No Return (33 page)

Placing a hand on her arm, Wes said, “We can’t. Not yet.”

“Why
not
?”

“The police already think I might have something to do with pretty much everything that’s been happening. If I tell them what I figured out, they’ll just—”

“Why would they think that?” Danny asked.

“The break-ins? The disappearances? I’ve been involved in all of them.”

“As a
victim
,” Alison pointed out.

Before Wes could say anything, Dori said, “They might not see it that way.”

Wes nodded. “Exactly.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alison insisted. “They’d still have to check any lead you gave them, wouldn’t they?” She paused. “What am I thinking? Tell
me
what you think happened, and
I’ll
tell them.”

“It’s not that simple,” Wes told her.

Alison looked like she was about to explode. “Why not?”

“Just listen to me.” Wes gave her a moment to calm down. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course,” Alison relented. “We all do.”

Nods from the front seats.

“Are you willing to help me get the proof we need?” Wes asked.

“If it’ll get Anna and Tony back, absolutely,” Alison said.

“What do you need us to do?” Danny asked.

This was the moment of truth. Either Wes took them fully into his confidence, or he got out of the car and did what had to be done on his own. Which left him no choice at all, really, because he was one hundred percent sure the second option would fail.

He took a deep breath. “I was right about the pilot from the crash.”

It took him nearly ten minutes to get the whole story out. Then, as soon as he finished, he described the plan he’d come up with.

“We could definitely do that,” Alison said, immediately on board. “It would take me thirty minutes to rig it, tops.”

“It’s all right if we use your car?” Wes asked Dori.

“Yes. Absolutely,” she said. “If it’ll help your friends, anything. I’ll even drive. This Commander Forman has met all of you. He’ll be less guarded if I drive up.”

As much as he didn’t want to put someone he didn’t know well in potential danger, he knew she was right. “Okay. Thanks.”

“I don’t know,” Danny said. “I’m not sure I buy the Navy kidnapping people.”

“Not the Navy,” Wes said. “An element with
in
the Navy. There’s a difference. This is unsanctioned. It’s illegal.”

“Still …”

“Danny,” Dori said, “I think Wes might be right. You don’t live here. Some pretty crazy things have happened.”

“You believe Forman could have done this?”

Dori nodded. “After hearing Wes out, yeah, I do.”

“I believe it,” Alison added in quick support.

“Even if it’s not true,” Dori said, “it’s worth finding out, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” Danny said, still not sounding completely convinced.

“Is that a yes?” Wes asked.

Dori reached over and put a hand on Danny’s thigh. When he looked at her, she smiled and nodded again.

“Okay. Fine,” Danny said. “I’m in.”

Wes felt a flood of relief. “Thanks. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.” He checked the time. “We should get a move on it. You all head back to the motel and get the car ready. I’ll call Forman.”

As Wes climbed out, Alison reached over and touched him on the arm. “We’re going to get her back. This is going to be okay.”

He nodded, and tried to smile.

I hope you’re right
.

COMMANDER FORMAN STARED OUT THE WINDOW
of his office over Armitage Field, fuming. It had been a stupid idea from the beginning. He had told Laredyne as much. But they had been insistent, and in the end, Forman had thought, What harm could it do? At worst, they’d be right where they were before the flight, and at best, they might have turned things solidly in their favor.

What harm could it do?
Forman shook his head in disgust. The twisted pile of metal that had once been an F-18 proved how faulty that line of thinking had been.

Pilot error. That’s what he had put in the report, and in a way it hadn’t been a lie. If the pilot had followed Andersen’s protocols, he would have never tripped the glitch in the software the engineers at Laredyne had yet to find a fix for. The error then triggered a massive systems shutdown. That son-of-a-bitch pilot had decided on his own that a test run meant trying everything out instead of following the road map he’d been given.

And now Andersen himself was a problem. Forman had thought he’d played the lieutenant commander perfectly, taking an interest in the man’s career, promising a transfer to a Pentagon job, then using the influence that had gained him to guide Andersen when he wrote the protocols. Then, after the crash, Forman had moved quickly to solidify Andersen’s culpability, creating what he thought was going to be the perfect scapegoat.

But the lieutenant commander hadn’t stuck to his script. His task had been simple. Make sure Wes Stewart wasn’t a problem. Forman had picked up early on that Andersen had some underlying resentment toward his old friend. But no, instead of shutting Stewart up, he had actually turned on the commander.

