Walk the Wire (Amos Decker #6)(48)

He immediately hoofed it into the darkness.

But then his life got even more complicated.

Will Robie would have expected nothing less.





THE CHOPPER LIFTED OFF a helipad and swiftly moved west, hot on the trail of the intruder. A searchlight sparked to life on the starboard side of the aircraft. Its beam bore down over the countryside, dramatically illuminating the flat dark land as though it were suddenly aflame.

A few moments later the beam caught and held on its target.

A second later the SUV roared to life and its headlights came on. Before it could drive off, though, the chopper was hovering in front of the vehicle, its .50-caliber nose cannon pointed right at the windshield. One rumble from the weapon, and the SUV would be shredded and the occupant dead in a nonsurvivable field of fire.

Over the PA system the pilot ordered the driver to step out of the vehicle.

The driver did not comply with this order.

The chopper hovered there for another minute while the pilot communicated with the higher-ups on what they wanted done with the situation.

A minute later the chopper landed, and four heavily armed and armored men climbed from it and surrounded the SUV. When their orders to come out were not obeyed, they were about to force the issue when the SUV horn started blaring loudly. The men took a step back as the driver’s-side window started to come down. Every man pointed his assault rifle at this spot, ready to open fire the moment a weapon appeared.

The glass hit the bottom and stopped. The blaring horn ceased. And the truck’s engine cut off. The men looked at one another before charging forward.

They reached the side of the truck and peered inside. The front seats were empty. The back seats the same. The rear cargo area held nothing.

The curses could be heard over all their collective comm packs when this was relayed back up the chain of command.

*

Will Robie kept the throttle on the electric scooter wound as far as it could go, as the little bike, its headlight off, moved nearly silently over the quiet roads. He was already miles away from the site of where he’d parked the truck in which he’d carried the scooter. He’d programmed in the truck starting, horn blaring, lights coming on, window coming down, and engine cutting off, then executed all of those commands through his phone app. He had watched the chopper and strike team approach the vehicle through a camera built into the grille of the truck, with the video feed going directly to his phone.

He veered down a side road and ditched the scooter in an abandoned shed, as prearranged. He drove off in a pickup truck that had been left there for his use after stripping off his gear, underneath which he wore jeans, a corduroy shirt, and boots. A Stetson hat completed his disguise. He could be a local coming home from either a bar or a job.

He made it back to town in three-quarters of the time it had taken him to drive out.

He parked the truck behind the hotel where Decker and Jamison were staying.

*

Decker was sound asleep in his bed when he heard a slight noise that made him sit up.

“Piece of advice: You might want to become a lighter sleeper.”

Decker clicked on the nightstand light and looked over at Robie sitting in a chair with a placid expression.

Robie held up his phone. “I just sent you some documents and pictures. I’m here to provide context.”

“What do the pictures and docs concern?”

“Ben Purdy, who used to work at London AFS.”

“Used to. When did he leave?”

“Around the time they transitioned to Vector.”

“Where is he now?”

“Don’t know. And his papers don’t say. That’s a puzzler because they would normally list what his next deployment was. The files I looked at for other personnel all did.”

Decker picked up the phone off the nightstand and opened the email. He took a minute to scan down the pages that Robie had photographed.

“How’d you get these?”

Robie just looked at him.

“Do they know someone was there tonight?” asked Decker.

This comment drew a look of respect from Robie.

“Or was it clean?” added Decker.

“My exit was not as clean as I would have liked. But they won’t know what my area of interest was, that I can guarantee.”

“That’s good to know.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Show the picture to someone to make sure it’s the right guy.”

“We don’t need you showing this picture all around.”

“I’m only going to show it to one guy. A person I trust implicitly.”

“I hope your trust is well placed.”

“It is. That I can guarantee you.”

“And if it is the right guy?” asked Robie.

“Then we need to track down this Ben Purdy.”

“And if you can’t?”

Decker looked at him. “Why would that be a problem? Even if his current assignment wasn’t in the file. He’s in the Air Force, not in hiding.”

“He was in the Air Force. We don’t know if he still is. And if you find him he may not talk. For a number of reasons,” he added grimly.

“You think it goes that deep?”

Robie ran his fingers along the chair’s armrest. “FYI, I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”