He Planned a Secret Ch. 02

It took me two hours to catch up to the bull and his cows. By catch up I mean get within shooting range. I watched and saw how he moved around his cows, protecting them and watching for threats. I got closer.

He turned his cows toward me and I took a prone position and waited. The wind was at his back. When he was a hundred and fifty yards away he turned and froze, listening. In the distance he heard a bull. I took the shot and the round penetrated just behind his foreleg, exploding his heart. I chambered another round and fired at the largest cow, standing ten feet beyond the fallen bull. She went down. The other cows scattered and I ignored them. I policed my brass and made my firing position invisible. Old habits die hard. I remembered a saying I had learned in training; old habits die hard, good habits keep you alive.

When I got to the down elks I made sure both were dead, texted the coordinates to Jack and told him I had a bull and a cow. Half an hour later he showed up with his truck. He called and two other men showed up to help us load the two animals in the truck. They were impressed. The bull measured 391 they said. I wanted to know how much meat I was bringing home to Diane. Jack took my picture by the antlers and a minute later I asked him to erase it.

"Why, for God's sake?"

"I hate pictures. Tell you what, let me take your picture and you can say they are both your kills. I just want a majority of the meat. If we say both elk are yours then maybe you'll even win some of the pool money."

"That's a sure thing. I'll put this on my tag and drive it to the locker in town. I'll come back tomorrow to collect you and whatever else you kill. Ok?"

"Works for me." He called and two more men showed up to help us load the two elk in the truck. We got them in and Jack drove away a happy man. The two men who helped us rode part way out with Jack leaving me alone in the woods.

I climbed a tree and waited. Just before dark I saw another bull with six cows. They were eight hundred yards off moving north. I followed.

Elk move quietly for big animals. However, the bulls have a need to tell the world when they score. The bull I was following was intent on starting a new generation of elk, making following him pretty easy. The musk of he and his cows was pretty easy to follow as well.

Looking at the GPS I saw that he was close to a county road when the sun came up. He turned and headed away from the road. I got a little ahead of him and two hundred yards from him. His cows stopped to feed. He circled them, head high, smelling the air and looking for any threats. He could neither see or smell me.

He posed for me and I squeezed a single round into him, right behind his foreleg. He just collapsed. A second after he started down the sound of the shot hit the cows and they ran. I collected the brass, cleaned my area and walked to the bull.

I called Jack and gave him the coordinates.

A minute later he called me. "You aren't kidding? You got another one?"

"No. I just got mine. You got yours yesterday. Can you come get us?"

"I'm already on my way." He arrived with his two sons and we loaded the elk into the truck. His boys were impressed. The younger one said, "The one Dad got yesterday is the first one he ever got with just one shot. Now you got one like it."

We got the animal back to the locker and the butcher cut and packaged the meat for us. I rented a locker because all the meat wouldn't fit in Diane's locker. I gave Jack all the meat from the cow and the antlers from his kill and mine. I called Diane and said, "I'm on my way home. I got some meat for you."

"How much meat?" She asked.

"Almost six hundred pounds. I rented more locker space. You didn't have enough."

"Six hundred pounds! You were after elk, not elephant!"

"We got two bulls and a cow."

"I wonder about the word we."

"Jack got the big one and even got his picture taken with it! If you want a copy I'm sure he'd love to have it on display at the café."

"He might even come in to eat some of it." Diane said.

"I'll bet he would. Anyway, I'm on my way home."

I brought her a five pound rump roast and she showed proper appreciation. Ann was equally appreciative.

During the following week I found out that Jose's hunting partner got a big bull with a single well-placed shot to the heart. Jose's kill netted him a little over two hundred pounds of elk meat. Being who she was raised to be his very Japanese wife didn't want the meat so I bought it from him and gave it to Diane. The café had months of wonderful meals with elk meat blended into them

The second time I was invited hunting the circumstances were quite different. Jose' and I were sharing our day off, hanging at the park in his town watching thirteen year-olds play hardball. The local leo (Law Enforcement Officer) came by and came to us.

"You boys both got elk a couple months ago, didn't you?" He asked.

