Laughlin turned and gave him a stoic look. “I’m with the agency, and I had no idea you had this shit out here. How are a bunch of coke dealers going to know?”
Bridger gave him a crooked grin. “The same way they knew how to track DJ in the ‘glades.” He pushed off the workbench and unzipped the bags. “They’ll buy off the right people.”
Lisa finally turned to him and planted her hands on her hips. “For these tunnels to have done their job, I doubt anybody knows they’re here.”
Bobby shook his head. “But the house is. And everybody within ten miles of this place knows about it now. Before they blew the hell out of the surface, only the Sheriff, the mailman, and me knew that anybody lived here, and only the Sheriff had ever seen the actual house.”
“I still don’t see them coming here, buddy.” Mauk added.
Bobby finally sighed heavily and looked up to meet their gaze. “So, maybe I left them a note on the door of the bunker.”
“You what?” Gregg asked incredulously.
Bridger nodded. “I left them the GPS coordinates to this place.” He gave him a tight lipped smile and shrugged. “And maybe I dared him to come and find me.”
Mauk began to chuckle and it rolled into a full blown belly laugh. “You cocky son of a bitch.” He wiped the tears from his eye then nodded. “Let’s boobytrap this bitch and kill us some bad guys.”
Gregg chuckled again. “He said ‘booby.’”
Langley Virginia
Director Jameson nodded as the man on the phone talked. “Can you patch me through to the unit commander?”
“Negative, sir. They’re radio silent at the moment.” There was a slight pause then he said, “They’ll be checking-in once they’re in place. He wants his snipers nested before anybody dares approach the main dwellings to look for signs of life.”
“Can they use the microwave to detect them? We can’t risk exposing the team to the asset.”
“Negative sir. From what we’ve gathered, the dwellings are steel reinforced concrete with a fine copper mesh embedded in the exterior.”
“Copper mesh?”
“A Faraday cage, sir. In the event of an EMP.”
Jameson shook his head in disbelief. “How could…he wouldn’t be able to receive calls or…”
“Satellite dish for entertainment and a mobile phone relay is all that’s needed, sir.”
Jameson groaned as he sat back and shook his head. “The paranoia of these people astounds me.”
“It’s not really paranoia, sir. Solar activity could cause an EMP large enough to—”
“Did I ask for your assessment?” Jameson snapped.
“Uh, no sir,” the man seemed to stammer on the phone. “The unit commander should be checking in within the next ten or fifteen minutes. Do you want to wait or shall I call you back and patch him through?”
Jameson groaned. “Call me back.” He slammed the phone down and swore under his breath. “If they reveal themselves…”
South of Dallas, TX
Mario sat in the car and waited while his men scoped the area. A wiry fellow appeared at the driver’s door and Fernando rolled down the window. “Señor, we used the drone to go in close. There’s something on the door.”
Mario raised a brow and rolled down his own window. “Define ‘something.’”
The man stepped back to his window and held up a small screen. “It looks like a piece of paper.”
Mario took the screen and removed his sunglasses. He expanded the image and stared at the note. “Son of a bitch.” He began to laugh and handed the tablet to Fernando. “Find out where this is.”
“Señor?” Fernando took the tablet and stared at the message. “I don’t understand.”
“Those are coordinates. Track them down.” He glanced out the window at the thin man sweating in the Texas sun. “Call the men back and tell them to prepare to move out.”
The man nodded then turned back to him. “Um, where?”
Mario leaned over in the seat and stared at Fernando’s reflection in the rear view mirror. “Where are we going?”
Fernando typed furiously on his phone then held it up. “It’s very near a small town, Jefe. A place called Quitman?”
Mario turned back to the window. “Quitman. Tell them to follow us.” He snapped his fingers at Fernando who quickly handed the tablet back to the wiry man. “Vamonos!”
39
Near Quitman, TX
“Hey…” Gregg held up a brick of C4. “I’ve been looking for these! I thought we lost them in Libya.”
Bridger gave him a shrug. “We did.” He raised a menacing brow. “I found them.”
Gregg scoffed. “You stole them.” He shoved blocks into his bag then zipped it. “You are definitely going to owe me to keep this between us.”
“How about I snap your neck if you even think of mentioning it?”
Gregg tapped at his chin in animated thought. “I was thinking more like an espresso machine for the lounge.”
“Move.” Bridger shoved him towards the open hallway. “Remember to mark what you set! Especially the dynamite!” he called after him.
Mauk practically jogged back to the weapons cache. “The west runs are set.” He dropped his bag and began to rifle through the claymores stacked in the rear of the large munitions locker. “There’s a short run between me and DJ that I want to rig.”
“Just mark your placings.” He stood and gave Mauk a concerned look. “Alternate the tripwires.”
“I am.” David gave him a quick smirk. “Push pulls, brother. If they happen to spot one and clip the wire…”
“Sayonara motherfucker.” Bridger zipped his bag and turned for the north hallway. “Don’t forget to stage weapons and ammunition.”
“Already on it.” Mauk turned and practically ran into DJ.
“Hey, did you know that there’s a connecting tunnel between the south and west runs?”
Mauk handed him the bag. “Yup. I’d just seen it. Let’s do it up righteous.” He fell into step behind DJ.
Lisa wiped the sweat from her brow and entered the main terminal of the underground structure. She bent low and pulled a beer from the mini-fridge and grimaced. “Who drinks Miller Genuine Draft?” She twisted
