Note: See Part 1 for disclaimers.
THE ONLY EASY DAY IS YESTERDAY
"The Journey of Jeremy Keller"
by OldScout
Part 8
It had been a full day since Mindy Bigalow had led them to the
Edwin cabin, in that time the agency forensics team had arrived and
completed a sweep of the residence. The team found very little, a partial
finger print and some fresh hair samples in the bathroom. Another
breakthrough was a very good artist's sketch of their man "Jeremy".
Copies of the sketch were going to be circulated back along the
road from the east. The hope was that some store clerk would remember
him or they might find some tape of him on a surveillance camera. It
was a long shot, but she needed to build a profile on this man and some
film of him would help a lot.
What also would help would be if someone were able to catch
him. Sheriff Bigalow's men couldn't find any trace of him after he left
the cabin and were convinced that he was still hiding in the area. Agent
Ropper had her doubts, he had already driven by them once, then spent
the night just two miles down stream from where they were looking for
him. The man knew when to hang tight and when to move on. He had
obviously moved on.
Agent Ropper was packing her small bag to return to Virginia
when a call came in on the cellular.
"Agent Ropper?" a voice crackled as the static cleared.
"Yes."
"This is Agent Kent with forensics, it looks like we have a match
on the prints and sketch you sent us."
"Great, what do you have."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the information is classified. You will
have to come to the office to see the file."
"You've got to be kidding, can you even give me a name?"
"Sorry, this is an unsecured line."
Anita shrugged. She was on her way to the office anyhow. At
least now she had reason for going back. If this man really was
classified, no wonder why her people had her on the case. Of course if
that were it, they would have just told her who he was and send her off
to do her thing. The odds are, he was a renegade from another
department who had disowned him. If that were the case, she would be
getting zero help from the other agency. They would be off trying to deal
with him on their own terms.
"I should be there by three o'clock."
"I'll see you then."
Anita disconnected and put the phone back in her bag.
Arrivieng back in Virginia on schedule, Anita promptly looked
up Agent Kent. Chris Kent was medium height in his mid-thirties and
slightly balding with a bit of a gut from spending too many consecutive
weeks at his computer. On his wall was a two year old car calendar
frozen at December when it had run out of months. Pasted to his
monitor and other places around the desk where choice cartoons from a
desktop "Far Side" calendar that was sitting on a near by filing cabinet.
The Far Side Calendar was only several days behind.
A thin folder of recent computer print outs was all Kent had to
offer. The man profiled was named Jeremy Keller. His past was sketchy
to say the least, a street kid from Chicago, worked his way through a
community college then into the Navy and Officer Candidate School.
The next part confirmed her suspicions, Jeremy Keller had been a Navy
Seal. As a member of Seal Team Three, Keller served in the Persian
Gulf during the war and resigned his commission as soon as the war
was over.
His next endeavor was what made his dossier confidential, Keller
was recruited by a branch of the CIA for covert operations. His team's
major theater of operations was the former Soviet block. Their main
mission was finding and destroying sensitive stolen Soviet munitions to
prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. On his last mission, his
helicopter crashed in northern Chechnya, Keller was the only survivor
and had to walk out on his own.
When Keller was finally recovered, he was in perfect condition
showing no signs of the ordeal he had just endured. Some in the Agency
accused him of being not completely candid during his debriefing.
Others went so far as to blame him for the crash of the Blackhawk and
the loss of his team. How else could he explain coming out totally
unscathed by such a high intensity crash. Keller told the investigating
panel to "Go to hell." then walked out the front door and disappeared.
"Has anybody been in contacted with you since you pulled this
information?" Ropper asked Agent Kent.
"No Ma'am, but I could tell that my search files had been
accessed."
"What would they have gotten from that."
"With the information from my files, they would be able to pull
all of our records on the Keller case and any related material."
"Well, I guess they don't mind we know about Keller, they're just
going to try to find him first."
"They must know something about him we don't"
Anita tapped the file "You've got a three page outline of a very
dangerous field agent, there's a LOT they know about him that we
don't." she looked at the file again "But I intend to find out as much as I
can."
"So where do you go from here?"
Ropper opened the file and pointed to the names of ex-
commanding officers "Get to know the man through the people who
knew him. Perhaps someone can give me a clue to where he's going."
"That seems like a long shot, now that we know who he is, won't
it be easier to find him?"
"Nobody's going to find this man unless by accident or until he
wants to be found." Anita said as she reached for her jacket. "And even
when found, catching him will be another story."
"Where are you going first?"
Anita flipped the folder open and pointed at a name. "I'll start
with the person who would know him best."
The next day Anita tracked down the man she was looking for.
Luckily, he had retired from the Navy and now taught at Annapolis. He
was a hard man to find, but finally surfaced on a local firing range. He
had just finished a round with a .357 magnum revolver.
"Commander Parker?" Anita inquired as she approached. The
man was the only person on the range and smiled when he turned and
saw her.
"Yes ma'am" he said as he pulled the shooting muffs off his ears
and dropped them around his neck. "How can I help you?"
Anita introduced herself and showed her picture of Jeremy
Keller. "Do you know this man?"
"Lieutenant Keller? Yes I know him, he served with me in the
Navy, a good man, one of the best." Parker looked puzzled "May I ask
why your looking for Lieutenant Keller?"
"Mr. Keller is wanted for questioning in the death of a man in
Virginia Beach."
"Well, Agent Ropper, the Jeremy Keller I knew wouldn't hurt
anyone except in self defense. Besides that, there really isn't much I can
tell you about him. He resigned as soon as we got back from the Gulf,
and I haven't seen him since."
"I see, so you wouldn't happen to know where out west he may
be headed?"
"Couldn't tell you, like I said I haven't seen him since he quit and
I never really knew him personally."
Ropper looked at the pistol the man had dropped the shells out
of and laid on the shooting bench. "That's a very interesting weapon,
may I?" Anita said and held out her hand.
"Of course."
Anita looked at the bright metal gun. "What is this, it's not
chrome?"
"No, its stainless steel, SEALs carry them because they are
simple and don't rust. The last thing we needed was a rusted weapon
when we got in a jam."
Feeling its weight, Anita looked down range at the target Parker
had been shooting at. In the center was a tight cluster of six holes. "Do
you mind if I give it a try?"
"Not at all." Parker handed Ropper a speed loader with six
rounds ready to go.
After removing her long coat and dropping it near Parker's, Anita
took a casual stance and fired six quick shots at a fresh target. All shots
landed in a pattern similar to Parker's. "Nice gun, thanks." Anita said
as she dropped the empty shells into the same bag Parker had dropped
his into.
"Good shooting" Parker said as he looked down range at Agent
Ropper's target.
"Thank you, now if you can think of anything that will help me
find Lieutenant Keller, I'd appreciate a call." Anita handed Parker one of
her business cards. "The number is my cell phone so you call me any
time." She then reached down and picked up her jacket knocking
Parker's stuff to the ground. Amongst the scattered belongings was an
old, short sword.
Commander Parker was on the stuff immediately.
"Commander, exactly what do you teach?"
Parker smiled as he re-packed his gear "History, why?"
"Just curious about the sword?"
"Oh that, I collect them. I guess it's just something I fell into a
long time ago."
Anita shook Parker's hand one last time. "Interesting hobby.
Well don't forget to give me a call if you can think of anything. Even the
smallest thing may help us find him."
With that Agent Ropper was gone. Tim Parker continued to look
at the target she had left behind. Then finally brought both targets
forward for a better look. After staring at both for several minutes he
laid one over the other. Ropper's pattern was a perfect match for his.
to be continued..............................