Lilith Cohen Retribution

by William Manning

  “Yes, I am critical to the British Government’s Weapons and Research department. They’re likely looking for me, and there’s probably news reports of it.”

  I nod at her computer. “Look it up and see if they’re any reports about a scientist gone missing in the UK.”

  I sit down across from him, crossing my legs and sipping a bottle of water.

  Clare glances at him and me. “Lilith, they labeled him as dead. It says Doctor Matthew Banning after tireless searches the British authorities have declared him as dead and they’re hunting for a body now.”

  He turns to me with a frantic look in his eyes. “Lilith, you have to take me back to England to let them know I’m alive!”

  I lean forward. “Doctor, you built biological weapons that were used in Iran to help market a vaccine. Do you really think you won’t end up in the deepest darkest hole

  The British government can find? I’m sorry, but that chapter of your life is closed.”

  He lowers his head. “Based on what I've done I wouldn’t blame them.”

  “This isn’t your fault. Your family was used as leverage to guarantee your cooperation. Sadly your government won’t see that way.” I take a drag, exhaling tendrils of smoke from my nose. “But there is a way for you to be a scientist still, and have your family with you.” “Do you even have the authority to do that?”

  “No, but not to worry. I’m sure my superiors will work with me on this, as long you give them your full cooperation, and be an open book when it comes to Black Reign, and you must be willing to join our ranks as a scientist.”

  He forces a smile. “After the things they made me do, trust me, I have no problem being a Judas.”

  “What can you tell me about Lauren?”

  He nods. “Not much. I only met her a few times.”

  Shit, asking him on how to find her may be pointless, but never hurts to ask.

  “Where can I find her?”

  “All I’ve heard is gossip about

  her.” Better than nothing I guess.

  “What do they say?”

  He scratches his head. “They go on about how she married her subordinate, and how unethical it is.”

  “What’s her wife’s name?”

  “It’s some Russian lass goes by the name Zasha. Sorry I didn’t catch her last name.”

  Zasha, she was at Catalina’s wake. She and Lauren open fired on me and left Catalina for dead.

  “Fair enough, Doc. Okay here is what’s going to happen, if my superiors sign off on taking you in as one of us, which I believe they will. You will be put on a jet and shipped off to Colorado to our headquarters. There, you will receive a new identity, and you will be reunited with your family. Also, your family will receive new identities as well. Giving your criminal activities with Colvin, I think you will find this very agreeable.”

  “If prison is my only future, then I must agree with you, Lilith.”

  I drop my cigarette in the empty bottle. “Welcome to your new life, doctor.”

  Hopefully, Connie and The Council will see reason and not throw him and his family to the Jackals.

  Chapter 10

  We park in front of the safe house. “What is this place, Lilith?” Banning asks.

  “The beginning of your new life,” I say opening the elevator.

  “Lilith,” Clare says in a soft voice. “I never officially thanked you for saving me back at the cabin.”

  “Clare, you stuck with me even when it could’ve gotten you marked as a traitor. I won’t forget that, partner.” Her eyes water as she beams a smile. “Lilith, I know we‘re not blood-related, but I consider you and Dom and Connie family. I never knew my real family they gave me away at birth so they could continue to do drugs and party.” She exhales clenching her eyes shut to keep the tears of the past at bay. “I spent most of my early childhood in and out of foster homes till a man named Viktor adopted me and trained me in cyberpiracy. He had me hacking into security systems at banks and museums when I was just sixteen years old. When I hit 18, I wanted to join the IDF, so I left Moscow and joined the IDF with his blessing.”

  A frown inches across my mouth. “Whoa, I had no idea you never had a family. I’m sorry.”

  She smiles and wipes her eyes. “Hey, don’t do that. Besides, if my parents hadn’t given me up, I may not have met the love of my life Samira or such cool people like you Dom and Connie.”

  “Clare, you’re strong. Most people who had their parents abandon them are an emotional wreck.”

