Under the Radar Read online

  Alexis swiveled around and pounded him on the back, a wicked smile on her face. “So, Joseph, whatcha been doing lately besides taking pictures?” Alexis purred, her face as close to his as it could be without actually touching.

  Espinosa wondered what kind of comeback Ted or even Jack would make to a comment like that. Jack would have some clever remark, while Ted, who was absolutely no authority on women, would say something stupid. He was probably better off on his own. “Just waiting for a moment like this.”

  “Aahhh,” she said before turning around to face front.

  Espinosa rather thought his answer was on the money. “Aahhh” sounded like Alexis liked his response. He felt like beating his chest and yelling, “Me, Tarzan!” Of course that was stupid, and something Ted would do, so he just sat there with his arms around Alexis and waited for his next big moment.

  In the lead car, Annie was staring out at the dark night. “Jack, when we get inside the compound, what are you and the boys going to do? I don’t know why I say this but I’m thinking the compound is going to be pitch-dark. I know, I know, we have the night vision goggles and a rough map of the place, but what exactly do you see yourself doing?”

  “Rounding up all the males while you girls round up the women. I think the men should be separated from the women. I don’t really have a clue what we should do about the children, to be honest with you, Annie. As far as I know the sect is not into violence and weapons, that kind of thing. They brainwash, they connive to get money illegally and the leaders live high on the dole. Nikki will be taking on their financials and wreaking a little havoc where all that’s concerned. We have the element of surprise on our side. The first thing we have to do is confiscate any and all cell phones, and I suspect there aren’t but a few of them. That guy, the one they call the Prophet, Evanrod by name, is tight on control. He’ll probably try to call Sheriff Finn or the deputies, but we have their phones. I tossed them on the floor in the back. Before you ask, I turned them off.”

  In the backseat, Kathryn unbuckled her seat belt and leaned forward. “How are we going to utilize the two eighteen-wheelers that are in the compound?”

  “They’re full of pumpkins,” Jack said. “How many do you think one of those rigs can hold, Kathryn?”

  “Thousands,” was the immediate response.

  “How many people?”

  “Adults or children?” she snapped.

  “Either/or,” Jack shot back.

  “Maybe seventy-five kids, and you’d still have room for pumpkins. If you’re talking adults, probably the same number plus some pumpkins. Give or take a few. They won’t be comfortable. Is that your plan?”

  “It might have to be. Lizzie is supposed to get back to me shortly about a route to Vegas, where Cosmo Cricket is setting up a safe haven. I’m sorry, but I just don’t know, Kathryn.”

  Nikki’s voice was cheerful when she said, “Not to worry, Jack, this is in no way your fault. We’re pretty good at winging things. I don’t see this time being an exception. Actually, this time around we number ten, as opposed to our usual six, and I’m not counting Bert, who will be on the outside by the gates. I think that, all things considered, we’re good to go. You know, some scientist once said, ‘For every action there is a reaction.’ I think maybe it was Einstein. We just have to wait for their action, then we do our thing. Everything is going to depend on how we’re greeted and how much opposition we encounter.”

  Jack wondered why Nikki’s little speech didn’t make him feel more comfortable.

  “Okay, according to this GPS, we’re exactly one mile from the gates. So far so good.”

  “Yeah, so far,” Kathryn muttered.

  Chapter 17

  Lizzie Fox stared at the text message coming in on her BlackBerry from Cosmo Cricket. She wanted to dance a jig at what she was reading. True to his word, Cosmo had a safe haven waiting for whoever Lizzie was sending his way. Annie’s project was a work in progress. He’d asked that she send Nellie and Elias immediately to Las Vegas to be the welcoming committee for whatever guests were coming his way. And gave instructions for Nellie to call Paula Woodley. Not only did Cosmo have a safe haven, he had what he called “getaway vehicles” of all descriptions. Lizzie laughed out loud as she sent the message on to Jack Emery before she responded.

