“Yeah, daylight on the right. Dark on the left,” he answered, looking over his shoulder to be sure. He turned back and started snapping pictures again. “Our boy’s got a spotting scope on the front of the house.”
“Not illegal,” Fred replied seriously, almost to himself. “Yet,” he added, hopefully.
“Ah oh! Our boy’s leaving,” Jim said, taking pictures of the license plate when the Lincoln backed up far enough. He continued snapping pictures as the car pulled out and slowly drove down the street.
“We better alert LeSade that the villain is in the area,” Fred said, as the Lincoln moved down the street.
“Hold on, brake lights!” Jim said quickly.
They both watched as the car turned around and started back toward them. They continued to watch as it pulled to the side of the street and parked. The headlights blinked out. Everything grew quiet again. They sat and watched in silence.
“Go ahead and call LeSade. Let him know Cramer’s out here and what’s happening,” Jim said, putting a new roll of film in the camera.
“Maybe we’d better wait for a few minutes to see what he’ll do next,” Fred replied. “He may move again.”
“Right,” Jim replied, setting the camera aside. He moved the camera case around in the seat and removed a telescopic lens from one of the pockets. He looked through the lens at the Lincoln parked in front of them.
“I don’t understand,” Jim said. “He’s just sitting there scoping the front of the house.
“Maybe trying to verify his target,” Fred suggested.
“Yeah, or checking out the security.”
“He won’t be able to get past that without being seen.”
“Our boy is moving again,” Jim said, seeing the exhaust fume from the tail pipe as the engine started. Then the headlights came on and the Lincoln pulled away from the curb.
The Lincoln drifted toward them slowly. It turned left at the intersection and drifted into the night like a Great White Shark in the deep blue sea.
“Well, what now?” Fred asked, watching the Lincoln drift out of sight.
“We wait,” Jim answered calmly. “Better call LeSade and let him know,” he added, moving back into the captain’s chair seat and relaxed. He was getting sleepy and hungry.
“Notify the locals for a routine stop and look?” Fred asked, as he punched LeSade’s number into his cell phone. “Contact the others and let them know what we saw,” Fred added.
“Might as well. I’m getting tired of this already. It’s been a long day,” Jim complained, turning the radio on and removing the microphone from the dash mount.
Tommy listened closely to the FBI agent. He stared at the monitors. They were the deadest television he had ever watched. The cameras inched along slowly, showing the same areas over and over. The landscape was lifeless, except for the occasional night bird, bat or bug that flew by. When the FBI agent finished talking Tommy thanked him for the update, and then turned his cell phone off. He leaned back in his chair and continued staring at the monitors.
Two hours later he got up and walked through the dark house to the bedroom. The digital clock on the bedside table read 2:23 A.M. Lisa was sound asleep, secure in the belief that Tommy could and would keep her safe from all evil. He looked down at her sleeping face and realized that she was just as beautiful asleep as she was wide awake.
She looks so peaceful, he thought. Like a child, or an angel in a painting. He smiled then lowered himself gently onto the bed so he wouldn’t disturb her sleep.
He slowly drifted off to sleep, trusting the security system and the men outside about as far as he could throw a ‘55 Chevy hardtop. But he could not be at his peak if he was exhausted and sleep deprived.
Mostly he needed his rest for his three hour morning ritual. He worked out with some weight, never exceeding three-hundred pounds, and then did calisthenics for an hour followed by his martial arts program he had devised for his individual needs.
At exactly five o’clock his eyes snapped open. He gently removed Lisa’s arm from across his chest. She grunted in her sleep, then turned over and continued to sleep. He patted her bottom gently then got up. He was ready for whatever the day may bring.
What he wasn’t expecting was Austin Lake to show up on his doorstep with Linda in tow.
“Colonel Lake, what a surprise. Come in, Come in. Make yourself at home,” he said at the door when he opened it and saw them standing there. He offered his hand, and then pulled the big Colonel to his chest.
On the street behind them was a pickup truck hooked to a very well packed U-Haul trailer. It looked as if they had come to stay.
