A Wake of Vultures

by Patrick Kansoer

  “Crystal clear sir.”

  “Good.” Was all he heard before the connection was broken.

  “Shit!” Loughlin said out loud. “Shit, shit, shit!”

  It took Loughlin almost thirty minutes of rummaging through things before he finally found the old Iver-Johnson five-shot,.22 caliber revolver. It was old and cheap. Back in the day they were sold in hardware stores and through mail order for around ten bucks. Cheap but deadly. There was a good reason why they were referred to as “Saturday Night Specials” and they made an ideal weapon for an up-close hit on an unsuspecting victim. The small caliber made very little noise and up close and personal it did a fine job. Loughlin spent some time oiling and loading the weapon before retrieving a thousand dollars in used twenties for the flash roll. He didn’t like it, not one bit. But he knew that he was in no position to not comply with the order from the firm.

  Loughlin didn’t sleep well that night, and he was up early. He wanted to get to the rendezvous location well before Crazy Kenny so he could scope things out. The good thing, if any of this could be considered a good thing, was that Harms Woods grove number two was one of the least used picnic areas in an otherwise very popular area of the Cook County Forest Preserve. The picnic shelter required a good quarter-mile walk from the parking lot along a not-so-well maintained foot path. About the only regular patrons of the grove were the local teenagers who would sneak in at night to drink and party. Not likely to find any of them in the light of day, especially not during the week.

  Maurice Laughlin was sitting on a picnic table at the rear of the shelter as he saw Crazy Kenny approaching. He shook his head in disbelief. Crazy Kenny was riding an old dilapidated bicycle and looked like he was going to pass out from the exertion.

  “Hey Kenny, what’s with the bike?”

  “Damn car broke down on the way over here and I just managed to limp it into the parking lot at Old Orchard shopping center. I knew you’d be pissed if I was late so I saw this old junk bike in a rack by the mall and helped myself. I feel like my legs are going to fall off and I’m out of breath, but I’m here on time.”

  “Yes you are Kenny, yes you are. Did the boss tell you why we’re meeting here?”

  “Sure did. Said you wanted to give me a bonus for the good job I done.”

  “That’s right Kenny, but it’s a little open here. Don’t want to have anybody walk up on us. Let’s take a short walk behind the outhouse over there and we’ll get you your bonus.”

  “Geez, do we have to go near that stinkin thing? I’m already gagging just being this close.”

  “This won’t take long Kenny,” Loughlin said walking toward the outhouse and reaching into his left pants pocket drawing the flash wad out just far enough to Kenny could see it.

  And that was about the only thing Kenny saw as they turned the corner behind the small stinking structure.

  “Here you go Kenny. There’s an additional grand there for your trouble,” Loughlin said handing the flash roll to Kenney’s outstretched hand.

  “Better count it and make sure it’s all there.”

  “Sure thing boss.” Kenny said starting to count bills from one hand to the other never noticing Loughlin taking the small revolver out of his right pocket and leveling it at Kenny’s head two feet away.

  Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop, five shots in rapid succession gave Kenny just enough time to look up in surprise before his body crumpled to the ground.

  The noise had disturbed the starlings perched in the trees, but as he waited and strained to hear if there was any response to the gunshots Loughlin heard the forest preserve sounds return to normal. He picked up the cash that had still remained in Kenny’s now lifeless hands and put it back into his left pants pocket. It was amazing that there wasn’t more blood from the five holes in Kenny’s skull but the only thing that seemed unusual in Kenny’s lifeless appearance was that his closed eyelids looked like they had been painted blue with eye shadow.

  Loughlin decided that he didn’t want to leave the body there where it might be discovered quickly. He had an idea.

  He opened the outhouse door and propped it with a stick, reached in and lifted to toilet seat over the hole. Grasping the body by the shoulders, he stuffed Kenny head first into the hole until the weight of the body caused it to fall with a wet plop into the human waste below.

