The Alberta Connection (12 page)

“Before I met you, I had decided I was never
going to get married, and I was never going to have babies. The
night after your first kiss, I sat down and wrote out some baby
names based on the letters in your first name. Did you know, if we
need a boy’s name, there are not a lot of names that start with a
‘Y’?”

She reached over, pulled Ryce close, and gave
him a long, wet kiss. “Honey, I am really glad that you came to
Montana.”

After Tanya left his office, Ryce sat for
several minutes and then doodled some questions for which he wanted
answers.

Who was Samantha Tanner, and what
authorization had she been given in the Joint Border Task Force?
Did Ryce have authorization to lead a team to the cabin to verify
what had happened to the two officers from the Browning PD? Why had
Samantha organized activities that were not even necessary? Were
the two Browning officers still alive? What was on the laptops
stolen from Browning PD?

Ryce’s first email was to John. Ryce outlined
the two emails he had gotten from Matt, and asked if John could
find out more about the Samantha from his vast pool of
contacts.

As soon as Ryce pressed the send button, he
checked his contact list, and composed an email to Dexter Reynolds,
the head of the Canadian branch of the JBTF. Did Dexter have anyone
he could send to watch the Canadian end of the trail? Ryce included
that he hoped the thieves who stole the laptops from the Browning
PD had not yet crossed the border. Unfortunately, Ryce could
provide no information about the thieves -- he did not even know
how many were involved.

As Ryce continued writing his emails, the
doodle list on his desk continued to grow. What was on the Browning
laptops that was worth stealing? Ryce decided he should send an
email to the Browning PD. Were the two missing officers the only
ones with laptop access, and therefore, laptop knowledge?

After sending the email to Dexter, Ryce
started to write an email to O2. Ryce thought a light strike force
team with six heavily armed members would be sufficient to check on
the Browning PD officers. The team could drive the Great Falls
Suburban and camp trailer to the lake and park in the campground.
Two of the team could remain at the lake for support, while the
remaining four could follow the trail to the border. Or, to
wherever the Browning PD officers were found. If they were found.
Ryce planned to lead the pursuit team.

The two men in the trailer could also keep an
eye on the trail going to the hog’s back and warn the pursuit team
if someone was following. Ryce remembered some early warning
devices he used in Afghanistan could cover a large area. A couple
telephone calls should get a few of them delivered in a hurry.

Ryce finished writing his emails shortly
before it was time to leave the offices for the day. He looked at
his doodle list. An email had been sent to John, O2, Dexter, the
Browning PD, David Bolt, and Matt. All Ryce could do now was wait
for answers. He walked to Tanya’s office, took her hand, and walked
toward the elevators. As he entered the elevator, Ryce realized he
was very hungry. Doodling seemed to take a lot of energy.

When Ryce and Tanya arrived at the chow hall,
John walked over and followed them through the serving line.

As he picked up a tray, John chuckled. “OK, I
forgot to get dessert.”

After placing a slice of lemon meringue pie
on his tray, John looked at Ryce.

“I got your email about Samantha Tanner. I
have shuffled it up the chain of command. So far, no reply from
anyone. I also have a website address for you. The audio device the
FBI installed on the Mercedes transmits a burst of compressed audio
every ten minutes. The website expands the burst so it is
understandable. You can either download the converted audio file to
your laptops or listen directly from the website. I will send you
an email when I get back to my laptop.”

Ryce placed his tray on the table, sat down,
glanced at Tanya, and then looked at John.

“Some of the people working with Tanya have
been able to get some video from the security cameras. They have
confirmed the ones who stole the laptops did not develop the
Renault 1CV.”

Several people at the table had very confused
looks on their faces.

John chuckled. “If you are a car history
buff, the 1CV was the first Renault built by the Renault brothers
between 1898 and 1903. If you are not a car history buff, you just
learned something new. So who won the bet on the stop for this
evening?”

Ryce smiled. Nothing was sacred at the
Pendergast Ranch.

He grinned. “Tanya and a couple of her
friends. Twenty-two dollars were split three ways.”

