Shadow Warrior

by Scott, Trevor

  Once he got inside the restaurant, he caught a glimpse of the passenger in the Swiss car get out and head toward the front entrance. He was a tall and strong-looking younger man. Good. That’s the way Jake liked them. Probably cocky and overconfident.

  Jake wandered through a shop selling everything and anything that nobody needed on their trip. He refrained from direct vision of this Swiss man.

  Then Jake headed down the hallway toward the WC. Once inside, he pulled his Glock and placed it behind his right leg.

  He didn’t have to wait long. The Swiss man came into the bathroom and seemed surprised that Jake was waiting for him. He got even more surprised when Jake exposed his gun.

  In German, Jake said, “You need more work on your surveillance technique.”

  The Swiss man seemed deflated. But he said nothing for now.

  “I caught you tailing me shortly after leaving Interlaken.”

  “That’s a lie,” the Swiss man said.

  “Your boss should have trusted me.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Show me your identification,” Jake demanded.

  The man reluctantly pulled out his wallet and removed a driver’s license, handing it to Jake. Probably fake, Jake reasoned. He threw it back to the man. Then he took out his phone, snapped a quick picture and quickly dialed his old friend Hans. While he waited for the man to pick up, he attached the photo of the Swiss man.

  “Jake,” Hans said. “I didn’t think I would hear from you so soon.”

  “Check the image.”

  A few seconds of silence passed. Finally, Hans said, “You’ll have to forgive him. He’s young and new to this business.”

  “You should have told me, Hans,” Jake said. “I could have killed them.”

  When Jake said these words, the young Swiss man raised his brows with concern.

  “Please don’t hurt him, Jake. He’s a good man. A bit green, but a fine officer.”

  “In my old Air Force days, when you called someone a fine officer, it meant that they were barely body temperature intelligence.”

  Hans laughed. “You have to understand. We have been trying to infiltrate this organization for a number of months. You finally gave me a break. We have an obligation to help. Our country is being used as a conduit for all kinds of bad things.”

  Jake knew the man was right. “What do you want from me?”

  Suddenly, the second Swiss man entered the restroom and started to reach for a gun.

  “No, no, no,” Jake said, pointing his gun at that man. “I’m on the phone with your boss, Hans.” That seemed to relieve the tension somewhat.

  “Is that the older FIS officer?” Hans asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “He’s married with two kids. His wife’s name is Monica and his kids are Jan and Ute.”

  Jake relayed this information to the older Swiss man, who breathed a sigh of relief now.

  “I just sent each of the men a text,” Hans said, “giving them instructions to work with you on anything you need.”

  Both of the Swiss men checked their phones and saw the instructions from their boss.

  “I hope these men are ready for what might come,” Jake said.

  “Based on your history, Jake, I guess they will have to be ready. They are heavily armed.”

  “Can I trust them?” Jake asked.

  “They will do what I tell them.”

  “They need to do what I tell them.”

  “I’ll make that clear to them. And, they do speak fluent English.”

  Jake thanked his old Swiss friend, hung up, and shoved his phone into his pocket.

  “Can you put the gun away now?” the older officer asked in English.

  Sliding the Glock inside his jacket and snapping it in place under his left arm, Jake said, “We need to talk. If you actually have to relieve yourself, now is a good time to do so.”

  Both men shrugged and then went to the urinals.

  Once they were done, Jake escorted them back out to the parking lot. The air seemed to have cooled some already as day gave way to early evening. Clouds swirled above and rain threatened to ruin the day.

  Anica waited outside. She had parked the Alfa behind the Swiss VW, which made it impossible for them to leave.

  “Everything alright?” Anica asked in English softly.

  “Yeah,” Jake said. “Hans has loaned these two men to us.” He turned to the Swiss men and said, “Show me your firepower.”

  The older Swiss man, Otto, pulled out his keys and popped the trunk.

  Jake glanced inside and saw two B&T APC9s, with multiple full 30-round magazines in foam cases. “Nice to see you use Swiss weapons.”

  “Of course. The best submachine guns on the market.”

  “That should work,” Jake said.

  “I see you use the Austrian handgun,” the older officer said.

  Jake lifted his chin. “Otto, I’ve used many weapons over the years. As you get older, you realize you don’t need a safety. Guns with safeties are for those who think they might shoot off their own foot. But that’s possible with any gun. The Glock is reliable and a dream to shoot.”

  “Not much to look at, though.”

  “Function over form,” Jake said. “And be careful. You’re now on her turf.” He shifted his head toward Anica.

  “Form is not a problem.”

  “Function is just as fine,” Jake assured the Swiss officer. “Let’s go.”

  Anica handed the GPS tracking device to the younger Swiss officer. The taller man’s name was Gregor. “If you get lost, just call me for directions.” She handed the man one of her cards, with her cell phone number scribbled on the back.

  Jake got behind the wheel of the Alfa and cranked over the engine. Then he glanced to Anica in the passenger seat. “You gave the man your cell phone number?”

  “He’s kind of cute,” she said. “I hope you didn’t totally emasculate him in the WC.”

