“He is helping to destroy my religion! Islam must be preserved at all cost. People in the Middle East are all talking about this new city. We nearly assimilated all of Europe and the UK before the action by your…” Amir shut up, remembering what would happen if he trekked down that trail. “Jared was meant to be with me in the Emirates. The only thing he will accomplish in that blasphemous place you are sending him is turning people against the Prophet and Islam. That is a death sentence in our faith!”
“So, this whole vendetta against us has to do with your warped religion? There’s no one else on the perimeter of this stupid idea of yours pulling your puppet strings?” I found it hard to believe, but Amir nearly had me convinced.
“There is no one else. I wanted you all dead, and the city eventually attacked and destroyed as a lesson.”
“Put his gag back in, Cheese. I ain’t buyin’ it,” Lynn said. “He needed backing to get the Emirates to join in on an ambush of the magnitude he’s talking about.”
I did as instructed. Amir tried to scream. I gave him a short chop to the throat that would not kill him but it would limit his ability to scream.
Lynn cranked the juice up for a varying fifteen minutes of nightmare, nearly enough to fry his brain. She backed off before he passed out. I waited another few moments for his brain to unscramble. He needed to know what would happen if Lynn didn’t get something new and interesting. It would not be a bluff, even if Amir was telling the truth. Lynn didn’t like being called a kafir.
“Listen closely again. I want to hear something new come out of your mouth this time, or I will throw the switches and burn the brain right out of your skull. Are we clear? Do you understand? When you address me, you will say yes, Mistress of the Dark.”
Amir was so prepped, he began sobbing with real tears while shaking his head violently in the affirmative. I removed his gag.
“Benny Danders!”
Lynn slapped him with comical nuance. “Amir! You can do better than that idiot communist in the Senate. The moron has never held a real job in his entire life. He’s never held an original thought in his head. The Senate screwed the veterans by allowing the pervert on that committee. What the hell committee that he’s on would interest you Islamic assholes, other than the fact he’s on the Saudi payroll? Don’t make me crank you up for the final time. You won’t like it!”
“Wait…wait!” Amir stopped himself from crying with visible effort. “Danders is on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’! He tweaks law having to do with Islam in the schools, and finds ways for us to launder money through the Labor and Pensions Committee. My money recruited him. My agent… in Washington, DC confers with him regularly. Because of my connection to Danders, I was given permission to try and draw your team to the Emirates.”
“Shit!” Lynn walked away from the table. “Good Lord almighty! Do these assholes own everyone in the Senate and House? We knew Danders and his wife scam everything and everyone in contact with them… but this? I’m thinking retirement to Monster Island, guys.”
“What the hell fun would that be,” Clint asked, gripping her from behind. “We war, babe. It’s what we do. No one in the blue-collar citizen population has a voice. They barely have time from jobs and kids to understand anything about the political prostitutes they elect. We’re their voice. We act outside the law because the liberals have perverted it to a point where only criminals have a voice in it.”
Lynn shuddered under the touch of her soulmate in all things. “Sorry. I got lost for a moment.”
Lynn returned to the table with fire in her eyes. She grabbed Amir’s chin in her hands. “Belt it all out, Pooky. Everything you know about Danders, I want recorded. Speak carefully and completely about every business deal he has ever been in on that you know about. Think! We will give you time for this traitor. Then, I want to know where we can get hard evidence. I want your agent’s name in Washington DC, along with his address!”
Having stared for the last few moments into Lynn’s face, Amir had only one response: yes… Mistress of the Dark!”
After Amir completed his answers and began stuttering into repeats, Denny spoke for the first time from DC. Jafar networked with him during the entire interrogation. “I ask that because of your desire to help his son establish a medical center in the City of Hope, consider giving Amir to me. We need to get Danders. I’ll send Clyde Bacall to bring him here for further questioning and holding until I can place him with my intelligence gathering group.”
“It will be Important to keep Amir under lock and key if we let you take him, Denny,” I stated when Lynn simply shrugged.
“Of course, John. You won’t regret this.” Denny’s excitement caused some amusement amongst our network. “Will it be okay with Nick?”
