Bug Out! Part 12: RV Alliance (9 page)

Frank and Jane watched
as the two UN peace keepers walked up to the driver’s side window. Frank opened it.

“Good morning, folks,” said the man with a Belgian accent. “Had you had your small pox vaccine yet?”

“Nope, not yet,” Frank said. “You guys doing them on the road?”

“Yep,” the man said, smiling. “Follow the rig in front of you, when the parking opens up, then go to the blue tent. You have ID?”

“Yes,” Frank said.

“Where you coming from?” he asked.

“Kansas,” Frank said. “Why are you guys doing this instead of US authorities?”

“We are US authorities,” he said, looking at him with a curt expression. Frank looked back at him, not ready to give an inch.

“There goes Jerry,” Jane said, trying to break the tension. “Pull up, Frank.”

“Okay,” he said, driving forward onto the wide shoulder of the road. The blue tent was beyond the shoulder, with a line people in front of the door. There was a line of cars going up the road shoulder in front of Jerry and Jasmine’s coach. The first few cars in the lineup were being searched by UN peacekeepers. Frank pointed to that, a grim look on his face.

“Where are the guns?” she asked.

“In the front bunk, but I’m not letting them search us,” Frank said. “Not a chance in hell. We still have a constitution.”

“C’mon, Frank,” Jane said. They left the coach, pushing Lucy back in the door as they closed and locked it.

“At least we’ll hear her barking if anybody tries to jimmy the door,” Frank said as they walked up and got behind Jerry and Jasmine.

“This is bullshit,” Jerry whispered as they got close. “See them searching those vehicles up there?”

“Yeah, I see it,” Frank whispered. “They ain’t searching us.”

“Can you get a small pox vaccination when you’re pregnant?” Jane asked.

“I think so,” Jasmine said. “Or at least I haven’t heard that I can’t.”

“Ask them when we get up there,” Jerry said.

The line moved quickly. Jerry got his shot and stood off to the side and waited.

“Please move out of the tent, sir,” a UN peacekeeper said.

“No, I’m not leaving the tent until my wife is done too,” Jerry said.

“I’m pregnant,” Jasmine said to the nurse who was administering the shots. “This going to be a risk?”

“No, it’s fine,” she said. “There are vaccines you have to be careful with, but this isn’t one of them.”

“Okay, thank you,” Jasmine said politely as the shot was administered. She joined Jerry and they left the tent as Frank and Jane stepped up. They each got their shots silently and joined Jerry and Jasmine outside.

“Let’s blow this joint,” Frank said. They were heading towards their rigs when a UN peacekeeper intercepted them.

“We’d like to search your vehicles,” he said.

“Fine, show us a warrant from a US judge, and we’ll let you,” Frank said.

“What are you looking for, anyway?” Jerry asked.

“Weapons and drugs,” the officer said, beads of sweat coming out of his forehead.

“Weapons are legal,” Frank said. “We have something called a Constitution in this country. Ever heard of the Second Amendment?”

Jane clutched Frank’s forearm nervously as the peace keeper studied them.

“That’s not a good attitude,” he said.

“What? This is America. I think it’s great that you guys are helping with the vaccine, but you have no authority over any American citizen.”

“That remains to be seen,” the peace keeper said, but the look in his eyes was one of resignation.

“You guys were told not to search anybody who resists, weren’t you?” Jerry asked, grinning. “We’re leaving. Our representatives will hear from us. We will not be bullied by foreigners. Didn’t you see what happened to the invaders here? Armed citizens took them out.”

Another peacekeeper got closer. “Are you going to let them go?” he asked in a French accent.

“Back down, Gerard,” he said softly. “We don’t have the authority
yet.”

“Nor will you ever get it,” Frank said. “Our elected officials can’t just decide to tear up the Bill of Rights. You all have a nice day.”

The four of them went back to their rigs and drove off.

“That was scary,” Jane said, one eye in the rear view mirror as Frank followed Jerry and Jasmine down the road.

Frank was so mad his face was red. He looked over at her. “We need to talk to General Hogan about this. How much further to Grand Junction?”

“A few more hours,” she said. “You want to call him now?”

“No, I want to concentrate on driving and keep my eyes open,” he said. “If you see any military vehicles with blue insignia on them, say something.”

