Cursed Days

by J. M. LeDuc

  Hugging, they breathed in each other’s scent. She kissed his salty, dry lips and whispered, “I love you.”

  “Me, too,” Seven said, southern accent thick as syrup. “Are you alright? I’ll kill that s.o.b. if he hurt you.”

  “I’m good,” Maddie said.

  Breaking their embrace, she asked what was going on in the other room.

  “Brent opened the mic when he turned on the lights, so we can hear everything that’s going on in there. It seems Red called Omar, the head of the brotherhood as soon as he saw the two arks. He’s waiting for instructions on how to open them.”

  Seven repacked his lip with tobacco. “Brent flipped the frequency scanner that’s hidden under the conference table.” He nodded toward Joan. “Our hacker is closing in on the Brotherhood’s headquarters.”

  He spat on the ground. “She is also mixing up the signals, making it hard for Red to communicate with his boss. The colonel is using the time to pick the pea-brain’s pea-brain without him realizing it. Come listen.”

  They joined the others and listened in on the conversation going on in the Endowment conference room.

  “While we’re waiting for the signal to boot back up, do you mind answering some questions?” Brent asked.

  Red, frustrated from fiddling with his phone, looked at his adversary across the table. “Why not, you’ll be dead before too long anyway. Omar is sending in another team. They’ll have this place surrounded before you ever step foot from here.”

  “Death doesn’t bother me,” Brent said.

  “Why’s that? Don’t you want to see your wife and watch your child grow up?”

  “That’s a stupid question. Of course I do, but when I accepted this mission, I knew I would be finishing what God had asked of me as the Chosen One. His emissary, the Arch-angel Gabriel made it quite clear that once my purpose had been fulfilled, I would most likely die.”

  “I can’t imagine your wife took that well.”

  “No one knows—not Chloe or anyone inside SIA—just me.”

  Red nodded his head. A new admiration for the Ambassador began to grow within him. “Under the circumstances, what do you want to know?”

  “Let’s start with Fitz, how did you bring him over to the Brotherhood?”

  “You really don’t know anything, do you?”

  Brent shrugged as if to say, I guess not.

  “I didn’t flip him. He was never flipped. Tommy and I were both in the same orphanage back in Ireland when we were mere boys. Omar used to visit the orphanage about once a month and took a liking to us both. After about a year or so, he filed for the right to adopt us.”

  Red swigged down a gulp of coffee the Bishop had made. He stood from the table and walked around the room, touching, caressing the Arks as he walked. “By the age of seven, Omar had decided how we would benefit the Brotherhood the best. I was to be trained to be the bearer of the ark. Tommy was to stay with Omar and learn as much about the United States military as possible.”

  He sat back down and leaned closer to Brent. “The US military was the last bastion that we did not have our people in. Omar knew we needed a stronghold inside the states.” Brent opened his mouth to speak but was cut off. “The scrolls that Omar spends all his time deciphering and reading say that the knowledge of the Ark of the Covenant’s resting place would come from the west. That’s why we needed him here.

  “He called in a lot of IOU’s to get Tommy a position in the regiment that would be trained to eventually become the Phantom Squad. Sergeant Fitzpatrick did all the rest.”

  “All that time he had been aware of the Brotherhood and his role in it?” Brent mimicked Red’s movement and placed his hand on the arks, circling the table. “It’s hard for me to believe we wouldn’t pick up something with the psychological testing he went through.”

  Red’s expression changed to one of superiority. “He was in the dark about everything. Before he was deployed to the states, he was given a deep hypnotic cue. He remembered nothing until I repeated it.” Reading Brent’s next thought, he continued. “When your men tried to ambush SIA, I activated a cochlear implant in his inner ear and gave him the hypnotic suggestion, ‘Omar’. That’s when he remembered and stopped being your stooge.”

  Brent thought for a moment. “If he wasn’t the mole that gave you the information on where to find the first messenger, who was?”

