AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. And GPR hasn’t shown us much either. The soil is too rocky and has too much clay. Because of that, we’ve experienced significant signal attenuation and feedback resolution interference,” Smith said.
Roth nodded. He knew that ground penetrating radar had its limitations, but he would have thought with a metal structure that had to be sizable, some part of it had to show up. Unless Wells specifically loaded the top of the subterranean structure with high-conductivity materials to purposefully mask his facility.
“Can you get your hands on invoices or bills of lading on the materials used to build Wells’ ranch and facility? If we can see what all he ordered, we may be able to get an idea on the size of what’s below ground or what he ordered to help hide his facility from GPR.”
“Great idea,” Smith said. “I’ll assign that to Brielle and BT.”
The remainder of the day was uneventful. There were no comings or goings from Wells’ ranch. It was too quiet, which the team found suspicious. When they got the report from Brielle regarding the orders, invoices, and bills of lading copies from when Wells had built the ranch five years before, that was when they realized how big of a facility it was that was below the ground and partially in his large ranch home.
“He ordered sixteen identical twin-sized mattresses and six queen mattresses,” Roth read from one of the screens inside the van that displayed one of the many orders that he was reviewing.
They were on a video chat with Cooper and Doc, who were still perched on the ridge, and with Brielle.
“His security boys need someplace to sleep,” Cooper said.
“And his technicians. He also has cleanroom supplies, which makes sense as his components need to be assembled in a clean environment,” Smith added.
“I’d guess this is his covert R and D site and once his designs are more perfected, he moves them to his main headquarters and factory building near Fort Worth,” Brielle said.
“Why haven’t we seen any of his employees coming or going?” Doc asked. “Or maybe I should ask when do you think we’ll see them coming and going?”
“My guess is they shuttle them in via helicopter, from the facility in Fort Worth,” Cooper said. “They’re probably on a week or two rotation to this site.”
“Wells Corporation lists a Sikorsky S-760D as a corporate asset,” Brielle said.
“It has the range to fly to the ranch but would need to be refueled for the return trip,” Smith said.
“Good thing there're tanks on the property near the helipad,” Jackson said. “I saw them when we were on site.”
***
In Lexington, Kentucky, Briana accompanied Tessa to the courthouse. As planned, they met with the Prosecutor and the Victim Advocate’s office prior to the arraignment. They learned that it would be up to the judge if he’d be held till trial, if bail would be granted, or if he’d be released on his own recognizance. He’d not brought a weapon of any sort, so it was very possible he would be released.
“I thought Kentucky was a Castle Doctrine state?” Tessa demanded. “The law states that I have the presumptive right to use physical force or deadly physical force to repel any attacker or intruder.” She, of course, had learned about the Castle Doctrine from Briana the night before.
“That law protects you from prosecution if you kill an intruder,” the Prosecutor explained.
“So, you’re telling me I would have been better off if we’d killed him,” Tessa said.
“Well, we wouldn’t be here right now if you had,” the prosecutor said. “Not that I’m suggesting you should have killed him. Unfortunately, his fate is solely in the judge’s hands.”
“We are submitting a very strong statement from you to ask for remand,” Sue, the Victim’s Advocate said.
“You have to know all the judges, and what they tend to do in these cases,” Briana said. “You have to have some idea what might happen.”
“Judge Kersey’s record is fifty-fifty,” Sue said.
The two women didn’t have to wait long for her stalker’s case to be arraigned. He was up third in the parade of arrestees coming before the Honorable Milton Ayers. The first two defendants had both been released on their own recognizance with a court date five months out.
“He’s at one hundred percent for release right now. I have a really bad feeling about this,” Tessa then whispered.
“Their offenses were not the same as your stalker,” Briana said.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do if JP gets released,” Tessa whispered to Briana.
“Get a gun and I’ll teach you to shoot if you don’t want to disappear or relocate again,” she said.
As his name was called, Tessa grabbed Briana’s hand. Briana saw the desperation in her face. Yeah, if he was released, Briana would try to convince Tessa to disappear. She wasn’t sure Tessa had what it takes to go the distance if he was released.