“What? You don’t want to piss off the number one assassin in the world,” Lynn replied.
“Nor the number one interrogator, Lynn. I’m trying to stay alive to watch my kid grow up. There may be people in this business who take the teams they work with lightly. Paul and I do not. You’ve already proven the taking of Amir was the right call. We did not have Senator Danders on our radar other than as another coin operated fraud. Is Nick with you?”
“No,” I answered. “He’s meeting to thank his contact, Robyn. I believe you and Paul know her.”
“Yep. She’s one of us. Jafar updated me with the video taken in Amir’s snatch and grab. The cleanup work Nick did was his usual excellence in detail. It was unfortunate about Evelyn Scott, but she left Nick with no choice. If he has any qualms about Amir, tell him to call me. Although Jared wanted him dead, having your father killed even when he deserves it, is something I would like to spare the kid.”
Plus, you get Amir, Spawn. By the chuckles on our network I was certain I had company with that train of thought. “I believe Nick feels the same way, not that he wouldn’t kill both of them without blinking.”
Denny took a deep audible breath. “That’s how I figured it too.”
* * *
Nick straightened a bit at the coffee shop booth as Robyn MacEachern entered. She nodded and joined him. Nick handed her the house keys for the rented place he used for only a day. “Thanks for all your help Robyn.”
“You got me good with the twenty-thousand-dollar bonus in my offshore account. I never expected an amount like that. Then, I began wondering if you ran into problems.”
“Evelyn Scott’s dead. Amir’s four henchmen also went the way of the dodo.” Nick cued the video in muted mode, with the scene of Evelyn attacking from the hallway with weapon in hand. He also showed her the pictures of the cleaned houses. “We planned to turn her over to Canadian authorities. I didn’t want you to think I was tying up loose ends.”
Robyn shrugged. “It looks like you did a great CSI cleaning. She chose her side. I’ll be okay. I’m certain no one will hear of her again. The family will eventually get around to checking on her. There will be an investigation. It will end as a missing persons case. I involved no one else in my work on this. There were no casualties on our side. That’s what counts.”
Robyn stood and shook hands with Nick. “Finish your coffee. I need to get back to work. Thanks again for the lovely bonus. No one will find Evelyn, right Nick?”
“Absolutely not.”
* * *
Nick and Johnny helped Cala prepare the bodies for deposit in the ocean down in the Panga boat launch section, as Gus and Lucas steamed out of port. They loaded each of the prepared bodies, stripped and disemboweled on top of a tarp already lining the boat. When they finished, Nick flipped the tarp over the corpses. They washed the bags with saltwater thoroughly. The bags would need to be dried at the fantail.
“Gus will steer us out further than need be,” Nick said. “We’ll take the Panga out tonight when we anchor for the evening. Until then, we’ll need to watch my snoopy young charges. Although this area will be locked down, we can never be sure what devilment Jean will get into. She saw us board Amir and d
eposit the bags down here. She and Sonny aren’t ghouls, but they’ll be curious. If it weren’t for the fact Rachel’s head would explode, I would have let the kids see the bodies before we prepared them for the ocean.”
“Get ahead of it, Muerto,” Cala advised. “Tell Jean and Sonny what we’ve done so she doesn’t get a crowbar to break into this area.”
Nick thought it over. “I’ll tell Rachel first and get her in the loop. The kids are chasing the dogs around the decks so I’ll have a little time. Lynn has Amir drugged in one of the crew cabins with her minions taking turns guarding and looking in on him.”
“Are you surprised they let him live,” Johnny asked.
“A little. I don’t think he’ll cause any trouble where Denny takes him. Although his motive isn’t pure, Denny’s right about Jared going on with his life knowing he had no part in killing his father. In his new life building a hospital medical facility in the City of Hope, he can avoid his relatives, who will surely be wondering what happened to Amir and his fortune.”
“I’m excited about tonight after we go boating with the bait,” Cala said. “You’ll be singing and playing piano again as we planned. Johnny and I will dance the night away. When do we discuss the new political storm?”
