CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

 

 

May 16, 2015

9 P.M.

White Bird, Idaho

 

Lott was stunned from the air that he could see the ruggedness of the wilderness they were flying over. The snow-topped peaks seemed to glisten in the moonlight and the dark shadows of the canyons looked like deep and very dangerous lakes.

It had taken them all of fifteen minutes to get to the small McCall airport and be picked up by the chopper.

In Doc’s helicopter, Lott and Julia and Annie sat in the center seats. Agent Munn, Fleet, and Doc sat in the seats behind them.

The FBI chopper with men that Agent Munn trusted completely had left just ahead of them.

Lott was surprised at how fast the trip went as they were dropped off in a field just up a narrow valley from a small town called White Bird. The FBI chopper was already there. It couldn’t be seen at all from any place along the highway.

Lott could see that the highway passed about a hundred feet above the lower part of the tiny town at the bottom of the steep valley and then wound its way up the side of a very steep hill.

FBI helicopters coming in from Spokane had already reached the top of the summit. They had borrowed the use of a large semi-truck and had it pulled off to one side waiting. When they got the signal, the truck would be positioned blocking the road as if it had an accident.

Agents with rifles would be stationed in hiding above the area behind the truck. They planned on letting Williams just pull up behind the truck and stop. On one side it would be straight up, on the other side was a drop of over a thousand feet.

The agents that had gotten there slightly ahead of them had set up three cars from local residents. One was a large Ford Bronco, another was a Chevy pickup with a load of hay in the back, and the third was an older style Jeep.

Lott decided he was best suited to drive the Ford Bronco, since a bunch of years back he had had one. Julia got in the passenger side.

Agent Munn and one other agent got in behind them.

Doc got into the pickup with Annie and Fleet.

Three other agents piled into the Jeep.

“He’s coming by in about two minutes,” Fleet said into all their communication links.

They pulled where he wouldn’t see them in a turn-out, but where they could get onto the road behind him. The Jeep with the agents stayed down hidden in the town and would come on last.

Lott turned off the Bronco, shut down the lights and the four of them sat there silently for a minute until Fleet said, “Here he comes. Dark sedan.”

Everyone in the Bronco ducked so the car looked empty. Then when Lott saw the sedan was past, he started up the Bronco and climbed up onto the highway. He slowly gained speed, letting the sedan get a ways out in front of him.

There were no other cars on the road. Seemed that very few people drove this twisty north-south highway at night.

Behind the Bronco, Lott could see the pickup come up onto the road and then a few moments later the Jeep.

“Last car ahead of Williams has passed the truck,” Fleet reported. “Truck is getting into position.”

“The driver going to be able to get out of there?” Julia asked.

“An agent is driving,” Agent Munn said.

“Truck is in place,” someone reported.

Once again Lott could feel his stomach starting to clamp up from the excitement of all this. Williams had played them for a very long time and thought them too stupid to figure him out. He was going to be in for a very sudden surprise.

The road, the higher they climbed, got slightly more frightening. Not like the gravel road they had first driven, but even though this road was paved and three lanes wide, two going up, one coming down, with guardrails, Lott felt more like he was piloting an airplane that was slowly climbing instead of driving. Nothing but space and stars and snow-capped peaks could be seen to their right.

Ahead, Lott could see the blinking warning lights of the truck and Williams slowing down to stop near the truck.

Lott slowed down behind him, finally coming to a stop near the bumper of the brown sedan. Lott put the Bronco in park and set the parking brake.

Around the truck, a man who looked like he was the driver was inspecting something near the front of the cab. The truck looked like it had almost rammed into the hillside.

The other two cars behind him pulled up and stopped, one in the center lane and back twenty paces, while the Bronco and Williams’ car were in the outside right lane near the guardrail.

“Everyone in position?” Agent Munn asked.

“Ready,” were the responses quick and short.

“On my mark we move,” Agent Munn said.

A two count, then she said, “Now!”

Extremely bright lights from the hillside above and the top of the truck hit the sedan as Lott clicked on the bright lights on the Bronco and went out the driver’s door and to the ditch on the inside of the road, his gun drawn.

He could see that Julia went out on the passenger side, holding her position, with her gun drawn, using the door as a shield. The agent behind her went out and took a position using the rail as a form of shield.

The truck driver pulled a gun and ducked in behind one wheel of the big truck, aiming back on the sedan and Agent Mann followed Lott from the Bronco and to the ditch.

