Chapter 13 #2
“We handed her over in Germany, per the plan. When we followed up because nothing felt right, we were provided a flight number and a departure time.” He gave him the numbers and the plane details.
“When we returned to the corporal who gave us those details, another man explained that the man with that name had retired a week earlier. And the flight number provided didn’t match their system.
The only confirmation we have is that she’s no longer on base.
We sent you all those details, and now we need a plane back home to follow up. ”
“And you’re thinking that she’s in trouble?”
“Absolutely I think she’s in trouble. No reason for them to hide the information from us otherwise, and nobody can tell us where she’s gone.”
“Right. I agree with that.”
Rubin snapped right back at him, “Now my questions are, where has she gone, and what country is she even in? Ever since we landed in Germany, everything from that moment, when we handed her over, is just wrong.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find out.” Such fury filled Mason’s tone that it was impossible to contain it. “Give me a minute. I’ll call you right back.”
True to his word, Mason called Rubin in less than ten minutes. “I’ve been making phone calls trying to find somebody in Germany willing to explain this mess. Nobody should have been able to walk her right out of there.”
“Plus, we have a fake Corporal Lemming.”
“Right, probably just a shirt somebody found.”
“Yep. Found it lying around, picked it up, and decided to impersonate a corporal.” Hayden’s tone was harsh, clipped.
“Wouldn’t have been all that hard but, man, is that sloppy.”
“If the guy even retired. For all we know, he’s been popped and dropped in a ditch somewhere.” Rubin growled.
“Yeah, well, I’ve got a check happening on that too,” Mason snapped.
“Meanwhile, I’ve got you lined up to take a military plane to Coronado.
Better for you to land there at the navy base.
After all the mix-ups in Germany, it was the least they could do.
When you hit US soil, call me to get further updates. ”
Mason was gone, and so were they in just a few minutes.
*
Once Rubin and Hayden stepped onto the tarmac of the US navy base, Rubin pulled out his phone. When Mason answered, Rubin asked, “Any leads?”
Mason groaned. “We’ve been at it ever since I hung up with you. We pulled some threads but found dead ends or just distractions. We’re still at it, so stay in communication while I figure out where she’s gone. … Wait. I may have something. Hang on. I’ve got something coming in right now.”
They waited, hearing only muffled sounds on the other end, and then Mason came back to them.
“A plane landed in Northern California on a small private airstrip. It had military plane markings, and they’re checking to see if it’s one of ours, but, whoever it was, they landed without documentation.”
“That’ll be her then.”
“Probably, but don’t get your hopes up just yet,” Mason replied, his tone hard. “I just don’t want you heading off in one direction if we need you going in another direction.”
“That’ll be it, Mason.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where her father is today.”
“How in the hell did you get your hands on that information? It’s classified intel.”
“Best not ask questions you don’t really want the answers to,” Rubin pointed out, and Hayden suppressed a smile. They both knew Oakley and Trent had hacked into Senator Forman’s itinerary.
“We’ll table that conversation for a later time, but that could be possible,” Mason muttered. “God, this is a shit show. I wasn’t expecting an issue in Germany.”
“Keep that in mind, Mason. A lot of other people were at that base, and we don’t own it. We only share that space.”
“Hang on, Rubin. More intel is coming in. I need to hang up, but I’ll get right back to you.” He disconnected.
Rubin swore, watched as images downloaded onto his phone. When his phone rang again, Rubin barked at the caller, “Where are these coming from?”
Mason replied, “This is the plane that just landed. It was reported by a shortwave radio enthusiast who likes to keep track of military activity,” Mason shared, with slight amusement. “We do have an image of a woman being escorted into a vehicle. A grainy photo is incoming …”
As it came through, Rubin studied it. “Yeah, that is Tricia, the senator’s daughter, whom we went to a great deal of trouble to deliver to the German air base.”
Silence came on the other end for a moment. “We turned her over for safe passage home, but it appears she was hijacked,” he snapped.
“Do we have a license plate on the damn vehicle?” Rubin asked.
“I can get it, and I’ll send you the coordinates, but you’ll be hours out.”
“Yet a helicopter will take care of that,” Rubin noted, speaking through gritted teeth. “Plus, I do have two local men ready to go, and several more that I can pull in as soon as they land. They stayed behind in Germany to keep tabs on what was happening there, in case new intel showed up.”
