A Shadow of Death in The Woods (28 page)

Chapter 48

The Tip

I was tired of watching the guys play cards. I couldn’t understand how they could sit there for hours playing cards. Maybe it was part of army training or maybe they were just the calm, waiting type. I was going nuts.

Part of the problem was that I wasn’t working out. I was missing my runs and my weight lifting. I decided to go for a brisk walk. Maybe that would clear my head and calm my nerves.

I told the guys my plan and went out the door. The first thing I did was phone my ex-father-in-law to check on progress. It was a tough call. All Bill could do was cry. It was unnerving to see such a take-charge guy fall apart. They had no news. They were still waiting for a ransom note that everyone was losing faith in ever receiving. I didn’t share my thoughts with Bill. Truthfully, I thought we would never see Will alive again. Too much time had passed. I closed the phone.

I was walking fast, trying to raise my heart rate. If I could get into the zone, my nerves would feel better but I had no illusions, walking wasn’t going to do it. Walking was too slow and easy. I needed a long, fast run.

It was a beautiful fall day, not that I could enjoy it. The leaves were starting to turn. Fall was coming on fast. The surrounding hills were beautiful and when the leaves turned, it would be gorgeous.

The street was busy with traffic and lined with the kinds of businesses that collect around motels, mostly fast food. Whatever happened to this country? Years ago there would be mom and pop restaurants where you could get a good (or bad) home-cooked meal. It was just like getting a meal at home. You never knew what you were going to get. It might be great or it might be bad.

McDonald’s changed all that. They standardized food so that no matter where you were in the country, and now in the world, you could depend on the same kind of food. People liked the fact that it took the risk out of restaurant shopping and the prices were reasonable. It went over big. It drove the mom and pop places out of business.

Colonel Sanders had a motel, restaurant and gas station in a small town, Corbin, Kentucky. When he was sixty-five, I-75 was built, bypassing Corbin and his business. His business dried up. He developed a method of fast cooking chicken and a tasty breading. He went on the road and sold franchises. Kentucky Fried Chicken was born.

He had a great product but he sold out to a corporation who “improved” his chicken to what it is today. I really don’t think that Colonel Sanders would be happy with the result.

His original restaurant is still in business as a KFC and a sampling of his motel is a museum. Once again I don’t think he would be happy with the way it has turned out.

Other people saw the bonanza and started fast food restaurants. The result is that Americans have forgotten what good food is really like. Fruits and vegetables? What are they? It is all fast food and processed food. Most of it is laced with fat, salt and sugar. If you produce a food product without enough sugar, your competitor will grab your business by putting in more sugar. The result is run away sugar consumption and a national health crisis, obesity.

The big box stores have done a similar thing to hardware stores and other mom and pop stores. Most of the little stores have been run out of business. As a CPA, I understand the financial advantage of this but as a human being I am acutely aware of the human cost. It is not a pretty sight in my opinion.

They were not cheery thoughts as I made my way down the street on the shoulder. There wasn’t even a sidewalk. Americans stopped walking a long time ago. The automobile caused massive changes. I hadn’t thought about it before but I guess automobiles enabled the fast food industry. Anyway nobody walks now. You are supposed to have a car, and sidewalks have been relegated to the dust bins of yore along with real food and mom and pop businesses. Why spend money on sidewalks if people go by car?

I was wondering how I could get more depressed when my phone rang. It was a blocked number. I answered and a guy wanted to know if I was looking for my son. My heart jumped into high gear. I said yes I was.

He said, “Look this call has to be fast. It is worth my life if I get caught. You have a pencil and paper?”

“No. I’m out walking.”

“You are going to have to listen carefully and remember this. I can say it only once. The guy who you are looking for is Jim Johnson, Big Jim Johnson. The word is that he kidnapped a boy to settle a debt with his drug supplier. Johnson is not a pedophile but the rumor holds that his supplier is. I don’t know Big Jim’s address but I know how to get there. It is out in the country. You leave town going east exactly 10.1 miles and turn left. Go another 9.5 miles and his place is on the right. There is a big, white farm house and a red barn in the back. It is a well-kept place with fresh paint. You can’t miss it.”

I tried to ask a question and there was a small click and the connection was gone. I turned and ran back to the motel. This was the break we were waiting for.

When I got in the room, I was breathing hard. I think mainly from the excitement. I told the guys what I had heard on the phone and I wrote notes while it was fresh. Paul immediately got on the Internet and started looking for the place. Bob got on his laptop and started searching for a James or Jim Johnson in southeast Ohio using search engines. Paul found it first. He came up with a satellite image, showing the house and barn right where the phone caller said it was. We could even see the color of the buildings. We could see the route from town out to his place and it matched what I had been told.

