by D B Steward
Trace did not like being dismissed like that and Nancy noticed the small flare of the young woman’s nostrils before she responded. “They still have two hours before they are overdue and my flight is in two hours.” They both stared at each other for a long time in silence. Finally Trace closed her laptop, stood, and then walked toward the door. With her hand on the doorknob she spoke over her shoulder. “When I took this job I knew we would be killing the right people. Bad people. I don’t mind that.” She turned her head to face Nancy. “Those gangbangers are the right people. No doubt. But are we doing this for the right reason?”
The door closed before Nancy Timmerman could answer.
“You’re the guy I was looking for Hector.” Kelly had noticed him enter and was pleased when she saw him come in alone. Kelly profiled Hector as the weak link among the brothers. If she was going to get answers from any of them, it would be Hector. The file Trace had prepared included pictures of the brothers. She recognized Hector’s rat face right away. His nose was more prominent than the other two brothers. His hair was oily and stringy, hanging just below his ears. He had a spindly mustache that announced to the world that he couldn’t grow a proper one. He didn’t have many face tattoos like his brothers, only a single teardrop under his right eye. He was scrawny and looked shorter than the 5’ 7” listed in his file. The file also didn’t mention how sweaty he was, his pits were soaked under his gaudy blue shirt. He wore black and blue snake skin boots with the toes curled up in the style that Kelly couldn’t understand. Why gangsters wanted to wear those clown shoes was beyond her.
“And who the Hell are you?” She watched him stroll up to her, trying to exude confidence. Kelly read his body language. His eyes showed his nervousness, wide and darting around the room. Although he was attempting to look relaxed, she could see the tension in his shoulders.
Oh man I wish I could play a few hands with this guy. Hector did not have a poker face. “I’m someone who represents some people that would like to be in business with you.” On cue, she could see the surprise flash in his eyes. He was going to be easy.
“Business? What kind of business could you do with me?” His slimy grin showed that two of his teeth had diamonds in them. “Maybe I put you on the corner and you do some
business for me.” The other men all laughed, Kelly guessed they were laughing out of duty to the boss.
“Oh Hector, you’re better than that.” She doubted it but she needed to reel the fish in slowly. “We’ve been watching you and we are impressed by what you and your brothers have accomplished.” She glanced around, her eyes landing on the other men in the place. “Is there someplace we can talk in private?”
“Yeah, right here.” Hector tapped one of the players on the shoulder and the man surrendered his seat. “Everybody out.”
The guard at the door held it open to the outside. “Time to go. Get out.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
She parked the car a block away from where they were before. It was a habit. Sonny had lived her entire life taking precautions against being visible. Performing random surveillance detection routes while driving. Never parking close to her destinations. These things were all done automatically. Being invisible was essential to her success and survival.
That was why she was feeling anxious getting out of the car. Kelly didn’t seem concerned at all about being covert. Sonny had to come up with a way to impress upon her how essential it was to keep a low profile.
As she walked closer to the tiny casino she could see men standing outside on the street. They were the guards and gamblers she had seen before. Milling about, smoking, drinking and talking. But Kelly was not outside and that fact caused Sonny’s heart rate to accelerate. She should not have left Kelly alone. What had she been thinking? MH4 were savages. Who knows what they would do to a woman who was by herself? She ducked around the corner before they saw her. She decided to enter the place from the back. The Sig Sauer P22 hidden under her t-shirt appeared in her hand while she entered the alley.
There was no one guarding the back entrance and she felt a little relief. Sonny darted toward the door, all the while keeping her head on a swivel to spot anyone else in the alley. The door had been left unlocked and she disappeared behind it. Inside she found herself in a darkened room that appeared to be for storage. She saw case after case of different brands of cervezas and hard liquor stacked high. There was a door across the room from the back entrance. First she pressed her ear to the thin door. She heard muffled voices, one man and one woman. Then she heard the unmistakable laugh of a certain red headed woman. She turned the knob slowly and peered into the room.
Kelly was still sitting in the same place but Sonny noticed another man across from her. She recognized him from the dossiers as Hector Garcia. Kelly had him enthralled with whatever she was telling him. He hadn’t seen her come in. She moved silently and appeared next to Kelly’s chair. Her action caused Hector to jump.
“It’s okay Hector.” Kelly smirked. “She’s with me.”
“I don’t even know who you are!” Hector shook his head in confusion.
“Who I am isn’t important.” Kelly smiled her most disarming smile. She folded her hands together on the table and leaned forward. “What matters is who I represent.”
Sonny’s face remained stoic but her mind was spinning as she tried to comprehend where exactly Kelly was going with this.
“Hector, I represent a government overseas that is very interested in establishing a partnership with you.” He narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion.