  Laughlin dropped the Iver-Johnson into the hole, replaced the seat into position and removed the stick propping the door open.

  Once again Laughlin paused to make sure he didn’t see anybody coming. He didn’t. As he walked back toward the picnic shelter, he had an idea. Mounting the bicycle that Kenny had arrived on, Laughlin pedaled to the parking lot of Harms Woods grove number one to his car. He grabbed his cell phone and travel case from the vehicle, placed his keys under the floor mat, popped the hood and loosened a couple of spark-plug wires. He closed the hood and pedaled out of the parking lot headed north toward Dempster street. Then he put in a call to his mechanic to have the car towed, telling them that they had time to fix it since he’d be out of town for a few days.

  7 SCORPIONS and SAND FLEAS

  All governments rule through a combination of consent and coercion. Governments described as “legitimate” rule primarily with the consent of the governed. United States Marine Corps Basic Officer Course COUNTERINSURGENCY MEASURES B4S5499XQ

  Most Americans have no clue that foreign military hold training exercises every year in the United States.

  On June 30th, 1976 Congress established the International Military Education and Training (IMET) security assistance program and amended the law with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

  It is a type of military student exchange program. Officers from foreign countries attend various military schools in the United States, such as the U.S. Army War College or the National Defense University, as well as training and joint military exercises within the continental US.

  The Red Flag military exercises were considered among the most important training exercises carried out in the United States held in 2017.

  It was a mixed bag of international troops participating in the Air Force drill, which included Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

  The U.S. forces remained in charge of the drills, with other countries treated as “guests.”

  Col. Jeffrey Weed, 414th Combat Training Squadron commander said; "There is tremendous integration on their part when they come. There has also been a great training with our sister service Marine and Navy members. We had ground forces stay out in the field for the entire exercise and have had the broadest jamming capabilities from the Navy ever."

  Saudi Arabia’s 10th Squadron Royal Saudi Air Force participated in Red Flag 17-4 at Nellis Air Force Base.

  The Nellis public affairs department said “While we encourage foreign participants to stay in our base lodging for ease of travel during the exercise, they are welcome to make arrangements anyplace they prefer, any participant has the right to choose its own lodging.”

  The 10th Squadron Royal Saudi Air Force booked the entire W Las Vegas, a 289-room tower at the SLS Las Vegas that used to be the Sahara hotel. This was unusual since the Four Seasons hotel which occupies the top floors of the Mandalay Bay is co-owned by Bill Gates and Saudi Prince Al-Waheed bin Talal. In past years the Saudi military preferred the amenities at the Four Seasons.

  For some unknown reason, a contingent of that unit, elements of the elite Saudi National Guard remained at the W in Vegas after the military war games concluded.

  The Saudi National Guard, like many others in the Middle-East, is an elite unit that is not controlled by the military but answers, instead, to various members of the royal family.

  Known as the Ikhwan (The Brethren), it was the first Saudi army made up of traditionally nomadic tribesmen which formed a significant military force of the ruler Ibn Saud and played an important role in establishing him as ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  The Ikhwan became zealo
us religious warriors united and motivated by an idealism more than allegiance to Ibn Saud.

  The result was a rebellion by some Ikhwan against their creator.

  He crushed them at the Battle of Sabilla in 1929, and in so doing reasserted dynastic power over the religious mission. He reorganized them into the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

  The descendants of the rebelling faction’s leader, Eqab bin Mohaya had never reconciled themselves to the reorganization.

  With the ascension of Prince Mohammed bin Salman they became convinced that the royal family had regressed into religious laxity and not upholding the sharp separation of belief and infidelity.

  The great-grandson of bin Mohaya, Lieutenant Colonel Dhaifallah Bin Ghazi was particularly incensed over this apostasy and was in an unique position to do something about it.

  His Saudi National Guard detachment that had been part of the combined exercise and was modeled after the US Marine MARSOC.