Bob couldn’t find anyone listed that matched the map. It probably meant that the guy  lived off the grid as much as possible. He probably used cell phones or he had an unlisted number.

I suggested that we ride out there and look the place over. Mike nixed that idea. He pointed out that it would be suspicious for a car load of guys gawking at this guy’s house. Mike suggested instead that he send one of his guys out there. The guy would dress right and drive the right kind of car so as to not raise suspicions. I wondered how long it would take to get a guy out there and Mike said half an hour. I was amazed at his answer. It turned out that he, Bob and Paul had been anticipating (or hoping) for this kind of thing and Mike had gotten a guy ready for this kind of assignment.

More waiting. We had sandwiches while we waited. After two hours Mike got a call. His guy had driven by the place and it was just as the tipster had described. He described the terrain and pointed out that there was a wooded area about three hundred yards across the road from the Johnson place. He sent photographs. They could hike in from another road miles away and set up a blind in the woods. From there they could watch the Johnson place. It was agreed that this was our next move.

Mike lined up some ex-military guys to do the stakeout. They had worked as a sniper and spotter in Iraq. They loved this kind of work. Normally, they would kill the target but this time we just wanted surveillance. The pair reminded us that they could take this guy out any time we wanted. Thank you. Just watch for now please.

It was kind of surprising how the U.S. trained men and women to kill. Then the government returned these people back to society with no training on how to transition back into civilian life. For some it left an adrenaline vacuum, aching to be filled. If you knew how to tap into this resource, I was to find out, amazing things could happen.

I thought the surveillance was a good idea but I was curious as to what we were watching for. We discussed it some and Mike’s thought was that for now we log all of the vehicles in and out of the place and photograph the license plates. We would collect as much data as possible. We would then analyze it for information. I agreed but I couldn’t see what we were going to learn from it. But then what did I know?

While they were setting up the surveillance, I decided to go back to The Dragon and see if he had anymore information. I found The Dragon in his garage as usual. I was afraid I was going to find him stoned, which would not be very useful. Surprisingly, he was sober and sitting in his chair, drinking a beer. He invited me to sit down and have a beer. I thought, what the heck I might as well. All that I was doing was sitting around waiting. A beer wouldn’t hurt that, just my waist. Besides I wanted to see if I could get The Dragon at ease and maybe I could get more information.

I tried but The Dragon was onto me immediately. He said, “Look, I told you all I know. I wouldn’t hold out on you over something like this. None of my friends are holding out either. All of us want to see your boy returned. We have pulled out all of the stops.” I thanked The Dragon and told him to pass it along. I didn’t mention that his efforts were probably what shook loose the tip I received. It was better if that information remained close. I didn’t want someone to get killed over the tip.

I chatted with The Dragon and drank beer. I asked him what kinds of drugs he thought this guy was dealing. The Dragon thought that it was any drugs that he could sell but the large volume item was most likely marijuana. My ears perked up immediately. I asked how often the guy would be supplied from his supplier. The Dragon didn’t know but we guessed that it couldn’t be too often because most likely the wacky weed was coming from Mexico into the southwest. The lowest risk way to transport weed from the southwest to Ohio was by highway. It couldn’t be too infrequent but frequent enough for his customers. I guessed it had to be monthly or thereabouts. The Dragon agreed that this made sense. I said that it has to be trucked up then and The Dragon again agreed with the logic. This was the break I was looking for. What we should be watching for was a truck pulling into the Johnson place. I tried to hide my excitement from The Dragon. To act casual I had another beer and then said I had to get going. I made a beeline back to the motel.

Bob, Mike and Paul listened intently and gave it some thought. In the end they all agreed that this made sense. Mike’s guys in the woods were logging all the data and sending it to Mike’s laptop. We could keep tabs on it. He also told them to be especially vigilant for a truck or similar enclosed vehicle capable of carrying a heavy and bulky load.

We then decided that we might as well go back to West Virginia. The data would come in there just as well as in Ohio and it didn’t seem likely that we were going to get anymore tips. If we did get more tips, we would receive them in West Virginia just as well. To check them out we might have to come back to Ohio. In any case I was anxious to get back to The Cabin for some workouts.

I didn’t know it then but Bob, Mike and Paul were already planning for the next step. They were making phones calls, lining up support and collecting gear such as guns and ammo.

