I’m pretty sure we’re being followed. Just take it easy and drive normally. Hopefully this heap will make it there in one piece without breaking down.”
“Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?” Sara shouted.
“I’m a friend of your husband. I don’t have time to explain now, but we’re being followed. I don’t want to scare you, but we’re in a lot of danger and you just need to trust me.”
“The hell you don’t have time! Where’s John?”
“I’m taking you to him now.” He pointed out the window. “There, Shirley. Up on the left.”
“I know, I remember.” Shirley pulled into the parking lot of a run down old warehouse and honked the horn once as she rolled to a stop in front of a dock door. The garage door rolled up and she drove the car into the building. Sara was relieved to see her husband close the door behind them. Everybody got out.
John jogged up and gave her a quick hug. “What’s happening?” Sara asked. “Who are these people?”
“We need to get out of here, right now. We’re not safe.”
“We had a tail,” Holden said. “Gotta move, man.”
John grabbed Sara by the hand. “Just stay close and everything will be okay.”
The four of them ran through the empty warehouse to the other side of the building. John opened an exterior door and looked up and down the narrow alley. He waved the others through and they ran down the alley into the street. They entered one of the largest shanty towns in the city, nicknamed the “pig pen” by locals. It was a crowded sea of tents, boxes, and crudely constructed shacks filling two city blocks nestled in between boarded up factories and warehouses.
They slipped into the crowd and for the first time Sara noticed her husband and the two others were dressed in shabby and dirty old clothes. Her bright white designer blouse and skirt stood out and she felt like every eye was watching her.
They ducked into a gap between two corrugated metal walls and stopped. John took a wad of cash out of his pocket and held it in front of Shirley. “Remember, you never saw us and this didn’t happen. Got it?”
“Already forgotten, sugar.” She took the money and grinned at Sara. “Good luck, honey. You’re gonna need it.”
John pulled Sara through a maze of people and tents, constantly looking back over his shoulder as Holden followed. John stopped at a tattered blue tent and zipped it open. “Quick, get inside.” Sara crawled through the opening and he zipped it closed behind him. John rummaged through a bag of clothes in the corner and handed her a stained brown t-shirt. “Here, you’re gonna have to change into this. We need to blend in until we can get out of here.”
Sara frowned at the filthy shirt before dropping it to the floor. “I’m not doing anything until you tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring me, John.”
He sighed and gently took her hands. “Honey, it’ll take me hours to tell you exactly what’s going on. I haven’t been home because it wasn’t safe. The State is after me and just the fact we’re married has put you in danger. We’ve been watching the building for the past few days waiting for you to leave and now it’s time to go. Please, put the shirt on.”
“How’s it going in here?” Holden called from outside the tent.
“Why would you be in trouble?” Sara asked.
“Sara!” John snapped. “Your mother and father are both alive. I’m going to do everything I can to take you to them, but you have to do as I say.”
Sara stood speechless and stared at her husband. The tent door zipped open and Holden stuck his head in. “Hate to break up the heart to heart talk, but we need to move!”
“We’re coming,” John said. He turned to Sara. “Right?”
She nodded and picked the shirt up off the floor.
Chapter 26
Private Louis Rodriguez had a lot on his mind. Before the start of his shift, he’d read an email from his mother letting him know his little sister Maria was knocked up for the third time. His mama was already raising his sister’s first kid after she got pregnant when she was just thirteen years old. It happened again a year later and she split after the State forced her to have an abortion. She probably took off with her junkie boyfriend Ramone. Lou and his mother didn’t hear from her for over a year.
Then one day she showed up at the door, underweight and sickly. Looked like she hadn’t bathed in weeks. Mama nursed her back to health and gave up many of her own meals just so Maria would have enough to eat. She stayed clean for weeks and when Lou had to leave for basic training, he actually believed Maria had gotten her act together. It only lasted for a couple of months. Maria started to go missing for days or weeks at a time and it was clear she was using again.
Last week the State found out Maria was pregnant yet again and they had her arrested. Nobody would tell Mama where she was or what was happening, and she begged Lou for help in the email. As if his military status gave him the power to pull a few strings. As a lowly private stationed at Windigo, there was nothing he could do, of course. Except for sending and receiving censor approved email, he was just as trapped as the sorry geezers working downstairs. He was just a few months into his five year deployment, and besides sending a little money back home, there was nothing he could do to help.
Five years. It seemed like all the other soldiers he was stationed with were just a year or two in with the exception of a few senior non-coms and officers. Whenever he brought up the subject of getting discharged around some of the more experienced men, their answers were vague and the subject quickly changed. Even though he knew it was a high-clearance assignment that prohibited leave while on deployment, Lou volunteered, thanks to the aggressive pay scale. When he saw what was going on in the plant with his own eyes, he started to wonder how the Army did so well at maintaining classified information once soldiers were discharged. He was starting to secretly fear his mama would never see him again either.
So when the half-ton truck appeared on the monitor pulling up to the security gate at 14:07 instead of 14:30, he was distracted enough not to give it a second thought. The schedule was timed down to the minute and the protocol for any schedule variance was very clear. The soldier on guard duty was to deny entrance to the plant until the vehicle could be inspected with help of reinforcements.
Rodriguez punched in the code to open the gate and went outside, hoping it was Corporal Mencia driving today. He was the only other Latino he’d met since arriving at Windigo and enjoyed having somebody else around to shoot the shit in Spanish with. He walked up to the truck and frowned in confusion as he saw the driver not only wasn’t Mencia, he wasn’t even a uniformed soldier.
The driver stuck a Sig Sauer P220 in his face and Private Rodriguez’s bad day ended in a flash of white brilliance turned black as the .45 slug entered his forehead. The single gunshot echoed off the brick walls of the building and into the surrounding woods as a dozen armed men spilled out of the back of the truck.
Chapter 27
Lieutenant Hendricks jammed his finger in his ear trying to hear the voice over the phone, but the shrill chirp of the fire alarm in the hall made it difficult. “What the hell is going on?”
The maintenance sergeant on the other end of the line yelled into the phone. “It was a manual pull of the fire alarm down by the loading docks. I’ve got a man checking it out now.” Hendricks heard the muffled voice as he must have covered the mouthpiece while he yelled at somebody.
“Sergeant.”
“Just a minute, Sir.” The phone clunked down on the desk.
“Sergeant!” Hendricks heard more shouting over the fire alarm and what sounded like a burst of automatic gunfire.
Staff Sergeant Grant appeared in the doorway. “We’ve got a security breach, Lieutenant.” He glanced down the hallway. “We’re under attack.”
Hendricks slowly hung up the phone. He picked up the handset again and entered the pin number to bring up a secure line to the outside. Nothing.
Grant shook his head. “Already tried it. All the phone lines are down. We saw at least one group come in the through the docks on the security feed. Looked like ten or fifteen, armed to the teeth. Hopefully that’s it, but I have a bad feeling there’s more.”