Off the Grid (A Gerrit O'Rourke Novel) (33 page)

Nightfall had finally descended. Joe hurried outside and made his way toward the bed-and-breakfast. He might be able to get in a few more hours studying Kane’s computer system before calling it a night. If he couldn’t find out anything more useful by tomorrow, he would reach out to his contacts here in the United Kingdom and attempt a closer visual search of the complex. He hoped to get good news from those in New Mexico.

A young man held on to an older woman’s arm as they approached a quilt store Joe just passed. The woman seemed to walk with difficulty and the man patiently supported her, matching her slower steps.

Joe rushed ahead and held the door open for them. The couple swept pass, the man giving him an appreciative nod. Joe let the door close and turned toward the sidewalk just as he felt something jam into his neck.

His body began to convulse as an electric shock coursed through him. It was the last thing he remembered.

“We got him, boss.” Richard listened to one of his men over the telephone. “Nobody spotted a thing. We were able to get him to the car as if he’d had one too many drinks. What do you want us to do with him?”

Richard thought for a moment before responding. “Put him under and dump him into a large crate. Bring it here like you’re transporting equipment. Move it downstairs and we’ll put him in our interrogation section.”

“You got it, sir.”

“Did he have anything with him?”

“A laptop and a few bags of personal items. Clothes, toothbrush, that kind of stuff.”

“Bring it all here—particularly the computer.”

He hung up and clapped his hands together. Finally, he’d gotten his hands on the man who had eluded him all these years. Everything was coming together.

His source came through at the last moment. Joe and Willy were very cagey, and they’d built a system that could easily trap anyone trying to send a message to Richard. The source used old-school contact points, messenger and courier services that hand-delivered messages to Richard. Time consuming, but much safer. This time, Richard learned O’Rourke was on his way, although the message wasn’t delivered until the man was already in country.

Richard had one ace in the hole. The source had been able to tag O’Rourke before his trip. Though the message got here late, Richard’s people were able to use the tag identifier to track the target’s location. No matter how many disguises the man used, he could not beat the long arm of technology unless he’d scanned himself and knew what to look for.

O’Rourke made one fatal mistake. He trusted his friends.

How brazen to be walking around in Richard’s backyard here in Harrogate. Actually, stupid might be a better word. After all, he knew Joe and the others followed Gerrit here. And to just saunter around like Joe owned the place. Well, now the man would pay the price for his arrogance. After all the trouble Joe’s band of idiots caused Project Megiddo, Richard looked forward to making this guy suffer.

Now, with Collette and her crew set up in Albuquerque, they might just get lucky and scoop up the whole group.

Joe woke up, slouching in a chair, his hands handcuffed behind him. His body felt like he’d gone twelve rounds with a heavyweight boxer, his head pounded to a painful beat. His mouth felt dry and his brain sluggish.

A single beam of light above him beat down, leaving the far corners of the room in darkness. He sensed someone nearby.

“We finally meet, Joe. After all these years.” Richard Kane stepped from the darkness, letting the light catch his silvery mane of hair. The man moved closer. “Ever since my men paid you a visit in Chicago, you’ve been a hard man to catch—until now.”

Joe tried to appear calm, although his heart raced. He knew what this man had done, including the deaths of his own brother and sister-in-law. Hope began to fade as his situation slowly became clear.

He was mad at himself for ignoring the danger signs. “That clerk tip you off?”

“You think I am going to give away my secrets?” Kane curled his lips back in a sneer. “The sheer arrogance. To think you can just waltz in here undetected and do what? Spy on me? Take my organization down?”

“I got this far, didn’t I? With all your money and all your connections.”

“And look at you now. Deep underground. Tied up in my interrogation room with nowhere to run.”

Joe straightened in the chair, trying to convey confidence. “You think I’m alone? That others don’t know where I am?”

“You mean like the rest of your team back in Albuquerque? The ones my guys are moving in on right now as we speak?”

Fear made Joe’s pulse spike. They knew where Gerrit and the others were hiding? He lowered his head for a moment. No, they couldn’t know that because they couldn’t track the probes Willy sent out. Joe was sure of that. He’d built the protections into that program himself. “You’re just blowing smoke, Kane. My people are too smart to get caught.”

“And yet, here I am looking at their leader, Joe O’Rourke, aka Joe Costello, aka Frank Malone. The guy they thought too smart to get caught. In handcuffs. In my cell.”

Almost involuntarily, Joe pulled the cuffs. They rattled as he tugged. “You didn’t track me down through technology, Richard. You used plain old-fashioned bribery. Somebody snitched on me right here in town.”

Kane leaned over, inches away from Joe’s face. Looking him in the eye, Kane whispered, “And how do you know I don’t have somebody on the inside? Somebody keeping watch on your band of do-gooders right now?”

Joe glared back. The man seemed very confident. Did they have a Judas in their midst?

He tried to rid himself of that thought. He knew the people he worked with. They had eluded Kane and his henchmen for many years. Each of them had been tested by fire and passed unscathed. They could not be traitors.

Then he thought of Gerrit and the contact Beck sent. Jack Thompson had been used in the past, and he always checked out. Joe was the one who sent him to Beck.

Could he be wrong? If so, Joe had put Gerrit and the others in harm’s way. Kane and his people would finally be able to wipe out all resistance.

He prayed that Kane might be bluffing, that the team in Albuquerque might be protected. All he could do for the moment was hope for deliverance. He didn’t know how long he could hold out.

Joe knew from bitter experience his lack of courage. Chicago had taught him that disappointing lesson a long time ago. He hoped time and resolve might have changed him. He would know the answer very soon.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

C
ollette glanced at the text message and smiled.

