“That reminds me—I’d like to see the Carson’s house, maybe see if there are any clues as to what happened.” Jason stood up from the table.
“We can do that, sure.” Dianne looked at Sarah. “You’re okay staying here with the kids?”
Sarah stood up and headed into the living room to retrieve one of her bags from the truck. “Better than okay.”
Jason realized what Sarah was getting and smiled. “You’ll like this, D.”
Sarah pulled a rectangular block from the bag and threw it across the room. Dianne caught it with one hand and flipped it over, immediately recognizing what it was. “What’s the range on this baby?”
“Twenty miles or so. With the trees around the house it’ll be cut down by a fair amount but I can just sit upstairs at a window to keep in touch.”
“Nice thinking, Sarah.” Dianne clipped the long range two-way radio to her belt and looked at Jason. “You want to take your truck or mine?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but I think yours has more room in the back, right?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Dianne grabbed the keys for the truck from the top of the refrigerator and passed them to Jason. “Go ahead and bring it around out front. Jacob, would you and your sister take this chair upstairs and show Mrs. Statler the best place to put it so she can see out over the driveway?”
Sarah, Jacob and Josie headed upstairs while Jason walked out the front door and around to the back of the house to get Dianne’s truck. Taking advantage of the moment of privacy she stood next to Mark and talked to him in a soft voice so that no one could overhear their conversation.
“I want you to keep a close eye on everything here, okay?”
Mark cocked his head, slightly confused by the request. “Mr. and Mrs. Statler are okay, aren’t they?”
“They’re fantastic. I can think of few other people I’d trust to have here with us more than them.” Dianne hesitated. “But you’re still the man around here till your dad gets back. So I need you alert and watching out for all of us. Especially your brother and sister while I’m gone. Got it?”
Mark nodded. “Got it. Do you want me to show her the security cameras?”
“Absolutely.” Dianne nodded vigorously. “Don’t misunderstand me, kiddo. I’m not worried about Sarah and Jason. I just need you to keep your eyes open. Having them drive out here to the house has me a little more nervous since I’m thinking more about the guy from a few days ago.”
“Oh.” Mark nodded, understanding what she meant. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”
Dianne smiled and patted him on the back. “Good. We’ll be back in an hour or two. Make sure you or Sarah are near the radio, okay? Don’t hesitate to call if you need something.”
“Will do.” Mark watched his mother as she grabbed her jacket, slipped on her shoes and shouldered her rifle. She slipped a few extra magazines for the rifle into her jacket pockets and headed out front where Jason was waiting with the truck.
Dianne hopped into the driver’s seat as Jason slid over into the passenger’s seat. “You ready for this, Jason?”
Jason held his pistol in his hands with a firm grip, keeping the weapon pointed at the floorboard as he scanned the driveway ahead of them. “Damn straight I am.”
Chapter 13
Three days after the event
Near the border of Oregon and Idaho
The V-22 Osprey tears through the sky at over three hundred and fifty miles per hour. The massive twin rotors slice through the air, pulling the aircraft forward as it sails westward towards its destination. In the back sits the most important person in the world, guarded by a group of Secret Service and Marines. The man they protect is breathing laboriously as two medics work to stabilize his condition and clear his airway.
“Status?” The Secret Service agent in command grasps a handrail as he leans in to check on the medics.
“The same. Smoke inhalati
on with potential internal injuries. We’re treating the smoke inhalation but we can’t do a lot till we get him under a scanner to see what’s bleeding inside.”
The agent turns and walks wordlessly to the front of the aircraft. “How long?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Dammit.” The agent seethes but there is nothing he can do. He sits back down and stares at the two medics as they provide oxygen to the President. The flight time to the mountains near the border of Idaho and Oregon turns out to be eighteen minutes. Near the end of the flight the V-22 descends and its twin rotors tilt upward. The craft uses its navigational lights to visually signal that it is approaching for a landing as the risk of using any type of communication system is too great with the passenger they have on board.