“Yes please.”
“Are you in a position to answer some questions?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet. What kind of questions?”
“What had your investigation turned up about these guys?”
“Nothing much as I’d only been on the trail for a couple days. From the few interviews I did with members for the group, it seemed to be fairly benign. I’d only interviewed a couple people who would admit they even knew what the group was or what they stood for. It didn’t seem like there was much strength in the group.”
“So you didn’t learn of any fanaticism associated with the group?” Don asked.
“Not that I’d seen but, rumors of fanaticism was the reason I started an investigation in the first place. I’d gotten word from one of my sources which led me to believe there was a darker side to the group.”
“That is what we’ve been led to believe as well,” I said.
She had a look about her which told me she was worn out.
“You’ve had a tough day. Let’s get your husband called,” I said. “Thank you for the information.”
I left the conference room and went back to my office to call Rob.
“Rob Barner.”
“Rob, Hugh Ranier, we’ve found Trinda. She’s safe and unharmed here in our offices.”
“Thats great Hugh. Can I come pick her up?”
“Sure. We’re at seventeen seventeen College Loop Road in Kennesaw.”
“I’m leaving now,” he said ending the call.
I’d thought at the time it had been a hell of a day so far and we’d only gotten started. I walked back to the conference room to see Don and Trinda having an in-depth conversation. She must have been beginning to feel better I thought.
+++
Rob Barner arrived within thirty minutes of when we’d talked. I was standing at Laura’s desk when he came through the front door.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Hugh. Good to see you,” he said.
“Christ Rob. I barely recognize you. Sorry to see you under these circumstances.”
“Yea, same here. Where’s Trinda?”
“She’s through those doors Rob,” I said pointing to the conference room.
He went through the door, and Trinda stood up to greet him. They hugged as though their life depended on it. I’d not seen concern and affection displayed in such a way in a long time and it made me glad they’d found each other.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. I was given a sedative and slept through it all.”
“You’re not hurt?”
“Not that I know of,” she said.
“We need to call the police and report this. I want the people responsible put away.”
“Hold up a minute Rob,” I said.
“What?”
“This firm knows the people responsible for the kidnapping, and we advise you let this pass.”
“Excuse me. Let it pass, we’ll do no such thing!”
“Rob. Trinda, please sit down,” I said.
Reluctantly they both sat down at the conference table.
“Trinda. Your investigation must have been noticed by the American Jihadists even as young as it was. They operate as a peace keeping organization and is focused on spreading the word of Islam to people who are interested.”
“Doesn’t sound too peaceful to me if they’re taking hostages,” Rob spouted.
“I understand. The only reason Trinda was taken was to force this firm into action against a potential threat to the U.S. There is a group of the Federal government who operates locally that has been involved with the leader of the organization for about five years.”
“The government is behind this. Our government?”
“Partially, yes they are,” I said. “Let’s say they allowed it to happen.”
“I want these people to answer for what they’ve done,” Trinda said.
“I know you do.”
“What do we do Hugh?” Rob asked.
“My advice is to do nothing Rob. Yes, it’s terrible Trinda was taken and you were held at knife point. But to try and bring these parties to justice will only turn out bad for you I’m afraid.”
“It’s hard to believe the government sworn to protect us would kidnap its own citizens.”
“You’re not wrong,” Don said as he walked into the conference room. “We as citizens of the United States hold our government to high standards, and we should. There are times though the ideologies of what the country was founded upon cannot be maintained. When we’re dealing with lunatics living on the fringe of their own ideology, things have to be done which pull into question the greater good.”
“Trinda, this has to stay off the record and never be mentioned on air. But the American Jihadists are having issues with some of their members who are involved with the radicals in Syria. They’ve found a large weapons cache which they plan on using at Hartsfield. You were taken to force us into dealing with the radicals.”
“There is going to be a terror strike here in Atlanta?” she asked.
“That is the plan unless we strike at them first,” Don said.
“We’d been contacted about this group several weeks ago and decided at the time we didn’t want to be part of a plan that could accelerate terrorism in our country,” I said.
+++
We’d decided to use Hartley and Jones to do the bulk of the surveillance work for the Amir case. They were both intuitive investigators and would be able to pick up on subtle patterns better than most of our other contractors. They were nothing to look at, but damn effective. They’d been doing local work for us for the better part of ten years each. We’d used them a couple times on other Government deals so they knew the drill.
“Your nickel,” Hartley said answering the phone.
“Earl. How you? Doing ok?”
“Yeah boss, things here are peachy.”
“I’ve got a job for you and Jones.”
“Alright. I’ll pick him up and be at the office in forty-five minutes.”
“Good. See you then,” I said ending the call.
I walked out to Laura’s desk to see how things were treating her since she was now fully embedded in the business.
