by Brad Taylor
She began to rise and heard, “Don’t! Don’t move.”
She turned and saw the Ghost. Standing above her with a knife.
She pulled her legs out from underneath the body and he shouted again, “No, no, no. Stay down. Please.”
She stopped her movement and looked into his eyes. She knew what he had done. Knew he had saved her life. She rose into a crouch, saying, “I can’t.”
He said, “I know.”
And attacked.
78
I exited the bar out the back, dragging Booth with me and letting Knuckles, Decoy, and Blood handle the repercussions. It was a mess, but we knew what would happen going in. They had the cover story down, which was to act like a bunch of drunk service members here on temporary duty to NORTHCOM, at Peterson Air Force Base. With Booth out of the way, there was nobody who would contradict the story.
They’d either talk their way out of it or spend a night in jail. Either way, the Taskforce would back them up, and they’d get turned over to the “military” pretty quickly. Since I was out of the military and a full-fledged owner of a company that the Taskforce was worried would be exposed in twenty-four hours, I decided to take charge. Fleeing, as it were.
We came out the back patio and crossed the parking lot, me dragging Booth by the elbow. He kept complaining, moaning about how his rights had been abused, and I was considering just punching his lights out. The only question was whether carrying his dead weight would be worse than listening to his bullshit.
We crossed the alley and for the first time I noticed a scuffle near my car. Near Jennifer. I released Booth’s elbow and began to run, seeing it wasn’t a scuffle but a full-fledged fight to the death.
The battle spilled into the glow of a streetlamp, and I saw the Ghost trying to kill Jennifer. The image was completely surreal, like a nightmare come to life.
What the hell is he doing here? He hates me so much he gave up freedom to find me?
I reached the fight and hammered him in the small of his back, bringing him to his knees. I kicked the knife out of his hand and jerked his head up by the hair, causing his glasses to fly off. I raised my hand for a killing blow and heard, “Stop!”
I paused, seeing Jennifer with her hands on her knees, gasping for air. She looked up and said, “Don’t hurt him. Leave him alone.”
“What the hell are you talking about? He’s trying to kill us.”
The Ghost began to flex in my hands, and I lowered my grip, placing his head between my arms. I whispered in his ear, “Don’t move.”
He complied with the command, going limp.
I dragged him past Jennifer, to our car, and saw a body.
Jennifer rose up. Her face was pummeled and I saw a wicked slash on her forearm, bringing forth the rage again. I flung the Ghost against the door and he sagged to the ground, staring up at me.
I thought about killing him outright, and Jennifer said, “Pike. Don’t.”
Staring into his eyes, I said, “Why not?”
“He saved my life. He killed the man on the ground. If he hadn’t intervened, I’d be dead.”
For the first time, I looked closely at the body. It was the strange kidnapper from Mexico, which confused me even more. As is my nature, I decided force was the answer. I leaned into the Ghost, taking his hair into my hand and banging his head against the car door.
“What the fuck are you doing here? What’s going on?”
Jennifer grabbed my arm, stopping the assault, and the Ghost spoke. “I was trying to escape. But I guess you can never escape your destiny.”
He smiled at some inside joke and I turned to Jennifer. She said, “I don’t understand it any more than you. He saved my life, Pike. He really did.”
I felt movement over my shoulder and saw Booth doing a shuffling, rambling run. Like something out of a zombie apocalypse movie.
What the hell? Now this?
“Jennifer,” I said, “would you mind keeping that asshole from getting away while I have a conversation here?”
She took off, and I turned back to the Ghost. He looked up at me serenely. No fear and no regrets.
“What happened here? What’s she talking about?”
“She saved my life in Mexico. I made the mistake of returning the favor.”
His words sank in, but I was having a hard time assimilating them. It made no sense. The guy was a master terrorist who killed without remorse. Why the hell would he protect Jennifer?
“Are you telling me you saved Jennifer’s life here? Tonight? Interceded on her behalf?”
He smiled without any humor and said, “Unfortunately, yes.”
If what he said was true, he was putting me in a very awkward position. I couldn’t very well pummel the man who had saved Jennifer’s life. There had to be some ulterior motive. “But why? Why would you do that?”
I saw Jennifer coming across the parking lot, dragging that waste of flesh we knew as Arthur Booth. The Ghost said, “Because she helped me once, at great risk to herself. You give up what you are, and you are lost.”
“But you were trying to kill her just now. I don’t get it.”
His eyes closed and he said, “I don’t understand either. I’m sure you’ll get my answer in due time, inside my cell.”
79
I watched the Dulles runway lights approach and wondered what news was waiting on me about my team. I’d talked to Kurt immediately after leaving Blondie’s, and the decision had been made for me to pack up what I could and get Grolier Recovery Services out of the blast radius in Colorado Springs. We were still working to stop the Anonymous leak, which was set to fire in a little under twenty-four hours. If we couldn’t, the Oversight Council had decided that CNN’s making a link to the mess in Colorado Springs would be enough to cause further digging. Jennifer and I had bundled Booth, the Ghost, and the computer cell onto the Gulfstream with orders to get to Taskforce headquarters in DC, leaving the rest of the team behind.
