"What about the Feds?"
"The Bureau can get clumsy. Remember Ruby Ridge and Waco? If Westlake saw them coming, he'd launch. You have a better chance of getting to him before he can launch. Assuming he's there, of course."
"We'd have spotted him if he'd tried to leave the country," Nick said. "It makes sense he'd go to ground where he thought no one could find him."
"You're wheels up as soon as you can get to Andrews," Elizabeth said. "The Air Force will get you to Colorado Springs and from there to Aspen. There's no place to set a chopper down near the cabin without Westlake hearing it. From Aspen, you'll have to drive."
"How far?"
"It's around seventy miles or so. He's in a remote area. Mostly only hunters go up that way. I've already tasked a satellite. Steph, can you bring up the shot?"
Stephanie entered the commands. The wall monitor lit with a live satellite view of the area where Westlake's father-in-law had built his getaway cabin. It was rugged country. A winding dirt road led to a tiny dot Nick assumed was the cabin. It was almost invisible among the trees.
"The satellite will be out of range soon," Elizabeth said. "Zoom in, please, Steph."
The picture grew large. Now they could make out more details. A dark colored truck was parked under the trees near the cabin. The picture was good enough to see smoke rising from the chimney. There was a shed in the back of the cabin.
"Someone's there," Nick said.
"It has to be him," Selena said.
"No power lines."
"He's got solar panels on that shed," Ronnie said. "Probably runs everything on batteries."
"There's the antenna," Selena said. She pointed at a mast on the roof of the building, topped with something that looked like a TV dish.
"Bingo," Ronnie said.
"You'd better get your gear together," Elizabeth said.
Down in the armory they sorted out what they wanted to take with them. This wasn't a long term engagement. They could keep it light. Pistols and MP5s. Flashbangs. Comm gear. Armor. Ammo. Night vision optics. They'd drive close to the cabin and go in on foot.
Ronnie finished what he was doing and went upstairs. Nick's ear itched. He scratched it. Selena saw him.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Just an itch."
"Why don't I believe you?" she said.
"I don't have a good feeling about this," he said. "It seems straight forward enough, but something feels off."
"Maybe it's anticipation. You know, like pre-game jitters."
"Maybe." He pulled the straps tight on his pack. "I've been thinking."
Selena looked at him.
"We need to set a date for the wedding." The words were rushed. "When Westlake was going to kill us, all I could think about was you. I don't want to waste any more time. I'll say what I said before. Will you marry me?"
"Nick." Selena had been checking her MP-5. She set it down on a table and took his hand. "This has got to be a first," she said.
"What is?"
"Getting proposed to in an armory."
"I asked you before, remember?"
"Yes, but this is different."
"So?"
"Yes, I'll marry you."
"Hey." Ronnie called down the stairs. "Get a move on down there."
Nick kissed her. "Come on," he said, "lets go get the son of a bitch."
CHAPTER 62
They'd made it to Aspen and up into the mountains in record time, but it was still past midnight by the time they reached the cabin. The moon cast enough light to see the building in the dark shadows of the trees. A thin, damp mist rose from the forest floor. Nick studied the scene through his binoculars. His breath made little clouds of condensation in the night air. At this altitude, the temperatures dropped fast after dark.
They lay under tall evergreens on sloping ground, less than a hundred feet away from Westlake's mountain retreat. Selena was on Nick's right, Ronnie on his left. The cabin had a wide, covered porch. Light shone through a window in the front. Smoke from the chimney gave the night a pleasant, familiar scent. Nick had always loved the smell of wood burning in a fireplace. It reminded him of his place in California, before it had burned to the ground.
Maybe I should rebuild it.
The thought annoyed him. He pushed it away.
"I don't see anyone," Nick said. He handed the binoculars to Ronnie.
"Not a good angle to see in," Ronnie said. "We need to get closer."
He pressed a button on his wristwatch. A faint glow illuminated the dial. It was a little before two in the morning.
"Maybe he's asleep," Ronnie said.
"Not likely, with that light on." Selena scratched her nose.
"Watch out for trip wires," Nick said. "He may have set something, just in case."
They got up and moved toward the cabin in a crouch until they reached level ground. Silent as the moonlight, they stepped onto the porch. Nick held up his hand. From where he was, he could see through the window.
A cheerful fire burned in a stone fireplace. There was a leather arm chair and a rocker on either side of a circular rug laid down on the floor in front of the fire. Nick could see the kitchen area and a wooden dining table and four chairs. It looked like a scene painted by Norman Rockwell. He half expected a kindly old lady with spectacles and a gingham dress to come into the room, carrying a steaming apple pie.
There was another room in the back. Westlake came out of it and walked across the room. He was halfway across when the porch window shattered and the sound of a high powered rifle echoed hard and flat through the trees. Westlake dove for the floor.
"What the hell," Ronnie said
They scrambled off the porch and ran for the trees. Three more shots came out of the darkness. Ronnie stumbled and went down. Nick and Selena made it to the trees,
"Ronnie," Nick called. "How bad?"
There was no answer. Ronnie lay without moving.
Nick said, "We have to get the shooter."
"Who is it?" Selena said. "A sentry?"
"I don't think so. That first shot was aimed at Westlake."
"I saw muzzle flashes over there." She pointed at a tight packed cluster of trees.
"Lay down fire. I'll flank them. Ready?"
She nodded.
"Now."
Selena opened up with her MP-5 on full auto, spraying quick bursts at the trees where she'd seen the flashes of a rifle. Nick got to his feet and ran to his left. Selena could see dark bits and branches flying off the trees as she raked the stand. She used up the magazine, ejected, rammed in another, fired again.
Whoever was in the trees let loose a volley. She could see the flashes in the dark. Bullets whined off the ground near her. She tried to press herself into the earth. She heard Nick's MP-5. Then the night was still.
"Clear," Nick called.
The man he'd shot lay on his back. He was dressed in green and black camouflage. A scoped assault rifle lay beside him on the ground. Blood ran from his mouth. He coughed, said something. Nick bent down to hear.
"Kill him," the man said. "You will…rewarded." He choked. Blood bubbled out of his mouth. He died.
Selena got up and ran over to Ronnie. He stirred as she got to him. She helped him sit up. "Come on. We're exposed." She cast a nervous look at the building. The lights were still out. They moved to the side of the cabin. There was only a small bathroom window there, high up. They stopped behind a large rock outcrop. It gave good cover.
Ronnie had a deep gash on his forehead. Selena could see a lump forming. When he'd gone down, he'd hit his head on a rock.
"Stupid," he said. "Tripped and knocked myself out." he said. He felt his head. His hand came away bloody.