The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles (27 page)

COX
edged away from the window, and said. “I think we
should go outside and see what’s happening. Our cell phones don’t have a signal.”

“Bad idea,” said Shaw. “If they’re all suited up with
bio-hazard suits, we could be walking into danger.”

Carla walked over to the sofa, and flopped on to a cushion.
Her concern was evident in her eyes, staring blankly. She let out a sigh.

“Looks like we got the short straw on this assignment,” she
said. “Do you think the bug that’s going around is airborne?”

“Don’t know. I wish I’d gone to the council meeting now to
find out. I have surgical facemasks down in the stockroom. I’ll go and get
some,” said Shaw.

Cox stepped in front of Shaw.

“I’ll use my scanner to see if I can hear the quarantine
guys communicating. Neither of us have a cell phone connection. And no outside land
line, means no Internet. I’ll try my laptop with my mobile connection.”

“You do that. Carla, you come with me.”

Shaw sidestepped Cox, headed out of the room, charged down
the stairway and into his office. He flicked the light switch, and opened the
storeroom door.

“Here, take these mask and gloves upstairs. I’ll stay here.
If they see the office lights, they could pay us a visit.”

Carla scuttled out of the office. Shaw donned a mask, then
sat at his desk. He picked up the radio microphone and pressed the speak
button.

“Blue Leader to all Taskforce personnel, call off the search
for Fox and go home. Maintain silence, we have ears, over.”

Frank’s voice answered.

“Taskforce One to, Blue Leader, understood. The Fox has gone
to ground and given us the slip, over.”

Shaw shook his head.

“If you have facemasks, use them and stay indoors. It looks
as though quarantine is being implemented in town. Await instructions, Blue
Leader, over and out.”

“Affirmative. Briefing at zero eight hundred hours. Taskforce
One, out.

He wondered how Ted had managed to give them the slip.
So
much for their expertise and tracking devices.

Someone pounded on the office door. Shaw exited the office,
walked along the corridor and unlocked the outer door. He opened the door to
two men wearing hazard suits.

“Good to see you’re wearing a mask. FBI agent Summers. Forgive
me for not shaking hands.”

“I thought you were with the NSA these days?”

“Who told you that?”

“Don’t remember, but I have two of your agents
upstairs—Agents Cox and Martinez. Are you here with news on Amy?”

“No, but I’ve heard about the kidnapping. I’m with the
quarantine team. I’ve been seconded to head the unit under the command of the
Pentagon.”

Pentagon?

“I’m setting up a command post in the field, just by the
gate. Just so you know, we need all residents to stay indoors. The county sheriff
will be here in a few hours and he’ll brief you. All the roads leading to
Breakers Pass are going to be closed. I need to get going to supervise setting
up the field hospital.”

The smaller of the two hustled past Shaw and into the
corridor.

“I’m with Homeland security. You must be Sheriff Shaw.”

“That’s me.”

Summers turned and walked away. The small guy took off his
helmet, removed his facemask, then closed the door. Shaw recognized him
straight away.

“Alice Fuller. We meet again.”

“How do you…? Oh never mind. Call me Fuller.”

“You not worried about catching something?”

“Why, is there anyone ill in here?”

“No, but—”

“Good.” Fuller slipped his facemask over his mouth.

Shaw turned to the sound of footsteps on the stairway. Cox
appeared in the corridor.

“The satellite connection is blocked. Lucky I have a mobile
for the FBIs secure satellite. I’ve sent an e-mail asking them for
clarification of what’s happening. Who’s this?” Cox asked.

“Sorry, this is Alice, from Homeland security.”

Fuller’s cheeks reddened.

“Fuller, if you don’t mind. I never use my Christian name.
Blame it on my parents. They were Alice Cooper fans.”

Shaw sniggered inside at the revelation. He wondered if
that’s why he wouldn’t give his name when they first met, and not out of some
kind of personal security as he’d first thought.

Cox faced Fuller. “Are the phones your agencies doing?”

“No, it’s all part of the protocol for the quarantine
exercise.”

“Protocol?”

“CONOP 8888.”

“Damn, I’ve not heard of that since our last FBI training
session. You are joking—right. Don’t tell me they’re expecting zombies to crawl
out of the ground?” Cox said, and laughed.

“It’s not a joke. If you substitute zombies for an unknown
cause of an outbreak, as we have here. Maybe CONOP will start making sense.”

“Look we can’t stay here all day. Let’s go upstairs,” Shaw
said.