“What kind of partnership?” She knew she had him then. He was interested. He wanted to prove that he could be as important as his brothers. It was kind of pathetic, she thought. The little guy had been shit on by his brothers and wanted to prove himself to them and the world. But then she remembered that he was also a killer and rapist. After that she didn’t give two shits about Hector Garcia.
“A profitable partnership.” Sonny watched as Kelly settled into her role. She had to admit to being impressed by her partner. She was so convincing that Sonny could imagine being snowed by her. Kelly King had a way of charming people. “I represent a country that also has enemies in the United States. Enemies that we have tried to eliminate but without the success that your organization has enjoyed. We want to hire you, and we are prepared to pay handsomely.”
“How handsomely?” Hector asked. He was still suspicious, but the thought of closing a deal like this was outweighing his apprehension.
“Hector, Hector, Hector.” She reached across the table and patted his hands condescendingly. “Money is no object when you can pump as much oil as you want.” Kelly held her hand over her mouth as if she had spilled a secret. “Oh! Did I say that out loud? How foolish of me. My employers in the Middle East won’t be happy.” She slapped her palm on the table. “Oops! I did it again!”
Hector sat back in his chair as he took it all in. “The Middle East.” He looked like he was deep in thought and Kelly laughed at him on the inside. “I need to talk to my brothers.”
Kelly pushed away from the table and stood up. “We understand and we will be in touch Hector.”
“How?” Hector asked. “How are you going to get in touch with us?” Kelly smiled and slid a burner phone across the table.
“Don’t worry about that Hector. You go ahead and tell your brothers about our offer.” She started toward the front entrance and Sonny fell in step behind her. “You have twenty-four hours.” They exited and left Hector alone with his thoughts.
“I think that went very well.” They had been silent after getting in the car and no one had said a word for blocks. Kelly was tired of the tension and decided to speak first. “Don’t you think?”
Sonny pulled over to the side of the road. Her eyes looked straight ahead. She kept her long, slender fingers wrapped around the wheel. Kelly watched a muscle in Sonny’s jaw moving and she could see the tension in her hands.
“Do you have a death
wish?” She said quietly.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, do you have a death wish Miss King?” Sonny’s shout echoed in the car. “Are you trying to get us killed? Is that what you want?”
Kelly shook her head in confusion. “Um, no? What is your problem?”
“My problem? My problem?” Sonny’s dark eyes were flashing in anger. “My problem is you deviating from the plan. My problem is you making contact with the target. My problem is you doing whatever you want regardless of what we discussed! My problem is you!”
Kelly’s mouth twisted and she held her tongue. She wanted to tell Sonny what she was after from the brothers. Before Sonny could do whatever it was she was going to do to them, Kelly had to find out what had happened to those two agents. She owed it to the bureau and their family. Sonny’s agitated breathing was the only sound inside the car. The brunette closed her eyes and opened them again. After one long cleansing breath she began to pull back onto the road.
“Let’s get back to our room and figure this out.” Sonny said. Kelly said nothing, instead she focused on the street outside her window as it rolled by
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Noah had grown up convinced that he was destined for glory and now that destiny seemed closer than ever. Soon his revenge against the country that betrayed him would be complete. There were only a few steps he had to take before he could claim his victory and his revenge. He was confident that his connection to the assassination of Senator Sanchez was still unknown. The only loose end was the FBI investigation that was currently underway. Noah needed to disappear. Being the master strategist that he had convinced himself he was, he had planned his escape long ago.
The FBI was closing in on his militia group. The weapons that they had stockpiled would be seized. But he was going to make sure that they wouldn’t get them without a fight. He concluded that the best way to distract the FBI while he made his escape was to arrange a Waco situation.
Except the FBI would only seize the weapons he wanted them to. Assault rifles, ammunition, and a few bomb making supplies. Chump change as far as he was concerned. The real ordnance was still tucked away across the border to the north in Canada. His militia would make their stand and be wiped out, perhaps taking a few ATF and FBI agents along the way. Noah didn’t care. He would be long gone before the raid took place. He had the entire complex wired to explode when the time was right. The federal agents would be sifting through the rubble for weeks trying to identify remains that were burned to ashes.
It was a masterpiece of planning. Noah wished that he could show the world how perfect his plan was. But he knew that its success rested on it remaining a secret. The one pleasure he could take from it was the fact that there was one other person in the world who knew what was going on.
And that person would keep that secret or see their whole world come crashing down.
Ten years ago
He ran swiftly. His boots kicked up dust and gravel on the broken road as he approached the house. He had jumped out of the Humvee so fast that the NCO that was driving him hadn’t come to a full stop yet. The call had come over the radio and the colonel’s blood ran cold as his worst fears had come true. Pierpont was wound too tight, he had always known that deep down.
