KIDNAPPED

CHAPTER 5

THE SNIPE

Agent Webber sat on the bed propped against the headboard watching a pornmovie pulling on his pecker. He was depressed over his new assignment. He didn't think the outcome of the last case he had worked had been all his fault. There was just to much information coming in for anyone to check out all of it.

A well organised terrorist attack involving mutiple hijackings and suicide bombers that was to strike a major U.S. city was beyond belief. Nobody would attempt such a thing. He felt he was right in checking out the more plausible threats.

He could handle being relocated, but to be banished into the backwoods of a hick town was to much for making a small error in judgment.

His C.O had assigned him to his current case to get him out of everyone's crosshairs. He had become a impacted, festering pimple on the ass of the intellgence community and nobody wanted to be around him when he popped. He was closer to his eruption than they knew.

Agent Webber increased his stroking and his breathing had turned into a gasping moan as he shot his load across his bed for the sixth time since he had arrived at his motel room two hours earlier.

He had changed since his arrival in Hickville not so much on the outside where people could see, but inside, where nobody was allowed entry. He wouldn't let anyone see his shame and guilt. He knew he was in control of himself and his case. And nobody was going to take either of those things away.

Ricky stood outside the agent's door listening to the sountrack of the movie. It was to loud for someone who cared about being overheard. He could tell the moaning coming from the room wasn't all in the movie and he had his doubts about knocking. But it had to be done, despite his instincts telling him to walk away. It was his job to get things done. Sometimes he didn't like his job, but nobody was going to stop him from doing it. Not even a big shot F.B.I. Agent from Dallas.

The knock startled Agent Webber. He was off duty and here to supervise procedings in a suspected kidnapping. This was an intrusion on his personal time and the intruder would have to be punished. He grabbed his robe and 9mm glock and prepared to whip open the door and surprise and intimidate whoever had disturbed his playtime.

Ricky wasn't surprised, or intimidated. The smell of cum rushed out of the room and confirmed his suspition of what had been happening inside. He was revolted by the twisted agent who had assumed control of this investigation and had failed to investigate anything as yet. That was about to change.

"Agent Webber, I have a lead on the possible whereabouts of the child. An anomimous caller reported a white van outside of town in the northern most part of our county. The area is heavily wooded and we will need everyone we can spare to check it out."

" Do you expect me, a federal agent, to roam around in unfamiliar territory in the middle of the night looking for a single child that may or may not be somewhere in the area?"

"Yes, I do. We need the extra manpower, and I expect every man able to be there."

"You do not make decisions concerning what is or is not investigated in this case Sheriff. I do. And I can assure you I will not be a part of this wild goose chase."

"I thought maybe your C.O. might like to hear that you've done everything possible to return the child to his parents, and not the other way around."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, I am trying to get you to help with the case. If you don't want to help, then at least stay out of the way."

Those were the magic words. Agent Webber could not be removed from a nothing case in nowhere Texas, by a nobody sherrif. He had to take action or be left behind.

"I'll take my own car and when I think the goose chase is over I'll leave as I please. With or without your permission. I'm still in charge here and you're not going to change that. I'll be ready to leave in ten minutes. You can wait outside while I get back into my suit."

"Agent you may want to dress-down a little. The place were going is rough country. There are rivers, swamps, snakes and all kinds of things out there that will either stick, sting, bite, or eat you."

"I'm a grown man and quite capable of dressing myself thank you."

"I just thought it may help."

"Don't try to think Sheriff. It will only give you a headache if you're not accustomed to it."

Ricky held back the punch that would have broken Special Agent Webber's jaw. He found himself alone outside the prick's door and thought," Yeah, you're special alright. I think it's going to be fun getting you out of the way for a while. I just hope whatever it is that bites your ass off doesn't get gas."

Agent Webber promptly appeared, dressed in his suit and tie.

Ricky just looked on in amazement as the agent got into his own car and backed out of his parking spot in front of his motel room and left. He waited until the agent stopped before entering the highway and came back to the same parking space to ask for directions.

Ricky gave the special agent directions, without cracking a smile, to what he felt would be the worst possible place to send such a special person. He hoped it would be the last time anyone ever saw him, and might very well be, if he could convince the agent to strike off on his own to cover more ground.

Agent Webber's buttons were easy to push, if a person knew how. Ricky had been pushing people's buttons for years and he felt he had the agent's number. Sending him into the backwoods of Sulpher River Bottom wouldn't prove as much of a challenge as keeping a stright face. It didn't surprise Ricky when Agent Webber pulled over and told him to lead the way.

