The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by (21 page)

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fridge was one step closer to heaven. Gordon and I indulged  with our normal beverage of choice.

Closing the door behind us in the Sheriff’s office I  said, “Okay we know what they’re going to drive, but think  Gordon, Do you remember them mention a clue, or anything about where he was going to pick up the car? Gordon  sat down in one of the arm chairs next to the Sheriff’s desk

and started pecking at his imaginary keyboard in the sky.  Several minutes had gone by without a hint that Gordon had  remembered something. We had both finished our drinks as  Gordon declared, “I’ve gone over every sequence of events  and I’ve got squat. I’m convinced that Frankie is keeping that  information to himself”.

Interesting, I wonder what else Frankie was going to keep to himself. The whole thing was starting to make sense.  “I bet that Frankie didn’t say, because he has no intention of taking them with him after they finish”. Gordon looked at me like I had Chinook salmon popping out of my ears, “I don’t follow”. “Think about it for a minute, all Frankie needs from his Horsemen is their help in getting the diamonds, after that it’s all gravy. If there’s guns in the trunk, I’m sure he’ll know which one has the live ammo and which ones

don’t. You starting to follow now”? Gordon was stunned by  my reasoning, “I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion, but keep going”?

“When you told me about how they beat the crap out of  you and Joey, and then Joey died”. Gordon nodded. “Since  they’re about to be eighteen, they can be tried as adults,  and I doubt that Frankie’s Uncle would be too pleased with  Frankie if he left any witnesses. I think Frankie’s Uncle set

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the whole thing up so Frankie could escape this place alone,  and join his Uncle where ever the hell he is”. “Are you sure  your last name isn’t Holmes, you like Sherlock”?

I don’t know if this is from all of the Criminal Minds

I’ve watched, or if my Dad’s DNA of reasoning is kicking in. My Dad could watch any mystery program and within ten minutes would tell you how it ends. That used to piss off  Mother to no end.

Perhaps we’ve got Frankie and his gang figured out  (Hopefully). We still had to make sure that The GTO was disabled while they are in Bay Ridge Jewelers getting the diamonds. More planning was needed and we would need the Sheriff’s assistance with that. There remains only one question, can we get to Agent Boling as she’s trying to get to me?

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“Are you sure,
 
and you scanned the hard drives. What  about backups, I know that Landers would have insisted on at  least two backups”. Her two colleagues had completed their  sweep of the vehicle used by Landers and Marrick. “Look  Boling, this vehicle is clean, there’s no paperwork, they must  have dumped their phones somewhere, and the hard drive  contains nothing but encrypted files which we can’t access”.

Agent Boling looked at him with contempt, “What do  you mean you can’t access it. Christ Doug, you’ve been doing  this for as long as I can remember, plus it’s only a hard drive”.  “What I’m saying is, the person who had this laptop put in  a nasty virus, so if we try to open one of the files, the whole  thing fries, and poof, no information. This guy is freaky good  Boling”. “Not anymore”, she replied with the sinister calm of  Hannibal Lector.

Agent Boling called the Director; it didn’t even ring once as he picked up, “Any news that will put me in a good mood”? “They picked everything clean, not one usable piece of information I’m afraid”, she replied. A brief moment of silence followed by, “Pity, I take it the computer is set to self-destruct, so to speak. What about backups, any luck there”?

“I’m afraid not, it seems our project put them onto me and they cleaned house. No phones were found, no backups either but I doubt they had time to send them off in the mail, so I’m not sure what they did with them. I highly doubt that

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anything they attained would prove useful”. “Perhaps Agent  Boling only we don’t have the luxury to trust that line of  thinking. Now are you sure that you didn’t see anything following the Agents demise”, the Director asked?

“Not a thing, after watching confirmation that our targets had been identified and that the mission was complete,  I was on the phone with you, but still watching the target  area, and I did not see any other motion until I arrived on  scene”. “I see, do you think perhaps our project happened to  stumble upon these, or should I go under the assumption  that all is well and not to worry”. Agent Boling absorbed that  bit of sarcasm from the Director; knowing exactly what he  wanted. Without missing a beat she replied, “I’m on it Sir”,  and ended the call.

