Chapter Ten
The Web
He spent a worried afternoon going over the files. The Arabs seemed to tied down though they were closer than the supremacists. Nathaniel found his suspicions flowing in that direction. He wished very much those he was protecting lived in a private dwelling, but his people had checked and double checked the people in the rest of the apartments. None of them were of a threatening nature. The threat would come from outside.
As night came he ordered his people in close. Every person going in and out of the apartment building was watched. Fortunately none of them carried anything that could conceal a bomb.
"Thank God!" Nathaniel thought, "this entire street is a no parking zone!"
Finally exhaustion forced him to sleep. He was woke around eight by one of his men. "Gregory is on the phone," the man snapped. "He says he's got something that might help."
Nathaniel pulled himself off the cot and took the cell phone. "Give!" he mumbled, trying to get full awake.
"As I was saying yesterday," the supply officer explained, "projectiles for the needle gun are rather easy to make, but they want to use hallucinogenic, right?"
"We believe that is still their plan," Nathaniel answered.
"Then they're going to need a rare hydrolytic compound KL47P. It's made from the brain fluid of cows. It's very rare and very expensive. There's only two companies that supply it. I called my contacts there yesterday. One of them just called me back. They sold seven grams to a pharmaceutical company in Canton, Ohio. I did some checking. That company is a fund raising enterprise for The Aryan Nation. Did I find something useful, Nathaniel?"
Nathaniel was wide awake. "Did you EVER!" he cried. "You beautiful, old, gray bearded sage! Did you ever! I owe you a steak dinner. Pay you when I get back. Got to get going."
He hung up immediately and in moments was dialing a number of the agent in charge in Ohio. Within minutes he was giving the man orders and the man was not responding very well.
"I don't care what it takes," Nathaniel snapped, "I don't care if the judge favors them. SEARCH THAT PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY! Pick the leader of that group and his sons up for questioning. There must be some charge, some misdemeanor you're holding on reserve for emergencies. Use it!"
Nathaniel hung up. He pulled out the files and spread the pictures of this nasty little bunch in front of him. These people hated everybody! He called over one of his aides. "Take these to the copy center," he ordered. "Distribute them to the field. I've got a hunch and I'm playing it these five may be in the vicinity."
The agent nodded and hurried off. Greene could not delay any longer. Grabbing his overcoat he made his way to his car, and driving himself, went to the local US Marshal's Office. Fifteen minutes later he was leaving, two Marshals in tow, to replace his duty staff, and more on the way. It was an added risk calling in locals, but he had to have more manpower, more eyes and ears to cover the bus stations, the airports, the car rental agencies.
He had barely gotten back to the command post when he was handed the phone. It was the field agent in Ohio. "We've been had!" the man screamed. "They've been gone two, maybe three days.
We found the case for a needle gun in their house. They had four of their people impersonating them, making us think they were still there. I think they're headed your way. One of these guys says he's got a friend on the coast with a fishing boat. But after that the others scared him into shutting up."
"That gives us something," Nathaniel praised. "We're lucky we got that! At least now we know what we're looking for." Nathaniel made his good byes and hung up. "A fishing boat," he muttered, "that means they could be dropped off anywhere along the coast...New London, New Haven, a quick trip overland to Hartford, strike and run back to the coast. Escape again by sea; the type of devious thinking these people went in for.
Coming in by plane would be unlikely. Concentrate on the buses and the rental cars. That still left a lot of ground to cover. But they had a good idea now what ground to cover. He'd have to call in more help. Customs, coast guard. They knew the local coast and could be on the lookout for strangers. The rest of the day was spent laying down a web.
The only question was, were the flies outside of it or fluttering around between the strands? Only time would tell them.
Another worried night passed without any word. It was early the next morning when the phone rang. It was quickly passed to Nathaniel.