King and Maxwell

CHAPTER 74

SEAN WAS SITTING ACROSS FROM Sam Wingo. They were in Sean’s car staking out Jenkins’s house.

“What good will this do?” asked Wingo.

“Three-quarters of what PIs do comes to zip. But you have to go through that to get to the other twenty-five percent that actually will result in something. Same sort of deal at the Secret Service. Ninety percent tedium, ten percent bedlam.”

“Well, I don’t see this resulting in anything more than a waste of time.”

“Are you telling me that when you were soldiering, you didn’t have to show patience?”

Wingo sighed and shook his head. “Actually, it was ninety-nine percent tedium and one percent chaos.” He looked at Sean. “Sorry, guess my nerves are just running away with me.”

Sean patted him on the shoulder. “Your son is safe for now. We bought some time. If we can just–”

Sean broke off when his phone buzzed. He looked at the screen.

“It’s Edgar. Maybe he worked his magic with the satellite or found a way to track Grant’s car.”

Edgar, however, had not accomplished either of those things. Yet he did have something else.

“I was looking through Jenkins’s file and found something that might help you.”

“What?” asked Sean.

“Real estate tax bill for a piece of property other than Jenkins’s home.”

“Where is it?”

“Ten acres in Rappahannock County, Virginia. I looked it up from an old real estate listing online. It’s a cabin. Very remote.”

“Does it have an address?”

“I’ll email you the directions right now. Good luck.”

Sean clicked off and filled in Wingo on what Edgar had just told him.

“You think it could be where they’re holding Tyler and Kathy?”

“Rural and isolated. Maybe that’s where Grant was when our email flushed him out. It’s well over an hour away.”

“What do we do? Go charging in?”

“No. We have to do this the right way.”

He glanced at his phone and then called Michelle. It went straight to voice mail. She might still be at the hospital with Dana, he thought.

He punched in another number. A voice came on the line.

“Special Agent Dwayne Littlefield,” said the voice.

“Agent Littlefield, it’s Sean King.”

“Did you just drop off the planet or what? My ass is sitting out with the president of the–”

Sean broke in. “I think I might have a lead on Tyler and Kathy.”

“Where?”

“There’s going to be firepower if the kids are being held there.”

“We have people who specialize in this, King. How solid is your info?”

“Won’t know until we get there.”

“We? No, you let the Bureau handle this.”

Sean had the phone on speaker mode, and when Wingo heard this last part he snatched the phone before Sean could stop him.

“It’s my kid and I’m going to be there. I don’t give a shit what you say.”

“Who the hell is this?” Littlefield paused. “Sam Wingo? Is that you? Do you know how much trouble you’re in? And Sean King? Harboring a fugitive? Obstruction of justice. And I’m not even warmed up yet. Your ass is mine, King.”

Sean jerked the phone back from Wingo and gave him a withering look.

“Look, Dwayne, let’s just focus on getting the kids back safe and sound. You do that, I think the president will once more look favorably on the FBI. And then we can work out these other little details.”

“Little details?”

“Focus, Dwayne. The kids?”

“I can send in HRT.[46] They got firepower like nobody else.”

“No, we’re not going to do it that way. You fight fire with fire, everybody ends up getting burned.”

“Are you trying to tell me how to do my job?” snapped Littlefield.

“The former president’s niece was kidnapped. Remember that?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, my partner and I were the ones who got her back safe and sound, so we’re not exactly thumb suckers on this. We can help.”

“This is way out of protocol.”

“This whole damn thing is way out of protocol.”

“So how do you want to do this then?” asked Littlefield.

“Me and Wingo. You and McKinney. We go in fast and with no warning and we get the kids.”

“What about your partner, Maxwell? I hear she can kick ass like nobody’s business.”

“I tried to get hold of her. But we need to move fast.”

“I’d rather go in at night.”

“And that’s right when they would be expecting something. We go in while it’s still light, we catch them off guard.”

“I don’t like this.”

Sean looked at Wingo. “We got a guy here who’s Special Forces. We got you, me, and McKinney. Not one of us is an amateur. These guys have to be running out of manpower by now, so I think the guns on their side might be a little light. We can do this, Dwayne. I’m getting floor plans of the cabin sent to me right now. We’ll walk through it, do our recon, and then hit it.”

“If you’re wrong–”

“Then my ass is yours. But for now, we do it my way.”

“Okay. Tell me where and when.”

Sean did and then put his phone away.

Wingo looked over at him. “You as confident as you sound?”

“Not even close.” Sean put the car in gear and tore off.