“Denny’s investigating it. Clyde’s meeting us in port to take Amir into custody. It will be good to see him.”
“He and Dannie have something going on,” Johnny said. “I hope it works out for him. Lynn won’t want to lose her trusted assistant.”
“Dannie will be finishing college first. You’re right about one thing though, she’s already been with him in DC. Lynn said Dannie’s hooked on the Washington DC power structure. She knows the depths of depravity there, but the glitz of parties, dinners, and Clyde’s role as the CIA Director’s Chief of Staff has left their mark on Dannie. Anyway, if we have a part in busting Senator Danders, John will let us know. I believe we’ll be on the Otter’s Point beach, sipping in the mornings again, for a while after we get home.”
“I am ready for that,” Johnny stated. “We did not get much of a break after the City of Hope venture. This cruise has been fun and informative. I had no idea the number of duties to be carried out aboard a ship like this.”
“We all did more this time out with regular passengers to work around. Except for Jean and Sonny, the rest of our guests treated this as a pleasure cruise. How did I do as chef?”
“No complaints, except from Tina, which is to be expected,” Cala replied. “I want to go on the cruise to take the Ranger to Monster Island again after we drop off the guests.”
“You would be welcome, considering the number of crew it takes. If we get back in time, I’ll take Jean and Sonny too. They loved the cruise. They did as much deckhand work as any of the adults. Even Lucas was impressed with them. I know Gus was. They only had to be told the right way once on anything they did. Let’s go air out these bags on the fantail.”
* * *
Nick, with Deke sitting next to him, shook hands with Clyde Bacall. “It’s good seeing you, Clyde.”
“Paul sends his regards.” Clyde searched beyond the dock landing where passengers disembarked from the Ranger. Dannie appeared, waving at him energetically. He waved back. “Ah… it’s good to see you too, Nick. Would you mind watching Amir for me while I say hello to Dannie?”
“Sure. Amir is a new man since meeting Dr. Deville, right buddy?”
Amir, standing next to Nick, kept his eyes on the pier. “Yes. If I may find a place never to see her again, I will do anything… anything.”
“That’s the spirit. Go on, Clyde. We’ll wait for you here. Do you need me to go back with you?”
“No, but thanks, Nick. I have two of Denny’s men with me. Excuse me.”
Clyde went on to meet Dannie. The meeting, passionate and uncaring about who saw what, went on for a few moments as others streamed by them. Nick turned again to Amir. “You have a great opportunity to become a real man and father instead of a brainwashed lunatic. Denny will get you in touch with Jared regularly. Once you’ve thrown off the Islamic mutant yoke, maybe you will be allowed to visit him at his new City of Hope medical facility.”
“I will never visit the city of blasphemy!”
Nick grinned because Amir spoke while staring at his feet. “It’s good you’ve learned humility. It will serve you well. Jared will far exceed anything you’ve ever done in your putrid life of Sharia Law Mutant enabling. If you ever find a way to hurt him or belittle him in any way, I will hunt you down and do you old school. I will slice you from your peanut dick to your chest until your intestines bulge out. Then, I give you an old school intestinal cleaning. Remember my warning when you talk with your son, Amir.”
Nick spotted an agent he knew, striding towards him. “Deke. Hold.”
Deke instantly crouched at Amir’s feet, hackles up, and growling through fang filled mouth. Amir stood stock still.
“Ken Carter?” Nick shook the man’s hand. “I thought you would have retired with the sum of money from our last journey into night.”
“You know how it is. I can pretend I want to retire, but truth is, it would kill me. I get to soldier on this way until I can’t do it physically. Paul and Clyde still trust me. I get to stay on the edge. I didn’t approach to bore you with my life. Phil Salvatore called me, if you can believe that. He needs a bodyguard he can trust in a meeting with Senator Bethany Barren from Massachusetts.”
Nick smiled. “You mean Bethany ‘Littlebull’ Barren, the one who claims to be one-thirty-second Cherokee, who has made a fortune pretending to be of Native American background?”