One down. Just a few more to catch and they would leave this godforsaken city.

Gerrit and the others would be wary when Joe O’Rourke failed to report in. No matter!

Now, she enjoyed this psychological advantage over her enemy. Their leader captured, cut off the head, the body dies. The others might start running once they found out. At the very least, she and Kane had the tools to plant fear in their targets’ minds.

She glanced at her watch. Midnight. Her techies advised the probes had ceased hours ago. Maybe they’d given up. Seen that this place was impenetrable. She toyed with creating an impression there was a weakness somewhere, let them think there was a way in. Catch them in a trap.

After mulling it over, Collette discarded the idea and decided to continue with her current game plan. Control, tighten security, and be ready to pounce if these fools tried to get inside.

Checking her sidearm, Collette moved from the security office and began to make inspections. Two men appeared at her side and acted as her escort. She turned to one of them. “Let’s make one last inspection to make sure everyone’s in place. Then we’ll pull back until daylight. If they are going to attack, it will be sometime between now and dawn.”

She moved through the lab, eyes darting, searching for any weakness.
That’s when I would hit
.
Hit the enemy just before dawn.

Gerrit peered down at the schematic Willy pulled up on the computer. “You sure this is the place they have their research stored?” He pointed to a large, rectangular room in the very center of the building.

“I’m telling you, Mr. G., this is it.” He pointed around the circumference of the targeted room. “Look at this wiring and the security installation they’ve implemented. Everything points to this spot. All their security is built around this one room.”

Gerrit gave a slow nod. “You have the portable drive Joe gave you?”

Willy pulled out a USB drive and gave it to Gerrit. “This kind of memory storage will soon be obsolete, you know.”

Gerrit slipped the drive into his pocket. “Remember my background, Willy. Did my doctoral thesis on how much will change in ten years. We are already into that future.”

Jack strode into the motel room. “They’re ready for us, Gerrit. Time to move out.”

Willy rose and thrust out his hand. “Good luck, Mr. G. And take care of Al.”

Alena came in just as Willy finished the sentence. “It’s more like I’ll be taking care of Gerrit. Like always.”

Gerrit gathered his things.
The war is just starting, Alena. Don’t start bragging now.
Still plenty of time to fall flat on your face and die.
He fought the urge to make a retort.

Looking sheepish, Willy grimaced. “I just meant—”

“I know what you meant, Willy.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be okay.”

He looked over at Gerrit. “I mean it, Mr. G.”

“I know. We’ll watch each other’s backs. See you when it’s over.”

Willy and the others climbed into the van Jack had supplied. Gerrit closed the door and waited until Jack brought his car alongside.

Alena and he climbed into the backseat as Jack took off, heading for the edge of town. The colonel glanced back. “Can’t believe I’m chauffeuring a lieutenant around. Boy, times have changed.”

“So has the war, Colonel. Hard to know which side you’re on anymore.”

“Amen to that. We should make contact with the bird in about five. You all set, Marine?”

“Yep. Locked and loaded.”

Jack gave a smug smile. “That’s want I want to hear.” The colonel eyed Alena in the rearview. “Want to wish you both a lot of luck. They will be waiting for you.”

Alena met the colonel’s eye. “Don’t believe in luck, sir. God will protect us if it is His will. And if it is not His will…that’s fine with me.”

Jack looked over at him and then back to her for a second before turning his attention ahead. “Whatever toots your horn, lady. Just be careful.”

Alena stared out the window.

At times like this, Gerrit just put everything out of his mind except the mission. Never pondered about the what-ifs. Living and dying became just something that happened. Actions he had no control over. Right now, wasting time on concepts was counterproductive to the mission. Alena’s statement, however, seemed almost fatalistic—whatever will happen will happen. She appeared to accept whatever God dished out.

Life or death. Good or evil.

He and Alena seemed worlds apart. He could never relinquish control over his own destiny if given a choice. And if control were taken away, he’d just fight to get it back. Alena seemed willing to accept whatever came her way. It bothered him to see how this might translate into survival tactics in combat. He needed her willing to fight to the death if need be. Passive acceptance was not an option.

He would have to watch her carefully.

Up ahead, Gerrit saw muted lights through the darkness. As they pulled closer, he whistled under his breath. “I never saw one of these in Afghanistan.” A sleek, lightweight helicopter, equipped with rockets and vertical propellers, sat poised on the landing pad.

Jack glanced in the rearview mirror again. “A prototype that Defense is testing for combat—particularly for Special Ops. It’s fast, leaves a minimal heat signature, and offers unbelievable maneuverability. Between this bird and Willy’s computer, we can drop you on the roof in seconds and pull away before their ground sensors even start recording movement. They will not know what hit them when you touch down.”

“They’ll signal you when Alena and I are clear of the bird?”

“That’s right. Then me and Redneck will move in to cover you from the ground while Willy does his thing.”

“Just give us body heat locations as quick as you can. Need to know where they’re stationed in that building.”

“You got it. We’ll light them up before you touch ground floor.” He caught Gerrit’s look in the mirror. “And the tools you need are in the truck. Got enough firepower in there to start your own war.”

Gerrit smiled. “That’s exactly what we want them to think. Before they have time to react.”

Jack nodded. “Just like old times, huh?”

Gerrit shook his head. “Before, I knew who I was shooting at. Now…” He swung the car door open and stepped out as the trunk popped open. Alena came around the other side as he grabbed an assault rifle—an H&K MP5 as requested—and a sidearm, handing them to her. He reached in and gathered the same firepower, then shouldered a backpack that weighed heavily on his back.