Tanya held up her $7.33 and Ryce’s $4.00 from
Diane’s breakfast stop. “This is almost better than a casino.”

As Ryce and Tanya walked out of the chow
hall, John accompanied them to the door.

“I have received inquiries from Homeland
Security about how you are doing. As far as I am concerned, you are
exceeding the expectations of everyone. Keep up the good work.”

Tanya gave Ryce a glance of new respect, and
slid her arms around his waist. “You have certainly exceeded my
expectations. I hope you don’t mind that I expect more.”

Chapter 16

Ryce’s cell phone
started playing “Hotel California” four hours before it was
supposed to play “Rock Around The Clock.” That indicated he had a
call and it was not the alarm going off. Ryce began to resent the
call ringer and alarm tones he had installed after Tanya had
tampered with his cell phone. It was 3:00 AM.

Ryce reached over, picked up the cell phone,
looked at the caller ID, and said, “Matt, I hope you have a really
good reason for this call.”

“Ryce, I do. I don’t care who you have to
wake up, but you need to get Samantha Tanner out of the boss’s
chair. She has killed two more of my people.”

Ryce sat up in bed. “What happened?”

Matt paused. “She flew out to the Great Falls
office two days ago and told us we had to assault the cabin for
payback for killing our two agents. Then she told us we could do it
with eight people. I told her about the group you watched get taken
out. She said they were obviously inferior to the Great Falls unit.
When I asked if she had cleared it up the chain of command, she
told me it was authorized by the Assistant Secretary of Homeland
Security. She gave me a name and a telephone number. I feel like a
fool for not calling the number.”

Ryce pulled a legal pad and a pen off the
nightstand and asked for the name and number. When Ryce finished
scribbling the information, Matt continued.

“We went in an hour after sunset last night
with night vision. No moon, and as dark as the inside of a black
trash bag. This time, they had some exploding trees that took out
Monty Wilson and Grant Dent. I managed to get four more of my men
shot up trying to pull those two out.

“I don’t know who you know, but you gotta
make a call. She told me when we got back twenty minutes ago that
she was going to bring me up on dereliction of duty charges.”

Ryce let out an expletive. “I will make some
calls. Have you heard if she has tried to screw with the Billings
office?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Ryce reach over to Tanya, shook her awake,
and then spoke into his cell again. “Ok, pull everyone out of the
Great Falls office. I think I can get an airplane in there to pick
you up. Go find a hole near the airport. Use a landline to call me
when you have everyone safe.

“I will call Kenny in the Billings office. I
don’t want anyone answering their cell phones. In fact, pull the
batteries out of them. If she can’t find you, she can’t get you
killed. Remember -- only use a landline when you get everyone to
the airport.”

Ryce flipped his cell phone shut, and turned
to Tanya. “Start calling everyone you know from the Billings
office. Tell them to become invisible. I am pulling every JBTF
agent out of Montana.

“Samantha Tanner has done it again. She got
two more people killed. I already told you about Brian and Wes.
Monty Wilson and Grant Dent were killed in an assault on the cabin
last night. I need to talk to John.”

Ryce checked his cell phone clock. It was
3:25 AM. He kissed Tanya and then found a speed dial number.

When John answered, Ryce apologized for the
early hour and then explained what had happened in Great Falls.
John replied that he would do his best to have the JBTF agents
pulled out of Montana.

The first item on John’s list was which
Pendergast aircraft he should send to Great Falls. Pendergast
Holdings owned a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), which could carry fifty
passengers, and a Gulfstream G650, which could carry fifteen
people. The BBJ was in Boise, undergoing a 250-hour overhaul. John
preferred sending the BBJ to make one flight to Great Falls and
then to Billings. The alternative was to fly to Great Falls, return
to Idaho, and then make another round trip flight to Billings.

John’s first call was to the repair facility
at the Boise airport. As he dialed the number, John said a short
prayer that someone would answer his call at 4:00 AM. Much to
John’s relief, the BBJ could be turned back over to Pendergast
Holdings as soon as a flight crew arrived at the airport. John’s
second call was to Phil.