Mason added, “That flight with Tricia came from Germany, according to the logs we have, but nobody really has any idea who these people were and what they were up to.”
Rubin snorted. “I don’t know if somebody hijacked Tricia as part of a local or international government plan or whatever, but the photo is of Tricia.
We don’t know much else, but they seemed to be using her as a way to make Senator Forman vote the way these people wanted.
So, I don’t care who is playing this game, but I can guarantee it won’t end well for them. ”
“Agreed,” Mason replied. “Ensure it doesn’t.”
Lost in a fury, Rubin barely heard Hayden.
Hayden patted him on the shoulder. “Hey.”
Rubin turned, and such fury filled his expression that Hayden winced. “I gather it’s not good news?”
“Not only is it not good news but either somebody is playing games and didn’t let Mason in on it, or there’s a bigger play here.”
“Either one is possible,” Hayden noted. “We would like to think we’re all on the same team, but you know it could be somebody trying to pull one on Mason and stop him or tank his new department. You and I both know that shit happens.”
“Still, Tricia doesn’t need to be a pawn in the middle of it.”
“But she is now. So, focus on that. What’s happening?”
“Apparently the plane, a military plane, landed at a small base in Northern California, about a five-hour drive from here,” he shared.
“And is that a concern?”
“Of course it is. She was on it and has been led into what appears to be a government vehicle, but we don’t know whether it really is or not, and then taken away. Mason’s people are trying to get the license plate off the camera feeds, and they’ve already determined that it’s her.”
“At least we’re on the right side of the continent right now,” Hayden muttered.
Rubin got up and paced. “We need to get the hell up there. What we don’t know is what direction they’re heading,” he said, looking at his buddy. “So, even as we go north, chances are good she’s coming south. We need to confirm her father’s current location.”
“Okay,” Hayden began. “What do we know? Our latest theory was that somebody was hanging on to her for this vote or that they’re just trying to keep her safe.
We also can’t rule out the possibility that her dear old dad might be doing something on his own, like intercepting the package in Germany, which none of us knows about. ”
Rubin stood here, his hands on his head as he thought about it. “Do we have any connections, any address for her or her family? Does the senator have a summer cabin or something around Northern California?”
“Not that we have on file, but that doesn’t mean anything,” Hayden noted, as he straightened up. “I’ll work on that.”
“Yeah, but we don’t really have time to work on it.” Just then Rubin’s phone buzzed. He glanced down and smiled. “We have an address where she could be apparently. We’ll have some time to figure out the details once we get on board the helicopter, which is taking us to where we need to go.”
“Perfect,” Hayden muttered and quickly arranged a ride to reach the helicopter.
By the time they were on board and moving through the air, Rubin glanced over at Hayden. “Of course we’re taking a chance that they aren’t moving south.”
“Again, if they went that far up, even if they are heading south, it’ll be a searchable location, so they wouldn’t have gone that far past their destination.
They might do it just to confuse us, but I think they’re probably cocky enough to think that they’re just fine with whatever bullshit they’re playing right now.
We also have to keep in mind that it could literally be them trying to save her. ”
“I didn’t like it in Germany, and I don’t like it now,” Rubin snapped, swearing under his breath as they put on their headsets and proceeded to catch up with Tricia. The trip was spent in silence, with Rubin glaring out into the skies while Hayden worked some magic with his phone.
By the time they landed, an unmanned vehicle waited for them. Rubin walked over, went to get into the driver’s side, but Hayden jumped in first.
“I’ll drive,” he announced. Rubin glared at him, but, as always, Hayden wasn’t fazed. “I know you want to, but you can manage some of the navigating as you can figure out where we’re going.”
Rubin nodded. “A couple stores are close by, small corner stores, gas stations. Let’s go in and talk to the owners. Who knows? Maybe somebody has stepped on toes around here or at least maybe they’ve seen the car we’re looking for.”
“And we got a license plate, right?”
“We did, but the license plate belongs to another vehicle. Probably stolen.”
They stared at each other and shared a nod.
Rubin sighed.
Hayden shook his head. “That’s pretty definitive for it not being her father, and pretty definitive for it not being another government agency trying to move her too.”