They'll Call It Treason (22 page)

January 31 at 12:15
p.m.
EST

Washington, D.C. – FBI Headquarters

After two cups of coffee and an overturned ficus, Richard sat at his desk with as much poise as he could muster. He took another sip from his mug and laid back in his chair.

One step behind
.

The words ran through his mind repeatedly like a bright florescent sign in Las Vegas.
One step behind.

Richard clenched his fist, angry at his own performance. He was failing. How could a team of rogue agents have gotten this far? It chagrined him. Even with all the resources at his disposal, he was still one step behind them.

He stared down at the pictures on his desk. Ethan seemed to laugh at Richard from the photo on the paper file. He shoved it aside and looked up at the monitors against the wall.

On the screen to his right he saw a familiar headline plastered on the screen above the Fox News logo.
Domestic Terrorists Cover Tracks, Leave One Dead
. He grabbed the remote and turned the volume up.

“…that the terrorists set off an explosive in the house,” a dark-skinned female reported. Richard could not help but notice her slim neckline leading the edge of her blouse. “A body was found at the scene. Current reports from the FBI identify the deceased as Agent Dante Mercer.”

Richard sat back and breathed in. His anger subsided. He waited for the rest of the information they had supplied the local police department to go public. In the brief time between his initial reaction and the media catching on, the story had been fine tuned.

“It is now believed that Agent Mercer attempted to thwart the attempts of domestic terrorist Ethan Shaw. The FBI reports that Mercer had tipped them off to their location. The Bureau is speculating that the terrorist purposefully killed Agent Mercer in retaliation.”

It was a lie. The American people were not ready to hear the truth: the Bureau had utilized armed drones to hunt down American citizens on American soil. The fact they were terrorist did not matter. Public opinion would go wild and the Congress would retaliate against the intelligence community. It was better this way.

Despite the report, Mercer had not furnished the Bureau with the group's whereabouts. Richard had been insistent on keeping that point in the FBI official response. He hoped that by some chance Ethan and his cohorts would hear the report, and just maybe think it was true. If he could foment merely a small distrust between the remaining three men that could be the edge he needed.

This small success made losing track of the terrorist seem just a bit more palpable.

“Sir,” Agent Day peaked his head in the door.

“Yes, Aran.”

“It’s time for your meeting with the Director.”

“Ugh…” Richard heaved and gave Day a sour look. The weight of his failure sank back onto his shoulders. “Let’s go tell the Director I still haven’t apprehended the terrorist two days before the State of the Union.”

January 31 at 1:15
p.m.
EST

Northeast of Fleetwood, NC

Snow crunched under Ethan’s feet. Pushing a low hanging pine branch aside, he trekked on. The air was frigid and his breath twisted into tiny ephemeral clouds. Time had rendered their light jackets useless. The harsh cold bit through the thin damp layers, their bodies racked with the cold.

For the past half-hour they had hiked through snow-covered woods hoping not to be tracked and hoping to find some shelter. Ethan was not sure which was more important to him.

Of all the things that could go wrong the engine had overheated. The Jeep’s water reservoir had been grazed by a bullet during the firefight at the cabin. The last drop of anti-freeze had finally leaked onto the road. Despite the near zero temperatures, the engine had buckled under the stress.

Gray had been persistent about hiding the vehicle, though it had taken little convincing. Quickly they had shoved the Jeep off the road a few miles back into a deep wooded ravine. Thick brush and the continual snowfall had easily concealed it.

Laden with heavy backpacks and only their thin coats to guard them they had taken to the woods. They worked to stay within sight of the road. Getting stranded out in the snowy wilderness was not on the top of their to-do list.

On a few occasions large rock faces and boulders pushed them further back into the woods than Ethan was comfortable with. Yet, at present they had always been able to find the road again. Ethan feared that their luck would not hold though.

Their desperate dependence on technology repeatedly shot through Ethan’s mind.
How had men a hundred years ago managed?

Yet, the lack of technology also put them a step ahead. It provided a shadow. Without a means to track them it would make it more difficult for the Bureau to pinpoint their location. It would not have surprised Ethan if a heat sensing drone missed them at his current body temperature.

