“Everyone knows this guy should be in custody, so why isn’t he?”
“I can’t speak for the Bureau, but I think the main reason he’s not under arrest is that nothing connects him to the terrorist bombings. That makes it hard to hold him. We’re pretty good at working around that, but in this case there doesn’t seem to be a good reason yet. If Beatty calls me, I’ll tell him he needs to give you a call.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Less than an hour later, Beatty called. “Eddie’s pickup is still hanging at the flight trailer. It’s the only vehicle left there. Everybody else moved out in the night. I saw the lights. I’m going to put you on speakerphone so I can use the binos and scope while we’re talking. Can you hear me okay?”
“I hear you fine.”
“I could sure use some coffee. Have you got coffee, G-man?”
“I’ll bring you some.”
“You wouldn’t be able to get up this mountain in that car. A sheriff’s car was out here yesterday, but they’d already moved the Land Cruiser.”
“Two Nye County officers want to get a statement from you about what you saw. Is there a phone number they can call?”
“No.”
“Okay, I’ll give you their number. Are you ready?”
I read it off and Beatty recited it back to me, but I was sure he hadn’t written it down and would never call them.
“Want to read the number back to me?” I asked.
“No, I’m good.”
I sat on that a moment. “Did you see the Land Cruiser get moved?”
“Didn’t see it, and I’m moving on. I’m out of here today.”
“And going where?”
“A long way from here. Hang for a minute, okay? I’m lining up the scope.”
Beatty went quiet and I thought about Smith making the decision to take the money and let it happen.
“Okay, I’m looking at the runway and looking into the hangar. The drones are gone.”
“Maybe they took them off-site to work on them and they’ll bring them back later today.”
“They’re not bringing them back. It’s empty down there.”
“If they’re working on them, maybe everybody took a break and went into Vegas.”
“Eddie’s truck is there. He wouldn’t leave it there. He loves that truck. He’d sleep with it if he could.”
“Nye County sheriff deputies were told Bahn left his truck there and went with a colleague to look at a project up north. He’s coming back tomorrow or the next day.”
“He’d never leave it. Do you know what he paid for that tricked-out rig?”
I said no and something in my voice must have communicated I wasn’t at all interested this morning. But I was very interested in what else he saw.
“Just to confirm,” I said. “You don’t see any vehicles other than Eddie’s truck.”
“Roger that, and hold on, I just about have the spotting scope lined up. Almost there.”
I closed my eyes and saw Melissa the night of her high school graduation. I heard her say, “I’m out of here, bro, but I’ll always be there for you. Always.”
“The deputies were right, Grale. The Land Cruiser is gone. Something is going on.”
“Tell me more about the drones. You said they move them in semitrucks.”
“That’s right, 18-wheelers.”
“Okay, I’m looking at a tip right now that came in late last night. We’re getting tips about one every twenty seconds. This one is from Pahrump. Three semis driving into a warehouse late at night.”
“Could fit.”
I typed in my name and took ownership of running down the tip, then read it off to Beatty. The Bureau had gone out to the public with Hurin’s photo and a general request to report any unusual activity. This tip was from a sixteen-year-old kid in Pahrump who left his cell as the contact number at 2:47 a.m., last night. Danny Cole. In his message he said his father was a trucker, so he knew trucks. Three 18-wheelers had rolled up to a warehouse on the outskirts of Pahrump and, instead of backing up to loading bays, had driven inside. It wasn’t three trucks in the middle of the night that he was calling about. It was that they drove inside the warehouse. He’d never seen that before. Danny Cole is together, I thought. Whoever he was. He gave an address and a cross street in Pahrump.
“Could they use a warehouse to do the modifications on the drones?” I asked Jeremy.
“It’s about equipment more than workspace. The aircraft skin is thin but strong. You need a way to hold it fixed and steady to cut it cleanly.”
“I’ve got a tip to check out. I’ll head north now. If I don’t catch you on the way out, I’ll catch you on the way back. I’ll call you either way. When are you coming down from the mountain?”
“Soon, and I’ll go by the airfield on my way out.”
“How about you hold off on that until we have agents out with you? Strata doesn’t want you near their airfield.”
“The deputies punted and the pilots are gone. There’s no Strata. There’s no one left out here but me.”