“Is this what the General was worried about?” Jane asked.

“Maybe,” Frank said. “They have zero chance of subduing the American people, though. There’s not enough of them, and the EU is under attack. I’m surprised they’re even over here.”

“I’m wondering about that too,” Jane said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

***

Agent Williams led Ted and Malcolm into a small conference room at the FBI substation. There was a rectangular table with beat up chairs around it. Agents Weiss and Simone followed them into the room and sat on the chairs closest to the door.

“Have a seat, gentlemen,” Agent Williams said in a businesslike tone.

Malcolm and Ted sat across the table from him.

“Why did you have to take our phones?” Ted asked.

“Even though I don’t believe you guys are involved with the murder of Agent Keith, my SAC wants us to go by the numbers. We don’t want you guys calling anybody to do crime scene cover-up.”

“I don’t blame you,” Malcolm said, trying to keep the meeting calm. “What do you need to know?”

“Where were you guys during the last four days?”

“The first two days of that period I was at the RV Park in Kansas, just outside of Sharon Springs,” Malcolm said. “I’ve got a number of witnesses, including a sheriff and an army general. Ted was there during the evening and second day. After that we were on the road to Columbus. We stayed at a place called Uncle Jasper’s RV Park and Resort night before last, and the KOA in Springfield, Ohio last night. Our associates are still there, in a fifth wheel trailer.”

“Associates?” Agent Williams asked.

“Yeah, two people from our group at the RV Park in Kansas,” Malcolm said.

“I see. You didn’t bring them to the house in Columbus?”

“They were out on the street waiting for us,” Ted said. “We didn’t think it was a good idea to bring them in.”

“Why?” Agent Williams asked.

“We didn’t know what we’d find there,” Malcolm said. “We had reason to believe that Agent Keith was setting a trap for us there after we learned of the events on that jogging path.”

“Why would he do that, Mr. Davis?” Agent Williams asked.

“Because of past incidents,” Malcolm said. “You guys know my history. Agent Keith tried to prosecute me for the Red Dagger incident and two other incidents after that. He used methods that were unethical at best, and got his wrist slapped as a result. He’s still angry.”

“Yeah, okay. The incident in Anza with Jason Beckler, Sadie Evans, and Earl Wilson, and the incident shortly after that involving John Jenson and others,” Agent Williams said. “He thought you should have been prosecuted for those. I don’t completely disagree, but there were investigations, and you got cleared.”

“You didn’t know he was attempting to take us out?” Malcolm asked.

“I still don’t know that,” he replied, “although I admit it looks bad. How about you, Ted? Where were you before you arrived at Malcolm’s RV Park?”

“I flew into Amarillo, Texas, and rented a car there. I drove up to Sharon Springs. You guys heard about the incident there, right?”

Agent Williams got a blank look on his face.

“C’mon, Williams,” Agent Simone said. “That gun battle there. They raided the house of a former associate of our targets. Sherry something.”

“You guys were involved with that?” Agent Williams asked.

“Yeah, along with local police and several people from our RV Park.” Ted said.

“You know what the term vigilante means?” Agent Williams asked, a sarcastic look on his face.

“Now wait just a minute,” Ted said, face flushing. “The Serial Killer Task Force was involved in that operation, and I’m one of the leads. I’m also an LAPD Detective. This wasn’t a vigilante operation. Not at all. We’ve been watching this person ever since we discovered her.”

“How did you discover her?” Agent Williams asked.

“She took over Howard’s truck stop in his absence, and I interviewed her about it,” Malcolm said. “She was helping us briefly, until we found out more about her activities related to the Nighthawk Road Killer.”

Ted shot a glance at Malcolm.
Shut up about that.

“All right,” Agent Williams said. “You said you found the location of the house on your own. How did you do that?”

“We watched the trail of Nighthawk Road markers going east,” Malcolm said, “and I already knew from prior research that Ohio was a base. That got me most of the way there.”

“Nighthawk Road markers?” Agent Williams asked.

“Yeah,” Malcolm said. “It was easy to follow. That wasn’t the tipping point, though.”

“What was the tipping point?”

“The Nighthawk Road killer wasn’t just one person. It was a clan. Scott’s father Chet was the founder. Howard was an early convert. We researched both of them. We found out some interesting things about Chet.”

