It was 6 a.m. and Beau and Cooper were already on the road, driving through the heart of Northern Virginia with its beautiful small towns and vineyards and forests against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The place they were heading for was only an hour’s drive from Washington DC.
‘It’s pretty out here. Maybe I should sell the ranch and settle down in a place like this.’
‘Coop, I love you, but those are two things that both of us know will never happen.’
Cooper grinned and attempted to get the radio working on the hire car. He gave it a bang and gave it a thump and it worked straight away. He leant back in the white passenger car seat of the Audi sedan. ‘Yeah, you’re probably right. Still, it’s a nice thought.’
Beau turned off the main highway which led on to Middleburg, indicating right into a large wine estate.
‘This Travis guy, I don’t know if you remember him from when you were little but he either likes you or he doesn’t. He’ll either help or he won’t. You got the print out of the photo to show him?’
‘Yeah, right here… Are you saying I shouldn’t hold out much hope?’
‘No, Coop, I’m saying it all depends how he got out of bed.’
Beau pulled up outside a large white brick house, trimmed with lavender and ivy leaves, and set against a hill in the middle of the rolling vineyards.
‘Come on, then, let’s get on with this,’ said Beau. ‘We need to make sure we get back to the hospital by eleven. Though when John spoke to them this morning they assured him they wouldn’t start to wake Jackson up until you get there.’
‘Beau!’
A rotund woman, dyed blonde hair and large blue eyes, wearing too much make-up and an expensive dress a size too small, came running up to the car.
Although her eyes were youthful, Cooper guessed she was around sixty, and had treated herself to a hell of a lot of cosmetic surgery… A hell of a lot. She had a warm demeanour. Clearly happy to see Beau.
‘Lucy, how are you? It’s good to see you. This is my nephew, Thomas. Thomas this is Bill’s wife, Lucy.’
She waved at Cooper across the roof of the sedan as he got out. Her Northern Virginian accent was velvety in tone. ‘Nice to meet you, Thomas. Though I think I’ve met you before. Don’t you remember, Beau, when we had that summer party outside? Years ago it was. But the whole thing was a disaster. The caterers didn’t show up. The lobster was off. And then it rained buckets. We all thought Bill was going to pass out with rage. But I remember you had Thomas with you. I think you must’ve been about eight at the time. You were a sad little thing. Think it must have been just after your momma died. But look at you now. My, my, how you’ve grown.’
A glint came into Lucy’s eyes as she licked her overglossed lips and fluttered her thick, extended eyelashes at Cooper. ‘If you’re ever looking for a job, Thomas, there’s always one here. Never a shortage of work for a big, tall, handsome, strong man like you. Haven’t seen muscles like that for a long time.’
Lucy’s trill laughter made Cooper look away. Could feel himself flush with embarrassment. As usual, he felt uncomfortable with any attention on him.
‘Well I appreciate that, ma’am, thank you.’
Beau, who seemed to be amused at Cooper’s, discomfort offered a suggestion. ‘Perhaps you could invite Cooper to the party next month, Lucy. I’m sure he’d love to come.’
Lucy patted her coiffed hair. Pouted her lips provocatively, and actually purred.
‘What a good idea, Beau. I most certainly will. Thomas, I’ll let your uncle have all the details nearer the time… Now, if you two handsome gentlemen will excuse me, I’ve got an appointment to keep. And Thomas, I look forward to seeing you soon, it’ll be nice to get a bit more… acquainted.’
Blowing a kiss, Lucy walked away, wiggling her hips in an exaggerated manner. Then as an afterthought she called back, ‘Oh, sorry, I forgot to say, Bill’s in the far field, by the large vineyard. But mind, he’s in a foul mood.’
*
By the time Beau and Cooper had got to the far field, the sound of gunfire was loud and apparent.
‘He’ll be practising on his shooting range,’ said Beau. ‘The man loves his guns.’
‘You’ve known him for a long time I take it.’
Beau smiled. ‘Yeah, we go back years. Before you were born. I did my basic training with him and although we stayed friends, professionally we went our separate ways. He joined the CIA and went on to have a real successful career, and as you know…’ Beau stopped to look at Cooper to say the rest. A regretful look in his eye. ‘And as you know all too well Coop, I stayed in the Navy… How come you’re not smoking by the way? You quit?’
Cooper pulled up the sleeve of his sweater, revealing a large nicotine patch. ‘I got this.’
‘You got one on the other arm?’
‘Yup, and on both my thighs.’
‘And what about the pills? There’s no patch for them.’
Cooper shook his head and tried not to let the agitation show in his voice. ‘You been talking to John?’
‘I don’t need to. I can see it. Just like the last time.’
‘Drop it, okay?’
‘Beau! Beau! Goddamn it man, have you gone deaf?’
Bill Travis stood at the fence post of the far field, waving to Cooper and Beau. Like his wife, Lucy, Bill was small and rotund. But unlike his wife, the warmth was absent.
Beau picked up his pace slightly, talking as he walked. ‘Bill, this is my nephew, Thomas, I was telling you about on the phone this morning.’
Travis sniffed, breaking open the barrel of the shotgun he was holding. He pushed back his surprisingly thick brown hair from his face.
