CHAPTER 186 Signal Jammer

*Cristos*

As the white smoke engulfed the trees, I cautiously made my way out of the forest, keeping my motorcycle helmet over my head to shield me from the fumes. The Blue Rogues, who were caught unawares, had no choice, but to retreat deeper into the forest and regroup.

Earlier, while I tried to follow the conversation between Joy and Lorenzo Ortiz, I noticed an increasing amount of static interfering with both our communication devices and our CCTV feed. To confirm my suspicions, I asked Dina if she was experiencing any interference with her computer system, but instead of a response, all I got was white noise. Alarmed, I decided to use chat to communicate. After waiting for a moment or two, I received a reply. Just as I suspected, Dina believed someone was using a signal jammer in sporadic intervals, hence the intermittent static on both our audio and visual devices. Unfortunately, the signal jammer was interfering with her equipment rendering her incapable of doing a trace.

We weren't the only ones who noticed the problem. Sebastian, who practically yelled at me to make himself heard, was concerned Joy wasn't thoroughly briefed.

"Chip, there's just too much static interfering... communication!" Sebastian exclaimed as I ran a scan throughout downtown New Salem in search of all active jamming devices. Although the one at the Sheriff's station was active, its blocking radius only reached up to thirty feet, not enough to reach the complex.

I was about to reply to Sebastian when my computer suddenly pinged. *I got a hit*! I immediately clicked on my keyboard and began to triangulate its location. Unlike Dina, my computer system was working without any problems.

"Chip! Can you hear me?!" Sebastian shouted, a hint of concern in his voice. *Oops*. *I forgot about him*. I glanced at a window on the screen of my monitor and saw he was already inside the warehouse, heading straight for Xavier's armory. "Are you sure Virtue knows... we plan... do?" It was choppy, but I got the gist.

"Yes, Dom, so there's no need to worry. If it makes you feel better, she responded to Bo with a quick 'copy' just a minute ago," I reassured him, glancing at another window on the screen of my monitor. At that exact moment, Joy was following Lorenzo Ortiz to the novelty stores along Main St.

"There... goes... again. I... barely... hear..." Sebastian's voice trailed off, his distress apparent despite the static.

"Calm down," I said in a soothing voice, although I knew there was a chance he couldn't hear me. "I'll deal with this."

"No... Blue... Chip... hurt..." Sebastian warned. I only heard those four words, yet I understood what he meant. He was worried I might find myself at the mercy of the Blue Rogues.

Still, I couldn't ask for their help. He and Xavier had snipers on their roof.*This signal jammer*... Well, this was a problem I would have to fix on my own.

It took a few minutes for the coordinates of the jamming device to appear on my computer screen, but when it finally did pop up on my monitor, I was surprised to discover the signal was coming somewhere along Main St.

*No wonder we were getting so much interference*. The complex was right within its reach.

It was weird though... The signal coming from the jammer was erratic. The red dot on my computer screen, indicating its location, would disappear then reappear in random intervals.

Deciding it was better to use chat, I began typing a message on my laptop, telling Dina I was going to Main St. to locate the signal jammer that was screwing with our equipment. She quickly responded with, "Copy, Primo. I will tell the others. Anyway, if it's any help, Kiki is in that area."

I clicked on my computer to check on Kiki's location when the feed from a few of our CCTVs went completely blank. *Time was of the essence*. I needed to take action. Sitting in front of my desk and clicking on my computer wasn't going to help.

After holstering my gun and pocketing my smartphone, I grabbed my black leather jacket from my coat rack and quickly put it on, then I dashed out of my office.

"Patrick, I need to go to the complex to make sure my suit is ready for the wedding," I said, lying to his face.

"Sure, Chip. Beth and I can hold down the fort 'til you get back," Patrick replied. The bar was full, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. "Anyway, my brother is already on his way here to help out. He'll probably be waiting tables by the time you get back."

"If anything happens, call me," I instructed as I raised the bar flap and exited the bar. I expected him to nod, but he shrugged his shoulders instead.

"Don't worry your pretty little head," Patrick scoffed. "We can handle anything these drunks throw our way."

Since I was gay, or pretended to be, he believed I couldn't handle a brawl in my own pub.

*If I could just pull out my gun and shoot a bottle off a table without looking*, *he would think otherwise*. But I couldn't.

Begrudgingly, I decided to let it slide. I had far worse problems than debunking people's perceptions of me. Joy needed me. I had to go to her before something bad happened.

*Not again*. *Not on my watch*.

Since driving through Main St. was out of the question, I opted to take an alternate route. After placing my motorcycle helmet securely over my head, I boarded my dirtbike that lay hidden within a cluster of trees right behind the pub and entered the forest.