  “No more than usual,” Jake said. Then he pulled out and entered the Autobahn, heading toward the center of Innsbruck. “Where are we going?”

  “To Johann’s apartment north of the river,” she said. She glanced back to apparently keep track of the Swiss officers. Then she looked back at Jake and said, “Do you trust these men?”

  “Trust is earned,” he said. “I trust that Hans trusts them. That’s something.”

  30

  Axams, Austria

  Jakov Koprivica wandered through his large house on the outskirts of this small village a short drive from Innsbruck, wondering if his path was righteous. He knew he had not always done the right thing for the right reason, but he hoped that the ends would always justify his means.

  He stopped at the end of the hallway at the entrance to his large office to gaze into the full-length mirror. He didn’t see himself as the older man with gray hair, who had let himself go a bit too much. No, he saw himself as the young Serbian Army officer who filled out his uniform with mostly muscle. Now his jawline was obscured with adipose tissue. In fact, if he was being entirely honest with himself, much of his body had transposed from honed steel into a corpulent mass. The muscle was still there, he knew, but it was simply covered by fat.

  Note to self, he thought. Remove this mirror as soon as possible.

  Now he wandered into his office, which contained a large conference desk with six chairs. Two of the chairs were already taken by his men. Jakov settled into the chair at the end of the table and gazed at his two top captains. These men had served under him in the Serbian Army as captains, and had eventually emigrated to Austria as well. They knew things about Jakov from the old days that nobody else knew, but Jakov had hard evidence against each of them in case either of them got too chatty with the authorities.

  Jakov checked his old military wrist watch and saw that they had just a few minutes before the secure conference call.

  “What have you learned about Caspari?” Jakov asked his two men
.

  Neither man said a word. That was all Jakov needed to know. Now he was pretty sure that the Italian had been picked up as well by the Polizei.

  “Let’s make the call,” Jakov said.

  One of the captains used the desk phone to join the call. It was a military-grade encrypted phone, but it was also quite old, so Jakov was pretty sure that it was not as secure as he would normally enjoy.

  Others in the organization joined in, with the exception of Giovanni Caspari, Goran Goluža from Konstanz, Germany, and a few other lower-level folks from France and elsewhere. The disappearance of Caspari and the raid of Goran Goluža’s operation in Germany were the reasons for this meeting.

  To date, only lower-level operatives had been impacted by the raids. But Jakov and others were concerned. There were new players in the game, and these people seemed to have a couple of things in common—they showed a certain level of competence, and they seemed to be working outside of the normal Polizei establishment.

  Each upper-level leader gave a brief update of his operations. Some countries, like Germany, were represented regionally by multiple leaders. Southern Germany was now represented by a cousin of the former leader, Goran Goluža, who was still recovering in a hospital from a gun-shot wound. From there, Goluža would surely go to jail for some time. He had, after all, been caught with a number of migrants, along with a significant stash of drugs.

  Jakov finally asked the obvious question. “Who is responsible for these raids?”

  Silence.

  Then came the voice of someone who normally just listened to these conversations. He was known only as ‘The Consultant.’ Nobody knew his real name. Nor did they know his country of origin. But based on his language and accent, Jakov had guessed the man was either Dutch or German. This man said, “We have an idea.”

  Nobody said a word. They were all waiting for an explanation.

  “According to my sources, this man is a ghost. A former intelligence officer. A legend.”

  “But who is he?” Jakov asked.

  “We don’t know for sure,” the consultant said. “We do know that he has a special relationship with the Austrian government and the titular royalty.”

  Great, Jakov said. That meant it would be up to him and his people to stop the man. “That’s not very specific.”

  The consultant cleared his voice and said, “That’s all we know about him. But we have it on good authority that he is working with certain members of the Austrian Polizei in Tirol.”

  Jakov shifted in his chair and leaned toward the phone. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. And I thought you had sources in the Polizei.”

  “We do,” Jakov assured the organization. “So, this man must be working on the edges somehow.”

  “Off books.”

  “What did the Italian know of your operations?” the consultant asked.

  “Not much,” Jakov said.

  “But he knew your name.”

  “Of course.”

  “Giovanni Caspari has disappeared.”

  Jakov knew this already. “The Swiss Polizei, I assume.”

  “No,” the consultant said. “We have contacts there. Someone else.”

  Who else was there? “This mystery man perhaps?”

  Nobody said anything. It seemed to Jakov that the others didn’t want anything to do with this man. They were stuck with their heads in the sand. Or up their own asses.

  “The solution is obvious,” Jakov said. “I will have to deal with this mystery man.”

  “This makes sense,” the consultant said. “After all, he knows your name. We can assume he is heading in your direction.” The man hesitated before he said, “Do you need help?”

  Did Jakov need help? Not likely. “I have anticipated this action and called in more men from other parts of Austria. They are arriving now.” He glanced around the table to his two captains, who both agreed with him with nods. One of them waived his cell phone, indicating he had gotten text confirmation.

  “Wonderful,” the consultant said. “If you need anything, please let us know.”

