BLOOD RETRIBUTION

by Blake Hudson

  “She has nothing to do with this, she’s just a barmaid I picked up.”

  One of the men threw a pair of rigid handcuffs onto Knox’s lap, motioning with his head to put them on. Knox picked them up and cuffed one of his wrists clicking it as tight as he could, showing compliance before moving his arms behind his back.

  “No! In front Knox.” The gunman said pressing his Sig Tacops hard onto Susie’s temple.

  “Okay guys, easy now," Knox said cuffing his free hand in front of himself then holding his hands out for them to check and tighten.

  “Susie, it will be all right, I promise," Knox said as he looked her in the eyes with a little smile nodding his head.

  The masked man frisked Knox taking his newly acquired Springfield, along with his wallet, cigarettes and lighter. Dropping everything on the seat next to him the masked man then checked over the gun in fine detail to which Knox looked on puzzled.

  “It’s for sale if you want it, mate. Come on guys you got me, how about we drop the girl off. She hasn't seen your faces, I will do whatever you want, no trouble.” Knox said as he looked at the two men trying to see some reaction.

  Susie pulled her arms from behind her back, pulling the gag out of her mouth.

  “Jesus Tom, you didn’t have to press so fucking hard.” Susie gave the gunman a look like she was ready to hit him as she clenched her fists.

  “Just trying to make it believable boss, like you said.” The gunman said holding his hands up after holstering his weapon.

  “Right, do it again and it will be the last fucking thing you do," said Susie with no trace of a southern accent. Knox looked on, his heart sank at the realisation of the situation unfolding in front of him.

  “Shit, fuckin’ idiot,” muttered Knox.

  “Oh, don’t be too hard on yourself now sugar," said in an exaggerated southern accent by Susie.

  “Just a barmaid? Honestly, Knox that hurts a little.” Susie smirked after kissing her teeth and just as Knox was about to speak, she issued another order.

  “Bag him.” Susie then elbowed the masked man next to her.

  “With pleasure. Night, night.” He said putting a black hood over Knox’s head, swiftly followed up with a hard punch into Knox’s lower side before pulling back for a second strike to the head.

  “Take my gun Bitch?!” He said as he pulled back for a third hit but Tom grabbed his arm, restraining him back.

  “Easy Greg, the Brig wants to talk to him," Tom said pulling him back onto his seat.

  “You got your precious gun back, now chill out!” Tom added through his gritted teeth as Greg struggled.

  Then out of nowhere, Tom dished out a punch to Knox’s other side and said after getting a raised eyebrow off Greg,

  “What? I didn’t knock him out like you would have.”

  “Now, now boys, play nice!” Susie shouted half laughing as she crawled over her seat on to the back row, where a bag of gear was waiting for her as she started to strip off.

  “If I catch you looking he won’t be the only one that kicked your ass's," Susie said as she laughed pulling her camo vest off.

  Knox winced in pain as his body’s core struggled to hold himself upright as the moving van made its way through the back streets. Controlling his breathing and heart rate Knox listened, there wasn’t much more he could do other than wait. With the speed of the van now holding steady along with its engine note, it finally meant smoother movements from left to right Knox knew they must now be on the main road. Outside traffic and the local noise was getting quieter if any at all, so Knox believed they must be heading out of the city.

  Ten or fifteen minutes of driving and no one said a word, then the silence was broken.

  “Right boys look sharp, we are here.” said Susie as the van started to slow and turn a few times before coming to a halt.

  Knox heard the sliding door of the van open and the men brushed passed him getting out. He heard three or possibly four male voices all speaking at the same time.

  “This the guy? Brig is waiting in the NEST, take him through.” Knox could just make out before being pulled out of the van, pushed and shoved in the direction they wanted him to go in.

  “Sit!” Echoed around the room, Knox thought it was the gunman Tom from the van but wasn’t sure. He should have been harder on Semi Pro and his twin as it didn’t take a genius to know that’s who the masked men were. A mistake that had obviously cost him.

  The room filled with the sound of boots walking in and around the room. Knox took a few deep and slow breaths, trying to keep a grip of his nerves and steady his heart rate.

  He had been in this situation before, worse in fact, as he wasn’t exactly close to hyperferremia, bleeding, or on the edge of starvation. And if they wanted him dead he wouldn’t be sat here waiting. So, overall, the odds weren’t that stacked against him.

  But why was he here? What did they want? Silence fell upon the room and soon after a door opened and shut a distance away. Steady footsteps made their way across the room their echoes getting louder. A chair scraped on the floor before creaking a little. Tapping of files and rustling of paper followed then by nothing, prolonged silence…

  A click of fingers, moments later the hood was taken off.

  “Brigadier this is...” Tom said standing next to Knox on his right but was cut short.

  “Captain Lucas Knox, yes.” The Brigadier said looking down and opening a file.

  A seasoned looking army man with grey hair, weathered skin and a hint of aged scarring to the left side of his face, near the ear, faced him. He was sat looking over the file, a file that Knox could easily guess what it contained.