  Red grinned. “Did you forget that I was Cardinal Bullini’s assistant? I listened in on all your conversations and had the Pope’s phone bugged.” His grin turned into a phlegm filled laugh. “The irony is that you were actually the mole. Tommy was a faithful soldier up until the raid on headquarters. He gave us the knowledge of how to override the security system.” Red spun his water bottle like a top and watched it dance across the table. “Truth be told, he loves you and the other squad members, but the importance of the Brotherhood superseded everything.”

  Brent thought about Tommy’s warning to him. Telling him where Red’s team was situated at the secondary tunnel entrance. His mind went into overdrive, realizing that Fitz never did anything but what he was ordered to do by himself or Seven. Never once, not one time did he falter or attempt to take out a member of the squad. He never gave Red the proper information on how to override security.

  Brent wondered whose side Tommy was really on. Changing the subject, he said, “Let’s get down to the crux of the matter. How deeply embedded is the Brotherhood around the world and what countries are they in?”

  “You go straight for the jugular, don’t you, Colonel?”

  “It’s my job.”

  “And it’s mine to keep that a secret, but,” he shrugged, “by telling you, I’ll still be keeping my secret—you’ll be dead before I leave.”

  Standing in front of the room, Red stared at the world map. He began to stick push pins in every country and city where there was a Brotherhood stronghold.

  Brent was shocked at how strong and broad-based the Brotherhood was. He pointed to the map. “Each enclave of zealots takes their orders from you?”

  “I don’t wield that kind of strength. All orders come directly from Omar. I’m just the messenger.”

  “How many of these team commanders have ever met Omar and knows how to find him?”

  “That honor is for me and only me. That’s all the information on Omar you will be receiving.”

  I’ve got a lock on Omar’s location, Colonel, Joan said in his ear piece. I’m going to unscramble the frequency.

  The connection between Red and Omar suddenly cleared. Brent watched his facial expressions and postural movements more than he listened to his words. His mind flashed back to an early squad mission.

  The newly formed Phantom Squad was on route to their first mission. A Naval helicopter was shot down over Afghanistan and the crew was classified as missing. The CIA had picked up some scrambled communication thought to be them. They were unable to confirm because the region of the crash was an al Qaida stronghold.

  “We’ll be dropped just outside of the crash zone,” Brent said. “They are dropping us in Pakistan.” His eyes darted to each squad member. Fitz and Jefferson seemed a bit nervous, teetering on his every word. Seven just stared back in a blank expression. He nodded, giving his approval on where Brent was taking the conversation. “Don’t drop your guard one second once we leave this aircraft. Pakistan may be our ally, but they have strong connections to al Qaida.”

  Brent could see that Seven had more to add and he asked for his input.

  Lower lip packed with tobacco, he spit on the fuselage of the plane. “The captain’s right. Even our contact can’t be trusted. We have to use instinct to flesh out the truth and the location of our boys.” Seven could see the confusion in the eyes of Jefferson and Fitz. He sucked on his lower lip, milking the flavor out of the tobacco and thereby giving the boys time to absorb his words. “We
will know who to trust by their body language. Those who are our enemies will act on the extremes. They will either come across as too casual, trying to show us an air of confidence or they will be stiff and awkward in their movements. Don’t worry about what they say, but how they say it.” He again surveyed the squad. “Above all else, trust your gut and remember. . . ” He punched each member in the chest. “Emotion will get you killed.”

  Brent’s eyes were devoid of emotion as the orders came through his ear piece. Nodding to his squad, he yelled, “Time to fly boys.” With his last word, he ran to the back of the now opening C-130 and threw himself into the dark of night. The squad followed his move, not questioning, just acting on instinct.

  CHAPTER 69

  Red received the instructions from Omar. The three Arks had to be opened in sequence from newest to the oldest. First the Ark of the Enlightenment, then the Ark of the Endowment, and finally the coveted Ark of the Covenant.

