automatic. With the bike, I’m going to have to do it manually, and it’s the toughest computer game you ever saw.”
“Cabot is very smart,” Carpenter said. “But we knew that; we should have suspected something like this. Where’s Morgan going?”
“I’ll put him on the other screen,” the tech said. “It’ll be easier to track B if we devote a whole screen to her.” He tapped in a command, and the second screen came to life.
“He’s leaving the village,” Plumber said. “We’ve got fewer houses, now. He’s headed west, toward the Plain. Wait a minute, he’s turning into some woods. Shit, we won’t be able to see him under trees.”
Then the Morris Minor emerged from the trees and stopped. Morgan got out of the car, opened the rear doors, and began unloading.
“What’s he doing?” Carpenter asked.
“Equipment of some sort,” Plumber replied.
“It’s an easel,” Stone said. “Look, he’s setting it up.”
“He’s going to paint?” Plumber asked.
“Looks like it,” Carpenter replied.
Morgan set up a camp stool, opened what looked like a toolbox, and placed a canvas on the easel.
“He’s going to paint the sunset,” Plumber said.
“I’ve got trouble here,” the tech said suddenly, pointing to the screen before him. “Carroll is approaching a roundabout, and so are some other bikes.” They watched as B moved into the roundabout, merging with half a dozen other bicycles. Then they began exiting.
“Which one is she?” Carpenter demanded.
“You got me,” the tech replied. “There are two roads off the roundabout, and we’ve got two bikes on one and four on the other. We can’t track them all.”
“It’s B, Carroll,” Carpenter said. “Use both views to track the cyclists, until we can identify her. Morgan’s going to be there awhile; we’ll let him be. It’s Carroll, I know it.”
Stone watched as both screens began displaying cyclists on country roads. His last view of Morgan was of the man painting away.
Chapter 54
THEY SPLIT INTO TWO GROUPS, EACH watching the cyclists. “There,” Stone said. “The saddlebags; there’s only one bike with large saddlebags.”
“You’re right,” Carpenter said. “And none of the other bikes has saddlebags at all. That’s Carroll!”
Then the bicycle with the large saddlebags split off from the other three and turned onto a dirt lane.
“Okay,” Carpenter said to the tech, “follow her, ignore the others, and let’s get Morgan back on the other screen.”
The tech got the bicycle in his sights. “It’s going to be easier now, since she’s on that little lane.”
“Show me Morgan,” Carpenter said.
The tech tapped more keys, and the image popped back onto the second screen.
“Where is he?” Carpenter asked.
“Let me pan around,” the tech replied.
“It’s the same spot,” Stone said, “but Morgan’s car isn’t there; he’s gone.”
“Find that car,” Carpenter said, “and be quick about it.”
“It’s not so easy,” the tech said. “It’s one thing to track the A car when you’ve got him in your sights, but finding him in a landscape is going to be nearly impossible.”
“I don’t care, do it!”
Stone watched the lone cyclist as she pedaled down the little lane. “Anybody got a map of the area?” he asked.
“Here,” Plumber replied, spreading a large-scale map of the area on a table. “She came up here from her house to the roundabout,” he said, pointing, “and then she left it here.” He ran his finger up the road. “She exited the paved road here, and she’s going up this lane.”
“What’s this?” Stone asked, pointing to a green area up the lane.
“It’s a copse of trees, with a clearing in the middle.”
“Look at this,” Carpenter said, pointing at the trees.
Carroll had cycled into the clearing, and a car was waiting for her. A man got out.
“Here’s the buy,” Carpenter said. “Get me Mason.” Somebody handed her a cellphone. “Mason? Close on the following map coordinates.” She read them off.
“We’ve got a problem here,” Plumber said, pointing at the map. Everybody gathered around him. “There are three roads out of the clearing, in different directions.”
“Dammit,” Carpenter said. She spoke into the cellphone again. “Mason, check the coordinates; there are three exits from the clearing; you’ve got to cover them all. I don’t care, pull your men off Morgan’s house and get them out there; I am
Stone went and stood behind the tech. “Are you having any luck locating Morgan?”
“Not yet,” the young man said.
“I think it’s very important that you find his car.” He turned to the other screen. “What’s Carroll doing?”
“See for yourself,” Carpenter said. Carroll and the man she had met were embracing. “Looks as though Cabot gives this lady a lot of personal attention. Any luck on Morgan’s car?”
“Not yet.”
“Zero in on Morgan’s house,” she said. “Let’s see if he returned home.”
“That’s easy,” the tech replied, tapping his keyboard. “Here we are; all is quiet.”
“Work outward from the house in circles; see if you can find him in the neighborhood. Maybe he stopped at the pub, or for groceries.”
“Will do,” the tech replied.
Carpenter moved back to Carroll’s screen. She stared at it for a moment, then laughed. “I don’t believe it!”
“What?” Stone asked.
“They’re fucking.” She pointed at the screen. They had spread out a blanket, and the principal view was of a man’s bare back.
Then the tech widened the view. “Here come our people,” the tech said. Cars could be seen approaching the copse from three directions.
Mason drove the lead car, and he was moving fast up the unpaved lane. Ahead, the trees beckoned, and inside them, the clearing. He was going to make this bust himself, he thought; it was going to be the high point of his career. He entered the trees, and ahead, he could see the clearing in the evening light. Simultaneously, three cars entered the clearing from each access road. A couple were lying on a blanket, naked, and they looked up. “Oh, God,” he moaned. He picked up the cellphone.
Carpenter’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe it. He’s who?” She snapped the phone shut. “Carroll is fucking her immediate superior at Eastover.”
