He's at a location marked as Rusty's Gas and Go on Route 119. Oak Haven County jurisdiction. Pendleton frowned. 14 minutes was too long for a simple fuel stop, especially in a torrential downpour. Furthermore, the governor's 30inut check-in text was now 4 minutes overdue.
Caldwell was a man of his word. If he said he would text, he texted. "Try his cell again," Pendleton ordered. Jenkins tapped her headset. Dialing.
Sir, it's going straight to voicemail. The device is either turned off or the call is being actively rejected. A cold prickle of alarm washed over Pendleton's neck. The governor traveling alone was an acceptable calculated risk only if the communication lines remained pristine. A break in protocol meant the situation was elevated.
Bring up the regional communications grid, Pendleton commanded, leaning over Jenkins shoulder. Tap into the Oak Haven County dispatch logs. See if there's any law enforcement activity at those coordinates. Seconds ticked by in agonizing silence. Then a line of text populated on the secondary screen.
Sir Jenkins said, her voice dropping an octave. Oak Haven Unit 4 initiated a suspicious vehicle check at that exact location 10 minutes ago. Dispatch logged an arrest 2 minutes ago. One adult male in custody. Charge listed as obstruction.
Pendleton's blood turned to ice. An arrest. Did the local unit run a license plate? Negative. No plate was run.
The arresting officer stated he was conducting a vehicle search prior to transport. Pendleton stood up to his full height. The implications were staggering. A local cop in Oak Haven had intercepted the governor's vehicle, somehow failed to run the plates, which would have immediately triggered a highlevel alert in the state database and had taken him into custody. If the governor was in custody, his phone was likely confiscated, which explained the missed check-in.
"Sound the alarm," Pendleton said, his voice deadly calm, stripped of all emotion, adopting the sheer tactical precision of a commander going to war. "I want the local Oak Haven dispatch on an emergency override line right now. " Within seconds, the sleepy low-level dispatcher in Oak Haven County jumped in her seat as her primary console flashed with an unmistakable crimson banner. Priority offers executive command, state police headquarters. Oak Haven dispatch, this is Captain Pendleton, state police executive protection. Pendleton's voice thundered through the rural dispatcher's headset, leaving no room for pleasantries.
Identify the officer attached to unit 4. Uh, yes, sir. The dispatcher stammered, terrified by the sudden intrusion. That's officer Thomas Mercer. Patch me through to his radio immediately.