  Lizzie felt warm all over, her face flushed a rosy pink as she typed in cryptic letters that, translated, meant she loved him so much her toenails ached. She hoped she never came to regret the day she’d involved this dear, sweet man in her nefarious doings. Childishly, she crossed her fingers and grinned from ear to ear. Cosmo could handle anything, and if things ever went south, he’d handle that, too. That was a given as far as she was concerned.

  Next, she called Maggie at the Post for an update. As she waited for Maggie to pick up, she forwarded Cosmo’s text message. That would put them all on the same page, she hoped.

  When Maggie answered, Lizzie asked, “Anything I should know, Maggie, before I head out to the courthouse to file my lawsuits? I hope to be on my way back to Vegas in case Cosmo needs some help, which I don’t think he will, but I want to see him. I should be back in Washington in three or four days. Has anyone heard from Myra? No snafus along the way? By the way, your front pages have been sizzling. We’re going to have to buy you a crown because, lady, you are the Journalistic Queen, bar none.”

  “Thanks, but it ain’t over till it’s over, and everyone is home safe and sound. Not a word has come through from Myra or Charles to me. Annie said she talked to her, but Myra was just being Myra, which means she didn’t give up anything. We’re all still pretty much in the dark as far as she and Charles are concerned. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but if my feet were put to the fire for my honest opinion, I’d say it’s not a good thing. This is the part I hate, the waiting,” Maggie said.

  Lizzie smiled to herself. Murphy’s Law—what can go wrong will go wrong. “Yeah, me, too. Gotta go, Maggie, someone is knocking on my door.”

  Lizzie frowned. She wasn’t expecting company. She made her way to the door and looked through the small magnified peephole and was stunned to see Marion Jennings. She unlocked the door and motioned for the young woman to come in. A chill ran up and down her spine at the expression on Marion’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Maybe nothing. I…I didn’t tell you something. I don’t know why I didn’t. I’m sorry, but…the others said I needed to come back and tell you. One of those young pregnant girls is my sister. She just turned thirteen a few months ago. I begged my mother, my real mother, when I left, not to give Sara to those…those men. She wouldn’t even talk to me when she found out I was leaving. As far as she’s concerned, I no longer exist. They are going to try and tell you she’s older, but she isn’t. What that means is, she was promised to someone before she even became a teen. When I left she was playing with a rag doll. She was just a little girl.”

  Lizzie wrapped Marion in her arms. “So what you’re saying is, you want us to get your sister out of there and not leave her behind for the FBI and the authorities to decide her fate. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Yes. She’s a baby having a baby. It’s not right. I’ll be able to take care of her and the baby if you can get her to me. I’ll just have to work harder. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I don’t know why I didn’t.”

  Lizzie nodded. “And your mother?”

  Marion’s expression froze. “I don’t much care. She didn’t care about me, and she doesn’t care about Sara. She didn’t care about any of us. I don’t want to talk about her anymore. Goodbye, Miss Fox, and thank you again for all your help.”

  Lizzie locked the door. She walked back to one of the two chairs in the room and sat down. She dropped her head into her hands. How could a mother allow such things to happen to her children? Lizzie sat like that for a long time, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was all so wrong, and no one did anything about it. Well, maybe that would all change in a matter of a few hours.<
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  Lizzie bounced up off her chair. No damn maybe about it. It would change, she’d make sure or die trying, if it came to that. She wished she knew what was going on out at the HOE compound.

  Her satellite phone in hand, Lizzie ripped off a message to Jack, explaining her visit from Marion Jennings. She ended the cryptic message with:

  “The girl’s name is Sara. Even if she’s kicking and screaming and her mother is threatening you, do not leave that girl behind.”

  Less than fifty miles away, Jack Emery read Lizzie’s message in the dim light of the sheriff’s cruiser just as he was reaching up to the visor to press the remote that would open the HOE compound gates. He turned around and spoke to the girls. “Lizzie said we are not to leave a girl named Sara behind. She’s Marion Jennings’s teen sister, one of the pregnant girls. We’re to take her kicking and screaming if we have to. And she says to ignore the mother.”

