Bug Out! California Book 16: Darkness to Light, page 1
Bug Out!
California
Book 16
Darkness to Light
Robert Boren
South Bay Press
Copyright © 2019 by Robert Boren.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
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Bug Out! California Book 16/ Robert Boren. -- 1st ed.
For Ella Boren
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
―Abraham Lincoln
Contents
Previously – in Bug Out! California Book 15
Augusta
Sleet
Nails
Melville
Road Rash
Horror Road, Kansas
HMS Duncan
Payment
Office Space
Crates
DBS
Swells
State Department
Park Central
Agencies
Audio Targets
Time’s Up
Epilogue
Cast of Characters
About the Author
Other books by Robert Boren
Previously – in Bug Out! California Book 15
As book 15 opened, facial recognition software told Malcolm’s team that the men who just tried to murder them were FBI agents. Malcolm’s team was still following Torrie Evans, as he made his way east from Michigan. The bug on Torrie’s car told them he was stalking victims.
Margaret Hines and her team at Dame Harriet Watson’s estate were planning an escape to Argentina, aided by Sebastian. Lance was still in the Long Island bunker, but helped them secure the estate network and video system, cutting off the access Albena had been using. Alex Carlson brought up his fly-sized micro-drones as a solution to the lack of surveillance. They were left at the Samson Corporation Plant in Missoula. The team started planning to fetch them.
Agent Williams found out that the FBI agents targeting them were not active duty agents. They were enemy plants who quit coming to work after the war ended. The FBI went on lockdown after the attempted assassination of Agent William’s boss, and agency pledged support to the resistance.
While Torrie and Zippy were at a fast-food joint they met Steph and Bryce, two high school girls. Steph was nice to Zippy. Bryce didn’t like the look of either of them. They left, Torrie and Zippy following them to the mall.
Sebastian went to Philly to pressure Lance’s Merc contractors into working for them or returning the half-million bucks of his money they still had. The outfit was owned by an old friend of Sebastian’s, so they cut a deal to provide support for Lance’s team, with certain reservations. Margaret Hines was the principle they were working for, even though it was Lance’s money.
The team in Missoula decided to take three battle wagons to the Samson Corporation plant for the operation to retrieve the mini-drones. The mission included taking Jared Carlson’s body out. They expected an attack at the plant. While the operation was going on, the team at the shopping center base would get ready for departure, Alex bringing a C-17 to the Missoula Airport to take them away.
Torrie and Zippy saw Steph and the others at the mall, chatting briefly while Zippy finished his ice cream. After the high schoolers left, Torrie and Zippy followed them. They attacked Bryce and her boyfriend in the back of a camper. Steph and Matt, the other boy, had taken a walk, but where attacked when they returned, Matt using his wrestling skill to knock Zippy out and subdue Torrie long enough for Steph to escape, Torrie following her in his van until the police sirens were approaching. Malcolm and his team saw that Torrie was leaving the city via their bug tracker, and left their motel, following him east on I-75.
Mi6 gave Langston and Creighton orders to fly to the US from London, to pursue Margaret Hines and Dame Harriet Watson. They were tipped off about the RaSP operation Margaret was setting up by the King himself. They were attacked in the Mi6 parking structure by several operatives, capturing one, killing the rest in the gun battle. The survivor had a RaSP ID. They later found out there was an attempted hit on Langston’s boss, Russell, and rushed to the hospital to check on him. Russell was barely wounded, but pretending he was worse. He told Langston and Creighton to get an envelope out of his desk and take it to the Prime Minister. They did that. The Prime Minister ordered them to leave for the United States immediately.
Three serial killers related to Zippy showed up at the Flint jail. Jax Evans, Al Valdez, and Cole Emerson. The Flint police chief contacted the Saginaw department, knowing about Torrie Evans. Lieutenant King came to Flint. They called Malcolm and had a chat. The Flint chief put a tail on the men.
The operation to collect the mini-drones at the Samson Corporation plant was successful, but the plant was being watched as expected, and several Humvees followed them at a distance, seen by B7 in surveillance cameras. The rest of the team got word, and got into their battle wagons, loading up a semi-truck with the speeders and other equipment, knowing the enemy would follow the strike team there. The C-17 was at the airport waiting for them. When the battle wagons arrived back at the shopping center base, the enemy attacked. The battle wagons from the operation and the base returned fire, destroying the enemy in minutes, and then the team moved to the airport, boarding the C-17 with their equipment and flying to the Wyoming estate of Jared Carlson, to drop off his body at a cryo unit and pick up more supplies. Alex Carlson remote-destructed the shopping center base plant after enemy operatives entered to search.