While the snow no longer fell, the wind had picked back up. It howled through the small open spaces between tree limbs and smacked against their raw, blushed, skin. Every few yards a handful of snow would shift loose from its tree perch and splatter over their heads or nearby if they were lucky. As if the cold was not bad enough, the wetness of the snow melting in their hair threatened to bring on a cold.

Vmmm… Vmmm…

Bewildered Ethan’s eyes moved from tree to tree trying to find the source of the noise.
Vmmm… Vmmm…
It continued.

Then a thought hit him.
My phone? How?

He fumbled his deadened fingers around his pocket until finally he grabbed the disposable phone. He struggled to grip it without any feeling in his hands.
Who would have the number? How?

Looking at the blank screen he raised an eyebrow. Nothing. He checked the back. As expected the battery was disconnected, still sitting in his pocket. His mind seemed to play tricks on him. He hoped that the cold was not impairing his judgment.

Gray smirked at Ethan’s interest in his phone. Ethan turned and looked back at Gray and Austin, and grinned between gritted teeth, putting the phone away.

“Thought I had a call.”

Gray shook his head and chuckled as his body shivered. Austin tried laughing, but it seemed more like his teeth just chattered.

“Probably shouldn’t take it,” Gray joked.

Ethan was about to open his mouth when a thought hit him. He stopped laughing. Confused, Gray and Austin calmed themselves and waited, not sure if something was wrong.

Ethan pulled the phone back out and turned to face them. He looked down at the phone again, squinting.

“You okay there Ethan?” Gray asked. He had seen that look before. He could not decide whether to be worried or ready.

“I’ve got an idea.”

January 31 at 2:30
p.m.
EST

Northeast of Fleetwood, NC

Ethan sighed at the heat pouring from the car vents. It had taken the better part of half an hour for the three of them to warm up after battling the winter winds for nearly two hours. Gray drove while Ethan hovered his bare hands over the vents. Austin leaned forward from the back seat trying to soak up whatever heat got past Ethan and Gray.

They had found the car at a lone house, placed far back into the woods off a small country road. From the looks of the small worn house, whoever lived there either was not home or did not expect visitors. Toys and junk were strewn across the front lawn, and the porch and shingled roof was in dire need of repair.

After scouting the area, they moved in quietly and found an old silver Honda sitting at the edge of the tree line just off the gravel pathway. It had been unlocked as if it was waiting for them. Gray hot-wired the ignition and off they went.

It was time now to carry through with Ethan’s plan. As dangerous as it was none of them could come up with a better option.

“Alright Ethan, run us through this plan of yours one more time,” Austin asked, trying to find something in it that did not sound suicidal.

“Okay,” Ethan started. “I’m going to call Kate’s phone and make a deal with whoever has her, and I’m nearly positive it’s Abrams. Me for her. You’re going to try to trace Kate’s phone while I’m sure the Bureau will be tracing ours.”

“So basically we are going to give ourselves up?” Gray interjected. “You realize that the Bureau will be on our heels, right? Even if they do arrange a meeting, they are not going to give her up as some hostage swap?”

“You’re right, but I don’t think Abrams, or whoever is responsible, will want the Bureau involved. Chances are they won’t let Kate’s phone be used unless they have it secured up like Fort Knox. They don’t want any word of Cerberus coming to light if they do exist.”

“So let me get this straight. First, we’re counting on them being paranoid. Then were hoping that it's not being the Bureau that has Kate,” Gray said with an eyebrow raised. “Nice.”

“No, we’re counting on them being smart.”

Gray shook his head, still unsure about the plan.

“What if she is in FBI custody?” Gray asked.

Ethan looked at Gray surprised.

“You really think it’s the Bureau that kidnaped her and left you for dead?”

Gray paused for a moment, trying not to bite back. He knew Ethan was right.

“No,” he said quietly. “No, I don’t think it was the FBI. Just hoped.”

For a while no one said a thing. Ethan had to agree with that. He hoped he was wrong, he hoped it was the Bureau that had Kate. It did not make all the wrong go away, but at least then he would not have to fear the worst.

They each mulled silently over the plan and their situation.

