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G lad to see that there was cell phone reception, Monica ended the call with Wendell on Bluetooth, pulled out her phone, and checked in with her office, but she couldn’t get any answer.

The same thing happened when she tried to reach the police.

She figured there were so many emergencies because of the storm's severity that the phone system was tied up for emergency services.

She contacted Andy. “Hey, we’ve got reception, but I can’t get through to law enforcement agencies.”

“I’ll call my family and see if I can get through.”

“One other thing. Wendell called on Bluetooth and asked Harvey what was going on. Harvey’s sound asleep in the back, though we really don’t want him to sleep; at least he didn’t tell him what had happened.”

“So they have reception now.”

“Right. The bad news is they’re at the motel. The drunk woman in Wendell’s truck drove to the cabin where Dennis and Helen were staying. I don’t know if they’re all together now at the motel.”

“They probably are because they need to move before we send reinforcements to pick them up at the cabin, and I doubt they have another vehicle. They won’t have gas to get them very far unless Harvey has some stored at the motel.

Eloise could be involved, not just someone clueless, sleeping it off in the truck. ”

“They had more gas in the camper. But I agree. I will call Helen’s new boyfriend, Pierre, and tell him Helen is in on the whole thing so he doesn’t worry about her safety.”

“All right. I would hate to be him.”

“I know, right? At least now you and I can talk back and forth until my phone runs out of charge.”

“Yeah, the same with mine.”

“I’ll talk to you in a bit.” She ended the call and phoned Pierre, but there wasn’t any answer. Great. She called Andy back. “I’m going to give you the number for Pierre. I couldn’t reach him, so if you can call him periodically, we’ll tell him not to worry about Helen.”

“Okay. I’ve got my parents on hold. Speak with you in a little while.”

“Everyone has been out looking for you, son,” Andy’s dad said. “Your cousins, your brothers, and half of White Bear. I’m damn glad you’re all right.”

“We’re coming in. I’ll explain it all to you later, but we’ve got a caravan of cars, two involved in a five-car pileup, and I’m driving the one in the lead.

Though I’ve slipped a few times on the icy, snow-covered road, the road is fairly clear.

We need medical attention for a man who has been shot. ”

“Shot? Who did the shooting?”

“Monica O’Connell. She’s an FBI agent.”

“We never expected you to be in such a mess. Ben and Craig found your vehicle and two others stranded. We learned you’d run into an FBI agent’s vehicle.”

“Uh, she ran into me. My car was stuck.”

“Okay, well, we’ve been looking for her also.”

“She’s with me in a vehicle we commandeered. I’ll tell you all about it later. Both of us are safe. Do me a favor. If you have time, try to get hold of Pierre Johnson for us.” Andy gave his dad the phone number.

“Will do.”

“His girlfriend was supposedly kidnapped, but it turns out Helen was just doing this for the ransom money, and she’s back with her ex-boyfriend. Monica’s and my phones are dying, but we want Pierre to know that Helen is fine.”

“Sure. How far are you from White Bear?”

“About another hour and a half. This is the first time we have had any phone reception. We’re on the main route, but travel is slow.”

“I’ll call everyone to let them know where you are, and they’ll meet you with an ambulance.”

“Okay, thanks, Dad. I know Mom’s been worrying, too. Tell her we’re all right. Oh, and Monica’s one of us.”

“Your brothers and cousins smelled her scent in her car. No one we know, though?”

“Uh, well, I went out with her once, but none of you know her. She’s out of Anchorage and was working on the kidnapping case. We need more backup. We have a drunk woman in custody also.” He didn’t mention the brothers with the bags because he didn’t know if they were in trouble yet.

“I will get a hold of everyone.”

His parents owned and ran the White Bear Tavern, and his brother Ben worked full-time there. When Ben couldn't reach Andy, he knew they would call the state troopers and have them come to help.

“I’m so glad our phones are working,” Mr. Richardson said.

“I’m letting our daughter know we’re heading back to White Bear.

She and our son-in-law live on the outskirts and will meet us at the police department.

Our son-in-law will drive our vehicle to their house.

Though, if you need to, you can use the car or our phones, if yours run out of power. ”

“Thanks. I’ve got family in White Bear. They’ll give me a lift. As to the phone, I appreciate the offer. I might take you up on it if I lose power completely. So who caused the car wreck?”

