10
LONDON-CORBIN MAGEE FIELD
LONDON, KENTUCKY
MONDAY, LATE AFTERNOON
Cam stepped forward, shook the chief’s big hand. “Chief Harbinger? I’m Agent Cam Wittier. This is Agent Jack Cabot.”
They handed him their creds, watched him nod as he looked them over and handed them back. “Good to put faces to names. My name’s Quinn, but everybody calls me Chief. Just Chief. You okay with that?”
“Not a problem, Chief,” Jack said.
Chief turned, took his daughter’s hand. His voice was both irritated and admiring. “And this is my daughter, Kim. I think you know my daughter spotted Manta Ray and his two compadres walking into the national forest. We’ll be dropping her off at the London Ranger Station, where we’ll be picking up our guide, Head Ranger Wayne Duke—we call him Duke. I thought it might be useful to give you a chance to speak with Kim on the way over. In fact, she insisted on speaking with you in person, even said her lips were sealed after she came up with that idea. She’s just like her mom. I’ve learned from harsh experience it’s easier to cooperate.”
Kim rolled her eyes and quickly stepped forward, a huge smile on her face, showing beautiful white teeth. She had a long blond ponytail and bright blue eyes, only a bit darker than Sherlock’s. Her cutoff jeans and sleeveless white shirt showed off her tan and a fit body. High-tops and heavy white socks polished off her presentation, a teen who spent a lot of time outdoors.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kim.” Cam shook her hand, handed Kim her creds. Jack did the same. It was a show of respect that made the teenager’s eyes widen with pleasure.
Cam nodded toward Chief Harbinger. “When I was your age, Kim, I never got away with giving my dad ultimatums. I’ve always thought it was a pity.” Kim grinned at her father like a sinner who’d cleaned out the collection plate.
“I didn’t, either,” Jack said. “My parents kept me so straight-arrow, joining the service was like a vacation.”
He looked so badass, everyone laughed.
Chief raised an eyebrow straight up. “She’s lucky it was a good idea,” he said and gave his daughter the stink-eye.
“In any case, Kim,” Jack said, “we’re pleased you’ll be able to tell us about Manta Ray. His real name’s Liam Hennessey, and no, I don’t know where he got that moniker. First we want to know why you’re so certain it was Manta Ray you saw.”
Chief looked at his watch. “Hold off on the questions until we get on our way to the London Ranger Station. As I said, we’re hooking up with Head Ranger Wayne Duke there, and meeting up with Harry Morsi. He sells most of the outdoor equipment in Pennington Gap. He’s bringing along everything we’ll need for several days, and nothing we won’t. Kim, Harry will be driving you back home.”
“Or I could go in with you, Dad. You know I’m a really good hiker; I know the forest. I could—”
“Kimmie, that’s not going to happen. Now I expect you to keep your word.”
Cam watched Kim finally nod, but she didn’t look happy. The girl wanted adventure, but it wasn’t going to happen this time.
Chief turned back to Cam and Jack. “One of Duke’s men will be driving us to East Branch Road, where we’ll head into the forest, hopefully before sunset. Since we’ll be in the woods, even the quarter moon won’t give us much light, so we’ll have to stop before long and pick up their trail tomorrow morning.”
“Give me a minute,” Jack said and moseyed over to a man in overalls who was wiping his hands on a rag, looking the Skylane over. They had their heads together for maybe two minutes before the man nodded, and they shook hands. When Jack was back, he said, “My baby is in good hands. No worries.”
Chief gave a little wave at the man in the overalls. “Hank Withers is as trustworthy as they come, seems to know everything there is to know about planes. Can’t say it hurts that it’s an FBI plane—he knows if something happens to it on his watch, he’ll be dog-paddling in the crapper.”
Cam took one last look at the Skylane. “It’d be nice if your baby would grow up a bit while we’re gone, like twenty feet longer with an extra engine or two.”
