Chapter 2
Mac entered his office and as he hung up his jacket. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed through the half closed blinds that shielded his office from the outside, Cydney asleep with her head on her arms with files numerous scattered around her all over the top of the desk. A near empty cup of coffee rested beside her elbow, as did a notepad scrawled with various hand written notes. She had obviously been here most of the night and he wondered what had driven her from the office celebrations to working here in the office all through the night. He made his way over to the coffee machine and filled up two cups with fresh coffee and took them over to Cydney's desk. Tapping her lightly on the shoulder she jumped awake startled and blinked up at him. Her expressive grey eyes widened as she took stock of her surroundings then narrowed as she remembered where she was and the circumstances that dictated she be there. Wearily she stretched her hands above her head as she yawned and swore a curse she had obviously learned from Dennis Neville.
'Been a rough night?' He asked as she reached out to take the coffee from him with a grateful weary smile of thanks.
'Nev called me late last night.' She ran her hand through her shoulder length hair to straighten it. It fell back into place framing her worried face and tired grey eyes.
' He's in trouble' She said bleakly. 'He thinks he's been traced Mac.'
'Why didn't he get the hell out of there then Cyd?' Mac asked as he pulled out a chair opposite her desk.
She sighed despondently. 'I dunno�I wanted him to, I pleaded with him but he refused. He's such a stubborn shit, you should know that better than I do Mac.' She looked him fair and square in the face and let him see every nightmare she had undergone over the last eight hours in her eyes and on her face. Their bleak hopeless expression was raw with pain and the grief yet to come, if as Nev had told her he had been discovered. 'If he's certain about this�. You know Nev is rarely wrong�..' her voice trailed away as if she didn't want to even utter the words because to say them might make them come true.
Mac knowing the truth of her words said nothing but nodded his head and reached out to squeeze her hand in comfort. He bit back the meaningless words of hope that almost sprung and fell from his lips. He knew the pitfalls of this job more than anyone and he knew just how often the gut instinct of an officer was correct. The pit of his stomach clenched with dread at the thought of losing another colleague in the line of duty and he desperately hoped they were wrong about Dennis Neville.
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In the grey cold light of dawn Dennis Neville threw his holdall carelessly in the trunk of his car. A light mist gave the morning an eerie ethereal feel. The morning light was only just beginning to push the edges of darkness away but it was still unusually chilly for this time of year and his breath frosted the air when he exhaled slowly as he quietly closed the trunk. Looking about him furtively he saw nothing suspicious around him but that didn't ease the tightness of trepidation and uneasiness in his chest. He knew he was being watched. He could feel it in his bones. His unease showed itself with his normally steady hands shaking when he unlocked his car door. Putting the keys in the ignition he started the engine and pulled slowly out of the hotel car park and drove towards the highway. He thought through all the information he had gathered and passed on to Cydney. He was sure he had covered everything.
From the first time his shock informant had passed on information and his concerns about the rumoured sickness amongst children and adults of the sleepy country town nestled amongst the Appalachian mountain range and his theories as to why these people were sick. Dennis Neville had been snooping around and digging up information and he found out his informant was right to be troubled and worried. They had collaborated together but the deeper they dug and investigated the more they suspected that there was a powerful corporation behind the dumping of this discarded chemical waste.
So his informant had offered to get film of the trucks dumping in the disused mine as proof of their theories. He knew this was placing the informant in danger but he was a skilled hiker and knew these mountains like the back of his hand. Whereas if he had accompanied him he would have probably been more of a hindrance than a help, physically fit was not a term that applied to Dennis Neville.
Dennis's lips tugged upwards at the edges into a wry smile at himself as he drove along. 'Now Cydney would have kept up with him.' He said softly to himself as he thought of his offsider. Dennis was a balding middle aged man on the portly side with a fondness for junk food, strong black coffee and a liking for a beer or two. He was a complete contrast to his fit active younger female partner but that didn't dim their teamwork or the obvious easy affection and respect that they had towards other. For all that he was out of condition physically, Dennis Neville possessed a keen intelligence.
He lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply and smiled again to himself. Thinking of the times Cydney had berated him about his lifestyle and his penchant for the fragrant weed he was so addicted to. She hassled him so much about his health that at one stage he thought about giving them away but he was glad he hadn't now. It wouldn't be the cigarettes that killed him. It would be this job he thought with a certain amount of grim irony. He glanced down at the package on the seat beside him and sighed regretfully. He had told Cydney that he had already sent it to safety. He did that in case his phone was being tapped and the call traced. He hoped it would buy him some extra time. Now he wished he had in fact posted it, it didn't look like his gamble had paid off. If anything happened to him his informant's work would be wasted and they would have to start again.
He thought again of the softly spoken Kentuckian that was his informant. And at his own surprise that a man such a he would want to get involved with the dirty world of environmental pollution. He knew of the man of course and knew of his crusading for the environment but he imagined that was all just celebrity posturing, the way he had seen countless other famous people get into the act over the years. He never dreamed this man would actually get his hands dirty by leaving his safe comfortable existence for the often uncertain and dangerous world of helping the EPA track down some environmental criminals.
Funny that how your suppositions about a person can be so wrong and he was taken aback to discover he actually liked this man and he was amazed at just how passionate and committed about the environment the guy was. Dennis Neville wondered what Cydney would make of this surprisingly normal down to earth superstar whose rugged good looks were an attraction for women the world over, when and if she had to deal with him. For it was odds on if anything happened to him she would demand the case and he couldn't see Mac refusing her. Cydney would sweep away any objections with the full force of her arguments and her personality and he knew just how persuasive she could be when she got on a roll. He hoped to god, Cydney's fate would not be as his was destined to be at the hands of these faceless enemies.