“Are you really going to turn yourself over?” Austin asked from behind.

“That depends,” Ethan started. “If there is a way not to, no. But if that is the only way to get Kate out, yes. Hopefully we can get more intel in the process though.”

Gray huffed, “Man, sometimes I really hate you, but you know I’m with you to the end.”

“Same here,” Austin agreed.

Ethan shook his head solemnly. “I guess that’ll have to do then. Now let’s get to it.”

Ethan pulled the small disposable phone from his pocket. He began to enter Kate’s number, then paused, trying to remember the digits. In the age of smart phones typing a number had become obsolete.
Come on Ethan
.

Finally the number came to him and he pressed the final digits and placed the call on speaker. The phone rang, and rang, but no answer. Eventually it beeped, and he heard Kate’s voice, beautiful and soft, come across the phone.

Voicemail.

The sound of her voice was comforting. It warmed him more than the hot air coming from the car vents and melted him to the core. Suddenly the message ended and the final beep sounded. He did not know what to say now that it was time.

“Kate…” his voice came quietly. Unsure what to do Ethan ended the call. Ethan closed his eyes, letting Kate’s face run through his mind.

“Try again Ethan,” Gray encouraged him.

Ethan nodded and went to redial the call. Suddenly he felt the phone vibrate in his palm.

Ring. Ring.

             
“Blocked Call” came up on the screen. Ethan looked to Gray, suddenly unsure of his plan. Gray nodded for Ethan to answer.

             
Ring. Ring.

              He took a deep breath and lifted the phone to his ear.

              “Hello?” he said. Nothing but a gaping silence met his answer. He waited.

“Ethan,” a familiar deep voice answered.

January 31 at 2:55
p.m.
EST

Unknown

“Ethan,” Sean repeated into the phone.

Sean waited a few moments, standing in the dimly lit side room. His chair laid toppled over against the far wall. When he had arrived back at the warehouse to find one man dead and that Kate had almost escaped he had gone on a small rampage. The chair was only a small remnant of his wrath.

A new team was already on the premises. The old team members, those that failed to keep an eye on the prize, were no longer with them. At this moment each of them were being transported to various locations across the United States, Mexico and Canada with a single bullet wound through the forehead. Such failure had to be made an example.

Hearing the one-word message on Kate’s phone had quickly raised his spirits. He knew who it was. He had only heard the man’s voice a few times, but there was no mistaking it. Ethan.

“This is Ethan isn’t it?” he tried again.

“Yes,” Ethan finally replied, his voice quiet. “Who is this?”

“Oh, you know who I am,” Sean taunted him. “Your good friend from Atlanta.”

“Abrams,” Ethan replied, his voice more restrained than Sean had expected it to be.

Sean imagined all the rage that Ethan was holding back wherever he was. He smirked.
What a fool
. Sean nodded to Ju-Long questioningly. Searching the screen, Ju-Long watched a map as his program attempted to trace the call. He gave the thumbs up.

Well, we’ve got your location now. Try anything funny and we’ll have no problem stomping you out
.

“Do call me Sean,” he jeered. “I think we are past formalities now.”

“What have you done with Kate?” Ethan demanded, ignoring Sean’s taunts.

“Done with her?” Sean sounded hurt. “I’ve just been taking care of her while you run up and down the countryside. She’s in good care. The question is, are you ready to end this? You can’t run forever you know.”

“You’re right, I can’t run forever,” Ethan admitted. “I want to make a deal.”

“I’m listening,” Sean said, surprised.

“We know who you’re working for and I know you don’t want the Bureau finding out. So let’s keep them out of it,” Ethan started. “Cerberus ring a bell?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sean responded.
How did he know about Cerberus?
Now he was truly dangerous.

“Oh, I think you know full well what I’m talking about. Got a problem with talking about it over the phone?”

“If I had any idea what you were talking about maybe I could.” Sean hated that with one word, Ethan had got him on the defensive. He had to take back control. “How about we get down to business? I’ve got something you want, you have something I want.”

“Okay, let’s talk.”

“You want your luscious little play toy,” Sean said as lasciviously as he could, “and I want you out of the picture, gone.”

“So let’s make a trade. Me for Kate.”

