reason to describe the condition of the skinheads the FBI now knew had been bludgeoned to death by members of the brigade, or the viciousness with which they had assaulted and murdered Ann Macintosh. These men were ruthless, capable of great cruelty, and she didn’t believe they would necessarily wait for orders from higher up before deciding what to do with Dan.
She hadn’t expected the men to return so quickly, however, and she was caught out in the open with only trees and bushes to hide behind. The weather was on her side-unless, of course, another lightning bolt illuminated the area. Hugging the earth, Nicole held her breath as three men passed within twenty yards without spotting her position. She lay still for several minutes after the final sounds of their movements died in the darkness, after which she resumed her cautious descent toward the cabin.
Through the darkness, she eventually crept close enough to see the dim glare from the lantern through the cabin window. The rain had stopped, and moonlight breaking through the clouds gave her an occasional glimpse of the cabin itself. But her opportunity came when the outside guard, in defiance of all military procedure, lit a cigarette, raising the night goggles to his forehead before he did so. Nicole watched silently for over an hour as a plan formed in her mind, hindered only by not knowing how many men were in the cabin. It was clear there was only the one guard outside, but there could be more inside. She only heard three or four voices when she was up on the hillside, so if three had passed on their way out, it seemed reasonable to assume that probably one, but not more than two, were in the cabin.
She checked her pistol and put it in the outer pocket of her jacket before rising to intentionally stumble the rest of the way down the hill, making as much noise as possible. She closed to within twenty yards before the guard heard her approach. He raised his rifle and challenged her in the darkness.
“Who’s there? Just hold it,” he shouted.
“Can you please help me?” Nicole pleaded. “I’m lost, and I can’t find my way back to the car.” She kept approaching, trying to appear befuddled and exhausted. “Oh, thank goodness I found you. I thought I was going to die up here on this blasted mountain.”
“Get your hands up, lady! Just hold it steady.”
Nicole stumbled forward, falling to the ground a couple of feet from the guard, breathing hard and pretending to cry. “I’m so tired and wet. Please, can you help me?”
“Get up, lady, and move toward that door,” he said, nudging her with his rifle.
Nicole acted frightened by the rifle and half-crawled, rising to her feet only as she approached the door. The guard reached around her and opened the door, shoving her through the entrance, where she fell forward to her knees.
Dahlgren jumped to his feet. “What the. . who’s this, Frank?”
“Dunno. Probably the broad we was chasing. She’s lost, or so she says. Maybe we should call the commander.”
“Keep her covered,” Dahlgren said, removing a cellular phone from his jacket pocket. He pressed a speed dial button and almost immediately began to speak. “We got the female FBI agent. . I don’t know. She just stumbled into the cabin. . Okay, about twenty minutes.” Dahlgren hung up the phone. “Looks like your demise is closer than you thought, Rawlings,” he said, stepping toward the end of the bunk.
During the phone call, Nicole had surveyed the room. Dan was seated, hands tied behind his back, his feet bound to a chair behind the table. The single inside man, whom she’d instantly recognized as Roger Dahlgren, stood across the room. She clumsily rose to her feet, appearing to lose her balance in the process, falling up against the guard who had let her in. In a series of swift movements, she kneed him in the groin and delivered a hard karate chop to the back of the neck as he bent over. Dahlgren dropped the phone and reached for his rifle, beginning to swing it toward Dan. At the sight of Nicole’s pistol, he pointed his rifle back toward her, but Nicole’s reflexes were quicker, and she aimed her weapon directly at him while he fumbled with the rifle’s safety.
“FBI! Drop it!” she shouted, her voice now strong and decisive. “I said,
In what seemed like slow motion, he continued to shift his aim, attempting to release the safety and prepare his rifle for action, but her shot, as unerring as on her previous encounter in the Wells Fargo Bank, entered Dahlgren’s brain. Their shots were nearly simultaneous, but Nicole’s was the most telling, rendering Woodland’s city manager dead before he hit the ground. His shot, not as controlled, entered Nicole’s chest, and the impact of his.243-caliber deer rifle slammed her backward toward the cabin door. Stunned by the impact of the bullet and fearful of losing consciousness before she could release Dan, Nicole crawled toward his chair.
