Nazi flags and other Hitler stuff were living off the land up there. Dan believes it’s a white supremacist group, and he considers all of them domestic terrorists. Maybe this Hauptman guy is the leader and your stepbrother is trying to hook up with him?”
“I don’t know,” Cari admitted, gripping her phone in her hands. How she wanted to hear from Chase! Whatever mind games she’d been telling herself about Chase had now all been violently ripped away. She was falling in love with him. No longer would she lie to herself about it. More than anything, she wanted Chase’s arms around her. Right or wrong, he made her feel safe.
Pepper patted her shoulder. “We’ve got puzzle pieces to start putting together. I know if Hauptman is connected with this group up in the mountains, Dan will call in the FBI pronto. They are hot on the heels of every white supremacist and white nationalist group in the USA. They want them all behind bars.”
“That’s good news,” Cari whispered, touching her forehead. “I feel so weak and tired, Pepper.”
“It’s called an adrenaline crash.” She gave her a sympathetic look. “It’s a normal reaction. Anytime you have the fight-or-flight hormones plowing through your system at light speed? You feel threatened and your life is in danger? There’s always a plummet afterward, and that’s what you’re experiencing right now.”
“It’s awful.”
“Just rest. Keep drinking your water. You don’t have to move or go anywhere, and I’ll stay with you so you’ll have company. I’ll also hear what’s going on out there because I’m hooked into Dan’s main number.” She tapped her radio on her left shoulder.
Leaning back, Cari closed her eyes, gripping her phone. Oh, just to hear Chase’s low, soothing voice! What would he think, once Tracy got ahold of him? Would he be as rattled and shaken by this as she was?
What were the chances that Dirk would show up here? Had he somehow found out where she was? Was he enlisting a group of racist domestic terrorists to find her? Hunt her down? Her mind went wild with awful scenarios she’d never considered before. It left her feeling even more of a target, that her life was but mere minutes, or days, from being brutally taken away from her.
The radio went off on Pepper’s shoulder and she listened intently.
Cari sat up, worried.
“Well,” Pepper said, after the transmission was finished, “bad luck. Our helicopter at the airport has a mechanical issue. It can’t take off and follow them. Damn.”
“What does this mean, then?” Cari asked, her voice off-key. “Are they going to get away?”
“No,” Pepper said grimly, frowning, “but it takes our best asset out of the picture. With it, we could have known exactly where they were going. Now, Dan is going to have to follow them the old-fashioned way once they come out of the restaurant.”
“But won’t that be good enough?” Cari asked, hopeful.
“Not necessarily. Depends on if they stay on the main highway or not.”
“But . . . aren’t satellites coming across this area? Couldn’t they be used?”
Pepper gave her a softened look. “They’re all military, Cari, not law enforcement. And even if we could get permission, it would have to be through the FBI and the military command. It’s pretty tough asking a satellite to change its orbit.”
“Ohhh,” she whispered. “Well, this is bad.”
“What I wish we could have is a Pred,” she muttered.
“What’s a Pred?”
“A large military drone known as the Predator. They could follow at ten thousand feet, never be seen, and we could have known their exact destination.”
“Do you have a drone?”
“No. We have small ones, but nothing on the scale I’m talking about. We’ll just have to do old-fashioned gumshoe work here to track these two.”
“But if they stay on the highway? You can know their location?”
“It’s a start. These domestic terrorist groups usually shift around a lot, to keep their locations a secret. Let’s wait and see what Dan can do or find. At least, we know two of the perps and we know they’re in this area. That’s two pieces of good luck you provided us.” She smiled proudly over at Cari. “You’re a real heroine. You know that? Most people wouldn’t have thought to do what you did. Chase is going to be awfully proud of you, too. Everyone will be, although it will be kept quiet and known to only a select few.”
“I don’t feel heroic at all.” Cari drank the rest of the water and then looked at