head back into the pillow and shut her eyes. Quickly she was back asleep.
Marcus watched her sleep for a few minutes, then got up and went into the living room with the kids. He realized that they needed to go back to bed. He took Ted first and put him in bed. He sat with him a few minutes, then got Tasha and put her back in bed. He realized that it was Saturday and Tasha did not have to go to school. Ted was back up quickly and was running in circles around the living room. They watched him run into the wall. Tasha did not come back out, so they assumed that she was asleep. She had snuck into her mother’s bedroom and had lain down with Lynda. She was asleep, and Lynda had her arm around her.
Marcus looked at his two sleeping ladies and went back into the living room. He needed sleep himself. He had been up all night. He went and lay down on Tasha’s bed. He was quickly asleep.
Mrs. Lassiter went into Lynda’s bedroom. She whispered, “He is asleep.”
Lynda eased out her arm from under Tasha and got up and walked into the kitchen. She had a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal. Then she ate a second bowl of cereal. She was famished.
Lynda and her mother were sitting in the kitchen when Marcus walked in and got a cup of coffee and sat down with them. He asked Lynda, “How do you feel?”
She smiled, “Better. I am a little groggy, but I know what day it is!”
He smiled back. “Okay, what day is it?”
She said, “Friday.”
He smiled again. “No, it is Saturday!”
Lynda looked confused, “Saturday? What happened to Friday?”
Her mother and Marcus both laughed. “You were out of it yesterday.”
“What happened to me?” she asked quizzically.
“That’s what we would like to know. What happened to you?” they asked.
She said, “I don’t remember yesterday.”
Marcus took Lynda into their bedroom and dressed her in a tee shirt, shorts, and jogging shoes. They went out into the front yard and began to walk. Marcus stayed right by her side. At the corner, they turned right and started around the block. Marcus noticed the black car behind them. The car never lost sight of Marcus and Lynda.
There was a woman working in her flowerbed. They walked up to her. Marcus said, “Ma’am, there is a car following us. Would you can 911 and get the police for us?” She hurried into her house. Marcus and Lynda went on down the street.
They came to a spot where several cars were between them and the black car. They hurried between two houses and ran through a fence gate. They ran into the house’s backyard. They came to the back fence and found another gate. They went through the gate and were now in the alley. Marcus could see their house a few buildings down. He pushed Lynda in that direction and she began to run. He could hear the car accelerating behind them. They had been lucky so far.
They made it to their back fence and opened the gate. They had just ducked into the yard, when the black car turned up the alley and gunned its engine hard. Marcus pushed Lynda’s head down, and they ran for the back of their house. They made it to the house, and Marcus pushed Lynda inside. She was all out of breath.
Marcus ran to the closet and got the new rifle that he had just bought. He ran back out into the backyard. He was aiming at the driver of the car when he heard a short siren, and a police car pulled up behind the black car.
Marcus lowered his rifle and sat it down. He began to walk toward the police car, when he heard two gunshots. He looked up and both policemen were down on the ground. He ran back and got his rifle. The two men were just getting into the black car. Marcus aimed quickly at the driver and shot him in the back of the head. The passenger tried to take the wheel. Marcus calmly chambered a fresh bullet into the gun, and shot the passenger in the back of the head. He slowly walked into the house and called 9-1-1.
Police cars and ambulances with sirens screaming soon filled the neighborhood. Even a fire truck arrived. All four men were dead. Marcus had to repeatedly make his statement. He was patted on the back by several officers. A new detective came up. Marcus had to repeat the story again. This time it was recorded. No charges were pressed on Marcus. He was becoming quite the hero in the neighborhood.
Lynda had to give a statement. Her mother hovered over her continuously.
The detective finally told Marcus that the two men were Arabic. Marcus assumed that they were Iranian.
He got Tom’s number from Lynda and called him, telling him the whole story about the black car and the gunmen. Marcus was asked if he wanted to take his family to a “safe” house. He said, “No.”
