Chapter Seven
It was almost lunch time before Trudy took a break. She got up and stretched. Groaning, she heard her spine pop and crack. Looking over at Boomer she said, “Okay, I’ve set up the supply line we talked about. There are seven trucks, only two will carry the bombs and no one will know what they are hauling, so no one can actually highjack them. The other five trucks will run interference. It will be hard for anyone watching to figure out which truck to follow. You can let your men know they are coming.”
“Okay, after you take a break and have some lunch,” Boomer told her. “We want you to try and run a facial recognition program to find Terik if you can.”
Trudy smiled. “Way ahead of you, old man. I’ve been running the program all morning.”
Boomer grabbed her and held her for a moment, then kissing the top of her head he let her go. “I’ll show you what an old man can still do, you little shit.” He growled.
Trudy giggled and countered, “In your dreams, old man. Only in your dreams.” She gazed all around. “Where is everybody?” The shop looked almost empty, only Wyatt and Alea remained. Dewey, Cade, Jake, Parker and Colten were gone.
“Your sister and Sniper are catching some sleep at Parker’s cabin,” Boomer explained. Then he stared at her intently. He was wondering just how much to tell her about what happened a few hours ago.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Well baby girl, there’s been a little bit of trouble…” Boomer began. “Terik might be right here in Sabine Pass. Earlier today, someone broke into Mrs. Pope’s house. When they didn’t find her, they set the house on fire. “
“Oh, no!” Trudy gasped.
“Oh yeah, anyway when they couldn’t find Mrs. Pope, they went over to Shreveport and tried to take Wyatt’s mom. Dewey just called a little while ago. By the time they got there, Terik had already been there and gone again. The fire department was already there putting out the fire they left. The boys will be back as soon as they can get here. There’s nothing left for them there.”
“Damn that bastard!” Wyatt growled. He and Alea had joined them.
“At least, he didn’t get your mom and she’s safe,” Trudy tried to reassure him.
“That’s of little hope right now,” he muttered. “She has no home to come back too.”
Trudy patted his arm. “She’ll have you to come back to. All the rest was just a house. Houses can be replaced, children can’t.”
Wyatt nodded. “That’s true enough. She doesn’t know I’m still alive. No one told her yet.”
“Why not?” Boomer asked.
“I asked them not to. I wanted to be the one to tell her in person.” Wyatt shrugged. “She’s been missing me for a year now. I thought a few more days wouldn’t hurt.”
“Maybe the program I have running will catch him,” Trudy said. Turning to Boomer she asked, “Have you thought about getting your friends to look for him?”
“We’re still thinking about that. We’re willing to give your programs time to find him. We really don’t want to start a run against Middle Eastern men and that might just happen if we just go after him that way.”
“Okay, whatever you guys decide.” Trudy rubbed her hands together. “Speaking of lunch, what do we have to eat? I’m starving.”
“I’m sure we can find something around here to eat.” Boomer laughed out loud. “The kitchen is right over here.”
An hour later, Dewey and the others returned to find Boomer, Wyatt, Alea and Trudy sitting around talking and laughing. Stone and a couple of his men joined them as well. As they all filed in and sat down, they looked exhausted.
Wyatt was the first one to ask, “Well, what did you find? Was her house destroyed like Wesley’s mom’s was?”
Dewey nodded. “Yeah, by the time we got there, the house was gone. The fire department was shutting down. They couldn’t tell us much about the blaze other than it was definitely arson. The front door was kicked in but the two men who did it were long gone before the cops and fire department showed up. I did ask for a report to be sent when the fire marshal got done.”
Wyatt nodded. “Thanks man.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “At least, I know she’s okay, and it’s just a house right? Houses can be replaced.” He echoed Trudy’s earlier words.
“Yeah, when she sees you and knows you’re all right, she won’t care about the house,” Dewey agreed. “We’ve been checking in on her the whole time you were missing. She’ll be okay when she sees you’re alive and well.”
Just then, they all heard a ding from Trudy’s computer. She popped up and ran toward the desk. Sitting down she began typing. Then she raised her hands and shouted, “I found the little bastard! I found him.”
