A Deadly Business

by Desiree Holt

  He hesitated a moment, then nodded.

  “Marissa Hayes and Justin Kelly. Justin is an agent with Vigilance. We came here to”—she looked at Justin again—“get away and now we’re in the middle of a bad situation.”

  “We don’t have any time to waste,” Justin added. “I’m hoping you can help me.”

  Luis gave them a long, assessing look. Then, as if he’d made up his mind at last, he put the gun down on the long console that ran beneath all the monitors.

  “I’m keeping that handy just in case you’re screwing with me,” he told Justin. “Tell me exactly what’s going on.”

  When Justin had finished anger flashed in Luis’s eyes. “Bad doesn’t begin to describe this. Okay. What do you want from me?”

  Justin looked at the wall of monitors. “I’m going to assume you control the entire electrical system from here?”

  Luis nodded. “The security cameras and the electronics, too. Damn!” He sat up straighter. “I had a slight disconnect with the cameras a while ago. Just for a couple of minutes. I was going to radio one of the guards to check it out but then they came right back on.”

  “My guess? They had a jammer with them. They only needed the system offline long enough for them to get from the hangar to the resort proper.”

  “I should have had it checked out. Damn!” He slammed his fist on the console.

  “Nothing you could have done,” Justin told him. “All the guards on duty are dead.”

  Shock froze the man’s features. “Dead?”

  Justin nodded. “So, we need to get moving here before any more people die. If that’s even possible.”

  “All right. Tell me what you want me to do.”

  * * * *

  Maes had just had one of Raca’s men escort the next person—make that practically carry, the man was so nervous—to the computer when the lights flickered for a moment. He shoved the man into the seat beside Desmet and looked around. The lights flickered again, twice, then went out completely.

  “What the fuck?” There was still enough light coming in through the big windows that he could see the room. He strode over to where Walt Morganstern was sitting and yanked him up out of his chair. “What the hell is going on?”

  Morganstern stared at him, a look so filled with venom Maes was tempted to have him shot right then and there.

  “Sometimes the system has a hiccup. We’re isolated from the mainland, so we have to have a self-contained situation. But every now and then, for whatever reason, the system gets a kink.”

  “Fix it,” Maes ordered. “Right now.”

  But even as he said the words, the lights came back on again.

  “Just a minor hiccup,” Morganstern repeated. “As I said.”

  “If it keeps doing that we’ll have trouble here. Keep that in mind.”

  He shoved the man back into his chair and returned to the man sitting next to Desmet.

  “You are one of the last people I expected to turn on me, Simon.”

  Simon Dorne gave him an angry look, albeit one tinged with fear.

  “We all have to protect ourselves, Maes. Isn’t that what you always preached?”

  “But judiciously, Simon. Intelligently.”

  “So it’s both of those things as long as it doesn’t affect you? Is that what you’re implying?”

  “I’m implying that I was the one who protected all of you. Even when the schoopchino CIA flexed their muscles and froze so many of my assets, I kept quiet.” Maes stared down at the man. “I did so in the misguided belief the rest of you would band together and support me as I set up my new structure.”

  Dorne looked at him then shook his head. “You’re going to, what, take everything we have, and then you’ll be satisfied?”

  Maes clenched his jaw to hold back the anger that wanted to burst forth.

  “I might never be satisfied, but this is a start. Get busy. We have a list of every one of your businesses and accounts, just as we did for Eickner, so don’t try to keep anything back.” He looked over at the table where one of Raca’s men stood, one hand on his assault rifle, the other resting on the .45mm stuck in his belt. “Do you need a little more incentive?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Maes nodded, and the man put the barrel of his gun against the temple of one of the women who had been sitting next to Dorne.

  “No,” the woman squeaked. “I’m not his wife. Please.”

  As if to emphasize what she said, the man next to her tugged on her arm and pulled her closer to his chair. The other woman paled but Maes was dismayed that she showed no fear. He thrived on fear, the greater the better.

  Dorne half rose from his seat but Maes put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him back down. The gun barrel was now resting against his wife’s temple.

  “The quicker you get this done, Simon, the faster that gun will move away from your wife. I’d hate to see her brains splattered all over the dining room because you were stubborn.” His lips thinned in a tight smile. “Wouldn’t you?”

  Swearing under his breath, Dorne pulled the laptop a little closer and began to type. He had just finished when the lights flickered again, this time staying off for more than a minute. Maes looked at Morganstern.

  “Just a normal little glitch, is it? For an outrageously expensive resort, you have somewhat shoddy equipment.”

  Morganstern stood. “I’m happy to go and check on it for you. Make sure it doesn’t keep happening.”

  “Sit down.” Maes snapped out the words. “Val, bring up that diagram again.”

  When they were making preparations for this trip, Val had accessed a detailed map of the island and the resort.

