Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset - Military Thrillers

by C. G. Cooper

Travis could hear Dunn getting up from whatever chair he’d just been sitting in. Once set in motion, Todd Dunn was never moved off track.

  “What’s up?”

  “Cal just found out that Neil might have been taken by an old friend.”

  “Who?”

  “Nick Ponder.”

  “I’ll be right up.”

  Travis placed his phone back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. It was going to be a very long night.

  Chapter 12

  Teton Village, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

  9:55pm, September 27th

  Daniel hadn’t gotten anything else out of Lance. It had probably finally sunk in the large man’s brain that he’d divulged a little too much information.

  “You want me to go talk to the other guy?” Briggs asked Cal.

  Cal had already told the rest of the team to get some rest. They might have to leave soon, and he wanted them to get any sleep they could. It was one of the many things he’d learned in the Marine Corps: sleep whenever and wherever you can.

  “Let me go see if I can get anything out of him. I’m starting to think you were right, though. Looks like a tough nut. Wish we had Doctor Higgins with us. He can make anyone talk.”

  “Just be careful, Cal. He’s tied up pretty good but don’t take any chances. You want me to come in with you?”

  “Nah. Why don’t you just watch the monitor. If anything happens, you can come to my rescue.” It was meant as a joke, but neither man was laughing. As men of action, they felt stifled. Better to be moving than to remain static. Without the information on Ponder’s whereabouts, they couldn’t do a damn thing.

  Daniel took a seat in front of the video display and settled in to watch.

  +++

  Cal stepped into the second holding room and closed the door. He looked at his captive. The man looked bored.

  Ignoring the look, Cal grabbed a chair, positioned it six feet from his prisoner and sat down.

  “So, Trapper, you wanna tell me what your deal is?”

  Trapper seethed inside. Apparently Lance had opened his big fucking mouth. He’d have a little talk with the dumb shit soon.

  Instead of answering the question, Trapper started laughing. It started off as a chuckle and escalated from there. Soon, the man was almost convulsing with laughter.

  This guy’s a lunatic, Cal thought. He glanced up to the camera and shrugged at Briggs.

  Soon, Trapper settled down and sat taking in brief breaths of air between giggles.

  “What’s so funny, Trapper?” Cal asked, not amused.

  “Ha…ha…ha!...You…you’re…funny…” Trapper spit out in the middle of girlish snickering.

  His patience already thin, Cal stood up from his chair. “How about you shut your fucking mouth before I shut it for you,” he growled.

  The order fell on deaf ears. Trapper went back to howling like a madman. Cal just stood and watched. He couldn’t do anything with this guy. Hopefully Travis would call back soon with something they could act on.

  “Have it your way, buddy. Laugh all you want. You’ve got two choices: either help us out or get thrown in a deep dark cell somewhere.”

  This caused another riotous uproar from the beak-nosed man.

  Cal shook his head and turned to leave.

  “Wait…wait…I want to…tell you something,” Trapper just managed to get out.

  Cal turned back. “What do you want to tell me?”

  “A…a secret.”

  Wary, Cal stepped closer to the man but still kept his distance. He would’ve felt better with a baseball bat in his hand. “What is it?”

  “Come…closer…hee hee,” Trapper coughed as he threw his head back again.

  “No way. Tell me your secret.”

  Trapper’s head snapped down and his gaze steadied on Cal.

  “There’s a third option,” Trapper responded clearly.

  Cal’s blood froze and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Just as he reached for his pistol, Trapper somehow, impossibly, spread his legs that were no longer tied, and hoisted the chair over his head. Cal went to block the coming swing but instead of hitting him, Trapper continued his swing and launched the heavy chair at the oversized bedroom window. The skinny man followed the chair’s trajectory. With hands and feet now free, he ran the short distance to the window and jumped.

  Instead of shooting with his drawn pistol, Cal stood shocked. He didn’t really want to fire his pistol in the small residential community. The cops would come running. A split second later, Cal was jumping out the window too.

