Chapter 11


It felt really strange standing here. It was even stranger how easily they found it. Amy got the address of the warehouse from the report that had been written up by the Germans. They were sticklers for paperwork and protocol. It had barely been twenty minutes after she found out, about Danni's shooting, when the report about the incident arrived on her computer back at the station. Still, even with that, Amy had never expected to find the exact spot where her friend was hit and certainly not as easily as this.

Tony was carefully standing to one side of it as well. Even if neither one of them would say it, both agents acted almost as if it were desecration to get any closer. They both knew the other was thinking that as well. The only one with a different opinion was Shannon. She would not get any closer to it than Amy's back which, she was practically hiding behind, as they all stood there looking down.

It was Tony who said the obvious about the blood stained cement, "you'd think the rain would have washed some of it away, huh?"

If Tony sounded almost distant it was in stark contrast to Amy's reaction which was pure anger, "you'd think the city would send somebody out here to clean it up. I mean, even some chalk marks or, hell I don't!" Even a crime scene investigation had a look too it that somehow spelled out ceremony. Shouldn't something like this be important enough for at least that much? To Amy, it just seemed as if her friend had been gutted and then everybody walked away.

Finally Amy got the shivers and asked Tony, yet again, "when's your stupid Aunt supposed to call. I don't want to stand around here any longer than I have too."

"Hey," Tony quipped, "she was nice enough to go digging through all those records for us. That's not to mention what it's cost me. I have to go have dinner with them now and do you have idea how bad my Uncle Mac farts?"

Tony walked off in disgust. He temporarily stopped and took a look at the little retaining wall that was closest to the loading docks. He could see how much of the concrete had been chewed and scratched up. It was the tell tale sign of bullets slapping soft rock. Tony did not bother to point it out to anyone else. The main reason was because now that he knew how much gun play was involved he was absolutely astounded that Danni only took two hits and Norm, none at all.

Tony's next stop was the loading docks themselves. This place had obviously been empty for a long time but, there were obvious signs of recent activity. He could make out a few foot prints and some lines that probably belonged to a load lifter but, the reason he could make them out was due to all the dust that was everywhere else. Then Tony noticed something else and whistled at Amy before telling her, "the door isn't chained. I'm going to have a look around inside."

Amy pointed back to her car and told Shannon, "go wait for us." For once the kid did not complain. She even looked eager to go sit and wait. It was refreshing but, in Amy's current state of mind, she did not really care for refreshing. She quickly joined Tony, pulled her pistol, switched on her under barrel flashlight, and they both entered the building with weapons at the ready and, after a very quick sweep, they both lowered them.

Amy grunted in disappointment, "there's nothing here. It's just a great big… empty."

As Tony holstered his weapon back under his jacket he was carefully following the dust tracks. They led right to an otherwise unremarkable spot where a giant, square, impression had been left. The only really interesting thing about it was that, whatever it was, had made more than just an indention in the dust. He squatted down as Amy joined him and then Tony ran his fingers along the floor.

Amy now holstered her weapon and asked, "what is it?"

"Whatever it was," Tony told her, "it was heavy. It actually warped the floor here."

Amy's face became all distorted, "what? Tony, this is a concrete floor. What the hell could warp it?"

Standing back up, Tony wiped the dust from his hands, and told her, "I have no clue but, it didn't just warp it. Hell it's like it stamped it. The lines are perfectly square, same size as your standard heavy pallet."

All Amy could think to say to that was, "whatever. It doesn't have a thing to do with why we're here."

"Well, I don't know," Tony replied. "I mean, Danni got shot for a reason. Whatever was in here was worth killing over."

Amy let out a sigh, "for all we know, they got mugged. I'd like to think that if it was something important then Norm would have at least told us that much."

"Oh," Tony raised a brow to that, "is this the same Norman Scoggins that ran off on us and we're now looking for? Tell me Amy, when's the last time he did that? Hell, normally I can't get the guy off my back and now he's not even taking my calls."

