The Chaos Kind

by Barry Eisler

  “This is what you want,” Rain said, still holding the laptop aloft. “You can have it. Like you said, no one else has to get hurt.”

  Rispel’s men had flex-ties with them, and she considered the merits of securing Rain’s wrists behind his back. She decided it would be unnecessary. If the rest of Kanezaki’s people saw her using restraints, they might doubt her protestations of good faith. They might refuse to cooperate. They might even resist. She needed them to believe that all she wanted was the key to Grimble’s video system, and that as soon as she had it, they would all be free to go back to their lives. Martial arts were fine, but she had six men, after all. Armed with machine pistols. Disarming Kanezaki’s people would be enough.

  She glanced at the man on her left. “Tony.”

  Tony moved behind Rain and patted him down, then walked back alongside Rispel. “He’s clean.”

  “Fiona,” Rispel said.

  Fiona walked forward, took the laptop from Rain, and walked back to Rispel. She opened the unit, glanced at it, then looked at Rain. “It’s password protected,” she said.

  “I know,” Rain said. “Apparently, the credentials are in another building in the complex.”

  Rispel was immediately suspicious. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” Rain said. “Security, I guess. Grimble told us his passcode is long and complicated, and he keeps it separate from the transcoder for the videos, which is on the laptop.”

  Rispel considered. “Where’s Dox?”

  “He’s not here.”

  Rispel wasn’t buying it. And though she couldn’t prove otherwise, she’d learned at the black sites that one of the keys to interrogation was pretending to know more than you really did.

  “Bullshit,” she said. “We picked him up on Grimble’s camera network.”

  “I don’t know who you picked up,” Rain said, “but it wasn’t Dox. I guess so much for good faith and all that.”

  He said it confidently and readily, and she didn’t detect any deception. Still, he was obviously a hard man to read. “Then where is he?” she said.

  “You’ll have to ask Kanezaki. He’s the one who put together this crew. Look, my contract has a force majeure clause. I get paid either way. So take the laptop. Get the log-in credentials. It doesn’t matter to me.”

  That wasn’t so difficult to believe, based on his evident lack of interest in the two hostages, and in what Rispel had heard about his past.

  She realized he was still wearing his commo gear. She should have thought to have one of her men remove it so the rest of Rain’s people couldn’t hear what they had just discussed. Well, no harm done. And he had to tell them to come out regardless.

  “We’ll see,” she said. “Have your people come out. One by one, hands up, just like you did. Tell them anyone still inside at the end of the exercise gets a bullet.”

  “You’re wearing the commo gear you took off the woman,” Rain said. “They can hear you.”

  “I want them to hear it from you.”

  “It’s not up to me.”

  “Tell them anyway. And while you’re at it, tell them I’ll have you shot, too. Hopefully they won’t be as callous about you as you seem to be about them.”

  “All right,” Rain said. “You heard her. I’d suggest you all come out.”

  The door opened. A pretty Latina was first. Rispel recognized her from file photos. Diaz. Tony searched her, then moved her over near Manus. Next was a large and dangerous-looking man Rispel thought fit the description of Dox’s partner from Freeway Park. Then a woman and a teenaged boy, who broke the rules by coming out together. But Rispel didn’t mind—the woman’s obvious protectiveness might prove useful. Because Rispel knew about Manus’s adopted family, and recognized Evelyn Gallagher from NSA file photos. The boy was her son.

  As soon as Tony was done patting them down, Gallagher started signing to the boy.

  “Stop that,” Rispel said.

  Gallagher looked at her, and Rispel had to give her credit, for a moment the woman looked more dangerous than any of them. “He’s deaf,” Gallagher said. “And he’s scared. I’m just explaining what’s happening.”

  Rispel glanced at the boy. He glared back, looking as formidable as his mother.

  “He doesn’t seem scared,” Rispel said.

  “I’m not scared of you,” the boy said, his voice slightly off and a bit too loud.