  “Which one is she?” Nikki asked.

  “Check the pictures Pearl sent on to Maggie. If she didn’t give a description, we at least know her name,” Annie said. “What are you waiting for, Jack? It’s time to kick some ass and take names later. Did I say that right, Kathryn?”

  “You did, Annie. What time is it?”

  “Almost nine o’clock,” Nikki said. “Night vision goggles, everyone.”

  “Drumroll, please,” Jack said in a jittery-sounding voice as he pressed the remote. “Wait just a damn minute here. We didn’t decide if we want the sirens and the blue lights or do we just drive in like we belong?”

  A ripe discussion followed as Jack pulled ahead so that all vehicles were inside the compound before the gates closed.

  “It’s the boy in you to want the sirens and the blue lights,” Annie said in an indulgent, motherly voice. “We go in like the vigilantes we are. We have the element of surprise so we need to capitalize on that surprise. That’s the bottom line.”

  Jack was disappointed. He’d always wanted to ride in a police car with the flashing lights and siren wailing. He gave in gracefully.

  Annie had the map Deputy Clyde had drawn up. “It’s a straight two-mile-long road till you come to a long square building. It’s the worship center, school, and kitchen. A quarter of a mile to the left is the Prophet’s house. There are no buildings around it. There is a flagpole and a huge bell in the center to the right of the worship center. When the Prophet wants to talk to everyone, he rings the bell, and everyone assembles around the flagpole.

  “The flag is not really a flag but a huge piece of cloth with the Prophet’s picture stitched on it. They lower it at sundown and raise it at sunrise.

  “Deputy Clyde said they always park by the flagpole. Behind the worship center is the children’s dormitory, ages three to twelve. The baby building is next to it. The women live in a two-story brick building to the left of the baby building. The gardens or the fields where they grow produce is the acreage beyond all the buildings. According to Deputy Clyde, that’s where we should find those two eighteen-wheelers. If I understand this correctly, there is a boys’ dormitory close to the Prophet’s house, and the girls’ dormitory is next to the two-story brick building. Both dormitories have housemothers,” Annie said. The men’s building is off to the left.

  “So what’s the plan?” Nikki asked.

  “We park the cars in a circle. I get out and ring the bell. I get back in the car, and we wait till everyone assembles. We continue to sit inside the cars so they all start to worry. We keep our cars dark. Nothing like making them sweat a little.”

  “And then?” Kathryn asked.

  “Then we take charge,” Annie said, excitement ringing in her voice. “Call Harry and the others to give them the plan. It’s not much of a plan, but it’s still a plan. Then you ring the bell.”

  Jack followed Annie’s instructions. He looked around in the dark night, expecting someone to accost him, but everything was quiet. There were few stars out because of the dense cloud cover that hid the slice of moon that had been visible on the drive to the compound. He took a second to wonder if it might rain soon. Everything in the world looked green to him.

  It took all of Jack’s strength to swing the heavy ball that dangled inside the huge iron bell that was every bit as big as the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. He scurried back to the cruiser after two thundering clangs.

  Suddenly the dark compound came to life. Lights blazed in all directions. In the formerly quiet night, they could hear doors opening and slamming shut, followed by the sound of pounding feet.

  Annie looked down at her special phone, which was vibrating in her hand. Myra. She took a deep breath. “Not now, Myra,” she said. “I’m rather busy right now. No, Myra, there is no one else who can talk to you right now. We’re all extremely busy. We just entered the compound, and those…people are scurrying around like ants. No, there is nothing you can do unless you can launch a few hellfire missiles in this direction. I know all about satellites in the sky that are watching our every move. Plan? You want to know what our plan is.” Annie grappled in her mind for a suitable response. “Our plan is, we have two tractor trailers, the kind Kathryn used to drive, full of pumpkins. Good-bye, Myra!” Annie shoved the phone back into her pocket as she struggled to pay attention to what was being said while wondering about Myra’s strange tone of voice.