He pushed his way past the private that was standing guard at the entrance. The bullet riddled building was being used as a makeshift holding area for prisoners. Once
inside he took in the crime scene. Because that was what it had become, the scene of a crime. Pierpont was secured to a chair with his wrists in handcuffs near the wall. Another private stood next to him, guarding the detained officer. Sanchez stood near the center of the room waiting for the colonel.
“Where are they?” His voice was coarse and his mouth was dry.
“Follow me.” Sanchez led him through a doorway and into a hallway. They passed a few doors until Sanchez stopped at one and placed his hand on the knob. He paused and looked at Colonel England grimly before turning the knob.
Inside the room was a nightmare that England could never have imagined. Two men were restrained in chairs, both heads hung low and lifeless. In front of them was a woman and her throat was cut wide open. England gulped down the bile that crept up his throat. He closed his eyes tight and shook his head as he tried to comprehend the nightmare situation he was in.
This was going to end his career. This would be a black mark on his record and he could forget going any higher. The colonel had dreams of getting his star, or even higher. Now it was all over, all his hard work would be for naught. There had to be some way to fix it all he thought, some way to salvage his future.
“Who else knows.” He was addressing Sanchez but his eyes were locked on the corpses in front of him.
“Only the two guards and us.”
England nodded at the reply. “No one breathes a word about this. Dismiss the guards. We’re going to take care of this ourselves.”
“Sir, this is murder.” Sanchez began but the colonel cut him off.
“This is war.” He gritted his teeth. “This is the rest of our lives captain. I won’t throw it all away because of an incident like this.”
“An incident?” Sanchez was incredulous.
“Yes, an incident.”
“We’re going to cover this up? Pretend it didn’t happen?”
“That’s exactly what we are going to do. Burn these bodies.”
“What about Pierpont? Are we going to let him get away with this?”
Colonel Timothy England shook his head. “No. He won’t.” He left the room with Sanchez trailing behind him.” He stopped in front of Pierpont and stared at him.
“Private you are to say nothing about this. Tell the private outside the same and both of you are dismissed.”
“Yes sir.” The soldier saluted and left the room. The colonel watched as the private left the room; only he, Pierpont, and Sanchez remained in the room. Pierpont’s head hung low. Both England and Sanchez glanced at each other for a moment and then directed their attention back to Pierpont.
“Look at me.” England’s voice was tinged with a mixture of rage and betrayal. In defiance Pierpont refused to lift his eyes. “I said look at me!” The colonel’s voice echoed off the bare walls of the tiny room. After a moment Pierpont raised his head and their eyes met.
The eyes of Noah T. Pierpont were like two black holes, cold and lifeless. For the first time, England felt he was looking at the real Pierpont. They were the eyes of a psychopath. England saw no remorse in him, no concern for what he did.
“Why?” The question hung in the air and the colonel was not sure he wanted to know the real answer. “Why did you do this?”
“Because he’s a sick maniac.” Sanchez answered for him. “I knew he was a monster.”
Pierpont scoffed and rolled his eyes, he ignored Sanchez and spoke to the colonel. “Why? You want to know why? Are you serious? Have you forgotten how they killed my men?”
“These people didn’t kill your men!” Sanchez snapped. “They were innocent!” England held his hand up to silence his captain.
“The IED killed your men Noah.” His voice was steady even though his mind was spinning like a top. “Not them.”
Noah sneered. “Bullshit. They knew, they knew who planted it. They are as guilty as the ones who did it. They got what they deserved.”
“What they deserved?” England was unable to comprehend Pierpont’s reason. “They deserved this?” The sneer that spread over Pierpont’s face chilled him to the bone.
“All this and more. So much more. If we want to win this war then we need to wipe them out. All of them. We need to bomb this place until the sand turns to glass. They kill my men, I kill them. That’s how war works.” He scoffed. “If you and your Pentagon friends would stop sucking each other off for five minutes you would know that.” The colonel’s back stiffened at the remark and Pierpont winked. “But you don’t mind that at all do you?”
“Be very careful.”
England hissed.
“Oh come on.” Pierpont angled his head toward Sanchez. “You worried about people finding out that we’ve been fucking?” It felt as if all the air was sucked out of the room. Sanchez’s eyes widened and darted back and forth between the two. He could see facial muscles pulsating on the colonel as if they were about to tear themselves from his skull.
“Watch yourself.” England warned.
“Oh come on lover, we’re here and we’re queer. Get used to it” Pierpont chuckled. “Oh, you think being gay and fraternizing with a subordinate is going to hurt your chances for promotion?”
Sanchez cleared his throat. “Sir, I should-” Pierpont cut him off.
“Oh no, stay. This concerns us all. After all you are the golden boy that he has taken on as his protege. It’s only fitting that you should be here when mommy and daddy fight.” The colonel clenched his fist and fought to control the fury that was building inside him.