He followed them up the stairway. Shaw wondered where this
was all leading to. He now knew the significance of CONOP 8888 penciled in the
margin of the ‘dog-’s file.’ That the protocol was matched with the GPS
coordinates for Breakers Pass in the same notation seemed beyond a coincidence.

“Why is Homeland Security involved?” Shaw asked, as they
walked into the living room.

“We’re involved because we have to consider the possibility
of the hand of a terrorist faction in all this.”

“How long will the phones be out?” Carla asked.

“Until we know what’s causing this sickness and find a cure,
or at least stop the spread of infection, I can’t say. We have to think of the
panic it could cause when we don’t have answers.”

“So really there’s no point in our being here without phone
lines,” Carla said.

Shaw realized that without a way to contact him, the
kidnappers couldn’t relay any ransom. Carla was right. There was no point in
them being there. Frustration hit Shaw, enhanced by a lack of sleep. With the
Taskforce militia bungling their surveillance on Ted, he knew that he was
powerless to carry out his own line of investigation. Shaw felt as if his
personal space had been invaded.

“I’ll leave you all to talk. I’m going to see if I can find
anything of interest in Amy’s room.”

Shaw walked to Amy’s door, opened it, and walked inside. It
wasn’t the time to be worrying about crossing the line and invading her
privacy. He rummaged through her closet, then through her drawers, but there
was nothing of interest. He sat on the edge of the bed, reached over to her
nightstand and picked up a notebook. Looking through the pages, he stopped at
some doodling. It was a series of symbols in rows, and they ran across the page.
He didn’t recognize the two symbols that were randomly repeated. He turned over
to the next page and then the next. Flicking through to the end, it was page
after page of the same.

He took one last look around and noticed a picture of her
mom holding Amy as a baby. He couldn’t have stopped the tears that rolled down
his cheeks even if he wanted to. Shaw heard a tap on the door.

“You okay in there. I’ve made you a coffee,” Carla said.

He wiped his sleeve across his eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

He opened the door.

“Find anything?”

“Just some doodling that could be some sort of code. It
looks like Japanese to me, but with only two symbols.

“Here, let’s take a look.”

Shaw handed her the notebook and watched her flick through
the pages.

“What do you think?”

“It could be code. I’ll scan the pages and send it over our
satellite feed. Maybe some of our code breakers will understand the
significance of the symbols.”

They walked back into the living room. Fuller wasn’t there.

“Where is he?”

Cox removed her earphones. “Gone down to the office. It
seems as though he still has a signal for his phone. He must have an agency
satellite connection. I heard a buzzing in his pants, then he made his excuses
to go to your office. I managed to hack into his call. He’s talking to someone
called Cleo. They’re talking gibberish, but I heard mention of your name and
DNA results before it went to encryption.”

Shaw heard a door slam downstairs. He walked out of the room
and down the stairway. When he looked into his office, Fuller wasn’t there.

A
vehicle pulled up outside the office. Shaw lifted his
head from his desk and yawned. He swiveled on his chair to see Frank at the
window. A glance at the wall, and the small hand on the wall clock hit the
hour, signaling it was eight o’ clock. A pain pulsed in his neck. Using his
hands for leverage on the desk, he stood and yawned some more. He stumbled to
the exit, unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“You look as bad as I feel,” said Frank.

“Tell me about it, I feel like crap,” he said, and rubbed at
the sore muscle in his neck.

They worked their way into the office. Shaw collapsed his
backside into the chair. Frank did the same in his chair.

“What happened with your foolproof surveillance?” Shaw
asked.

“Ted got out through a tunnel.”

“A tunnel?”

“Yeah, the entrance was in the cellar under the bench. It
led to a hut at the bottom of the back yard. He obviously found the app on his
phone. He left it for us to find on a stone wall next the crossroads sign at
Claymore.”

Frank dug in his pocket, then dropped Ted’s phone on his
desk.

“He probably guessed you were watching the cabin.”

“You said he was smart.”

“God knows what we do now? Pass his phone here.”

Frank sighed, stood and walked over to Shaw’s desk, dropping
the phone on his IN tray. Shaw picked up the phone and put it in his pocket.

“If we get the lines back, use Ted’s cell number to contact
me. That way the Feds can’t listen in. Really, there’s nothing we can do,
except I need a coffee.

“I’ll make some,” Frank said, and rising from his seat, he
trudged over to the coffee machine. “I called at the water plant on the way
here. The ground was wet next to a pipe leak at the entrance. The guy working
there said the tracks I found weren’t there before he reported that someone cut
the lock at the gate.”