  “If you don’t count the kids, I estimate there are about a hundred people standing around that flagpole,” Nikki said. “More women than men. That’s good for us. Oh, oh, the guys are stepping forward, shielding the women. The Praetorian Guard?” She tittered.

  “Could be,” Jack said. “They’re creeping forward. This reminds me of that movie where aliens made imitation people in pods. This whole place is beyond creepy.”

  “I saw that movie,” Annie said. “There are no pods here unless you count the pumpkins. Now you can turn on the siren and the blue lights. On the count of three, out we go. Jack, Harry, Ted, and Joseph, take the lead. One! Two! Three!”

  The man advancing toward them was the Prophet, with his people close behind, and they stopped ten feet from the police cruisers. “You aren’t Sheriff Finn!” he said.

  “No kidding! What gave it away?” Jack asked. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ted’s busy fingers while Espinosa clicked away.

  Jack heard someone say, “Live from the Heaven on Earth compound.”

  He thought it was Espinosa, but it could have been Ted for all he knew.

  “Who are you?” the Prophet demanded.

  “Me? I’m just some guy who doesn’t like what you do out here,” Jack said, ripping off his night vision goggles. The others followed suit.

  “What I or my people do out here is none of your concern. You are trespassing on private property. I’m asking you to leave. You’re frightening my people, and I will not tolerate it.”

  “I didn’t see any NO TRESPASSING signs on the ride in. So call somebody if you’re worried,” Jack said. “Somebody other than the sheriff and his two deputies because they left on vacation. They said they were going to a less stressful environment. They gave us these beautiful vehicles. Wasn’t that nice of them? I want you all to turn around. We’re going to march nicely, two across, to the house of worship, where we’ll decide what to do with you.”

  The Prophet straightened his shoulders and said, “I will do no such thing. I want you to leave right now. Who is that evil-looking person?” he asked, pointing to Harry.

  “Harry! Harry’s a terrorist. If you don’t do what I say, he will make your brains come out your nose.”

  The Prophet blinked and backed up a step. “You’re the Devil!” He turned to his people and, in the voice he probably used for his sermons, said, “You see, this is the Devil at work! I told you the people on the outside would try to drive us away from our homes and our religion because they don’t understand it. They will be forever damned, and there will be no salvation for any of them. I want you to all be strong because we will prevail.”

  “Cut the bul
lshit, you creep, and do what this guy tells you, or you’ll be picking your brains off your upper lip,” Kathryn bellowed.

  A hiss of noise from the women could be heard at such blasphemy coming from another woman. The men started to mumble among themselves. Harry stepped forward, his arms outstretched. Ted and Espinosa were working their phones industriously.

  The Sisters separated as though they were corralling a herd of sheep. The women strained and struggled to follow the Prophet as they waited for him to tell them what to do.

  “Don’t look at that asshole,” Kathryn said. “He won’t be giving you orders ever again. Right now, you take your orders from us. I’m only going to tell you this once. Move your goddamn feet and head to that female dormitory.” If she’d had a whip, she would have cracked it on the ground. The women stood rooted to the ground.

  Harry reached the Prophet and grabbed his ear. “Obviously your women are attempting to resist taking any orders from my women. Tell them to do what we say, or you’ll be chewing on your ear.”

  “Harry, Harry, the charisma you exude just astounds me. Unfortunately, this herd of sheep doesn’t appear to appreciate the jewel that you are like the rest of us do,” Jack said.

  Harry offered up a single-digit salute in Jack’s direction. Jack guffawed.

  “Do what they say,” the Prophet said in a high-pitched tone that stopped just short of being a squeal.

  Jack stopped and whistled shrilly between his teeth. Turning to the men he said, “Like the lady said, I’m going to tell you this once. Move to the worship house and make it snappy. When you get in there, you will sit down and not make a sound. Now move!”

  The men and the young boys, the youngest around thirteen or so, moved. No one had to be told twice. Jack thought it strange that the women had been prepared to hold out but not the men. Damn, what the hell kind of place is this?

  “Hey, Jack, this guy over here said we’re Satan’s disciples,” Ted said.