Jack patted her arm. “Trust me, I have a feeling that when we get back you’ll be happy to hop on board.”
They stowed their backpacks in the back of the SUV, piled in, Cam in front with Chief Harbinger and Jack in the back with Kim. Chief pulled out of the airfield onto a two-lane blacktop. “If I’d turned right, we’d end up in Corbin. But we’re going on the main road to the London Ranger Station.” He shot her a grin. “Which doesn’t meant anything to you. Okay, Jack, Cam, fire away. Kim, answer their questions.”
Jack said, “First, Kim, tell us why you’re so certain it was Manta Ray you saw walking into the forest.”
Kim leaned toward him. “I’d seen this guy’s—Manta Ray’s—wanted poster in Dad’s office and remembered thinking what a waste because he was so handsome. My friend Pam and I, we’d just come out from East Branch Road. We’d spent the morning with some kids from town, hiking and picnicking. We were driving on the dirt road leading out, and I saw him plain as day, with two other guys. One of them was handing Manta Ray a dark wool cap. I couldn’t believe it. I guess I must have sucked in my breath because Pam assumed I knew them and started to stop, and I panicked, told her to get out of there fast. I called my dad right away.” She paused a moment. “I didn’t even think about snapping their photo until later. Sorry.”
Jack said, “That must have been a moment, but you kept your head. You did good, Kim.”
She beamed at him. “For a minute there, I thought they knew I was watching them and I nearly peed myself. But now I don’t think they were paying any attention to us. They were focused on getting into the forest.”
Cam pulled out her cell, found a photo of Manta Ray and handed it to Kim. “This is the man you and Pam saw?”
“Oh yes, that’s him.” She sighed. “He’s so hot, plus the poster said he’s from Ireland, even has an Irish accent. What a bummer he’s a criminal.”
Jack said. “You said they were going into the forest. Did they have any kind of gear with them?”
“Nope, they didn’t have any camping gear or backpacks. The two guys with Manta Ray were carrying small blue gym bags that looked brand-new. That was it, not even water bottles.”
Jack knew there wasn’t underwear in those gym bags, there were weapons.
Cam said, “I don’t suppose Manta Ray was still wearing prison orange?”
“No orange. He had on jeans that looked so stiff they had to be right off the rack. His plaid shirt and hiking boots, too, everything looked brand-new. I guess he didn’t know you never start on a long hike in brand-new boots.”
“And the two men with him?”
“Nothing special. Long-sleeve shirts, jeans, and those wool caps. Their clothes weren’t new, but not ratty, either.”
Cam wondered if they were experienced hikers, if they could handle the wilderness, or if they were city raised, like Manta Ray.
Cam said, “We assumed they’d be picking up gear and supplies once they were inside the forest, at some predesignated drop. That’s got to be what they did, then. They had Manta Ray’s escape well planned.”
Chief said, “Kim, give Jack the folder.”
Kim was sitting on it. She pulled it out, opened it. “Dad had me meet with Leo Pruitt, our local artist, to get these sketches done. Mr. Pruitt doesn’t spend much time on the planet, usually all he paints are rocks and bears, but he tried. They’re not bad, pretty right on, really, even though I only saw them for a few seconds.” She handed Jack a pencil drawing. “He didn’t draw Manta Ray; no need to.” Cam turned in her seat to look at the drawing in Jack’s hands. It showed a heavyset man with dark beard scruff and a buzz cut.
“This man was taller than Manta Ray, and he looked hard and tough, you know? Like a thug.”
“Manta Ray is a bit over six foot,” Cam said, “so this man was maybe six foot three?”
Kim nodded. “Yes, he was big. He looked like he worked out in a gym, maybe used steroids. He had big, thick legs that stretched out his jeans, and I remember there was a small tear over his left knee.”
Jack looked down at the drawing. “Too bad he was wearing sunglasses.”
“Yes, but Mr. Pruitt nailed them, though. The lenses were square, perfectly square, with black frames, and they looked weird. He’s the one who handed Manta Ray the cap before he put on his own, so I saw his hair. It was dark brown.”