Still, it wasn’t the end of the world yet. They just needed a few more days. Once the Senate Appropriations Committee vote was over, Forman could finish the mop-up operation and move on to more important things. Like discussing how his actions deserved an even cushier post-Navy job at Laredyne than the one he’d been promised.

And if things did take a bad turn, he had Andersen to throw into the fire.

His desk phone rang. He punched the speakerphone button.

“Yes?”

“Call for you, sir. Mr. Wesley Stewart.”

Forman paused. Stewart. The other problem. The commander had yet to figure out if he really needed to do anything about him yet.

“Put it through.” He picked up the handset. “What can I do for you, Mr. Stewart?”

“We need to talk.”

“Talk? About what?”

“I want you to release my friends.”

“Your friends? I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You don’t? Well, how about this. Jamieson. Know what that means?”

Forman sat up. He
did
need to take care of this problem.

“Interested in talking now, Commander?” Stewart asked.

“I don’t know what it is you think you know, but if it’ll help clear things up I’ll meet with you. Why don’t you come to my office and we can—”

“I have a better idea. Be in the parking lot behind the La Sonora restaurant at seven-thirty tonight. Alone.”

“Really. I don’t think we need to …” Forman didn’t finish the sentence.

The line was already dead.

THE MAN WAS AWAKE, SHOWERED, DRESSED
, and fed by the time his phone rang.

“Hello?” He nodded as he listened. “No. That makes sense to me. When the opportunity is there, you go for it.… Don’t worry. Everything will be in place. I’ll be at the rendezvous point waiting.”

He hung up and allowed himself a smile. Finally it was going to be over. Tonight he’d be sleeping in his own bed, his wife curled up beside him.

He walked down the hall, opened the door to the master bedroom, and flicked on the light. As he’d expected, the girl hadn’t moved. That drug was some good stuff.

Might have to try it myself when we’re all done
.

“We’ll be leaving in a few minutes,” he said to the unconscious woman. “If you need to use the can, say so now.”

He paused.

Silence.

“Suit yourself.”

IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE GOT OFF THE PHONE
with Stewart, Forman called Lieutenant Jenks.

“I’ll have a tracking chip,” Forman told his man after he’d brought him up to speed. “You and Wasserman and a couple of men take a helicopter and follow us. If it looks like I’m in any trouble, or the chip stops emitting a signal, come in hard and fast. I don’t care where we are. But otherwise stay out of sight. I’m not supposed to meet him until seven-thirty, so that’s when you should get in the air. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

BY THE TIME FORMAN PULLED IN TO THE PARKING
lot behind La Sonora, darkness once more had claimed the desert.

Wes checked the time. 7:28 p.m.

He and Danny were two hundred feet away, around the back corner of a Rite Aid drugstore. Wes’s Triumph was parked in the shadows nearby. Another dozen feet back, Dori waited inside her Lincoln, ready to move on Wes’s signal.

“Do you see anyone else?” Wes asked after Forman got out of his car.

Though they had a clear view of the La Sonora parking lot, lighting was poor.

“No.”

Forman scanned the small lot for a few moments, then entered the restaurant.

“You want me to go check?” Danny asked.

Wes thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Good idea.”

Keeping in a crouch, Danny jogged out from their hiding place and headed toward Forman’s car.

Groaning, Wes almost yelled, “Just act normal!” But he held his tongue and watched Danny approach the car and peer inside. After a few seconds, Danny turned and shook his head slowly side to side, then started sneaking his way back.

Wes pulled out his phone and texted Alison a single character:

?

She was stationed at the other end of the alley, hiding out next to the Spirit gas station and watching the road. Her reply came through quickly.

Clear
.

Good. It looked like the commander had actually done as he’d been told.

Wes looked over his shoulder at Dori in the Lincoln.

“Okay,” he said. “You’re on.”

She nodded, then started the engine and cut across the Rite Aid lot into the alley. A few seconds later she pulled to a stop behind Forman’s sedan. As she did, Danny ducked back around the corner with Wes.

“Guess we’ll see if this works,” he said.

Wes kept his eyes focused on the rear of the restaurant. “It’ll work.”

“Where
is
he?” Danny said after a couple of minutes had passed.

Wes had been wondering the same thing.

Another minute.

“Do you think he might have gone out the front?” Danny asked. “Maybe someone picked him up out there?”

“Why would he do that?”