We nodded. He continued, "I need your help. A bear attacked Jack McDonald and his wife. They're both in the hospital. Their older boy shot the bear, but didn't kill it."

Jose' asked what weapons the sheriff had. He had a variety, but only one thing he mentioned would do. We took the M-16's, drove out to the McDonald place and started tracking the bear. As we drove I called Ann and had her drive to the farm and stay with the boys. I cautioned her to stay indoors and keep the boys inside as well. Before we left the farm we test fired the weapons and sighted them in.

The bear had left us an easy trail. We tracked it about four miles up into the hills before we saw it. It was licking the wound on it's hind quarters. Jose' went one direction and I went another, both paths would keep us down wind of the bear.

Half an hour later I could see both the bear and Jose'. I texted him a message: "When he stands we both fire."

Two minutes passed and Jose' stepped on a twig. The instant the bear heard the snap he stood up and roared. We both fired and the bear fell.

Jose's bullet entered the bear's mouth and took of the back of his head. My shot entered his chest and stopped inside his heart.

As we walked to the bear I called the sheriff and told him the bear was dead. I gave him the coordinates and within half an hour he was there with three pick-ups of men all armed for war.

By the time Jose' and I got home the male counterpart of the grange ladies club had spread the word about how we had taken out a wounded bear. Ann had organized women to stay with the boys while their parents healed. The boys would take care of the farming. That night they came to town with Ann and ate with us at the café.

At the F&G the next day I had plenty of customers. Some even bought things. The topic was the bear. The sheriff had it in the back of his truck and took it on a tour of the county. It weighed almost four hundred pounds and had a broken foot that had healed poorly.

The men who were hunters want details on how we had triangulated the shots, tracked the bear so quickly and they wanted to know what weapons Jose' and I owned.

After two weeks the news changed topics and became the weather. Jose' and I were grateful. On the fifth of December a twig snapped at both Jose's house and mine.

It happened when both of us were at work. I was loading sacks out of a truck onto a pallet and heard the sound of a rifle. I immediately identified the sound as from a 7.62 mm NATO round. I searched for where the round hit and found nothing. An hour later the F&G phone rang. I stayed low and answered.

Jose' said, "Someone fired a NATO round near me."

"I heard one about half an hour ago, but I haven't found where it hit."

"What the hell is going on?" Jose' asked. Neither of us knew. I reported the incidents to the phone number I had used once before. An hour later I got a call sending me to The City and into a seedy bar on the south side of the City.

I sat next to the only other person in the bar. He said, "The Syrians don't like you. They don't know for sure if they don't like Jose' as much so the contract is for both of you."

"Who's the shooter?"

"Montgomery." The man said. He still hadn't looked at me.

"I need a weapon."

"It's in the back of your truck. XM-110 and three hundred rounds. We put Pierce and Toshiro in the hunt as well."

"Montgomery doesn't miss."

"He was hired to terrorize you first, then kill you."

"So far all he's done is piss me off."

"So, kill him." He turned and looked me in the face for the first time.

Back at my truck I walked around it and saw a single hole in the tailgate. A 7.62mm hole penetrating the center of the "O" in Chevrolet. An arrogant message.

Back at the F&G I searched the El Camino finding a GPS transmitter. I called Diane and Ann.

I said, "Jose' and I are going hunting."

Diane said, "Nothing's in season."

"Jose' and I are the targets. We're going after the man who wants both of us dead. Our covers have been blown. I parked the El Camino at the F&G. You can take it home anytime. I'll be back when this is over."

Ann asked, "How can we contact you?"

"When the threat has been neutralized, we'll be back. Two things: I love you both and I am coming back." I added emphasis to the word "am".

Both told me they loved me. I hung up the phone and hid in the F&G until after dark. Jose' and I had prearranged a meeting spot if our covers were blown. Midnight at a barn no longer being used for farming about ten miles away from the F&G and six miles from Jose's warehouse.

After dark I made my way to that barn. My rifle was in a padded bag and I only carried a hundred rounds. More than that was too heavy and made noise. I wondered about how rusty I might be. I felt better when I crossed a farm with three dogs. The dogs didn't notice me.

