Once clear, he turned to look back down the tunnel. He couldn’t see through the gray mist that the water was starting to rise a few hundred yards away, but he knew it was there. He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the colonel’s voice yelling over the din, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I'm fine,” Eddie nodded, then checked himself to be sure what he had said was accurate. Then, looking back at Talbot he added, “I gotta get me another job.”
28 On the Edge
3 August 2010
“COVINGTON!” MONTGOMERY shouted. “What about Rigby?”
Toni had an uncharacteristic look of concern when she answered. “He's down.”
Montgomery’s mind went into overdrive as he considered the implications. Covington surely knew Rigby had been given orders to eliminate him, and he had to know that the orders had come from him. Or had something else happened? Were the men confronted on the base? Did they accomplish their mission? “What did he say?”
“He's calling in, requesting instructions.”
“What?” He hissed.
Toni couldn't help but smile. “I know, right?”
“Put him on speaker. When we're finished, delete the call.”
Toni turned back to her computer and tapped a few keys. “Go ahead, Alpha.”
“Is the deputy director on the line?” Covington’s stress-filled voice asked.
“I'm here, Neil. You're on speaker. Go ahead.”
“We accomplished our objective. But we had a complication.”
“Oh?” Montgomery said in an almost too-pleasant tone. “What kind of complication?”
“I told Toni … Rigby's dead. I had to kill him.”
“What?” Montgomery feigned surprise. “What on earth happened?”
“He tried to kill me. I had no choice.”
“Well, why would Rigby try to kill you?”
There was a pause, and then Covington said, “What happened wasn't my fault. If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s Rigby and the other Charlie. They’re the ones who screwed up and let Tyler and Phillips get away.”
“Neil, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.”
There was another pause. “I'm not stupid, Director. I know he was acting on your orders. But I did you a favor by getting rid of that incompetent waste of skin. I'm much more valuable to you than he ever was.”
Montgomery arched his eyebrows in speechless amazement. Why is he calling? Is he threatening me? Will he come after me? Toni looked at him wide-eyed in astonishment as well. This is a problem that I have to solve quickly.
“Hello?” Covington broke the silence.
Montgomery cleared his throat nervously. “What do you intend to do, Neil?”
“Find Tyler and Phillips. That's what I have to do, right? To get back in good graces.”
“Wait one, Sergeant.” Montgomery gestured to Toni to mute the phone.
“What do you think he's up to?”
Toni scoffed. “I think his elevator quit going to the top. He knows that you wanna kill 'em, but he wants to keep workin' for ya. I mean c'mon, that’s pretty stupid.” Montgomery gave her a dispassionate look that made her straighten in her chair. “He sounds like he's out of control, desperate. I mean, how would you feel if you knew the CIA was gunning for ya? I think he's wettin' his pants as we speak.”
“Could you spare me the allegory and just tell me what you think he's gonna do?”
Toni rolled her eyes and said, “Well, he knows he can't run from us, but he could turn himself in to the Air Force or the local cops for protection. If that happens—”
“Yeah!” Montgomery cut her off with the wave of his hand, suddenly annoyed at the very sound of her voice. He had to get Covington under control, or the rapidly deteriorating situation would spiral out of control and drag him down with it. “Get Simon on the other line.”
Montgomery ran through the list of possible locations where they believed Rob might go, searching for the least likely. He and June were last known to be heading south, but he considered it unlikely that they would continue in that direction. He was sure that the commander would double back and head to South Carolina and his family, or to a naval base, maybe Jacksonville, to find help among his Navy friends. But he wanted to send Covington somewhere else. Somewhere he could be easily found, but more importantly, where he could be easily set up.
“What did you find out about Tyler's ties to Florida? Some property or a vehicle or something?” Covington asked Toni.
She began tapping keys, and then she scrutinized the information being displayed. “Not the commander. His father. There's a plane registered in the name of Master Chief Petty Officer Theodore Brenden Tyler at the Apalachicola Regional Airport.”
Something clicked in Montgomery's mind. “Why would Tyler's dad, who lives in South Carolina, keep a plane in Apalachicola, Florida?”
“I spoke to the airport manager. He told me Tyler's father uses it to take people island-hopping in the Keys. As of yesterday, it was parked in the hanger.”
Montgomery knitted his eyebrows in confusion. “Island-hopping? Is it a sea plane?”
Toni shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Find out. And have a satellite tasked over Apalachicola ASAP.”
“That’s gonna attract a lot of attention, boss,” Toni warned.
Montgomery smiled. “Don’t you worry about that, Miss Blackburn. We’re searching for a rogue here. A rogue who’s killed a captain in the United States Navy.”
Toni’s faced displayed a wicked smile. “Consider it done. Want a BOLO out on Covington?”
Montgomery thought about it. “Not yet. We’ve been taken by surprise. We want to find out what he’s up to before we send everyone after him.”
Toni winked. “Okie dokie.”
Tyler's father houses a seaplane on the coast of Florida. Montgomery considered the possibilities. There was something about the new information that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He would send Pew with a team to eliminate the threat of Covington, but there was absolutely no reason he couldn't use him to do some legwork first. He reached over Toni and punched the mute button. “Still there, Neil?”