Agent Boling knew that the Director would not pull any punches in this matter, she knew he was right but wished that he would give her a little credit for knowing how to get the job done. She was tired of the politics with the Bureau and this endeavor would enable her to retire a wealthy woman and without the politics form the bureau for which she has had much contempt for these many years. Soon she would be able to say goodbye on her terms, and not those forced upon her.

Agent Boling turned back to her colleagues who were wrapping up their work, “So Doug, did you find a suit-able means of transportation for me”? “Oh ye of little faith  Boling, it’s out back and the keys are up in the visor”, Doug replied. “You left the keys in the car”, she snapped? “Relax this shipping yard has been closed for years, only a few of us lucky ones have access. It will be fine, no one’s going to fuck

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with it. This is only one of many abandoned shipping yards  in Seattle Boilng I assure you, we are very much alone”.

“Why don’t you have your partner take my vehicle back,  and you hang out with me for a couple of more days; there’s  more work to do”. “Copy that Boling, let me make a quick  call and then fill me in on the juicy details”, Doug replied  with enthusiasm.

She was ready for this to be over, all she had left to do was to get rid of the Sheriff and apprehend Billy. She had her plan ready and now with help at her disposal, she could con-centrate on Billy and let Doug have the fun of terminating the Sheriff. The little misfit gang of Mafia wannabes would be the last of her worries.

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the sherIFF returned
 
in about an hour appearing in a fresh uniform and hair that was still somewhat wet  from his shower. Gordon and I had gone over our plan again  for Friday night to make sure we were both on the same  page. I had confidence that our plan would work, Gordon  was less than enthusiastic about it, but was willing. I can’t say  as I blame him after what he’s been through lately.

The Sheriff closed his office door and in his right arm he  was carrying a paper bag which he sat down on his desk. He  put one hand in the bag and brought out a tennis shoe and  tossed it at me, “Here you go Billy”. “Thanks”, I replied. “You  were right about the Base being bugged. I found one under the lip of Mr. Watkins desk, and a second one just right  inside the window by where you two sleep”. The Sheriffs  phone rang.

“Yeah, this is Sheriff Pasco, who am I talking to”? The  voice on the other end waited a second then added, “Can you  confirm that this is a secure line”? The Sheriff looked con-

cerned, “Let’s just say it’s the only secure line in town”. “Very  good Sheriff, I’m Adrian Montrose with NSA and was good  friends with Agent Marrick. He forwarded this number to  me as a secure line, but I needed to make sure. I have some  information that you might find useful”.

“How do I know you’re who you say you are”? “Fair  enough Sheriff, I have all of the information that Marrick

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sent me with a note that he made two backups, I take it  they’re in your possession”? The Sheriff exhaled and said, “I  have one, the other is being looked at by some of our local  authorities”. “Great, now the first thing to get off the table  is that I was granted clearance to dig into everything Agent  Boling has been up to, and as we speak we have people planting a GPS device on her newest mode of transportation.  Audio devices have also been attached to various parts of her  car to insure we can pick up any conversation she is having  and will be able to tell where that call either originated or is  going to”.

The Sheriff had a half grin as he must have been enjoying the news he was getting. “Just one question, “What  happens if she runs a scan to detect electrical devices, and  how in the hell did you find this stuff out so damn quick to  get out in our neck of the woods. I thought you boys were  located back east”? “True but we have resources nationwide,  and our new audio devices are undetectable. Our systems  here are set up to where we can find anyone or anything in a  matter of seconds, once we obtain information like Marrick  had sent me.”

“Okay, I’m all ears, what have you come up with so far,  the Sheriff asked? The Sheriff could hear Adrian tapping  on his keyboard in the back ground. “First off, looks like we  have a location in Nevada for whatever he was trying to find.  It’s a little town called Round Mountain, or at least around  I’m guessing there is some facility that you are trying to locate. Well anyway we have repositioned some satellites with  the coordinates from Round Mountain and should be able

to pull up useful footage in a couple of hours”. “Hours, I

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thought you said seconds was all you needed to find something”? “It took just seconds to find the place, but unfortunately the satellites have to be in position before we can  zoom in and have a clear look”.

