The Shut Mouth Society (44 page)

“
Are you serious? Because I have an inkling of a plan.”

“
Yeah, Greg, I’m serious. If you want an army, you’ve got one.”

“
Are we going to call the bad guys?” Matthews asked. All three of them looked at the two cell phones positioned in the center of the table. The first one they had taken from the surveillance team and the other had been in the shopping bag. They had already checked, and the two phones had been preprogrammed with different telephone numbers. Since he didn’t get a response, Matthews added lightheartedly, “In the movies, the good guy always calls the bad guy and surprises him by acting cool.”

Evarts didn’t answer for a moment. Finally he said, “They don’t know what happened to their hired thugs and probably intend to stay away from the scene. They’re anxious about me getting the package, or they wouldn’t have left men watching the house. Why forewarn them? I like an anxious, unsure enemy. So … no call, on either phone. What do you think?”

After both men nodded, Evarts asked Harding, “Did you call Gary to warn him?”

“
Yeah, I called everybody.”

“
Did he offer any information on Branger?”

“
Preliminary only. By most outward appearances, he’s a responsible citizen and good neighbor. Branger has made generous donations to every charity, church, and cause within a hundred-mile radius. Government finance disclosures showed that he makes maximum contributions to every politician in sight. Newspaper society pages are often filled with happy-face photographs from elaborate parties he throws at his country club for the hoi polloi.” Harding checked the notes he had made on a small tablet. “North Carolina doesn’t canonize its citizens, and they don’t award knighthoods, but Duke University did confer an honorary LLB on our generous Mr. Branger.”

Harding put the tablet on the table and nudged it away with two fingers. “There’s only one chink in his good-citizen armor. Every three months, he entertains a dozen or so business associates, and at these little conclaves, some rather rough characters guard his house. One neighbor filed a police complaint that these guards physically threatened him, and a boater claimed that some goons on shore brandished automatic weapons when he drifted too close to the Branger dock. Gary also said the building permit included a subterranean gun range, dual electric feeds, and enough telecommunications bandwidth to service a bank.”

“
What about when there’s no meeting?” Evarts asked.

“
Evidently he still has guards around, but they pretty much stay out of sight. So much so, that it’s hard to gage the level of security.”

Evarts asked the next obvious question. “Is there a meeting going on now?”

“
Gary drove by the estate yesterday, and everything looked quiet,” Harding said.

“
Does your inkling of a plan have anything to do with this Branger character?” Matthews asked.

“
Yes.” Evarts scooted his chair closer. “The way I figure it, the union already has possession of all of our photocopies, Trish’s original, and Trish herself. Congressman Sherman has been written off as a kook. To completely eliminate the threat, they only need to get their hands on me and the document I hid. I suspect they’re more interested in me than the document. They haven’t remained secret by letting people that know about them run around free, especially law enforcement officials. The remaining documents will stay buried in the most secure depository in the country. My bet is that they plan to arrange a transfer in such a way that draws me into their clutches, after which, they’ll destroy my original, and kill Trish and me. They know Trish hasn’t designated an executor, so the documents will be destroyed in three years. Problem solved. On to world domination.”

“
So you don’t intend to make the trade?”

“
Losing proposition. Sherman said the union has mercenaries on the payroll. They’ve probably been doing drug deals for decades. They know how to set up a meet so their side walks away clean.”

“
If we don’t meet, what’s our plan?” Harding asked.

Evarts slapped the table. “We grab Branger.”

“
Then what?”

“
That’s the inkling part.”

“
Branger probably knows where they’re holding Baldwin,” Harding offered.

“
Yeah, if we can somehow grab him without alerting the entire union, break him fast, and have a second team ready to pounce on the hideout, maybe, just maybe, we can rescue her. I want to snatch Branger, because they wouldn’t expect it, and it puts us on the offense. But unless we can figure out a way to leverage it, I’m not sure it will get Trish back.”

Evarts stood and paced up and down the room. He worried that he just wanted to strike back, that his desire for action made him embrace a foolhardy idea. He stopped his pacing in front of the table and looked down at his still-seated friends. “We don’t even know for sure that Branger’s in the union, much less running it.”

Neither Harding nor Matthews responded, so Evarts began pacing again. He didn’t have room for mistakes. One miscalculation would doom Baldwin, and the thought made his stomach draw so tight, he had to keep moving to relieve the ache.

Matthews shoved his chair back and rested his right ankle on his other leg. “You think all that protection at his house is just for him?”

That stopped Evarts in his tracks. He thought it through. “You’re right. That house might be the nerve center for the union. All that telecommunications bandwidth must be for encryption.”

Now Harding stood up. “Yeah, let’s steal their business records
and
Branger.”

Evarts felt unsure that his friends understood the extent of the commitment involved with an assault on the house. “Listen, the union may have started because the Civil War ruined the economic base of the South, but through the years, it has morphed into something far more sinister.” Evarts made sure he had their full attention. “We might have to kill people. We can’t attack the headquarters of a secret society that has Mexican drug connections and use stun guns. Some of us might die, and others might go to prison. The only chance for some of us coming out clean depends on finding incriminating evidence in that house.”

The three men stood and looked at each other a moment. Then Matthews said, “Listen, this is going to sound corny, but I see myself as an old-fashioned patriot. I joined the army to protect my country. Then I trusted politicians to point me at our most dangerous enemies. All the while, these union assholes wrecked our country and my neighborhood from inside our own borders.” Matthews took a step toward Evarts. “I may have gotten older, but I haven’t lost my sense of duty. Greg, when I see a clear and present danger, I no longer need permission from some dumb-shit politician.”

