Matt looked up to see Peyton moving toward him.
Peyton looked at Matt’s arm and then into his eyes. “You’re shot.”
He placed his hand onto the wound, feeling the familiar, sticky wet of oozing blood. The bullet had grazed him.
“Just a flesh wound. We need to get moving. There’ll be more on the way,” he said.
Matt stood motionless for a second, listening. He thought he heard something. Not anything on the ground, but something in the air. What was that? A low hum, maybe? Like the bees? The noise was gone in an instant, but it got him thinking.
Matt quickly scavenged what he could from the dead attackers — antiquated night-vision goggles, nearly spent weapons, full ammo clips — and blended into the night before others could pursue.
CHAPTER 15
After an hour of darting through a thickening forest and undulating terrain, Matt stopped, looked at Peyton, and said, “Let’s take a quick break.”
He was breathing hard, smoky wisps of breath looking like locomotive steam escaping from his mouth. They took a knee and Matt inspected the weapons. An AK-47 and a Makarov pistol.
“Old Russian weapons,” he said.
“Those guys weren’t Russians. They were Arabs,” Peyton replied.
They had been on the move for about an hour, continuing on a southeasterly track. They had crossed two gravel roads and one paved road that looked like a county highway. Keeping perpendicular to all means of routine travel, Matt figured he was making pursuit more challenging. Heading downhill, they were bound to eventually find water, and water usually led to population. They stopped on a level piece of ground spotted with tall hardwoods. The lack of ambient light created a pitch-black backdrop for the millions of bright stars dotting the sky like pinpricks.
He tossed the AK-47 aside and pocketed the pistol. Considering something, he stared at the sky, then looked at Peyton.
“I’m still thinking about that other guy. Why you wanted to save him. How you knew he was there.” Matt looked at Peyton’s eyes.
“I told you, I saw him when they were taking me to the doctor.”
“I had a question about that, too. I mean, I was pretty banged up, yet you got first class medical treatment.”
Peyton turned away.
“What are you implying?” she whispered under her breath, folding her arms across her chest.
“That you know a hell of a lot more than you’re telling me.”
“Not true.”
“Bullshit,” Matt said. He started walking again. They continued on their journey, a bit tired and with no water, no food, and no means of communication.
They crossed a small stream. The cool water felt good on their aching feet, but Matt knew the soaked shoes would make for a tough leg ahead. They drank from the stream, hydrating until they could feel perspiration glistening on their skin.
“We think Ballantine’s got something to do with those Predators,” she conceded, her voice cutting through the still night.
“Okay, tell me what you know.”
“Ballantine’s not totally connected to al Qaeda, but he does have ties to Ansar. He began plotting this directly after he was released from prisoner-of-war status at the end of the first Persian Gulf War. We think he built his support in France, organized his efforts in Canada, and then slipped into Lake Moncrief to set up his base.”
“I pretty much figured all that out,” Matt responded.
“Well, the one thing that Ballantine had, that a terrorist in Afghanistan or Northern Iraq didn’t have, was true state sponsorship. Negotiations were going on between Iraq and China, North Korea, Syria, and many others all under the guise of typical state business. Other terrorist organizations didn’t have that luxury. Sometimes it’s a benefit to be a non-state actor, but sometimes it pays to have ‘state’ cover.”
“Okay.”
“When we traded technology to China for campaign cash, it was kind of like sending an e-mail to someone,” Peyton said. “They’ll get it, but you never know who they might forward it to.”
“Okay.”
“We have indications that there was communication between China and Iraq prior to Gulf War Two and that one of the reasons Hussein was buying time prior to the battle for Baghdad was so that Ballantine could get set.”
“A strategic move on his part. Get our military decisively engaged in Iraq and have a Phase Two ready to go. But this one is on our turf, using our freedoms to conceal his moves,” Matt said.
“Exactly.”
“But Hussein’s not that smart, so he had to have some help. He gets some help from China, maybe, which guides him on how to do this. They set up some cells and come in from the north.”
“Makes sense.”
“And the dog that never barked?” Matt asked.
Peyton looked at him, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
“WMDs,” she said. “There’s a suspicion that Ballantine has been moving the chemical and biological weapons out of Iraq, through Syria, and into Quebec.”
“Is that what we’re dealing with here? The reason we never found anything?” Matt asked.
Peyton looked away and muttered under her breath, “Oh, I hope not.”
They walked for another thirty minutes before Matt stopped. “Wait,” he said. He looked at the horizon through a growth of small trees, the land angling downward, away from him. “There’s some light, barely noticeable,” Matt said, pointing.
They maneuvered through more low ground, feeling the scrape of what Matt called wait-a-minute vines against their pant legs until they found a blacktop road. They followed the road from the wood line for another mile, toward the light, and then they saw a sign: Sheldon Springs, Vermont: Population 2,014.
“Make that 2,016,” Matt whispered. Ever cautious, he was glad to be near civilization.
CHAPTER 16
Before they reached the actual town of Sheldon Springs, they found a small farm on the south side of the road. A wood rail fence lined the front of the property and followed a gravel drive to a two-story white house with green shingles. Further to the rear of the property was a red barn that seemed to contrast the purity of the white home.
Matt led Peyton around the outskirts of the property and entered the barn from the rear. Eyes already adjusted to the darkness, he could see a few tractors and other farm equipment. Hundreds of empty baskets — for apple farming, he presumed — were stacked on one side. He saw exactly three milk cows that returned his gaze with the sullen stare that all cows seemed to have.
“Up there,” he whispered, pointing at the loft. True to form, there was plenty of hay that would provide at least a bit of comfort for some much-needed sleep.
“We should be rather anonymous up there,” Peyton said. “Just don’t get any ideas.”
It had been a long day and even longer night, and Matt found he was unprepared for her humor. He smiled. She noticed.
“The only idea I have is sleep,” he responded, ignoring multiple witty comebacks that instinctively popped into his head.
They climbed the ladder and each found that their adrenaline prevented them from sleeping. Peyton looked across the hay mound at Matt.
“Matt, earlier today you said that your brother knew Ballantine. How did he know him?”
He didn’t want to get into the details, but knew that he had to start trusting someone. He might as well start with this good-looking woman he had known less than a day, he figured.
“How does your brother fit into all of this?” she asked.