“How’s it going,” I asked.
“Pretty good. I’ve been busy trying to pay some of the past due invoices paid. You know how it goes.”
“How are you feeling about this latest case?”
“I’m ok with it. Wish it didn’t have to happen and definitely glad we’ll not be beheading anyone. I’m ok.”
“Good,” I said. “Listen, put the past due invoices on hold and talk to me about your replacement.”
“You’re really going to replace me?”
“I can’t have an empty desk in the reception area.”
“Where am I going?”
“We’re having an office built for you from some of the spare space in the warehouse.”
“And I don’t know about this why?” she asked.
“Something’s don’t require all three partners. And, I wanted it to be a bit of a surprise. That failed.”
“Ok. When do you want me to have a replacement in here?”
“Sometime before the month ends is good.”
“Jesus Hugh, thats in three weeks!”
“I know. You’ll do fine. Don’t forget, not a word of the full business line. Ever.”
“Yeah I know.”
“Any age range you’re looking for?”
“Early to mid twenties. We’d like them to be able to hang with us long term like you have.”
“Gender matter?”
“Not to me. I’m sure Don wouldn’t have a problem either way.”
“I’ve got the guy then,” she said. “He’s a little older than what you wanted but he’s dead on the right personality.”
“Do the initial interview. Give him a preview of the work, then arrange for a lunch with the four of us.”
“You got it.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Can I go back to collecting money now?”
“Please do.”
I walked back to my office and stuck my head in Don’s door.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing much. Doing a little aerial search of the address Amir gave us for HQ,” he said.
“What are you finding?”
“The closest building I found is about a quarter a mile away from the building we’ll be crashing in on.”
“So safe to say, if we keep it internal to the building we should be able to not hit an innocent?”
“Yeah. I’d say so.”
“I’ve got Hartley picking up Jones. They’ll be here in about another thirty minutes.”
“Good job,” he said. “I’da picked them myself.”
“I figured you would so I didn’t bother to ask.”
“How do you want to handle the assignment?”
“Haven’t given it much thought to be honest.”
“I say we wait until one of the meeting times, maybe one of the prayer sessions. Hit’em with six guys carrying fully automatic weapons.”
“Yeah. Hard, heavy, and fast.”
“Something like it. We need to have this over as soon as possible. Hartsfield is too important to the Southeast and the world for that matter, to take a risk by adding time to this.”
“You’re right bubba. You’re right.”
“Tap me when they arrive and we’ll meet them in the conference room,” he said. “Don’t forget to ask Laura to join us.”
“Still getting used to that. I’ll try.”
+++
I was brewing a cup of coffee when Jones and Hartley walked through the front door.
“Afternoon Laura,” Jones said.
“Afternoon,” she said.
“Laura,” Hartley said.
“Earl.”
“Glad you guys could make it out as quick as you did,” I said grabbing the coffee from the brewer. “Lets meet in the conference room.”
“Goin’ to grab a cup first,” Jones said.
“We’ll meet you in there then,” I said making my way. “Laura please page Don and let him know the guys are here.”
“Sure.”
In the conference room Hartley and I sat down.
“Things good,” he asked.
“Yeah. All’s good.”
“Good.”
Don and Laura walked in with Rob in tow.
“Gents let me make a bit of an announcement first,” I started. “Laura has accepted an offer to be a partner in the firm. We’ll be relying on her more for planning and delivery than office management in the future.”
“Thanks Hugh,” she said.
“Congrats,” Jones said.
“On to business. We’ve been contracted to eliminate a potential issue with some folks her in the Atlanta area.”
“How many,” Hartley asked.
“Close to fifteen is the best estimate we have at the moment,” Don said.
“When?” Jones asked.
“Still working the time line. Right now we’d like you two to do some recon into the comings and goings at their location. We’re looking for patterns of traffic in and out of the building.”
“Sounds easy enough to me,” Jones said.
“Not even gonna break a sweat with this,” Hartley added in.
“For now its surveillance. We need good accountin’ of the traffic down there. Timing on the event is gonna be crucial,” Don said.
“Got it. When do we start?” Hartley asked.
“Right now,” I said. “Don will brief you with the logistics and location to be monitored.”
“Great. We’ll start right on it,” Jones said.
With the balance of the recon work detailed with our two best guys, I went back to my office to review the roster of folks we had available to put on the elimination. There were a number of choices. The best of the in close combatants we had was one Bill Smiley. Hell of a name for a deadly killer. Smiley had come to us out of the Marine Corps and was one of the most grounded people I’d ever met. He’d be my point man. The others on the list of available resources were all good fillers. They knew the job, knew the risk, and enjoyed the pay.
“Hey,” Don said from the door.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve got the guys pullin’ recon on the location for the next seven days. See if we can establish any form of a pattern.”
