Before dawn, September 16, 1977

 

Peter signaled Bernadette to drive up into the small pass. He jumped in when she stopped. He reached over and squeezed her hand.

“Good to see you again.”

“It seemed you were gone for hours.”

“I found signs of his being there. Bloody bandage made from a torn shirt, candy bar wrappers, and cigarette butts. Higher up in the rocks when I chanced using my flashlight, I found a few spots of fresh blood. He’s not hurt badly. I think he saw the RV stop and go lights out. He had no good option. Stay and fight an unknown number of opponents or move on, probably down the road we’re on. He will hear us coming and hide until we pass. I’ll bet he is only 40 or 50 feet off the right side of the road in the tree line.

“When we get in the Charlestown outskirts, find a pay phone. I need to make a call about medical care for Terry.”

The narrow rutted-road dead-ended on County Route 20. Peter said, “Turn left, it is only a short distance to our truck. Less than ten minutes out of our way.”

Peter found the pickup just as they left it. He told Bernadette to follow him. Thirty minutes later he was talking to Frank Batcher from a pay phone.

“Frank, I know this is an open line. If I’m giving you too much detail, tell me. I need some emergency help. The terrorist camp is destroyed. Everyone there is dead except for a Soviet KGB Officer, Yuri Kolenko. He was in charge and escaped. The terrorists were planning on driving an RV packed with explosives near the Old Executive Office Building. Where and what that is I don’t know. There was a large 50- by 70-foot concrete block building that was the bomb-making plant. It was destroyed.

“One of my people was hit hard. He’s had good battlefield care but is still critical. I don’t want to take him to a local hospital with two bullet wounds. The police will tie him to the shootout at the terrorist camp. Not a good thing. Can you help?”

“Yes. Take him to General Hospital in Charleston. It’s on the 800 block of Riverside. Park next to the helio pad. One will be there in an hour. Pilot’s name is Bill Wilson. Your friend will be taken to one of our care facilities. No questions and no costs. When he’s able to travel, he can leave. I assume you will make arrangements to have him picked up. He will have to sign a no-talk about agreement. It’s no big deal. I don’t think his kind would talk too much anyway.”

“My other friend will be with him in a brown RV that belongs to the terrorist camp. There were five RVs in all. The Soviet was in a Ford pickup. All those vehicles are still in the valley. There is some blood on the passenger seat where the Soviet was sitting. Later I found a bloody bandage when I trailed him. I had to break off to get my friend to a hospital.”

“Leave the RV. We’ll take care of it.”

“The cab inside is covered with our prints and a lot of the AR-15 brass at the camp site will have our fingerprints.”

“No problem. I’ll take care of the forensics and thank you for such an outstanding mission. We’ll have a recon team in the valley in two hours. Call me any time for an update on your friend. By the way, how many people in the attack team?”

“Me, my friend, and a woman.”

“What! You did all the damage with three people?”

“Yes. It wasn’t that hard. We only committed two members. I kept one in reserve. He was shot by a random security patrol. Take good care of the patient. I’ll be in touch.”