Double-Back (Jake Waters Book 3) (24 page)

"Finish up and continue down the highway.  I'll take him out a few miles down the road."

The two FBI agents never witnessed the triggering of the device and the resultant unplanned stop of the car that had been following, but after a bit Tony came back on the net.

"We are clear.  I watched your shadow pull over after I triggered the flat, and have seen no sign of another watcher.  I'll remain behind you, and check for anything that might change.  Unless I warn you otherwise, head straight for the apartment."

Wednesday Morning, May 18

The sun had been up for some time when the three men gathered around Tony's secure cellular to listen in on the call from Susan.

"I'm still uncomfortable with all this, but I agree we need to do something to flush these people out," she said after the usual morning greetings and Tony's summary of the events that had transpired the evening before.  Just keep Jake well clear of all the action.  That way if anything goes wrong, we have a way out of this mess."

Jake had already warned the others not to say anything to Susan, but he had no intention of remaining behind at the rental.  He understood the risks, but he felt he, more than anyone else, had the chance of identifying the other side's Back-Tracker, but to do so he'd need to be in place to observe events.  He planned to stay well back, but close enough to make timely adjustments to their action plan if needed.  A short Back-Track to alert the others to something that had been sprung on them could completely alter the outcome of their efforts.

"They will be cautious," Jake said.  "Like us, they have assumptions about who our Back-Tracker is, but they have to be certain.  Until the Back-Tracker, in this case me, can be positively confirmed, any actions they take will simply be for naught, as in the past.  We have the same problem.  Our goal is to confirm who their Back-Tracker is.  Until we can do that, we have no hope of bringing this situation to a conclusion."

"I understand that," Susan replied, "but I don't like the risks you three are taking."

"We'll be careful," Jim promised, hating the fact he was not being completely open with her.

"One more thing," she added.  "I know you have some tricky equipment, Taser guns and the like.  Forget about them.  You can't be certain they will disable fast enough, nor do they have the range and accuracy of your service weapons.  Simply kill these bastards.  Afterwards, if we are certain who is who, we can discuss whether Jake Back-Tracks and we change our approach."

"This is the FBI talking?" Tony teased her.

"These are killers, with an edge no criminals have had before.  They attempted to kill me, and they'll try to do the same to you.  They will be unstoppable if they somehow win this battle of wits we are engaged in."

"Agreed," Jake said.  Frankly, he was happy to see Susan had come to this conclusion.  As much as he'd like to capture the other Back-Tracker alive and be able to interrogate him about how he came to have the ability, that would leave the problem of what to do about him afterwards.  From personal experience Jake had learned that prisons weren't reliable when it came to containing someone with his abilities, and alive, there was always a risk the person they caught might get away.

After discussing a few more general items, they completed the call so the threesome could get ready.

"Do you think Solly and Lester will find anything in Boston?" Jake asked.  Susan had indicated they had arrived there the night before and would be investigating Natalie Rineri's background.

"If there's anything to be found, they'll dig it out," Jim replied confidently.  "They were both superb investigators before they retired."

Jake dressed in dark clothing, applying a moustache from Tony's kit, and donned a ball cap which greatly changed his appearance.  Tony was now dressed in clothes that matched what Jake had been wearing a couple of days earlier when Jake would have been spotted trailing Rineri.  He had changed the way he combed his hair, and from a distance, the slight differences in height and appearance would be lost.  Jim of course, was free to dress as usual.

"Where do we hang the bullseyes?" he asked half seriously.

Jim and Tony both carried Taser pistols, despite what Susan had warned during the conversation, but both also carried their familiar .40 S&W sidearms, Jim the service Glock and Tony his preferred Springfield armory EMP 1911.  Jake, who would hopefully be under no scrutiny today, carried his Sig .45 and the small Kimber 9mm, and would have access to the sniper rifle and the AR-15 in Tony's SUV.  They would remain in communication using the secure cell phones, with Tony using an ear bud so as to mask his use of any communications gear. 