“What kind of things?” Agent Williams asked.

“Chet was questioned about the Black Dahlia and Gravel Pit murders in California. We got a look at the transcripts and other info surrounding that activity.”

“How?”

“C’mon, Agent Williams. All of that stuff is available on the internet. You think everything is still on microfiche in some cabinet somewhere? Anyway, what caught our eye was who he was questioned with. Rupert Smith.”

“You’re going to tell me this is the same Smith family that owned the house?” Agent Williams asked.

“Yep,” Malcolm said. “But there’s more. Rupert Smith is the best suspect we have for the Cincinnati Torso Murders.”

Agent Simone’s face lit up. “He’s right, Agent Williams. Now I know why he brought up Black Dahlia.”

“Black Dahlia? Oh, please,” Agent Williams said. “You guys ain’t writing a book, I hope.”

“No, really, Agent Williams,” Agent Simone said. “There are some researchers who think that the Torso Murderer was responsible for a couple of murders in Southern California. One of them was Black Dahlia.”

“And the other was the Gravel Pit murder,” Ted said.

“Okay, this is all very interesting,” Agent Williams said. “Really. But how did it help you find the house?”

“I looked for houses owned by a Smith family for many years that sold during the target timeframe.”

“What’s the target timeframe?”

“The time when I saw Nighthawk Road murders beginning in Ohio,” Malcolm said. “Scott is a history buff. Serial killer history. Remember the missing film cans?”

“So you found Rupert Smith’s house, and knew that Scott had bought it.”

“Yeah, but it was difficult,” Malcolm said. “The Torso Murderer did most of his killing in the Cincinnati area. I spent quite a while trying to find his place there. No dice, until we realized that Columbus was really the center of the activity. The final nail in the coffin was that incident on the jogging path, and the video of Howard from the failed abduction the day before. It took me about ten minutes to find the house when I switched over to Columbus. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“I don’t know, guys,” Agent Williams said. “This sounds a little dicey.”

“You ever check with Agent Cooper?” Ted asked.

“No,” he said. He pulled his phone out. “Harriet, get me Agent Cooper please.” He set his phone on the table. It rang after a few minutes, and he answered it.

“Agent Cooper.”

“Good morning, Agent Cooper. This is Agent Williams in the Columbus substation.”

“Hello Agent Williams. What can I do for you?”

“Did Ted Crowley send you the address of a house in Columbus?”

“Yes,” Agent Cooper said, voice wavering. “I passed it along to the SAC working the case. He didn’t pass it along?”

“No, he didn’t,” Agent Williams said, an exasperated look on his face. “Thanks, Agent Cooper. That was helpful. If you get any blowback on this, I’ll vouch for you.”

“Thank you, Agent Williams. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

“There might be,” he said. “Thanks.”

Agent Williams put his phone back on the table. “Okay, you got the gist. He verified your story, but he sounded very cautious. I’ll talk to him some more.”

“Agent Keith torpedoed his career after the Anza incident,” Ted said. “I was hesitant to call him. If you guys wouldn’t have cut off my access, we could have met at the site.”

“We would have told you to stay away,” Agent Williams said. He sighed. “All right, you guys have me convinced that you’re on the up and up.”

“Why don’t we work together?” Malcolm asked.

“On what?” Agent Williams asked.

“Catching Scott,” he replied. “And checking out those films, too.”

“Oh, yeah, the films,” Agent Williams said. “How are those going to help us find Scott?”

“They won’t, but we’re interested in seeing them,” Malcolm said, a twinkle in his eyes. “Aren’t you?”

“Sorry, not really into the serial killer history thing,” Agent Williams said. “There may be other things in that locker that will help us, though, if it really exists. I’m okay with you guys going along, under the umbrella of the Serial Killer Task Force.”

“Excellent,” Malcolm said. “Perhaps this is, as they say,
the start of a beautiful friendship.”

“I doubt it,” Agent Williams said, trying to look stern, but a smile slowly spread over his face.

***

Scott drove into the staging lane at Uncle Jasper’s RV Park. “Wait here,” he said. “And keep your eyes open. Kerry, you keep watch from the bunk, okay?”

“Okay, Scotty,” he said. “Think there’s a pool here?”

“Probably,” Scott said as he left the coach. He walked quickly into the office.