“Hi Bao,” Patton said, smiling.
Once Bao gathered his wits, he motioned for the two men to step inside. He glanced down both directions of the street but didn’t see any suspicious vehicles. He invited Patton and his guest to sit in his living room and offered them something to drink.
“Water for me. Wildcat?”
“Water.”
Bao disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two water bottles.
Life had mostly returned to normal for the citizens of Blue Creek. The constant news of Patton Larsen’s escape and rescue of other criminals had mostly died down. Bao thought this was due to the last search party’s failure to either capture or kill Larsen. Patton was still the talk of the town, but only in whispers. Nobody dared voice support for who was officially a fugitive. Now, here the man was, sitting in his living room.
“What? Where?” Bao said, still confused.
“Look Bao,” Patton said shortly. “I’ll fill you in later, but for now I need some information. I went to see Varner. He said the network is down again.”
Bao nodded and said, “Yeah, they caught me uploading a report on your office computer. That’s when they shut your business down for good.”
“So nobody outside of Blue Creek knows anything that’s going on?”
Bao shrugged. “I don’t know. But as far as the internal network goes, we’re completely down. We all still send reports to Varner but they’re all vetted by somebody at City Hall.”
Patton looked over at Wildcat.
“That’s what I thought,” Patton said. “Asher has this place clamped down pretty tight.”
Patton then asked Bao about the town, the security force, and where Asher lived. Bao told him that people were going about their business as usual. Security didn’t seem as strong, although Bao suspected that many agents were in plainclothes. A lot of people that had been arrested were already released, Bao included. Somehow the story of arrests had gotten out, which caused major problems to Asher’s level of support.
“Are you going after Jennifer?” Bao asked, sure of the answer.
Patton shook his head. Bao looked shocked.
“I’m here to rescue everyone. The only way to do that is to take Asher out. That’s why I need to know where he lives.”
“Nobody knows where he lives. I heard a rumor he lives in City Hall. I guess they converted some offices into a luxury suite,” Bao said.
Patton looked at Wildcat again. The two shared a knowing glance.
“And whenever Asher goes out he’s with a bunch of security guards. He’s sure that you’re going to come after him.”
“He’s right,” Patton said, “but we’re going to have to get creative, I guess.”
As Patton and Wildcat discussed their plans, Bao volunteered his help. Patton looked at him in surprise. His initial reaction was to say no, but then realized they were operating from the same sense of duty. Patton relented and began to work a third person into their plans. Finally he asked.
“Bao, do you happen to have a drone?”
Bao smiled broadly and said, “It just so happens that I do. A really nice one.”
The next morning they continued their reconnaissance of the town, giving particular attention to City Hall—what the traffic was like coming in and out of the building. Most important, they needed to know what David Asher did. Did he leave the building? If so, how many guards did he have with him? How well were they armed? These were questions they would have to get answers for and only in one day to do it. Jennifer was rotting away inside a prison, probably with a gun held to her head.
Traffic in and out of City Hall proved to be normal. They did see the Governor duck into an armored SUV right around lunch time, but he was heavily guarded. Hitting him in transit was going to be hard because, one, Asher’s vehicle was big and powerful. It would take a lot of firepower to stop the vehicle and hope to hurt or kill the occupants. Second, the visible guards were heavily armed and this said nothing about who Asher might have hidden, providing overwatch.
It was towards the end of the workday that something very interesting happened. From the boat they had an excellent vantage point of the southern and western parts of City Hall. While Wildcat was on watch—using the powerful binoculars—he started to talk to himself.
“Oh this is good. Patton, you’re not going to believe this.”
Patton stood next to Wildcat and reached for the binoculars.
“You see it?” Wildcat asked, smiling mischievously.
Patton nodded and smiled himself. With all the precautions he obviously took throughout the day, the good Governor couldn’t help but take advantage of his trappings of office. Just outside his office was a large balcony that wrapped around the south and west walls of the building.
“A guard comes out the south door, looks around, walks around to the west, looks around, and then he walks back in. One minute later Asher comes out. There’s no telling if he does this every day, but at least we know it’s something he likes to do.”
Patton nodded again, grinning broadly.
“Yep. That’s our way in,” Patton said.
He set the binoculars down and looked at his friend. They laughed and gave each other a high five. This was going to be possible after all. With Bao’s help, it was only going to be easier.
Patton knew he was taking a hell of a chance. He would park at the city limits, get out with his hands up, and walk towards downtown. His biggest worry was that he would be shot on sight. He didn’t and couldn’t know what would happen. He realized that if he did this any other way, he couldn’t guarantee his friends’, his wife’s, or his own safety. Most important, if he returned to Blue Creek with guns blazing, he could spark off a civil war that could get thousands of people killed.
Patton was sitting in the truck, gazing down towards town. The gutters and sidewalks were filled with wet leaves and grass clippings. Patton took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He’d been in danger before, but this was possibly the most dangerous situation he would ever be in. He was essentially setting himself up as a martyr. If it didn’t work, he would likely die, along with Jennifer, and would potentially leave Blue Creek in the hands of David Asher.
His one hedge was Wildcat—a man he trusted with his life. In fact, his life was currently in his buddy’s hands. Wildcat was currently in their hide spot from days before.
‘Dear God,’ he thought. ‘Give me the strength. Give me the strength for what I have to do.’ He opened the door and stepped out hesitantly. He could feel himself shaking
Patton opened his eyes and saw that vehicles were coming towards him. There were two black Suburbans, no doubt belonging to the government. Another vehicle, possibly a Jeep, followed close behind. A man with a rifle was standing in the back seat of the Jeep, nonchalantly looking to his left and right, no doubt looking for an ambush. Patton exited the truck, leaving the keys in the ignition and not caring what happened to it. He raised his hands high and walked towards the oncoming vehicles.
“Stop!” came the booming voice over the lead Suburban’s PA system. Patton stopped. He wasn’t here to play games. He would do everything they asked him to do. He just wanted an audience with the governor. The vehicles came to a stop just less than a hundred feet in front of him. A gang of men, all holding assault rifles, got out of the two Suburbans and aimed at Patton.
“I’m unarmed!” Patton yelled towards the security personnel.
He was wearing a leather coat and he could understand why they would be cautious with him. He could easily have been hiding a pistol in his waistband or somewhere else. One of the men stepped forward, holding a civilian version of an M4 carbine, aiming it in Patton’s general direction. There were enough weapons trained on him that if they were to open fire, there would be nothing left of him.