The Senator's Choice (12 page)

“And this is important why?” Hammond asked.

Shepherd sighed.
“I thought it would be clear by now.”

Matthews gave Shepherd a gentle slap to the back of the head. “Just say it already, kid.”

“Okay, okay. I sent Gretchen a picture of the car Luke
’
s kidnappers were driving along with the license plate. So, she hacked an NSA feed and was able to locate them.”

“And you have a live feed?” Zellers asked.

“Not exactly. It
’
s delayed fifteen minutes and forty-five seconds, but they won
’
t be able to get too far away now.”

“And where are they?” Matthews asked.

“According to this image, they
’
re just outside of Lancaster.”

“Pennsylvania?” Zellers said.

“Yes. They just turned off a main road.”

“Excellent,” Matthews said. “Continue to monitor that for us and let
’
s push it. We can
’
t let them get too far away from us.”

Without warning, Shepherd let out another shrill scream.

“Stop with the girlie screams, Shepherd,” Zellers said then paused. “So, what is it?”

“I just lost the feed.”

***

A FEW HOURS LATER, Matthews
’
entourage rolled into Beaver Creek, a small Amish farming community northwest of Lancaster. The sun had dipped beyond the horizon hours ago and the only light provided came from dim street lamps.

“Are we here yet?” Matthews asked.

“About 75 yards ahead on the left there,”
Shepherd said.

Jones drove forward and lurched to a stop when Shepherd screamed. “Here!”

“You gotta stop doing that,” Zellers squawked over the comlink.

Both vehicles parked and all the men exited their vehicles.

“Let
’
s spread out,” Matthews said as he handed each one a picture of the car. “It
’
s not like there are a lot of cars around here. Show this to the people you see in this area and let
’
s see if anyone has seen this car.” He paused. “Shepherd, you
’
re with me.”

They fanned out in opposite directions, canvasing the area. Most of their requests were met with looks that included furrowed brows, squinting eyes, and shaken heads. For nearly twenty minutes, none of the men received a positive response.

Matthews looked around and saw no one new to ask. He put his hands on his hips and sighed.

“Let
’
s ask this guy,” Shepherd said, pointing to a man driving a horse and carriage down the road.

He didn
’
t wait for Matthews
’
permission.

“Sir, if you have a moment, I
’
d like to ask you a question,” Shepherd said as he ran toward the man.

The man shined his flashlight toward them. “Sorry, mister. I
’
ve got a long way to go and not very long to get there.” He jerked the reins and guided the horses to the right onto a dirt road off the main highway.

Shepherd remained undaunted. He followed after the man.

“Sir, it
’
ll only take a second,” he said as he huffed along the carriage. “If you
’
ll please just look at this picture.”

The man yanked on the reins and pulled his horses to a stop. “You
’
ll follow me home if I don
’
t, won
’
t you?”

Shepherd shrugged.
“Probably not since that would constitute trespassing and I
’
m a law-abiding citizen, sir.”

The man took the picture from Shepherd
’
s outstretched hand. “I like your tenacity. You
’
d fit in well around here.” He looked at the picture.

“I tend to disagree with that sentiment since I rely heavily upon computers and electronic gadgets to navigate my way through this world and—”

The man didn
’
t wait for Shepherd to finish. “I saw this car earlier today.”

Shepherd froze. “You did?” He gazed at the man as he heard footsteps rushing up behind him. “When? And where?”

“Actually, right up this road a few hours ago. There
’
s an elderly gentleman and his wife who own some secluded land down this road about a quarter mile past my property. They are the last house before the road dead ends. And I saw that car traveling toward their house earlier today.”

Shepherd looked around to see the entire team standing next to him. “Could you see who was inside?”

The man shook his head. “You sure do ask a lot of questions. Is there something wrong?”

Matthews ignored the man
’s question.
“Can you show us where it is?”

The man shrugged. “
I don’
t see why not. I
’
m probably going to need your headlights anyway to guide me home since you
’
ve held me up here for so long.”

“Sounds like a deal to me,” Matthews said. He waved for everyone to return to their vehicles as the team hustled.

The cars fell in line behind the man and crept behind him. Jones turned on his brights to provide extra light for the archaic transportation plodding along in front of them.

“This doesn
’
t look good,
” Matthews said.

“I
’
ve got a bad feeling about this too,” Hammond answered over his com.

“
A bad feeling? Why?
” Shepherd said. He started to hyperventilate.

Matthews reached back and put his hand on Shepherd
’
s shaky knee in an effort to get him to stop. “Calm down. It
’
s going to be all right. We
’
re going to find Luke.”

“Don
’
t make promises you can
’
t keep,
”
Shepherd said.
“You know I don
’
t like it when you promise me something and then change your mind.”

