Forced to Kill (7 page)

“The key to finding him is in here.” Nathan lifted his hand off the collective for a split second and pointed at his flight helmet. “We just have to dig it out.”

“That could be dangerous.”

“Tell me about it.”

“You aren’t seriously considering Holly’s hypnosis idea, are you?”

“Actually, I am. If the question’s whether it’s worth the risk, then I’d have to say yes. I really hate the idea of the woman and her little girls in Montez’s possession.”

“Yeah, me too. Who else is at risk? Montez will keep torturing and killing for decades if we don’t stop him. Apparently he loves his work too much to quit.”

“Whatever he’s up to, the stakes are high. He wouldn’t involve himself in a trivial operation. I’ll bet he’s being paid a bundle.”

A telephone tone interrupted them. Harv patched it through the NavCom. He pressed the transmit trigger on his cyclic control. “Hello.”

“
Harvey? It’s Holly.
”

“Hi, Holly. Nathan and I are on our way out to Lake Powell.”

“
Just wanted to let you know that through my counterpart in Salt Lake, I’ve arranged for your transportation and lodging at Bullfrog Bay.
”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Nathan said.

“
It’s no trouble at all. A special agent from our Monticello resident office will meet you at the airstrip. Can you write his cell number down?
”

Harv noted the phone number on the aeronautical chart.

“
Give him a call about an hour and fifteen minutes before you land. That will give him plenty of time to get there. I also have some basic info from the Kane County Sheriff’s Department. They handled the initial nine-one-one call and then called the federal park service to arrange the divers who recovered Kramer’s body. It was held at the marina until transported to Kanab. From there, it went to Salt Lake’s ME. The autopsy should be complete any time now.
”

“What has local law enforcement been doing to investigate around the lake?” Nathan asked.

“
About what you’d expect. They’re looking for eyewitnesses and trying to figure out what boat the killers used. Apparently no boats were reported stolen or missing over the last week or so. Boat rentals are all checking out as legit so far. There was one odd report, though. A local claimed someone stole his houseboat on the night in question, then returned it. Since no evidence of theft could be found, the sheriff’s department didn’t pursue it. Apparently, the boat owner is known in the area as being somewhat of a troublemaker. The deputy sheriff told our local agent that this kind of thing happens all the time. It’s the equivalent of houseboat joyriding. Most of the time it’s drunk high school or college kids.
”

“The timing sounds about right.”

“
I have the owner’s contact info if you want to talk to him. I’m looking at the report. The deputy referred to him as a quote, ‘cantankerous old cuss.’”

“My kind of guy.”

“
Apparently he lives on his boat. Moves it around a lot.
”

“We definitely want to talk to him. Will our local FBI agent play along with my
special way
of communicating if this cantankerous old cuss isn’t nice to us?”

“
Nothing rough, okay?
”

“I promise, nothing rough. Do you think Director Lansing will catch wind of what we’re doing?”

“
Probably. He’ll at least be briefed on the Kramer case.
”

“Why’s that?”

“
We have Legats all over the world.
”

“Legats?”

“
Legal attaché offices. The FBI has them in every major embassy, including Budapest. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t have official word on Kramer’s murder by now.
”

He looked at Harv. “If Lansing finds out we’re involved, I doubt he’ll be real happy about it.”

“
He definitely won’t.
”

“Will you be okay? We can handle things from here on.”

“
I’ll be okay. You’ve got Grangeland on your ops team when you need her.
”

Special Agent Mary Grangeland was a pro’s pro, and she’d helped them in the Bridgestone case. She’d also nearly paid the ultimate price.

“Are you sure about this?”

“
Yes, absolutely.”

“All right, then. Thanks. And thank Grangeland for us too.”

“
Will do. When will you be arriving in Bullfrog?
”

“Around nineteen-hundred.”

A call-waiting tone interrupted them. “Holly,” Harv said. “We’ve got another call coming in. We’d better take it. It could be General Hawthorne.”

“
No problem. Have a safe flight.
”

“Will do, thanks again.”