“Hello, Tommy. It’s good to see you again,” Austin said as he hugged Tommy back and pounded him on the back while shaking his hand vigorously.
“Linda you get more beautiful every day,” Tommy said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her cheek, then a tap on her lips.
“My how you white boys do carry on!” she laughed hugging him back tightly and kissed his cheek, then hugged him again and kissed his lips. “I just love having a big strong man in my arms!” she whispered, laughing softly, as she patted his butt with one hand and his broad muscular back with the other.
“Watch her Tommy,” Austin warned. “She’ll be taking your vitals if you don’t. And she don’t use a thermometer in the mouth to take a temperature, either,” Austin laughed.
“None of my nurses in Iraq or Germany were this beautiful. I’ll submit willingly to whatever she wants to do to me!”
“Yep, just as I thought! There’s a sucker born every minute!”
Tommy and Linda laughed, looking into each other’s eyes affectionately.
Linda Lake was indeed a beautiful woman. Her color was a golden tan. Her body, short slim and firm with curves in all the right places. Her eyes a topaz gold that sparkled like diamonds.
“I’ll get Lisa. It’s time she was up and around anyway. It’s almost nine o’clock anyway. Coffee’s in the kitchen, through there,” he added over his shoulder as he left the room, pointing.
Fifteen minutes later Tommy was back. He had showered, shaved and dressed in blue jeans and a pullover Polo shirt.
“So, you folks find everything alright?” he asked as he entered the kitchen.
“It’d be hard not to in this little kitchen,” Linda teased playfully.
“It is a little small,” Tommy agreed looking around. “But I prefer to call it cozy.”
“It’ll be real cozy when Lisa squeezes in here,” Linda smiled. “But I won’t mind as long as I’m standing next to you, Tommy,” she winked hugely.
“Linda behave. All you’ve talked about since we left Austin, is Tommy LeSade! You’ve never even met him before. You don’t even know him,” Austin laughed playfully.
“Give me time, Austin! I’m working on it. And I am a quick study, when it comes to gorgeous men!” she teased back, patting Austin on the shoulder.
“Tommy is private property! Trespassers will be...shall we say...dealt with?” Lisa said seriously as she walked into the kitchen.
“Well said,” Linda laughed. “You see Austin, you have nothing to worry about. As long as Lisa’s around.”
“It’s when she’s not around that worries me.” he said over his coffee cup. He blew the steam across it, then sipped the scalding black brew carefully. They all laughed like old friends.
“I’ll bet you folks are about starved,” Lisa said, changing the subject.
“I don’t know what I am, more starved, or more exhausted,” Linda sighed, looking meanly at Austin. “And it’s all his fault! He drove all night and only stopped once for gas,” she accused further.
“How would you know? You slept the whole way,” he responded playfully.
It was easy for Tommy and Lisa to see that Linda and Austin got along like an old married couple. Lisa could tell that Linda worshiped Austin and it was easy for Tommy to see that Austin adored Linda. He knew they had been married for over thirty ye
ars. And that said something for a military couple.
“I wasn’t asleep,” Linda retorted, “Just resting my eyes.”
“With your mouth open, snoring like a drunk Lord?” Austin said skeptically.
“I don’t snore, Austin! You beast!”
“Honey, I had to roll the windows down to keep them from shattering!” he went on playfully, feeding the fire, then sipped his coffee calmly as if repeating gospel truth, his face serious as a fire and brimstone Baptist preacher.
Tommy and Lisa laughed at the easy banter of the couple. Linda sat stiff and indignant, staring incredulously at her husband. When he continued to sip his coffee undisturbed, she smiled at him with love in her eyes.
“He’s all talk,” Linda said, looking sheepishly at her hosts.
“So, how about some eggs and bacon, toast and cereal?” Lisa asked everyone, looking around the small table.
Everyone agreed, so she and Linda got up and got busy.
“Linda relax, I know you’re exhausted. I’ll take care of everything,” Lisa said.
“Nonsense, Honey. I slept the whole way!” she whispered aside to Lisa conspiratorially while waiting to be told what to do.
