William jumped up. "Send out a signal activating one of
the trackers! Get a fix and shut it off. They may have scanning
equipment to detect them. Cordell, let's get going! It's
imperative we tag our friend. The O'Shaughanesseys probably won't
get together with the artifacts until they're ready to make the
exchange. When him and the artifacts are in the same place,
THAT'S where The O'Shaughanesseys will be."
Everybody scattered. Thirty minutes later Cordell and William
were in a van in the parking lot of one of the area's most
expensive hotels.
William handed Cordell a Pepsi can. "Take this," he
instructed, "and hide it in those ferns about half way down
the path."
"What's in it?" Cordell asked.
"Mosquitoes," his companion answered, "HUNGRY
mosquitoes!"
Cordell smiled, left the van and a few minutes later returned.
"How do you release them?" he asked.
The marshall held up a simple box with an antenna sticking from
it. A bright red button was in the middle of the box. "You
take this," he instructed. "When I tell you now, press
the button!"
The marshall opened a small port in the back window of the van,
then adjusted the strange looking weapon, looking through its
telescopic site.
"Good! Got an excellent line of fire!" he remarked.
"Now, all we need is our subject. And he should be along any
time now! And there they are! You can set your watch by this guy!
Get ready....NOW!"
Three attractive Asian women were coming down the walkway.
Suddenly they began to swat with their hands and their purses.
The marshall sited carefully and squeezed the trigger. There was
a very slight pop and one of the women jumped, screaming
something in Japanese. Then the marshall fired again and one of
the other women cried out. They quickly hurried down the path,
got into the limo and drove off. The marshall went to the side of
the van and checked some screens. "Tagged both of
them," he remarked, "nothing like having a spare! We'll
know every move they make for the next seventy two hours. That's
how long it will take the bodies anti bodies to dissolve the
tracers."
"They won't do any harm?" Cordell asked.
The marshall shook his head. "Totally organic, totally
biodegradable. The body will dissolve them and get rid of them in
a week. Don't want lawsuits, do we?"
Cordell laughed. The marshall got on the radio and called Twenty
Arrows. "Have you located the artifacts?" he asked.
"Yes," came their answer, "They're in a U Haul,
the smallest one you can get, at the convention center. There's a
trade show or something going on here. There's dozens of other U
Hauls here."
"A perfect temporary place to hide hot goods!" the
marshall answered. "Watch the truck! We're returning to the
safe house."
"Understood!" Arrows answered.
In the meantime Francine and Alex had reached the courthouse. The
bailiffs were busy, but the mother was still there, hoping for
some word about her children. They showed her the pictures. She
quickly picked out The O'Shaughanesseys.
"Do you know who these men are?" she asked. "Will
they hurt my children?"
"If they're not found," Alex answered, "I'm afraid
so. But we've got some very good men looking for them. There is a
very good chance we'll get them back."
An older woman entered. "What's going on Carol?" she
asked. "Are these women bothering you?"
"No, mother," the woman answered, "they believe
they may know who took Ben and Francine. They're in hopes they
can recover them."
"You can understand our curiosity," Alex continued.
"How did you get into the situation?"
"I loved my husband," the woman answered, "I loved
him very much. But I couldn't take the pressure, the waiting all
the time in fear for the phone to ring, someone saying something
had gone wrong and my husband was dead. I'd used cocaine in high
school, I started again. The only way I could pay for it was to
deal, sell it to get the money for my own. My husband found out,
set me up. They caught me in the act."
"Yes," Alex put in, I didn't handle the case myself,
but I remember it. You were dealing the school zone. They gave
you the maximum sentence."
"Three and a half years in that hell hole!" the woman's
mother put in. "Now she'll have to do three and a half years
parole. She should've gotten probation! They made an example of
her because her husband was in law enforcement."
Alex shook her head. "Standard sentencing practices for a
school zone offense!" she argued. "Actually, her
husband's circumstances probably led to her early release. It's
very rare such individuals get parole at the first opportunity.
They're not very lenient any more."
The mother snorted but the younger woman looked curious.
"Really?" she asked.
Alex knelt down. "Listen!" she comforted, "Your
husband did what he had to do. It probably hurt him just as much
as it hurt you. Are you still married? Did he ever file for
divorce?"
"Yes," the woman answered, "and no. I've been
expecting it any time, but he never has."
Page 13