  “I am Brigadier Carter, commanding officer of Tactical Intelligence Unit Seven. To your right is Lieutenant Thomas, your right Lieutenant Gregory. I believe the three of you have met before. You gave the lads a bit of a schooling, one they are both thankful for…” Carter said pulling closer into a desk not looking up once as he flicked through the brown card file marked ‘Knox’ in red print.

  Knox looked up to his right then left, to find Mr Semi Pro and his twin looking a little bruised and a tad pissed off. Knox’s mistake confirmed.

  “Hey, boys no hard feelings eh?” Knox said with a smirk.

  “Asshole.” Muttered Lieutenant Gregory in response making Knox grin harder.

  “This is my second in command Major Harris who you haven’t met.” Carter points over his shoulder to a tall slender black man with a beard. He was dressed in army fatigues with a commando green beret, telling Knox all he needed to know about Harris…He probably quietly ate nails for breakfast and shit out two by fours.

  “Hello, Captain… A pleasure.” Harris said as he nodded at Knox, to which he returned out of respect.

  “Well it's been fun, meeting you fine folk but unless you're gonna break out the tea and biscuits I don’t really see what I am doing here.”

  "I told you who we are," Carter said like this would be enough of an answer.

  “That’s all well and good for you guys but I've never heard of Tactical Intelligence Unit," Knox said in a disinterested cool manner.

  “No, well I should bloody well hope not. Officially, we don't exist Captain.” Carter said acting smug.

  “I’m not a Captain, not anymore. Just get to the point, why am I here and what do you want? And what is wrong with an invite anyway… Bait and grab bit old school, cold war, isn’t it?” Knox looked right at Carter.

  “Knox, I understand you were one hell of a soldier. That’s what I have read in your military file. Joined up at sixteen and rose the ranks of The Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment. Served in Iraq in 2003 as part of Operation Telic… Basra, wasn’t it?” Carter lifted his eyes from Knox’s file to gauge his response. Knox shrugged his shoulder in acknowledgement. Carters eyes dropped down to continue once more.

  “Based at Camp Dogwood you were awarded the Military Cross. Hellhole that camp ‘Triangle
of death’.” Carter shook his head before carrying on.

  “2005 you were in Afghanistan, this time you were awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, twice! And rounded off your tour there with a Victoria Cross." Carter paused for a moment as if he was mulling something over in his head. Knox fidgeted with a little unease hearing his record of medals.

  “And that Captain brings us to your SAS selection which saw you serve in countless operations in Iraq, North Africa and Afghanistan. Notably being part of Task Force Black working alongside American Delta Force.” Carter slaps the file down as he sits back in his chair tapping his fingertips as he collected his thoughts.

  “The recommendations from your commanding officers, quite frankly make shoving sunshine up your ass an art form. So, tell me, Knox, why did you leave?”

  “I like Tapas and the sunshine.” Knox's commented dryly.

  “I doubt that. By all accounts, it would have been nothing but promotion after promotion for you." Carters eyes squinted a little as if he was focusing on Knox that bit more waiting to judge his answer.

  Knox could see where this was going and he didn’t have to tell him anything, he knew this. But what was the harm, he already had his file and they were some arm of the British government. No doubt thought up in some office in Westminster by two old boys drinking subsidised Brandy and smoking cigars sat on old Chesterfields.

  “It was my choice and they wanted me out in five years anyway. Private consulting work and security pays well and a relatively low chance of getting my arse blown up or shot.” Knox stared at Carter without a single blink.

  “But enough about me let talk more about you and the reason I am here. Because as lovely as it is to hear about my short glittering career I do have a schedule to keep.” Knox said raising his voice as he hadn’t gotten answers the first few times of asking.

  “Major, uncuff the Captain. Come with me Knox, I want to show you exactly what you’re doing here.” Carter stood and started walking off back to the door he came in from.

  “You won’t be doing anything stupid, will you?” Said a deep but softly spoken Harris as he un-cuffed Knox’s aching marked wrists.

  “No need to worry, I’m not without a shred of self-preservation, Harris… but wait… you’re not…?” Knox looked at Major Harris side on with a questioning glance. To which Harris chuckled.

  “Your Harris’s little brother?”

  “Yeah, you served with my brother in Iraq.”

  “You must be six inches taller and a higher rank," Knox said laughing.

  “What can I say, I got the brains as well as height. Best not keep the Brigadier waiting, he gets a bit… grumpy.” Harris winked as he leads Knox to the door Carter exited through.

  Knox walked into a hive of humming banks of servers, cooling fans, masses of cables leading everywhere around a frame work of screens and work stations manned by operatives. The operation hall had no natural light, which made working out how big the warehouse was near impossible, as it was mostly in shadow. The functional strip lighting over the centre of the hive of space-age tech illuminating only what was needed.