“In that case, you can do the toast,” Lisa laughed.
“We’ll close on the property, Friday,” Tommy said over breakfast. “Then find a designer and builder and start construction as soon as possible. We should be up and running in six months or so,” he added.
“What breed of horses are you going to raise?” Austin asked.
“We haven’t decided for sure. But probably Morgan or Appaloosa,” Lisa said, looking at Tommy for confirmation.
“Everyone around here raises Quarter horses. So, we thought we’d do something different,” Tommy said, shrugging his shoulders undecidedly.
“We’ll have plenty of room. Six hundred acres with an option to buy a thousand more connecting to the first five hundred,” Tommy said, and then began to describe the ranch he had in mind.
After thirty minutes, breakfast was finished and they sat around over their dirty dishes talking about everything that came to mind until the conversation began to drag. Tommy and Lisa could see that Austin was exhausted and refused to admit it.
“Well, Colonel, you’d better get some rest before you fall in your plate,” Tommy joked.
“Show me the way,” Austin replied, then stood from the table and waited to be shown to their room.
On the way to the guest bedroom, Tommy explained about Cramer and the vigil he was keeping and the FBI presence outside.
“So, we need to keep Linda and Lisa inside until Cramer is caught or otherwise dealt with. If and when he makes his move it will be settled decisively, once and for all,” Tommy continued as he opened the bedroom door. “We’ll talk more later. For now, get some rest. You need it.”
“If you need me, I’ll stay up,” Austin offered, his eyes coming open wide.
“You’ll get your chance. For now you need some sleep. So get it while you can, Colonel.”
“Just the same, call me if you need me. I still sleep light.”
“Will do. See you later,” Tommy said, then turned and went back into the kitchen and the girls.
He stopped in the door and watched them for a minute, listening to their quiet conversation. Then turned and went to his computer and the security monitors. He sat down and began watching the slow, steady passing of the yard and surrounding areas.
* * * * *
Cramer was up and eating breakfast by 9:00 AM the following morning.
He had devised a plan that he believed would work. After breakfast he drove to a car rental office and exchanged the Lincoln for a blue mini-van, then drove back to the motel. He loaded his personal effects and the rifle into the van and drove back to Tahlequah.
At a small tractor repair shop on the north side of town he paid the owner five-hundred dollars to use his welding equipment for a few hours.
Within an hour and a half he had devised and built a silencer for the Winchester rifle. He was confident it would work for the purpose he had in mind.
He drove further out of town to a lonely wooded area that he thought was secluded. He walked into the woods with the rifle and silencer. After affixing the silencer to the rifle, he picked a small tree and test fired the rifle. The sound was like a muffled hand clap. The rifle also shot slightly high and to the right. He made a few small adjustments to the scope, then fired again. It was dead on target once again. He smiled with satisfaction. He returned to the van and drove back to town for lunch. After lunch he drove back to the area of Tommy’s house. From a side street he was able to see one side and the back of the LeSade residence.
He parked along the street and moved to the back of the van. He slid a rear window open about four inches and rested the end of the silenced barrel in the corner of the window frame. He sighted carefully through the scope and finding the camera under the back corner of the roof, he aligned the cross-hairs on it and gently squeezed the trigger.
The camera exploded in a shower of glass and plastic when the .30-.30 slug hit it.
The sound was almost inaudible. Cramer smiled to himself and sighted on the next two cameras. They also exploded in a spray of debris. For the first time in years Tommy LeSade was blind and vulnerable.
Cramer drove the van down the alley behind the house and parked. Taking the rifle he approached the rear of the house near the blind corner. He noticed the back door was open, but the screen door closed, but not locked he discovered when he tried it. He opened the storm door carefully and stepped inside the house, then eased it closed gently behind him. It didn’t latch.
As he stepped into the kitchen Lisa entered with an armload of folded dish towels. They fell soundlessly to the floor when she saw Cramer and the leveled rifle. She took a deep breath for her call to Tommy.
