Sabotage: A Reece Culver Thriller - Book 2

by Bryan Koepke

  To Reece the man looked pensive, like he was still mulling over his conversation on the phone, but his voice was welcoming and charismatic. They took the elevator down and crossed the cool cement floored parking garage. A tall gentleman with crisp black hair greeted them.

  “Karl, did you get through to Woodbine?”

  “Alex, let me introduce you to Reece Culver,” Karl said.

  “Oh, yes. It’s good to meet you,” Alex said. Reece shook the other man’s hand.

  “I did talk to Woodbine just a little while ago, why?” Karl said.

  “Has there been a decision on when we’ll be taking things forward with the sale of the sector?” Alex said.

  “No, nothing yet.”

  Reece wondered their conversation. Did the sale of this Draecon sector have something to do with the drawings Haisley had found on Thomas Billington’s computer?

  *

  After they’d eaten lunch together in an Italian restaurant on the northern outskirts of London, Reece followed Karl out to the British Racing green Jaguar.

  “So, like I told you earlier. I don’t need your help. I don’t know what’s making Marie so paranoid. It’s tragic that Margaret met her death, but that has nothing to do with me. I told the Scotland Yard inspector that when he questioned me,” Karl said.

  “And you’re not worried that whoever took out your secretary might take out you,” Reece said.

  “No, and if they do I can take care of that myself,” Karl said, sounding ominous.

  Reece wondered what he meant by that last statement. He knew that the man had been annoyed when he found out that Reece had been spending time in Tarbert with his ex-wife.

  Reece opened the passenger’s-side door and climbed in. The interior still smelled new. He watched the other man start the car, and leaned over to read the mileage off the odometer.

  “I assume you and Mr. Averton will be heading back to Colorado soon,” Karl said.

  “Yes, just as soon as we’re done with our vacation,” Reece said.

  “Your vacation? Where do you plan to spend the rest of your vacation?”

  “In Scotland. We came over to go fishing,” Reece said.

  “And where do you plan on staying while you’re fishing?”

  “Well, we’d initially planned to stay up at a fishing lodge on one of the lochs, but that could change depending on what other options we have,” Reece said, knowing that when he went back to Scotland he’d be staying with Marie.

  “Well, just make sure you don’t stay with Marie. That’s my house, you know. I paid for it, and until the divorce is finalized, I own it.”

  Chapter 33

  Haisley Averton strolled down the narrow street on his way back to his London flat. The headline on the newspaper under his arm told of a new tax that would soon be levied on local citizens for road improvements. He thought about Reece and figured he’d call and see if he wanted to go fishing the next weekend. To his right he spotted a black Mercedes SUV. It was in the left lane heading south, but was driving much too slow for the conditions. Haisley stopped, wondering about the queer speed. It stopped next to the curb a few feet ahead. A man dressed in a blue suit got out and approached him.

  “Haisley Averton?” he said in a British accent.

  “Who wants to know?”

  “Inspector Daren Dixon, Scotland Yard,” the man said.

  “I figured,” Haisley said. “You guys are so predictable.”

  “Here, get in. I’d like a few minutes of your time,” Dixon said, motioning toward the open door of the Mercedes.

  Haisley slid into the backseat of the SUV and noted that a woman was driving and a second man dressed in a similar suit sat to her left. Inspector Dixon slammed the door and the SUV sped off down the street.

  “Normally I would have come to your residence. Is this your business card?” Dixon said.

  “Yes, why?” Haisley said, turning toward the man on his right.

  “Do you know a man named Karl Rhodes?” Dixon said.

  “I do. I’m doing some work for him.”

  “What kind of work?”

  “Computer forensics. Cleaning up his home computer, defragmenting his hard drive, things like that.”

  “You came all the way from Colorado to do that?” Dixon said.

  “No, I came to the UK to do some fishing, but I got sidetracked.”

  “Did you intend to go fishing still?” Dixon said.

  “I came for a vacation. My friend Reece Culver and I came here to go fishing on the lochs in southwestern Scotland.”