  +++

  Daniel had been watching the interaction closely. He knew something was up Trapper’s sleeve, but the man hid it well. Almost the same instant that the crafty captive stood up from his chair, Daniel was doing the same thing. With his pistol extended, he bolted for the bedroom door.

  +++

  Trapper hit the yard with his feet and immediately went into a roll to lessen the impact. His teeth still rattled as he sprang up and sprinted away from the house. He needed to get in touch with Nick Ponder.

  +++

  Cal landed less gracefully than his quarry. He thudded painfully and fell forward. Luckily they’d jumped onto the grassy yard instead of the concrete driveway barely four feet away.

  Only steps ahead, Trapper was moving in high gear as Cal struggled to regain his balance. The guy was moving incredibly fast. Cal chided himself for not checking the man’s restraints. It was a basic rule in handling prisoners.

  Pocketing his pistol in case they encountered neighbors, Cal ran after Trapper.

  +++

  Daniel skidded to a halt at the bedroom window and stuck his head out. He could see Cal running into the darkness. Without another thought, Daniel avoided the broken glass, climbed onto the window frame and jumped. Hitting the grass, he rolled out gracefully and hopped into a sprint. He took off after the two men hoping he wouldn’t be too late.

  +++

  There weren’t many places for Trapper to go. The terrain was pretty open. Luckily it was pitch black out. He was free, but for how long? He’d chased countless criminals on foot so he knew the pursuit was all about tenacity and the wits of the man being chased. His mind processed the landscape and alternative routes. The neighborhood would end soon.

  Trapper turned left on McCollister Drive, running up the incline. The only chance he had was using the clumps of trees on the slopes as cover. He knew exactly where to go.

  +++

  Cal was lagging behind. Not a bad athlete in his own right, Cal was no match for Trapper’s speed. The only reason he could still see his former detainee was because the guy had stayed on the well lit road. Cal was sure that wouldn’t last long. He’d glimpsed Daniel coming up from behind but couldn’t wait for his friend.

  He pushed his legs and lungs to their limit. Neil’s life depended on it.

  +++

  Trapper hit the tree line and smiled. Unless his pursuer had somehow managed to grab a set of night vision goggles or a hound dog to sniff him out, there was no way he was getting caught.

  Trapper looked back once, then disappeared into the woods.

  +++

  Cal saw Trapper glance back just as Daniel caught up. Both men extracted their pistols and rushed forward. They ran in silence knowing that their chances of catching the man had just decreased exponentially.

  Daniel stopped Cal as they approached the tree line. “Let me go first,” the sniper ordered.

  Cal would’ve ignored most other men but knew Daniel’s skills outweighed his own when it came to the cat and mouse game they were playing with Trapper.

  Without waiting for his employer to reply, Daniel melted into the wooded area.

  +++

  After thirty minutes of looking, the two Marines emerged. The only thing Cal had to mark the occasion was a slightly sprained ankle and a variety of scrapes on his face. Daniel, on the other hand, looked clean and composed. How was it that he never seemed to get scathed?<
br />
  “Thanks for coming after me,” Cal offered.

  “Sorry we didn’t get the guy.”

  “It’s my fault. I should’ve checked him,” grumbled Cal.

  “I’ll bet if we look back at the video we won’t even see how he got out of those restraints. That guy’s a real pro.”

  Cal simply nodded. Just when he thought things might be going their way, it had gotten worse.

  “Shit.”

  Daniel looked at Cal with serene confidence. “We’ll get Neil back. Don’t worry.” He patted Stokes on the shoulder twice and started walking.

  Cal stared back at his friend. For some reason he believed him. There was something in Daniel that inspired trust and calm. He’d talked about it with Trent a couple days before. MSgt Trent, being a much more spiritual man than Cal, thought that Daniel had some kind of God-given gift. He tried explaining it to Cal.

