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By the timeeveryone reached the tent, Hank was standing at a folding table near a man seated at a small table, typing on a laptop. He waited until everyone was there before he spoke.
“Okay, listen up. I’ll put someone on the website for Wind River Mountains.” He looked around. “Daks, you’re good at this. Grab your tablet and pull up the link for trail markers. Let’s see how many there are and divide them up. Send the links to everyone. You’ve got all the phone numbers.”
Daks nodded. “On it.”
“We’ll use the trail bikes and motorcycles, and you can double up if you need to. Not all of you have met Leslie, so Beck will text everyone a picture of her.”
He waited while they all opened their phones and searched for the links Daks gave them as well as Leslie’s photo.
“We believe it’s remotely possible she’s run into the Loyalists,” Hank continued, “one of the worst white supremacist groups on the planet. If so, we need to find her and grab her up ASAP. We’ve received a tip they were in the area and may be planning something very big. Whatever it is, I promise you it will be disastrous, and they won’t want to let Leslie get away to warn anyone.”
“Here’s a chance to use all your skills,” Roman told them. “Remember. Stealth is key. We don’t want to do anything to warn them we’re onto them.”
Hank frowned. “I wish I’d known she was taking off before she did. I’d have given her a sat phone.”
“Coulda, woulda, shoulda.” Beck sighed. “She should have given us more notice, too. Sorry. Once we get her, I think I’ll give her a lecture she’ll never forget.”
“Let’s wait until we have her back here safe,” Melody said.
“I know, I know.” But she was so worried about her sister, she was letting anger get the best of her.
“We’ve looked around the area where we have the activities set up and can’t find her anywhere,” Roman repeated. “We have to assume she’s not on this mountain, but we’re going to have you check the trails anyway.”
He stood facing Hank, his body so tense, it practically vibrated. They’d had everyone working in pairs, following the trails Hank had drawn when they first arrived, so they at least weren’t totally unfamiliar with them.
“She has to have decided to explore that next mountain. Damn it.” Hank rubbed his neck in frustration. “Beck, didn’t she say anything to you?”
Beck shook her head, doing her best to conceal her own anguish.
“She apparently just took off. She’s vacationed in places like this before, and there was no reason for her to think there was any real danger or threat.” She shook her head. “It’s my fault. I didn’t want her to feel like I was breathing down her neck. She’s smart. I just figured—”
“Figured what?” Hank snapped. “That she was an experienced operative like the rest of you and would be able to stay away from danger? You know how stupid that sounds? She’s office staff, for god’s sake. Plus, we had no advance warning there would be anything going on around us. We didn’t find out until today.”
“Yeah.” Roman snorted. “Someone dropped the ball here.”
“So, exactly who are these people?” Beck wanted to know. “You didn’t exactly give us a load of information.”
Hank and Roman exchanged a look.
“Think of the worst domestic terrorists you’ve read about,” Roman told her, “and they don’t even come close. They’re into everything: assassinations, bomb scares and bombings, computer-based cyberattacks, hijackings, kidnappings, threats of terrorism, use of chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological weapons. You name it, they’re into it.”
“These people would blow up all of Washington DC if they could,” Hank added.
Beck didn’t even ask why. In her previous line of work, she’d learned way too much about people who thought they should “cleanse” the country and take control. Destroy those who were “tainted.” A chill ran down her spine.
“Who’s the message from?” Victoria asked. “Who sent it? It has to be someone who knows we’re here.”
“Brotherhood Protector headquarters,” Hank told her, “so it’s legit. I’ve got someone who monitors everything so we can keep up to date as much as possible.”
“And those people, the Loyalists, are here?” Cygny asked. “In this area?”
Hank nodded. “That’s what the text I got said. Here’s the big question. Why did they show up here again after all this time? It has to mean they’re planning something big.”
“It also could mean,” Roman added, “they’ve been working on this a long time. That they kept their hidey-hole here from five years ago and have been stocking it ever since then. They must have damn good camouflage for wherever that is.”
“The problem is,” Hank added, “the Wind River Mountain Range is so big, they could be anywhere. Although, I don’t think Swede would send this message unless he’d checked it all out and was pretty sure they’re in close proximity.”
“Who’s Swede?” Melody wanted to know. “Is he part of the Brotherhood Protectors or some other agency you guys work with?”
“He’s an off-the-charts computer guy who is 100 percent Brotherhood Protectors,” Roman told her. “Swede monitors traffic twenty-four seven. He’s the one who caught it, dug into it, and checked it out. It’s real, all right.”
“And with one thing added to it,” Beck pointed out. “Leslie’s disappearance. Her little bike is powerful but not enough to get her far away from us in a short time. But she could have stumbled into them if they’re at one of the closer mountains. I don’t like to think that’s what happened, but we can’t rule it out. Right now it’s the best explanation.”
“It is,” Roman agreed. “Much as I hate to admit it.”
“We need to look beyond this specific mountain we’re on,” Hank told them. “The one advantage is Wyoming has really mapped out the trails on these mountains, even including the ones that supposedly never get used. Let’s get everyone together and start handing out the assignments.”
“I’m also going to check with the park service and see if they’ve had anyone disappear recently.”
“Disappear?” Victoria’s eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline.
