'ASSASSIN 4 - FIRST SON' (Assassin Series)

by Bryan Murray

  Suddenly, four men broke from the cover of the trees ahead and fired tranquilizer darts into the necks of the two boys and when they started to stagger to the ground, an SUV appeared from nowhere and the four guys scooped up the boys and threw them in the back of the SUV as the two local girls voluntarily scrambled in as well before the SUV started to move off.

  Kevin, now with his gun in his hand, was running towards the SUV until gunfire started to spatter at his feet in the snow ahead of him. He then realized that an additional man had been left to ensure the getaway and after the man fired another burst from his automatic weapon, Kevin hit the ground for safety, screaming into his intercom as the fifth man also jumped into the red SUV as it started to move off.

  “Gary come in?” he yelled.

  Gary came on the line quickly. “Yeah, what is it?”

  Kevin was very upset. “The boys have been snatched, the girls were a set-up, grab the car, meet me out front, we’re chasin’ a red SUV!”

  “Roger that!” Gary replied and Kevin was already sprinting back towards the car.

  Inside the bar, Gary left unobtrusively and by the time he got out front, Kevin ran up and they quickly jumped into their rental car and headed out in pursuit of the kidnappers. They looked ahead to see the red SUV come slip-sliding up the narrow road from behind the bar and head away into the night. Gary was immediately in pursuit. He turned to Kevin. “What the hell happened back there?”

  “Four guys sandbagged the boys, looks like they hit them with tranquilized darts and stuffed them in the SUV. Those goddamned chicks were in on it, climbed right in with them as they left!”

  Gary was thinking out loud. “Holy shit! Winston will go bananas!”

  * * *

  Back in the bar, Veronica and Sophia, who had been quite annoyed at the attention the boys were giving to the two local girls, walked over to the door to the balcony where they had watched the boys disappear.

  Veronica turned to Sophia. “I wonder where those two alley cats took the boys.”

  They were joined by Gina who ushered them back into the festive atmosphere of the bar. “Who cares?” she added. “There’s plenty of good-looking studs in here to go around!”

  The two sisters sighed resignedly and followed her.

  * * *

  Out on the frozen, snow-covered road, the red Fiat SUV careened along with the white rental car with Kevin and Gary inside in close pursuit. It was still snowing and visibility was not good.

  In the SUV ahead, Genaro was at the wheel and he was already on the intercom to another member of the team. “Get ready,” he began. “We’re being followed by a white rental car, make sure they don’t get closer!”

  “Si, signor.” A voice replied.

  When they came skidding around the next bend, Genaro almost lost control of the SUV, but corrected his steering and just managed to stay on the road. Behind them, Gary, a skilled driver in bad weather, seemed to be gaining on them.

  Sliding around the next bend on the deserted road, the second the red SUV slid past, from out of nowhere, a large snowplough, headlights dazzling, came out of a side road and blocked the path of the secret service agent’s car. Gary suddenly screeched to a halt to avoid hitting the huge monolith. It looked like a huge spaceship in the poor visibility and swirling snow.

  Gary jumped out, gun in hand and screamed at the driver to move the snowplough, but the man merely wound down the window, a shocked look of innocence on his face and started to scream back at them in Italian.

  Neither Kevin nor Gary spoke Italian and didn’t understand a word the big, bearded Driver was saying, but it was apparent that he was not going to move the snowplough any time soon as he kept cursing at the two Americans. Finally, in frustration, their quarry now long gone, they reversed and drove quickly back to the resort. Behind them, the snowplough driver had a knowing look on his ugly face.

  * * *

  Deke Winston, dark-haired in his 40’s, was working late in the White House when his phone rang and Kevin came on the line. He listened for a moment a shocked look on his face.

  “You’ve gotta be jokin’!”

  Kevin replied nervously. “I wish I was, sir. I followed them outside the resort bar after they picked up a couple of bimbos and four guys jumped them and roared off in an SUV, the two damned bimbos were in on it!”