The Flint police set up Al Valdez, Cole Emerson, and Jax Evans up in a local bar, arresting all three for assault. Meanwhile Torrie continued east, followed by Malcolm’s team, now in two cars… George, Malcolm and Heidi in the rented van, Agent Williams and Ted Crowley in a rented sedan.
The main team got to the Wyoming estate safely, and Alex trained them on driving the speeders and working with the mini drones. They were attacked by twelve Humvees, using the speeders to destroy the enemy vehicles, the battle robots helping. The team left for the east coast after that.
Malcolm, George, and Heidi stopped at a donut shop in Findlay, Ohio to get snacks and use the bathroom, while Torrie was at a mini-mart a few miles up, being watched by Agent Williams and Ted Crowley. They decided to go into the shop one at a time, George going in first. Malcolm saw a black SUV get onto the lot, and texted George. A short battle ensued, the bad guys killed. George searched one of the SUVs and grabbed a briefcase, bringing it back to the rented van. They took off, George looking inside the case and seeing a bug tracer. It was following a bug in their vehicle. They pulled into the back parking lot of a truck stop, Malcolm retrieving the bug from underneath the van. He put it on a semi-truck in the parking lot, and they got back on the road.
Sebastian brought O’Conner and one of his employees named Lewis to Harriet’s estate, to assess the security features there.
Lance saw that the ex-FBI agents were killed in Findlay, which convinced him Malcolm and George were following Torrie. He explained the situation to Victor, and they came up with the idea to stake out the bunker from a house next door, owned by a snowbird couple. Lance hacked into the local post office and saw there was a three-month mail hold set up for that address. After dark, Victor and Lance went to the house, breaking in and disabling the burglar alarm. Lance moved into the house and got set up for surveillance.
Members of the Redmond and Evans clan showed up at the Flint jail, killed the officers there, and sprung Al, Jax, and Cole. They escaped in a van, heading east, to join Torrie in his attempt to take out Malcolm and George.
Mr. White and Mr. Black got word to move their operation to the airport in Augusta, Maine. They loaded up the Lincoln and took off right away.
Langston and Creighton were in an RAF transport over the North Atlantic when they were contacted by Russell, who told them they were being re-routed to Augusta, to meet with the American resistance team.
Lance was working on his laptop in the neighbor’s house when somebody unlocked the front door, the granddaughter coming in. Lance over powered her, trying to convince her that he was there to help Malcolm Davis nail a serial killer next door. She wasn’t buying it and struggled, so he knocked her out and tied her to a chair, putting a gag in her mouth.
&n
{ 1 }
Augusta
Ivan and Albena walked hand in hand to the conference room, picking up pastries and coffee, the others arriving, General Hogan taking a few minutes to introduce the team.
“You’ve got your laptop setup already?” Ivan asked her.
Albena nodded. “It’s in the next room.” She watched as Ivan brought out his phone. “E-mail address?”
She gave it to him, and he tapped on his phone for a moment, then put it away. “I just sent you an email.
“About the new development?”
He nodded. “Let’s go next door and chat.”
The two grabbed their coffees, dropping their small paper plates into the trash can by the door.
“You leave?” Jules asked.
“We’re going to discuss the issue I told you about on the plane,” Ivan said. “See you in a little while.”
Albena led Ivan to her laptop, sitting down in front of it, Ivan sitting on her right.
“What is it?” Albena asked.
“There are people in the government funneling money to the ex-FBI and ex-CIA plants. We’ve got a set of names from an informant.”
She smiled. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, and I’m hoping you’ll be able to get into the agency email system and look for evidence. We need to get these folks out of our government. They’re more dangerous to us than the surviving funders.”
Albena opened the email, then clicked on an attached Excel file, opening it up. “I need to get a PC with a bigger monitor. Had one in the meeting room above our coffee shop in Manhattan, but we had to leave it behind.”
“Yes, I remember. You had to leave in a hurry, thanks to Rayan.”
She nodded, looking closely at the screen. “Wow, you’ve given me a good starting point. I’ll be able to do a lot with this. Can Penko help me?”
“Yes, and Robbie and Ben if you need them.”
“I’ll get right on this.”
Ivan smiled. Jules and Ted came in the door.
“Something wrong?” Ivan asked, seeing the concern on their faces.
“We may have a problem. Those relatives of Torrie Evans got sprung from the Flint jail. Three officers were killed as well. We’re setting up a conference call with Malcolm and George.”
“Be there in a moment,” Ivan said. He watched as they left. “Should I send the other hackers in here?”
Albena paused her typing for a moment. “Give me a couple hours. I don’t know how best to use them yet.”
“Great, I’ll leave you alone for now, then. Good to finally meet you in person.”
