Chapter 18

Day 15

Morning and afternoon

Eddie: Damn, at the next exit with a truck stop, I have to pull over. I really need coffee.

Wes: Yeah, I need coffee and to take over driving. You drive like an old lady. It's after midnight. At this rate we won't get home till Saturday.

Eddie: Screw you Wes. I will let you drive though. I'm pretty sleepy.

The second half of the drive took less time than the first half, since Wes drove quite a bit faster than Eddie. They pulled into the parking garage where Eddie's car was stored at 3 AM.

Wes: So do you want to drive me home or let me borrow the company wheels?

Wes had said it as the rolled up the ramps to the third floor. When they arrived at the office, they found Wes' car parked there.

Eddie: Looks as though you won't need the ride after all.

Wes: I guess the protection team took Salina to the safe house.

Eddie: Yes it does. Wait till tomorrow. If the other folks aren't in the office then call Lucille. She will know what is going on by then. (Pause) And Wes, watch your back. We are the only two the bad guys can find right now. Pull your phone battery.

Wes: No problem. I pulled it before we left the mountains.

Eddie: You should have told me. I'm going to pull mine now. They will know we are back because I showed up on their GPS. You know there is nothing we can do for the others. Why don't I pull my battery and then you and I go to my place.

Wes: You know they can find us. They are bound to know where you live.

Eddie: Yeah they may kill us, but unlike Mike we can make them pay.

Wes: Ever since I have been working for you, I have been wondering which of us were the real bad asses, the foreign legion or us.

Eddie: So that is a yes?

Wes: Bet your ass it is.

Eddie: I got a couple of shotguns at the house. They come complete with some deer slugs and buckshot. I bet we can make a mess of some of them at least.

Wes: Then forget about pulling the phone battery.

Mike walked down the hall to Salina's room and leaned against the door.

Mike: Salina.

Salina: (opening the door) You okay Mike?

Mike: My knee and my ribs hurt so bad that I don't even notice the scrapes.

Salina: Hold on a minute.

She went back in her room to collect a Vicodin and a Benadryl tablet, then returned to the door a moment later.

Salina: Take these and go back to bed. They should ease the pain and help you sleep.

Mike: Thank you, you really are an angel.

Salina: Hardly now go back to bed.

From 4 AM till 9 AM Wes and Eddie slept in shifts. They also slept within reach of a pump shotgun. It turned out that Eddie had collected three pump shotguns from the old stock auctioned off by the Federal Bureau of Prisons when they rearmed the guards. The guns were both old Winchester 1906 riot 12 gauge pump guns. Wes wanted one of them bad, but didn't even bother to ask. He knew they were not for sale. No gun man in his right mind would sell a gun like it. Especially with the provenance those shotguns had. They were absolutely irreplaceable. Since they were literally loaded for bear, no one came of course.

Eddie: Well we were wrong, nobody wanted us.

Wes: (Smiling) These guys may be smarter than we thought.

Eddie (Into his phone) Lucille, what's the word on the others?

Lucille: They are fine. I got a call from the protection unit a few minutes ago. One of them just walked through the door with a bag of Egg McMuffins and a dozen donuts. They should be at the office in an hour or so. There is a bit of a line for the shower, I would expect. My guess is May will take the longest.

Eddie: Good. Wes is here with me. We will head that way in a bit. When you stop by the office we have a lot to discuss. (He broke the connection.)

Wes: Well boss all's well that ends well.

Eddie: You know better. This hasn't ended. It's only taken a left turn.

Wes: Couldn't have said it better myself.

May: Jesus Christ Mike, did something die inside you.

May said that as Mike passed through the bathroom door.

May: God, how the hell am I supposed to take a shower with that smell?

Salina: Cut him some slack those meds do strange things to people. Speaking of that, I want you to hold onto them for me. I don't trust myself to hold onto them.

Eddie and Mike arrived at the Hole in the Wall at 10:30 AM.

Eddie: I guess we are the first to arrive.

Wes: No, there is a security detail inside.

Eddie: What makes you think that?

Wes: Because it's what I would do. They know we are coming by the CCTV so maybe they won't shoot us.

The two of them opened the door and were greeted by two police officers in uniform and very much on guard.

Middle aged slightly paunchy police officer: Deputy Superintendent, I'm Patrol Sergeant Norris.

Eddie: I'm just Eddie now Sergeant. Do you know who broke into the place?

Norris: Not yet. The Detectives assigned to the case are on their way.

Wes: Damn Boss we got a Patrol Sergeant babysitting us and a Detective on the way to brief us, I had no idea we had this much juice.