  Red placed the phone on the table, keeping the line open. Omar wanted to hear everything that was happening. He had pledged his life for this moment and wanted to be a part of it.

  There was an evil gleam in Red’s eyes as he looked to Brent. “I do believe your usefulness has been exhausted,” he said.

  Inside the tunnel entrance, the squad was ready to storm the room. They waited with a quiet anxiety for Colonel Venturi to give the word.

  Red pulled his gun from his belt and began to raise it when he heard voices behind him. He turned and saw Fitz pushing Bishop Jessup into the room. “What are you doing here? And why did you untie Jessup?”

  Fitz pushed the Bishop across the room and told him to stand next to Brent. “This is my destiny also. It only seems right that I pull the trigger.” Red laughed when he heard his words. “Like I told you, Ambassador, once part of the Brotherhood, always part of the Brotherhood.”

  Seven, hearing Tommy’s words, couldn’t wait any longer. He flipped the breaker and readied his team to storm the room. The door didn’t open. “It must be jammed,” Seven said. For the first time ever, emotion filled his words.

  “It’s not jammed, sir,” Joan said, tapping away at her laptop. “The colonel overrode the breaker. There is no way to enter unless he lets us in.”

  Seven leaned against the wall and tried to figure out why he would have done that. Thinking, expression tops words, he said, “Brent must have seen something that we can’t. We have no choice but to let this play out.”

  The squad and Maddie opened their mouths to argue, but Seven’s expression told them to stand down. They stood motionless, barely breathing, listening to what was taking place on the other side of the wall.

  Brent looked into his Sergeant’s eyes and nodded, “Do what you have to do, soldier.”

  “Yeah,” Red said. “Do what you were trained for.”

  Fitz raised his pistol and zeroed in for a head shot on his commanding officer. He stood like a statue waiting, not shooting. Red stood off to the side so he could see both his man and his adversaries. The longer Fitz stood there, the more Red’s patience waned. He finally turned toward Tommy to yell when he pulled the trigger. . . twice.

  They were perfect shots and his target dropped to the floor.

  Hearing two shots and nothing else, Seven was sure that both Brent and the Bishop were dead. It wasn’t until he heard Brent’s voice that he knew otherwise.

  “Nice shooting, sergeant.”

  Fitz stood over Red’s prone body. “Did you really think you could turn me?”

  Red laid there in agony. One bullet blew his shoulder, the other destroyed his knee. With gasping breath Red said, “But the suggestion. You helped kill your entire squad. What the. . . ”

  Brent flipped a switch under the table opening the tunnel entrance. When Red saw the squad walk in he screamed loud enough to be heard in hell.

  “It was your men who were beaten at the ambush, not ours,” Fitz said. He looked up at his friends—his family—and continued. “I did get the suggestion and I did have thoughts of the Brotherhood. I remembered everything from my childhood. For a moment I was confused, but then I heard the words of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, telling me not to be deceived by people’s words and to trust in my faith. That’s when I knew whose side I was on. Whose side I’ve always been on.”

  “Pick him up,” Brent ordered, “And stem his bleeding. We’ll carry him to the infirmary where he can be patched up.”

  “No, wait,” Red grunted. He motioned with his head toward the arks. “I have to know, I need to know.”

  “All fakes,” Brent said.

  “Impossible,” Red gasped. “I saw the monk die when he touched the ark. You’re lying to me. Damn it, open them. I have served a life time for this moment.”

  “As you wish,” Brent said.

  Each was opened, only to have a jack in the box pop out and start to laugh. With each opening, Red slipped into a deeper insanity.

  “Take out the garbage,” Brent said to his men, who picked up and carried Red from the room.

  Maddie, Seven and Brent stayed behind. Seven went to speak, but Brent put his hand out to stop him. He picked up the phone off the table and spoke. “You cannot run far enough or dig a hole deep enough where I will not find you. I will live to take you and the Brotherhood down.”

