He fell back and hunched down as the sound of the chopper came closer. He saw the blinking lights from the belly of the aircraft. Next a searchlight flitted over the house and yard as Robie quickly lay flat in the high grass, facedown.
He only lifted his head when he could tell by the sounds of the engine reducing power and thewhump-whumpof the chopper’s props lessening that the aircraft was landing.
The front door of the house opened up and the older gent came out, crossed the yard quickly, and climbed into a rear door of the chopper. It immediately lifted off, as Robie shot pictures of all of it.
A minute later he was back on his scooter flying down the road toward town. He wanted to report in with Blue Man.
It would prove to be far more difficult than he had thought.
“BUT DOES THAT HAVEanything to do with our case?” asked Jamison as they sat in the hotel lobby late that night.
“It’s not a crime for Hugh Dawson to sell out to Stuart McClellan,” noted Decker. “But to answer your question, I don’t know if there is a connection. Yet.”
“Do you think McClellan is involved in this somehow?”
“If Irene Cramer knew something that was damaging to him, it’s possible. I just don’t know what that might be. But I think the military installation is a more promising suspect. I think that’s why she came up here.”
“There’s clearly something going on over there,” said Jamison. “From what Robie found out and our discussion with his boss.”
“We need to talk to Brad Daniels again.”
“And Robie’s boss seems to think that something is off there. I mean, why have two redundant facilities in North Dakota?”
“So the one here has an ulterior purpose.”
“The guy running away that Robert White saw?” said Decker.
“Yeah?”
“The guy was obviously trying to escape.”
“So you think there’s some sort ofprisonbeing operated over there?”
“Maybe.”
“And the ambulances?”
“It seems to be the sort of prison where people suffer injury routinely enough to require medical attention off-site.”
“But if they are operating a prison over there, where would they take the injured prisoners? I mean, if they’re trying to keep it secret, they can’t just drive them to the local hospital.”
“They have a runway. They have choppers coming and going at odd hours.”
Jamison looked at him in alarm. “You think they’re flying these guys out?”
“And maybe they don’t come back.”
“Decker, all of that sounds really illegal. I mean, you can’t hurt prisoners, fly them out, and then they disappear. They have rights.”
“Maybe they’re not ordinary prisoners, Alex.”
She gaped at him. “Meaning what?”
“It’s a military facility. Maybe they’re military prisoners of a sort.”
“But if they are military prisoners, they still have rights.”
“Maybe they’re not members of the military or even American citizens. Remember White said the guy was talking gibberish?”