  “I knew a preacher when I was a kid. Momma always said he was blessed by Jesus. This dude would walk into crack houses and gang hangouts and somehow come out untouched. He had this calming presence that good people flocked to and that bad people respected and were scared of. It’s hard to explain other than to say that your boy Daniel has the same thing. Have you ever seen the kid get hurt or angry?”

  Cal had not. He remembered the story Daniel had told him about his last time in Afghanistan. After the SEAL team they’d accompanied got killed by a large insurgent group, a building collapsed on him and his spotter. His spotter died and Daniel walked away unscathed except for the mental scars. After leaving the Marine Corps and wandering aimlessly through alcohol and bad dreams, Briggs found God. He never talked about it, but you could almost feel the invisible bond the former sniper held with the Almighty.

  He looked over at Daniel as they walked back to their house. Briggs walked with an air of confidence that most men wished for. Cal hoped that Daniel’s gift would help them find and rescue their lost friend.

  Chapter 13

  Teton Village, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

  11:34pm, September 27th

  It hadn’t been hard to lose his pursuers. Trapper knew the area well, and the dark night further aided his escape. He paused again to catch his breath and listen for sounds of pursuit. Nothing.

  The safe house wasn’t far. Just another ten minutes of jogging and he’d be there. Trapper took off down the dirt path. There was a storm looming on the horizon, and it had nothing to do with the weather. The killer’s mind imagined the retribution he’d soon levy against Cal Stokes and his men.

  +++

  Cal and Daniel returned to the house and awakened the team. Two men were posted to guard their remaining prisoner. They wouldn’t lose this one.

  After reviewing the taped interrogation two more times, they agreed that it was very likely that The Ponder Group had at least a base of operations if not a headquarters in the area. The assumption was confirmed minutes later by a call from Todd Dunn.

  Cal had a pen and paper out, ready to take notes as he talked to SSI’s security head.

  “I’ve confirmed that Ponder registered his corporation in Wyoming. He’s got a P.O. Box listed in the public record along with his attorney’s address. The lawyer’s office is in Wilson, which is just around the corner from Teton Village. I’m still working on locating his physical address.”

  “Sure would be nice to have Neil around right now,” Cal noted ruefully.

  “Yeah, he would’ve found Ponder in a couple minutes.”

  “Any progress on finding out who the leak is?”

  “I think we’re getting close. Me and Higgins narrowed it down to five guys in the R&D department. Neil hired them all. Looks like they didn’t get as thorough a check as most new hires do.”

  “How did that happen?” Cal was confused about the security lapse by the otherwise overly cautious Dunn.

  Dunn exhaled. “I won’t blame it on Neil, but I’ll probably have to have a little talk with him if we get him back.”

  “WHEN we get him back,” Cal corrected.

  “Right. WHEN we get him back, Neil needs to have a little class on security. We all know he’s prone to seeing the good in people. Looks like this time it’s really coming back to bite him in the ass.”

  “That seems a little harsh, Todd.”

  “I know it might, but we wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for Neil. Shit, Cal, you know I love him as much as you and Travis do, but Neil really messed up on this one. First he denies the personal security and now we’re finding out that he probably hired a rat. I think it’s time for a little wakeup call for Mr. Patel.”

  Cal knew Dunn was right. He could only imagine how bad Neil’s wakeup call was going.

  +++

  Neil was in the process of learning another lesson at the moment. He’d refused to do the ‘test’ Ponder had demanded. Now, for the third time, Neil was stripped naked and tied to a post outside the compound. The first time had been a warning. The second time lasted longer. This time Neil was sure he was almost hypothermic.

  The temperature had to be in the low thirties. To make matters worse, every five minutes Ponder would walk outside with a bucket of cold water and dump it on the shivering Patel. Neil would cower and try to make himself and small as possible. He had no idea how long this time would last.

