Time Bomb Town - Chapter Eight
Night had fallen by the time Beef brought his Cessna in for a landing and made arrangements to park it for what he hoped would only be a few hours. He was anxious, though. He had a knot in the pit of his stomach. Since meeting Dalton freshman year, he'd been involved in what he felt were really more than his fair share of 'unusual' situations. Twice he had nearly died. And he'd never seen a dead body before meeting Dalton. Now he'd seen three. But this time, this plan, was by far the most dangerous he'd been party to.
As he was walking towards the parking lot to meet Ziggy and Alina, he noticed a Gulfstream G550 being fueled and readied for take-off. Beef wanted to stop and take a look into the hanger, but he was in a hurry. Plus, he noticed two unfriendly-looking armed guards standing outside. That was a bit odd, he thought, but then dismissed it. Probably some business bigwig. He saw Ziggy and Alina standing behind a chain link fence waving to him and he picked up his pace.
The garage door to the Lake Los Angeles house was open and the two thugs were loading gear into the back of the van. Not drugs, but the stacks of servers and computer equipment. They brought the last of it out of the house and placed it carefully in the van. Midas closed the back of the van himself and watched as it pulled away. He walked back into the garage and hit the clicker. The door scrolled down, leaving him in darkness.
Ronnie Vance's Lexus sat parked in the lot outside of Charlie Brown Farms on Pearblossom Avenue. There was a near constant flow of traffic and tourists to this eclectic shop so she and Agent Turner, sitting the passenger seat, were unnoticed.
Ronnie had her laptop open and was using Charlie Brown Farms' Wi-Fi to log on to the net. Tuner, his cuffed hands covered by a jacket, was smoldering with rage.
“What are we doing out here, lady?”
“Waiting.”
“For what? You're not seriously letting those boys go through with this idiotic plan, are you? You don't have any idea the kind of insanity you're dealing with in Midas Jones. He'll kill those boys just for laughs. He's a monster.”
Ronnie ignored him and logged on to The Onion Router.
“Okay, I believe you now. Okay? I know you're not working with Midas. All right? And I'll take your deal. I will protect your boys if you let me go right now, but you have to let me go right now!”
A secure webchat channel came up. Ronnie typed in an address and hit the dial button.
“You're not listening to me, lady. We have to get back-up and get to your boys before they get themselves killed! You can't honestly believe two college students are going to take down the only real criminal mastermind I've ever actually run across? He's going to torture them horribly.”
“My husband wouldn't allow that. And you are so sure that he is working with Midas. Aren't you?”
Turner groaned. “FINE! Maybe I was wrong about that too or maybe your husband is already dead. What if he can't protect the boys? Either way, they can't go in against Midas alone! That's suicide! Let me call for back-up and tell me where they are!”
“Patience, Agent Turner. I will call for back-up as soon as we know who to call and who not to call.”
The webchat hooked up and Ziggy appeared on the screen.
“Mrs. Vance. Perfect timing. Can you hear me? Everything loud and clear?”
“Loud and clear, Ziggy. How are things on your end?”
“We've locked in on the location. Beef saw Wyatt and Dalton being taken inside. We have yet to establish contact with them.”
Turner leaned over so he could see Ziggy on the screen. “And how do you know your friends aren't dead already?”
Ziggy tilted his head. “That's uh...wait. We have a cell call emanating from the location. Someone in the house is dialing a number... Excuse me for a moment.”
“What- what is he doing?” Turner sputtered.
“As I understand it, he's pulling a phone call out of the air. Ziggy is very smart.”
Beef was in the driver's seat of Ziggy's mom's minivan. In the passenger seat was Alina. Ziggy was in the back on his laptop. Several small devices sat next to him on the seat, plugged into the computer. They were parked down the street from Midas Jones' house.
“How can you just get his phone call? Isn't that illegal?” asked Alina.
A ring tone was coming from Ziggy's computer. “I'm using something called a femtocell. It's a legal device. However...this use wouldn't be considered strictly legal.”
A burst of static came over the computer. Ziggy used his keyboard mouse to make some adjustments to the control panel on the screen.
A voice answered the phone. “Yes?”
Midas' voice responded, “I'm not a happy camper. Not a very HAPPY CAMPER! WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR?”
“This isn't a good time,” said the voice.
“Oh, I'm sorry. Are the millions of dollars I paid you to take care of this kind of shit, not enough?”
“The situation is fluid at the moment.”
Ronnie started up the Lexus. Turner looked at her in alarm. “I...I know that voice...”