Both agents reached for their weapons when they heard the tell tale signs of stomping feet. Unfortunately they were almost on Tony and Amy before they even gave away that much. It also turned out that the heavily armed Germans were coming at them from two separate directions. Tony covered the ones coming in by the open loading dock and Amy, standing right beside him, took the ones coming in from the back of the warehouse.

As Tony counted the approaching targets, who also had their weapons raised, he noticed something odd about them. For Wehrmacht they were traveling rather light. Some of them were even armed with pistols instead of assault rifles. Most of them seemed to be missing the body armor that was the usual fair for modern soldiers and a very common sight on the streets around here. Then Tony noticed something even more unusual. Most of these guys appeared to be officers and not enlisted men.

Tony was not really sure what to make of all that but, he was sure he could use it for a little leverage in the here and now. Amy was getting nervous and, despite appearances, so was Tony. Amy could count her side of the equation and new they were heavily outnumbered and gunned. Still she asked, "how do we want to play this?"

"Stand your ground," Tony replied with as much force and volume as he could muster. As the Germans stopped, in their own L shaped firing line, he hoped at least one of them spoke enough English to understand what he had just told his partner. He repeated it once more just for good measure and then added, "we're not in trouble yet. Not from these guys anyway."

Then a voice, speaking very good and unaccented English, called out to them from the direction of the loading dock, "well if it isn't Agent's Tippet and Hiller." Horst came swaggering in following his voice. Unfortunately he had company with him. He was pushing Shannon along with his riding crop. Tony deflated, lowered his weapon, and told Amy, "ok, now we're in trouble."

Amy lowered her weapon as well. She quickly turned and checked out Shannon. She was relieved to see the teen was not hurt. It did not even appear as if Shannon was scared. If anything the kid looked pissed as Horst leaned over to be eye level with her. He pointed at the agents with his crop and said, "go join your friends Miss Reilly." Shannon sneered at him and then walked over to stand next too Tony and Amy. Amy quickly put her arms around the little girl who then complained, "I'm fine already! Will you stop embarrassing me."

Horst walked out in front of his men and confidently told the two Colonial Agents, "I would say we have something of a stand off but, in order to have that there would have to be two equal sides."

Tony spoke, "so what are you going to do, Horst? Shoot us? I don't think the Governor would be too happy about that."

"Oh," Horst said lightly, "she might be upset for a couple of days but I'm sure she would live." He kept popping that damn crop in his hand as he paced about. He went on, "besides Agent Tippet. Why do you think so ill of me? In case you have already forgotten, or perhaps you did not even know, my men are the only reason your friend, Nguyen, is still alive. They were the first on the scene and they were the ones who made sure that she got proper medical attention. For that matter, one of my surgeons was the man who operated on her. I am told she is doing rather well, now."

Amy did not feel hospitable and did not hide that fact when she asked, "what do you want?"

The German shrugged as if what he wanted was nothing at all, "oh just some information. I'm sure it will be no bother."

Tony replied to that with, "if we knew anything we wouldn't be here now. Speaking of which, what are you doing here?"

"That is not how this works Agent Tippet," Horst replied. "I have the advantage so I get to ask the questions."

Tony laughed at that, "so what are you going to do, Horst? You going to shoot us? You won't get any answers that way. That's what you'd have to do, too, because in case you hadn't noticed." Tony held his pistol up in a non threatening manner, "I'm still armed and I'm not going to let your guys use their normal methods of interrogation."

The man snorted a quick laugh and replied, "there you go again with the Stalag Seventeen routine. This isn't the twentieth century Agent Tippet and if there are any Nazi's running around it isn't in the Wehrmacht." Horst stopped pacing. He gave them a sly look and smile as he pointed to Shannon, "it's more like I was thinking of telling that little girl's mother that you took her daughter too a dangerous crime scene."

Tony's smile evaporated. His weapon hand dropped like a rag doll and he then he said, "what do you want to know?"