  Winston’s mind was racing ahead. “D’you get a good look at them?” he asked.

  “They were dressed in black and they were wearing masks, sir. It was also pretty dark. Definitely a terrorist MO!”

  Winston was still thinking aloud. “And the rest of the people in the bar, did they see what happened?”

  “I don’t think so, sir. Gary and I left discreetly and headed out in pursuit.”

  “What happened then?” Winston was dreading the outcome of this phone call.

  “We were closing in on them when a goddamned snowplough cut across the road, almost wiped us out!”

  “And the driver?”

  “He was in shock, started screaming at us in Italian, but wouldn’t move the damned vehicle!”

  “So, what did you do?”

  “Came straight back to the resort to call you, sir.”

  Winston was now thinking damage control. “Okay, first thing, go talk to the ski tour organizers, chaperones or whatever. You tell them the boys left to join relatives in the area and they may be back before the tour returns.”

  “Yes, sir, and what about the boys themselves?” Kevin inquired.

  “There’s the goddamned problem,” Winston snarled. “Now I need to let the President and Vice-President know and they’re gonna go freakin’ ballistic!” he continued to think out loud. “In the meantime sit tight, act as if nothing has happened, we need to send in undercover specialists, but not until we hear from the kidnappers!” he heaved a heavy sigh. “Now it’s time to get my ass chewed by the President and Vice-President. I hate this goddamned job!” he slammed down the phone and on the other end, Gary who had been listening, looked at Kevin.

  “What now?’

  Kevin shrugged. “We need to stay put, wait for outside help and let the chaperones know that the guys have gone off to visit relatives and may re-join the tour later. If not they will be back in class after Christmas. Thank God they know that the boys are somewhat different than the others when it comes to their high level, high society profile movements!”

  Gary shook his head. “Man, are we in deep shit!”

  “Up to our freakin’ necks!” Kevin replied with a sigh.

  * * *

  The President and Vice-President were in a meeting in the Oval Office with John Mulroney, the President’s Chief-of-Staff when Winston barged in and apologized for the interruption. The President could see from the look on his face that it was urgent and he told Winston to take a seat.

  “What is it, Deke?” he inquired.

  Winston swallowed nervously. “I’m afraid it’s bad news, Mr. President.” he began.

  “What kind of bad news?”

  “It’s the boys, they’ve been kidnapped from their ski resort in Italy!”

  “Oh, my God!” the President was in deep shock and Maria put her hands to her face, tears filling her eyes. “You can’t be serious?” she screamed.

  Winston was feeling their pain. “I’m afraid so, ma’am.”

  “What about the secret service detail?” the President gasped, still in shock.

  Winston went on to explain what had happened and by the time he had finished the First Lady had joined them in the Oval Office and Maria was on the phone to her husband David, who was away on business and he was already heading for the airport to rush back to DC.

  Both mothers were in tears and the President was trying to stay calm and reason out what was going on. He turned to Winston. “So, we can assume this is terrorist activity, but we don’t know what they want, right, Deke?”

  Winston nodded. “I’m afraid so, Mr. President.”

  John Mulroney had remained d
etached from the whole discussion, but his razor-sharp mind was already analysing the situation. “If this is terrorist activity, Mr. President, you can rest assured they’ll be only too happy to tell you what they want.”

  “I agree, John,” the President replied. “And at the moment we need to keep this within this office. I don’t want the CIA, FBI or the media to hear a word of this until we know what is going on. We can’t jeopardize the lives of our sons by making ill-considered moves, don’t you agree, Maria?”

  The Vice-President dried her eyes. “I agree, Stephen, but my God, they’re only kids, how long must we wait?”

  Mulroney tried to ease the tension a little. “I don’t know, Madame Vice- President, but in my experience in the case of terrorist abductions, once they have their victims, they don’t waste time in sending out their demands.”