  It was a special operations unit consisting of four six-operator tactical elements commanded and controlled by himself and three captains.

  He had hand-picked the sixteen non-commissioned operators. They were all highly trained, tough and resourceful and, most importantly to Bin Ghazi they were strict practicing true Muslims who believed in strict adherence to the norms of the faith.

  According to estimates Saudi Arabian Royal Family have 15,000 royals.

  Of that number 2,000 are multi-millionaires, who have all the power and all the wealth of the state. One of them was Prince Majed bin Abdullah bin Abdülaziz Al Saud a man of almost unlimited wealth and almost equally unlimited taste for perversion.

  Colonel Bin Ghazi and his detachment were clandestinely financed by the sheik even though they knew him to be even more of an apostate that the Kafir westerners.

  The Colonel had decided that it was the will of Allah, Peace Be Upon Him, to use the resources provided by Prince Majid to strike a blow for Islam against the rulers of the Kingdom who had become so lax in their faith.

  Since 1994, the U.S. Defense Department has entered into 3,061 contracts with twelve of the twenty four U.S.-based private military companies.

  Pentagon records valued those contracts at more than $300 billion.

  More than twenty-seven hundred of those contracts were held by just two companies. There were, however, a number of smaller contractors who were highly specialized.

  One of these was the Rebel Group which operated out of an industrial complex just north of Las Vegas that the locals referred to as Paradise Ranch.

  The Ranch was a tightly knit group of government contractors whose sole reason for existence was to provide “black budget” services to Nellis AFB outside of Las Vegas and the nearby Fort Irwin National Training Center in the nearby California desert.

  Since “Black Budget” operations were clandestine by definition the oversight was through agents of the intelligence community rather than being controlled by the military. Very seldom were these operatives identified with the alphabet agencies from whom they received their salary. If anything, they were simply referred to by the contractors as representatives of “the Firm” or “our Spooks”.

  The Spook in charge of liaison activities with The Rebel Group was an Australian national of Philippine descent, MaryJane Dimaguiba.

  Well-proportioned and in excellent physical shape, MaryJane would not be considered attractive as much as exotic in appearance.

  An expert in martial arts and small weapons, she had worked for “the Firm” for over twenty years in various locations around the globe. In the course of her employment she had killed twice. It hadn’t bothered her.

  As a cover the Rebel Group ran a helicopter service providing high dollar sightseeing around Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and as far away as the Grand Canyon.

  The real income for the company, however came from their leasing of police and military style helicopters to law enforcement, security and military operators for special operations.

  Their latest military special operations client was Colonel Bin Ghazi and his detachment and because they were a foreign entity, MaryJane Dimaguiba was the liaison.

  It rankled the Colonel that not only was he required to deal with this company of infidels in order to accomplish his mission but that he was also forced to do so by working through a Kafir woman. It was an insult to him as a man and as a Muslim.

  By the eyes of the Prophet, (may peace be upon him), when this mission is successfully completed, if it be the will of Allah, he will exact revenge for this insult.

  Colonel Bin Ghazi had to admit that the equipment provided by the Rebel Group was first class. The eight aircraft that had been leased to his detachment were clean, comfortable and quiet.

  All eight were configured to accommodate one of the detachments six member fire teams. Each team was composed of two snipers, two spotter/riflemen, and a two-man squad automatic weapon team. Three of the six helicopters were equipped with a Fast Rope Insertion/Extraction System. Part of the mission involved in-filling on the roof of a building as an element of surprise.

  The one singular advantage of having the cooperation of the Firm operator was the ability to make use of an abandoned fire department training facility outside of town where the fire teams could practice insertions and extractions from the aircraft without drawing attention to themselves.

  The owners of Rebel didn’t really think too much about their relationship with Colonel Bin Ghazi. They were used to “unusual” clients.