“Sorry, just a little on edge since Agent Boling tried to  punch our ticket with a speeding city truck”. “Understandable,  I was able to get some video from one of our other satellites,  and maybe you can explain to me how a huge truck like that  did an immediate 90 degree turn. I’ve never seen anything  like that before and I’ve seen some strange shit”. The Sheriff  looked at Billy, “Yeah I could tell explain it to you, just not  right now”.

“Not a problem, I did want to let you know that I’ve sent  you a link on an email I just sent you that will give you real  time GPS readings on Agent Boling. Just click on the link  and follow the instructions”. The Sheriff had almost said

thank you, when it occurred to him, “You know I don’t recall  giving you my email”. “Please I’ve got your emails in front of  me from the last two months as well as cell phone activity for  you and your Deputies”.

The Sheriff was getting a bit annoyed, “One might consider that invasion of privacy”. “One might also say that murder is an invasion of life, like my Friend Marrick”, Adrian  added. “I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t check  out all avenues before pursuing a solution”.

The Sheriff couldn’t argue with that, “Sorry, I have to  remember that it’s not only been tough on us. Do you have a  number that I can get back with at if I need to”? A moment  of silence ensued and that worried the Sheriff. “My apologies, had to make sure that I was still alone. I won’t be giving

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you a number, for this activity is on my own dime. You might  say I’ve gone rogue, just not in the same manner as Agent  Boling. This is personal, so if there is any new information,  I will contact you at this number. You are sure that this is a  secure line”?

“Definitely, I had this installed two years ago, so as long  as I have a green light blinking on the receiver, it’s secure”,  The Sheriff answered. “Before you go can you maybe hide  that video of the truck for a while”? “Consider it hidden, I’ll  be in touch”, and the line was silent.

The Sheriff felt a little better with the news of being able  to keep tabs on Agent Boling. He was still a bit unnerved  that his emails and calls were so easily available, but he understood the reasoning behind it, no matter how much it  pissed him off. This bit of information would aid him greatly  if she decides to make another move which he figured would  be sooner than later.

The Sheriff hung up the phone and looked at Billy and  Gordon, who appeared as though they were anxious to find out about his conversation. “Okay, which one of you is good with computers”, Before the Sheriff realized that Billy could not come near one. “Sorry Billy, kind of forgot”. “That’s okay, who was that on the phone”, Billy Inquired? I sat down in one of the arm chairs far away from the Sheriff’s computer.  “That was a friend of one of the agents that was shot, and he is going to help us keep tabs on Miss Fussy Britches”, the  Sheriff replied. The Sheriff brought up his email and got up from his high back chair and pointed to Gordon, “There you go, it’s the email he sent. He said to click on the link and follow the directions”. Gordon sat down and started pecking

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away on the sheriff’s keyboard. “Oh shit, ultimate cool”,  Gordon exclaimed. “He said that Agent Boling was switching vehicles and they already had someone plant GPS on  her alternate vehicle to track her” the Sheriff added. Gordon

took a closer look on the monitor and muttered, “What’s she  doing in Seattle”.

Sheriff Pasco leaned in a little closer to the monitor, “My  guess is that they are digging through the Agents vehicle for  clues, only I doubt they find any considering they gave Billy  the flash drives”. Gordon asked, “Can you access your email  in the patrol car”? The Sheriff nodded. Gordon looked over  at Billy, “That will help him know where she’s at, but doesn’t  do us much good unless we’re in the car with him”.

The Sheriff turned and started opening one of the cabinets directly behind him. He took something from the cabinet and handed it to Gordon. “Now these phones are a bit  different from those you buy, with this you can access my  email and then you can set it up like you did on mine. I  will send the email address to just that phone. That much I  remember how to do. That way you can watch the blinking  dot on the screen and know where she’s at as well”. He then