Norris: Would you like for me to contact the safe house and have the others shuttled over?

Eddie: Let's wait for the Detectives then we can start our day with a threat assessment.

Wes: If they are not safe, the others can work from home.

Eddie: That isn't your call Wes. It isn't even my call.

Wes: Yeah, I'm never gonna get used to working for big brother, the all seeing but never seen entity.

Eddie: I'm more used to that kind of thing, but I do miss the chain. Lucille being a cut out makes me nervous, I admit.

The door opens and a man in a suit, which fit way too well for him to be any detective Eddie had ever known.

Man in suit: Detective Rose. (Extending his hand to Eddie and Wes)

Eddie: So what you got?

Rose: Not a lot. No forensics to amount to anything. Lots of prints, but I doubt any are the bad guys. This was your classic black bag gone wrong. That bit of Kleenex saved your asses.

Eddie: No Wes saved our asses. How about the gate CCTV?

Rose: 3:10 AM a black SUV with no tags pulls through the gate. They knew the gate code. They must have known the camera wasn't being monitored at night. They left through that same gate, with their hoods on at 4:22 AM. They didn't appear to be armed. They seemed to want an in and out black bag with no muss no fuss.

Eddie: So you found microphones and something in our computer network. Did you find anything else?

Rose: No sir. I hope you backed up your files, because those computer hard drives are never going to be trustworthy again.

Eddie: Mike will know the answer to that, but don't even bring that shit back in here. We will either close down, or they will bring in new computers and communications systems.

Wes: Good call.

Eddie: (desk phone rings) Hello Lucille.

Lucille: What's going on?

Eddie: I got cops here now briefing me. Some DI named Rose is here now. Do you want to talk to him?

Lucille: I have a DCI on the way to our office to brief the Senator. Is Mike around?

Eddie: No and I haven't talked to him. I don't know what the bad guys got or what they did to our online backup. We may have to scrap it all and start over. You do know there are only two people who could have done this.

Lucille: Yeah, somebody in the government or Swamp Dogs. If the Swamp did it, they have gone rogue. It's not like them to stage an attack on the US government.

Eddie: They were always rogue. How badly I don't know, but I'm getting the sense that they made their own rules. It seems they answered to no one, but they have extremely loyal people, unlike us.

Lucille: Find their cracks.

Eddie: We are looking. You check your own house, or should I begin investigating the CIA.

Lucille: Of course not.

Eddie: I hear even at this time of year Cuba is hot. (Puts down the phone)

Wes: Do you think the others are in any danger.

Eddie: Of course they are, but how much I don't know. Mike could have been a warning, but we can't ignore it. He never signed up for that kind of thing. We can't protect them all around the clock. So there is a decision to make.

Wes: Are you thinking about closing it down?

Eddie: That's an option for sure. So is adding another layer of protection for the office.

Wes: What, cops?

Eddie: I had Church Camp in mind. (Both men laughed)

Wes: We could teach our guys to shoot.

Eddie: Can you really see Mike with a Glock?

Wes: You have a point. He would be just as likely to shoot Salina or one of us.

Eddie: Well, one thing for sure is add more cameras. None of them work alone in the office ever again. We can't ride together any more. I'll have to take one of the others.

Wes: Mike is not up to riding a lot of hours in a car at the moment. How about if we have to check on anything, I take Salina?

She was an Army Medic so she should know how to shoot a shotgun at least.

Eddie: Okay, but not one of my antiques. We go to Lucille and tell her we want weapons. If she says no, we go to Walmart and buy a couple of cheap shotguns for the office and the cars.

Wes: You got a handgun?

Eddie: Sure, but I don't want to carry it. Of course, if I'm going to be responsible for May, I might rethink that. So we go with Mike as Information and Communications Director.

We are going to need a secure communications network. I know the NSA will be listening, so we need to use the burn phone system and a secure code for our emails and in town use. None of that computer encryption shit.

Wes: Okay, we can do that. But you have to explain how dangerous this might be, and give them the chance to quit.

Eddie: Yeah. You be thinking about what you want to do. I'm going to call Lucille and get the meeting set.

Eddie: (on the phone) Lucille, we need a meeting with everyone, even you here in the office. You are the one who can communicate with the safe house. It's almost time for lunch, so how about this afternoon. I'm on the regular phone, so let me know.

Eddie and Wes went out to eat. They finished and were back in the office before Lucille called.

Lucille: Meetings at 3 PM. I figure we can talk to them and then give them the weekend to decide what they want to do.

