Enigma (FBI Thriller #21)(29)
Lister picked up his father’s hand, remembered how strong it had been, how that hand had clasped his as a child, making him feel safe. He whispered, “Maybe by tonight.”
Lister always spoke in a whisper around his father, but Hannah didn’t. She said in a normal voice, “That soon?”
“It’s a new formulation, so I’m not sure, but if it acts, it should act quickly.”
Hannah raised her eyes upward as if she was praying. He knew she loved his father. It would take one of their deaths to separate them. Would the new formulation make a difference? Maybe, maybe it would. He wanted desperately to tell his father what he’d set into motion, what he hoped to accomplish, that there was still hope for him, but his father wouldn’t understand him, of course. But maybe soon, things would change, at least a bit. Lister walked to the wheelchair, leaned down, and kissed the cheek of the impossibly handsome man who sat there, his face wrinkle-free, not looking a day over fifty. “Hello, Father.”
There was no response.
“I’ve come to give you my weekly report on the status of our business.” Lister pulled a small tablet out of his briefcase and began his weekly recital. His father never looked away from his son’s face as he spoke.
17
EAST BRANCH ROAD
DANIEL BOONE NATIONAL FOREST
MONDAY, ONE HOUR BEFORE DUSK
Cam walked behind Ranger Wayne Duke in the gathering twilight. She knew Duke was forty-five, but he looked older, his face darkly tanned and seamed from all his years outdoors. He was a no-nonsense man, built lean like a runner and tough as an old boot, always ready, she imagined, to deal with a bear or a drunken tourist. He wore a Beretta snug in a clip at his waist, his Remington 7600 slung over his shoulder next to his backpack. He seemed at home with his weapons and with the forest. When he raised his hand and turned back to speak to them, his voice was judge-calm and low, his Virginia drawl soft and smooth as butter. “We’ve got to make some assumptions if we’re going to hope to pick up their trail. We’re all agreed they’re going to be heading north, as far away from civilization as they can make it on foot.” He pointed to a small snaking trail that forked off to the right. “If they peeled off here, they’d be heading into low hills, open scrub, and sparse trees. Not a difficult hike, at least along the ridges, but they’d be exposed there, so I’m thinking they’re going to be moving closer to the drainages—the creeks—for tree cover. It’s tougher terrain, but I’d take that trade-off. There’s a trail leading down to the creek a bit farther up.
“Chief tells me you’re an ex–army ranger, Jack, so you’re welcome to lead out if you want. Chief, you and Agent Wittier stick close to me. Once we get to the creek, we’ll want to spread out. What you want to look for is boot prints, broken branches, displaced rocks, any sign of their passing. There aren’t many hikers where we’re going, so anything fresh you see is probably them.”
Jack said, “You take the lead, Duke. You know the lay of the land. I think you’re right they’ll be heading for overhead tree cover, to avoid line-of-sight surveillance.”
“Let’s move out then.” As they fell into line behind him, Duke said over his shoulder, “It’s about five miles along a meandering creek up to Highway 490 and 89. They might try to make the five miles tonight, make it less likely local law enforcement patrolling roads would catch sight of them, but maybe not. If we can find their tracks near the creek before dark, we can keep after them, but even with the quarter moon tonight it’ll still be too dark to see anything. We’ll probably have to wait until first light.”
Jack said, “At least they have no idea anyone’s behind them. That’s why we opted out of any helicopters overhead to help us spot them. With any luck, we’ll be a surprise.”
Duke pushed a branch out of the way. “Daniel Boone is mostly a wide-open forest, a lot of pretty clear terrain, with gentle, low-country slopes that top out at about twenty degrees. Most of the deeper woods are around the creeks. We can be at the creek in about thirty minutes, if we move fast. That’s where we’ll set up camp.”
They hiked in silence, the only human sounds they heard were their footsteps and their own breathing. Duke moved faster as the dusk deepened. At least the temperature was falling, cooling off from the heat of the day. They followed the troughs of the rolling hills into thickening woods until Duke raised his hand. “The creek is ahead, down that incline. I know we’d all like to keep going, but there’s no point in pushing on now. They have three, maybe four hours on us. This is as good a spot as any for the night. We’re open to the sky, but there won’t be any rain tonight, so we don’t have to worry about shelter. We can even use the camp stoves, but after tonight we’ll have to be more careful. We can’t risk being spotted.”
Soon each of them had their bivvy sacks rolled out, their pads and lightweight sleeping bags inside, laid in a rough circle.
Jack set up the two camp stoves with fuel canisters, watched the small gas flames flare to life, something that always made him feel at home. Chief announced it would be chili and rice for dinner. As long as there was ketchup, Jack was good to go. He put a small pail of water on for coffee.
They sat in a row on a fallen log eating their chili and drinking their instant coffee as it slowly turned pitch black around them. Duke picked up his headlight, adjusted its stretchy band, and slipped it over his head. “That’s better. I wouldn’t want to miss any of this fine gourmet chili.”