Horst swaggered over to his quarry. He reached into his jacket for something and Amy flinched. Then he produced what was none other than Shannon's little game. He handed it to the teenager and then he asked Tony, "what is it you plan on doing with Agent Scoggins when you find him?"

Tony blinked, "that's it?"

Horst quickly shot back, "why would there be anything else?"
The Germans had vanished before they got back to Amy's car which, she was happy to see was still in one piece. As Amy slipped in behind the drivers wheel she did not immediately start the vehicle up. Instead, she let her head fall back as far as the seat would let it go and then with a relieved gasp she said, "does that guy specialize in scaring the crap out of everybody?"

Tony was not so much worried about that. He was busy thinking. Then he began rambling about the stray facts that were swimming around in his head, "what else is IFOR good at? Amy did you notice who those guys where?"

She became confused, "besides being the normal, goose stepping, heavily armed, goon squad that Germans seem to specialize in?"

"That's just it," Tony told her. "That's not who those guys were. That was an intelligence outfit. They got this place under surveillance. I get the feeling they were here doing the same thing we were." Tony then looked into the backseat, "Shannon, when did he take your game console?"

The kid was most definitely still pissed when she answered, "right after they snatched me out of the car. I dropped it."

Now Amy was less alarmed and more confused, "what's that got to do with anything?"

"Maybe nothing," Tony replied as he reached back and snatched it away from the teen. Shannon had not bothered with it given how the real life version of the video display had completely consumed her attention. She had held on to it pretty tight though. Tony only got it out of her hand because she was not expecting him to grab it in the first place. She complained the entire time as he turned it on and then started a new game. Shannon stopped complaining when she realized the sounds coming out of it were not the usual music that she was so accustomed too.

After they finished listening, Tony stated the obvious, "Horst wasn't trying to get information from us. He was trying to tell us something."

"I don't get it," Amy replied. "Why give us this? Why point guns at us and give us this? What does he care?"

Tony snickered and replied, "cause he's looking for the same thing as the rest of us, only, he can't do it without raising the alarm."

Now Amy was becoming very nervous, "we need to go back to the station and tell Cal or, the new guy, somebody!"

"No," Tony replied. "I think I know why Norm is ducking us now. If I'm right and, well if he's right, then we can't tell anybody." Before Amy could protest Tony put up his hands and said, "at least not yet. Think about it Amy. All this starts happening right when the new guy gets here. What's that all about?"

Amy slid down her seat and it was appropriate because she had quite the sinking feeling. Tony only added to her paranoia, "we don't know a thing about this Barton guy. For all we know he's just an American spook that they sent here to spy on us."

"Barbara said," Amy replied in a very pale voice that matched her current complexion, "the guy used to be a green beret."

"And he didn't show up at the airport this morning," Tony followed, "and where does he say he was? Over at the consulate, right? How do we know that, or, for that matter, is it such a good thing that he was eating breakfast with Whitman?"

"Good point," Amy so wished Tony was not making sense.

Shannon, on the other hand, was alive and excited, "so where do we go next?"

Tony grumbled at that, "you're going to stay with my aunt till we get this sorted out."

"Like hell I will," the fourteen year old replied.

That promptly snapped Amy back to reality, "watch your mouth. What if your mother heard that?"

"Mom's not here," and Shannon went on by saying, "and if you drop me off somewhere I'm going to tell everybody, everything, that just happened."

Tony snapped at the kid, "this isn't a game Shannon."

"Look Tony," Shannon bit back with no less resolve, "I'm sick of this innocent little kid crap. I don't know if you guys have noticed but, the whole Arch is dangerous. Look, Danni was my friend too. I want too plug the sorry bastards just as much as you do."

Amy was cross eyed, "Shannon. It was a mistake bringing you here in the first place. I'm not going too…"

Shannon cut her off with, "I'll tell mom what you and surfer boy have been doing out on the beach every night."

Amy started the car, "so where too next?"