I do too,” said Ronni grimly.
“There's no way...” Turner was stunned. “I just don't understand this...”
“It's Bob Fielding.”
“He's the one who betrayed me...” Turner was transitioning from shock to rage. “He murdered his own men.”
Midas paced back and forth in his living room, now stripped bare of servers. Empty tower stacks covered the walls. One lone terminal stood on an empty desk, all the wires running into it. Midas was screaming into his cell phone.
“I fixed this, you worthless, garbage-sucking turkey vulture. WITHOUT YOUR HELP. I've got the Vance boys now. You understand me? I'm going to use them, carve them like TURKEY GIBLETS til their father shuts off his little 'time-bomb'. And when I'm done with that, I will kill them all. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Then I'm gonna find you and shove my fist so far up your ass, you'll look like my sock-puppet. I'LL MAKE YOU SING SONGS AND DO COMEDY ROUTINES. I'LL VIDEOTAPE IT AND PUT IT ON YOUTUBE. DO YOU KNOW ANY DUETS?”
Midas was shrieking into the phone. He stared at it for a moment and then calmly ended the call. Carelessly, he tossed the phone aside. He went into the kitchen, opened a drawer and pulled out a scalpel. Testing the blade on his tongue, it cut the skin easily.
Midas licked his lips, smearing blood around his mouth. Humming tunelessly, he vanished down the dark hallway.
Ronni Vance was horrified.
“You were wrong about Carter,” she said.
Turner looked at her, “No kidding, but that's not going to matter much if we don't get there soon. Tell me they're not far away.”
“I...I need to call someone for back-up...”
“Uncuff me and drive. I'll call for back-up. We're running out of time.”
Ronnie tossed him the handcuff keys and peeled out of Charlie Brown Farms parking lot. Freeing himself, Turner took the computer from Ronni. “Hey, Ziggy, or whatever your idiot name is. You still there?”
Ziggy's eyes locked on the screen as if he were staring into Turner's face. “We're here.”
“You guys sit tight until we get there.”
“Got it.”
Turner glanced over at Ronni as she raced east, down Pearblossom, weaving in and out of traffic. “Can I use your cell phone, since you threw mine out?”
In the minivan, Alina looked over the non-descript little house on the edge of the desert. “Bob Fielding is Mr. Vance's boss. He's...he's in charge of the F.B.I. on the west coast. Who are they gonna be able to call for back-up?”
Beef and Ziggy just stared blankly at her.
As he was walking towards the parking lot to meet Ziggy and Alina, he noticed a Gulfstream G550 being fueled and readied for take-off. Beef wanted to stop and take a look into the hanger, but he was in a hurry. Plus, he noticed two unfriendly-looking armed guards standing outside. That was a bit odd, he thought, but then dismissed it. Probably some business bigwig. He saw Ziggy and Alina standing behind a chain link fence waving to him and he picked up his pace.
* * *
The garage door to the Lake Los Angeles house was open and the two thugs were loading gear into the back of the van. Not drugs, but the stacks of servers and computer equipment. They brought the last of it out of the house and placed it carefully in the van. Midas closed the back of the van himself and watched as it pulled away. He walked back into the garage and hit the clicker. The door scrolled down, leaving him in darkness.
* * *
Ronnie Vance's Lexus sat parked in the lot outside of Charlie Brown Farms on Pearblossom Avenue. There was a near constant flow of traffic and tourists to this eclectic shop so she and Agent Turner, sitting the passenger seat, were unnoticed.
Ronnie had her laptop open and was using Charlie Brown Farms' Wi-Fi to log on to the net. Tuner, his cuffed hands covered by a jacket, was smoldering with rage.
“What are we doing out here, lady?”
“Waiting.”
“For what? You're not seriously letting those boys go through with this idiotic plan, are you? You don't have any idea the kind of insanity you're dealing with in Midas Jones. He'll kill those boys just for laughs. He's a monster.”
Ronnie ignored him and logged on to The Onion Router.
“Okay, I believe you now. Okay? I know you're not working with Midas. All right? And I'll take your deal. I will protect your boys if you let me go right now, but you have to let me go right now!”
A secure webchat channel came up. Ronnie typed in an address and hit the dial button.
“You're not listening to me, lady. We have to get back-up and get to your boys before they get themselves killed! You can't honestly believe two college students are going to take down the only real criminal mastermind I've ever actually run across? He's going to torture them horribly.”
“My husband wouldn't allow that. And you are so sure that he is working with Midas. Aren't you?”