  “Welcome to the NEST Captain, if assets on the ground are the limbs of the operation, then this right here, is the heart and brains. Cyber surveillance, bank accounts, credit cards, phone monitoring, live CCTV streaming. You name it!” Carter said standing proud.

  “Any form of modern network accessible technology they can find, monitor, track and take over, that's what we can do. Christ, they know how long a target sets their microwave for. The perfect tool to support assets on the ground. I never want my teams in the dark.” Carter added, walking around like a strutting cock.

  And why not, it was a hell of a setup. Knox had seen similar with the SRR but nothing this big or as mobile. Catching sight of one of the screens, it was playing back footage from Sala Gold. Carter spots Knox looking at the footage.

  “Making that go away is only scratching the surface of what my team can do.” Carter gestured to the operative at the work station. He watched all the footage of himself fighting Thomas in the hallway, Gregory in the toilets and even outside the club taking down the doorman. But with rapid fingers tapping over a keyboard and a few clicks of their mouse, all the footage of Knox ever being at the club was wiped.

  “Handy… I liked the moves on the doorman, very brutal but in an effective way of course.” Carter commented before he walked away heading over to a glass walled tactical room. He waited for Knox.

  “Please Captain, take a seat.” Carter pointed to a stool next to a planning table, on it lay files and photos of Knox.

  “I am touched, always wanted a stalker,” Knox said sarcastically, picking up a photo of him stood by his Triumph at the beach, watching the woman swimming in the sea.

  “Knox, I am just going to come out with it. We have been watching you for some time. You were recommended to us in fact, by a few sources. And then we find you working close to one of our targets.” Knox looks at Carter.

  “The woman, she’s one of your targets? The rich, spoilt bitch? I haven't seen her do anything other than spending money on herself like it was water.” Knox scoffed.

  “Isabelle Pérez, but we are more interested in her father Marco Pérez. She's a side target. Look, Knox, I want you to join my team. You are a fine soldier, assists of your calibre we just can’t get.” Carter said direct and to the point.

  “I am flattered but I’m retired and I have been out of the game for some time," Knox replied looking through photos of himself drinking coffee at a café, getting off his motorcycle outside his apartment. Photos all taken from street cameras, ATM machines and even what seemed like people’s camera phones.

  “Out of the game… don’t bull shit me, Knox.” Carter pulled a file from the table and opened it in front of him.

  “We got this from your ‘Broker’ she has been most helpful, even if you have passed on every one of our job offers.” Carter flicks through the pages of the file showing Knox’s private contract hire work.

  “Very colourful… ‘work’ shall we say. Clearly, they are not all easy private security jobs for oil workers in the Middle East.” Carter said putting his index finger down on a page detailing a mercenary contract in South America.

  “You can hire, take your pick of anyone in the 22nd, so why me?” Knox’s turned away and looks out over the NEST, thinking to himself this was the work Dani wanted to talk to him about. But she hadn’t mentioned anything about turning job offers down.

  “It’s true and I have already acquired some for my team in fact. But you have been out of the army for a time and with it, you have lost the airs and graces the military usually instils in a man. We need that Knox, we need your skill set, to blend in. And besides, you took out two of my best men like they were recruits on their first day at Harrogate for God sake.”

  “I must have caught them on an off day.” Knox replied wryly, when in fact, what he wanted to say was ‘Jesus Christ, those were your best?!’

  Carter didn’t look convinced and so he shouldn’t, as those two were sloppy at best. But Carter has an Ace up his sleeve and he soon shared it with Knox. He pushed a photo of himself in Iraq stood with a Delta Force Soldier, his friend… Mac. Knox’s cocky demeanour soon dropped as Carter spoke.

  “Your first job would be to help us find our missing man or ascertain what happened to him. I believe you two served together, you saved each other’s lives countless time I imagine.” Carter said passing Knox Mac’s T.I.7 file.

  “He was my best asset, the complete soldier, perfect and professional.” Carter sighed as he moved to look out over the NEST. As if he was talking about a lost family member.

  “Was? You sound like you have resigned yourself to him being gone.” Knox snapped back, pissed off with the term asset. No longer were they men, sons, brothers, husbands or fathers. Fucking assets! Hell, a gun was an asset. A name on a wall in some government building if they were lucky and their clos
est loved one gets a clean crisp folded flag for their loss, for the blood spilt, for the pain.

  “Damn you, Knox! I remember everyone under my command that didn't make it back, their faces and names etched in my memory. Even the letters I wrote to their families. My burden Knox, the burden of command. Mine alone, it’s a role I chose for queen and country. And I would do it all again. Wouldn’t you?” Carter spewed out a nerve touched by Knox.

  “Help us identify what happened to McCarthy, join my team and you will have support and intel like you never had before.” Carter pushed with a quieter dogged manner.

  “How much?” Knox starts to crack.

  “How much?” Carter confused.

  “How much? Yeah, you want my help, I want cash. And a lot of it.” Knox pushed to see how Carter would react.

  “And here was me thinking that knowing about your friend, brother! That would be enough.” Carter said with a high almighty tone.