  Rispel had to laugh at his pluck. “You should be.”

  “You make me sick,” Gallagher said.

  “How I make you feel is irrelevant to me,” Rispel said. “Manus is watching you. I don’t want any of you communicating in a way I can’t follow. Don’t make me tell you again.”

  Next out was Maya. And then a chubby man in a ponytail, wearing some sort of red, pleated robe and an enormous pair of eyeglasses. He was petting or stroking the side of his face as though smoothing out an invisible beard. He was obviously no operator, but regardless, Rispel recognized him from the file photos. Grimble.

  Kanezaki was next, looking at Rispel with surprising dispassion as he came through the door. Rispel had been expecting something more seething or self-righteous.

  “Hello, Tom,” she said.

  “Hello, Lisa.”

  She gave him a patronizing smile. “You can’t say I didn’t tell you.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “That sometimes it’s safer to have nothing even to recall.”

  “I guess I should have listened.”

  “It’s all right. I don’t mind a certain degree of insubordination. It shows spirit. It’ll be a little awkward when we’re back in the office, but ultimately we’ll be fine.”

  Another thing she had learned at the black sites: you had to give the subject something to hope for. People who had nothing to hope for could be difficult to manage. Say what you will about the Nazis, but Arbeit Macht Frei demonstrated a sound grasp of human psychology.

  “Am I right in thinking you’re the last one?” she said.

  “Yes.”

  “Where’s Dox?”

  “I don’t know. I told you, he isn’t always reliable about accepting jobs.”

  “Who helped you take down the team at the house on Lake Tapps?”

  “You’re looking at them.”

  “And at Schrader’s house?”

  “The same. How did you get him out of prison?”

  Rispel considered. The Lake Tapps team was solid. Ditto the shooters at Schrader’s house. But with Manus, Rain, and the dangerous-looking character, they could have pulled it off.

  “I have resources you don’t, Tom. I wish you’d understood that sooner. But better late than never.”

  She looked at Rain, then back to Kanezaki. “I’m going to have Tony check that structure. If there’s someone inside, I’m going to shoot one of you. One or more. Are you certain you didn’t accidentally leave anyone behind?”

  Kanezaki nodded. “I’m certain.”

  Tony went in. He was back in half a minute. “No one in there.”

  Rispel hadn’t expected Tony to find anyone, but it paid to be careful. And it would be careful to test Rain’s assertion that the laptop log-in credentials were in another location.

  “Mr. Grimble,” she said. “I’m so very sorry to inconvenience you. Can you tell us your log-in credentials please, so we can leave?”

  Grimble shook his head furiously. “Can’t, shan’t, rant.”

  Even though the file had said the man was on the spectrum, Rispel was taken aback. But all right, if he wouldn’t give her the log-in credentials, Rain might have been telling the truth. There was only one practical way to confirm.

  “Fine,” she said. “Then let’s go to where you have them written down.”

  She muted the mic she had taken from the blonde woman and added, “I’ll need all of you to remove your earpieces, mics, and radios, and set them on the ground. Not that I don’t trust you about no one else being on the property, but you know the expression: Trust, but ve
rify.”

  When they were done complying, she unmuted the mic. Now if there was a ringer somewhere else on the property—someone like Dox—he wouldn’t know his people couldn’t hear him. He might check in. If so, Rispel wanted to know.

  “Walk in front of us with your hands held high. You may have noticed, some of my men are carrying machine pistols. And there are others positioned on the perimeter. Think about that if anyone decides it would be a good idea to run.”

  She had no additional men on the perimeter, but if anyone was listening in, it wouldn’t hurt for them to believe she had more resources than she really did.

  Rispel’s men drifted back and they all started walking, Rain, Kanezaki, and the rest in front, Rispel and her people behind. She felt good. In control again. It had been touch and go for a while, with the stakes getting higher and higher even as the chances of success looked worse and worse. But she’d pulled it off. They’d get Grimble’s credentials, take care of business, and be out of here in no time. And that prick Devereaux was going to be kissing her ass for the rest of whatever dead-end career she might decide to allow him.