  * * *

  In the resort in Italy, before retiring for the night, the despondent Kevin and Gary, having been instructed to keep a low profile, had checked in the bar where the boys had been to see that they had CCTV, but they did not approach the manager and blow their cover in case he was also involved in the abduction of the boys.

  They could see from the angle range of the camera that it would clearly show the area of the bar where the two boys had been chatting up the two girls, so hopefully they would be able to get some ID of the two girls that would be recognized by the local bar management.

  * * *

  On the balcony of his villa in Sicily, Don Lorenzo received the expected call from Genaro to let him know that the first part of the plan had been successfully executed, the two boys had been abducted.

  The Mobster almost dropped his glass of Chianti as he screamed at his Capo.

  “Sweet Mother of God! What the hell do you mean - BOYS? There was only supposed to be ONE of them kidnapped, you moron!”

  Genaro was most apologetic. “It was a problem, Don Lorenzo, the friend of the target was also there and we could not risk leaving a witness, since he had already seen the girls who had been used to get the original target outside!” Clearly, neither the Mobster nor Genaro had realized that they had grabbed the Vice-President’s son as well!

  Lorenzo was furious and screamed at Genaro to stick to the plan before slamming the phone down and smashing his glass angrily against the wall. Now he had two problems to take care of and it was time to organize the message to the White House.

  He placed a call to the Al-Qaeda General to let him know that the first part of the plan had been successfully completed with a slight complication, but the General was not the least bit fazed by the change from one to two captives, since as far as he was concerned, it would give Al-Qaeda even more leverage.

  He then agreed with Lorenzo on the wording of the e-mail to the White House that would appear to come from Al-Qaeda, to add the emphasis that the kidnappers were deadly serious, even though Don Lorenzo was still running the show, anxious to earn the final fifteen million dollars.

  CHAPTER 6

  In a secluded Christmas card setting on the banks of a moonlit, picturesque lake surrounded by snow-covered trees, the lights could be seen on inside the beautiful log cabin. It was almost like a Thomas Kinkade painting. As opposed to the external tranquility, the inside of the cabin was a hive of activity.

  A fire was roaring in the fireplace and Genaro and his team were relaxing after the first part of their plan had been executed. He and his five men were enjoying a meal and a glass of wine and the two girls had been paid off before they were dropped off in the woods.

  In this case, payment had been a bullet through the head for both of them. There was no way the Godfather wanted anyone on their tail before the master plan had been negotiated and he was well aware that loose female lips could inevitably sink ships and with all that was at stake, this was a risk he was not prepared to take.

  In addition to Genaro and his men, the Doctor on their payroll had now joined the team and he was alone in the room with Jeff who was still unconscious and strapped to the bed. The Doctor needed time for his treatment to take effect.

  In the next room, Andrew was also still unconscious, strapped to the bed and gagged as both boys were slowly coming out of their drug induced slumber.

  * * *

  In his room, Jeff was slowly regaining consciousness and as he tried to open his eyes, his blurred vision could only detect a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of moving, colored lights. In the background he could hear the soothing tones of the doctor as he plied his hypnotic skills to the unsuspecting but receptive boy.

  All Jeff could distinguish from the fog in his brain as he recovered consciousness was hearing the repetitive phrase, ‘It’s Showtime!’ over and over again, soothingly repeated by the Doctor. Then, after what sounded like a gunshot, in effect from a blank cartridge in the gun in the Doctor’s hand, Jeff opened his eyes in shock, now realizing that he was bound and gagged on the bed, but with no recollection of what had just gone on!

  They were interrupted when one of the guards entered the room. He was wearing a mask, dressed in black and looked very much like the Arab terrorists seen regularly on CNN. He was also carrying a deadly-looking sword in his hand and without speaking he prodded the wide-eyed, hobbling Jeff at sword point out into the other room of the cabin, his arms still tied behind his back, his feet shackled and the gag still in his mouth.

