Page 84 of Operation: Silent Angel
“Yeah, helped him load it into the back of the truck,” Smith said. “He paid me in cash, and I was on my way.”
“What supplies/” Mac asked.
“Jugs of water, some beer, and a couple of bottles of Jack. They had like six big boxes of those emergency dehydrated meals, tried to pay me with one, but I wanted cash. I’m telling you, they were all fine when I drove away.”
“Cut them loose,” Cooper said. “Did you get all that, Control?”
“Roger, Coop,” Yvette said.
“And I heard it too,” Garcia said. “We’ll run down any other property any of the four men may own and will even touch bases with their wives to get the location if we need to.”
“Roger that,” Cooper replied as the three other men cut the zip ties from the three people sitting in front of them.
“If you lied, I’m going to come back here and make you real sorry you did,” Mac threatened before he left.
The six members of the Shepherd Security Team waited anxiously at the cabin for the location of that property and bunker where Billy Lane said Fees and the other men were heading. At HQ, the Digital Team searched property records. Nothing showed as being owned by any of the four men. Garciaplaced a call to Moody’s wife. She didn’t know anything about a bunker or about Rick Fees being a prepper. His next call was to Mrs. Fees.
Cooper’s phone rang. It was Garcia. He put it on speaker. “What do you have for us?”
“Lauren Fees admitted that her husband had been talking about gathering supplies and getting a place for when civilization collapses, but she didn’t think he’d done anything yet. Going on a hunch, I found property in Conecuh County purchased earlier in the year under her maiden name. She swears she doesn’t know anything about it. I’m sending the coordinates through to you.”
The six men were out of the cabin and in the two pickup trucks within two minutes after receiving the text. The coordinates led them off the paved road onto a gravel path, which became a dirt trail that twisted deeper into the woods. They came to the exact longitude and latitude Garcia had sent and found a path cut in the underbrush just wide enough to drive through.
The two pickup trucks drove in slowly, not sure what they’d find. A hundred yards in, they discovered a pickup truck with a fishing boat hitched to it, parked under a towering tree. Behind the truck was what could only be described as a metal box. It was painted green, with no windows. It looked to be about seven feet tall by four feet wide and about four feet deep. There were no windows, but there was a door, and it was closed.
“Oh, damn,” Mac said.
“I was expecting something bigger,” Cooper said.
“I’m getting thatDeliverancevibe again,” Robinson said.
“I have a feeling we’re going to find four bodies in there,” Winston said.
“It’s a survival shelter that preppers install,” Gallup said. “I’ll bet the majority of it’s underground. That’s just the entrance and stairs down. Didn’t you read that article Shepherd pushed through last week about today’s preppers?”
“I haven’t gotten to it yet,” Cooper said.
That sentiment was echoed by the others. Shepherd sent on average three articles a week for the team to read on various topics.
“It was quite interesting,” Gallup said. “Well, should we crack it open and see what we find?”
Flores approached the door. “This door mechanism is weird, almost like it’s on backwards,” he said. He manipulated the mechanism. It clicked, and the door opened an inch. He drew his weapon.
“Mac, your back is still hurting, isn’t it?” Flores said.
Mac nodded. Yes, his back hurt when he moved.
“Stay out here and hold this door open. Whatever you do, don’t let it close,” Flores said. “Gallup, stay with him.”
Mac watched the four other men descend the stairs. At the bottom of the staircase, there was a door with a window. Light from the inside flooded out into the darker area. Flores was the first to look in the window. Four men sat playing cards at a table just within the space. He immediately recognized Ricky Fees as one of them. Flores tried the door. It wasn’t locked. He swung it open.
“Oh God! Are you real?” Fees exclaimed. He jumped up from his seat. “Please tell me you have the exterior door propped open.” He rushed past each of the men and ran up the steps. Outside, he passed Mac and dropped to the ground. “We’re free. Thank you, God!”
Yankee
Robinson couldn’t contain the chuckle that bubbled out of him as the team made their report to Shepherd and Garcia via video call. They stood outside of the survival shelter and had just said goodbye to the four men who’d been trapped, who drove away with the intention of heading home. Winston had checked them all out, and no one was physically affected by their confinement. They had plenty of food and water. Mentally, that could be a different story, and their friendship may not survive.
“They got themselves trapped in Fees’ survival shelter?” Garcia asked with a laugh.