“I'm here.”
“Okay, good.” He tried to sound annoyed, which wasn’t difficult under the circumstances. “We’ve had a very serious breech here, Neil. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes sir, I do but—”
“No buts,” Montgomery said, cutting him off. “Somebody had to pay the price for what happened. Rigby and his partner did screw up and so did you. You should have contained the situation before the personnel left the complex. They never should have been allowed to get into that truck. Just look what happened.”
“But—”
“No excuses, soldier. You dropped the ball. But that's history now. You need to put it out of your mind.” Montgomery hoped he wasn't pushing the desperate man too far over the edge, but he had to at least sound firm.
There was a pause before Covington asked, “How can I make this up to you, sir?” Covington was still confused, but also hopeful of the direction the conversation seemed to be going in.
“Neil, we are professionals. Rigby proved you're right. You are more valuable to us than he was. We sent him for you and you took him out and completed the mission. But we've got bigger fish to fry. We need to fix this. Do you understand? We have to tie this off.”
Another pause. “Yes sir.”
“Is your head on straight, Sergeant?”
Covington cleared his throat. “Yes sir.”
“Because we need to act fast. If you can't handle this, I need to know now.”
“No, sir.” Covington’s tone changed from one of fear to hopeful recklessness. “I can handle anything you need me to do.”
“This is your one and only chance to prove to me that you're the right man, soldier. But if you fail …” Montgomery let the words trail off.
“I won't, sir. I'll do whatever you need.”
/>
“Okay, Neil, I'm trusting you. Where are you now?”
“I'm in the car. I just left the base.”
“Good. We've gotten some pretty good intel that Tyler and Phillips are heading to Apalachicola, Florida.”
29 The Best-Laid Plans
3 August 2010
BY THE TIME THEY WALKED the two-plus miles to the Best Western Apalach Inn, it was well past midnight. The doors were locked and there was no sign of life. But inside the vestibule at the lobby entrance they discovered a telephone with instructions to call the night laundry attendant. The woman was hesitant to let them in at first, but quickly changed her mind when Rob flashed a one hundred dollar bill before her eyes.
After a shower and a raid on the hotel’s vending machine, they got some much-needed sleep. The next morning they were thrilled to discover that the hotel had a hot breakfast bar. They drew some odd looks from the staff as they made repeated trips to refill their plates, after going a day and a half without food.
After breakfast, they walked into town. June found a store where she bought a change of clothes. Rob used the time that she spent shopping to visit several other stores where he gathered a grocery list of needed supplies. They included bleach, acetone, a pair of glass mixing bowls, a funnel, a plastic squeeze bottle, some bottled water, and a backpack. He grabbed a bag of ice at a convenience store as they walked back to the hotel.
When June asked what the materials were for, he only said, “You'll see.”
They returned to the hotel room with their bags just after one o'clock. Rob had no sooner closed the door when June spoke. “Okay, Tyler. You've had some time. When are you gonna let me in on what you're planning?”
Rob opened the room’s only window, closed the drapes for privacy, and sat in one of two chairs flanking a round wooden table in the corner. He took a moment before he spoke. When he finally did, his expression was somewhere between amusement and apprehension. “I'm going to take that plane and fly to the Keys.”
“Fly to the Keys?”
“That's right.”
“Are you crazy? You're not a pilot!”
“Yes I am, actually.”
“Rob, we had a lot of conversations before all of this happened and you never told me you were a pilot.”
“Maybe you didn’t ask.”
She thought about it for a moment and conceded. “Maybe I didn’t. But that's a pretty big detail to leave out.”
“I’m sure there's a lot of things I didn't tell you about. Heck, there are things my wife doesn't know about me.”
June wondered for a moment what other secrets he had, but quickly dismissed the thought. “So, you're a licensed pilot.”
“Didn't say I had a license.”
“You don't have a license?”
“I don't have a hunting license either, but I know how to skin a deer.”
“Who taught you to fly?”
“Friends.”
“Friends?” June repeated.
“Navy friends, Army friends, Air Force friends, Marine friends. I got a lotta friends,” Rob said. “Plus, my dad’s a pilot. I actually have more time in helicopters than in fixed wings, but I'm pretty sure I can fly the one at the airport.”
“You're pretty sure?”
“There's something very familiar about it ever since I saw what kind of airplane it is.”
June shook her head and sat on the edge of the bed closest to him. “This is unbelievable. Okay, so you’re one hot shot, Top Gun, Maverick of a pilot and can probably fly rings around Tom Cruise. Why fly to the Keys?”
He sighed. “I need to get someplace where I can think, and I can't do that if I have to keep looking over my shoulder.”
“And you'll be able to think in the Keys?”
“Probably not, but I can find transportation from there to somewhere that I can.”
“Like where?”
“Like Belize. Or Brazil maybe.”
“Brazil? Like in South America?” she scoffed.
“Last time I checked.” Suddenly, he was distracted. He looked past June at the wall behind her. She turned to see what had gotten his attention but there was nothing. “What is it?”