“In my right jacket pocket, Nicole. I’ve got a knife.”
Nicole reached into his pocket, extracted the knife, and succeeded in cutting the plastic tie that held Dan’s hands and the rope binding his legs to the chair. With his hands and legs free, Dan grabbed Nicole and laid her down on the floor, opening her jacket. He examined the wound, then he stood and quickly stepped to Dahlgren’s body, ferreting through his pockets for a package of plastic ties he’d seen earlier. He bound the hands of the guard Nicole had knocked unconscious. Then he ripped the guard’s shirt with his pocket knife and folded the cloth into a bandage, which he applied as a compress to Nicole’s wound.
Her breathing became labored, much as she had pretended when she had entered the cabin, and she closed her eyes, grimacing against the pain.
“I thought you were going to wait for the cavalry,” Dan mumbled, sick with fear about the severity of the wound, now visible as he opened Nicole’s shirt. She didn’t respond.
He glanced at his watch. It was nearly 4:00 a.m. Still over two hours until daylight, and likely not soon enough to ensure Nicole would get the attention she needed before it was too late. He had to assume that Dahlgren had reached Shaw and that the small party of brigade troopers were on their way back to the cabin. He figured he had fifteen minutes, twenty at best.
Dan smoothed Nicole’s hair away from her face, then as gently as he could, he picked her up and laid her on a torn mattress on top of the small wooden bunk. Returning to Dahlgren’s inert form, Dan retrieved the cellular phone. Pulling his own wallet from his hip pocket, Dan found his on-call list and dialed General Del Valle’s emergency number. The switchboard patched him through.
“Sir, this is Captain Rawlings. I’ve got a difficult situation here, sir, and I-”
“Captain, I’m airborne already with three helicopters and a platoon of troops. We’re passing over the King’s stadium in Natomas at the moment, probably about thirty minutes out from your location. I’ve already been in touch with Colonel Connor, and he filled me in. Just give me your coordinates if you can. What’s your sitrep? Colonel Connor said you have flares and a GPS. Is that right?”
“Yes, sir. We’re holed up in a small wooden cabin. One dead brigade member and one tied up and unconscious. I have a seriously wounded FBI agent with me. She’ll need immediate attention. Thirty minutes is-”
“Son, we’ll be there as quickly as we can, and I’ve got medics aboard. I’ll notify the hospital, and they’ll be standing by. Send up your flares and guide us in. Are you in any further danger from other militia troops?”
“Yes, sir. Captain Dahlgren made a phone call to tell them to return. They’ve been gone only about fifteen minutes, so they’ll be back anytime. There are three of them in the returning group.”
“Do you have any weapons?”
“Yes, sir. Two pistols, an M-16 with a couple of clips, and a hunting rifle.”
“That’s plenty. Mount a defense, Captain. We’re coming. We’ll make as much noise as we can as we get closer to scare them off, but you might have to hold the fort for a few minutes.”
“Understood, General. It’s Agent Bentley I’m worried about. She’s badly wounded and drifting in and out of consciousness.”
“Stay calm, Captain, we’re coming. The medics will stabilize her, and we’ll get her to the hospital immediately. Now turn your attention to a plan of defense. You’re well armed, in a defensive posture, and we’re close. Don’t wait until you hear us. In exactly ten minutes, launch your first flare, and every three to five minutes thereafter until you hear the choppers.”
“Yes, sir. Rawlings out.”
Dan checked Nicole again. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was slow, but steady. He removed a mattress from the second bed and placed it over her, both to warm her and to protect her from any incoming rifle fire. He left just her face free to breathe. He slid the bed away from line of sight of the window, then removed the