  And then she heard a helicopter.

  chapter

  seventy-seven

  LIVIA

  Livia watched from the dark of the crawl space. Rispel was taking no chances. She kept probing their responses, even bluffing about having seen Carl on the property. Rain handled it beautifully. If he were ever a suspect in a criminal case, he would be hell to interrogate.

  Rispel’s men seemed disciplined. Livia could take out one, maybe two. But by then the rest would be returning machine-pistol fire. And while the crawl space offered concealment, it was devoid of cover, and was even tighter than Rain had thought. Even bellied-out, Livia had just enough room to raise her head and look through her gun sights. No cover and no mobility was a death trap.

  One by one, they emerged from Grimble’s office. When they were out, Rispel had them all remove their commo gear. But first she muted the mic she had taken from Delilah. Clever. She must have been hoping that some as-yet-unseen players would speak up and give themselves away. Hopefully Carl was too smart to fall for the ruse.

  Livia decided to wait. If Rispel believed Rain’s story about the passcode and they moved, Livia could crawl out on the north side of the office structure and fall in behind them. Carl would open up the moment they were exposed. They’d be focused on where the sniper fire was coming from at the very moment Livia would ghost in from behind.

  And then Rispel agreed to go to the other location. They all began to move. Livia felt her heart pounding. This was it. She belly-crawled to the side of the passage and looked through the lattice. She could see two of Rispel’s men, guns out, close behind Larison and Delilah. She pushed out the lattice, squirmed through, and cut to the other side of the trees. It was rarely good to follow someone from directly behind—it was where people tended to check. And besides, the gravel roadway would be noisy, and she wanted the trees for concealment.

  She heard something. At first she thought it was one of the suppressed machine pistols, but no one was firing, and the sound seemed farther off than that. And then she realized—she’d been so intent on the firearms that she’d misinterpreted what she was hearing. She looked up and saw a helicopter.

  chapter

  seventy-eight

  LARISON

  Larison wasn’t exactly worried. Either Rispel would buy the story about the passcode being stored elsewhere on the property, in which case Dox would do his thing, or she wouldn’t, in which case Larison intended to go for the nearest man’s machine pistol and count on Livia to take that as her cue to open fire from under Grimble’s office. Still, he was relieved when Rispel told them all to start moving. Their chances would be significantly better if Dox dropped a few of Rispel’s people and had the rest of her team frantically searching for cover. On top of which, there would be the independent joy of watching some of these assholes who thought they had it all figured out have their heads converted into the proverbial fine pink mist, all at the hands of a man Larison felt lucky to count as a friend. Really, it was the little things in life.

  And then he heard a sound, getting louder fast. Shit, he thought. Helicopter?

  chapter

  seventy-nine

  DELILAH

  Rispel had taken her earpiece immediately, so Delilah hadn’t heard any of John’s deliberations with the team. But it was clear he was trying to get Rispel to move north, where Dox would have line of sight from the top of the teahouse. And Livia hadn’t come out from Grimble’s office. Delilah didn’t know where the woman was, but Delilah had seen her shoot before and knew she was formidable. It had been a surprise earlier to hear Livia agree to destroy the videos. Maybe Delilah had judged her too harshly. If this turned out well, she was going to make a point of apologizing.

  When Rispel agreed to move, Delilah’s heart started beating hard. She didn’t know who would shoot first—Dox or Livia. But as soon as it happened, all of them would have to engage whichever of Rispel’s people was closest. Overall, she thought their chances were decent. But it was doubtful they would make it through without at least someone getting hit. Evie was holding Dash close, and Delilah realized the woman was thinking the same thing.

  Your boy is going to be okay, Delilah thought. When this is over, I’m going to take him for a ride in that Porsche, like I promised. He’s earned it. And then some.

