The Alberta Connection (13 page)

“Sally, this is Ryce, not Tanya. Listen
carefully. I am sending some SEALs over to pick you up. Is Kenny
there?”

Sally replied that he was.

“OK, are you armed?”

Sally responded that they had handguns and
M4s.

Ryce laughed. “OK, please don’t shoot my SEAL
friends. I will give them this number. They will call and let it
ring twice when they get on your porch.”

He paused. “I was using the closet in the
spare bedroom to store flak jackets. Make sure you and Kenny have
one on when you leave the house. I’ll see you in Idaho.”

Ryce made another call to Phil with the
address of his house and the telephone number. Phil promised to
relay the message to O2. As soon as Kenny and Sally were on the
aircraft, Ryce would receive a call.

The retrieval of Kenny and Sally took ninety
minutes. Phil was laughing so hard he could barely report that he
had Kenny and Sally on the aircraft. When O2 was coordinating
transportation at the Billings airport, he had run into another
former member of his SEAL team. The team member was assigned to an
Army National Guard unit stationed at the airport.

The Guard unit had provided O2 with six of
its members and three Hummers. One of the Hummers had a .50 CAL
machinegun mounted in a turret on the roof. O2 reported that they
had no problems driving around Billings.

Ryce had taken the call in his office with
Doug and Mark listening on the speaker. Doug had started laughing
so hard he almost fell off of his chair.

“If you were surrounded by blind midgets in
the middle of the Sahara Desert, one of them will be someone O2 has
served with in the SEALs.”

Chapter 17

The return flight
from Billings to Pendergast Field landed at 5:30 PM. Ryce watched
as twenty-five Montana JBTF agents departed the aircraft with
almost no luggage. Everyone had departed Montana with no warning.
John informed the group that they would be escorted to the Ranch
tack and clothing shop to stock up on immediate necessities.

When Sally walked down the boarding stairs,
she was attacked by Tanya. They hugged and cried for a few minutes
and then Sally found Ryce.

“Thanks for watching my back. And
Kenny’s.”

Ryce just smiled. “I’d say you have a lovely
back, but my wife is standing within flying pan range.”

Tanya, Sally, and several people who had
heard the story of the flying pan began laughing hysterically. Ryce
noticed that there were many within earshot with decidedly puzzled
looks. He allowed himself to be cajoled into explaining what
happened.

While Ryce was in the Philippines, one of the
enlisted men in his G3 group had moved into his Philippine
girlfriend’s thatched hut. One morning, they were awakened by
something in the kitchen. The girlfriend had been seasoning a new
cast iron frying pan over a small charcoal fire in the bedroom. She
picked up the frying pan and hurled it at the noise. It was a tiger
that had been terrorizing the village.

The frying pan handle impaled the side of the
tiger’s head and instantly killed it. The village presented the
girlfriend with a tanned tiger skin. And the joke of the month
became watch where you stand; it might be within flying pan
range.

The Pendergast Medical Center had been
notified that several agents from Great Falls might need attention.
Matt and the four men who had been caught in the crossfire at the
cabin were delivered to Pen Wilson for a check out. Matt was not
happy that his intended reunion with the Great Falls agents was to
be delayed by over three hours. Ryce called Pen and asked her to
have Matt escorted to the chow hall when she was finished.

Ramona instructed the group to go to the
Ranch chow hall after they completed their shopping. Six hours of
sitting on an airplane with only a bag of peanuts were not the best
six hours they could experience.

Ryce had some small details to clean up and
was not able to immediately accompany the Montana agents to the
chow hall. When he finally arrived, Ryce saw the JBTF agents had
positioned five tables in a U-shape. They were regaling O2, Ramona,
and Marge with tales of the Wild West in Montana. The tales
eventually included the story of Ryce and the bear.

During the training sessions in Great Falls,
Ryce had taken several of the agents into the mountains for a
tracking exercise. He found a set of tracks, and they began
following them. At one point, they were in a very closely packed
grove of trees. The tracks had suddenly disappeared. For some
reason, Ryce looked up. He saw a bear cub directly above him that
was having difficulty maintaining its grip on the tree.

