Chapter Two
The next day Doug looked through a local newspaper and started searching through the "For Sale by owner," adds to find a car. He was able to find a late model white Toyota Camry that was a one owner car with low mileage. He figured it would be the perfect, inconspicuous car, to help him get out of town and make his get-away. He paid the owner with cash and then headed west.
The night before, he'd made up his mind that he would go back to that little town of Cummings, Georgia, that he like so much. It was small and quiet and it had everything he could hope for. He believed it would be the perfect place for him to live and hide from the rest of the world. He figured he could live there and hide out until he decided to go after more terrorist targets.
While on his drive to Cummings, he listened to the news on the radio and found out that the law enforcement agencies had told the networks that all that was left of most of the bodies found in the explosion in Florida, were parts and pieces. They said it was going to take a long time to sort through all of them before they could identify the people that had been killed. The one big question, that was on everyone’s mind was, did they find the body of Dr. Douglas Cotton, "The American Terrorist?" All the law enforcement agencies would say to the networks was that it was going to take a long time to sort through all the body parts before they could say for sure if he was one of them. They did say that by the looks of everything, it seemed pretty positive that his body was among them. They said that if he was driving the motor home, then they were almost certain, he was among the rest of the bodies. When Doug heard them say they thought he was dead, he realized he could take his time to find a place in Cummings. He knew it was going to take some time before they found out he wasn’t among the people that died in Florida. It gave him a green light to take his time and not do anything stupid or in the spur of the moment.
It took him a few days, but when he finally arrived in the quaint little town of Cummings, he now remembered why he wanted to go back there. The fresh smell of the air and the friendliness of the town is what attracted him to it in the first place. He loved the homeliness of all the people that lived there. They had a way of making you feel at home, with their “Southern Hospitality.” He also loved the fact that the river was nearby where he could fish and go hunt wild game in the woods whenever he wanted. It had an abundance of deer, wild pigs and turkeys that he could hunt and keep his freezer full. He believed the town was the perfect place that he could get lost in and nobody would ever know he was there.
He was still dressed in his disguise as he made his way to a local place called "The Peach Tree Hotel." As he got out of the car, he stretched his arms toward the sky and stiffened his legs to stretch, with a huge sigh of relief. Once he was inside the lobby he gave the clerk a fake name of Blake Swanson and fake address as he paid him for a week in advance. Based on Doug's appearance, the clerk at the front desk, assumed he might be connected to the Muslim camp, when he asked, “Are you here to visit Fish Camp?” Doug replied, “No! I'm not a Muslim, just a long haired retired old man. My wife passed away a few years ago and I've let my hair and beard grow since then. I was thinking about relocating here. I came through this town just after she died and I really like the town and the people.” The clerk smiled and said, “Yeah, this place will do that to you. Once you're here awhile, you never want to leave. I'm sure you'll be more than welcome here.” He thanked the clerk for his hospitality as he handed Doug the key to his room.
Over the next several days, Doug dressed in his disguise, and went to the friendly little restaurant where the young waitress had been so helpful to him the first time he went through there. She wasn’t working the day he went in so he asked one of the other waitresses what happened to the pretty young girl with the bubbly personality that used to work there. He gave her a description of what the girl looked like and the waitress said, “Oh! That’s Janine. She went back to college. She was just working here part time, on her days off.” Doug replied, “I really liked her, she was a good waitress. I liked her service and also the way she treated me the last time I was here.” The waitress replied, “Yea, she's great with all the customers and everyone loves her.”
Doug didn’t let on, but he felt a little relieved the young waitress wasn’t there. He was a little concerned she might be able recognize his eyes or his voice if she had been watching the news and seen the pictures they had shown of him on every television channel. Fortunately for him, the pictures they had shown were of him with short hair and no beard. Even so, he knew the eyes and voice were the two things that usually gave people away, when they try to hide their identity.