He glanced in the rear vision mirror and following him was car that wasn't there few moments earlier. It was to be as he suspected. A feeling of surreal calmness washed over him as he flicked the indicator on and changed lanes speeding up slightly as he put his foot down. He wanted to see how the car trailing him would react. He watched it move out into the lane behind him and speed up to stay a couple of car lengths away from him. They were still in a fair bit of traffic but Dennis knew that as soon as the highway traffic began to thin out and when the road would open up into the twisting mountain climb he would be in serious trouble. Realising that time might be short he picked up his phone and typed a text message to Cydney, his last goodbyes and some final instructions and ideas. She would be able to retrieve any information from it, they had used this idea several times before when in trouble.
He hoped she would forgive him his lapse in not sending the package immediately after receiving it from his informant, he thought she would understand his reasons. Dennis hoped she would miss him, miss his constant presence in her life, miss his guidance but he knew she was a strong capable intelligent woman, he hoped wherever he was bound in the afterlife that he would be able to watch over her. For Dennis had come to care a great deal for the woman who was his partner, in his own way he loved her.
He shoved the phone down beside his seat hoping if they saw the package beside him, they wouldn't search the car for anything else that might be hidden in it. Dennis was sure that all they wanted would be to retrieve the incriminating video footage. He desperately hoped they hadn't traced his trail back to the informant. He had been exceptionally careful regarding his dealings with him but you never knew just what leads had been picked up. But all that was out of his hands now.
He glanced in the rear vision mirror again and the car had crept closer and was only a car length behind him. Now he would make them work to take his life, he wasn't handing it to them on a platter.
The highway traffic now thinned out along the route as it took in the curved mountain pass. The well travelled darkened tar snakelike road wound its way higher and further upward towards the mountain peak. The wakening sun was rising higher in the sky dissipating the mist so it felt that you could see forever. Trees and native forestry edged the rising road like tall guardian sentinels as the sunlight caressed its dappled greenery with its soft golden touch. But Dennis had no time to admire its majesty, to appreciate all that he was trying to protect here. For all this beautiful terrain he would give his life fighting for it to be preserved. There were no other cars on the road but the one Dennis was driving and his pursuers bringing up the rear. He increased his speed and found that it was matched by the other car following. The noise of the tyres squealing echoed throughout the car as he navigated the winding bends at speed.
He glanced back again to see the other car gaining on him and again he increased his speed and watched the needle of his speedometer rise. He felt the car fishtail out of control but he fought with the steering wheel as it spun through his desperate hands. Fighting its momentum he set the car to rights and ended up on the wrong side of the road. Scenery flashed by his vision in a whirl of greenery. He steered the wayward vehicle back on course but felt a bone shattering jarring hit his body as the chasing car rammed him from behind. His hands slipped from the steering wheel and the car spun around three sixty degrees. Again he fought to control the wild fishtailing as he struggled to point his car in the right direction. A thumping hit from behind and he felt the bone jarring crash as again the other pursuing vehicle careered into the back of his car. He felt the tug of the seat belt cut into to his chest as it held his body rigid and unmoving. Another crash from behind and the car again spun full circle but this time he sideswiped the rock wall of the mountain passage. He heard the grinding of metal on rock and noticed out of the corner of his eye the flashing of sparks as the rock tore into the metal panels of his car. The smell of burning rubber from the tyres and acrid odour of his smouldering brakes assailed his nostrils and make his stomach turn. Again that surreal calmness washed over him as the crash barrier flashed in front of his vision at full speed ahead. His last thought as he shielded his face with his hands before the car hit at full speed was for Cydney.
Then there was nothing but blackness as his pain gradually eased into nothingness as his heart slowly stopped pumping the blood through his body.
There was no sound but the slow knocking from two of the car wheels spinning as it rested on its side against the barrier that prevented its tumble down through the mountainside to the forest below.
The other vehicle's occupants watched and waited till the damaged car's wheels slowed from their spinning to a halt. They watched as water erupted from the engine with a hiss and blast of steam. Making sure there was no movement from within the car they carefully made their way across the road to inspect their handwork.
They took note of the still lifeless body with its head resting at an awkward angle against the window because the neck was broken. A trail of blood dripped from the man's temple and ran in rivulets along his face till it pooled and soaked into his jacket leaving a bright garish stain that clashed with the soft grey cloth of his suit.
'He's dead.' Said one of the assailants as he tried to open the side door.
'Yep� there is no doubt about that.' His partner mused as he looked through the window searching for the package they hoped to find with the body. 'This video better be here because not gonna get this dude to talk and the boss will be really pissed at us.'
'It'll be here� he didn't get rid of it.' the other man insisted.
'Well you better be right cause I'm rather attached to my life and the boss don't suffer fools gladly.' He murmured as he tried the other car door. He found it swinging open as he pulled on it.
'Can you see anything?' his partner asked.
'Nope.' Came the muffled reply. 'Hey hang on�. Yep� here it is.' He emerged from the wreck of the car waving a package, a grin of satisfaction wreathed all over his face. 'Lookee here� bingo.'
'Great. What shall we do with the car� flame it?'
'Nah� just leave it�. We got what we came for, now lets get out of here fast. We've got to dump this car and pick up ours..and times running short.'
And without a backward glance they drove off satisfied with a job well done and their objective achieved.
Chapter 3
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