  Jakov agreed, and then the call ended rather abruptly. His man cut off their call as well.

  The captains looked to him for guidance.

  “Get everyone together once the others arrive,” Jakov said.

  “Is this the fight we want?” the senior captain asked.

  Jakov gave his men a reassuring smirk. “Just like the army, you rarely get the fight you want, but you fight the one you have.”

  “What about the shipment coming in tonight?”

  “That’s just a pass-through to Munich,” Jakov said. “Get word to the driver that the normal escort will be staying back a greater distance tonight.”

  “How great a distance?”

  “All the way back here,” Jakov said. “But don’t tell them that.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “That will be all. We’ll meet in the great room once everyone arrives.

  His two captains got up and left Jakov alone. He leaned back in his chair and finally felt a feeling of angst overcome his body. He could deal with the Polizei. They were the easy part of any equation. But the unknown was the difficult part. And this mystery man made him nervous. If he was an intelligence type, he could be a problem. Challenge accepted.

  31

  Innsbruck, Austria

  By the time Jake and Anica got to Johann’s apartment building, rain started to come down in a heavy mist. Wind picked up and drove the moisture at them relentlessly as they got out and hurried into the apartment building. The two Swiss intel officers followed them closely.

  They shook off the rain and went up to Johann’s apartment.

  Sirena gave Jake a smile from across the room, which was essentially a kiss from a distance.

  Introductions went around the room. Jake had insisted on meeting the other two Polizei officers from Salzburg and Graz, so those two were waiting in the apartment as well. Including Sabine, there were five Austrian Polizei, two Swiss intel officers, and two retired American intel officers. Nine against how many? That was the unknown. But Jake knew that it would have to be enough. If the shit hit the fan, he was sure that Sabine could call in Polizei reinforcements.

  After the introductions, Johann set up his large-screen TV with his laptop and opened numerous images of the complex owned by Jakov Koprivica.

  “This image was before Koprivica built a couple of smaller structures to the southwest end of the property,” Johann explained.

  Then Johann brought up a new image taken from somewhere above the complex. “This was taken earlier today,” Johann said. “We believe these two smaller buildings are used to house his men.”

  “Or perhaps transient migrants,” Sabine interjected. “When we go in, we must understand that there could be innocent people held there.”

  “Like those we found in the warehouse in Konstanz, Germany a few days ago,” Anica said.

  “Exactly,” Sabine said. “And, by the way, excellent work with that raid, Anica.”

  Anica smiled demurely.

  Jake broke in and said, “The weather is getting brutal out there.”

  “We can hold off raiding the complex until the weather breaks,” Sabine said.

  “Do you have authorization for the raid?” Anica asked.

  Sabine let out a deep breath. “Not exactly. We will be working under emergency circumstances based on a tip.”

  Jake glanced at Sirena, who seemed a bit uncomfortable. Then he said, “We can’t wait until tomorrow to take down Jack-off and his friends.”

  “We can’t control the weather,” Sabine surmised.

  “Exactly,” Jake said. “They will never suspect we’d come in during a downpour. We’ll have the element of surprise. Besides, as you know, secrets are difficult to keep for long.” He shifted his eyes around the room, but didn’t hesitate long on any one person.

  It was becoming abundantly clear to Jake that Sabine wanted him to take the lead.
Leadership was a learned trait, but it came to some more naturally than others. Jake had been an Air Force officer and a CIA officer. Each position gave him the tools to lead people. Yet, experience understanding people was more important than something one could read in a book. Although Jake knew he worked better alone than in large groups, he also figured he was the best person in this room to set up a tactical raid. So, he took charge.

  “Here’s what we need to do,” Jake said. Then he ran through the best way to get in and out with the least possible chance of failure. He broke them up into teams, positioning each at strategic locations around the compound.

  “Why are we holding back on the road?” the Polizei officer from Salzburg asked.

  “You and your partner will be there to call in for help if shit goes wrong,” Jake said. “Besides, you’re supposed to be on vacation. If anyone asks, you were coming down the mountain when you heard gunshots. You had no choice but to respond.”

  The Polizei officer nodded agreement.

  “That’s a good plan,” Sabine said. “And it makes sense that Johann and Anica are with me. But you didn’t mention our Swiss friends.”

  “Right,” Jake said. “We’ll need their firepower at the front breech.”

  “We have our vests with us also,” the older Swiss officer said. “But we have no spares.”

  Sabine said, “We all have vests. That leaves just Jake and Sirena without protection.”

  Jake smiled. “I never wear them.”

  “Same here,” Sirena said. “Too restrictive. And the Velcro always rips my nice clothes.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Jake assured Sabine. “Chances are we go in and don’t have to fire a shot. What about communications?”

  Anica chimed in, “All of ours work together, and they work with your system, Jake. We just need to make sure the Swiss are working with us.”

  “Why don’t you and Johann break off with our Swiss friends.”

  Johann said, “We can use my bedroom.”

  The four of them went away, and Jake was finally able to speak with Sirena in the kitchen area while Sabine and her two academy friends sat discussing the raid in the living room.