  “Got it,” he said and pointed on the screen. “Here’s the physical plant.”

  Maes looked at Walt Morganstern. “Is everything controlled from there?”

  He watched the man struggle with how to frame an answer. “Well…that is…”

  “The truth would be best, Mr. Morganstern. I’d hate to have to shoot your lovely wife because you lied to me.”

  Morganstern tensed and looked for a moment as if he wasn’t going to answer, but then he nodded. “Yes. Everything is there.”

  Surely there was a workman around to take care of it.

  “Who handles repairs for your electrical systems when something like this happens?”

  Again, he thought the man was either going to refuse to answer or lie to him. But then he obviously remembered his wife in the hands of a gunman.

  “I have an engineer who lives on premises, in the staff residences. When there is a problem outside of regular hours, I call him, and he takes care of it.”

  “So, he could fix whatever this glitch is?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you contact him? Is there a house phone system?”

  “Yes, but I usually get him on the two-way radio.” He looked pointedly at the garbage bag full of electronics. “Mine is in there.”

  “Get up here and find it. And don’t get any big ideas.”

  Morganstern walked up to where the bag was, fished in it, and finally found what he wanted.

  “Call him,” Maes snapped. “Now.”

  Morganstern turned the little radio on and selected a channel. “Luis? Luis, this is Mr. Morganstern. Are you checking the physical plant? There seems to be a problem with the electricity.”

  Static crackled. Then an answer came back at him.

  “I am already here, sir, and working on it.”

  “What seems to be the problem?”

  More static.

  “Nothing major. I am working on it right now.”

  Maes took the radio from him and shoved it in his pocket. He’d keep it in case they had more problems. Then he looked at the armed man closest to him. “Juraj. Take someone and go over the
re and find out what the fuck is the problem. If you have to shoot someone to get it done, don’t hesitate. Just don’t kill them because we need them to keep the physical plant operating.”

  Juraj looked at the screen to orient himself, nodded, and walked out of the restaurant.

  Maes turned back to the room. People were shifting in their chairs, and he could see they were getting restless. When people became restless they did stupid things, like trying to rush intruders. He watched Eickner, his face twisted with pain. He’d seen his friend’s wife killed and been shot himself, and all his money was gone. He would be a prime candidate to do something. He needed to remind Eickner that he, Maes, controlled the situation, and that it was not a good idea to do something that got people killed.

  He looked at Raca who once again fired a burst from his assault weapon into the ceiling, startling the crowd.

  “That’s to remind you,” he said, “in case anyone thinks there is a chance of overpowering us, catching us off-guard, that we are in control here. Anyone who interferes with this process will be shot. I think we’ve proven that to you. Now.” He looked around the room. “Who is next?”

  * * * *

  “That was good,” Justin said after the transmission with Morganstern was complete. “He didn’t tell them you were already on duty. By the way, what do you do when it’s more than a simple repair?”

  “Bring someone over from the mainland. Rosewood has a contract with two different companies, depending on what we need.”

  “Okay. He didn’t let them know that. Good.”

  Justin was standing behind Luis, eyes moving from one big screen to the other.

  “Which screen monitors the cameras?” He pointed. “That one?”

  Luis nodded. “Yes. With so few cameras we can have them all up at the same time.”

  “Can you put up one view and hold it?”

  Luis nodded. “Watch.” He typed something on a keyboard. In less than a second one image filled the entire screen. Another switch, and it was back to the original setup. “What do you wish to see?”

  “I want to know if anyone is heading this way from the restaurant. Right about now Maes should be sending someone to check out the power.”

  Luis entered a command again, and suddenly, the view of the path from Rosewood filled the screen.

  “Thanks. Now I need to get out there before they get here.” He looked at Marissa. “You’ve got this?”

  “Yes, but don’t you want me out there with you? I can shoot, too, in case you forgot.”

  He shook his head. “No. I understand you can shoot, but I can’t do my job if my mind is on what’s happening to you. And it will be. You know that. Besides, I need you in here with Luis protecting this equipment and Dani.” He looked over at the girl, sitting quietly in a straight chair. “Dani, your job is to stay here with Marissa and Luis, and watch the screens. If you see anything they miss, point it out right away.”

  He was sure Luis wouldn’t miss anything, but he needed Dani inside and focused on something to keep her mind off what was happening.

  If they’d had more time, he was sure Marissa would have argued with him about the arrangements, but even seconds were important right now. As they watched the screen, two of Raca’s men in their black shirts and pants, outfitted as if they were ready for war, came into view from the rear of the restaurant.

  “Go,” she said. “We’ll be fine in here.”

  Luis released the electronic lock on the door, and Justin slipped out. He heard the lock click back into place behind him. He wouldn’t have more than this one chance, and he couldn’t afford to screw it up.