Marcus asked about the Iranians, and whether the CIA was going to do anything about them. Tom said, “There is not much we can do about them. We can try to ‘get’ certain people, but as far as the government goes, they are sovereign and we must leave them alone.”
Marcus could not help himself. “So you are going to let them kill my family?”
Tom responded quickly, “What would you have us do?”
Marcus answered, “Find out who is responsible and go take them out.”
“Why don’t you come work for me, and I will give you that job and you can do just that.” Tom was getting angry. He softened his remarks by saying, “Marcus, you and Lynda are both my friends, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I have lost enough friends. But I have to have a target, and right now I don’t have one. I have no idea who is sending these men. We don’t exactly have a network in Iran.”
Marcus didn’t know what to say now. So he hung up. He would have to talk to Lynda.
Marcus walked over to Lynda. He said, “Honey, they are no help. We will have to take care of it ourselves.”
Marcus began to watch both ends of the street. That afternoon he spotted an unusual car on the south end of the street. He watched it closely and could tell that people were in it.
He waited until dark. He took Lynda’s big handgun and his knife, and slipped out the back door. He went to the alley and slipped out the gate. He walked at a fast clip to the edge of the cross street and then walked down to the corner of his street. The street light lit up the intersection, so he stayed in the shadows of the trees. He crawled in the street to the rear of the car. He looked at the license plate. It read “US Government.” He realized that he needed to be very careful. He peeped through the back window and could see only one person in the car.
He took out his knife and crouch-walked to the driver’s door. The driver’s window was down. All in one motion, Marcus stood up, grabbed the man by the back of the neck, and stuck the knife to the man’s throat.
They man did not move. He looked familiar.
Marcus hesitated. He asked, “Who are you?”
The man said, “Hold on. I am Wayne, with the CIA. I am her to protect you guys, Marcus.”
When he heard his name mentioned, Marcus moved the knife away from the man’s throat. A trickle of blood ran down the man’s neck. He asked, “What are you doing here?”
Wayne said, “I came to watch your house and see that you are safe. I guess I wasn’t doing a very good job!”
Marcus stood up. He said, “I am sorry I scared you. Lynda and I thought that you guys had forgotten about us.”
Wayne said, “I am off the clock. I am doing this on my own.”
Marcus smiled. “Well since I have blown your cover, come to the house and have some coffee. We will put a bandage on your throat.”
Marcus got in the car, and they drove to the house. Marcus and Wayne got out and shook hands. They went inside. Mrs. Lassiter put a band-aid on Wayne’s neck.
Lynda was glad to see Wayne. She hugged his neck. All the people sat at the table and drank coffee and talked about old times. About an hour later, Wayne got back in his car and drove around for a bit, then parked on the north end of the street. He was much more careful of what was behind him.
Nothing else exciting happened outside the house th
at night. They never knew when Wayne left. At some point he was just gone.
Marcus began to watch the street and alley more closely. He was all business. Lynda was doing fine, so Mrs. Lassiter went home.
Sunday morning, they went to church. Again, no one seemed to pay them any attention. Marcus and Lynda were fine with that.
They had just got home when the phone rang. Tasha answered it, and said, “Here, Mommy, it’s for you.”
It was Wayne. He said, “I have done some follow-up. I am pretty sure that I found who is after you. It is Sheik Abdul Mogadusha. He is an Arab aristocrat in Iran. It seems his son was killed, and for some reason they blame you personally. I have not been able to find out how his son died. He has an open contract for you to be beheaded, in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars. I think that you should go back to the safe house at once.”
Lynda thanked Wayne for the call and told Marcus about it. Marcus immediately made a phone call. At about dusk, two Seal, dressed in camouflaged clothes and carrying full assault weapons showed up. One stood at the front door and one at the back door. They were to provide security for a few days. Marcus put up a ladder to the roof. The two men took turns climbing on the roof and hiding among the ridges. They scanned the entire area with night-vision goggles. Every car that went by had its license plate recorded by camera. Only one car went by with a rental plate on it. It was verified that it belonged to a couple three streets over. Quickly
CIA - The Slave Traders Page 45