  He kept himself going by thinking about his friends: Cal, Trent and Brian. Neil knew they wouldn’t back down. He’d seen the after effects when they’d finally rescued Cal from the gangster Dante West. His friend came out beaten and bloody but in good spirits and, more importantly, alive.

  Neil vaguely remembered MSgt Trent telling him that it was all about toughness and humor in the beginning. First get pissed off, then make it funny. Didn’t Senator McCain say the same thing?

  Neil knew that eventually all men broke under torture. He had to hold out as long as possible. The alternative was simply too terrifying to think about. If he used his talents to do what his captor wanted, he knew where it would lead. They were testing him. Patel was simply a tool to be used.

  Despite his time with the company, he never truly understood the dangers their elite warriors faced. He’d heard the stories from the sidelines of the action, but being in the thick of it was something else entirely.

  The front door of the low building opened and light spilled out into the darkness. Ponder’s form appeared with his now familiar metal bucket.

  “You ready to take your test or do you want to take another bath?” Ponder asked.

  From his position on the ground Neil thought once more about his friends. What would Trent say? Between chattering teeth he answered. “I thought you’d…never ask. I was getting…hot out…here.”

  Ponder walked faster and threw the water right in Neil’s face. It jolted him and took his breath away. Whatever reprieve Neil expected disappeared a second later when Ponder bent down and put his face right in front of Patel’s.

  “Now you listen here. I can do this shit all night. You’ll feel like you’re about to die and then we’ll bring you back to life.”

  He reached down and grabbed Neil bandaged stump. Neil clenched his teeth as Ponder began to squeeze.

  “Come on, you pussy. You know you want to scream. Go ahead, no one can hear you anyway.” Ponder squeezed harder and harder as Neil struggled to stay lucid. Tears streamed down his face as he turned to his aggressor.

  “You’re…the….pussy.”

  Ponder yelled in his face and followed it up with a quick head butt. Neil crumpled into unconsciousness.

  “Shit,” muttered Ponder. He hadn’t meant to knock the kid out. Time was running out and so was his patience. The buyers were hounding him about providing proof that Patel was the real deal. Add the snowstorm blowing in and Ponder was scrambling to keep the transaction together.

  He fished out a walkie talkie from his coat pocket. “Come out here and get him.”

  Thirty seconds later, the hooded jailer walked out, unlocked Neil from the pole, and picked him up gent
ly.

  “Put him back in his cell and warm him up. We’ll try again in the morning,” Ponder ordered.

  The jailer nodded and carried his package back into the building.

  Ponder stood outside, marveling at the stars. The view was crystal clear. It would be gone tomorrow when the clouds rolled in. He hoped it wasn’t a sign of things to come. There was too much riding on the sale.

  +++

  Neil regained consciousness just as he was being laid back down on his cot. He pretended to still be unconscious as the guard covered him with a blanket and left to fetch the large electric heater they used to bring Neil’s body temperature back to normal.

  Shivering under the wool blanket, Neil had one more thought as he drifted off into a fitful sleep. I won this round, asshole.

  Chapter 14

  Camp Spartan, Arrington, TN

  12:40am CST, September 28th

  Dr. Higgins and Todd Dunn were looking over the files of the five suspects. All five were relatively recent hires. Only one had been at the company for longer than a year. They were similar in that they all had some kind of computer science background. Under Neil Patel’s leadership, SSI’s R&D division had grown quickly over the preceding years. Cyber attacks were becoming more and more frequent around the globe, and Neil wanted to be part of the force fighting it.

  The year before, the U.S. military’s new Cyber Command had enlisted SSI’s aid in building a more secure infrastructure. They now had SSI on retainer for future consultation with the caveat that Neil Patel be the lead troubleshooter.

  “Do we still have all of these men on the premises?” asked Higgins.

  “Yep. I gave the whole division orders to stay close a couple days ago. They’re effectively on lockdown working around the clock.”