Harv brought the call in.

It was Thorny. “
You boys on your way?
”

“Yes. You?”

“
We’re still a few minutes away from our takeoff roll.
”

“We just heard from Holly,” Nathan said and brought Thorny up to speed.

“
I made the call to the secretary of the navy. I’m waiting for a return call.
”

“Thanks, General. Let’s see where that leads us.”

“
Make sure Holly coordinates her efforts with Major Halliday. We don’t want to duplicate work.
”

“Sounds good. Harv and I will look around at Bullfrog and report back to you by tomorrow evening at the latest. Hopefully, you’ll have something by then.”

“
If I hear anything sooner, I’ll call you right away.
”

“Have a safe flight, General.”

“
You too.
”

Harv ended the call.

“This Hungarian clean coal business is still our only real lead so far,” Nathan said. “I’m trying like hell to see how it makes sense. I guess the stakes are high enough, at least in financial terms. Once we know what Kramer’s role was, things may start to add up.” He looked down at the sleepy community of Julian a few miles to the south. “It just doesn’t seem like Montez’s cup of tea, getting involved with Hungarian business interests. Wrong hemisphere, for one thing. And the coal industry?”

“Like you said, the money’s big.”

The images of Nichole Dalton and her daughters returned. He shook his head. “Montez told me many times he’d interrogated children. I hate thinking about it. He’ll use them like pawns to his advantage. If their mother knows anything, she’ll talk.”

“We’re gonna nail him to a wall. Don’t lose sight of that. Also, it’s still possible that Nichole Dalton’s kidnapping isn’t connected to Kramer.”

He didn’t respond.

“Yeah, I think Montez did it too,” Harv said.

“He’s many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. Dumping a body in Lake Powell seems like a pooch screw. It’s out of character. Why risk it? There’s thousands of square miles of empty real estate in every direction out there.”

“I think it’s fair to assume he didn’t think he
would
be seen. It was the dead of night. The lake’s in total darkness. It was just dumb luck there happened to be campers in the area. More than that. They happened to be awake at the time, heard the boat, had a clear line of sight,
and
had night vision equipment. You have to admit, the odds are pretty low anyone would see it happen. The campers could’ve been on the opposite shore and not seen what happened. There’s a million what-ifs.”

“I suppose you’re right, but it sure seems like more risk than he needed to take. I mean, if you want to be certain you aren’t seen losing a body, there are surefire ways to do it.”

“Yeah,” Harvey agreed. “We should know.”

Chapter 10

Montez spoke softly and with only a slight accent. “Do you have your line straight?”

Nichole Dalton nodded.

“Good, try to relax. I know you’re in pain. Make the call and put it on speaker, please. Soon this will be over.”

Montez handed her the phone and stepped back. He’d freed her hands, but her body remained bound to the table. She wasn’t going anywhere.

The chirping ring tone indicated a successful connection.

“Increase the volume, please.”

She obeyed.

He smiled at the voice on the other end.
Glorious
.

“Nichole. Where are you? Where are the girls? The State Department said you’ve been kidnapped. I’ve been trying to call you for hours.”

“Duane, we’re in trouble.”

“What can you see? What kind of sounds can you hear in the background?”

Montez stepped forward and took the phone from her. “Did you know Nichole works out for an hour everyday? She does it to keep her body in shape for her new boyfriend. I can personally attest to this fact.”

“Who the hell is this?”

“I’m asking the questions, not you, Mr. Dalton.”

No reply.

“Are you still there?”

“Yes.”

“I’m afraid your lapdog, Mr. Kramer, is no longer with us. Fortunately for me, we had a little chat before he… departed. Your ex-wife seems quite eager to cooperate. She graciously supplied your telephone number.”

“What do you want?”

He reached out and bent Nichole’s little toe the wrong direction. It strained and broke. She screamed.

“Okay. Please don’t hurt her again. My daughters.…”

“Was that a question?”

“
No!
” he yelled.

“Their future depends entirely on you, Mr. Dalton. Do have access to the Internet?”