When I got to the barn I was tired. Working the F&G had me fit, but my endurance was suffering. I got inside and sat down. I heard Jose's voice, "You're getting old. I heard you breathing for the last half a mile."

"I'm not as fast as I was, either."

"Neither am I. Must be my wife's cooking making me soft."

We discussed our plan of action and quickly put the plans into action. Quickly doesn't mean we ran out of the barn posting gunfight notices inviting our adversary to the Ok Corral. It meant we stayed completely hidden for two days, didn't use or even turn on cell phones and stayed inside the abandoned barn. Jose' had stocked the barn as his emergency spot shortly after arriving in the area, months before. We had food, a chemical toilet and could stay warm even if it snowed without building a fire. What we didn't have was our wives. A steady diet of physical, emotional and spiritual support and love causes severe symptoms when they are no longer readily available.

After the two days it was the night of a new moon. We left the barn and spent that night looking for signs of the sniper. I found two signs that he had been watching Diane and Ann. A piece of an energy bar wrapper rolled into a ball and thrown under a bush and a piece of invisible tape across the driver's door seam of the El Camino.

Well before dawn we were back in the barn. During the day we compared notes and used maps to plot his movements. The next night I made my way to a pay phone and called my contact. He arranged for encoded satellite phones for both of us and told me where I could pick them up the next night. He also gave us a valuable piece of information, confirmation of the name of the sniper. We both knew him and knew him well.

The next night Jose' picked up the phones and I found further evidence left by the sniper. Knowing him helped me spot his preferred patterns and his tells. He had eaten an energy bar and carried out the waste paper, except for the corner that he ripped off. He ripped it off with his left hand, like he always did, rolled it into a small ball and tossed it away. I unrolled it and was able to identify what brand of energy bar he ate. , Alpsnack.

Back in the barn we rested during the day. At five in the afternoon my phone vibrated. I answered and a voice properly identified itself as friend and gave me the information that his target had been changed. Because we had not been found, his controllers had upped the ante to include family. He was now authorized to take out any one of our women. It was to draw us out where he could get us.

He also told us there were two other teams in the area looking for him.

I called Ann and Diane. Since the calls could not be traced I talked to them for some time. I avoided saying anything of mission importance but I did tell them where to find the pre-printed escape plans I had made for them. I told them to put those plans into operation immediately. Jose' called his wife and before dark all three women were out of town.

Jose' and I had places we knew Giovanni Montgomery had used to watch our homes so we got within range of both places and waited. I had once spent sixty hours in the prone firing position before my target walked into the line of fire. I was prepared for a long wait this time as well. I was twelve hundred meters from the spot I knew Giovanni had been in. If he showed up again he would die. Twelve hundred meters was just under three quarters of a mile.

He didn't show that night. After the sun came up the only real change was that I got warmer. A field mouse paid me a visit and cleaned up the few crumbs that had fallen from my energy bar. I took two naps during the daylight hours. It got dark again with no movement in Giovanni's last known hiding spot. My watch was where I could see it's face without moving. At ten minutes after two in the morning I saw movement through the scope on my weapon.

He moved slowly and took up a position that had him aligned with a shot at the back door of my, our, home. I watched as he positioned his rifle and adjusted the sights. All his movements were slow and carefully done. The last movement I saw was his right hand removing the forward lens cap from the scope of his rifle. I waited and saw that he was still.

I increased pressure on the trigger of the MX-110 while I watched the cross hairs centered on a spot an inch above the stock of his weapon, right where his head had to be.

Suddenly the mechanism of my rifle fired and the flash surprised me. Years of experience and practice kept me from jumping. I rolled one roll to my left, then I stayed still. Through the scope I saw his position destroyed and I could see enough of his body to know he was very likely dead. I carefully aimed again and put another round in my target.

Five minutes passed slowly. I stayed still. My phone vibrated. I pressed the button feeding sound to my ear bud. Jose' voice said, "Got one." I whispered, "Ditto."