Eddie: You know there are going to be some serious changes no matter what they decide.

Lucille: You gonna be everybody's Uncle Eddie?

Eddie: Lucille, we all go home every night, you understand. We do whatever it takes to get them all home safe.

Lucille: Are you willing to make them killers like you and Wes?

Eddie: We all go home safe after work, no matter what it takes. If not, I bail right now.

Lucille: I'll let you know what the boss thinks at four. I'm going to have to move the meeting back.

With nothing to do for two hours Eddie and Wes swapped stories. Wes' were much better, but some of the ones from Eddie's early days were good also. Those were the days before the Unified Law Enforcement Act was passed. The stories were hilarious, Wes agreed.

The cowboy image was more on Wes' side, but there were a few reckless moments in Eddie's career as well.

Wes: So tell me, how and why did you get hold of so many antique weapons?

Eddie: It was part of the Unformed Law Enforcement Act that a weapon manufactured more than a hundred years ago could be bought and sold without license or tracing number engraved on them as long as they aren't fully automatic.

Wes: So that takes care of the Shotguns, but there were several racks of other weapons in your spare bedroom.

Eddie: I got a couple of 1903 Springfield rifles. They are also classified antiques.

Wes: Where did you find them?

Eddie: Believe it or not Rural Police Departments had them in their arsenals. Also the Federal Bureau of Prisons had a few that were retired for years, but had never been sold. That stash of weapons is my retirement plan.

Wes: So what else do you have hidden away back there?

Eddie: A couple of 1911 Colt .45 pistols. When the stock of Antique weapons ran out, I got a Class C dealer's license.

Wes: You mean the baby dealer's license.

Eddie: Under the used weapons registration law, I can buy and sell sporting weapons manufactured within the last hundred years, if they were manufactured more than fifty years, and are not military surplus. In other words I have to have a provenance on the weapons. Bureau of Prisons does not count as Military surplus, even if the rifle was manufactured under an army style contract.

Wes: Huh?

Eddie: I have two .30 cal carbines manufacture and stamped US Bureau of Prisons.

Wes: So if you bring out a handgun, is it going to be a hundred years old.

Eddie: Of course not. Probably the old .38 Detective Special Revolver.

Wes: A fucking wheel gun. That is really old school.

Just then Lucille wandered in, followed quickly by the troops.

Eddie: So what did the esteemed Senator say?

Lucille: See for yourself.

She handed Wes and Eddie each a badge and identification card.

Lucille: Welcome to the Federal Investigative Task Force specializing in Senate Investigations. The others stay on the Senator's payroll as researchers. You two have permits to travel armed anywhere in the United States.

Eddie: So guys, here is the deal. We had a break in here. You all knew that. Thanks to Salina's good eyes, I don't think any of our sources were compromised. I am sure they took pictures of our whiteboards, so they know where we are headed.

Mike got run off the road and thank god he wasn't killed. I think that if they wanted to do more than send a message, they would have come back and run over him a few times. That's the good news. The bad news is they might next time.

You all know that Salina, Mike and Wes are all friends. Wes has volunteered to drive them both into work and take them home. However, if he is not available, you may call Lucille and she will arrange a secure ride for you to the office. When you are not working, I suggest that you be extra careful and vigilant. If you feel the need to go anywhere, call Lucille. If you in any way feel ill at ease call Lucille, Wes or me. This sounds serious because it is.

Finally, if anyone feels that they would rather not continue due to the danger, I will understand. Please take the weekend and be sure you wish to continue. Then call Lucille who will contact me or Wes about giving you a ride to work on Monday. From now on no one works in the office alone for any reason.

Now go back to the safe house in the police van and give this some thought.

Wes: Salina it isn't necessary for you to go back to the safe house. The street gangs where you live have guaranteed your safety.

That left Mike and May in the safe house for the weekend. May said she was going back to her apartment. She was willing to take her chances. Mike did likewise.

Lucille: Well, go home and think about it. Be very careful where you go and what you do until Monday.

Lucille waited until everyone left except Eddie. Then she started on him.

Lucille: Tell me what you think is going to happen. What do you think is going to be the end game?

Eddie: I think we can't find anything on the Swamp Dog. They worked out of the country and out of our jurisdiction. Unless we are invited in, there is nothing we can do. I'm sure they counted on that.

Lucille: So we are wasting our time and money investigating this.

Eddie: Not necessarily. You are going to need to do an end run, if you want to bring them before the bar. Prove that Church Camp was a domestic arm of Swamp Dog and that they broke the law. If we can do that we might have them.

Lucille: Is that what you believe?