Turner groaned. “FINE! Maybe I was wrong about that too or maybe your husband is already dead. What if he can't protect the boys? Either way, they can't go in against Midas alone! That's suicide! Let me call for back-up and tell me where they are!”
“Patience, Agent Turner. I will call for back-up as soon as we know who to call and who not to call.”
The webchat hooked up and Ziggy appeared on the screen.
“Mrs. Vance. Perfect timing. Can you hear me? Everything loud and clear?”
“Loud and clear, Ziggy. How are things on your end?”
“We've locked in on the location. Beef saw Wyatt and Dalton being taken inside. We have yet to establish contact with them.”
Turner leaned over so he could see Ziggy on the screen. “And how do you know your friends aren't dead already?”
Ziggy tilted his head. “That's uh...wait. We have a cell call emanating from the location. Someone in the house is dialing a number... Excuse me for a moment.”
“What- what is he doing?” Turner sputtered.
“As I understand it, he's pulling a phone call out of the air. Ziggy is very smart.”
* * *
Beef was in the driver's seat of Ziggy's mom's minivan. In the passenger seat was Alina. Ziggy was in the back on his laptop. Several small devices sat next to him on the seat, plugged into the computer. They were parked down the street from Midas Jones' house.
“How can you just get his phone call? Isn't that illegal?” asked Alina.
A ring tone was coming from Ziggy's computer. “I'm using something called a femtocell. It's a legal device. However...this use wouldn't be considered strictly legal.”
A burst of static came over the computer. Ziggy used his keyboard mouse to make some adjustments to the control panel on the screen.
A voice answered the phone. “Yes?”
Midas' voice responded, “I'm not a happy camper. Not a very HAPPY CAMPER! WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR?”
“This isn't a good time,” said the voice.
“Oh, I'm sorry. Are the millions of dollars I paid you to take care of this kind of shit, not enough?”
“The situation is fluid at the moment.”
* * *
Ronnie started up the Lexus. Turner looked at her in alarm. “I...I know that voice...”
I do too,” said Ronni grimly.
“There's no way...” Turner was stunned. “I just don't understand this...”
“It's Bob Fielding.”
“He's the one who betrayed me...” Turner was transitioning from shock to rage. “He murdered his own men.”
* * *
Midas paced back and forth in his living room, now stripped bare of servers. Empty tower stacks covered the walls. One lone terminal stood on an empty desk, all the wires running into it. Midas was screaming into his cell phone.
“I fixed this, you worthless, garbage-sucking turkey vulture. WITHOUT YOUR HELP. I've got the Vance boys now. You understand me? I'm going to use them, carve them like TURKEY GIBLETS til their father shuts off his little 'time-bomb'. And when I'm done with that, I will kill them all. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Then I'm gonna find you and shove my fist so far up your ass, you'll look like my sock-puppet. I'LL MAKE YOU SING SONGS AND DO COMEDY ROUTINES. I'LL VIDEOTAPE IT AND PUT IT ON YOUTUBE. DO YOU KNOW ANY DUETS?”
Midas was shrieking into the phone. He stared at it for a moment and then calmly ended the call. Carelessly, he tossed the phone aside. He went into the kitchen, opened a drawer and pulled out a scalpel. Testing the blade on his tongue, it cut the skin easily.
Midas licked his lips, smearing blood around his mouth. Humming tunelessly, he vanished down the dark hallway.
* * *
Ronni Vance was horrified.
“You were wrong about Carter,” she said.
Turner looked at her, “No kidding, but that's not going to matter much if we don't get there soon. Tell me they're not far away.”
“I...I need to call someone for back-up...”
“Uncuff me and drive. I'll call for back-up. We're running out of time.”
Ronnie tossed him the handcuff keys and peeled out of Charlie Brown Farms parking lot. Freeing himself, Turner took the computer from Ronni. “Hey, Ziggy, or whatever your idiot name is. You still there?”
Ziggy's eyes locked on the screen as if he were staring into Turner's face. “We're here.”
“You guys sit tight until we get there.”
“Got it.”
Turner glanced over at Ronni as she raced east, down Pearblossom, weaving in and out of traffic. “Can I use your cell phone, since you threw mine out?”
* * *
In the minivan, Alina looked over the non-descript little house on the edge of the desert. “Bob Fielding is Mr. Vance's boss. He's...he's in charge of the F.B.I. on the west coast. Who are they gonna be able to call for back-up?”
Beef and Ziggy just stared blankly at her.
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