Jose' said, "Leave them. Let's go home." We went back to the barn. We called and the other teams checked our kills. Giovanni was dead and so was Marcus, his recently promoted spotter. The bodies were removed and the kill sites cleaned up by teams trained for such duty.

In the barn Jose' and I talked. We had decisions to make. Going back to the Feed & Grain and the County Warehouse would be inviting another team, another team of snipers, to come and take a shot at us... and the three women we loved.

After our conversation I called our contact number. We talked and he agreed with our plan. He had thought we might think of doing what we asked for so he was prepared. Both of us were sad about what was necessary, but knew it had to be done.

At 0410 a dirty GMC Denali came to the barn and picked us up. We were driven to the safe houses where Diane, Ann and Kasumi were hiding and being guarded. They were less than a mile apart. Kasumi was trembling when we got her inside the black GMC and Jose' held her as we drove to the barn where Diane and Ann were hiding. Even after I opened the door to the barn I couldn't see or hear them. I said the single safe word I had included in their instructions. They rushed me and hugged me, cried and shook like Kasumi. Once we were inside the GMC the driver took us south to an Army post about two hours away.

During the ride all three women stopped shaking and began asking questions. I was not surprised when Diane was first.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"I don't know. You can ask the driver, if you want." I said, knowing he probably knew his destination, but not ours.

She asked him and he answered, "An Army Post isn't very far from here."

Diane said, "Are you Army?"

The driver chuckled and said, "I'm sorry, but the answer is, I don't exist."

Kasumi asked, "After we get to the Army Post, then what?"

The driver answered, "I'm to take you to building 288, drive into the building and leave you there. You know almost as much as I do."

I asked, "What are you leaving out?"

"Both of you are to leave those canvas bags with me." Those canvas bags held the XM-110 rifles.

On the post we got close to the roll-up door on building 288 and the driver honked. The door opened and we drove inside. The door closed behind us. A man dressed as an Army Major was waiting for us. He opened the door behind the driver and all of us got out. Through the driver's window the Major handed the driver an envelope. He turned the GMC around and drove to the door. We moved quickly through the door the major pointed to and when we were out of sight the roll-up door started opening.

We entered a room with six empty chairs, a TV and a man in a gray suit in it. The major stayed outside and closed the door once we were inside.

We sat. Jose' and I stayed quiet. Kasumi asked, "Ok, what's next?"

The man turned on the TV and the news came on. A scene filled with flashing lights and uniformed police all over showed. A male voice over said, "At approximately two-thirty this morning shots rang out in both Bayard and Bridgeport Nebraska. As of this moment we have reports of seven bodies. Three adult females and four adult males." The scene changed to an on-site reporter who said, "Police have identified the three victims who lived in Bayard and the couple who lived in Bridgeport. The two assailants appear to be hired assassins who were killed in a fire fight with the two men trying to protect their wives. They are, as of now, unidentified."

The man in the suit shut off the television. He said, "Later today your bodies will be identified by the FBI. Your homes and café' will be sold and the proceeds will find their way to you. The two collector vehicles will be sold at a classic car auction and that money will also find you. Somehow your backgrounds will be leaked and the identity of the assassins will be identified as foreign nationals from Syria. The holes in the vehicles and the story of how all of you died should increase the going price for both vehicles."

Ann asked, "What about our clothes, our things?"

"A company will go to both towns to hold sales of everything you had. The real estate will be handled locally. A few personal items like pictures, photo albums we can recover for you. Anything with your names on them, quote, perished in the small fire in your home, unquote."

Diane asked, "Where do we go? What do we do?"

"This is not witness protection. In the contingency plan Sergeants Garcia and Peterson made before separation each requested a motor home so they could wander for a while before settling into life as new people. That can still be provided, if that suits you."

A conference was held. Actually, two conferences were held. The first was held with Diane, Ann and me while the second happened ten feet away between Kasumi and Jose'.

We got together as two entities for a third conversation. Kasumi started that conversation.

"It seems to me that we are stronger if we stay together. Our men are a good team. I want us to stay together."

Diane said, "All of us in one motor home?"