“Those young men who were helping everyone out. I don’t trust them one bit,” Mr. Richardson said.

“Why?” Andy wondered if they would confirm his and Monica’s suspicions that something wasn’t right about the brothers.

“They were flying down the road as if the whole world was chasing them. Just an old cop’s intuition,” he said.

“They’re the ones who caused all the cars to wreck,” Mrs. Richardson agreed.

“They were trying to pass the woman’s car with the two little girls in the backseat.

I’m so glad they weren’t hurt. But the driver needs to be charged with reckless driving.

I agree with my husband that they’re not to be trusted. Something’s up with them.”

“Monica and I thought so too, but just a general suspicion. Nothing concrete,” Andy said.

He continued to drive, slipping on the icy road, moving more slowly than he wanted to because he was worried about Harvey and his wound.

Luckily, the drunken woman was snoring loudly against the passenger window, not causing any trouble.

But he kept wondering what the brothers might have in their bags.

He called his mom this time since she managed the cash register while his dad cooked in the tavern's kitchen. “Have any crimes been committed in White Bear around the time the blizzard hit?”

“Oh, honey, I’m so glad you and the woman are all right. Several break-ins at shops in town have occurred because of the blizzard. It seems criminals used the opportunity to rob businesses shut down during the snowstorm.”

“Have they identified any of the perps?”

“Three sixteen-year-old teens drove a pickup truck into a gun store and stole twenty-one guns. They located two of the teens right away, still holding onto thirteen of the guns. The other teen was caught and had another eight. All of them are being charged as adults for illegal possession of firearms, in addition to stolen vehicle charges.”

“Well, damn.” Andy knew there would be some crimes committed during the storm, but nothing that outlandish. “Good thing they were caught.”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone thought.”

“Was anyone else in a robbery that might have involved a blue Ford Bronco?”

“Oh, yes. A couple of men wearing black ski masks robbed the White Bear National Bank and drove away in a blue SUV.”

Could that be the brothers? That could very well be why the men had been speeding on the road away from White Bear, avoiding getting caught.

“The men wore all black: pants, jackets, ski masks, and boots. The police have been displaying a video of them leaving the bank, and several eyewitnesses have given descriptions to identify them. They have guns.”

“Okay, that’s good to know,” Andy said.

“If they were involved in the accident and with you in the caravan now, be careful. The scariest part is that they had breakfast here this morning before they did it,” his mother said.

“So you also have them on video?”

“Yes. Ben waited on them, and I saw them when they paid their bill. We both gave the FBI agent who came to investigate the men’s descriptions, and a sketch artist drew what we remembered about them.”

“All right. I’m going to let you go and let Monica know.

” Then Andy ended the call with his mother and checked in with Monica.

“Hey, I asked my mother if there had been any crimes in White Bear since the blizzard, and she said several, but one makes me wonder if it’s the brothers involved in the car crash.

A couple of men held up a bank, wearing the same clothes and driving the same kind of vehicle. ”

“Oh, great. I’m glad they’re driving in the car by themselves so they don’t have any hostages if it comes to trying to arrest them. Everyone here says that the men caused the accident.”

“Same here.”

“Okay, well, we can’t do anything about them now except keep them in sight. I’ll call my headquarters again to let them know since the FBI will get involved in a bank robbery,” she said.

“Sounds good. I imagine that’s why the brothers didn’t want anyone else in the car and wanted to follow behind you so they could slip away at some point. I’ll let my boss know.”

“We don’t have any more handcuffs to confine them with, and really no room to take in a couple more perps,” Monica said.

“Yeah. If Wendell is on his way to try and get rid of us and free Harvey, we can’t stop anyway. At least he won’t know we’ve hooked up with several people involved in a car pileup. I…I hear sirens.”

“Great.”

“I see lights.” He continued to drive until a couple of patrol cars and an ambulance headed their way. “Two police cars and an ambulance.”

“Wonderful. I’m pulling over.”

“The same with me.” Andy exited the car, ready to introduce himself, when one of the troopers waved.

“Hey, Andy, we’ve been looking for you and the FBI agent. We thought the two of you were having a tête-à-tête,” Roger Milhouse said.

Andy laughed. “Yeah, Roger, as if. The woman in the passenger’s seat of the car I was driving is a drunk driver and resisted arrest. She needs to be taken to jail.”