Bad Blood

14. Endgames

Woodrow Reed barely made it out of the building when plainclothes officers spotted him hailing a cab. Moments later, the cab pulled away from the curb tailed by two unmarked police vehicles. The ride came to an end at the airport's car rental terminal, and two officers ran after him to make sure he didn't head for the departure gates. He instead made for one of the rental counters, where he proceeded to negotiate for a vehicle. One of the plainclothes officers stayed with him while the other took the elevator to the parking lot, to spot the car Woodrow would drive off in.

At the same time, another three unmarked cars had arrived at the exit to the car rental center, making it a total of five cars available to track Woodrow's next move. Through the radio, all drivers were informed by the officer in the garage that Woodrow had just picked up a bright red Hyundai Sonata and was heading for the exit. He was easily picked up leaving the garage, and the six car convoy headed southeast, towards the Umatilla National Forest.

"The coins" Trotter observed. "He's headed for the coins. I'm worried that as he gets closer to the national parks out east, the road will be largely empty, and he will easily spot his tail."

"Right now we have three vehicles in front of him, three behind. If he makes it past Prineville we'll put an airplane on him." The state troopers had access to a small fleet of Cessna 182 Skylanes that could be flown for many hours at altitudes above 10,000 feet. That made them largely invisible to the traffic on the freeway below.

For the next three hours Trotter paced back and forth while constantly drinking coffee. Woodrow's rental car made it past Prineville and turned towards the spot where he was found by state troopers a few days ago. A Cessna was flying above him, and one of the unmarked police cars was leading him by ten miles or so. At this point he should have no indication whatsoever that he was being monitored. Yet, Trotter was worried. He went to the Lieutenant.

"I want to be there when it goes down. Please let us take the chopper." The department had a helicopter that was made available strictly on a need-to-use basis. That meant it was available for urgent police work only when it was not used to carry the brass to some political event.

"Okay, I think you deserve it. But don't break open the champagne until the guy's in the bag." Trotter got out of the office in a hurry, before the Lieutenant could change his mind. He flagged down O'Shea, and after a brief stop at the restroom he directed the pilot to Oglivie Field just outside John Day. That was their staging area as the small airport could accommodate the Skylane in case it needed to refuel.

The flight was uneventful and Trotter and O'Shea were in a Chevy Suburban less than two minutes after landing. The Skylane was circling a wooded area about an hour from their position; the red Hyundai, driving along incrementally smaller roads, had disappeared into the wooded patch and not reemerged. Trotter was feeling hopeful that the end of their quest was near.

Three unmarked police cars had taken up position at the intersection where a narrow tractor path veered off from the gravel road, leading into the densely forested area. According to the crew on the Skylane, this is where the Hyundai disappeared from view. Trotter told their driver to park the Suburban across the path, blocking all attempts to egress. He and O'Shea then proceeded by foot.

It didn't take long before they spotted the red Hyundai between the trees, and they advanced carefully between the trees. The car was parked with the trunk open, and a few moments later Woodrow appeared behind it, climbing out of the ground. He was struggling with something heavy, and soon Trotter saw him loading a black nylon bag into the trunk. Woodrow paused and leaned against the vehicle for a moment, before he once again disappeared underground.