The Oversight Council had been ecstatic at our success, of course. Initial reports from Operation Gimlet were positive, and the GPS constellation had held. No Wall Street collapse. No collapse of our cellular network or power grid. No collapse of our military capability. Three hundred million citizens of America went about their daily lives not realizing how close they’d come to Armageddon, but it was par for the course for the Taskforce. The public’s not knowing was the definition of success.
On the other hand, the Oversight Council did know, and I thought they were cheering a little bit early. On the phone call I had reminded Kurt the mission wasn’t over until extraction was complete. We still had some cleanup with Knuckles and the rest of the team. He was working it, and I wondered what had transpired during my flight.
We touched down and I dialed my phone. Kurt answered, saying he was in the Dulles FBO with a support package and was ready to receive. While I waited inside the plane, babysitting our detainees, the support package traveled out as if they were a maintenance crew, bringing all sorts of containers and tools to the aircraft. They entered and I pointed to Booth, saying, “Him first.” They went to work.
As they stuck a needle in his arm, sedating him, the last image I had of Arthur Booth was him blubbering in hitches, tears running down his cheeks. He was shoved in a container and wheeled away. I had no idea what they’d do with him, since he was an American citizen, but honestly, I didn’t really care.
The Ghost had sat silently, waiting on them to return for him. Stoic. Understanding his fate. Certainly no tears.
I could tell Jennifer was conflicted about the whole thing, but it was what it was. He was a terrorist who had killed Americans. Had tried to kill both Jennifer and me on different occasions. Had almost blown up Knuckles with an IED. Had come close to killing a ruling citizen of the United Arab Emirates and our own envoy in an attempt to destroy peace in the Middle East. If it hadn’t been for the Taskforce he would have succeeded, cheering about the deaths.
And yet he’d saved Jennifer fro
m the Mexican hit man. Something that mattered greatly to me.
Americans liked a black and white world, with everything clean. Some men wore the black hats, and some wore the white. Black was pure evil and needed to be eradicated. White was the shining knight and could only do good. The problem was I knew the truth. I wore a white hat, and I had seen and done things that couldn’t even charitably be considered worthy of the color. And now I was looking at a man on the other side who had done something that was.
I said, “I want to thank you for what you did. Unfortunately, that’s all you’re going to get.”
He looked at me, remaining silent.
I waited, and when he didn’t respond I said, “You and I both know you didn’t help in Mexico. But you did in Colorado, and that means something.”
The Ghost barked a short laugh. He paused a moment, then spoke. “Means what, exactly? I get your gratitude? The truth is I saved your lover in a moment of weakness. It was a mistake, and I’ll now pay for it.”
Lover? Now a damn terrorist can see through me?
I ignored that comment and said, “You mean that? What you did was a mistake?”
The support team appeared inside the aircraft and the Ghost extended his shackled arms, giving them an easy vein. A man stuck in the needle and he flinched.
He turned from the man and looked me in the eye. “You and I are closer than you think. You are closer to the man I killed to save her than the man standing above me right now. You know it. I know it.”
I said, “I don’t kill people for an outcome. I kill people to prevent an outcome.”
He said, “Maybe. Maybe you do. But it’s only because of where you were born. Sheer luck. If you were in Mexico, the killing would be different. You’d still do it.”
“Bullshit. Don’t justify your pathetic attacks as part of a system of fate. You don’t even believe that. If you did, you would have let Jennifer die. It’s more than circumstances, more than a series of events, and you know it. You told me that you had to be yourself or risk losing everything. And in so doing you did lose everything. Why did you save Jennifer?”
His eyes began to fade from the medication. He said, “I honestly don’t know. Right now, I believe it was a mistake, but if I had to do it over again, I’m not sure I wouldn’t still be sitting here.”
I watched his eyes close and said, “That’s good enough.”
I let the support team finish their work, then motioned for the computer hacking cell to exit. Jennifer and I went last, meeting Kurt in the FBO lobby.
He shook my hand, then saw Jennifer and said, “Jesus. You really did get the shit kicked out of you.”
She had a black eye, butterfly bandages on her forehead, and a large gauze pad covering stitches on her right forearm. She said, “I’ll live.”
He shook her hand and smiled. “Sorry about the damage, but it looks like I don’t have to fire you now. Come on. I have a room down the hall.”
We entered a deserted pilot’s lounge with a row of La-Z-Boy chairs and a dining room table in the corner. He motioned to the table and took a seat. Before he could start I said, “I want to talk to you about the Ghost. I promised him a better cell if he helped with the mission. I’d like to honor that.”
“Why? He didn’t help at all. In fact, his premature alert almost caused a total meltdown.”
“He saved Jennifer’s life. That’s the only reason we have him in custody. He could have let her get sliced up by that nut job from Mexico, but he didn’t.”
“He’s still a terrorist.”
“I know that. I’m not saying let him go free. I’m just saying give him some amenities in his cell. That’s all. Make his time a little easier.”
He leaned back and remained silent. I said, “Look at Jennifer. He saved her life. The least you should do is give her a vote.”