Jim drove, as he and Tony departed first and headed across the East River following the route Tony pointed out as they returned to the area where Jeff Rineri lived.  It had been a day and a half since anyone had monitored the man, but given the interest shown by their tail the night before, neither had any doubts that he would still be acting as bait, and they would find him home as usual.  Jake followed five minutes later, but as they approached the Astoria area, he turned onto a parallel street and parked when he was more than a mile from the house.  That was close enough for now.  Any attempts on Jim and Tony were unlikely to be made in the busy neighborhood.  If something did happen, Jake would be aware via the open link to Tony, and would take appropriate Back-Track action.

They were breaking new ground today.  Unlike the previous monitoring of Rineri which was a repeat of the initial watch that Jake and Tony had performed, they had no idea what was in store for the day.  Jake believed that once his friends were spotted, Rineri would alert his co-conspirators and they would attempt to act today, for all the reasons he had explained to the others. 

"He's leaving now," Tony said, his voice muffled but clear through the earbud.  "We'll follow, and see if he spots us."

Jake wished he could see what the others were seeing, but at this point there was no need.  He sat in the car, idle for now.  Once Tony relayed a destination, he'd head in the same general direction, staying off the same streets and keeping his distance.

"Rineri's following the same familiar route," Tony informed him.  "It looks like he's meeting some of the same people we saw him talking to last Sunday."

Jake knew where Tony meant, and started the SUV and slowly headed in that direction.  He was familiar with the area after their earlier surveillance, and had spent time studying the map of the area so he knew the major roads allowing him to move confidently toward his destination.  It was too early to decide if this was going to be just another day of tag, or whether Rineri had something else in mind.

"I think he's just leading us around so whoever is watching can verify we are back on duty, and that it's just the two of us," Tony confirmed after another ten minutes of driving.  "They probably want to know that it's Trask and Laney as expected."

Jake nodded to himself, agreeing.  Tony had conclusively verified that Rineri had concealed support, so it made sense they were taking a little time to establish the new situation before acting.

It's was approaching lunchtime after several familiar stops that seemed unnecessary when Rineri suddenly turned and headed off in a direction they had been to before.  He was now leading them toward Brooklyn.

"This might be it," Tony said over the link, identifying the street they were on.

Jake turned in response to Tony's guidance, checking the flashing marker on the cell-phone app that identified Jim's car.  A mile ahead, Jeff Rineri drove as if he was completely unaware he had followers.  He clearly knew exactly where he was heading, making a number of turns on back streets, finally coming to a stop opposite a large apartment building that was in the final stages of construction.  Surprisingly, the place looked nearly deserted, the hoards of workmen one would expect completely missing.  Only one other car was present when Rineri pulled up, stopped his car, and stepped out and then heading into the open structure without a glance backward.

Tony relayed what was happening, and Jake increased his speed, knowing he wanted to arrive before his friends got too far into the building.  He approached along a street perpendicular to the one Jim had taken as he followed their quarry, spotting both Rineri's car next to the building, and Jim's car across the street parked in front of a run down liquor store.  He also spotted two other vehicles, one more than Tony had mentioned seeing when he and Jim had arrived.  Jake had little doubt the occupant of that car was also inside the building, following after his friends.  There were almost certainly others inside who had been here in advance of their arrival.  Jake kept driving, circling the building in order to become familiar with the area and the layout of the place.  The structure covered half of the block, with another entrance on the next street, which looked completely deserted.

Then he Back-Tracked.

Tony and Jim were still following the aimless wanderings of Rineri, but Jake now knew that he would shortly change his pattern and set off for the apartment in Brooklyn.  Jake started the SUV and headed off that way, intending to arrive in advance of his two friends, and enter through the open entrance on the street opposite of where they would follow Rineri into the building.  When Tony called with the alert that Rineri was taking them toward the Brooklyn area, Jake was approaching the destination.  Unfortunately he became tangled up in the backstreets near the end of the route, and lost a little more time than he planned.  Still, he pulled into a small darkened side street five minutes ahead of when Rineri would arrive.  He grabbed the rifle case that held Tony's sniper rifle, locked the vehicle, and after scanning the building for any sign of activity and finding none, quietly slipped through the door-less entryway to the structure. 