“Sounds right to me.”
“What else is happening this afternoon?”
“I was going over the bench to see who was available for the event.”
“Who’d you find?”
“I want Smiley on point,” I said.
“I’m not sure I agree with you.”
“Why’s that?”
“Guys a psycho in my book.”
I was shocked he felt that way.
“Really?”
“Yeah. He stays too calm while the world is falling apart around him.”
“Isn’t that the sign of a well trained mercenary?”
“Maybe. It’s almost like he enjoys the game a little too much.”
“Let’s leave it sit for the moment. I’d planned on going over staffing with you in the morning.”
“Ok. I’ll give it some thought, but at first blush I’m not impressed.”
“On another topic, what are the plans this weekend?” I asked.
“Not sure, why, you got something’?”
“I’d like to borrow Victoria for a couple hours on Saturday.”
“What’s up?”
“I’d like a little help with finding a firm to decorate the new property.”
“You’ve not even closed on it yet.”
“I want a head start.”
“Why so anxious?”
“Not anxious, I want to be ready when it closes to make it mine.”
“Then do that!”
“I’m trying to,” I said.
“Why are you hiring a firm?”
“I have no idea where to begin. I mean, you’ve seen my house right?”
“Yeah. It’s not that bad.”
“Would you feel like your at a resort with my decorating tastes?”
“I see your point,” he said.
“Now you see why I’m hiring a firm.”
“Yeah ok. Remember brother, this is for you. Make you happy first and foremost.”
“You’re right,” I said.
“Afternoon Don,” Dallas said. I’d completely forgotten she was coming out.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hugh,” she said.
“Dallas.”
“Alright we’ll talk in the morning,” Don said as he left the office.
“Did I interrupt something?” Dallas asked.
“Not at all. We were wrapping up.”
She walked in the office and over to my desk. She leaned down and gave me a quick kiss.
“Good to see you,” I said.
“Good to see you too.”
“We’re about to wrap up the day here. You want to meet me at the house?”
“I need to run by the grocery on the way there if I’m going to cook dinner,” she said.
“Thats right. You are cooking tonight!”
“Yes, I am. And, maybe there will even be dessert if you play your cards right”
“I fold. You win.”
“Push over,” she said.
“Maybe, I like your dessert is all and don’t want to risk not getting any,” I said with a grin.
“If you’re not sayin’ no to me then I’m not sayin’ no to you. How’s that for a deal?”
Something I could get used to is what it was.
“That’ll work for me.”
“So I’ll see you at the house. I should be out there in thirty to forty-five.”
“I’ll park in the drive and wait for you to get there.”
“The code for the g
ate is seventeen twelve star pound,” I said. “Wait in the courtyard. I’ll be out soon.”
“I got the code. Amazing.”
“Smart ass.”
“What can I tell you?”
“See you soon,” I said.
I finished up reading the email I had and closed out the system for the night then stepped across the hall to Don’s office.
“I’m heading out.”
“Yeah me too.”
“Hell of a day.”
“Yeah it was, and I’m glad it’s over.”
“The deal with Trinda Barner was too far gone for me.”
“I thought it a bit excessive myself.”
“Yeah not sure why Stevens was under the impression we wouldn’t have helped them out,” he said.
“Yeah, that is strange. I’m not sure I buy Koothrapoli has been with them for five years. You’d have thought we’d at least heard some chatter about the relationship.”
“Which to me brings the entirety of the American Jihadists into question.”
“Yeah it seems kind of weak though there is a web presence which says those guys are at least real. Not sure Koothrapoli is part of them or not.”
“It’s all a little bizarre,” I said.
“Yeah it is. Now is not the time we need to be in full understanding. The government has asked for a hand, they’re paying us handsomely, and we’ve agreed.”
“Pretty much sums it up.”
“We can start questioning motive when we’re not on an active case.”
“Maybe we should.”
“Yeah maybe,” he said.
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
“G’night.”
+++
I pulled into the drive to see Dallas had beat me to the house. I entered the code and made my way to the garage. I walked back out to the front of the house to help her carry what she had gotten. From the looks of her trunk it was going to be a hell of a meal.
“Did you leave anything on the shelves?”
“Of course I did. I left all the dessert.”
“Ha ha,” I said.
“I”ll be here all evening folks.”
“Now you’re a comedian?”
“Not really, but I do crack myself up sometimes.”
“Me too. So what is all this?”
“I thought we could have a caesar salad complete with anchovies, followed by a nice New York strip with green beans and onions in an apricot sauce.”
“Holy hell. What did I do to warrant such a wonderful meal?”
Hostage!: A Hugh Ranier Novella (Hugh Ranier Short Series Book 2) Page 5