John also called a contact at the Homeland
Security office and informed them that Samantha Tanner had turned
rogue. FBI agents in Great Falls and Seattle were instructed to
apprehend Samantha, if they could find her. Apprehending Samantha
might become a very big problem. No one had seen her since she had
been observed screaming at Matt in the parking lot of the Great
Falls office.

Tanya had taken her shower a few minutes
after she finished calling the last of the Billings agents. At 6:30
AM., Ryce was still sitting on the edge of the bed when she walked
back into the bedroom. Totally without clothing. Ryce smiled. Tanya
would look good in a hurricane.

Ryce shook his finger at her, mouthed the
words “You started without me,” and walked into the bathroom. As he
was adjusting the water, he felt her arms go around his waist.

She pulled his lips to hers, and then said,
“I can start over.”

When Ryce and Tanya walked into the research
center at 7:20 AM, ten people that Ryce had never seen before were
sitting with his JBTF agents. One of them walked over, and
explained that John had asked Doug to send them over from the
Holdings offices to provide any assistance needed. Doug’s people
had contacts that Ryce might need to utilize for the Montana
extraction.

At 11:00 AM, John walked into the research
center.

When he saw Ryce, John walked over and said,
“Follow me.”

The two walked into Ryce’s office. John
turned and closed the door.

“I have made a couple calls, and Samantha
Tanner is on every BOLO we can generate.”

John laughed. “How did Be On (the) Look Out
For become a BOLO? If we are going to use shorthand, LOF is a
better acronym. Did you ever meet her?”

Ryce shook his head “no.”

John took a small notebook out of his pocket
and flipped it open. “She worked her way up to the #3 spot at the
FBI and then did a lateral transfer to Homeland Security. She ended
up at the interim #2 spot in the JBTF.

“The next part of this conversation does not
leave this room.

“Homeland Security has been watching Samantha
for several weeks.

She did not have authorization to request
that Matt put observers on the cabin and certainly not for the
assault. She actually didn’t have authorization to fly to Great
Falls. She was told that you will be taking over in a few weeks,
and she should just sit in DC and push papers around her desk.

“Phil has everyone from Great Falls in the
BBJ, but they are still looking for two of the Billings agents.
Phil said that Kenny Haslet and Sally Grimes were no-shows when he
landed in Billings. I included O2 and four of his SEALs with the
pickup flight. They are out looking for Kenny and Sally. That part
doesn’t leave this room, either.

“I want you to proceed as if nothing is a
problem. I don’t want anyone to know anything.”

Ryce shook his head “OK,” and then the two
walked back to the research center. Ryce wanted to say something to
Tanya about Sally not showing up at the airport, but John had been
very clear. Ryce was not to say anything to anyone. Even to
Tanya.

Sally was Tanya’s best friend. When Tanya was
not with Ryce, she was almost always with Sally. Ryce thought for a
moment. He might know where Sally and Kenny were located.

When Ryce retired from the U.S. Army, he had
returned to Billings and had purchased the house where he had grown
up. He would have paid almost anything for it, but years of neglect
had reduced the price to almost less than his mother had paid over
twenty years earlier. Ryce purchased the house for $15,000
cash.

The house was in an older part of Billings,
one of many forgotten rundown homes on a forgotten rundown street.
Every spare moment Ryce found, he repaired or upgraded the house.
When Tanya moved in, the house was the most elegant on his
street.

Ryce had been buying adjacent homes on the
block as investment properties. One evening, Tanya told him that
her best friend, Sally, had split from her live-in boyfriend and
needed a place to stay. Ryce had just completed the purchase of a
two-bedroom cottage directly behind his home. He suggested that
Sally might like to live there. And since she was Tanya’s friend,
Sally could live there rent-free.

Ryce pulled out his cell phone. Was it
possible that Samantha could know that Sally was living on Ryce’s
property? Ryce hoped that Kenny and Sally were hiding out at Ryce’s
house.

Sally answered on the first ring. “Tanya, we
are OK.”