The Agent was screwed. He followed Ricky through the twisting turning backroads of a seldom traveled area of the county. Once he was sure the agent was completely turned around he decended onto the dirt roads that petered out into pig trails. After some time he arrived at a little known fishing hole on one of the tributaries of Sulpher River.

It was little known because he owned it, and nobody was allowed to fish there except him. The last mile of dirt road had been through land that his family had held since before the Civl War. He knew about the flat bottom boat that he loaded with gear from his squad car, because he owned it as well. He also knew where to drop a man off in these bottoms to lose him for a few days. That was the plan for Special Agent Webber.

Webber balked before stepping into the boat," Where are the others?"

" They are already at the search location. I had to stop and pick you up. We didn't want to waste time getting started."

" How far is this place? It seems we've already come a long way."

" You're right. We have come a long way but it's not very much further. This is actually a short cut. The others didn't know about this boat and they had to drive in from the other side. It's just as well, we wouldn't all fit in the boat anyway. We'll meet them on the other side of the river a little ways downstream."

" Do you have a life jacket?", the agent asked, then added sheepishly," I can't swim."

" No, but it's not far and we won't be going fast at all. The currents and snags won't allow it."

The agent was skeptical about the trip, but couldn't be outdone by a group of hayseed cops. If the locals found the child without him it would look very bad on his already dismal record. He shoved the boat into the current and stepped in to take his seat in the front of the boat. He felt better. He was leading again.

Ricky turned the nose of the boat into the current and cranked the motor only to steer the boat through the twisting crooks and "Y"'s of the river. The current alone was enough to carry them downstream.

Agent Webber nerviously held on to the sides of the boat during the hour long ride downstream. He was so fixed on the small area of dim light that shone from a fixture on the bow that he paid little attentioin to the things around him. He didn't notice the fading of all other noises except those made by the river and the boat motor.

The animals that watched them pass by out of reach, remained quite as the intruders to their world hummed along seemingly oblivious to their presence. Ricky saw them. He watched as their eyes were lit up by the bow light. They appeared as two floating orbs on a background of tangled brush and darkness.

Ricky came to the place he was looking for and nosed the boat into a landing spot in the river bank. He had camped there many times on hunting trips. This time he was there to lose something.

Agent Webber gladly stepped out of the boat and carried the long rope with him to secure the boat to shore. He had been on water to long to suite him and he was ready to end this nocturnal goose chase.

Ricky carried the gear out with him and set it on high ground while Agent Webber surveyed his surroundings. He was brought out of his slack-jawed awe by Ricky handing him a flashlight and bug spray.

" How far are we from town?"

" Not as far as you might think. We had to circle around quite a bit to get here. A straight road would have had to been mostly bridges. We are where we need to be and that's behind the search area. It would save a lot of time if we search on the way to meet the others."

" Which way do we need to go?"

" Well that's a problem. If we stick together we will have to come back to cover all the ground we need to cover."

" You mean you want to split-up and leave me out here in the boonies alone. I'm not unfamiliar with a snipe hunt Sherrif. But aren't we a little old for that sort of thing?"

" We are to old for that sort of thing. I'm here to save a child from a possible terrible fate. If you want to wait at the boat I'll be back in a few hours."

" That won't do at all. I'll be there, in charge, when we find the child. I'll let you thank me, for the newspaper reporters tomorrow."

Ricky and gave specific directions for Agent Webber to take the old logging road to the rondevous point. He would take the more difficult route through the woods. If agent Webber became lost he should just stay on the road and it would come out some two miles away on a county road. There he could find a ride back into town.

The two men then separated and entered the woods separated by fifty yards of thicket. Ricky stopped just inside the woods when he saw Agent Webbers light disappear into the brush. The agent had lagged behind to see if Ricky would circle back to the boat.

Ricky and I had played this game to often as children. He was aware of what was going through the agent's mind as he lost sight of his guide. Ricky also knew the logging road would disappear after a quarter mile of easy walking, at the other side of the island. He knew until the going got tough the agent would walk along listening for the sound of a motor to crank to take his ride upstream, leaving him here with egg on his face. That wasn't going to happen.

Ricky quietly walked back to the boat and shoved off leaving the Agent unaware that his ride had in fact disappeared, downstream. Ricky poled the boat into the current and let it carry him about two miles before he cranked the motor and traveled the remainder of the distance to the highway bridge. His deputy, Dean Papst, was waiting there to pick-up him and his boat, and carry them both back to his fishing hole.

Agent Webber came back to the landing sight and relized he had been set up. He sat at the edge of the river and took out his pecker and started stroking it as he mumbled to himself.

His flashlight bobbed on the surface of the river as he jerked-off. He fixed on the only light within miles of him and pulled some more. He stopped only when two reflective eyes surfaced in the circle of light and slowly moved in his direction.