I sped through the woods toward the location specified by the coordinates on my smartphone. However, as I reached the building that housed the small novelty shops, my phone's signal disappeared. I slowed down to a stop and pocketed my smartphone. The signal jammer was definitely here... somewhere.

Then I heard voices.

As expected, I wasn't alone in the forest. I quickly got off my dirtbike and hid behind a tree.

There was a group of men gathered behind the building. All of them were in midnight blue tactical uniforms except for one who was dressed casually in a light blue shirt and jeans. His back was facing me so I couldn't catch a glimpse of his face, but I could tell he was in charge from the way he spoke.

*He must be the one they call the Colonel*.

I reached for my gun in its holster and screwed on a surpressor. From where I stood, I could easily take all twelve men if I had to, but that would create bigger problems. If the rest of the Colonel's army was here, I knew they weren't going to allow me to escape... alive.

I reminded myself the Blue Rogues weren't the reason I was here. I had a signal jammer to find and I needed to either turn it off or destroy it.

Suddenly, the group of men split up, revealing a man seated on a foldable stool, clicking away on his portable military grade computer on a small makeshift table. Behind the computer was a black knapsack and resting against it was a wireless signal jammer.

*Bingo*.

I needed to get a bit closer, but I had to wait for the Colonel to leave. He was hovering beside his IT specialist, his broad, muscular body blocking the signal jammer from my line of sight.

I was thinking of a clever way to distract him when he suddenly turned around, his index finger pressed against his ear while his lips moved rapidly. From what I could see of him, the Colonel was tall, dark and... scary.

Then I realized *if he could communicate*, *then we could too*.

"Kiki, come in, Kiki," I whispered.

"Chip," Kiki quickly responded. "The men are in place and I'm about several feet from Virtue. Bo and his team are on standby waiting for your signal."

"Tell my men to throw the money in the air. Then, when I say, I need you to scream as loud as you can," I instructed, moving closer to my target while the Colonel was bent over pointing at the screen of the computer.

"Copy that. Money in three... two... one," she counted down. After a few moments, I heard noise erupting from the people on Main St. I glanced at the Colonel and saw him walking away from his tech specialist toward the side of the building, his hand on his ear.

*Perfect*.

I quickly moved down to another huge tree, about twenty feet away. I aimed my gun at the wireless signal jammer perched atop the table.

*Aim small*, *miss small*.

"Kiki, scream. Now!" I whispered.

I had to hand it to Kiki. Even though the joyful cries of the people were loud, her scream could be heard a mile away.

I squeezed the trigger and shot twice. What happened next, I did not expect.

A loud noise followed by a thick cloud of smoke emerged from the knapsack. Apparently, I had accidentally shot the detonator of a smoke grenade, setting it off.

"What the fuck just happened?!" I heard the Colonel bellow before covering his face with a mask. "Men, fall back! I repeat, fall back. Brix, get the Consigliere out of there. Move to the forest. At the clearing, you'll find our trucks prepared for evac. Snipers, do you have a visual on our target?"

The smoke quickly blanketed the forest causing little to no visibility. Keeping my helmet on, I slowly moved eastward, knowing Main St. was just a short distance away.

"Black what?" I heard the Colonel ask. There was a moment of silence. "God damn it! Snipers, do you copy?!" Another moment of silence. "Miller, I need you to fly your drone on top of the roof of the commercial complex. There are fucking Black Hawks killing our men!"

"Once I get to higher ground with better visibilty, I'll send that drone out, Sir," Miller, his IT specialist, answered. "Do we need to send out a rescue party?" I heard him ask.

"At the expense of more of our men being killed?!" The Colonel yelled angrily. "No. I want everyone to move out. Oh, and Miller, I need you to hack into the computer system of that supermarket. I know that place has eyes."

I grinned.

*Yes*, *it does*. *But you won't find anything*.

Once I reached the pavement where visibility was much better, I took off my helmet, threw it in the bushes, and zipped up my jacket, concealing my weapon. I hurriedly scanned the area, looking for any sign of Joy.

"Dina, do you see Virtue and Kiki?" I asked through coms. When I didn't get a response, I took my phone from my pocket to send a message, however I noticed there was no cell service. That's when I remembered it was radio silence for the next several minutes. Desperate, I ran toward Main St., frantically searching for Joy, but there was just too many people in my way that I couldn't find her.

*Get a grip*, *Cristos*. *Joy is probably on her way to the complex*.

I was calmly crossing Main St. when the fireworks show began. Many of the people stopped to admire the fireworks display, some even joking that the scream and the smoke were a prank.

As I neared the parking area, I noticed a woman in a beekeeping suit arguing with a man who was carrying a woman. I squinted my eyes and noticed the familiar blonde locks atop the man's shoulder.

*Joy*!

Unfortunately, she wasn't the only blonde in the group. I grimaced. Of all the men in New Salem, he had to show up.