“Yes.”

“I want you to go to the following Web site.” He provided a numbered Internet address. “Did you get that?”

“Yes.”

“You have sixty seconds. Let me know when you’re online.” He turned toward Nichole. “Mr. Dalton sounds concerned for your safety. Perhaps this will be over as soon as we hoped.” He knew Dalton heard the comment. “You have forty-five seconds.”

“I’m logging on right now.”

“Thank you for being prompt.”

Montez ignored her pleading expression, secured her arms to the table, and stepped back. He turned on the overhead spot and admired his handiwork. Perfect.

“Thirty seconds.”

“I’m typing the address.”

“Very good, Mr. Dalton. You’re doing well.”

Montez knew what Duane Dalton would see once he viewed the streaming image coming from the camcorder. The mother of his children, naked, bloody, and strapped to a torture table. He hadn’t made her incisions especially deep, but they looked adequately shocking.

He waited, tapping a finger on the handset.

Dalton’s shout distorted the tiny speaker. “
You sick son of a bitch!
What the hell are you doing to her?”

Montez approached the laptop’s Webcam, presented the stun gun, then plunged it into an open cut on Nichole’s torso. Her scream drowned out the electrical crackle. She whipped her head back and forth in agony.

“
Stop!
Okay. Okay.
You’re
asking the questions.”

“Your momentary lapse in concentration is understandable, given what you’re seeing. But after your next outburst, it will be much worse. I hope you can appreciate the seriousness of her situation?”

“Please don’t hurt her again.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“I have my suspicions.”

“Please, do share.”

“Colonel Montez de Oca.”

“Retired.”

No response. In the background, Nichole Dalton cried.

“Were you aware there was going to be an attempt on my life?”

No answer.

He gave the woman another jolt. She screamed louder.

“
Wait!
Okay. Yes, I knew.”

“You see? We
can
have an honest conversation. All it takes is the proper motivation on your part.”

Montez unfolded a white sheet and draped it over the woman. Red splotches began forming above the cuts on her torso.

“My colleagues have expressed interest in coming in here and meeting your ex-wife. I haven’t allowed them to. Yet.” He held a box of condoms up to the camera. “I have a week’s supply for all six of my men. I trust that such a prolonged interaction won’t become necessary?”

“No, it absolutely won’t.”

“I have no interest in you, Mr. Dalton, or your ex-wife. My sights are… let’s just say they’re above your pay grade.” He held two small photographs up to the Webcam. “I’m sure it’s difficult to see the mother of your daughters in such a horrible situation.”

“Please, leave them out of this. They’re only children.”

“That depends entirely on you, Mr. Dalton. My men have also expressed interest in meeting them as well.” He turned to his left and snapped a finger. Arturo, his right-hand man, dragged two chairs from the shadows and placed them next to the table. Two more men, each with a blindfolded and gagged young girl, hauled them into the chairs and held them in place by their shoulders. Both were crying and shuddering with fear.

“Please, I’m
begging
you. Leave them out of this.”

“I see no reason to indulge my men as long as you cooperate.”

Nichole managed to stop crying long enough to say, “I’m here, babies. Mommy’s here.”

He snapped his finger again and Arturo covered her mouth with duct tape and blindfolded her.

“Please don’t hurt them. I’ll do what ever you want.”

“I’m prepared to give Nichole an injection of morphine. Would you like me to do that?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not without compassion, Mr. Dalton.” He stabbed a needle into a patch of  undamaged skin and depressed the plunger.

Nichole groaned through the tape covering her mouth.

He lowered his voice and leaned over her. “This won’t act as quickly as an intravenous injection, but in a few minutes you should feel better.” He placed the syringe on the table and leaned into the camera. “Mr. Dalton, you and I are now going to discuss our situation. I trust our conversation will remain confidential?”

“Yes.”

“Do I need to remind you what will happen otherwise?”

“No.”

He inserted a thumb drive and opened the record program on his laptop computer. “Very good. Shall we begin?”