‘And that’s what I don’t understand. Why the hell you were telling me about him, when I already know all about him, already met him? We spoke last week about him, and the week before, and no doubt the week before that. Your uncle seems to be rather proud of you, Thomas, bores me senseless with all the stories. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. That monastery isn’t good for you, Beau. Not as sharp as you used to be because you’ve got nothing else to think about except Thomas and God. I bet the Goddamn place doesn’t even have a shooting range. A man has to let his frustrations out somehow.’
Beau shook his head, amused. ‘That’s what prayers are for, Bill. You’ve never heard of the power of prayer?’
‘Hogwash, Beau. What will prayer do for you when there’s a group of armed fanatics trying to gun down your front door?’
‘That happens a lot here in Middleburg, Northern Virginia, does it?’
Bill peered at Beau from underneath his overgrown eyebrows. ‘You being funny with me, Beau? I just don’t see the point in this country having a constitution which says we have the right to bear arms but nobody owns a goddamn gun anymore.’
Beau laughed. ‘Try telling that to the gun control groups.’
‘And that’s exactly my point… You own any guns, Thomas?’
Cooper nodded. ‘I do sir. Thirty-six in total. Mainly high powered precision weapons. To name but a few I’ve got four or five auto-loading centerfire rifles, a couple of pump action shotguns – the Remington 870 wingmaster being my favorite. I’ve also got the Remington 1911 handgun, which I’m fond of as well. I’ve got a couple of Knight muzzle loaders, then there’s the Colt M203 Grenade Launcher which is a lightweight, single-shot, breech-loaded 40mm weapon, and of course the Colt 9mm Submachine Gun, which every household should have.’
A silence fell until Bill Travis simply said, ‘Right.’
*
They followed Bill down to the field where a couple of rifles and several rounds of ammunition sat on a small table.
Bill, picking up a Colt action rifle, passed it to Cooper.
He said, ‘Let’s see what you’ve got, Thomas.’
And without saying anything, Cooper took the safety glasses and ear protectors from the table. He put them on.
Glanced at the round red steel target around 300 yards away.
Looked round and saw the wind agitating the leaves on the tree.
Estimated the wind speed would be anywhere between 5 and 8 mph.
Took into account the wind direction.
Saw it was coming from twelve o’clock.
Knew he wouldn’t have to compensate for any drift coming from the left or right.
And adjusting the safety glasses slightly he looked down the spotting scope.
Waited for the right moment.
Pulled the trigger…
… Hit and blew out the center of the target with a single bullet.
He placed the rifle along with the protectors and glasses back on the table. He looked at Bill. ‘So, will you help me?’
Pulling out from his pocket the photo he’d printed from Google Images, Cooper passed it to Travis. ‘Can you tell me if this is Simon Ballard?’
With only a hint of a pause, Bill said, ‘That’s him alright.’
‘What do you know about him?’
‘I guess Beau’s told you that I worked in the CIA’s counter-terrorism division for several years, mainly here in the states. Monitoring terror cells, making sure we were ready to act if need be. Before I retired we were watching a terror cell group who were in contact with, and helped to fund, a group in Nigeria which went on to officially become the Boko Haram in 2002. Anyhow, we suspected this cell group we were watching was being run by Simon Ballard, who was wanted for murder, as well as conspiracy to murder US nationals and US military personnel. Conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and providing material support to terrorist organizations. But believe me, Thomas, the list goes on. Ballard went underground for a while but then we got some HI on where Ballard was hiding out, and if I remember rightly, it was somewhere in Kentucky. Anyway, we were all set up to go, everything was ready down to the smallest detail. Everyone in our unit was eager to get Ballard. The stuff he did, which I can’t go into, well the truth is, it was clear he enjoyed it. The man was a sadist. Nasty piece of work. Anyhow, right at the last minute, the raid was called off.’
‘When was this?’
‘September 11, 2001.’
Cooper nodded respectfully, not interrupting Bill.
‘So because of the 9/11 attacks, we naturally concentrated on what was happening right there and then, and focused on searching out who was behind the atrocities. But when we did go back to monitor Ballard, we’d lost track of him. The only bit of information we had came from another division of intelligence, who told us he’d left the country. And there’s been nothing more since. Not that I knew of anyway. But when Beau said you were driving up this morning, I did make a few calls to the guys I know who are still working in CT, and they said the same. No sign. No word. Nothing since 2001. Sorry if I couldn’t be of any more help.’
Cooper breathed out heavily. Realized he’d been holding his breath throughout most of Bill’s conversation. ‘No, sir, you’ve been amazingly helpful. Thank you.’
Travis nodded. ‘Well, I’m pleased I could’ve been of assistance… It’d be nice to see you up here again, Thomas. Anytime. I like a man who knows his guns. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a man hit the target like that… though perhaps you just got lucky.’ ’
Cooper grinned. Modestly he said, ‘Maybe I did, sir.’
Beau looked at his watch. ‘Bill, listen, I owe you, but we’ve got to get back to DC as soon as possible. I’ll call you later, fill you in.’
Cooper shook Bill’s hand. Turned to go but stopped at the fence. ‘Can I ask you something, Bill?’
Bill looked intrigued. ‘Sure.’
‘Do the CIA headquarters in Virginia have a moose in their reception?’
Travis stared at Cooper and then he smiled and laughed. ‘I take it you’re friends with Rosedale.’