“Listen. Go to places. Sit with folks. Listen some more. Don’t make it obvious. Don’t play detective. I just want you to do what you normally do, but just do it differently. Listen, pay attention. Something seems weird, remember it, get in touch. Okay?”
Dickie was already nodding. “Okay. Sure.”
Puller handed him a card. “My contact info. I assume you know how to reach Sergeant Cole.”
Puller rose.
“That’s all?” said Dickie. “I can go?”
“You’re not doing me any good sitting in my motel room. I need you out there. Give you a chance to serve your country again, even if your country did screw you over.”
Dickie rose, looked at Cole, and then put out a hand to Puller.
“Ain’t been many folks willing to give me a shot like this.”
“I’m not most folks.”
“I had you pegged wrong, I guess.”
“I guess we did the same to you,” noted Cole.
“You need a ride?” Puller asked.
“No,
I’m cool.”
After Dickie left, Cole said, “And you didn’t tell me something big was coming to Drake because why?”
“Because I was told not to. And then I decided to disobey orders.”
“What’s it based on?”
“Chatter NSA picked up. In Dari. Justice is coming. Whatever is going to happen will happen soon.”
“Dari? What the hell is that?”
“Dialect spoken in Afghanistan.”
“Afghanistan? You heard that in Drake?”
“Apparently so. At least in the vicinity of. Couldn’t get an exact location. And it was encrypted in old KGB code. And it was sent out shortly after the murders. Gotten DHS’s blood pressure up.”
“What else do you know?”
“Not enough, that’s for damn sure. You know one thing Dickie didn’t explain.”
“What’s that?”
“How did he get to the Halversons’ that night? Didn’t drive. No car out front. He ran into the woods. Escaped that way. Long way back to town.”
“That’s true.”
“Complicated guy. Who would’ve figured.”
“You think he knows more than he’s telling us?”
“I think he’s caught between a rock and a hard place. He’s involved in something that he doesn’t want us to know about. But I don’t think it’s connected to the chatter.”
“But I don’t know why you recruited him to help us. Especially if you think he’s involved in something criminal.”
“I’ve spent most of my adult life reading people. Especially soldiers and those formerly in the ranks. My instinct tells me that Dickie wants to help. I think he went to the Halversons’ that night because he suspected something. Or someone. What I think he wanted was just another chance to prove the Army screwed up in discharging him. So I gave it to him.”
“Well, if he gets killed that second chance will have come at a big cost.”
“Most second chances do. And most of the time they’re worth it.”
“When he went to the Halversons’ do you think he knew Treadwell and Bitner were sitting dead across the street?”
“I think he might have known. I think he probably tried to call and got no answer. I think he might have gone over to their house that night too, but couldn’t get in. The place was dark. He couldn’t have seen the bodies from the window. And there were no signs of forced entry.”
“So what’s his connection with Treadwell? Not just the Harley club. He’s scared.”
“Seven people have been killed. He should be scared. Along with everyone else.”
CHAPTER
65
COLE LEFT TO TAKE CARE of some paperwork back at the station. They arranged to meet later. Puller drove off in his car. Three minutes later he parked and sat there thumbing in a phone number.
The voice said, “Mason.”
“Agent Mason, it’s John Puller.”
Puller could hear the squeak of the man’s chair as he presumably leaned back. While the normal world went on around them, Mason was working 24/7 to keep the monsters at bay.
“I’m glad you called. We got one more piece of chatter and some additional intel that have combined to ratchet this sucker up to a new level.”
“I thought it was pretty high already. What new stuff do you have?”
“Another KGB code-encrypted piece of Dari. This time they said some shit about Allah the great and good. That didn’t get me excited. What did get me excited were numbers.”
“What numbers?”
“A date, Puller. They gave us the D-day, at least that’s what we think.”
“And what was the date?”
“You’re not going to like this because I sure as hell don’t. Three days from today.”
“You said you had other intelligence. Does it at least give us some idea of what they’re planning?”
“Yes, the mystery on that score is finally solved. And that’s the real scary part. There’s a gas pipeline that runs through Drake, northwest corner of the county.”
“Okay.”
“We didn’t think anything of it, really. Pipelines are natural targets, but not that popular because the human damage potential is not that significant. This pipeline supplies natural gas for three states: West Virginia, of course, Kentucky, and Ohio. The pipeline is owned by a Canadian outfit but operated by an American company. Trent Exploration. From what you told me you’ve had some interaction with Roger Trent, right?”
“Right.” Puller thought rapidly. “You think anyone at Trent is involved in this?”
“I’m not ruling out any possibilities at this point.”
“But what’s the vulnerability of the gas pipeline? And even if they did blow it up, how much damage are we talking about? Like you said, it would be limited.”
“The structural damage could be severe, but manageable. And then you’d have disruption of service. Not that sexy for a terrorist. They like body parts hanging from trees, not gas customers complaining because their stovetop isn’t working. And there are resources in the area that can respond to any damage to the pipeline and bring things under control.”
“Okay, so the pipeline is the target?”
“We don’t think it’s that simple.” He paused and Puller could visualize the man organizing the words in his head. “What’s a very popular tactic that the Taliban employs in Afghanistan? You should know this better than most.”
Puller did know better than most. “A feint and then the real hit. One bomb to draw in the first responders. Second bomb goes off to kill them.”
“Right, only here we believe it’s a variation on that tactic. We believe the attack on the gas pipeline is a diversionary tactic.”
Puller felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. “So what’s the real target?”
“If that gas pipeline explodes first responders from a hundred-mile radius will get there ASAP. That’s not guesswork. There are tri-state teaming agreements in place in the event that pipeline goes up in flames. Those resources are committed to that contingency and they can’t be stood down for any reason.”
“Okay.”
Mason continued. “Now, there’s lots of forest in that area. It’s been dry as hell. You could be looking at a fire that could cover three states and fed by a mountain of gas, at least until they could shut it down. As