  “Where is your friend now?”

  “I assume he’s still up in Scotland, but I’d have to call him to know for sure.”

  “When did you start working for Karl Rhodes, and how long have you been staying in the London flat?” Dixon said.

  “I guess I’ve been working for Rhodes for three or four days. I am renting the flat on a weekly basis. I need a place to stay and it was a much better deal than the local hotel,” Haisley said.

  “Okay, so what have you found?” Dixon said.

  “Found?”

  “Do you know who hacked into Karl Rhodes computer?” Dixon said.

  “Hacked, how do you know that?” Haisley said, wondering if Scotland Yard was investigating Rhodes for something. Or maybe they had their eyes on Draecon.

  “No, I don’t know who got into Mr. Rhodes, computer,” Haisley said, lying. He knew he had to tread lightly with the inspector. As far as he knew, they’d already examined Rhodes’ computer.

  “Okay, then. Here’s my card. This is my direct line. If you find anything, give me a call,” Dixon said. “I know your background. And because of that I’ll let you know something.”

  “Yeah, what’s that?” Haisley said as he took the card from Dixon and slid it into his shirt pocket.

  “This could be a matter of national security.”

  Chapter 34

  Alex James pulled his suit jacket off and hung it over the back of the chair. One of the lady drone pilots was at the controls. The room was buzzing with college-aged men and women in white lab coats, as Nevius’ team assembled for what he’d earlier said would be the UAV’s qualification test. To Alex it was a chance to see what all the time and money he’d spent over the past three years had purchased. If today’s test went according to plan, Alex could move on with the next part of the operation—destroy the financial district.

  “Okay, everyone take your stations,” Nevius said over the loudspeaker. “Alpha one, have you towed the boat into position?”

  “Roger that, Beta Two. The boat is in place and anchored. All personnel are out of range. The zone is free of traffic.”

  “Okay then, pilot number one, you have control. Show us what this thing can do,” Nevius said.

  Alex walked up behind the seated drone pilot. She barely looked old enough to drive, let alone able to command a weapon capable of mass chaos.

  “We are approaching the target. I’ll make several turns like we will when we are on target in the Middle East. If you watch the overhead, you’ll be watching live footage from camera number one mounted in the nose of the UAV,” the lady drone pilot said in a soft but confident voice.

  Up above on a sixty-inch flat screen Alex watched the drone flying down a series of streets at what looked like fifty feet off the ground.

  “The streets look empty,” Alex said.

  “They are,” Nevius said. “The residents are inside their houses or at their jobs. The children are at school. We want to simulate reality, but we have chosen a time of day when we have the least chance of being seen.”

  “And what happens if someone sees the drone?” Alex said, suddenly worried.

  “No one will see, I’m pretty sure,” Nevius said.

  “You’re playing with my money,” Alex said as he watched the drone rolling right to left as it navigated the narrow streets of the town. Then after rolling back right it accelerated off a cliff, descending toward the surface of the ocea
n. He could see white-capped waves as the UAV flew west toward what looked like a cloud-covered sun.

  “We have the target on radar lock at fifteen kilometers,” the drone pilot said. “Current airspeed is three hundred knots or five miles per minute. Bombay doors are open. One, two, and three. There, we have extension of the rotary unit,” the pilot said.

  A man on the far side of the room at a console cleared his throat. “Telemetry is all green. System drag on the RBU is minimal.”

  “RBU?” Alex said.

  “Yes, that’s the Rotary Bombing Unit,” Nevius said from behind him. “Something I borrowed from the military.”

  “The military?” Alex said.

  “Yes, the design. It’s how they manage to stuff so many bombs into the narrow fuselage of their airplanes. Think of them as bullets in a revolver,” Nevius said.

  “One minute to launch. I still have lock on the target,” the pilot said excitedly. “All systems are go. Counting until launch, one, two, three,” the woman’s voice called out over the speaker. Up above on the flat screen Alex watched the drone flying quickly over the ocean’s surface. Out in front of it a rusty fishing boat that looked like it might have at one time been part of a shrimping fleet bobbed in the heavy chop of the ocean.