He laughed. “I just remembered the twin’s fifth birthday. After church we took them to Carolina Ice Palace. I wanted to teach them how to skate. But Carol,” he shook his head, “she wasn't happy about it at all. See, Carol can't skate, so she was worried they'd fall and hurt themselves.” He looked at June. “You know how really over protective mothers can be when kids are that age.”
June looked at him, dumbfounded. Nine years of his memory were missing, but he was telling the story matter-of-factly like anyone might. “How old did you say they were?”
“It was their fifth birthday. Anyway, I told her that it would be just like when I taught them to swim—” He froze as his smile disappeared.
“Rob?”
Several minutes silently passed as he stared into space, smiling occasionally. June gave him some time, hoping his memory was indeed returning, until she finally broke the silence. “Rob, are you alright?”
It was as if he was seeing June for the first time. “I remember my kids. Christian and C. C. I remember them skating at the Ice Palace.”
June was ecstatic. “That's great!” She jumped up to give him a quick hug. “What else do to remember?”
He tried hard to recall other details. But just like it had been in the car ride on their way to Florida, the images were random, disjointed. Many had no meaning at all, no context. Representations of people and places he didn't know. But somehow, they felt familiar.
June saw his growing frustration and became concerned. Taking him by the shoulders, she smiled. “Well, you're making progress.”
He shook his head. “I'm trying, but …”
“Don't push it. Those memories of your kids came back. Give it time and I bet it all comes back to you.” She let go. “I was afraid I was going to have to start calling you Jason Bourne.”
Rob frowned. “Who?”
“From the Bourne … never mind. What are you doing?”
He ignored the question, stood up, and gestured to the chair where he had been sitting. “You sit here.”
June complied. For the next two hours she watched as he carefully mixed the ingredients he had purchased, using one of the glass bowls. As he worked, he would periodically blurt out some detail from his life. Some June had heard in earlier conversations. Most were events involving family. Birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, and other scenes from his past. There didn't seem to be any pattern or chronology to the order of the memories, but they were only of people and places that he would be very familiar with.
June was fighting her own battle as she listened. Do I go with him to the Keys, then South America, and then who knows where? Or do I stay and try to figure all of this out with … someone. But who can I trust? The local authorities? The Air Force? NCIS? Whoever is after us can’t possibly have a hand in every facet of law enforcement across the country. And I need to get back to the babies. What about Don and Jimmy? They were in the crash too. They may have been hurt. And then there’s Juan and the professor. I can’t fly off with Rob to who-knows-where. But … can I just leave him? Agonizingly, she made her decision.
“Rob,” she said, interrupting his musings.
“Yeah?”
“I can’t go with you.”
“Huh?”
“To South America. I can't go to South America with you.”
He smiled. “I don't want you to.”
“You don't?” she asked, surprised that his words stung so much.
“No. It wouldn't be right. Me being married and all.”
“Oh,” she said, suddenly understanding.
“Besides, you don't have a passport.”
“Oh,” she repeated. “I guess that would make travel kinda difficult.”
“I want you to go to the cops. Tell them … oh, you know what to tell them. It would probably be better
if you didn't give them a whole lotta details, though. Who do you think you can trust that was inside the project?”
She thought for a moment. “Perez. Agent Eddie Perez, the NCIS guy.”
Rob couldn't remember any of the players. “Sure. He'll do. Just don't tell them where I'm going.”
She looked at him disappointingly. “Rob.”
“Sorry,” he said, giving her a knowing look. “But I am gonna need your help.”
Her heart lifted. “You do?”
“I need you to drive the car to the airport tonight.”
“Where are you going to be?”
“I'll be plowing the road.”
June gave him a confused look.
“I'm gonna make sure there are no obstacles between you and the plane.”
She went from confused to concerned in nothing flat. “You mean like security guards?”
Rob nodded.
“You won't hurt anyone will you?”
“Trust me. I'm quitting …” He closed his eyes in frustration. “I quit the SEALs because I didn’t want to hurt people any more. I’m not gonna hurt anyone.” He turned back to his mixing bowls. “I hope.”
He poured some of the contents of the first bowl into the empty second container and stood back with a look of profound satisfaction.
“Are you finished?”
“Just about.” He stepped into the bathroom and poured the contents of the second bowl out.
“Are you gonna tell me what it is?”
He poured the remaining liquid into the plastic bottle and quickly screwed the cap on. “Chloroform,” he smiled triumphantly.
Later, they ordered some take-out from a nearby restaurant and waited until nightfall before Rob called the front desk to arrange for a taxi. Hanging up the phone, he felt something tugging on his heartstrings from the inner recesses of his mind that he was becoming more and more familiar with. He needed to pray.
“Let's bow our heads,” he said.
June smiled and willingly complied.
“Heavenly Father. Please forgive us our sins. Thank you for your many blessings. For those that we realize and for the ones that we don't. Thank you for the gift of June's companionship, for her wisdom, her patience … and Lord, especially for her driving skills. Thank you for keeping us safe and forgive me for not thanking you sooner for that. I ask that you place a hedge of protection around us and the people we encounter as we do what we must tonight. And I ask your forgiveness for it, too. Lord, there is no plan except your plan, and I submit that I only want your will to be done.”