  She heard a mechanical whine, getting louder. She looked up and blinked. It was a helicopter, descending fast.

  chapter

  eighty

  MANUS

  Manus couldn’t follow what everyone was saying because he couldn’t see their faces. But he could see Rispel’s face, which was the most important. Evie had been signing to Dash, telling him to stay close, that their plan was good and they would be all right. Rispel had told Evie to stop. Manus wanted to go to work on her for that alone. But then Rispel said Dash should be scared of her. And Manus thought, I am going to kill you. They’d taken his gun and the Espada. But they weren’t as smart as Dox: they hadn’t checked his belt. He didn’t care what it took, he was going to get close to Rispel and punch the push-dagger buckle up under her chin and into her brain. Or get a gun from one of her men. Or use his hands. He didn’t care which tool. Only about the work.

  They all started walking. And then stopped. Everyone looked up. Manus looked up, too.

  And saw a helicopter, coming down so fast that for a second he thought it was falling.

  chapter

  eighty-one

  DOX

  Ordinarily, Dox was completely calm when sniping. Of course, ordinarily involved choosing a hide that offered line of sight to the target. And while among the available possibilities, the teahouse, which was built on the highest ground on the property, gave the best coverage overall, there were plenty of spots blocked by trees. Like the one where Rispel and her people were currently holding Labee, John, and the rest of the gang at gunpoint.

  Their best guess had been that any opposition was likeliest to come in through the main gate, the route Delilah and Larison had used, or to breach the fence along the Mountain Home side, because that approach wouldn’t require crossing anyone else’s property. John had favored the Manzanita approach precisely because it would be riskier, and therefore less expected. But it seemed Rispel had chosen it for the same reason. That, and maybe because that’s where Rispel found her sentry dead after he’d failed to check in. Either way, it was bad luck. Rispel had used pretty much the only approach hidden from Dox.

  It was obvious from her questions to John and Kanezaki that she was worried about Dox. The two of them had done a nice job of deflecting, but still, what if she didn’t buy John’s story about having to move? Twice Dox considered abandoning the teahouse and going in on foot. But that might have put him out of position at just the moment the high ground would be most important.

  And the woman was devious, too. There had been a pause between whe
n she agreed to move to wherever Grimble’s passcode was supposedly stored and when she started issuing instructions about how they had to walk with their hands up and all that. Dox had a feeling she’d muted the mic she took from Delilah while telling the team to remove their commo gear. Maybe she thought Dox would break radio silence and try to reach out to someone.

  Oh, I’m going to reach out, all right. You can count on that.

  But were they really moving, or was that more tactical deception? Well, he’d know one way or the other in just a few seconds. He breathed slowly and easily, his heart beating just a little faster than normal, watching the clearing just north of the trees through the reticles of the scope.

  And then he heard it. A helicopter. Not passing overhead, but coming in fast. He looked, and saw an MD500E, small and quiet, black with no markings.

  Black helicopters, he thought. You’ve got to be kidding me.

  It landed in the clearing. The driver cut the engine and immediately the rotors began to slow. The cockpit glass was smoked, and even through the Leupold scope Dox couldn’t make out the faces of the people inside. Then the pilot got out. Dox recognized him—a former Marine and current SOG guy named Dutch. Rispel’s ride? he thought.

  And then the passenger got out. And Dox was looking at none other than Director of National Intelligence Pierce Devereaux. Devereaux and Dutch immediately started walking toward the trees, beyond which were Rispel and the rest of them.

  Dox put the reticles on Devereaux’s right temple and his finger caressed the trigger. Devereaux was likely the top-level source of what they were up against. The head of the snake, so to speak. Take him out, and their problems could be solved, or at least substantially mitigated.

  But Manus had made a good case back at the Motel 6 that Rispel might have been running her own game. If so, dropping Devereaux could improve her position more than it did the team’s. Besides which, if Dox killed Devereaux now, Rispel and company would know there was a sniper in play.