Rushing feet came toward her and when she looked up, she caught Dewey, Stone and Boomer leaning over the desk.
“Where did you find him?” Boomer asked.
“How did you find him?” Cade asked.
“I tapped into the city’s surveillance cameras and ran a search.” She began tapping the keys on her laptop. It was one of three she had running at the moment. “He’s at an abandoned hotel on First Street, down in the warehouse district.”
“We need to get eyes on him and figure out what we’re dealing with,” Dewey concluded. “We know he’s one of seven men, right now we need to know how many of them are at that location.”
“I can get a camera nearby.” Sniper offered. He had joined the others when he heard his father’s bike pull in the dooryard. “One with night vision would give us a thermo count.”
“I can run a program and see if he’s online too,” Trudy suggested. “If he is, I can hack his feed and see what he’s up too.”
Dewey, Stone and Boomer agreed.
“The more information we have the better.” Dewey said.
Boomer turned to Trudy and asked, “Can you bring us up a map of the hotel? So we can see where the cameras need to be placed?”
Trudy nodded and went back to her computer. A few minutes later, the printer Colten had spit out a satellite photo of the street the hotel was on. She gave the photo to Boomer.
Dewey, Stone, Sniper and Boomer looked it over for the best placement of the cameras.
Cade went over to one of the lockers Dewey used before and took out a small long box. Bringing it over to the table, he opened it, revealing four infrared lipstick cameras.
Boomer looked them over carefully and handed the box to Sniper. “You get in there, place the cameras and get out. Don’t fuck up and play the hero and get yourself shot up. Be careful, they may be covering their tracks or have people watching the streets.”
“Yes, daddy,” Sniper quipped as he rolled his eyes. “This isn’t my first rodeo you know. I used to do this for a living.”
Boomer cuffed the back of his son’s head. “I know damn well what you did before, but this little prick isn’t planning on taking hostages. I don’t want to lose you, boy.”
Sniper grinned. Looking at Amanda he said softly, “I don’t want to lose me either.”
“Then you’d better come back alive and not bleeding,” Boomer retorted.
Sniper smiled and walked over to where the two girls were standing. He grabbed Amanda and whirled her around into his arms. He leaned over her and pressed his mouth to hers. “Wish me luck baby.”
When he broke the kiss, Amanda could only stare at his retreating back.
Trudy smiled and went back to her computers.
Twenty minutes later, Sniper slowed his bike and pulled to a stop. He rolled it into the shadows and took the keys out. He was three blocks away from the hotel and there wasn’t anyone around. Hitching his sniper rifle to his back, he kept to the shadows as he moved closer. His eyes took in everything as he scanned the immediate area.
Just as he was about to climb the tree to place the camera, he saw the shadows move. He crouched for a moment and waited. A man stepped out of the shadows and began circling the block. When he got to where Sniper was hiding, Sniper took out his knife carefully. Striking without thinking too much, he sunk the blade in just below the man’s ribcage and straight into his kidney.
It wasn’t much of a struggle and the man made no sound as death took him.
Sniper dragged him into the nearby bushes and tied his hands behind his back. Then he took his place near the trees again and searched the area for any movement. When he found no one there, he shimmied up the tree and when he got high enough, he placed the first camera. Switching it on, he waited for a green light, meaning Trudy’s computer picked up the signal.
Sniper dropped to the ground soundlessly and moved to the second location. When the fourth camera was placed, he went back to where he’d placed the body and dragged it to a nearby dumpster where he placed it inside and closed the lid.
When he got to his bike, he pushed it along the street and got out of the area. When he knew no one would hear his start up, he turned the key and went back to the compound. Keeping an eye on his rearview mirror, he didn’t notice anyone following him.
Sniper shut off his engine and coasted down the driveway. As he almost reached the gate, he noticed someone sneaking into the warehouse. Immediately, he rolled his bike into the bushes and crept closer, keeping to the shadows and undercover of darkness. Swinging his rifle to position, he searched the scope for movement. Flipping on the night vision, he waited for his prey to step outside.