Without warning, the cub let go. Ryce spun
and tried to get out of the way, but the cub got a paw out to
stabilize his landing. The claws ripped through the backpack that
Ryce was carrying, leaving three 12” holes in it. If Ryce had moved
one inch slower, the holes would have been down his back. The
falling cub also punctured two water bottles while slashing the
backpack.

When Ryce felt something trickling down his
legs, he look at the group and announced, “I think it got me.”

The backpack and water bottles were placed in
a trophy case in the reception area of the Great Falls office, with
a sign: ‘Ryce: 0, Bear Cub: +3’.

When John arrived at the chow hall, he
informed the JBTF agents that FBI scramble teams had been sent to
Great Falls and Billings. They were collecting anything left in the
offices that would be needed immediately in Idaho.

John chuckled. “If you have anything at home
you want picked up, please let Ryce know. And don’t worry about how
the FBI is obtaining entrance to homes and apartments. The FBI has
some really good locksmiths.”

John also read off the sleeping arrangements.
Half of the agents were going into the local motel while the rest
would be staying at the Marina Apartments. John passed out a
three-page information booklet with the instructions.

Matt got up and softly said, “Mr. Pendergast,
on behalf of the State of Montana, I’d like to thank you for
pulling our butts out of the fire. I know several families who are
grieving right now, but there is a group at this table who will be
eternally thankful to you.”

Marge chuckled. John did not like being
called Mister.

As John walked out of the family dining
center, he waved at Ryce and O2 to follow him.

“The FBI picked up the Lexus. Their forensic
people are going over it with a fine-tooth comb. They have promised
to give us a report when they complete the investigation.

“I got an email from David Bolt. He got
Ryce’s email asking for some direction on taking a team to find out
what happened to the Browning PD officers. David asked what I
thought.”

John paused and then said, “I told Bolt if he
wanted Ryce to do his job, he’d better let him do his job. David
says you have permission to do whatever you want with the JBTF,
within reason. And going in to find the Browning PD officers is
certainly within reason.”

John paused again and then looked over at
Ryce. “O2 forwarded the email to me that you sent him about taking
a team to the lake. The Gulfstream G650 is ready when you want it.
I don’t suppose you’ve told Tanya what you have in mind?”

Ryce shook his head, looked at O2, and then
back at John. “Actually, no.”

Ryce turned back to O2 and said, “I’ll see
you in my office at 7:00 in the morning. If you are going along,
bring four men you trust to watch your back. If you are not going
to be part of the festivities, bring five. And if you hear sirens
tonight, you can be sure that Tanya had problems with my
plans.”

Ryce and Tanya rode directly back to their
apartment after the party broke up.

As they prepared for bed, Tanya wrapped her
arms around Ryce and said, “Thanks for saving Sally. My two very
best friends are you and her.”

Ryce watched Tanya bubble around the bedroom.
She was so happy her friend was safe, Ryce did not have the courage
to tell her what he was planning.

Chapter 18

There were few
empty desks in the JBTF offices when Ryce and Tanya walked into the
research center at 7:00 AM. The Great Falls JBTF office had added
thirteen people to the center and the Billings office an additional
twelve. Everyone had a desk, but there were only eighteen laptops
spread among forty-three agents.

When Tanya saw O2 and four strangers walk
into the conference room, she gave Ryce a very puzzled look. Ryce
took her hand, motioned for O2 to follow them, and walked to his
office.

When Ryce was comfortable in his office
chair, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

“Matt, this is Ryce. Could you please come to
my office?”

As soon as Matt arrived, Ryce asked, “Where
are the keys to the Great Falls Suburban and camping trailer?”

Matt reached into his pocket, pulled out a
key ring, and dropped the keys on Ryce’s desk. “Is this where I am
supposed to ask what you want the Suburban for?”

Tanya was sitting next to O2. She reached out
and grabbed his arm.

“No, this is where I am supposed to ask what
he wants the Suburban for.”

Tanya stood and walked from the office. O2
looked over at Ryce.

“That went a lot better than I expected. I
haven’t told Ramona, yet, either.”

