“Holy fuck, he is right! Dad used to talk about that shit all the time.” Pratt answered, shocked as she looked at her brother, remembering some of the stories their dad told.”
“But, there aren’t any of those types around here.” Raso said, clearly confused. “I was actually thinking of those dooms day preppers, you know, with the under-ground bunkers and the ladders.”
“Oh, I know, but since they have been ousted and people keep talking about the end of times coming, more and more people have been talking about building underground homes to have incase that ever happens. Companies have actually been created to do just that, build underground homes that people could be able to live in should the end of times come about and actually survive living down there.” Pratt said, looking at her brother wide-eyed.
“You’re right. Didn’t Maria date a guy once who was actually getting such a company off the ground?” Dominick asked Pratt, tilting his head trying to remember.
“Yeah, but she couldn’t stand the guy because he wasn’t that rich. She always talked bad about him. I actually saw him not too long ago, ran into him when Highlander’s parents were in town. They insisted we go to some fancy smancy restaurant and he was in there with this really nice woman he was dating. Total upgrade from Maria, let me tell you.”
“The guy?” Shane asked, sensing Pratt getting off track.
“Yeah, sorry, anyways, he’s clearly doing very good for himself and his business is booming, which also shocked me because, this is San Diego and let’s face it, California isn’t that big on dooms day preppers unless you’re further up north towards the mountains and stuff.” Pratt finished, shrugging.
“Ok, everyone, get some rest, we’ll meet back up at the office at oh eight hundred tomorrow morning. Pratt, find that information on this guy if you can and then you and I will both go and see if we can’t get a meeting with him to get some more information on this type of stuff.” Sgt. Brocard told the group now that a plan was forming.
“If it’s possible, I’d like to join in. I’m off work the next several days. I had planned on going out of town camping and just relaxing, but this is more important, and I’d like to be a part of it.” Dominick asked the group.
“Are you sure Dom? You’ve been looking forward to this trip to Montana for a while now.” Pratt asked her brother.
“Yeah, I’m sure. There’s plenty of other times for me to head out there. Montana will always be there.” Dominick answered firmly. “Tina and Dakota need all of us, vacations can happen anytime, these girls don’t have a lot of time and they needallhands-on deck right now.”
“Alright then, it’s settled, I’ll have the Captain call your department tomorrow to let them know we’re borrowing you for this, so you don’t loose your vacation time.” Pratt said, with her Sgt. agreeing with her.
Chapter 7
The next morning brought chaos and lots of actions. While they had made a few dents in the search, it brought more questions than answers and a wider area for them to search, which wasn’t good in the grand scheme of things.
Eddie informed the group that Sheila didn’t sleep much last night, therefore he did not have much rest either. Sheila had been dropped off at Wolf’s house that morning which Caroline, Wolf’s wife, then called the other wives to surround one of their own while the men went off to do the search. Pattrick admitted he tried to get Shane to stay with them which was met with glares not only from his wife, but the women of Alpha Squad too.
“Pattrick tells me you guys may have a few ideas on what’s keeping the chips from transmitting?” Eddie asked, hope in his tired voice.
“Actually, it was Raso who asked an off the cuff question that got us thinking. Aside from destroying the chip, the only other ways would be jammers, lead lined rooms, and possibly an underground bunker.” Shane informed her father-in-law with a soft smile.
“Jammers could be a possibility, but they can only hold out for so long and there would have to be quite a few of them surrounding their location to keep the signal from truly getting through for long periods of time.” Diesel said, starting the debrief.
“Lead lined rooms, as Speedy pointed out last night is a rare thing and would require special ventilation systems to keep the girls alive.” Rameriez added on.
“I honestly don’t think it’s the lead lined room, because they would have to have specialized permits to do so since the lead would be heavy and the contractors for those type of places would have records no matter what.” Speedy answered, clarifying the reason he didn’t agree with the lead lined room theory.
“Last but not least, the underground bunkers. Thanks to dooms day preppers, they are becoming the ‘it’ thing to have for many people, especially the rich. Pratt and I are actually going to talk to someone who is a contractor just for underground bunkers to see what we can find out about them.” Sgt. Brocard said, rounding off the information sharing for Eddie.
“Wolf, I had a thought last night, it’s probably nothing, but see if we can get Tex to look and see if there’s any old military bases that aren’t in use anymore within maybe a fifty-mile radius. That may be too far out but I’m giving the benefit of the doubt here with the time frame they had to get away before we were all able to respond and search.” Pratt said, looking around the room at everyone else.
“Already on that Red. I called him last night on the way home and had him to put the computer on that search and also to see if there’s been any known bunkers talked about that could give us a head start. I’ll give him a call and see if he’s had any luck with anything. What time are you and the Sgt going to speak with this guy this Maria used to date?”
“Maria, unfortunately, is mine and Dom’s other baby sister.” Pratt sighed, cringing.
“Wait, is this the sister that is bad and in hiding with our sperm donor?” Shane asked, confused by the talk of a sister.
“Yeah, Maria is the one in hiding after she got busted a couple of years ago. Long story that Dom and I will both have to really sit down and talk with you about. We only gave you the short version, she’s a slut and a bitch and to stay away from her and dad if they ever reached out to you. But I can honestly say it’s way worse.”
“Way worse lass. I nearly loss my lass because of them.” Highlander answered, nodding and grabbing his wife’s hand to squeeze.
“Hey, no hand holding at work mister. PDA isn’t allowed during work hours!” Pratt mock scolded her husband.
Highlander backed away with his hands up in the air. “My mistake lass. I’m sure you’ll more than make up for it tonight.” He replied with a wink.
“Perv. All of you are nasty pervs.” Diesel mumbled under her breath.
