by David Nees
“What do I tell Henry? He’s less convinced about all of this than I am.”
“Hell, I don’t know. But I’m going to rescue someone caught up in drugs and pornography, someone young with their whole life ahead of them. Right off, that’s a good thing. And the woman said it would lead me to identify a greater darkness and destroy it. That’s a good thing as well.”
“But there’s so much risk in what you do. An unplanned job like this will only increase that risk. I don’t want to lose you to a side job.”
“I appreciate your concern, really I do, but most of the jobs are barely planned. I always have to freelance in the sense of making plans as I go along. This won’t be any worse.”
“You’ve been speaking about this as if you’ve already decided. Is this a done deal?”
“I have decided, but I want you to know…and I want your blessing on it.”
“Cover for you with Henry?”
“That too.”
Jane swore softly. “Damn, I don’t like this. I can keep Henry from going ballistic. He kind of understands your independence.” She paused for a moment. “But can you promise to check in and keep me informed? We didn’t hear from you for long stretches in Mexico.”
“I can do that, but I can’t promise a strict schedule.”
“All right, where’s the girl?”
“Somewhere in the Balkans. I have to find her.”
“Who’s the pornographer? Do you have a name?”
Dan stiffened and hesitated. “Feriz Sadiković, but don’t you let anyone interfere and screw up the operation. That will only endanger me and them.”
“I’ll keep clear, but I want Fred to find out everything he can about him.”
Fred Burke was one of two assistants working for Jane. He was a meticulous researcher and could tease useful information out of the massive stream of data that flowed over the internet. Warren Thomas was the other assistant. He was a technical wizard, a true geek who could get past almost any security set up without leaving a trace.
“Thank you,” Dan said. “I don’t think the woman, the Watcher, meant Feriz is going to be connected to the more important characters. I think the path lies through the girl.”
“Good luck dealing with a teenage girl, who’s also an addict.”
“Yeah. That’s uncharted territory for me.”
“Be careful, Dan. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“I didn’t know you were psychic,” he said with a smile.
“I’m not. And don’t be cute. But this job worries me, and not because I didn’t arrange it. You go from a dangerous rescue to some greater, unknown danger, probably without proper information.”
“I’ll be careful. It’s how I’m going to survive in this game. That’s also a reason to listen to these Watchers. It may improve my odds. You and I still have a sailing date to make happen.”
“You finish this and I’ll fly over. We’ll go sailing.”
“Now you’re talking. It’s a date.”
With that Dan turned off the phone.
After his meeting with the assassin, Pietro reported his success to his employer, Jan Luis Aebischer in Zürich. Herr Aebischer was in his seventies. He was a solidly built man still trim and fit from a life-long daily exercise regimen. He stood five feet ten inches tall with a thinning head of silver hair. His face was angular with a strong jaw and clear, blue eyes of piercing intensity. One could easily call his visage patrician. He had an aristocratic appearance that fit with his wealth and status. The effect was that even people who didn’t know him gave him deference in public. Herr Aebischer however was not a very public man, preferring the privacy of his office or mansion in Zürich.
Today like most days, Herr Aebischer was working from home. Pietro Conti stood in front of desk in his office.
“Send two men to Gračac to keep an eye on this assassin you hired. I want them to retrieve Evangeline after he completes his assignment.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Sir,” Pietro said. He was caught off guard. He didn’t often oppose his employer, but this seemed to be a rash idea.
“You’re not?” The banker raised his eyebrows and for the first time looked directly at Pietro.
“No Sir.” Pietro took a breath and continued. “First of all we won’t have the final payment and second of all, it is not according to the plan he set up.”
“But you work for me, so you follow my plan…do you not?” The man eyed Pietro with his stern gaze.
“Yes Sir. But this is a dangerous man. I don’t think we should risk your daughter any more than we have to.”
“I’m not going to leave my daughter in the hands of an assassin, someone who could run off with her and blackmail me for more money. And who knows what might happen to her while she’s in his control?”
Pietro stood his ground. “But he could cause us trouble afterward.”
“I’ve thought of that. This assassin could be a trailing liability for me. He should not survive the operation. Send two men, the best ones we have. That will close down the trail and save me half a million Euros.”
Pietro stood there. Aebischer looked up at him.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes. But I have to tell you this is not a good idea. He is not someone I would want to cross.”
“Pietro,” Aebischer said leaning back in his chair, “I pay you well. You do lots of things for me and offer advice, but in the end I expect that you obey me. This is my decision. Now you are to make it happen. Do not overstep your bounds.”
Pietro nodded and retreated from the office.
Chapter 10
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T he next morning, Dan was on his way. He followed the A4 roadway which ran around the top of the Adriatic Sea through flat, productive farm fields. It was visually not very stimulating. He would be nowhere near the water until he started heading south. Past Sistiana he drove along the coast and two and a half hours after leaving Venice, he stopped in Trieste for lunch.