Eight minutes later, Tanya walked back into
Ryce’s office followed by Sally and Ramona. Ramona walked over to
O2, sat next to him, and grabbed his arm.

“You had a precinct meeting scheduled this
morning at 7:00 AM. When you did not show, I got a call from your
number two. I checked your online calendar. You cancelled the
precinct meeting and substituted a meeting with Ryce.

“I saw you had a note on the calendar. I
checked the note and found four names. Those four are sitting in
this office. Then I got a call from Tanya. What the heck have you
got planned?”

Ryce smiled at Ramona, looked at O2, and then
said, “I think we have been caught.”

Ryce turned to Tanya. “I wanted to bring it
up last night, but you were just so happy about Sally, I didn’t
have the heart.

“A few days ago, the Browning PD had some
laptops stolen. The two officers who were in pursuit have not
reported in. Someone from Browning PD contacted Homeland Security,
who suggested Matt could help. The crew cleaning the campground
near the cabin found two burned vehicles. One of the vehicles was
traced back to one of the missing officers. The other vehicle was
stolen in Atlanta, Georgia, three weeks ago. I know I might be
grasping at straws, but I think I see the ghostly outlines of a
pattern here.

“I sent an email to David Bolt yesterday
afternoon, asking if I had the authority to send people to find out
what happened to the Browning PD officers. He said yes.

“The plan is to go in with six people.”

Ryce paused, looked directly at Tanya, and
smiled.

“I think you have a good idea of who the six
are. We will use the Suburban and camp trailer as a base with two
people. The rest will hike the trail until we get to the border
fence, or find some bodies. If we find bodies, we will leave a GPS
marker, and some park rangers will take horses in to pick up the
bodies. Dexter says he can pick us up on the Canadian side of the
border, if we get that far, and transport us back to Great Falls. I
don’t expect to be gone more than a week.”

Tanya looked over at Ramona. “Remind me why I
married a Ranger.”

Ramona laughed. “Because there were no spare,
totally insane, SEALs available?”

Tanya stood and motioned for Ramona and Sally
to follow her. Ryce looked over at O2 and then pointed at the door
the three women had walked through.

“That conference is not going to bode well
for us.”

Tanya, Ramona, and Sally were out of the
office for at least ten minutes. When they returned, Tanya pulled a
chair close to Ryce’s desk.

“OK, we don’t like it, but we are not going
to run off a cliff screaming bloody murder. If we can set up a
radio monitor center in Suite 424, Ramona and I can listen to what
is going on. Ramona says two of the four you are dragging along on
this trip have wives. Plan this well enough for everyone to return
in one piece.”

Tanya stood and walked from the room with
Ramona and Sally. O2 looked over at Ryce.

“When were you planning to leave?”

Ryce studied the wall for a moment. “I think
I can bring the additional JBTF personnel up to speed between now
and lunch. I would guess we could be wheels up by 1:00 PM and
sitting in lawn chairs on the lake by 7:00 PM.”

Ryce looked over at Matt. “Are those two-man
tents still in the hanger with the sleeping bags?”

Matt shook his head “yes.”

Ryce continued. “Great. I want the camp site
to look like it is being used by half of Patton’s Seventh
Army.”

He looked around the room. “Go home and get
everything together. We won’t be carrying any heavy artillery.
Let’s make this a quick and easy run to the border.”

As Matt was walking out, Ryce called to him
to remain in the office.

“Is the utility van that was used to pick me
up on my last day still in the hanger?”

When Matt shook his head “yes,” Ryce smiled.
“I guess I need the keys to the hanger and the van. And, I still
have some things in the gun locker in the hanger office.”

Matt and Ryce walked to Suite 424 where Tanya
was huddled with Sally and Ramona. Ryce began writing personnel
assignments on the whiteboard. By 10:30 AM, he was satisfied with
where everyone was working and for whom he or she was working.

At 10:45 AM, three technicians pushed a
mobile command center on wheels into the conference room, found
Tanya, and asked where she wanted the monitoring center set up.
After twenty minutes of cell phone conversations, the group
established the antenna feed from the roof, and Tanya was on the
air.