  "Mercenaries" are officially outlawed under Article 47 of the Geneva Convention, which defines them as persons recruited for armed conflict by or in a country other than their own and motivated solely by personal gain. The folks at Rebel Group were mostly concerned that the Colonel’s guys didn’t wreck the gear and that the checks, or, more accurately, the wire transfers kept coming.

  The executives at the Rebel Group figured that Colonel Bin Ghazi and his crew were legitimately from the Saudi Kingdom and that, if questioned, they could argue their company insist didn’t engage in combat and provided military-grade equipment only to a legitimate, internationally recognized government.

  Hour after hour, day after day, six days a week, Colonel Bin Ghazi drilled his teams. Inserting. Extracting. Each fire team memorizing the plan and building the muscle memory to execute their maneuvers instinctively. Ten hours a day for six weeks following the end of the Red Flag exercise with the United States military Colonel Bin Ghazi’s Ikhwan National Guard detachment had been honed to a fine razor’s edge. The time would be soon and his war fighters were ready.

  8 PRAIRIE DOG TOWN

  Loughlin had chosen this particular truck rental place because of the poor ratings they had received on the internet. He figured that there would be less traffic so fewer people who might remember him being there. It was on one of the main drags in Skokie near the border of Morton Grove and a straight shot of less than two miles to the Interstate that would be the first leg of his trip.

  The very first thing Loughlin’s nose registered walking through the door was the stink.

  It smelled like a gym, on a particularly hot day. It just wasn't hot enough to justify the smell of a locker room but all the same, there it was. Looking around Loughlin was sure that he had seen cleaner gas station bathrooms, but he wasn’t going to be here long. Just enough time to rent a non-descript van for the trip to Vegas with the goods.

  There wasn’t any employee in evidence so Loughlin hollered; “Hello. Anybody here?” while placing his battered work briefcase on the counter.

  A muffled voice came from behind a door down the hallway behind the counter. “Hold on, I’m on the can. Be right out.”

  A few minutes later he heard the sound of a toilet flush but no sound of water running in a sink. It was clear that the rental agent was not much of a stickler for personal hygiene.

  The door opened and out walked the rental agent adjusting his belt buckle and pulling his zipper fly up the rest of the way.

 
The man was somewhere between thirty and fifty, it was hard o tell. It had been quite some time since his body had made contact with soap and water which was obvious from the rancid chicken soup smell wafting across the counter and his rumpled and stained work coveralls and five day growth of stubble completed his sartorial ensemble.

  “What can I do for ya Mack?”

  “I called earlier about renting the fifteen foot cargo van one-way to Reno. Name is Collins.” Loughlin said producing the counterfeit Illinois drivers’ license that had been cooked up for him.

  The clerk took the I.D. and began typing into the computer terminal filling out the rental form. “Ya want the insurance, Mack” he said around the toothpick protruding from his mouth. “It’ll be an extra twenty dollars per day. It’ll cover any damage to the truck no matter whose fault it is… some fool rear ending ya, kids trowing rocks, that sort of stuff. Ya can turn it down, but if ya do there’s a three hundred dollar insurance deposit against any damage your insurance don’t cover.”

  “I’ll pay the deposit and use my own insurance”

  “Your choice Bud. That’ll be a six-day rental at Sixty-nine dollars per day, plus the three hundred dollar insurance deposit and fifty dollars for the full tank of gas. Also, be sure when you return the truck in Reno that the tank is full or there’ll be an additional fifty dollar charge. That’ll be seven hundred sixty four dollars plus sixty-four ninety-four tax for a total of eight hundred twenty-eight dollars and ninety-four cents. Visa, Master Card or Discover?”

  “That’ll be cash”, said Loughlin peeling ten one-hundred dollar bills from his wallet.

  “Gotta be on a card. Company is picky about those things.”

  “Oh, that’s a shame,” said Loughlin. “I don’t have my credit cards with me and I had intended to give you the extra cash as an accommodation, but I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble. I guess I’ll just go to a place where I can use cash”. He started to put the bills back into his wallet.