“Okay, so what’s your point, Bannock?”
Bannock sat up straight, his face serious. “I think it was either a test of some new technical weapon, or simply a diversion.”
“Diversion?” she asked. “From what?”
“I don’t know,” he answered, “but it seems like a diversionary tactic to me. I mean, in twelve hours of darkness, nothing was destroyed, and other than your officer this morning, no one was hurt or killed. The outage only served to draw the eyes of the authorities away from anything else that may have been going on.”
“How did you know about the connection with the officer being killed?” Trooper Wyatt asked.
Charlie let out a sly grin. “Heard about the shooting on the radio this morning, that it was related to the theft of a truck, and assumed it was Adem and Nikola. Your reaction has confirmed my thoughts.”
“All right, Sherlock Holmes. How do you think they did it, and where would you look next?”
“I’m not an electrical or computer engineer. But I have heard of computer networks that are run over raw copper wires in the electrical outlets in homes. Maybe it was something like that. I know Al Qaeda has a lot of western-educated geeks in their ranks who could figure it out.”
“Hmmm.” Wyatt looked down at the floor pensively. “I am not a computer nerd either, but I know someone who is. Maybe I’ll run it past him.”
“Well, that’s my two and half cents.”
“Thanks, Charlie. I’ve got to go check some other leads. Keep me apprised of anything else that comes to mind.” She handed him her card. “Here’s my cell phone number, in case something happens to come to mind.”
He took the card from her.” Trooper Wyatt, can I give you a piece of advice?”
“Sure.”
“Watch yourself. These are not mere criminal types—they’re killers. They make the Mafia or Hells Angels look like pussycats. They will kill any perceived threat with no hesitation. You’ve gotten yourself mixed up in some very serious business.”
“Thanks again, Charlie.”
She turned and walked out the door. It was time to try Marcus’s cabin again.
Chapter 14
Marcus Johnson’s Cabin
Salt Jacket Alaska
18 December
19:00 Hours
Chief Wasner and his SEAL team were to meet Marcus at his cabin. From there, they were going to stage for the trip into the woods to find the North Korean agents. He gave them directions, then left while the SEALs gathered their gear.
At 19:00, he pulled back into the parking area in front of his small homestead cabin. As Marcus’s Jeep rolled up the tree-lined driveway, he noticed another vehicle parked in front of his home. The long, white car had the word TROOPER emblazoned across the trunk. Marcus’s headlights illuminated the side as he pulled up parallel and saw the Alaska State Trooper emblem set in a blue diagonal stripe across the driver’s side door. A shadowy figure sat inside.
Marcus parked his Jeep and stepped down from the boxy vehicle onto the hard packed snow. His boots crunched noisily against the silence of the night.
“What? Is that trooper back to give me a speeding ticket now?”Marcus muttered as he stepped around the front of the vehicle.
The trooper got out of the cruiser and slowly started toward him. This guy’s kind of short for a trooper, and thin
He stood in the darkness as the officer approached. Watching the way the body moved, it gradually dawned on him that this was not a male trooper.
“May I help you?” he asked aloud.
“I hope so,” said a voice.
Marcus’s stomach suddenly fluttered like a million butterflies had just hatched from cocoons deep in his gut. He hadn’t heard that voice in years, but it was unmistakable. “Lonnie?” he asked.
“Hi, Marcus,” she replied. “I was sent out to ask you some questions regarding the two men you met yesterday at the Salt Jacket Store. And I ….”
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you. I was sent out to ask you some questions…”
“I heard that, but why you? Did your dad set this up?”
“Possibly, but I don’t think so. I was on regularly scheduled duty in the area this week.”
“Look, Lonnie, I don’t have time to talk to you right now.”
“This isn’t a personal visit,” she said. Her voice was cold and professional. “I need to verify that these are the two men you saw yesterday, and ask you some questions about what you heard them say.”
“Let’s step inside, then,” he said, “It’s too dark here to see the pictures.”
“You need to get an electric light out here,” she answered.
“No,” he blurted. “I don’t need anything.”
Lonnie was taken aback by his curtness.
They entered the cabin and were immediately greeted by the warmth of a fire glowing in the stove at the corner of the room. Despite the comfortable heat, an icy chill hung on Marcus’s demeanor. He reached up to the gas lamp suspended from a log support beam in the center of the room. He turned the small knob that jutted from the side of the lamp’s metal base. The light became as bright as a hundred-watt electric bulb.
Marcus held the papers in the light. He stood with his back to Lonnie.
“Yes, those are the two men. This one is Nikola. The others name I didn’t catch, but Bannock told your dad it was Adem.”
He turned to hand the pictures back