As he entered the construction site, Jake drew his Sig, keeping the rifle over his shoulder.  He'd Back-Track at the first sign of discovery, but the handgun, now configured with a large suppressor, might allow him to deal with any surprises without needing to do so.  It took only a moment to understand the layout of the place.  Basically it was a simple rectangle.  The square ring of apartments, four stories high, enclosed a large square courtyard in the center.  The courtyard area was rough, covered with scattered debris from the construction.  No attempt had been started as yet to clean it up for final landscaping.

There were shafts where elevators would be installed, but those were hollow and empty at the moment, not that Jake would have trusted himself in an elevator had it been present.  He found one of the two staircases, and as quietly as possible, made his way up to the large flat roof.  There was a crude door, with a lock, probably to meet some city code to protect any kids from getting out there, which he quickly picked.  Then, carefully, he made his way out into the open, not expecting anyone because of the locked door, but there could be other ways up there, and someone might have a key.  A careful scan showed the place was deserted.

Keeping low so he couldn't be spotted from anyone who might be hiding in one of the unfinished rooms on the upper levels, yet hurrying because Tony had reported they were about to follow Rineri into the structure, Jake made his way over to the inner edge of the roof where he could get a look at the ragged courtyard below, and scan as many of the windows as possible for possible snipers.  These people had shown they thought that way based on the attack against Susan before, so he wouldn't be surprised if they had something similar in mind here.  In fact, Paul, one of those who Jake suspected of being their Back-Tracker, had been one of the snipers who had gone after Susan. 

He wished he had more time so he could work his way around the rooftop and check all of the windows for possible danger, but knew that he didn't have the luxury.  As dark as some of the windowless rooms looked, he wasn't certain he would have spotted someone sitting well back into the rooms even if he had the time to look at all of the possibilities.

Tony was just alerting Jake to the fact they were inside and wouldn't be talking anymore, although he'd leave the link open.  Tony and Jim didn't know that Jake had Back-Tracked so he could be here ahead of them, although Jim might have guessed at the possibility.  Jake chose a position where he could watch the courtyard opposite from the way Rineri would enter the courtyard.  Jake was certain he would come through the courtyard, and if there were a sniper, he'd want to be facing the direction Rineri would be coming from.  That would give him the best shot at anyone following Rineri.  Jake's location would hopefully place him in the optimum position to spot someone thinking along those lines.

The rifle was off to his side, roughly in position, sitting on the butt and the bipod.  Even with the scope power cranked down to four times magnification, it was not the tool to use searching for a possible target.  Had he known for certain there was a sniper, and where he was, Jake would have been behind the rifle, scope focused on acquiring a target.  Instead, he was scanning the darkened windows with binoculars looking for any sign of activity.  If he spotted anyone, he could loop back and sight the rifle on that area.  Below, through peripheral vision, he caught a glimpse of Rineri passing through the courtyard, uncharacteristically glancing over his shoulder to see how close his pursuers might me.

The subtle scrape of a shoe against the loose debris on the roof alerted him to the danger, and Jake rolled quickly to one side as he dropped the binoculars and grabbed the suppressed Sig that he'd placed just forward of his elbows when he'd assumed his spotting position.  The shot intended for his back caught him along the rib cage as he rolled aside, and as he turned onto his back he saw the face from the sketch he'd examined many times before.  Paul Martin.  The man had a medium sized Glock in hand, probably a 9mm, and was preparing to fire a second time.  At this range, and now with Jake having nowhere else to go, it was unlikely he could miss.  Jake should have Back-Tracked, but his mind was already tracking his adversary, and the Sig found its target as he fired a quick double tap.  The rounds struck just where Jake intended and Paul Martin was pushed backward slightly by the impact, and then fell backwards as his dead hands lost their grip on the pistol he'd been holding.