“What type of tracks?”

“A large truck, double wheeled.”

“Crud, don’t say they’re stealing water with the drought.”

“Well, it is in short supply.”

“What next?”

More vehicles pulled up outside. Frank placed a coffee on
Shaw’s desk. Jim walked into the office, followed by the county sheriff, and
Summers.

“I thought you weren’t working,” said the county sheriff.

“All the lines are down, so no point waiting for a ransom
call.” Shaw turned to Summers. “When will we have the phone lines back and the
TV channels?”

“Hard to say. Our technicians are working on providing a
local TV news feed. It will show a looped program advising how to take
precautions, and the signs they need to put out front when someone is sick, or
what to do if they have a death, with repeated messages to stay indoors. Every
home will be visited and masks provided.”

“What about movement? Are my deputies permitted to go about
the area to keep the peace? Things could turn nasty as the death toll
increases. Not everyone will stay inside if they need supplies.”

“Emergency rations will be distributed to all households via
pickup posts. As for you and your deputies, as long as you wear you masks, and
don’t go outside the territory, no problem. But the county police and my
soldiers take priority to give and carry out orders from central command.”

“Where is Alice Fuller?”

“Don’t know. Homeland Security works in mysterious ways.”

Grimes walked in through the door.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Shaw rolled his eyes. Summers called the meeting to order,
then relayed details of the quarantine.

“What’s happening over at Claymore?” Jim asked. “Only I saw
four Black Hawks, and a large drone, together with considerable troop movement,
and with some serious artillery parked up in the fields.”

“Can’t say, other than it’s part of our planning.”

“What happens if someone attempts to leave the area?” Grimes
asked.

“Orders are to shoot anyone who doesn’t obey commands to
stop.”

Shaw gulped. “That’s a bit drastic.”

“Executive orders. We’re up at four hundred and fifty deaths
in twenty-four hours. That’s quicker that the spread of Ebola. Breakers Pass is
spread over a good sized area, with a small population. Imagine what would
happen if it reached to LA. We don’t know what we’re dealing with, and we sure
as shit don’t want it spreading.”

“So you’ve no idea what’s causing the sickness?” said
Grimes.

“No, the scientists are working on it now.”

Shaw shook his head. With everyone left in no doubt as to
how the quarantine procedures would work, and their responsibilities in the
scheme of the protocol, Summers closed the meeting.

“Any more questions, only I have to get back to the command
post?”

“So when will the troops have the area sealed?” Grimes
asked.

“All roads in and out are sealed already. In four hours
we’ll have the entire cordon under surveillance.”

“You sure you can’t tell us what the troops and Black Hawks
are doing over at Claymore. I’m the mayor, I should know everything.”

“Sorry, you don’t have the security clearance.”

Grimes screwed his nose, then marched out of the office.
Shaw was glad to see the back of him. Summers and the county sheriff followed
Grimes out of the office.

Frank took off his hat, threw it on the floor and stamped on
it, then kicked it across the room.

“See what I said about the federal agencies. It’s coming to
something when they’ll sanction killing their own for just being scared. Next
they’ll go around every home, executing everyone in the town boundary.”

“Nah, they wouldn’t do that. Obviously, like he said, they’ll
warn people not to leave the boundary first,” Shaw said.

“You think so?” Jim said. “Just what the hell are they doing
with all that fire power over at Claymore? Maybe they have it as a contingency
to blast Breakers Pass into another dimension by reducing it to ashes.”

Shaw slapped his palms on his desk.

“You’re both talking out of your asses. I’m going for a
shower.”

Shaw scuttled out of the office and trudged up the stairway,
hauling his weight with the handrail until he reached his apartment door. His
thoughts turned to Amy. All he hoped was that Logan and the FBI had found her. Cox
greeted him as he entered the living room.

Shaw relayed the details of his meeting with Summers.

“Well I don’t intend leaving the apartment,” Cox said. “Anyway,
listen, I’ve had word back from the cryptographers. Those symbols Amy scribbled
are Egyptian. It’s binary code.” She handed Shaw two sheets of paper. “This is
the best they can come up with as a translation for now.”

He dropped his backside on the sofa.

“What about the gang bust?”

“They’ve hauled ass. Got them all in custody, but they
haven’t found her. Hopefully they’ll break someone into giving them
information.”

He planted his palm on his forehead and grasped his hair.

“Damn, damn, damn.”

He skimmed through the translation, then dropped the papers
onto the coffee table.

