Chapter 3: Ian’s Late
Mercer lost track of time while searching for clues into Hunters disappearance. He makes sure not to leave any type of time signature on his search within SIS; Mercer is very strict when it comes to following protocol but this is Hunter, they were like brothers heck closer than brothers they’ve fought side by side for years, Hunter even saved Mercers life.
Mercer stands up and walks over to look out his office window and glances down at his watch “It’s not like Ian to be late, hope the kids ok” He walks over and picks up his cell phone off his meticulously organized desk. Mercer looks at his phone and notices there’s a voicemail from Ian. He presses play and places the phone to his ear to listen, there’s a lot of yelling and it’s barely audible like it was dialed from Ian’s pocket, Mercer sits down at his desk, he knows something went terribly wrong, he heard Ian yelling out clues just like he was trained to do. Mercer immediately starts to write down what he heard; three men, one American, large scar on his face, Taylor something? Couldn’t hear the second part and call Ethan?
“American with large scar? No, no, no this can’t be Hunter, can it?” Mercer gets up and starts pacing around his office. “Hunter would have no idea what Ian looks like he never met him but Ian should know what Hunter looks like, he’s seen his photo a thousand times” Mercer pulls himself together quickly and calls Fisher the number one guy on his team “Fisher its Mercer I need you to call all the guys, grab all of your tactical gear” Fisher responds “No problem boss, meet at the usual?” “Yea and make it quick!”
Fisher calls the team together and they all meet at the underground parking garage at SIS. The garage is dark and they always meet in one specific location, a blind spot out of camera view. Mercer is already there waiting, “Thanks for getting here so quickly!”
The team is made up of four guys including Fisher, all of the team served in special ops under Mercer; the only one missing was Hunter.
Fisher is from Australia a neat freak, the intelligence specialist. Drake is from Manchester and just loves to piss people off but a great weapons and explosives specialist. Murphy is from Ireland a big guy with a Mohawk and long braided beard, the best sniper in the country.
“I’m afraid Ian’s been abducted and from his description, I believe Hunters involved” Mercer throws his phone to Fisher “I want you guys to listen to Ian’s message, find out where Ian was when he called, also find out who this Ethan person is” Fisher just looks at the guys, they’ve all been together for so long they don’t even need to talk. Drake walks over and opens the side door to the special operations van designed by Fisher. Fisher designed the special operations van with all of the finest equipment. Everybody sits down; Fisher plugs Mercer’s cell phone into his laptop and uses some sort of audio cleaning software.
Fisher plays the message out loud so everyone can hear. Murphy is leaning forward stroking his beard “That’s definitely Hunters voice, play that back again” Fisher looks up at Mercer knowing exactly what he’s thinking and replays the message. Mercer shakes his head in disgust “What the hell is Hunter got himself into now and what’s he doing in London!” Drake steps out of the van and sticks his head back in “I told you never to trust that bloke!” Fisher looks over at Drake, pointing at him “You know better Drake! Put a sock in it!” Drake whispers something under his breath then puts his head down like a child that’s just been reprimanded.
Mercer responds “ I understand nobody here cared for Hunter but he was like a brother to me, this isn’t about Hunter it’s about finding Ian and If we capture Hunter well that’s just a bonus” Fisher’s tracing the last cell phone call on Mercer’s phone “Does big brother know about this Mercer?” Mercer sits down next to Fisher and whispers “Listen you know how I am about following protocol but this is my little brother, I don’t have time for all the red tape, where did that last call originate from?” Fisher smiles and grabs Mercer by the shoulder “Looks like he was in the Borough of Hackney” Mercer steps out of the van “Let’s roll guys, lock n’ load!” Mercer gets into the sinister looking black Rang Rover with Drake; Murphy drives Fisher in the tactical unit.
Murphy looks back while driving and says sarcastically “Is Hunter worth the same dead or alive?” Fishers still sitting at the command center trying to locate Ethan “You know it would take more than a couple of bullets to bring Hunter down!” Murphy looks forward smiling “I can take down an elephant at 200 meters with my Barrett!”
Mercer and his team head into east London, the last location Ian was when he was taken. They park just off of Broadway market under a broken street light, the night sky is so clear that the moon is casting shadows. The area used to be like a war zone rittled with drug dealers and gangs, up until about two years ago when they installed cameras with sirens on every street corner.
Fisher is still in search mode when Mercers phone starts to ring, Fisher grabs the phone and opens the side door and runs over to Mercers Black Range Rover. Mercer sees Fisher running towards him and rolls down the window,
Fisher holds up Mercers phone to show him the number on his phone. Mercer grabs the phone out of Fishers hand and answers “Mercer” all he hears is heavy breathing than someone begins to speak.
“This is Ethan” Mercer signals with his hands and everyone quickly gets into the tactical unit. Mercer answers “Hold on one sec mate” He hands the phone to Fisher to hook up to his laptop so everyone can listen. “Ethan?” Ethan’s still breathing heavy “Ian gave me your number” Mercer replies “That’s fine mate, where are you?”
“I’m looking at your vehicles as we speak, I figured something was wrong that’s why I called you” Before Mercer could say anything Drake and Murphy where already out of the van. The van is parked with the side door facing the dark side of the building. “How do you know Ian?” and before Mercer could get an answer Drake and Murphy were back at the van with Ethan. Drake knocks on the van door and like a magic trick the door opens and Ethan is gone.
Ethan is an addict and is always wired and jittery. Mercer looks at Ethan “It looks like you’ve just seen a ghost” Ethan’s hiding in the corner like a frightened animal “Ian said I could trust you!” Fisher grabs Ethan and pushes him towards the ground with force “How do we know you weren’t involved with Ian’s disappearance?” Mercer gestures to Fisher to put Ethan in the chair “Tell me about your relationship with Ian” Ethan sits up and straightens out his clothing “Ian was paying me for information and that’s all I’m going to tell you!” Mercer gets right in Ethan’s face “Do you really feel this is a good time to squeeze out a few more pounds?”
“Ok, ok Ian was looking for info about the missing Jakey” Mercer opens the side door of the ops van and signals to Drake and Murphy, “Let’s move this thing to the cave. Mercer closes the door and looks over at Fisher and nods his head. Fisher pulls out a small syringe, leans over and sticks it into Ethan’s leg “OW! What the bloody hell was that for?”
Fisher just smiles as Ethan slips into a deep sleep. Fisher looks over at Mercer who’s shaking his head back and forth “So is this going to be a normal interrogation?” Mercer is staring at Ethan “No, if Ethan is telling us the truth he’s the only one that knew anything about what Ian was doing and obviously Ian trusted this kid for some reason”
Calvin Blake NeuroCorp Book 1 Page 3