Chief called out, “Did you see him walk, Kim? Did he seem old? Young?”
Kim twirled her ponytail around her busy fingers while she thought about it. “I only had a fast look at the three of them, but he didn’t seem as old as you, Dad.”
“Thanks, kid. So late thirties?”
She nodded. “I guess so. And he was tanned, at least his face was.”
“Show us the second man,” Jack said.
She pulled out a second drawing. This sketch looked pretty rough. It showed a slender face covered with aviator sunglasses and a dark wool cap pulled low, hiding all the hair.
Kim said, “This guy was lots shorter than the big guy and Manta Ray. Maybe five foot eight, same as me. He looked like he might be in charge, though; well, that was the impression I got. He kind of swaggered, took the lead, expected the other two to follow him. But there was something different about him, the shape of his face, his really sliced-thin cheekbones.” She shrugged. “I thought first he might be foreign, Hispanic maybe, but I’ve been thinking about him a lot, and here’s the thing.” Kim leaned in close. “I’m not so sure it was a he. It might have been a she.”
That was a kicker. Jack said, “A woman?” He looked down at the drawing. Impossible to tell. “Why do you think that?”
“Well, I’m not a hundred percent sure, but what happened is I turned to sneak a look at them as we were driving away. They were moving out fast, with her in front of the two guys. Even though her jeans were loose I got a good look at her butt. It wasn’t a guy’s butt, it was a girl’s.”
Chief looked at her in his rearview. “Nice timing, Kim, you couldn’t have done that better.” He grinned at her as he turned the SUV onto a short paved driveway toward a low redbrick building nestled among maples, oaks, and larches. “This is the London Ranger Station, where we’re meeting Duke.” Chief checked his watch. “And Harry should be here any minute with the camping gear. Grab your stuff and I’ll give you an overview while we’re waiting.” He pulled out a map of the forest, spread it out on the hood of the SUV. “You see the forest runs along the Cumberland Plateau in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Kentucky. You can see the roads for vehicles, trails for bikes, hikers, and horseback riding, and the stretches of private property. We’re going to avoid all the visitor areas because we hope Manta Ray and his group will do the same. One of Duke’s rangers will drive us to where Kim saw them last—on East Branch Road. It’s about five miles from here. Duke will go over all this in more detail when he gets here.”
They looked up to see a young man wearing a John Deere ball cap, jeans, and a cotton shirt climb out of a red Ford F-150 and wave to them. The chief folded the map, stuck it in his pocket. “That’s Harry, right on time.”
Harry Morsi introduced himself and walked them over to the bed of his truck, piled high with the gear he’d brought. “Didn’t know how heavy you’d be packing, so I brought pretty much everything. I’ve got two light MSR backpacking stoves with fuel canister lines, my newest lightweight Nalgenes along with a water-filter system so you can drink from the streams without worrying about giardia, bivvy sacks, three lightweight sleeping bags with ground pads. Duke told me there was no rain in the forecast, but in case it does rain, here are some lightweight rain jackets, extra socks. A couple of tarps you can build a shelter with if it rains and the ground’s wet, some lengths of nylon and bungee cord to fasten down the tarps if you need them. I’ve got instant oatmeal, freeze-dried eggs, dried fruit, nuts, and some freeze-dried carbs.”
Jack said, “Chief, you brought along a good set of binoculars and your sat phone, right?”
“Wouldn’t forget those,” Chief said. “And I’ve got my scoped Remington, the 7600 bolt-action in the SUV. It’s accurate and dependable, fast follow-up shots.”
Jack nodded. “It’s a fine rifle, and I hope we don’t have to use it.” He looked toward Harry’s truck bed. “Harry, we appreciate all your trouble, but we’re not going out there to relax and get comfortable. We’ll be traveling as light and fast as we can. And I don’t expect we’ll be out there for very long.”