  “Weapon is away,” the pilot called.

  The sound of an explosion boomed, and on the big monitor above their heads a giant orange fireball extended up toward the heavens.

  Chapter 35

  Reece sat to the left of Karl Rhodes in the man’s green Jaguar. They were driving on a stretch of highway bordered in the middle by a short rock wall. Something caught Reece’s eye. The silver truck he’d noticed following them earlier was pulling up beside the Jaguar. He looked past Karl’s head and saw a window of the truck open. The bald man that appeared had an edge to him with his deep black eyes, but that wasn’t what bothered Reece. It was what the man had in his hand.

  “A gun!” he yelled.

  Karl jerked the steering wheel left and Reece heard an impact on his side. They’d scraped a guardrail or one of the prevalent rock walls he’d seen so many of on the outskirts on London. The sound of screeching tires was intense, but nothing in comparison to the shattered window on the right side of the car. Yet thanks to Karl’s evasive maneuver, the silver truck had accelerated past them.

  The car came to a skidding stop in the grass-covered median.

  “You fucker,” Karl yelled out. “You can try, but you’re not fucking going to get me, you bastard.” The Jaguar shot forward with intense acceleration. It was the kind of speed Reece had felt thousands of times while taking off from a runway in the airplanes he flew, but not in a car. Both sets of wheels cleared the nine-inch curb with a thump before colliding with the roadway.

  “What are you doing?” Reece yelled.

  “Following him,” Karl said as he opened the console and pulled out a shiny black handgun. It looked like it had never been fired.

  “That’s a bad idea. Break off,” Reece yelled, grabbing the gun out of the man’s hand.

  “Why?” Karl said. “How dare you take my… Give it back.”

  “Mr. Rhodes, it’s a very bad idea. That guy was a hired gunman and you are a…” Reece said as he watched the truck pass by them on the opposite side of the highway.

  “You were saying,” Karl said.

  Reece held his tongue. Karl followed the road about a mile and then merged onto highway A12 running south. Rhodes shifted through the gears, accelerating and going way too fast for the conditions. Karl was pissed and was letting it show in his driving.

  Reece would rather have been behind the wheel himself.

  “Do you see the truck? Is he still on our tail” Karl said, sounding out of breath as he weaved in and out of cars along the three-lane highway. Reece watched the speedometer climb past 110 kilometers an hour.

  “No, I think we lost him,” Reece said.

  “Did you get a look at the creep?”

  “The one I saw was bald, late thirties with a distinct scar running across the left side of his scalp. Looked rough. I could pick that bastard out of a lineup any day of the week,” Reece said. “You know, there’s something special that happens inside your brain when someone points a gun at you and fires. Your mind speeds up and records every detail.”

  “Mr. Culver, you sound like you’re talking from experience,” Karl said as he swerved to the right and took the exit.

  “Shit happens when you spend your time chasing criminals,” Reece said.

  Karl Rhodes’ cell phone started to ring and vibrate in the console between the front seats. He let his foot off the gas pedal and slowed as he picked up to answer.

  “Hello?”

  “Karl, it’s Marie. Did Reece and you get together?”

  “Yeah, he’s right here beside me. Why?”

  “Can I talk to him?” Marie said.

  Karl handed the phone over to Reece. “It’s my… it’s Marie. She want’s to talk to you.”

  Reece held the phone up. “Marie?”

  “Where are you? Are you okay?”

  “We’re on our way back from lunch. I suspect we’re heading back to Karl’s office at Draecon. Why? What’s happening?” Reece said.

  “Something weird,” she said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was on my way back from the market in town. As I turned down the driveway I spotted someone coming out of the side door to the garage. It was a woman with dark hair,” she said.

  “A woman came out of your house. Do you have a cleaning lady?” Reece said.

  “No, well. We do, but she doesn’t go in and out of the garage door,” Marie said, sounding upset. “It wasn’t the maid.”

  “Where are you now?” Reece said, making eye contact with Karl as he looked over.

