Despite himself, Adams was impressed; the Secret Service agents had outnumbered Jacobs’ own men by more than two to one, which meant that they would have had to shoot at least two men each before the agents could react. And although perhaps overly confident, Secret Service agents were no slouches, they were well-trained professionals.
Jacobs’ men struggled to load the heavy, blood-soaked bodies into the row of cars, under the watchful eye of a large, intense man that Adams assumed had to be Eldridge. He guessed Jacobs would still be ensconced in his study, probably with Jones, trying to achieve some sort of damage control. A professional cleaning team would need to be on-site as soon as possible, for a start. All traces of the Secret Service having been here would have to be eradicated.
Adams checked the layout of the vehicles, and knew he had to make his choice quickly; although loading the bodies was a slow process, it wouldn’t last forever. There was a long shadow stretching from a bush just outside the utility room all the way to the SUV on the far left side. It was possible that he would be able to slip out of the window unseen and crawl to the car within the shadow.
Adams was just about to move when he sensed them behind him. Perhaps it was the smell, perhaps the breathing, or perhaps even the feral energy, he didn’t know which he picked up first; but he knew that two of the Doberman Pinschers had just entered the kitchen.
With all of the guards involved in the clean-up operation, they must have just let the dogs off the leash within the house. He wondered where the other two were, and hoped they were still outside.
He turned slowly, carefully, until he saw them, staring at him in anticipation, tails still, ears pricked, alert and ready to act. The teeth were not even bared in warning, and Adams knew that these dogs did not want to scare him but were primed to kill if necessary.
Adams stood his ground, eyes not meeting the dogs’ directly but instead lowered slightly, non-confrontational. Without moving his body at all, he started to emit a low, almost inaudible hum. The dog on the left tilted his head, curious about the sound, and the dog on the right retreated a half-step.
Adams read the signal and advanced a half-step of his own, raising the pitch of his voice, looking up further, and raising his right palm slowly up in front of him.
Both dogs looked as if they were trying to resist some unseen force, but then both capitulated at the same time, sitting down like show dogs, tails starting to move, mouths now open and tongues out as they assessed their new master.
Adams smiled as he looked at his new friends, quickly calculating how they could help him.
11
Eldridge’s head snapped round at the sound of panting and scurrying feet, and was amazed to see the two guard dogs that had been let into the house come bounding out down the stone steps and go sprinting off into the darkness of the trees that bordered the long driveway. The guards also noticed, pulling their heads out of the cars to watch the two animals race into the woods.
‘Thompson, Greer, Jenkins, Marquez,’ Eldridge ordered just moments later, ‘get after them, see what they’re after.’
He watched as the men drew their weapons and raced off after the dogs into the treeline. The Dobermans were well-trained guard dogs, they wouldn’t have gone tearing off through the estate just for the fun of it; there must be something out there.
‘Ellison, Carter,’ Eldridge said after further reflection. ‘You too.’
The two other guards gave chase to the dogs.
Eldridge turned back to the remainder, who stood looking after their comrades. ‘Back to work!’ he ordered gruffly. They still had a schedule to keep to, and the oil tanker would be at Pahosa Point in fifteen minutes.
Adams was well-secured under the chassis of the big SUV when the now breathless guards returned to their vehicles. He had used the distraction of the dogs to come out of the utility room window and follow the shadow to the car. He could have tried to use the guards’ preoccupation with loading the bodies to make his escape back into the treeline, but without the security of height, he was worried that the estate’s sensors would pick him up. He wanted to leave the estate with no trace of his ever having been there, so he had decided that he would ride out with the guards themselves, hiding underneath one of the vehicles, knowing that they would have no reason to check there.
‘And?’ he heard Eldridge shout.
‘Nothing, sir,’ one of the men replied. ‘They’ve just gone crazy, barking at the moon. Ain’t nothing out there ’cept us and the dogs.’
There was a pause, and Adams could imagine Eldridge mulling things over. ‘Probably just freaked out by the shooting,’ he said finally. ‘Happens sometimes, even to trained animals. OK, let’s move out.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Adams heard the men reply, watching the booted feet marching to the other SUVs in the line and climbing aboard.
Soon, the engines started, and then the government vehicles were moving, crunching the driveway gravel as they turned towards the driveway.
Towards freedom.
‘The cars are coming back up the driveway,’ Lynn and the two Najana brothers heard Benjamin announce over the radio.
‘Can you see who’s in the cars?’ Thomas asked immediately.
‘Negative,’ his younger brother announced. ‘Headlights are on full and side glass is smoked.’
There was a pause, and then Benjamin’s description continued. ‘They’re now at the main gate, about to turn… They’re going right, must be headed for Pahosa Point.’ Silence followed for several moments more. ‘They’ve gone past, headed up the main road, all eight cars. Still couldn’t see who was inside. I—’
Thomas’ hand gripped the radio tight as the connection went dead. ‘Ben?’ Thomas whispered urgently down the broken line. ‘Ben?’ he asked again helplessly, before putting the radio down, his eyes meeting Lynn’s and Jacob’s.
Lynn reached out and put a hand on the arm of each brother. ‘I’ll stay here,’ she told them. ‘You go.’
‘Son of a bitch!’ Benjamin laughed, punching Adams in the arm.
Adams had dropped from the bottom of the SUV as soon as it had proceeded on to the main road, rolling unseen towards the grass verge on the opposite side to the estate. He had then worked his way in the dark through to Benjamin’s observation point, creeping up behind him and putting a hand over his mouth.
Benjamin had immediately tensed, releasing the radio, turning round ready to strike, when he saw Adams standing there smiling at him. Benjamin was himself a highly regarded tracker and guide, and thought of himself as untouchable when it came to operating in the field, but Adams was truly something else.
‘I better call my brothers back before they come down all guns blazing!’ he said only half jokingly.
Adams nodded his head, looking forward to relaxing in the plush seats of Thomas Najana’s vehicle.
Even more than that, he was looking forward to seeing Lynn.
12
It wasn’t until they were all safely inside the rented warehouse in Tucson that Adams gave his full debrief of events.
Back at base camp, Lynn had embraced him with tears in her eyes, and Adams had held her tight, until their shared warmth had started to melt the mud that still covered his body. They kissed as they broke apart, and soon the whole party were packing up and moving towards their car.
There was a further change of vehicles, this time in Dale City, before Ayita picked them up in his helicopter at a friend’s private airfield near Manassas. During this time, the group had mainly slept, and so by the time they arrived back in Tucson, Adams’ adventures had been barely touched upon. But now, with everyone well rested, he gave a detailed, blow-by-blow account of what had happened.