“Looks like some sort of history school project,” he said.
He pushed his back into the sofa cushion and closed his eyes. His mind
wandered. Shaw sat up straight, leaned forward and opened his eyes.

“Cleo!”

“What about Cleo?” Cox asked.

“The woman at the sanctuary. Coincidence or what?”

“What coincidence?”

“I don’t know, but she’s Egyptian. Everything about the
place is Egyptian. That project of Amy’s is all about the reign of
Akhenaten. Cleo has stone artifacts all over the walls, and most of
them of this guy, Akhenaten,” he said, picking up the papers, then dropping
them back on the table. “Not only that, but the dog-s file on the missing girls
at Ted’s cabin had—
”

“What file? What missing girls? Who is this Ted?”

He dropped his head in his hands and shook his head. He
realized his mistake. It was that coincidence thing again that bugged him. Ted,
the file, the Egyptian connection to Cleo, the missing girls, Amy’s project.
His mind was in meltdown. It started as a lump in his throat, then a tear
rolled from the corner of his eyes. Broken, he started to blubber, soft at
first, then the tears and sobbing followed. Cox was seated at his side. She put
her arm around him and pulled his head to her chest.

“That’s it, let it out. It’s not the first time I’ve seen it
happen on a kidnap case, and it won’t be the last. Carla, make a strong black
coffee.”

Shaw made no attempt to pull away, unashamedly sobbing until
he had nothing left to give.

“Your coffee,” said Carla.

He lifted his head and drew his shirt sleeve over his eyes.

“Sorry.”

“No need, you’re grieving that’s all,” Cox said. “Listen,
all this talk of the Egyptians started this. Drink your coffee. Then tell me
about this file and the missing girls. Let’s see if we can connect up the dots.”

Shaw picked up his cup and took a sip. He knew he’d have to
tell them everything and suffer the consequences. He needed more than his head
wrapped around the situation for Amy’s sake, or his brain would fry. All his
working life, he’d preferred to work solo, but Amy going missing made him
realize that finding her would need more brain power than he possessed. Shaw
recounted everything from the details of the missing girls to the vet’s death,
apprehending Ted, the file, and his connection to the missing girls and Amy. He
left nothing out.

When he’d finished, Cox stared at him, stroking her chin
with her fingers.

“So this Alice Fuller who was in charge of the missing
girls’ investigation, the one you saw visiting the sanctuary after Amy had gone
missing, where is he now?”

“I don’t know. The last I saw of him was just before you
hacked his cell phone call with Cleo.”

“Interesting. And you say this sanctuary is outside the
boundary?”

“Yeah.”

“What a pity, I’d have liked to visit this Cleo. Something
doesn’t seem right. I’d never heard of all those girls going missing. Maybe we
should ask Summers if he’d allow us to pay a visit to the sanctuary. If he was
involved with the missing girls, then maybe he’ll understand.”

“I wouldn’t trust him, just like I don’t trust Fuller. If he
takes the file away from Ted’s cabin, that’s the last we’ll ever hear about the
missing girls. If there is a connection to Amy’s kidnap, then we’ll be at a
dead end. I suppose you’ll have to report back to your headquarters about what
I did with Ted?”

Cox glanced at Carla. Carla shrugged her shoulders.

“Is that a yes, or a no?” Cox asked Carla.

“Well, by the sound of it, our agency wants the missing
girls’ case dead and buried. No sense in us resurrecting it, considering what
Brett has to suffer with Amy missing.”

Someone tapped on the living room door.

“Who is it,” Shaw said.

“Frank. I have some news.”

“Come in.”

Frank stepped into the room.

“Can we talk in private?”

“No need. I’ve told them everything about Ted. We don’t need
any more secrets.”

Frank huffed, shuffling his feet.

“I put word out to the boys over the radio. Fuller has been
seen heading along the highway toward the boundary.”

“Where?”

“It only leads on one direction if he can get past the road
block.”

“And where is that?”

“The road that passes the sanctuary. There’s nothing between
him and the boundary, so he must be heading outside wherever he’s going.”

Cox and Shaw exchanged glances.

“Thanks, Frank, keep me posted. Damn, I wish I could follow
him. I have a hunch that’s where he’s going, the sanctuary.”

“Well, you have three hours to get out there if you’d a mind
to,” Frank said.

“What, with the roads blocked and the likelihood of being
shot?”

“They ain’t blocked the bridleways and the woods yet. You’d
just need a horse. If you get out, I doubt they’d shoot you if you came back
in. We could go to my home and saddle up.”

If I get out?