“It’ll be the last sound you make,” he promised coldly.
The call failed to materialize. It died in a sudden intake of breath. “What do you want?” she asked calmly.
“My money! And you to insure I get it,” he replied softly, so as not to alert anyone in the house of his presence. “Now, come on or I’ll kill you where you stand. Your choice, Little Lady.”
Lisa led Cramer out the back door, across the back yard and out to the parked van. She followed Cramer’s directions and got in the driver’s seat. Cramer walked around the front of the van, keeping the barrel of the silenced rifle pointed at her the whole time. He opened the passenger door, got inside and told her where to drive.
“Let’s go,” he said, keeping the rifle trained on her head. “Just follow my directions and you may survive this,” he said, as she put the van in gear and drove off down the alley.
Tommy and Linda had been sitting in the living room talking. Lisa was doing a load of laundry. Austin was in the guest room asleep. No one noticed three of the monitors blink out one after the other. They all heard three solid thumps against the house. Tommy and Linda both assumed the sounds were made by Lisa.
Several minutes later she walked through the living room with an arm load of clean and neatly folded dish towels, headed for the kitchen. After ten minutes, when Lisa hadn’t returned, and had made no noise, Linda began to worry. “I’d better go check on Lisa. That girl done got hung up on something!” she said, standing and heading for the kitchen. She was back instantly. “She’s gone, Tommy. The dish towels are in a pile on the floor!” she said, fear and worry in her voice and expression.
Tommy stood immediately. He saw three of the monitors were showing white snow. He hurried for the kitchen. On the floor were the dish towels. He looked at the back door and saw that it wasn’t latched. He stepped out and looked around the back yard. He saw three of the security cameras were busted, hanging loosely on their wire.
“Cramer!” he whispered, running along the side of the house to the street and the parked custom van.
“Lisa’s gone!” he said urgently as the door slid open a
nd Fred stuck his head out.
“What do you mean, gone?” he asked skeptically.
“I mean gone! As in not here anymore!”
“You mean dead?” Fred asked concern strong in his voice.
“No! Goddamnit! I mean gone! As in taken from here! Are you stupid, or deaf, or what?” Tommy said calmly, deadly.
“The blue mini-van!” Jim said, his head behind Fred’s. “It’s the only vehicle in the area in the past twenty minutes or so. It had to be him! I’ll alert the others to be on the lookout,” he added, picking up the microphone and making the call.
“He wants me, not her,” Tommy said. “He’ll call. I’m going back inside to wait,” he continued, then turned and ran back inside the house.
His wait wasn’t long. Fifteen minutes passed since he had reentered the house. He paced around carrying the cell phone until it buzzed in his hand.
“Hello?” he answered impatiently.
“Well, well, Captain LeSade. It’s been a while. Seems like we both have something that belongs to the other,” Cramer said calmly, like an old friend. “I’m willing to make an exchange, if you are.”
“Who are you and what do you want?” Tommy asked, playing dumb.
“I’ll exchange this strikingly beautiful piece of ass for all of my money back.”
“What money?”
“Now, now, Captain. Don’t be coy. I haven’t the patience for it. This cunt means nothing to me. I’ll kill her with pleasure after I destroy her mentally and physically. Your choice,” Cramer said calmly.
Tommy’s mind raced wildly. His thought processes and decision making functions were in hyper drive.
“What do you say, Captain. I don’t have forever. What will it be? The money or the girl? Last chance, Captain Hero,” Cramer taunted sadistically.
“How do you want to do it?” Tommy asked.
“I’ll let you know,” Cramer said, then clicked off.
Tommy went straight to the computer to activated the ‘failsafe’. He entered the long code and brought up the program, then activated the failsafe he had written and from there went to his phone tracing program and activated it. This program automatically traced the phone call back to its origin.
The failsafe would transfer all of the money to any destination in the world. Exactly thirty minutes later, it would transfer it all back to its point of origin. It would also record the exact address of the inquiring party. With everything ready and waiting, he sat back and waited. The cursor on his computer screen flashed off and on patiently. It had forever.