We checked out of the motel and made our way to the airport. We turned in our cars and got on the plane. While flying back my CPA mind started thinking about the costs again: plane rides, sketch artist, two guys sitting in the woods 24/7 and I don’t know what else. This was a big operation and it didn’t show any signs of getting smaller. I was going to be in hock for a long, long time.

That was fine. I had no life to spend the money on anyway. The important thing was to find Will. We seemed to be making some progress. I could hardly wait for more results.

Chapter 49

The Couriers

Days passed and the two guys in the woods kept sending data. They were logging all vehicles coming and going from the Johnson place with a special eye open for a truck. There was a surge of excitement when a truck pulled in but it turned out to be a local delivery. Time was marching on and we seemed to be no nearer to finding Will. I was anxious, jumpy and nervous.

I phoned my ex-father-in-law and kept up to date on what the police were doing. They had given up on the ransom theory. The only problem was they didn’t have a new theory. The police were stalled and looking for easier crimes to solve.

I tried to work but it was difficult keeping my mind on the job. I found myself checking the data frequently. It didn’t help.

The weekend rolled around. Lydia came for the weekend. I didn’t even feel like cooking so I took the easy way and made a casserole. It was based on sweetcorn, hamburger and noodles. It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t even what I call good food but it tasted good and Lydia seemed to like it. She wolfed it down. I think the only time Lydia ate at The Cabin was when I fed her.

I didn’t mind feeding her. We had gotten used to each other and she was pleasant company. I needed the company. Being in The Cabin by myself was not good. It was lonely.

Lydia tried to get me to go for a hike in the woods. I didn’t have the heart for it but finally went with her on Saturday afternoon. It turned out to be a terrific hike and we had a good time. It took my mind off things for a while.

Lydia went back to work on Sunday, leaving me to myself. I rested up Sunday evening and went to work on Monday. Will had been missing one week. It seemed like a year had passed.

Bob stopped by my office to say hi but he had no news. Things were getting into an unpleasant routine. Routines are the basis of life. They are what makes life livable. However, in an investigation or in problem solving, routines are bad. They mean you have lost momentum. You have lost traction. Keep that up and the whole thing comes to a halt.

We all knew that this was going to be a waiting game. It could take a month before a truck showed up at the Johnson place, if ever. Maybe we weren’t even on the right path. Bob, Mike, Paul and I discussed it from time to time but we had no better idea than what we were doing. It is always bad doing something because you couldn’t think of something better to do. That wasn’t the way to accomplish good things.

The guys had been in the woods watching the Johnson place for about five days. After a week, they would have to be resupplied and maybe even relieved. I knew Mike was making plans for it. We had a growing list of vehicles but that was all. Even the list of vehicles was not growing as fast as at first because we were getting repeat vehicles.

Then on Tuesday we received a call from the guys in the woods. They had spotted a truck pulling into the Johnson place. They photographed the truck and its license plate. It was licensed in Oklahoma. The truck was backed into the barn out of sight. Mike immediately mobilized two cars and stationed them on the road running past the Johnson place on both sides of the house so the road each way was covered but far enough away as to not be noticed. Their job was to follow the truck when it left. Both cars had oversized gas tanks and were stocked with food, water and piss bottles.

Mike ran the plates on the truck and it was a rental from Oklahoma. It was probably a cash deal and untraceable.

A lot of the activity was hidden in the barn so we didn’t know for sure what was going on but we believed that they were unloading marijuana. There was some foot traffic between the house and the barn. Then late in the afternoon a man left the house carrying a big duffel bag. He went to the barn and disappeared. Shortly thereafter the truck pulled out of the barn, went out to the road and turned left, headed south.

We had the routes from Ohio to the southwest outlined so we had estimates on the routes that the truck might take. One of the chase cars picked the truck up and started following at a safe distance.

Following the truck was a risky business. We could not afford to lose the truck and we couldn’t afford to be spotted by the drug couriers. We planned to follow the truck until it made its first stop. Until then we would have two chase cars so they could alternate and reduce the risk of being spotted. We would have the guys in the chase cars plant tracking devices on the truck when it made its first stop. We wanted to put two on so that we would have a backup. The idea was that then we didn’t have to follow the truck so closely because we could track it over the Internet. We could drop back to one chase car. The guys in the chase car had a laptop and could track the truck and we would be glued to computers back in West Virginia watching the progress.