  “I’m at the pub in town. I figured it was as good a place as any. I’m afraid to go back by myself.”

  “Stay there. Don’t go back to the house,” Reece said, digging for his wallet. He pulled it out of his back pocket, flipped it open, and pulled out a business card. “Do you have something to write with?”

  “Go ahead,” she said.

  “Okay, here’s the number for Tarbert Police,” Reece said, reading the number off of the business card. “Tell them what just happened to you. Whatever you do, don’t go back to the house.”

  “Okay,” Marie said in a soft voice. “When will you be back home?”

  “Soon,” Reece said wanting to get back to where they’d left off.

  Chapter 36

  Marie Rhodes set some money down on the wooden bar, shoved her phone into her beige leather purse, and hurried out of the pub. The drive from Tarbert to the airport would be quick, and soon she’d see Reece. She’d called the police like he’d told her to do, but only got a voicemail message. Marie could have easily called the main police line and had them meet her at the pub, but she didn’t see what they could do anyway. The woman was long gone by now.

  Reece had called to tell her that he’d meet her at the airport in Glasgow. He needed to talk to her about something, but his cellphone was about to go dead.

  Once inside her car she backed out of the parking lot and sped off down the narrow road heading toward the airport. When she arrived, she spotted a red and white single-engine airplane, the same one she’d seen Reece fly out of Campbeltown Airport, taxiing from the runway in front of the main terminal. Marie leaned out of her window and punched in the six-digit code Reece had given her. The gate pulled open and she slowly drove toward the airplane. The propeller stopped spinning, and in a flash Reece Culver was out of the small plane and standing underneath the wing.

  Marie sprinted toward him, and he scooped her into his arms. He looked into her eyes and knew instantly that she was worried. For the first time since he’d set foot in the U.K., Reece was worried too.

  *

  The next day

  Reece and Marie were waiting at the gate for their flight out of Glasgow Internationa
l airport. Karl had left to answer a call on his cell phone. Reece finished leaving his friend Haisley a message on his voicemail and stuffed his phone back into his coat.

  “What’s she doing here?” Marie said, sounding pissed.

  “Who?” Reece said, following her gaze.

  “My friend Candice,” Marie said, standing up. “That little bitch.”

  Reece saw Karl Rhodes, who was standing on the far side of the seating area for their gate, take a woman with blonde hair into his arms and kiss her. To Reece the woman looked to be close to his age—maybe thirty to thirty-five. She was dressed in a short silk dress that came to her mid thighs. When he focused, he realized she was the woman who had told him to wait in Karl’s office.

  “Oh, my God,” Marie said, swatting Reece’s arm to get his attention. “It’s her. She’s the one Karl left me for. I can’t fucking believe it. How could she? Some friend she is.”

  Reece followed her across the boarding area toward Karl. Seeing his former wife coming, Rhodes pulled away from the tall, well-built blonde. The man’s face quickly changed from a cheery smile to a look of fear. Marie was ahead of Reece, her hand pulled into a fist.

  “Marie, I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” Karl said, stepping in front of the other woman as if to shield her from his ex-wife’s advance.

  Candice Carlyle was no longer smiling either.

  “You little fucking bitch,” Marie yelled as she collided with Karl, spun off his chest, and took several steps toward the other woman, all in one movement. Candice was quickly back stepping, trying to keep out of range.

  “I wanted to tell you,” Candice said. “But there was no good way.”

  Marie raised her hand above her head, and Reece knew someone was going to get smacked.

  “You slimy whore. You’ve been screwing my husband all along,” Marie yelled as she made contact with the woman’s face.

  Chapter 37

  Reece sat in the window seat with Marie two spaces to his left and his backpack on the seat between them. Out the right side of the airliner he could see nothing but ocean stretching toward the distant horizon. It was ugly out with a thick overcast and dark blue waters below. Somewhere out there Iceland stood, and in a few hours they’d be even with Nova Scotia. Four rows ahead of them, near the front of the first-class section Karl Rhodes was in the aisle seat with Candice to his right.