Evarts turned. “Steve?”

“
I say, load up the car and let’s do our planning on the drive down to Charlotte.”

As they got up to leave, both the cell phones rang almost simultaneously. “Anxious buggers, aren’t they?” Harding said as he shoved both ringing phones into his pocket. They were on the road in less than five minutes.

Chapter 56

The five-hour drive had been filled with cell phone calls to plan an operation. Harding got six of their old army buddies on the road heading toward Charlotte. The three of them plus Gary Johnson made ten. A team of four others gathered in the Washington, D.C. area to mount a rescue attempt in the event that Evarts discovered where Baldwin was being held.

Because they might be watching his house, Johnson had suggested that they meet at the home of a fellow driver on the NASCAR circuit. They pulled up to the house on Lake Norman just before eleven o’clock at night. As they got out of the Navigator, Harding whistled. “Have you ever seen so many toys?” he exclaimed.

Parked on the massive driveway was a forty-five-foot Diesel Pusher motor home with a Honda Pilot in tow, two foreign sports cars, and a pristine 1965 Mustang notchback. The open garage door revealed two all-terrain vehicles, a trailered bass boat, and a Mercedes AMG E-Class.

Gary Johnson answered the door and everyone quickly shook hands. The purpose of their visit had put a damper on what should have been a happy reunion. Harding even abandoned his normal bear hug greeting. Johnson waved them inside and started to lead them to the back of the house, but Harding stopped their progress by saying, “Gary, do you live like this?”

They all stopped and stared at the living room. Instead of furniture, the supposed front parlor contained a pool table surrounded by arcade video games and a foosball table. A vintage Harley Hog sat parked in a corner like a decorator item. The architect had probably assumed this would be the most formal space in the house.

“
Naw. I keep my pool table in the basement. Come on. It’s a nice night. We’ll sit out back.”

As they passed through the kitchen, they each grabbed a beer and then took seats outside around a wrought-iron patio set. A long wooden walkway extended off the patio to the lake, and despite the darkness, Evarts could make out a pontoon boat and a ski boat tied to the dock. “You racers sure like your toys,” Evarts said.

Johnson glanced in the direction Evarts was looking. “We play for a living, so our playtime gets a little outrageous. That’s why I’m still a weekend warrior, except for me it’s in the middle of the week.”

“
What do you mean?” Matthews asked.

“
I’m a brigadier general in the North Carolina National Guard. It lets me fly helicopters when I’m not zooming around a racetrack.”

Gary Johnson had been the helicopter pilot when their insertion teams needed to come in by air. Evarts had always thought he enjoyed the ground-hugging flights a bit too much. He guessed car racing just gave him another way to get the excitement he craved.

“
Where’s your racing friend?” Harding asked.

“
Partying at another driver’s house. Lots of women. He’ll spend the night, so we each have a bedroom and all the privacy we need to plot an assault on our illustrious neighbor.”

“
This is not a lark,” Evarts said, a bit irritated. “He’s dangerous and there might be killing.”

Johnson dropped the comradely smile. “This woman’s important to you?”

“
Yes.” He chose not to elaborate, but it occurred to him that, of the four of them, only Harding had been married. Maybe it was time for them to grow up. It was certainly time for him. What would he do if he couldn’t save Baldwin? He shook the thought from his head. Then he had another.

“
What kind of helicopter do you fly?” Evarts asked.

“
Big old ones, unfortunately. The Guard doesn’t get the latest equipment. Still a lot of fun though.”

“
Can you borrow one?”

Johnson laughed. “What do you have in mind?”

Evarts told them.

Chapter 57

Evarts knocked on the door with more trepidation than he had felt on any previous assignment. He glanced at Harding standing beside him. In prior operations, he had had no personal attachment to anyone but the assault team. This time, his concern for Baldwin loomed over everything he did and every decision he made.

Lake Norman had five hundred and twenty miles of uneven shoreline, with inlets and bays providing innumerable private building sites that were further protected from prying eyes by thick stands of trees extending all the way to the lakefront. Because of the curvy nature of the lake, driving around it took more time than direct routes by boat. When they had finally reached the access road to the Branger estate, they could see nothing from the highway except layers of trees. There was no hint of the vast mansion hidden beyond or that the property included a private inlet.

After driving the Navigator up the access road, Evarts had continued around a circular drive to the front of the house. No security gate had inhibited their progress. Evarts guessed that Branger didn’t want his neighbors to think he had anything to hide, so instead of a gate, he probably relied on electronic measures and human guards. After he had parked near the front door, a man had stepped from around a corner to make himself visible but hadn’t interfered with them as they approached the expansive white mansion.

The architect had designed an antebellum plantation house with a white-columned portico that stretched across the entire front. Evarts knew from the building plans that the part of the house facing Lake Norman looked identical to this side, with a common grand hall on the inside connecting the two “front” doors. Whether someone arrived by boat or car, the visitor had the impression of approaching the entrance to the house.

Planning the operation had taken two days. They had reconnoitered the Branger estate from the land side and from a powerboat. At the city offices, they had studied lot plats, architectural plans, and building permits. Their plan was good but depended on precise timing. He hoped his ploy to give the illusion of deadly force would work.

As he knocked again, Evarts wondered if he had hurried for surprise or because it pained him so much to consider Baldwin’s plight. At this point, everything was in motion, and he had no choice but to push ahead. He squared his shoulders and reminded himself that if you don’t have a choice, you don’t have a problem.