Top of The Edge - Man Hunt

Following protocol, Ensign Young telephoned the O.I.C (Officer In Charge) at Fort Moultrie, Army Captain Roy Winters. Then he placed a call to the Charleston City and County Sheriff's departments. Captain Winters dispatched PT boat - PT-38. Then he alerted the OIC at the Charleston Navy Base, Ensign John Miller. Charleston City dispatch, Mrs. Shelly Green sent the message out about a flare being spotted south of Folly Beach and for all patrols to be on high alert. Charleston County dispatch, Miss Wanda Jones did the same as well as dispatching two patrol cars to the vicinity of Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. Then she placed a phone call to the Charleston County Sheriff, Joseph M. Poulnot. Ensign Miller put the Charleston Navy base on high alert and readied boats and personnel to render assistance if needed.

From his observation post at the top of Morris Island Lighthouse PO2 Peterson got a chill up his spine when he observed the PT boat heading south past his location. He looked at his watch. It had only been 6 minutes since the time when he first observed the flare.

The PT boat observed by PO2 Peterson was PT-38 dispatched from the Charleston Coast Guard Station and under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ronny Whitehouse. PT-38 was equipped with a full arsenal of weapons, and although the crew was only about half the optimal number, they were ready with a solid and unified resolve - defeat is not an option.

Smith, Nadean Wycliffe, and Tuttle were all standing adjacent to the patrol car parked out front of the Mills Hyatt House Hotel. Officer David Fadden opened the passenger's side rear door and said to Professor Michaels who was now handcuffed with cotton stuffed up both nostrils to stop the bleeding, "Watch your head." and he helped him get seated into the back seat of the patrol car. Then addressing Smith, he asked, "Is this going to become a common occurrence with you?" Smith responded quizzically. "I beg your pardon."

"The last time I was called out on an incident in which you were involved, people were injured and bleeding, and now here we are again."

Smith took a closer look at Officer's Fadden's face and suddenly realized that he had been one of the officers that had responded to the mugging incident that went terribly wrong for the muggers. He was caught off guard, "Uh, I don't... know what to say. Things happen. From what I've been told, the professor here apparently tripped over something and fell pretty hard. The way his eyes appear to be swelling shut, I'd say he's got a broken nose."

"Tripped over something?" Officer Fadden asked in a somewhat skeptical tone."

Before Smith could answer, he overheard the Charleston City Police dispatch send the message out over the radio. A flare had been spotted - apparent location, south of Folly Beach Island.

"Did you hear that? Smith asked. Tuttle answered in a solemn tone, "I'm afraid I did. It sounds like our girls may have spotted something. Maybe, a false alarm?"

"No, it's not a false alarm. Neither of those ladies would have sent that flare up without being completely sure they'd seen something. How fast do you think we can make it over there in your car?" Smith was already running toward Tuttle's car as he asked that question. Tuttle was now running right behind him as he answered, "Not sure, but I can assure you of this, I'll be driving at speeds that some may deem... reckless and unsafe."

Smith nor Tuttle had any idea that Nadean Wycliffe was right on their heels. Neither of them was aware of her presence until after they were seated in Tuttle's car and heard the back door slam. Smith spun around in his seat and looked at Nadean in utter disbelief. "Young lady, what are... what are you doing?"

"I'm catching a ride with y'all."

"We can't take you back to the dorms right now. We have an emergency situation that needs our immediate attention."

"That's okay, you can drop me off afterward."

"Look, I don't think you understand..."

"Be that as it may, sir, if this is as big of an emergency as you say, we need to get going."

"She's right." Tuttle piped in, and before Smith could say another word Tuttle was speeding like some kind of wild maniac south/west down East Bay Street.

"Once we're off the island and on the main road. You need to switch those headlights off again."

"Shut up Louise." Ralph retorted. Then for the first time Ralph heard the Nazi spy speak. "She's right." He said, nearly inaudible - his face still grimacing with pain. "As soon as you're on a straightaway that extends for some distance, switch the lights off." Ralph's reply was surly and full of contempt, to the end that it actually sounded a bit sarcastic. "Sure, okay, that's exactly what I'll do."

Lt. Commander Whitehouse piloting PT Boat 38 saw the black sedan turn toward the trail off the beach as he approached. Unfortunately, he was still too far away to do much of anything about it. He considered having his gunner fire a few rounds, but with the coastal observer team and horses located relatively close by, it was simply too much of a risk. Just as the black sedan started over the dunes, Whitehouse observed yet another vehicle about a hundred meters off to the north come flying over the dunes and onto the beach. It was a pickup truck and it appeared to be in hot pursuit of the sedan.

Charleston County Police

Both Charleston County Patrol cars 37T and 53Y had their patrol lights flashing and fully illuminated as they sped eastward along Folly Road and turned right onto Hwy 700. At the intersection of River Road and Hwy 700, the two patrol cars diverged from one another. Patrol car 53Y turned left onto River Road and patrol car 37T continued its trek to Inland Road. Inland and River Roads were the only two roads leading to and from Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

The occupants of patrol car 37T were officers Danny Mueller and Charlie (Chuck) Williams. Mueller was driving and shortly after the two patrol cars went their separate ways, Williams retrieved his thermos from his lunch box.

"I've got an extra cup if you want some."

"A cup of coffee sounds really good right about now. Thanks."

As Williams attempted to pour the coffee from his thermos into a cup, without warning Mueller abruptly swerved, first hard to the left and then hard back to the right. "Whoa! That's hot!" Williams exclaimed referring to the hot coffee that had just spilled all over his lap. "Give me some kind of warning before you do something like that. What were you swerving to miss this time?"

"I saw a turtle in the road."

"No way Danny! There is no way you could make out something like a turtle crossing the road at night while driving at this speed. I know you have 20/20 vision and all, but nobody can see that well."

Completely ignoring his partner's gripe, Mueller changed the subject. "Tell me something Chuck, have you ever driven onto Kiawah Island?"

"Can't say I have. Why do you ask?"

"No particular reason, I guess. It's just that I have no idea as to where to go once we get there. From what I've heard, the roads are nothing but old farming roads and the only bridge on and off the island is an old plank bridge. So, what do we do once we get there? I mean... should we drive the patrol car out over the dunes and on to the beach or what?

"Yeah, well I'm not sure either. According to the dispatch, the flare was supposedly sent up from the beach by a coastal observer team. So, I would have to say, yeah let's get onto the Kiawah Island beach as soon as possible.

"It's going to take us thirty to forty minutes to get there. Chances are that the imminent threat for which the flare was sent up will no longer exist by the time we arrive."

"That's a good point. So, I guess we could calculate where we might encounter someone in route leaving the beach immediately after the flare was sent up. They could be headed our way and no doubt speeding."

"That is if they're even using some sort of motorized vehicle. Heck, for all we know they may be on foot or still on the beach incapacitated for one reason or another."

"Well partner that puts us right back where we started with this discussion. Let's just do our best to get to Kiawah Island as soon as we possibly can. Then we can figure out if and how we should proceed."

"Roger that partner."

Tuttle and Smith could intermittently see the flashing blue lights of patrol car 37T a good mile or so ahead of them.