Chapter 13 - A Farmhouse Full of Strangers
"Lights out," Ortiz said.
The kitchen darkened. Through the slats, three vehicles coasted up the driveway. Men in plain jackets stepped out, confident in a way honest visitors rarely were at three in the morning.
A voice called, "Federal inspection. Open the door."
Ortiz held up her credential near the window. "Identify the agency and supervising officer."
No answer. Then someone kicked the front steps.
Rourke guided the others through a pantry door into a root cellar. Mara wanted to stay and fight, but Ortiz held her gaze.
"Your daughter needs you alive."
They crawled through a narrow drainage passage that emerged behind the barn. Ranger moved beside Torres without a sound. Cole's hands shook as he worked the latch, but he opened it.
From the house came the sound of glass breaking. Then a man's startled shout: Ortiz had stepped outside at the side entrance and was loudly naming witnesses and case numbers into a recorder. The intruders hadn't expected anyone to document them.
A car door slammed. Two vehicles retreated. One remained blocking the driveway.
Finch checked the old county map and found a footbridge leading to a disused pump station. "If we cross here, we can reach the reservoir overlook before daybreak."
Ortiz joined them under the trees. "My team photographed all three license plates. Two are registered to Meridian shell companies. The third belongs to the county emergency office."
"Bell bought the response," Rourke said.
"Or somebody in the response," Ortiz corrected. "We need names."
The remaining vehicle flashed its headlights twice. Its driver stepped out with both hands up. She wore county paramedic coveralls and had a bruise along her jaw.
"Please," she called. "I don't work for them. I got your number from Dawn Harris."
She identified herself as Rachel Sloane, the emergency dispatcher scheduled for the memorial.
"I heard them plan it," she said. "They want the public to think a dog went rogue and the base failed. Then Bell rolls in as the hero."
"Why warn us?" Ortiz asked.
Rachel's eyes filled. "Because my son will be in the school choir at that ceremony."
May you like
Then she added the detail that changed everything: Bell had moved the memorial two hours earlier.
The gates would open in thirty minutes.
