Frick was wondering whether McStott was worth a 1 percent offer, let alone the 20 percent of the take he and Khan had discussed. At Khan's insistence Frick took a call from Rolf.
Rolf spoke first: 'Hello?'
'Talk quick,' Frick said.
'Okay. Two things: Ben Anderson has been corresponding with people from Homeland Security and various other branches of government. We just have indications of the discussions and meetings, not the substance of them. I'm sure he destroyed any notes.
The bulk of this activity started months ago. It's real,' Rolf added unnecessarily.
'What else?'
'I'm closing in on Anderson's meeting place. You know, hideout, or lab, or whatever.'
'Enlighten me quickly.'
'This first part could be trivial, but we read everything coming in from the field. We asked the deputies to put out an APB for Ben and they threw in his old boat, the Mallard. Someone saw divers going in over the side off a forty-something-foot boat that sounds from the description like it might have been Ben's old boat. But they said its name was Alice 5.'
'Why the hell didn't you tell me?'
'I'm telling you now,' Rolf said.
Frick's cursing pounded in his head. He wanted to break something. Then he spoke in patronizingly measured tones. 'Then let's have a deputy call the people who saw this boat and get a precise location.'
'We told Khan about it.'
Khan answered immediately. 'The boat was between what they call the old lime kiln and Turtle Mountain in a sparsely populated area. There's several different roads in that vicinity. We have some Anderson photos that also help.'
'Is there anything in there that might be a laboratory?' Frick asked.
'Yep. That's why I got Rolf on the line with you. They're not done yet, but they've got this preliminary indication.'
'I say we go there,' Frick said. 'Full force. Now.'
'That's putting our eggs in one basket,' Khan said. 'It's a huge gamble, but I'm with you. I have one suggestion, though.'
'Keep the real deputies on Lopez? Take our guys to Orcas?'
Khan chuckled. 'I like how you think, my brother. But I'd change that just a tad. We keep the deputies on the roads going through this whole area, but we send our guys the last half-mile down all the roads.'
'Then do it.'
Frick hung up on Rolf.
It was time to go.
CHAPTER 37
'I found another file that's not even protected,' Sam said. 'It's in a CAD program and it's huge. There's a floor plan, and there's a photo.'
He showed Haley and Sarah.
'I know that place,' Sarah said, sitting up in bed. 'We went on picnics. Waldron Island is across the way.' She pointed.
'Yes, it is,' Haley said. 'I wonder if that's the place?'
'Deer Harbor Road, near Turtle Mountain-Orcas Nob. No Trespassing signs.'
Sam and Haley listened carefully as Sarah explained how to get there.
'You know things that don't seem significant,' Sam said to Sarah. 'That's often the way we find something that nobody wants found.'
Haley jumped off the bed. 'I need to check on the Harlasens.'
'The men took me, but they didn't hurt them,' Sarah said, finally wearing out. She looked groggy.
'When you were there, they didn't hurt them,' Sam said.
'We need to make sure they're safe now before we run over to Orcas. I'll take the ship's tender,' Sam said. 'It's fast and will get me close in a hurry.'
'On the water you'll be a sitting duck. Not to mention, you're crippled when you get ashore,' Haley said. 'It's getting worse. I can see it. You won't be able to run, so you'll fight. Outnumbered. Don't go by yourself.'
Sam's cell rang, but the signal was bad and the caller disappeared. The phone recorded the number. Using the yacht's satellite phone, he called back.
'This is Eugene.'
Harlasen, Sam mouthed to Sarah and Haley.
'Where you at?' Sam asked.
'Out in the forest, up on a hill. I didn't want you to come looking.'
'You got away?'
'Yep, and we'll be a little trigger-happy here, I'm afraid. We've got guns. In this forest at night, I think we can take them down.'
'I'm sorry about all this, Eugene. Stay put and good luck. Do you know where we get a boat to head to Orcas? I'd like something really fast and a little bigger than a Zodiac tender.'
'Neighbor over there on Aleck Bay has a big Boston Whaler anchored out,' Harlasen said. 'He's really a hobbyist and not a fisherman, but he has some crab pots and runs a couple long lines. Sometimes when he's away, I check them. He's normally got a key under the driver's seat, right-hand side. It's on a ledge and hard to get to. Sometimes I have to put another key in the crack to get it out. If you wreck it, we'll have to replace it.'
'Understand.' Sam wished him well again, hung up, and called Ernie, who would be craving his sleep by this time. Ernie answered on the first ring; Sam began by explaining what had happened in the meantime. He emphasized the torture: more civil-rights violations for Ernie to pursue.
'My boss wants me to call the Washington State attorney general first thing this morning. He probably won't be home. I don't know what to tell you.'
'We have got to get some independent law enforcement in here,' Sam began. 'You would be good.'
'With no official jurisdiction and against orders?'
'Uh-huh. This is so egregious, somebody is bound to do something. You might as well be here, Ernie, and get the glory. We are talking big things, Ernie, very big.'
'Like what?' asked Ernie.
'Like terrorists blowing up the ocean.'
'Are you out of your mind? It sounds hokey.'
'Maybe.'
Sam proceeded to give Ernie a breakdown of all Ben's discoveries, with an emphasis on the methane angle.
There was a very long pause.
Sam could imagine Ernie with his chin in his hand, squeezing it so tight his knuckles were turning white.
'This is serious.'
'This involves the most important secrets to overcoming aging. And it's not just the future we're concerned about. We have people killing for Ben Anderson's knowledge,'
Sam said.
'All right. Hell. I'll probably get fired. Actually, I'm already in San Francisco. It automatically rings through to my cell. I hope my career survives this. Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, is that where I go?'
'Come there and I'll call you on the cell and tell you where we are. But if something goes wrong, we're going to Orcas Island, around Lime Kiln Road, or the Sawmill Road.
Somewhere in there is an unmarked road. It has a couple branches. Follow the biggest No Trespassing signs.'
