The Missing

The first sample matched the genetic profile of one of the missing Denver women. The DNA profile was entered into CODIS, the FBI’s Combined DNA Indexing System.

The second blood sample was also listed on CODIS, but the identity of the person was not made available to law enforcement agencies or forensic laboratories. The sample belonged to Earl Slavick, a member of the Hand of the Lord, a paramilitary white supremacist group whose ethnic cleansing agenda included the overthrow of the U.S. government. The group, it was believed, had played a role in the Oklahoma City bombing, although no firm link had ever been established.

Slavick was also a high-level FBI informant.

Slavick had been given early parole in the beating of a Hispanic woman in exchange for providing the FBI with detailed information of the group’s activities at its secluded training headquarters in the Arkansas hills, not far from the Oklahoma border. As a member of the group, Slavick had been undergoing firearms training and bomb making when, in early 1990, he tried to abduct a Hispanic woman at gunpoint. Slavick dragged the woman, Eva Ortiz, into the woods. When Slavick tripped and fell, Ortiz ran away.

The woman had failed to pick Slavick out of a lineup. He was let go by local police.

When word of his botched abduction attempt finally reached the FBI, Slavick was already on his way to Colorado, under the alias John Smith, to start his own racial cleansing movement.

Given the highly sensitive nature of the case, all of Slavick’s files were classified. His fingerprints and DNA profile were left on the computer databases. If a match was ever found, the FBI would be alerted to Slavick’s whereabouts, while the reporting law enforcement agency or forensic laboratory would only see the code name the FBI had given to the case: Traveler.

Slavick’s next stop after Denver was Las Vegas. Twelve women and three men vanished over a nine-month period. A footwear impression matched the one recovered in Denver.

When Slavick moved on to Atlanta in 1998, Special Agent Evan Ma

That changed this morning, at 0800, when CODIS matched the blood found at the home of an abducted Massachusetts teenager to the DNA profile of Earl Slavick.

As the jet lifted off, nobody talked. HRT knew they were flying to Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. From there, a Black Hawk attack helicopter would take them to the command post set up in Lewiston.

Team commander Colin Cu

‘Okay, boys, listen up. The computer-printed map found early this morning was identified by our lab as having come from an online website specifically geared to hikers. Here’s where we got lucky. Two weeks ago, the map was accessed by a man living in twelve Cedar Road in Lewiston, New Hampshire. Crisis Management is already on the ground. They did a visual sweep of the house. It’s our boy Slavick.’

‘Hopefully he’ll stay put this time,’ Sammy DiBattista said.

Nervous laughter echoed inside the cabin.

‘A Black Hawk, courtesy of our friends at the Pease Air Force Base, made a run about an hour ago and got us a few aerial shots of the house,’ Cu

Cu

‘Slavick spent a lot of time at the Hand of the Lord’s training camp in Arkansas,’ he said. ‘Not only does he know how to shoot, he’s considered somewhat of an explosives expert. You all know he destroyed a hospital with a fertilizer bomb and a homemade plastic explosive stuffed inside a FedEx box took down to the Boston Crime lab. Our man also killed two of our agents with dynamite packed inside a van. Going in, we’ve got to assume he’s rigged some of the buildings.

‘It will be nightfall by the time we arrive. Intel says there are other people on Slavick’s property – probably some local weekend warrior assholes he’s recruited for his movement. I want to hit him hard and fast. We’re not going to have another goddamn firefight, not if I can help it.’

The ghost of Waco passed through the faces.

Cu

‘Sam, Haggy, you’re not to fire until you have the go-ahead from me, understood?’

Both men nodded. Cu

‘We don’t know how many women Slavick’s got trapped in there with him,’ Cu

‘One last thing. This is strictly a home team affair. We don’t have to worry about any interference from ATF or the locals. Crisis Management has assembled all the technical and tactical help we need. That’s all I have right now. Questions?’

Sammy DiBattista asked the question on every one’s mind: ‘What do we do if Slavick decides to engage us?’

‘Simple,’ Cu

Chapter 58

The computers at the Massachusetts DMV were terribly slow. It took over two hours to assemble a twenty-page list of drivers who owned or had owned one of the twelve Aston Martin Lagondas imported into the United States.

Darby hunted through the sheets of tiny print for recent owners while Banville talked on one of the secured phones inside the surveillance van. More than four hours had passed since the feds had taken over the investigation. During that time, he had assembled a small group of detectives he could trust to handle the investigation discreetly.

Out of the twelve Lagondas, only eight were still active. The other four had been junked. Darby was in the process of compiling her notes when Banville hung up.

‘Rachel Swanson died of an air embolism,’ he said. ‘Someone pumped air through her IV line. The feds confiscated it along with the security tapes for ICU.’

‘Wonderful,’ Darby said. The feds were certainly covering their tracks.

‘We interviewed the ICU nurses, but nobody remembers anything but the news of the bomb. That’s why Traveler bombed the hospital, didn’t he? Create all that confusion and fear and the son of a bitch slipped right in.’

‘It was just like 9/11. Everyone is ru

‘Pretty slick.’ Banville rubbed his chin. ‘I’m still trying to figure out why he just didn’t pack up and leave.’

‘Ego, maybe. None of his victims had ever escaped. Or maybe he was afraid Rachel knew too much and he didn’t want to take the risk of her talking to us. Let me show you what I have on the car.’

Darby picked up the sheets where eight names were highlighted. ‘The closest states with recent Lagonda owners are Co

‘Wasn’t one of Traveler’s victims from Co

Darby nodded. ‘Take a look at this name.’

‘Thomas Preston, from New Caanan, Co

‘Traveler could be the guy who bought the car. Let’s look into Preston first, see how long he’s lived in Co