From Trieste, it was another four hours to Gračac, Croatia. There he checked into a medium-priced hotel under a little used identity, Bob Joseph. He had put on his disguise before departing: mustache, nicely trimmed beard, and dark hair and eyebrows. He also had enlarged his nose to be more prominent, with a decided lump in it, as if it had been broken once before. Someone trying to describe him later would focus on the nose, which did not look anything like Dan’s regular shaped appendage.
The village was small with a few quaint buildings mixed in with the plain, functional structures. It was an easily dismissed farm village but the place had a small reputation among bicyclers and so catered to this tiny segment of the tourist industry. He rented a room for the night at Apartman Odmor on the east side of the village.
It was going to be hard to get any information without tweaking the interest of the locals. He would have to rely on his disguise to protect his identity. In the aftermath of his mission, which Dan didn’t think would take place quietly, his name and visage would come up and be relayed to the authorities. The alias would be blown and could never be used again.
That night he ate in a small restaurant, not really set up for tourists. His plate of rice and vegetables was sufficiently good to hold his attention. After finishing his meal, he asked in purposely halting Italian whether the proprietor knew where the famous movie maker, Feriz Sadiković lived. The man looked at him with suspicion.
“I heard he makes lots of movies and has lots of beautiful women at his house. Someone said he holds very entertaining parties,” Dan said.
The man shook his head. “I don’t know where he is.” His Italian was worse than Dan was making his own out to be. “He is very private.”
“That is a shame. I promised to drive by the mansion and take at least one picture for a friend of mine.”
“No. I not know where he lives.” He paused for a moment before plowing on with his limited Italian. “You come for that
?”
“No. I’m planning a bicycle trip with my friends, but we wanted to go past the famous movie maker’s house. We will ride through the Nacionalni Park Paklenica and then to the seashore.”
“Ah, Park Paklenica, molto bello. You will enjoy. The man seemed happy to change the subject.
Dan thanked him, paid his bill, and left to walk the streets. There were a few pedestrians about. Out of habit, he scanned the people as he walked along. A few gave him furtive looks which Dan registered. He wrote those off to being a stranger in a small village. Two men, however, stood out. They were dressed better than most of the locals. Both were solidly built. But it was the shoes that stood out to Dan; they were expensive-looking dress shoes, something he did not expect to see in this small town. The two men were distinctly taking notice of him and turned away as soon as he looked at them. Dan made a mental note of their faces in case he ran into them again.
He hoped to find someone younger who would not be so suspicious about his questions. There was a coffee shop in town, an attempt at a modern establishment that would attract the small but growing group of adventure tourists. Dan decided to give the shop a try. The help were all younger, sporting elements of the hip styles of the modern culture. A young man at the counter could speak Italian. Dan tried the direct approach.
“I’m bringing some friends here next month to cycle the area. I heard about a Croatian movie maker who has a large compound around here. We thought we’d cycle past it on our way to the national park. Do you know where it is?”
The kid laughed. His Italian was better than the older restaurant owner. “Not many people want to talk about him. They’re a little embarrassed by him.”
Dan gave the kid a quizzical look.
“He’s a pornographer. He makes porno movies.”
“Ohhh.” Dan feigned surprise. “That’s why I was getting a cold response.”
The kid nodded, still chuckling.
“And that’s why we heard about his outrageous parties.”
“But he never invites the locals,” the young man said, still smiling.
“So, do you know how to find the place?”
The barista nodded. He gave Dan the directions, where to turn off the main road leaving town and approximately how far up the road to go. The property entrance was before the road went over the pass and down the western slope of the mountain.
“I wouldn’t hang around the turn-off to the driveway. The place is guarded and someone may confront you.”
“Thanks for your help. It will add some color to our cycle trip.” Dan handed the kid a twenty Euro note and left. He’d head out tomorrow and find a place to set up his base of operations.
Chapter 11
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D an found the road going over the mountain just as the barista told him. It was gravel. The surface got rougher as the road climbed higher but the Range Rover handled it well. In a high valley before reaching the pass, Dan passed the turn-off into Feriz’s compound on his left. He continued without stopping. A half of a mile below the ridge, Dan found an old two-track trail heading off of the road in the same direction. He stopped. The trail showed no signs of being used recently. There were no tire imprints, nothing to disturb the leaves that had accumulated over many seasons, almost obscuring the signs of the trail. Dan turned the Rover onto the two-track and followed it until he was sure he could not be seen or heard from the road. He pulled off the trail and placed the vehicle under the trees poised for a rapid exit if one was needed.
After parking the SUV, Dan immediately went to work setting up his encampment. He draped camouflage netting over the vehicle and gathered brush from the surrounding woods which he put over the netting. Although not fully camouflaged, it would be overlooked by someone using the trail unless they were looking for a vehicle. He would sleep in the vehicle which to Dan marked a huge improvement over his usual accommodations when scouting a shot. Next he took out his ghillie suit and proceeded to weave the local vegetation into the netting.
The forest had a dense canopy of aspen, oak, and beech trees mixed with spruce evergreens, along with numerous rocky outcroppings. These were older growth trees and beneath the canopy the forest floor was open and easily navigated.