  “Don’t get it twisted. I was an emotional wreck when I hit my teen years. I wanted to know who my birth parents were, but when I foundout who they really are; I’m glad I never met them. They’re pieces of shit junkies still. So as far as I’m concerned you and Viktor and The Hunters are my real family.”

  I smirk at her. “Does this mean I get to be the older sister that kicks your ass?”

  “Oh, hardy-fuckinghar.”

  “On to a different topic, have you talked to Samira recently?”

  She nods. “Not since we left for Death Valley.” “While I speak with Connie, you need to call her. Don’t take her for granted that woman loves you.”

  “I know. I just get so busy with our work sometimes.”

  “Unless you’re giving me mission support or in a briefing, you should make time for her. Your operational reports to the Cyber Division can be written later.”

  “Lilith, when this operation is over me and Samira are taking you on a vacation. Samira knows this perfect spot it’s on the Island of Crete. It has awesome resorts.”

  “I’d love that. God knows I need one after all the shit I’ve been through.”

  “Damn right you do. I mean, just because you’re a superhuman doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to some R&R.”

  The lift doors slide open, and a significant weight is lifted off my shoulders when I notice Dominic and Tiffany relaxing at a small dining table sipping a beer. Tiffany’s face is battered and bruised and her left eye swollen, and Dominic doesn’t look much better. She walks up to me and throws her arms around me. “God, I’m glad to see your face, Lilith.”

  I look down at her with a smile. “I’m glad to see you’re alive. I was worried they were going to kill you and Dom. How are you really?”

  “I’m fine nothing I haven’t been through before.” “By the way, you’re welcome, Lilith,” Nina, says with her hands on her hips.

  “Nina and Josef I really appreciate this.” “Well, I hope so. We only blew our cover and ended up shooting our way out of that bunker we were in.”

  “It was no problem, Lilith,” Josef says.

  Dominic sighs. “Nina, quit being a drama queen.” He takes a sip of beer. “Colvin is desperate to get his hands on Athena. His wife dying has only inflamed his Desperation.”

  “Good. Let his greed make him fucking stupid,” Tiffany adds.

  “His reckless greed may be his undoing, but until then we need to be careful not to get caught up in his whirlwind,” Dominic replies.

  “Well, on the plus side, I took away his prime scientist on the Athena project so it will be a while before he finds another that is morally flexible.” I slip off my coat and drape it over a chair. “Tiffany, I hope you understand why I had to kill your uncle.”

  Her head lowers. “I won’t lie, I hate he had to be killed. I mean he was my uncle, and I loved him, but what he was doing to people and tried to do to you is unforgivable.”

  “I'm happy you finally understand.”

  “I am happy you opened my eyes. Otherwise, I would have never understood.”

  “Where’s Connie? I need to fill her in.” Tiffany points to her office. “She’s upstairs.” I reach the top of the staircase and knock on her door. “Enter,” she says.

  I sit down on the chair opposite side of her desk. “Well done, Lilith. Not only did you manage to get rid of those weapons, but you also managed to get us a source of Intel.” She smiles at the scientist.

 
The doc steps forward extending his hand. “I am Doctor Matthew Banning. Please to meet you, Madam President.” He turns to me. “Lilith, I had no idea the President ran a secret agency of assassins.”

  “If it leaves this room, the deal is off, Doc.”

  She shakes his hand. “The pleasure is all mine, Doctor. The Hunters are always looking for new Scientists with fresh minds. Now, you will have to forgive us for being so harsh, but you have to understand, The Hunters have many enemies who would love to see us in ruin, and I have many political opponents who would love to use all this to destroy my reputation with the people of America.”

  “Connie, the doctor needs a new identity and so does his family,” I add.

  She smiles at both of us. “Oh, I am pretty sure I can convince The Council to help him and his family. Now tell me, Doctor, are you willing to pledge your unwavering loyalty to us and cooperate with us fully?” “Yes,”

  he says, without hesitation.

  “Excellent. Then go have a seat at the table downstairs while I discuss things with Agent Cohen.”

  I turn to the scientist watching him head down the steps. “Who do you got interviewing him?”

