Murder in the Forest, Chapter 50
A week passed and Hotchner joined Phillip Gaines in a private room at the sheriff's office to take a conference call on speaker phone with Assistant Director Diefenbaker, who told Gaines to get back to his duties as SAC of the Seattle office. He had talked with Ashley Seaver's supervisor and she had permission to take two weeks of vacation, and then to transfer to the Seattle office. Gaines had talked with Bill Waters and agreed to accept Seaver to replace a retiring agent.
Diefenbaker continued:
"Hotchner, I can't spare the BAU team much longer. Basic man hunting can be handled by the state police and by Sheriff Ford's men. We'll leave four agents from other offices there to show a Bureau presence, but this man Mason and his captive have probably left the area. I want your team on the plane back to Quantico next Monday. Take another day or two in Elk Pass, and then you can spend the weekend and I guess, Friday, in Seattle. Have fun. I know that you've been working hard. The Bureau is proud of you and your team, and yours, too, Phil. Any questions?"
There were none, and Diefenbaker asked them to send in the sheriff, to whom he wanted to speak for old times' sake as well as to coordinate future FBI efforts in the case.
The supervisors collected their teams and passed on Diefenbaker's comments and they made assignments for the final two days of their participation in the search. Ashley was delighted to learn that her request for transfer had been granted and thanked both Waters and Gaines.
And then they formed teams to cover specific areas of the search.
Blacklaws had contacted his friends in the game warden service, the fish and wildlife police. These were John Tanner and Tom Brown. They all met in Ford's office and discussed who would go where, looking at a topographic map as the wardens scanned for likely hiding places.
"He has to have access to water if he's still around here," noted Brown, the taller and older of the two wardens. "And he has to be able to drive his van off the road and hide it in the forest where the copter can't see it, but where he can get it back out on main roads when he's ready. He probably wants some place where any smoke from a campfire can't be seen, and watchers on fire towers make that hard in some areas, because they're always in those towers with binoculars, looking for any smoke that could turn into a forest fire. So, we can probably eliminate most of the terrain near towers. Let's see what's left near a small river or a creek big enough to have fresh water flowing in a good amount. And he may want a stream big enough to carry fish. Those can stretch his rations. If he still has the girl, they'll go through any food he has in the van fairly soon, I'd think."
They adjourned to lunch at the usual restaurant, and all discussed where they thought they should search in the two days remaining. Blacklaws's big scientist friend joined them, Dr. van Reenan, and he discussed what he knew of the land and the animals that might affect Mason's choice of a hideout.
And then they made assignments, with Blacklaws, Seaver, Reid, Kate Callahan, and two deputies joining van Reenan to scout an area where they felt they might find the fugitive and the girl, if they were still nearby.
The team went by an outfitters store to buy a few items deemed essential, like knives, whistles, steel mirrors and compasses for those who didn't have them. The ones issued via the Seattle field office were needed for other agents, anyway. And they selected weapons, being sure to include rifles powerful enough for large animals or a long range shootout with Mason and submachine guns in case of closer encounters.
When all was ready, they boarded a white Toyota SUV from the sheriff's fleet of vehicles and a long black FBI Suburban and they were off. Reid made a bad joke about it being a good idea to have bought a compass, for he'd probably need one to find himself in those woods, let alone to locate anything else.
"It's not you having a compass that bothers me, Spencer," teased Callahan. "What I'm really afraid of is that you'll cut yourself with one of those knives."
That brought a laugh and Seaver asked if anyone wanted soft drinks or candy from the cooler, which was beside her on the back seat floorboard. And thus, the rescue team was off, hoping to achieve something more than a camping trip.
XXX
In the forest hideout, Mason cleaned his guns as a frightened Melissa Winters sat chained to her bed out of reach. She shivered and hoped that she'd somehow survive this nightmare. Mason gave her a long, cool, appreciative look and smiled slightly and she hoped that she could entertain him well enough to keep him happy until whatever was going to happen, happened. She sensed somehow that things were about to change, and that she would soon be in mortal danger. But oddly, she didn't feel especially strongly that Mason would be the cause of her new peril.
They heard a cougar scream in the distance and Mason told her not to worry. "Never mind that big cat," he quipped. "The only catting around you're going to be doing is in here, with me."
She smiled, but felt a sense of dread. Maybe one of them would be attacked by that cougar, a bear, or step on a rattlesnake. Melissa wished very much to be home in her parents' house and wondered if she'd ever again see her loved ones. She wondered what Courtney was doing that afternoon. It had to be better than this…