It was afternoon when he was finished. No time like now to get a look at the compound. Dan gathered his M110, field glasses, night vision goggles, put on his suit, now covered with leafed-out branches, and set out in the direction of the mansion. The compound was down-slope. It would take some hiking around to find it and set up some good spotting and shooting sites. Dan was looking for an overlook that would give him a clear field of vision and fire. A half hour of hiking brought him to a point where he could see the cleared valley below. He spotted the buildings, but his sight lines were not clear. Another half hour of careful hiking around brought him to a ridge outcropping. Near the edge of the rocky clearing the increased sunlight stimulated the smaller bushes which could find purchase in the rocky soil. Dan crawled up to the edge in the brush. He was just another bush in the undergrowth. He would not be spotted even by someone using binoculars.
He was positioned about seven hundred feet above the cleared grounds. Below him there was a large and impressive mansion. It had soaring roof lines that indicated many wings and partitions inside. Behind it was a pool that meandered around landscaped grounds. Dan could see a swim-up bar, multiple lounge and sunning areas and four diving boards for the adventurous. The area was equipped with a convertible roof that could be unrolled to cover part of the area in inclement weather. Off to one side were grassy fields for volleyball and soccer.
Next to the pool was what looked like a large, wood-heated sauna that could probably hold twenty people. It was a short dash from the sauna to the pool. Beyond the pool was another large building which Dan guessed housed the studios where Feriz produced his pornography: explicit movies that were short on plot and long on skin and sexual activity. Pietro also spoke of an S&M dungeon in the basement for his more hard-core production work. Some of the films looked like they had been produced in the mansion proper to take advantage of its more glamorous setting.
Dan was facing east with the sun was behind him. It called for an afternoon shot, if he was going to shoot from a distance. His eye followed the long driveway to his left where it crossed the bridge before intersecting the road over which he had driven earlier. A plan began to form in Dan’s mind, a bit loose and vague on details, but he hoped more scouting would improve it on that score.
He turned his focus back to the mansion area. There were a few girls around the pool, most topless, a few with no clothes, and no one fully dressed. There was some activity in the back building with men and women coming and going. Making a new movie? It was a Thursday. Dan had some time to watch and refine his budding plan. The weekend might bring a party which would ensure most of the girls would be at the compound. His thinking still didn’t include an exact plan on how he would take out Feriz, nor how he would find the girl.
After watching for an hour, Dan slipped back from the outcropping. The vantage point was not too far away to shoot from, but Dan needed a spot where he could get to the compound more quickly. It would take a half an hour of thrashing his way downhill through the woods before he could emerge in the clearing around the buildings. Whatever plan he came up with, it had to include getting onto the grounds and finding the girl. Then he had to get her out of there. Have to neutralize the guards, if I can identify all of them. Don’t want to have to shoot my way out carrying a drug addled girl. He shuddered at the thought. So much could go wrong in that scenario.
He began working his way down the hill. He was under the cover of the forest, but it was treacherous going, with gentle slopes transitioning into steep drop-offs which he slid down. At about three hundred feet above the valley floor, Dan worked his way to another overlook. The people could be seen more in detail but the buildings hid some of the view of the grounds. This might be a good place to try to l
ocate Evangeline. If I can identify her in her current look, it’ll be easier to find her when I go in. After watching for over an hour but not seeing anyone that looked close to the pictures he had of the girl, Dan called it quits.
He started the long climb back to the SUV. It took over an hour. The sun went down behind the ridge and the woods began to darken. He ate a camping meal in a pouch. It was lasagna which he heated over a camp stove. I should explore the ground tonight. He didn’t mind sleuthing around, confident in his skills, but he wasn’t looking forward to the long climb back up the slope. Getting soft, buddy, he chided himself. The ghillie suit would not be of much help on the cleared, landscaped grounds, so he opted for his dark tactical pants, shirt and jacket. The air was beginning to chill as the heat of the day dissipated.
Finishing his meal, he stretched and gathered his gear. He took his night vision goggles and his M4 with the suppressor attached. On his belt he carried his CZ 75 pistol, also with a suppressor attached. This was a scouting mission. Dan didn’t anticipate any contact or need for weapons, but he would not penetrate the compound without a way to defend himself if discovered. Better to compromise the mission and be alive than to compromise it and be dead. He assumed there would be external security around the compound. It could be ultrasonic or infrared. Before leaving Dan had brought a thermal blanket which he had painted in a camouflage pattern on the outside. He also brought a can of silicone spray which would blind an infrared sensor. After a look around, he set out down the slope, for the compound.
Chapter 12
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A fter an hour of hiking and sliding down the mountainside, Dan reached the edge of the clearing. He was in the woods to the west of the mansion. Away from the buildings, near the trees, the grass was allowed to grow higher. There was no fence. As one approached the mansion, the grass was cut more carefully, kept short and neat. Thankfully where the grooming improved there were landscape plantings which could provide Dan some cover. The driveway down to the guard house and bridge was lined with mature trees. He could not see around to the back of the house from his current position. Dan took out his binoculars and studied the guard house for a while. There were two guards stationed there. No one came or went. Probably do three or four-hour shifts. They had to have some communication with the main house, either by wire or wireless.