After breakfast, he was feeling comfortable with the waitress and told her his name was Blake Swanson. He told her he wanted to move to Cummings and was looking for a place to rent. She told Doug her name was JoAnne Tuttle and they exchanged eye contact. She was an attractive woman in her mid fifties, but Doug wasn't interested in her in a courtship way. He asked her if she knew anyone that had a small house somewhere in the woods, that he could rent for a while. She thought for a minute, as she held the coffee in her left hand, and rubbed her chin with the other. "You know my uncle has an old cabin out in the woods somewhere that he rents, but I don't know exactly where it's located. Last I heard he didn't have it rented. I’ll check with him and see if it's still available. I'll check around with some of the other customers and see if they have anything else for you to take a look at also. Check back with me in a few days to see what I can find out for you.” Doug smiled, “That would be great JoAnne. Thank you for doing that for me. I’m staying at the Peach Tree Hotel until I find something.” She just smiled at him and said, "I'm sure we'll be able to find you something, Blake."
When Doug went back to the restaurant a few days later JoAnne was smiling from ear to ear as she went up to him. He looked at her and smiled, “Okay, what is it? Did you find me something?” She was very excited when she told him that she had talked to her uncle about him renting the old place out in the woods. She began to tell Doug that the small house is way back in the woods and very secluded. It was down a little dirt road and near the river. She said, “My uncle said it's just off the Old Creek Road, about a mile from the Muslim compound called Fish Camp. I believe my uncle will rent it to you pretty cheap because he’s had a lot of trouble keeping it rented since the Muslim camp moved into the area. Not very many people want to rent a place that is that far out of town and that close to the Muslim camp. For some reason, people just feel funny about being that close to the camp. Maybe it's because of the trouble we've had in the past, the bombings and all.”
Doug was very familiar with Fish Camp, it was the compound where he’d blown up one of the main buildings and killed several terrorists on his last trip through there. It was also the camp where he’d accidently killed a couple of kids and he'd always felt bad about killing them. She handed him a piece of paper with her uncle’s phone number on it, "I told him you'd be calling him about the house." He thanked her a couple of times for her help before he left the restaurant. When he went back to his room, he called JoAnne’s uncle and they agreed to meet at the house. He wanted to check it out for himself, but he didn’t really care what the place looked like. He’d already made up his mind that he was going to rent it, as long as it was away from people.
As he drove up the dirt road toward Fish Camp, he was within a mile of the entrance to the camp, when another narrow dirt road, teed off into the woods. The little house was located at the end of the dirt road and only about a hundred yards away from the river. The house looked like a rustic old cabin from the outside. It had a little front porch across the entire front that was covered with an overhang roof and perfect for Doug to sit out at night and have his glass of wine.
When the owner opened it up to let Doug in to see it he was pleasantly surprised that it was fully furnished and had two bedrooms, one full size bathroom. It was cozy
and perfect for him. The owner told him the place was a little run down and dirty because no one had lived in it for almost a year. He told him it looked fine to him and immediately agreed to rent the place. He signed a one year rental agreement and paid the owner a year in advance with cash. Doug told him he would make sure he took good care of the place for him. The owner just laughed and handed him the keys as he said, “I’m sure you will. It can’t get much worse than it looks right now.” They shook hands and the owner left.
Doug was excited as he let out a big “Yes” and pumped his fist, after the owner was gone. He felt like he had the perfect little hiding place tucked just far enough away in the woods that he’d be away from everyone, especially law enforcement. He would have total privacy, except for the Muslim camp not too far away. Even though the camp was a sore thumb for him, he made up his mind that he wasn't going to let it bother him.
Doug spent the next few days in town getting towels, bed sheets, blankets and other things he needed for the house. He also went to the local supermarket and got all the supplies he needed.
Over the next several months he cleaned the area around the cabin and made repairs that were needed so he felt more at home.