“
Just don’
t squeal like a girl,” Zellers chimed in, “and we
’
ll be all right.”

After several minutes, the man slowed down and waved the team around.

Matthews rolled down his window. “Thank you, sir. We appreciate it.”

He nodded. “My pleasure. Just continue on up about another two miles and you
’
ll find them up there. The Freemans are good people, a bit odd, but good.”

“Odd? How so?” Matthews asked.

“Well, odd for these parts. They have electricity and other worldly amenities.”

Matthews nodded.

The man looked down and then with a furrowed brow back up at Matthews. “What kind of business did you say you had with them anyway?”

“No business with them,” Matthews said. “We
’
re just looking for a car.”

“All these people just to look for one car? I
’
m sure it
’
d be easier to find it with that helicopter that came in here earlier today.”

“
Helicopter?
”

“Yeah, one landed in there a while back. It
’
s not exactly the way Mr. Johnson travels, if you know what I mean.”

Matthews started rolling up his window. “Thank you for your help, kind sir.”

Jones stomped on the gas and Zellers followed suit. The two vehicles kicked up a sandstorm as they sped to their unknown destination. As they peeled off the road and into the driveway, Matthews instructed everyone to kill their headlights and slow to a crawl. The property was completely dark with the exception of an overhead light secured to the side of the barn near the house.

“
Doesn
’
t look like anyone
’
s home,” Zellers said.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Hammond shot back.

“Let
’
s be careful,” Matthews said. “
We don’
t exactly know what we
’
re going to be dealing with here — and Luke
’
s safety is our top priority.”

Matthews scanned the area for a car and pointed it out. The Camry was next to a small shed, barely visible from their perspective. “The Camry is over to the right, Zellers.”

“Got it, boss.”

“Let
’
s check out the house first and then look into the Camry.”

Everyone except Shepherd quietly exited the two vehicles and put on their night vision goggles. “Everyone good?” Matthews asked. He saw three thumbs up and proceeded to move toward the house. They crept up the steps behind him.

Matthews turned the door handle to see if it was locked. It wasn
’
t, as the door opened inward. He held his hand up and walked in slowly before he turned back around.

“
I don’
t think anyone is here,” he said, “
but let’
s clear all the rooms first.”

One by one, they cleared the rooms. With only one room left on the first floor, there was still no sign of Luke.

Hammond let out his own high-pitched scream upon entering the final room.

“Not you, too,” Zellers groaned.

“
Sorry, Zellers. It
’
s just that—,” he said before stopping and regaining his composure. “I just didn
’
t expect to find what I just found.”

“And what might that be?” Jones asked.

“Mr. and Mrs. Johnson — dead.”

“Great,” Matthews said. “Now we
’
ve got a crime scene to preserve.”
He sighed.
“No prints, gentlemen. Keep your gloves on at all times.”

Everyone joined Hammond in the elderly couple
’
s bedroom. Matthews flipped the light on and stared at the pair of dead bodies lying prostrate on the bed.

“
Still no Luke,
” Matthews said. “Let
’
s clear the upstairs now.”

Hammond crept upstairs, his gun trained in front of him. He opened the first door he came to at the top of the stairs and found it empty. A few kids
’
books were strewn on top of a small table in the center of the room along with a few stuffed animals.

“Bet they kept him in here,” he said.

Matthews looked around the room before pulling out a flashlight. He dropped to his knees and began pointing a beam at the floor.

“If you were going to leave me a message, Luke, where would you have left it?” he mumbled.

“I
’
m going to clear the other rooms,” Hammond said.

Matthews continued to inspect the floor. He flipped through one of the books and found a piece of paper slightly ajar from the binding.

“What do we have here?” he said.

He read the note in Luke
’
s handwriting.

You
’
ll find Carey Grant there.

“Luke, you
’
re a genius, kid.”

Hammond slipped back into the room. “All clear, boss. What
’
d you find?”

Matthews got up. “A note from Luke.”

“What
’
s it say?” Hammond asked as he peered over Matthews
’
shoulder.

Matthews handed it to him. “Read it for yourself.”

Hammond shook his head. “
I don’
t get it.”

Zellers snatched the note out of Hammond
’
s hands. “It
’
s a Carey Grant movie — North by Northwest. You
’
ve never seen that?”

Matthews laughed. “At least someone around here has good taste in cinema. I tortured Luke with that movie one summer when he stayed with me.”

Hammond sighed.
“Well, that really narrows it down.”

“It
’
s a start.”

CHAPTER 16

LUKE GRIPPED THE SIDE of his seat as the helicopter prepared to land. It was well past midnight and he felt drowsy. The surge of adrenaline that had sustained him for most of the day was gone. He wanted a bed and some food, neither of which he thought he
’
d get.