“And water?” Tramil asked.
“The well has an electric pump,” Jake said, “but if that fails, you can pump it by hand. If it freezes up, which will probably not happen with this snow cover, then you have to collect the snow and melt it. There’s also a spring fifty yards to the west.” Jake pointed outside.
“The toilet?”
“As I told you last night, a pump pulls the water up to flush. But, make sure you don’t flush it at night. The pump will run the backup batteries down in a hurry.”
“If it’s yellow, let it mellow?”
“Right. You’ll get just one flush at night and then the water won’t refill until the generator powers up in the morning.”
“Got it. Sounds like a nice system. How long will I have to stay here?”
That’s one question Jake couldn’t answer. “I don’t know.” He pulled out the flash memory card the professor had given him and stared at it for a second. “I will get this to someone I trust. You stay here until I come and get you or until I send my brother for you. Understand?”
“Yeah. But who do you trust?”
“Don’t worry. I still have a few friends in high places.”
Lori, dressed and ready to go, moved in close to the two men. “Hey, I thought I was your friend in high places.”
Jake smiled. “True. But you’re with me. It wouldn’t make sense to hand it to you.”
“I’m kidding,” she said. “I’m sure your sources are much better anyway.”
Changing the subject, Jake said, “You ready to go congresswoman?”
“I don’t know. That snow looks pretty deep.”
“Trust your snowshoes. Just don’t fall or it might be hard to get up.” Jake turned to the professor and extended his hand to shake. “Take care, Professor Tramil.”
Jake and Lori headed outside into the cold mountain air. Each refreshing breath tweaked his nostrils. The going was rough for them, especially Lori, who was not as adept with snowshoes. That and the fact that her legs were not as long or strong as Jake’s. It took them a couple of hours to make it down to the rental SUV, which was covered with more than a foot of fresh snow.
Once they got the engine running, the snow off of the top, and the windshield cleared, Jake put the vehicle into low four wheel drive and powered his way down the mountain road toward the main highway. He was thankful they were going downhill, because he wasn’t sure they would have made the climb uphill with all this snow.
They got to the main highway and had to plow through a snow bank made by the snowplow sometime in the middle of the night.
“Now what?” Lori asked.
“Unfortunately we head back to DC,” Jake said. “I’ll turn over the data and you can get ready for your trip to Korea.”
He glanced at her and wondered what she was thinking. She seemed more subdued than at any time since they met.
“I wish I didn’t have to go to Korea,” she said.
Jake had no response to that. He still wasn’t sure who was after this information and wanted him dead. But he was used to that game. He thought he’d retired too many times to count. Then the Agency kept calling him back into service. This time was different. Now he had been asked to work for the sister of an old friend. The honorable U.S. Representative from the great state of Montana. He couldn’t say no to her.
“How far do you want me to go?” he asked her.
“What do you mean?”
The SUV hit a patch of slippery road and Jake put both hands on the wheel to keep control. Finally, he said, “Well, we have the information. I just need to turn it over to some old friends.” After making a copy, he thought. “So, do we end it there?”
“Don’t we need to find out who is after this information?” she asked.
“That list could be long, Lori. Could be anyone. Russia. China. Even some of our allies in Europe. It could even be a private player. Someone wanting to cash in on manufacturing this technology.”
She stared at him, dumbfounded. “You have a nefarious mind, Jake Adams. I hadn’t even thought of the private sector.”
“It could be a combination. If a government wants to keep its hands clean, an intelligence agency talks to a company, who hires the bad guys to get the technology. Then if anyone gets caught spying, the government has plausible deniability. Then the government contracts with that company to produce the technology. It’s a win/win for both parties. In the case of China, most of the industries are owned or controlled by the government.” What he didn’t tell her was the only way to find out who was behind this spy game was to catch someone and make them talk. Even then there would probably be layers of compartmentalization, where those killing and kidnapping resided a couple of levels away from the actual bosses.
As they drove north the roads got better the closer they came to Missoula. Now they cruised slowly along the frozen roads south of the city.
“You don’t mind stopping by my mother’s house?” Lori asked.
“No. I’m sure she would be mad if she heard you were in town and didn’t stop by.”
“You have no idea.”
“She still in the same house?”
“Yeah, why?”
Jake shrugged. “I dropped your brother Bob off a few times in high school.”
A few minutes later and Jake pulled up to the curb in front of the house where Lori grew up.
“Come in,” Lori insisted.
About to use her key on the front door, Lori was surprised when her mother opened the door quickly. Her mother was wearing blue jeans and a Montana Grizzlies sweatshirt, her feet kept warm with a pair of fuzzy pink slippers, the only feminine item on the woman. Jake remembered her from his youth. She had aged gracefully, he thought.
Lori and her mother embraced, while Jake, out of habit, glanced about uncomfortably. He wasn’t used to meeting up with those from his past. Had never attended one class reunion, and only spoken to a couple of people in this town from his past a couple of times. In his game it could get people killed. His official Agency record made no mention of siblings, cousins, or where he had grown up. The records for most covert operative officers looked like someone had invented them for Hollywood. Which wasn’t far from the truth, just in case the files were somehow leaked to a hostile foreign government.
The mother and daughter broke free and the mother said, “Get in here out of the cold. You must be that fellow from the internet.” She wrapped Jake into a bear hug.
“Yes, ma’am. Unfortunately,” Jake said.
Inside they took off their boots and sat in the living room.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Mrs. Franks asked Lori.
“I’m sorry, mom. I didn’t know I’d be in town until the last minute.”
“What the hell were you doing up in Whitefish?”
“What? Who told you I was in Whitefish?”
“A couple of Feds came by last night.”
That was impossible, Jake thought.
Lori and Jake shared a glance, both uncertain.
“Here’s one of their cards.” Her mother scooted a business card across the coffee table.
Lori looked at the card and then handed it to Jake, who scrutinized it more carefully before smiling.
“I’m guessing you have video of the two men,” Jake said.
Mrs. Franks smiled at him. “I knew you were a smart one. How’d you know that?”
“Your motion light on the front porch has a camera,” Jake said.
“Good eye.” Lori’s mother fired up a laptop, found the video file, turned it for the two of them to view, and then hit play.
Jake watched the video of the two men at the front door, them going inside, and then the short pass as they left the house.
Shaking his head, Jake said, “Those weren’t FBI. Not even close.”
“That’s what I thought,” her mother said. “That’s why I pulled my Colt forty-five on them.”