Sean was surprised at how quickly Ethan had decided. He wondered if Ethan really believed he would just let Kate waltz away once he had Ethan in his control. Surely he knew better.

“You for Kate?” Sean repeated. “Such the heroic boyfriend.”

Silence greeted Sean’s jeering. “You do realize that you won’t be leaving here if we make the swap, right?”

“Do we have a deal?” Ethan pressed firmly.

“Testy are we?” Sean laughed in the phone. “If you want to make it that easy I won’t fight you, but you have to come alone. I don’t have any business with your friends, the Bureau can deal with them. And I don’t want any funny business once you get here,” Sean explained. “I won’t hesitate to cut your girl’s throat if I think you’re breaking the deal or if I get word of your pathetic friends popping up nearby.”

“Let me talk to Kate first,” Ethan demanded, flustered by Abrams’ threat. “I have to know she is alright.”

“Just for a moment.”

Sean opened the door leading onto the warehouse floor where Kate sat tied, more securely than before, to her chair. Kate refused to meet his eyes as he walked up from behind her and came to face her.

“You’ve got a call darling,” Sean taunted her. “Seems your little boyfriend wants to rescue you.”

Kate’s eyes widened with hope. He put the phone to her ear.

“Ethan?” Kate said, “Ethan is it you?”

“Yes Kate, it’s me. Are you okay?”

Okay
. The word shot through her head. No, I’m not okay.

“I’m fine Ethan. Don’t do anything this monster asks. Don’t do—” she screamed as Sean ripped the phone back.

“See, she’s doing just fine,” Sean sparred back. “Still needs to learn her place though.” His voice snarling, holding back the desire to slap her across the cheek again.

“So, is that good enough for you?” Sean asked.

“So help me you hurt—”

“Just stop, she is fine and as long as you cooperate she’ll be let go in one piece,” Sean jerked back. “Otherwise, there may be multiple packages involved in the delivery.”

Silence dominated the phone for a few moments. Sean waited.

“Deal,” Ethan confirmed. “Where?”

“We’re at one twenty-five Apple Valley Road in Winchester, Virginia. An old abandoned warehouse off the main road. Be here tonight by eight PM, front entrance, unarmed.”

Sean snapped the phone shut before another word could be spoken. He took a deep breath and stared down at Kate stuck in her cold chair. Dried sweat and tears marking her cheeks, a bluish bruise marked her right cheek.

“Seems your boyfriend is on his way. How sweet,” Sean taunted her, pulling her face toward him forcing her to look at him. “But so stupid.”

Sean pulled her forward, pressing his lips to hers. He pressed hard against her, letting his hand wander over her breast as he tasted her lips. Kate sat limply, no will power to move, whimpering. Stepping back, Sean shoved her face to the side, listening to her whimper as he stepped away.
So pathetic. Beautiful, but pathetic.

Closing the door behind him with a click, he looked to his partner, “You do have his location, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, keep an eye on it.”

“Do you really plan to let the girl go?” Ju-long asked, his english choppy.

“Hell no,” Sean replied. “He just needs to think I’m going to.”

“You’re going to kill her too?”

Sean quickly considered his options. It was safer to kill her, get her out of the picture and make sure no one slipped up. But, his mind wandered about the “benefits” of keeping her alive. He could use a toy. The thought of dominating her flushed through his mind, sending chills through him. Of course it would not be permanent. Once he had had enough he could dispose of her.

He looked away from Ju-long for a moment. He knew his soul was a dark place. The fundies would likely say he had a hot place in hell. Lucky for him hell was only a fearful place in fantasy. A place that the high minded religious zealots used to control people. It worked, but he had other ways. And morals, he laughed at the thought. Morals were relative, a code setup by weaker men to entrap the more cunning and intelligent. Chains to hold him back from his rightful place in society, as a leader, a master. He planned to be a master.

“Yes,” he decided. “No loose ends. She has to die.”

Ju-long nodded.

“When Ethan gets here, I fully expect him to try something stupid. I want you to have the men ready. I want them on watch throughout the building tonight. Other than Ethan, no one gets in alive.” He paused for a second, “And absolutely no one gets out alive.”