The emergency locator transmitter in the helicopter could be operated manually, sending out a signal with the owner’s contact information and its unique identification number. It was an older model, and pulsed every fifty seconds. It would take on average forty-five minutes to be relayed to the Rescue Coordination Center. By the time Kate had been given a last push towards her partner she estimated at least one pulse had been sent. By the time Bomani had supervised the housing of the helicopter and the hangar doors shut tight, she calculated there was about a half hour until Rescue Coordination would attempt contact. Thirty-five minutes later the hangar phone and both hers and Nat’s mobiles rang. Bomani listened to the mobiles ring in his own pocket, one shortly after the other, interrupted by the hangar landline ringing.
“No one is available.” Bomani destroyed the phones.
The scent had gone cold. Lilburn stood beside the Jeep, the vista before him stretching out to the far hills where the sun was setting. Soon it would be dark. Government and local police patrols combed the countryside, commanders setting patrol duties for the night. The drone, flying its search pattern, would continue throughout the hours of darkness. Only its operators would change, the weary day pilot off to his in-laws and the others going home to hot dinners and soft beds.
Chapter Twenty-seven
“The accommodation ain’t so bad, had a lot worse.” One of Lilburn’s team sat back in the motel room’s sofa. “Shame there’s no booze. Hey, Matt. What about that kid’s Jeep, you think he’ll be getting a little worried?”
“Already taken care of.” Sitting on a chair beside a Formica-topped table, Lilburn finished reassembling his Sig Sauer side arm and checked the action. “Nice weapon this P250, good balance.” Standing up he headed for the kitchen, looking for cup of coffee. A small woven basket on the bench top held sachets of instant coffee. Lilburn picked up a sachet and read the writing… from the world’s finest beans. He snorted. Yeah right! Bet they’re Robusta!
The steam rose from his mug of coffee. The smell was good, the sort of smell where you don’t mind taking another hit. It was one of those aromas that brought a picture to mind. Lilburn allowed himself to be taken back to England, the coffee shop, the doctor… Almost without thinking he took a sip. Aw crap. Lilburn looked down at the steaming liquid, wondering how a drink could smell the same but taste so different. Still, he needed the caffeine fix, and he’d been drinking instant for years. He put up with the taste. His phone rang. “Lilburn.”
“Hello, Matt, I’m so sorry to bother you, but something has come up. It’s Evangeline.”
He knew straight away who it was, the silky smooth accent gave it away. It didn’t sound like a casual call — he noticed some anxiety in her voice.
“There’s something you urgently need to know. I’m with Director Lopez and I’m afraid she’s in a bit of a pickle.”
Lilburn gave a chuckle. “A what?”
“A pickle, a situation. Matt, she’s in the shit up to her eyeballs!”
The sides of his mouth dropped. “Go on.”
Evangeline gave a brief account.
“Who else knows about this?”
“I haven’t told anyone, not even Director Hall.”
“OK. Let me think… put Lopez on the phone.”
The conversation required privacy. With three other agents in the room, Lilburn decided to move outside.
“Agent Lilburn, Suzanna Lopez. Thank you for listening.”
“One moment, please.” Lilburn shut the door behind him and moved away from the door. “I understand your child has been kidnapped and you’ve been forced to provide information to the terrorist cell.”
“Yes, my son. I gave him up so he would have a normal life, a family life, not one where there was no father and a mother who was hardly home. A few days ago he was abducted. The people he lived with were murdered and there was no sign of Roddy. A day later I was contacted by phone by a person claiming to be a member of an Islamist group. In exchange for my son’s life I had to supply certain information.”
“What sort of information?” Lilburn was taking mental notes.
“I… I was told to keep them informed of developments. What tools we used to track them, where we were up to, where…”
“A few days ago? Before we knew who we were dealing with? We didn’t even have faces, names — we probably didn’t even know there was a terrorist plot in progress — and they took the risk of involving you?”
Lopez laughed bitterly. “I’ve thought about that long and hard, I can assure you. I believe I know why.” Lopez paused, Lilburn could hear her breathing. “They specifically targeted me because of my position and they knew about my son. I have no idea how they knew, I have my suspicions but…”
“Tell me, I want to know everything you know.”
“There must be an informant in Homeland Security, someone with access to sensitive personal records. That’s why I beg you to keep this conversation secret, please. Just until my son is safe. I can’t trust anyone. If their plot was somehow discovered, then they took the calculated risk I would be a mother first and last. They were right.”
“I see.” Lilburn had already summed up the alternative. “If they had succeeded with the plot, you would have been eliminated. You and your boy — something not too suspicious and they would leave the country unnoticed. The first we would know about a biological attack would be when animals started displaying symptoms of the virus.”
“Allan Hall said you were the best field operative we have. Will you help me get my son back?”
Lilburn looked up at the early night sky. The air temperature was rapidly cooling. “You know this is bigger than you or your son. Even if you get through this, the best you could hope for is modest leniency.”
“I know, I know. I’ve put my country second, Agent Lilburn. I put my son first. I never in a million years thought I would become a traitor to my country, but, I never knew how much my love for my son would affect me.”
“You’re in contact with the cell leader?”
“Yes.”
Lilburn weighed up the different scenarios. Of utmost importance was stopping the virus, next came Lopez and her son.
“This cell is more organized than we give them credit for — who’s the leader?”
“He never gives me his name.”
“Speak to him again. Make up something… we’ve had a sighting of the van heading west so now we’re concentrating in that direction. Anything, just as long as you can get a fix on his location…”
“It’s no good, he won’t stay on the line long enough. I’ve already thought of that, but so has he.”
There seemed no option. With no intelligence on who had kidnapped the boy or where he was being held, it was increasingly obvious that any delay in locating Lopez’s son would only place a successful virus recovery in serious jeopardy. The risk was unacceptable.
“I’m sorry, Director, but the stakes are too high not to report this security breach. I only wish there was more I could do.”
“No, you can’t! They’ll kill my son. You mustn’t. Please, please reconsider.”
Lilburn shook his head. The decision was tough. More than likely a young innocent boy would die — the only solace he could take was the knowledge that whatever happened, it was unlikely the Takfir would let the boy live. Killing him would always be safer.