The assumption was that the truck would go back to the supplier of the drugs. There was a possible flaw in this idea. The truck might stay in Oklahoma or even some place else until it was time for another delivery. However, we calculated that at least one of the couriers had to go to the supplier because he had a bag full of money for the supplier. Maybe one guy would go back to the supplier or if they didn’t trust him alone with the money, they might both go in the truck or a different vehicle. We had to be prepared for these possibilities. We didn’t want to sit watching the computer while the truck sat in Oklahoma and the couriers with money went on to the supplier.

For this contingency Bob phoned a guy called Snake. Could you trust a guy called Snake? Bob, Mike and Paul seemed to know Snake and there was no question about trust. Snake was in Kansas City. We estimated the route that the truck was going to take and Bob had Snake drive a car with one other guy from Kansas City toward the route. We would give Snake updates by phone. This way we would have two chase cars, one for each courier in the event that they split up. At least one of them had to go to the supplier with his money.

Why get Snake involved? We could have just sent the two original chase cars along. I found out later that Bob had other plans for Snake.

We figured that the couriers would drive around the clock, making about twelve hundred miles per day. Everything was in place. It was another waiting game but there was a growing optimism that we were now on the right track.

Both tracking devices were working and we were getting updates. We had maps out and marked the progress on the maps. Snake phoned in from time to time to give us his location. Through the night we could see the route the couriers were taking and we guided Snake and his sidekick toward an intersection. We kept checking our progress and our calculations. There was no room for error. Everything seemed to be on track.

We took turns sleeping or napping. I tried to sleep but it wasn’t easy. I just wasn’t made for all this waiting and watching. Bob, Mike and Paul seemed to take it in stride.

During the night Snake caught up with the truck and got a visual. He checked the license plate number just to make sure he had the right truck. He then passed it and took an exit and got back on the interstate at the same interchange. The delay while doing this put him farther back from the truck. We were now back to having two cars following the truck.

In Oklahoma, the couriers got off the Interstate and went to a small city. The truck went to an industrial area and parked next to an SUV. The couriers took the duffel bag out of the truck and put it in the SUV as they got in.

The SUV pulled out. Snake followed the SUV while the other car stayed in the parking lot and the guys pulled the tracking devices off the truck. This was a safety measure so that no one would discover that they had been tracked. This car then caught up with the rest. They were headed south back to the Interstate. Now, without electronic trackers, the cars had to follow the SUV close enough not to lose the SUV but far enough back so as not to be spotted. The two cars took turns following so it wasn’t always the same car behind or in front of the SUV. They had maps so they knew where the exits were and between exits they could drop back and not be seen. They had to be careful doing this though because the SUV could take a U-turn if they suspected they were being followed or they might do it as a matter of course. We tracked all of this by phone since the tracking devices were off.

After about one hundred miles the SUV stopped at a rest area and the couriers went inside. Our guys carefully installed tracking devices on the SUV so we were back in electronic business. At this stop they gave Snake a laptop with the tracking software on it so he could do his own tracking and our tail car could return.

Things went smoothly from there. We stayed glued to the computers and watched the electronic dot move into Texas. It felt like we were getting close. Plans were in place in order to take action when the destination was reached.

Bob said that Snake would photograph the drug dealer’s location and send us pictures. I figured that he meant that Snake would use his cell phone but no, I was informed that Snake had telescopic lenses on an expensive camera to take pictures from hundreds of yards away if necessary. He was to do this undetected.

Bob came to talk with me. He said he was in touch with some guys who would help us take down the bad guy. They had some concerns and conditions. They didn’t like the fact that I had never been on a mission like this before and I had no training. Bob said he had vouched for me as being solid. I took this to mean that Bob had basically told them that I had killed a man to save Bob’s life. That was in my favor but they held fast that I was not to take part in the initial assault. I could come in after the place was secured. I could see their point. I had no training for a mission like this. I also thought that probably Mike, Bob and Paul held the same view. I agreed to this condition.

Next, they would let me deal with the supplier that had taken my son—but they wanted to have the opportunity to capture drugs and money in the house first. That meant I wasn’t to kill the guy until they had extracted information that they needed. I agreed.

Third, they wanted to divide any drugs and money found equally among the guys taking direct part in the raid. To this I objected. I only wanted to get Will back. I wasn’t interested in making money on the deal. Bob and I discussed this point with Mike and Paul. All of us agreed that we would take only enough money to pay our expenses. If we found enough money, maybe I wouldn’t be in hock for the rest of my life. For us this was about Will and not about money. This seemed agreeable to the guys and a deal was set.