Doug wanted a little extra protection from the outside world, just in case he had any uninvited guests that came snooping around the property. He started digging holes twenty feet apart in a horse shoe pattern all around the perimeter of the property, except for the driveway in front of the house. They were all about forty feet from the house and near the tree line. The holes were twelve feet deep and twelve feet in diameter so that if someone fell into one of them they couldn’t get out without a ladder. When he dug the holes deep enough, he could only get in and out with a ladder. He used buckets that were attached to ropes to pull out the dirt and dumped it into a wheel barrow. He scattered the dirt all around the property so he didn’t have little mounds of dirt all over the place. Each hole was a slow and tedious process that took him a lot of time, but that wasn't a problem because he had nothing but time on his hands.
When he finished digging each hole, he covered it lightly with small tree limbs and leaves so the hole couldn’t be seen unless you were unfortunate enough to fall into it. Doug learned this during his tour of duty in South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese Soldiers and the Vietcong used this tactic to kill American Soldiers. They would dig the holes in the trails along pathways the American soldier's used regularly, hoping they would fall into them. They would pound sharpened bamboo sticks into the bottom of the holes and point the sharp end upward. If a soldier fell into one of the holes, he would be injured or killed. Now he was going to use this tactic to catch intruders that came onto his property without his permission. He wasn't going to use the sharp bamboo sticks or any other type of sticks at the bottom of the holes to kill anyone or himself. He just wanted to capture anyone that might accidently fall into one of them. He wanted to make sure that if someone did come snooping around his home and fell into one of them, he would have time to find out if it was a law enforcement agent and if he had to make a quick getaway. Doug mapped out the area and knew exactly where each hole was located. If a person or animal didn’t know they were there they could easily fall into one of them and not be able to get out and that’s exactly what he wanted. Digging the holes also helped keep him in good physical shape for when he decided it was time to go hunt down more terrorists.
It took several months to finish the holes and the entire time he was digging them, he was letting his hair and beard grow. By the time they were all completed, he had a full face beard that looked very similar to the fake beard he’d been wearing and his hair was down to his shoulders. He no longer had to wear the fake wig and beard because his real hair and beard was almost the same as what he had worn during his attacks. He was rugged looking and no longer looked like the clean cut doctor that once saw forty patients a day in his plush doctors office.
The year passed by very quickly and Doug found a lot of things to do to keep himself busy. He was able get to know a few of the local people from town and purchase a high caliber rifle and ammunition. Because he bought it from an individual, he didn't have to fill out all the paperwork that was normally required when you buy a gun from a store.
He built a chicken pen so he could raise his own chickens for eggs and meat. He also hunted dear, wild pigs and turkeys ever chance he got, in order to keep his freezer stocked full. He didn’t have to spend any money on meat and went fishing every chance he could in the nearby river. He always had a fresh supply of fish on hand. If it hadn’t been for his thoughts of what happened to Michael and the proximity of the Muslim camp, he probably could’ve lived in that solitude for the rest of his life.
When he needed to get away and find out what was going on in the rest of the world, he would drive a few hours to Atlanta and have a nice dinner at one of the upscale restaurants. It was during one of those trips, when he was able to catch the evening news on CNN. They were talking about a news report that said the FBI had confirmed that some of the remains found in the house in Florida were, in fact, those of Dr. Douglas Cotton. When Doug heard that he was in a state of shock. He knew something funny was going on, but he didn’t know exactly what. For some reason, the FBI wanted the rest of the American people to think he was dead. He always thought he would be at the top of the FBI’s most wanted list, so the entire newscast took him a little by surprise. He wondered what the FBI was up to with their announcement that he was dead. He became a little paranoid that maybe they might already know where he was and they were using the broadcast as some type of diversion to throw him off and catch him. Doug became so paranoid that for a few weeks after seeing the report, he would only venture out at night. He also kept looking out the windows during the day to see if anyone was sneaking up on him or spying on the house. He was convinced the FBI was going to show up at anytime and take him into custody. When they didn't show up to get him it took him awhile to finally start to relax and go back to his normal life.
After his first year of rent was up and no one came to capture him, Doug figured he may be safe so he paid for another year in advance. Even though he still had his fears the FBI might be coming for him, he knew there was no other place for him that would be as safe as his little hiding place. He also really liked it there and didn't want to leave the comfort of the place and go searching for another place to live.