  Nina enters the office and Connie glances at her. “You’re looking at her.”

  “Nina… perfect she likes the boring jobs anyway.” I chuckle.

  She crosses herarms and rolls her eyes. “I agree, Lilith. When it comes to interrogations, you are more like a sharp blade sliding between someone’s ribs, and here we don’t need that. We need kid’s gloves.”

  I turn to her. “Nina, do you have the address of Lauren's residence or the location of her wife?”

  “No, but I can tell you the name of the pub Lauren and her wife frequent after work.”

  “Good enough for me.”

  “Galloways Pub& Grill 503 Columbus Avenue.”

  “Remember, Lilith. We need Lauren alive and her wife. Both are valuable for Intel.”

  “I’ll do my best, but something tells me Lauren is not going to come easily.”

  “Use her wife as leverage. She’ll come around.”

  “Read my mind,” I say, leaving her office. I hail a cab and give him the address to Lauren’s preferred watering hole.

  The taxi stops at an intersection for a red light. A scream of agony draws my attention to the sidewalk where cops are zapping a man and woman in tattered clothing with stun batons.

  “Crime is bad these days, no?” he says, glancing in his rearview.

  That’s an understatement. Some cities in America the crime is so bad it’s under martial law. St Louis and Detroit are two of the biggest Blight Districts in the country. The RU even walled them in like you would prisoners. Detroit was lost to the global riots in 2001 after Congress passed the bill to form the Blight Districts and with that, other countries followed suit, but there were some who refused to establish the Blight Districts.

  “Yes, and politicians don’t give a shit because they’re too focused on their fucking oil and war in the

  Middle East.”

  “War profiteering is all it is.”

  “Si. It is unfortunate how bad crime has gotten in this city. The rich are prime targets for muggings and terrorist attacks from the rebels in the Blights.” He breaks at the pub. “That tends to happen when your government fails to create jobs and adds to their struggle by cutting off welfare and food stamps and the only light at the end of the tunnel is military service till they are too old to serve or a chance a talent scout recognizes them.”

  Getting out of the cab, I see the massive black pyramid towering over Central Park.

  There it is, the putrid eyesore of Black Reign headquarters looming over the city.

  Strolling into the pub, it has a very probation era look about it— dark brown mahogany floors, L-shaped bar, tables set in no kind of order. I sit down on the barstool facing the shelf of booze that is lit up like some kind of holy relic in a museum. A heavyset Bartender comes up to me with a greeting smile.

  “Vodka on the rocks,” I order before he h as a chance to speak.

  “Coming right up,” he says.

  He returns with my drink. I take a big sip of it. While sitting at the bar, I catch a glimpse out the corner of my eye; my gaze locks on to her like a hungry wolf’s eyes lock on to its prey. Lauren is sitting at the bar kissing Zasha and holding her hand.

  The Asian guy with them, I still have no idea who he is, but he fits the description the FBI agent gave me.

  Eerie Shaolin monk kind of calm. One thing I do know, he is just another asshole working for Colvin living on borrowed time.

  I shift my attention back to the bar, watching them out the corner of my eyes. All I have on me is a pistol and my Karambit. But I don’t want to grab Lauren here it will likely turn into a gunfight and Cops will swarm this place being it's a Wealthy District. If this were the Blight District, cops wouldn’t be a concern. Best I can do at this point, is keep to the plan to use Zasha as leverage to get Lauren’s cooperation.

  Lauren kisses Zasha on the mouth. “Go ahead and finish your meal. We’ll meet up later.”

  Good to know they took separate cars here.

  I turn my head down as Lauren, and the Asian dude walks right by me, not even giving me a second glance.

  After 15 minutes of watching her, she finally gets up and leaves the bar. I pay my tab and follow her. Stepping outside, I look to my left, and she is strolling down the sidewalk. Zasha turns the corner. I peak around the wall she’s digging in her purse for her keys. The parking lot is hidden from the view of the main road by a white concrete fence.

  Let’s get this over with.