Behind them the agents spread out while Fleet and Doc stayed crouched in their rig.

“Williams,” a very loud speaker shouted, echoing over the valley. “Please open the door and keep your hands on the wheel.”

Nothing.

“Williams,” Agent Mott said, “you have no place to run this time.”

Nothing.

“I doubt he even has a gun in there,” Lott said.

“Can’t take the chance,” Agent Munn said.

“Let me try to egg him out,” Lott said. “But be ready for him to try to make a run for it.”

“Go ahead,” Agent Munn said. “We either arrest him or kill him and I honestly don’t care which at this point.”

After seeing the woman embalmed and floating in that car, and digging Trish’s body out of the lake, Lott didn’t much care either.

“Hey, Williams,” Lott shouted to the car, standing up near the edge of the road and lowering his gun to his side. “Now who is boring? We’re getting tired out here.”

Williams rolled down the window, his hands not visible, and looked across the road to Lott.

Lott had been, for a moment, afraid it would be someone else in the car, but it was actually Williams.

In the flesh.

They had finally cornered the bastard.

Lott didn’t let himself smile, kept his poker face on solid.

“I’m surprised the four of you survived that blast,” Williams said. “Very impressive, Detective.”

“We knew you weren’t in there,” Lott said. “And we knew you weren’t coming to the mortuary either. “We rescued that poor state cop’s family the moment he turned on the lights. What an amateur play. We expected more of you.”

Williams said nothing, so Lott went on.

“You thought you were playing us, but we played you the entire time,” Lott said, lying. “We were just waiting for you to make a boneheaded mistake like this one, show yourself, and make it easy for us to trap you or kill you. And what kind of stupid name is Jefferson Last, anyway?”

Williams seemed to jerk at that.

Lott smiled. The bluster was completely gone from the man.

“And it was very nice of you to lead us to your body dump,” Lott said. “And show us exactly who was working with you. They are singing like songbirds on a beautiful day, by the way. They don’t much like you.”

Williams jerked at that as well.

“You know,” Lott said, “if you hadn’t decided to move on and push all that money into Jefferson Last corporations, we never would have trapped you like this.”

“Who says I am trapped, Detective?” Williams asked, turning to really stare at Lott.

Lott suddenly knew what Williams had done. He had rigged the car to explode just in case. He liked that kind of dramatics it seemed. And Lott had a hunch Williams would take himself out this time.

“I suppose you could take the easy way out, give up the fight, lose the game,” Lott said, “by letting us kill you, or you blowing yourself up with that rigged car.”

Again Williams jerked.

Bluff called. Lott had hit it right on the head again.

“Not fun having someone ahead of you, is it?” Lott asked, laughing. “So how about you take the fight to the courts, see if you and your team of lawyers are smart enough to beat a few dumb cops and prosecuting attorneys.”

Williams just sat there, saying nothing.

“Don’t think you can beat us, do you?”

Williams sat staring forward.

“Then pull the trigger on that bomb,” Lott said, “if you think you can’t beat us yet again. This is getting boring.”

Williams sat for a long moment and Lott just let him.

Finally Williams lifted his hands slowly to the steering wheel. “Come and get me, Detective.”

“You really do think I’m that stupid,” Lott said, laughing. “I’d suggest you blow yourself up right now, or just make a sudden move and let us all put a few hundred bullets into your pathetic body. Great target practice. You clearly keep underestimating us and that won’t get you a win in court.”

“I’ll walk free,” Williams said. “You watch, Detective.”

“Maybe in hell,” Lott said, laughing.

“I swear, Detective,” Williams said, “You can really get on a person’s nerves.”

“I’ve been told that,” Lott said.

Williams reached for the door handle and pushed the door open.

Then suddenly Williams’ face went white and he scrambled to do something under the dash.

“Down everyone!” Lott shouted and dove for the weed-choked ditch.

And for the second time, an explosion triggered by Williams smashed into Lott’s back.

A moment later, but what seemed like an eternity, he heard Agent Munn shout to see if everyone was all right.

Lott could barely hear her, his ears were ringing so loud.

But all he could do was smile, because burning in the brush against the hillside about ten feet in front of him was what was left of Willis Williams.

And never had Lott seen such a perfect sight.

A moment later, an angel appeared over him, looking very, very worried.

She asked if he was all right. Lott rolled over slowly onto his back in the weeds and he reached up and indicated she should come closer.

She leaned in, even more worried.

Then he kissed her.

He planned on doing that a lot more very shortly.