It was on May 2, 2011, when Doug went to his favorite restaurant in town to have a cup of coffee and visit with JoAnne. While there, he heard the news on television that Osama bin Laden had been killed by two U.S SEAL Teams, in Pakistan. It had been almost 10 years after the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon and the most hated man in America was killed. Even though he didn’t let anyone know at the restaurant, he could hardly contain his excitement. That was the news he’d been hoping and praying to hear for years. He had always blamed Osama bin Laden, and his misguided followers, for Michael’s death. Now the leader of al-Qaeda, one of the worst terrorist organizations in the world, was dead. He was elated.
When he got home, he sat out on the porch with a half filled glass of his favorite wine. He held his glass in the air as if to toast someone, when he said, “They got him Michael, they got the worst terrorist of them all. The one that caused all the radical terrorist problems in Afghanistan and other parts of the world with his hatred for Israel and America. I'm glad they finally found him and killed him. Good riddance to the scumbag.”
Doug knew the war on terrorism was far from over because the radical terrorist groups would just soon replace Osama bin Laden with another terrorist. He knew it would be someone that was just as radical in his thinking as bin Laden. Even so, he felt like it was a huge victory for America because the United States had been trying to get him for a long time. America had spent millions of dollars trying to find him. Doug also knew the problems with the terrorist organizations, already in Ameri
ca, was going to keep growing in numbers because of the easily influenced young people that were willing to join an organization they sometimes knew little or nothing about. He believed that if they were told they were trying to save all the Muslims of the world or that the United States and Israel was their enemy, then they were more than eager to fight for some type of ill-conceived ideology.
As time went on Doug knew he had to keep his life private so he continued with a low profile and stayed in seclusion. It wasn't until he got the news about the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013 that he decided to venture out. He found out about the bombings from the news report that there had been two bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. "The news said there were two home-made pressure cooker bombs hidden inside backpacks that exploded at 2:49 pm. The bombs contained BB-like pellets and nails and other metal parts. The two bombs exploded 12 seconds apart and they killed 3 people and injured an estimated 264 others." * When Doug heard that news he became furious once again. He knew it was the work of another terrorist organization and he had to try and do something about them. He couldn't just let them get away with what they had done, even though the FBI did get the two people that planted the bombs. Doug knew there was an organization that was behind the two young men.
"The news report said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) immediately took over the investigation, and on April 18, released photographs and a surveillance video of two suspects they believed were the ones that committed the terrorist act. The suspects were identified later that day as two young Russian brothers. The suspects were identified as two Chechen, whose family had immigrated to the United States as refugees around 2002 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The younger brother became a naturalized United States citizen on September 11, 2012. The news said that during shootouts with the brothers and local police, one officer died and another one was injured in the days following the bombings. The older brother suspect was shot several times during one of the gunfights with police and his brother subsequently ran him over with a stolen SUV in his attempt to escape. The older brother was pronounced dead at the scene and the younger brother was wounded. The younger brother was captured shortly thereafter and taken to a hospital and heavily guarded by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies." *
"It was during his hospital recovery and his initial interrogation with law enforcement agents that he said he and his brother were motivated by "extremist Islamist beliefs and also the war by the United States against the Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan." He also said that they were self-radicalized and unconnected to any outside terrorist groups. The suspect also said that he and his brother were planning to travel to New York City on their next attack and bomb Times Square." *
The Boston Marathon bombings allowed the FBI to immediately investigate all leads regarding the two brothers involved in the attack. Someone gave the brothers their skills in bomb making and Jihad and the FBI believed the sleeper cell they belonged to had dozens of members that had been waiting for years to do the attack. The FBI has also found that individual homegrown terrorist motives, like the Boston brothers, may vary greatly. It could be a desire for collective revenge against the United States for the purported “war on Islam,” poverty, social alienation, or brainwashing. They found there isn’t one clear cut path to radicalization of these individuals." *