She looked at him. “Yes, I was looking forward to it. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve figured out what I need. Shall I respond to your email?”
Ivan smiled, getting up. “That would be fine, if I’m not around. See you soon.”
She watched him walk away, then looked at the door for a moment after he went through, her heart pounding in her chest.
***
“Do we have another place to hold meetings?” Ivan asked.
Alex nodded. “Yes, there are quite a few rooms back behind here. They’re a little on the industrial side from a décor standpoint.”
Tex cracked up. “What we need is a saloon to meet in like we had in Dodge City.”
“Now you’re talking,” Sam quipped, Karen and Erica shooting each other an eye roll.
“Well, I must admit that I liked the saloon,” Ivan said. “We get them?”
Ted glanced over, phone to his ear, and nodded.
“C’mon,” Alex said. “Kinsey here will show us to one of the rooms.”
“Shall I work a security assessment?” Yuri asked.
“Sure, work with Kinsey after he’s taken us to the meeting room,” Alex said.
The group followed Kinsey down a hallway, going into a door on the left. “We’ve got Wi-Fi and ethernet in here. It was the first room we finished. Still need ethernet in some other rooms… the intel room, for instance. I’ll hit that next, if it’s okay. I know there are people working already. Ethernet adds a level of security.”
“Please do,” Alex said.
“Gather around,” Ted said. “I’ll try to get Malcolm and officers of the Flint and Saginaw PDs on the line.”
He fiddled with his phone for a moment, then hit the speaker button and put it on the table, everybody gathering around.
“Hear us?” Ted asked.
“Yes, coming through good and clear,” Malcolm said. “Chief King, you hear us?”
“I’m still a Lieutenant, Malcolm,” King said. “Gary is here with me, my counterpart in Flint.”
“Good to talk to you,” Gary said, his voice solemn.
“What happened?” General Hogan asked.
“Several individuals assaulted the jail, killing three officers,” King said. “They released the prisoners. We have video, so we know who we’re dealing with.”
“How bad is it?” Ted asked.
“Pretty bad,” Malcolm said. “Reviewed the video a few minutes ago. Hoyt Redmond, his younger brother Nick, and somebody I thought was dead.”
“Who?” Ted asked.
“Crane Beckler.”
“Related to Jason Beckler, of course,” Frank said. “Dammit.”
“Younger brother. We had good evidence that he died in Canada. Now we know he faked his death.”
“Time to pay up,” Ted Crowley said.
Malcolm chuckled. “Yeah, you called it, man.”
“How dangerous are these folks?” Shelly asked.
“No more dangerous than Al Valdez and Jax Evans,” Malcolm said, “but this is bad, because we had two, and now we’ve got five.”
“What about the old guy?” General Hogan asked.
“Cole Emerson,” Malcolm said. “He’s with them, but too old to be much of a threat.”
“Oh, I don’t know, remember old Grampa Chucky Wilson?” George asked. “He set up most of what we ran into during the Sailor Boy case.”
“Chucky was smart,” Malcolm said. “Cole is not.”
“Don’t underestimate that old bastard,” Ted Crowley said. “He was the runner for Jason Beckler’s dad, Chet, and Rupert Smith. Kept them going when they were getting too old. He likes to act like a moron, but he’s anything but.”
“I’ve heard that theory, but haven’t seen evidence that it’s true,” Malcolm said, “and even if it was, this is gonna be a straight up fight for them, not a careful hunt with elaborate traps.”
General Hogan shot a worried glance at Ivan, who shrugged.
“Well, what do you guys think they’re gonna do? Follow you to Lance’s hideout and attempt to take you out?”
“I’d lay you ten to one that they know where Lance is,” Ted Crowley said.
“Now there’s something I agree with,” Malcolm said.
“I’m worried,” Sam said. “We’ve got enough on our plates. Having a bunch of pissed serial killers chasing our team members isn’t good.”
“Do these guys know what you look like?” Ivan asked.
“They know what I look like,” Malcolm said. “They might know what George and Ted Crowley look like, if they’ve done any research.”
“What should we do?” Tex asked.
“Nothing much we can do other than know they’re coming,” Malcolm said. “If we get to Lance’s hideout and take him and Torrie out, we might want to lay a trap for these guys.”
“We’ve got higher priorities than that,” Sparky said, “don’t we?”
“We do,” General Hogan said, his phone dinging. He pulled it out and read the text. “Our Mi6 and Scotland Yard friends have just arrived.”
“Find out which gate and I’ll go get them,” Kinsey said.
General Hogan nodded, typing a text, waiting for a reply which came in a couple seconds. “Gate six.”