  I lunge with blinding speed and put her in a rear chokehold. She struggles and lets out strangled screams, till she passes out.

  I’m tempted to slice her throat open, but I need the info.

  I grab her keys out of her hand, and pick her up, dropping her bony ass in the trunk and slam it shut. I get into her car and crank up the radio in case she wakes up before I get her out of the city.

  Chapter 11

  I park the car out in the middle of nowhere a few miles outside of the city in a dense forest where no can hear her cries. After switching off the radio, I hear pounding and screaming in the trunk. I pop the trunk and shoot her in the kneecap with my 45.

  "Blyad!" she howls. I yank her from the trunk by her dark hair. She punches my hands trying to get free as she shrieks and cusses me in Russian. The blood from her leg leaves a trail of crimson in the white snow. I slam her against the tree, and she lets out a grunt. “Sit,” I say, pointing the gun at her head.

  “Who are you?” She asks.

  Surely she can’t be this clueless.

  I cross my arms and tilt my head. “You know damn

  well who I am. I’m sure Lauren and Colvin have discussed me in depth.” Her eyes swell with terror the light bulb clicks on. “Please don’t kill me, Lilith.”

  “Tell me where to find Lauren and I won’t kill you for the refugees you kidnapped out of Syria.”

  She grunts in agony. “That sounds like a generous trade.” Her eyes squint as she examines the wound. “But, I can’t and won’t betray my wife to you,” she whimpers.

  Lighting a cigarette and staring down at her through the smoke emanating from my mouth. “I never said I’d kill you quick,” I say, pulling out my knife and tapping the side of my leg.

  Her nostrils flare. “You sadistic bitch! I had nothing to do with killing your husband and neither did Lauren!”

  I kneel and press the point of the blade near the wound. “You're really are out of the loop if you think that’s why I’m after Lauren. Lauren tried to kill my friends repeatedly. Now tell me where she is or shall I conduct surgery to remove the bullet and FYI I am really bad at it.”

  She winces in pain. “Are you really that stupid, Lilith? She was hired to do a job just like you were hired to blow up our base and slaughter our people. The both of you are cut from the same cloth you just have differen
t ideologies.” She drops her head and sobs. “Please for our daughter… don’t kill my wife or me. She’ll end up in some shithole in the Blights.” Her voice thin

  “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t nail you to this tree and gut you and then do the same to Lauren.”

  She juts her chin forward tensing her jaw. “Have you heard nothing, I said we have a daughter.”

  My shoulders jerk upwards. “Some of the people I’ve killed had several kids. So what makes you different from them?”

  She gulps. “My wife has left Black Reign. We turned our backs on Colvin.”

  “Interesting. Why the change of heart all the sudden?”

  “Lauren didn’t agree with Colvin’s plan to remove President Kimura from The White House and replace her with The Vice President.” She yanks off her belt and ties a tourniquet around her leg and lets out a deep growl when she pulls it tight on her knee and slumps against the tree. “Colvin has fucking lost it since Athena failed to cure his wife.”

  “Go on.”

  “After we turned our backs on Black Reign some friends loyal to us warned us of Colvin’s plan to shut us up. Just like Colvin did to your husband when he backslid on the deal.”

  Rogue Mercs is a loose end to Colvin. Getting Lauren’s cooperation may be easier than I thought. “How and why does he want to kill the President?”

  She smirks. “No way. You promise protection for my wife and child and me, and I will tell you everything.”

  “First, you tell me how it’s going to go down.”

  She snaps her head side to side. “First you guarantee our protection, and then we’ll talk.” She sternly states.

  I hate when people give me ultimatums. But I have to bite the greasy coin here.

  “How do I know you’re not just making all this up to save your own ass?”

  “You don’t, but I do know the Vice President hates President Kimura with a passion and he’s on Colvin’s payroll.”

  I study her eyes and body language for a hint she is lying to me. I press my knife up against her throat. “If you’re lying I will cut out your heart and mail it to your wife, and then I will do the same to her, do you understand?” “Yes.” Her voice strained.