Gabe (In the Company of Snipers, #8)(33)
Mark grimaced. “Man, I don’t remember. I think maybe he said they were both around six pounds? Twenty-some inches.”
“Whoa, they’re good-sized for twins,” Izza said. “No wonder she got so big. Poor Judy.”
“And they’ll be tall like their daddy,” Ember said.
The feeling in the room brightened, but Mother’s expression darkened. She was another one Mark needed to talk with, and soon. She’d grown distant, and he didn’t know why. Even his request for her to check into exhumation procedures had gone unanswered—not that he minded. It was just odd for the woman who normally had her fingers in everyone’s business.
Taylor advanced to the next slide that listed the expertise of each of the final five, ranging from explosive ordnance disposal to spec ops. Each of the Vets was a trained killer with a criminal record. Ron Fallon looked to be the worst with two charges of attempted murder, but no time served. The others pandered to lesser crimes involving drugs and petty theft once they left the service. All had served in the Army or the Corps, not a good sign by any means.
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Mark said. “Are these guys still in the local area?”
“They all are,” Izza replied. “What’s worse, Fallon, Stevenson, and Bukowski are on the FBI’s watch list. They’re mixed up with some homegrown terrorist group called Chaos Now. It doesn’t recognize federal authority and the members believe states have the right to secede. According to their website, terror’s a necessary tool in what they call a righteous revolution against oppression.”
“What’s your next step?”
“Taylor and me are making contact with each of these guys today. Thought we’d talk with them face to face, let them know we’re watching them.” Izza looked ready for a fight. Most of the other agents had dressed casually today, but she wore the uniform of an active operator: black TEAM polo tucked neatly into cammie cargo pants. She also played with her knife while she worked the laser pointer, another sure sign she was ready to engage.
“We’re just looking for information, Izza,” Mark warned. “That’s all. Don’t scare them off before we know what they’re up to.”
“I know. You want to make sure it’s them. I got that.” She almost sounded sincere.
“No, I want a solid lead. I want motive, means, and opportunity before we blow them out of the water.”
“Yeah. Sure,” she said, but Mark recognized the signs. Izza wasn’t making direct eye contact. She wanted revenge. Mark had no doubt these five guys would do.
The Sit Room door burst open and in walked two men in dirty coveralls. Rory pointed to the screen while Connor went to the computer and keyed in a few quick commands to access his files.
“This the list?” Rory asked.
“Yeah. We’ve whittled it down to five,” Mark answered. “What do you have?”
“Hope you don’t mind if we take over for a couple minutes, but you’ve got to see this. I’m hoping we can whittle your list down some more. Look at this.” Connor snagged the laser pointer from his wife with a wink. A security camera photo flickered on the overhead screen. He zoomed in as the shot came into focus. It showed two black Escalades on the highway where Kelsey had been forced off the road.
One man trudged into the water with a baseball bat. He swung hard.
“What’s that sonofabitch doing?” Izza growled.
“He’s trying to kill Kelsey,” Mark said. Gabe mentioned what Kelsey had said about some guy hitting her, but seeing it was something else.
“I ever meet him, he’s going to be wearing that bat up his ass,” Izza promised darkly.
Mark could barely swallow. The guy stomped out of the water and joined his three buddies on the shore. They lined up like a bunch of gangsters. Every last one of them raised their right arms and pointed at the river as if—
“They’re shooting!” Taylor jumped to his feet. Everyone bristled.
“At least they were. Calm down,” Rory stated. “Show ’em what else we found, Connor.”
Connor dropped a handful of mangled bullets on the table. “Inside the trunk and along the left rear quarter panel. That’s why we drove back out to the river first thing this morning. There’s a new credit union north of where Kelsey’s car was found. That’s who gave us this security footage. They’ve had a couple robberies because they’re out in the middle of nowhere, so they’d installed a high-tech digital system. We’re lucky they caught it on film. Heck, they weren’t even opened for business yet. It was too early in the day. All we need now is to find the guns these bullets were fired from, and we’ve got the bastards who tried to kill her.”
“Another thing,” Rory said. “We found a big swatch of black paint on the driver’s side, damage consistent with her car being pushed off the road like she said. The sheriff’s either one lazy sonofabitch or he’s covering for these murderers. Kelsey didn’t over-correct and she didn’t lose control. She was pushed into the river. No doubt about it.”
Mark swallowed his opinion of crooked cops. The local police department had just gone through an extensive housecleaning at the heavy hand of the Virginia Attorney General. A couple detectives and police officers were implicated in a cover-up that nearly cost Taylor Armstrong his life. Liars and cheats were everywhere. Hell, even Alex had to deal with the likes of Charles Oakes, the bastard at the root of this current nightmare.