He glanced over at her, taking in the damage again. He said, “He tried to kill you. You think he deserves a reward?”
She said, “He’s going to be locked up forever for that, but only because he saved my life in the first place. He’s going to die in that jail, when he could have gone free.”
He said, “We haven’t seen it in the Taskforce yet, but the budget crunch is coming and I’m not going to spend my money making a terrorist comfortable.”
I pulled out the digital token we’d taken off the hit man from Mexico and slid it across the table. “How about making al-Qaeda pay for it?”
After I explained about the bank account from the hit man and more prodding from Jennifer, Kurt said, “Okay, okay. You guys are relentless. Dumbest damn thing I’ve ever heard.”
I smiled and said, “It’ll only be dumb if the Ghost’s jail cell is better than the team’s. What’s the story with them?”
“They’ll be coming home today. Should be here by late afternoon. We hit a snag with NORTHCOM, but the SECDEF is sorting it out. We couldn’t get to the command before the police, and their first answer was ‘Never heard of those guys.’ The police held them a little longer until we could get someone on the phone who backed up the story.”
“So we’re clean? What about the dead hit man?”
“He’s causing issues. Luckily, he was killed while you guys were inside, so we have a pretty solid alibi, but the coincidence is there. The police have demanded names and addresses for follow-up questions, so those guys won’t be operational for a while. Especially with this YouTube thing coming.”
Great. So I’d left a dead man who was now causing my team to stop operations.
While we were getting both the Ghost and Booth secured in our car, another car had entered the lot. I’d left Jennifer guarding the two men and was dragging the hit man to the trunk when I saw the lights flash as it hit the speed bump at the entrance to the alley. I didn’t know if it was police responding to the Blondie’s disturbance or just another car full of patrons, but either one witnessing me dragging a dead body was bad. I stuffed it next to a pickup, and we’d left. Wasn’t anything else I could do, but the repercussions were now harming my team. Made worse by this YouTube video coming out.
I said, “Where do we stand with the video thing?”
“Nowhere. We’ll get Booth behind a computer and see what we can find, but it probably won’t help unless he personally knows the guy, which he won’t. It’ll take too long to go through all of the leads. Right now the hacking cell is spending their time covering Taskforce tracks, including connections to Grolier Recovery Services. I feel like Ollie North ordering Fawn Hall to start shredding documents. Destroying evidence, and trying to keep this thing to a twenty-four-hour crackpot story.”
“What about Creed? All that shit he located? None of that panned out?”
“Creed? You mean Bartholomew Creedwater? He’s been helping you.”
“Yeah, and while Jennifer and I were running around trying to find Booth, he was rooting through Booth’s home computer. By the time we picked him up for the flight he’d been at it for four hours. He’s already done the homework, and he brought the computer with him.”
80
I drove past McLean Central Park to the Dolley Madison Library, my designated linkup point. Ironically, our target’s house was about two miles as the crow flies from the headquarters of the CIA, in McLean, Virginia, home of the rich and powerful. The library was close enough to the target to allow the team to penetrate without delay, but far enough away that the meeting would never be correlated with the follow-on break-in. My only complaint was that Kurt wouldn’t let me do the high adventure.
Earlier, after hearing about Creed and his research, Kurt had practically flung him out of the building, taking him to Taskforce headquarters, leaving Jennifer and me at the Dulles FBO. Ordering us to stand by until he returned. Since Grolier Recovery Services already had plenty of nefarious digital connections to the headquarters, there was no way we were going to make matters worse by going there in the flesh. I decided to stay right in the comfortable pilot’s lounge until we had an answer.
I curled up in a La-Z-Boy and said, “Get some sleep. I’m bushed.”
She got in the chair next to me. “Looks like we get the same room together for once.”
I laughed and said, “I don’t think our secret is much of a secret. I think everyone on the team knows. Kurt is probably the only one still in the dark. Well, him and Creed.”
She absently picked at the bandage on her arm. “You think that’s a bad thing? Are you still wondering about me being in the Taskforce? On your team?”
I put my arms behind my head and said, “No. It’s not a bad thing. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I’m good with you on the team. More than good. Mission-wise, we click, regardless of how we feel about each other. Or maybe because of how we feel about each other. I don’t know. I have to get over some protective caveman stuff, but we work well together. We’ll see what the team thinks of our relationship, but I’m more concerned about the command. If Kurt finds out about us, he might hammer me just because of the implications. This sort of thing is illegal in the military.”
She smiled, liking the answer. “Then I guess we’d better not let him find out.”
“Does that mean we’re not doing anything in our first Taskforce single room?”
The smile melted into a frown. No sense of humor. I pushed her buttons some more.
I said, “Kurt won’t be back for hours, and these chairs are comfy.”
She threw her water bottle at me, barely missing my head. I batted it away and said, “Okay, okay. I get it. No single rooms on the Taskforce paycheck. Let’s get some sleep.”
She gave me her disapproving-teacher look and said, “You’re working on no single rooms period.”
I closed my eyes and thought maybe a minute had passed when I felt someone prodding my shoulder. I said, “Jennifer, you had your chance.”