  He didn’t wait to hear Omar’s response. He just turned it off and pulled the battery, leaving it on the table as the three of them walked into the tunnel.

  CHAPTER 70

  The team gathered in conference room A for a debriefing. Members of the Phantom Squad and the directorate of SIA all thanked Fitz for his fine work.

  He looked at Brent and spoke. “I wanted more than anything to tell you, but I knew Red could somehow hear everything I said. I had no choice but to play the hand I was dealt.” Rubbing his right ear, he said. “When this mission is over, would it be alright to take a day and have this thing removed?”

  Brent smiled. “I don’t think that will be a problem, Sergeant. Now, tell us in detail what you remember. Every little nuance matters.”

  Tommy closed his eyes, cleared his head and began. “I didn’t know what to think. I was in position in front of HQ when I heard the word, Omar, somewhere in my head. My mind flashed back to my days in the Irish orphanage. I saw Reilly, my closest friend. He and I were leaving with Omar, a man who we both adored. We were so happy to be going to a loving home.” He asked for a glass of water and drank with great thirst. “This home we thought we were going to, ended up being a catacomb. We were never allowed outside, so I had no idea what country we were in. I just figured that I was somewhere in Ireland. Two months later we were separated. That was the last time I saw Timothy. . . Red.

  “I was brought to the home of a wealthy family. There I was homeschooled and taught an extensive knowledge of the United States. Always being told that I would one day join the army where I would make Omar proud.”

  “When did you leave there?” asked Brent.

  “At eighteen, I was flown to Camp Lejeune where my enlistment papers had already been filed. Because of the extensive training from my youth, I excelled in basic training and soon found myself among the five hundred soldiers chosen for a top-secret training program. I had no recollection of any of my childhood. It was if that part of my life never happened.” Fitz looked about the room, all eyes and ears glued to his every word.

  He looked at his fellow squad members and rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe away a banger of a headache. “The Marine psychiatrists said that I had spent my early days in the foster care system, being moved from one bad situation to another. They said that it was better that I didn’t remember.”

  “Tell me about yesterday, about the raid on SIA.”

  Fitz addressed Brent directly. “When you reassigned Scarlet and me, I was confused. It didn’t make sense. I had the experience and the talent to be in the position I was
in. I wanted to protest, but I followed orders. It was while I was in the Cyprus tree that I was given the hypnotic suggestion. For a moment, a brief one, I wanted to do what had been engraved in me since the age of eight. When I heard the colonel give the word to commence the mission I felt torn.”

  He slowly sipped the water. “I was so confused that I ran as soon as I got the chance. Joseph’s antics at the main entrance gave me the window of opportunity I needed to make myself scarce.”

  Brent reached for the water, giving Fitz time to gather his thoughts. “Where did you go? What were you thinking?”

  “I made my way to the back alley behind the library. I thought about how being part of this squad gave me purpose. I thought of my family and then as if on instinct, I scratched my chest, I felt the cross hanging around my neck. I prayed for God’s wisdom, for His will. It didn’t take long before I knew where my true loyalties were.” Looking again at the Colonel, he said, “That’s when you and Red showed up. I waited for you to get inside and made my way across the alley and caught the door before it had a chance to close all the way.”

  Brent nodded. “I knew someone was out there because the door never buzzed closed. I knew where everyone else was, so I figured it was probably you. Because of your actions, or lack of them at HQ, I figured you hadn’t turned. Like you, sergeant, I too had to play the hand I was dealt, so I let Red think you were a traitor. If you heard me say anything derogatory towards you, I apologize.”

  Fitz understood and nodded his acknowledgment.

  A quiet covered the room like a blanket. Everyone deep in their own thoughts. Bishop Jessup broke the silence.

  “You know this mission is not over, Colonel?”

  Brent knew that to be true, but he stood up and said, “All that can wait until I check on my wife. Everyone, get some well deserved rest and meet back here at o-six hundred hours.”