“That’s the one. ‘Littlebull’ is tied up into some bigtime gangsters in Massachusetts, she can’t shake. She promised them a number of things which they recorded. The dimwit thought she could play the Native American Card, along with laundering money through a charitable foundation supposedly for the homeless. On top of that, according to your nemesis, Phil, ‘Littlebull’ skimmed money. She believes they will kill her, or more likely, expose her to prosecution and eventually prison.”
“I get it, Ken. ‘Littlebull’ approached the only passport dealing authority open to larceny in existence at this time. She knows what he’s done in the past and wonders ‘wow, how did he get away with it’. ‘Littlebull’ paid him in advance, and she wants the passport to escape under a phony name right now.”
Ken nodded with grim smile. “You got it, chief. ‘Littlebull wants a meeting in guess where?”
“Pacific Grove, where our munchkin, Phil, lives. I guess Barren doesn’t know I live there too. I nailed a number of Congressional toads recently.” Nick paused, thinking over the fact Barren probably was aware Nick lived in Pacific Grove. “I’m beginning to wonder if maybe Barren does know I live in Pacific Grove. If she were hoping Phil would bring me in on the meeting, the pieces would fit together. Where did the chump agree to meet her… or her associates?”
“They want to come to his house,” Ken replied. “You may be on to something. They also requested Sonny be there. The only reason he contacted me was because the con-artists are working out of the same place they live. They need protection. They also know asking you for it will mean unintended consequences, but Barren doesn’t know that. I had to renew my passport this year. Three guesses how Phil found me.”
“He’s a tool. No doubt about that, Ken. If we can nail Senator Barren, we’ll do it on the spot. This may be an ambush, Ken. I may be on the menu rather than Phil. I have a feeling ‘Littlebull’ isn’t leading this parade of imbeciles. I’m wondering if maybe I should call on our interrogator supreme to have a few words with Amir. Lynn possibly gave up on the question and answer session too soon, when Amir confessed to owning Benny Danders.”
“Danders, huh? Good Lord… an outright commie like that piece of shit, with a wife double-dealing on the side, ripping off countless people with bank fraud while acting as a college president. I thought the FBI was already on the trail of those larcenous asshole
s.”
“They are. Once you allow the Saudis and billionaire globalists to form a cabal of one world order anarchists, the game they play becomes nearly impossible to beat without forces outside the law. Danders and Barren could be on the same string. Barren may have branched out too far with her schemes into a partnership with people who don’t play by anyone’s rules. I’m getting real interested in these gangsters Barren supposedly screwed. How did you handle Phil’s approach?”
“He called me yesterday. We tangled first on how he managed to get my private phone number. I admit my first thought was to twist his head off.”
“Been there, brother.” Nick told Ken what he had done to the couple in the night, giving them special haircuts they were still hiding. Nick smiled, seeing Ken express wild amusement at Nick’s dark night attitude adjustment.
“Nick… you are… the best. I didn’t tell him no, because I knew I would be meeting with you today. I’ll play the hand all the way if you want to sit in.”
“I do. This illustrates the fact those two will need to be watched throughout their lives. They never stop, no matter what danger they put themselves into. Phil’s nearly been killed or imprisoned more times than I like to think about. If he wasn’t the father of my daughter’s best friend I would have killed him. Thanks for bringing this to me. When you find out the details of this new scheme, call me. Since we snatched Amir, I should be sitting around my house writing pulp fiction.”
“Clyde told me you’re taking contracts on the ‘Dark Web’ again. Maybe it would be a good idea to stick with the novel writing.”
“The last time I tried retirement from it, I lost an edge I can’t afford to lose. You’re a fine one to talk, Agent Carter.”
“Baby steps,” Ken deadpanned. “Let me load Amir for Clyde after you try your word trap. Clyde’s in love. I want him to take as much time as he wants with his girlfriend. Dannie’s quite a lady. She survived the gangs, Harding’s interrogator supreme, and turned her life around. I heard how close to death Clyde came when he thought this Company gig was a game he could walk away from. They make a great pair.”
Cold Blooded Assassin Book 8: Rule of Nightmare (Nick McCarty Assassin) Page 15