  Genaro and the rest of his men were also dressed in black and masked to look like Arabs and one of the guards was also prodding a sleepy-looking Andrew at gunpoint from the adjoining room. The boy’s gags were removed and Jeff looked at their captors defiantly. “What the hell’s goin’ on?” he screamed.

  The guards roughed them up for good measure for the outburst, still not speaking and the two boys were then forced to sit on two old, rickety wooden chairs, three feet apart with their hands still tied behind their backs, heads bowed.

  The Doctor then took a picture so that their faces could be seen as well as the guard with the sword in his hand standing behind them as if he were getting ready to chop their heads off!

  Once the picture was taken, the boys were re-gagged and forced back into their separate rooms with an armed guard stationed outside each door. Back in the main room, the Doctor was already e-mailing the photograph to Don Lorenzo in Sicily.

  CHAPTER 7

  In the Oval Office, both sets of parents were in discussion with John Mulroney and Deke Winston. The scene was tense and both Elizabeth and Maria looked like they hadn’t slept the night before.

  David Carrington, dark-haired and athletic-looking was the first to speak to the President.

  “Is there any further news from the captors, Mr. President?” he asked.

  The President looked extremely concerned and tried to sound a lot calmer than he was currently feeling. “I’m afraid not, David. John tells me that in cases like this, the captors like to move pretty quickly once they have their captives under control.”

  Maria was clearly deeply agitated. “So, what does pretty quickly mean, Stephen?”

  The President tried to calm her. “We have to be patient, Maria, I’m afraid.”

  “And is there nothing we can do while we are waiting?”

  The President was about to reply when they were interrupted by a Senior Aide who brought in an urgent message just received in a sealed envelope.

  Everybody looked on nervously as the President opened it and took out the contents before starting to read. He finished reading the first page quickly, his face showing total shock.

  “Oh, my God!” he gasped.

  Elizabeth was beside herself with stress. “What does it say, Stephen?” she whispered.

  The President took a breath and started to explain. “It’s from Al-Qaeda, the boys are their prisoners and they are threatening to behead them unless we agree to release their leader Jamal al-Midari, who is currently under interrogation in the Guantanamo Detention Camp in Cuba”

  Maria was beside herself with worry. “My Sweet Lord!”

 
; The President continued. “We have seven days to organize the transfer and on confirmation that I will honor the exchange, we will receive instructions on how the exchange will be set up!”

  Both Elizabeth and Maria were subconsciously holding hands to comfort each other as the President explained the rest of the message.

  “The terrorists also state that if one word of the current arrangement is leaked to either the CIA, the FBI or the World Media, or if any attempt is made to rescue the boys, they would both be executed immediately. We would get the boys back in pieces, their heads first!”

  “Oh, my God!” Elizabeth wailed. “What can we do, Stephen?”

  The President sat down a beaten man, knowing full well the constraints he was bound to follow concerning the known fact that the US Government did not negotiate with terrorists. He then realized that there was a second sheet of paper with the covering note. He looked at it and suddenly gasped. “Holy Mother of God!”

  “What is it?” Maria almost screamed.

  He shook his head in shock and passed the sheet to Maria. It was a copy of the photograph taken by the Doctor in the cabin. Maria took one look at it and passed it to Elizabeth. The First Lady could not believe her eyes and David was also looking over her shoulder as the whole impact of the situation was now starting to sink in.

  * * *

  With terror gripping his heart, the President was struggling desperately to think clearly. He turned to Mulroney and Winston, both of whom were feeling the pain of the stunned parents in front of them.

  “What the hell do we do, John?” he almost whispered, shaking his head from side to side. “The whole damn world knows that the US doesn’t make deals with terrorists and there’s no goddamned way I can be seen to make an exception, just because our sons are involved!”

  Mulroney sat and thought for a moment. “There is just one positive aspect of this situation that we need to capitalize on, Mr. President.”