  The area in front of the building was small, by design just enough for one or two people to stand by the door. He had no idea what the shrubs surrounding the building were, just that they were tall and thick, and perfect for his purpose. He pushed his way into them until he had about three feet between himself and the doorway. He took a deep breath to steady himself, focused completely on the door, gun ready. Then he waited.

  In what could not have been more than two minutes he heard feet crunching on the seashells in the path and the two men came into view. One of them tried the door, shaking the handle when it did not open. He said something to the other man in a foreign language. Then he pushed the button beneath the speaker box.

  “You, in there. Open up for us.”

  Justin brought his gun up so he had a direct sight on the head of one of the men.

  “Did you hear me? I said open up or we will blow the door open.”

  Justin took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and pulled the trigger twice.

  Pop! Pop!

  The man fell immediately. Before the second man could react, Justin had moved his hands, sighted again, and pulled the trigger twice more. Two more satisfying pops, and the second man collapsed to the ground. Justin moved out of the shrubbery and pressed the speaker button.

  “Marissa? Now I need you out here.”

  The buzzer sounded but when the door opened it was Luis who walked out to join him.

  “Hey, we can do this,” Justin assured him. “You don’t need to get involved. Things could get messy.”

  Luis looked at him with eyes so hard and cold for a moment Justin was startled.

  “Listen,” Luis said at last. “I lived in Cuba until I was eighteen. There’s nothing I haven’t seen. I’m just damn fucking glad my uncle got me out of there. These guys are heavy. You really want to waste your breath talking? What do you need?”

  “Strip them of everything. Clothes, guns, ammo. They said they had explosives so get those and anything else you find.”

  They worked in efficient silence, and before long they had two piles of clothing, guns, bullets, Semtex, and small radios. Then they dragged the men deep into the thick, high shrubbery, covering them over with some of the broad leaves of the plants.

  “Let’s get this stuff inside,” Justin said.

  Luis took a small electronic device from his pocket, pressed it to the lock, and the door opened. Inside he cleared off a small table against one wall, and they placed everything on it. Justin set everything from one pile aside and began stripping.

  “What are you doing?” Marissa moved over to stand near him.

  “This one guy looked about my size. If you want to blend in with the enemy, you have to dress like them.” He gave her a tight grin. “We learned it in Warfare 101.”

  He folded up his own clothes and put them with everything else. He, Luis, and Marissa began checking the weapons and other equipment. By the time they were finished he was dressed, with the assault rifle slung across his chest, along with extra ammo. One pocket held both pads of Semtex while the radio was shoved into another. His own Smith & Wesson plus one of the H&Ks were tucked into the small of his back.

  “Ever fire one of these?” He held up the other assault weapon to Luis.

  The man dipped his head once. “I was in the Army when I was younger. We learned to shoot everything.”

  Justin studied him. “And speaking of all that, you aren’t exactly what I expected to find here.”

  Luis laughed. “Were you looking for a sweaty grunt who ran around with a wrench and a screwdriver?”

  Justin’s mouth tilted in a rueful smile. “Well, now that you mention it…”

  “I could mess with your head and say I’m just dressed up for the day, which isn’t too far from wrong. But the truth is, I did a tour in the Army, went to college, and got a degree in electrical engineering. I actually designed the power plant here when Rosewood was being built.”

  Justin stared at him, dumbstruck. “I’m sorry. Just—”

  “No sweat. After we take care of this little problem we’ve got going on here I’ll tell you all about it.”

  “Deal.” He handed the other radio to Luis. “Monitor this. If I’m not here, you may
have to fake it.”

  “Got it.”

  “Meanwhile, guys,” Marissa broke in, “what’s next? You said there are almost a dozen guys with weapons in the dining room. We’ve cut that number down by two and there are two more in the staff quarters. I still don’t like our odds.”

  “The restaurant is the critical area,” Justin told her. “We need to winnow their number down as much as we can. Let’s see what happens when the two in the bushes don’t come back.”

  The words had no sooner left his mouth than one of the radios crackled. Justin pushed the button to listen.

  “Juraj? Come in.” The voice was distorted but they could still understand it.

  Justin pressed the Talk button. He thought it best to say as little as possible. “Yah. What?”

  “Is the electrical under control?”

  “Soon. Checking more.”

  He hoped his phony accent and short, clipped answers would disguise his voice.

  “Get back here now. What are you waiting for?”

  Justin didn’t bother to answer. He had a feeling the man whose place he was taking wouldn’t have, either. He was sure Stefan Maes expected unqualified obedience from his troops.

  “One more thing.” Justin scanned the controls on the console. “I don’t know how your light system works. Can you kill the outside lights and leave all the others on?”

  “I can. You want that now?”

  Justin shook his head. “When Vigilance gets ready to jump, I’ll give you the signal.”

  “Got it. Now what?” Luis asked.

  “Now we need to up the stakes a little.”

  “What can I do?”

  “I’ve been thinking. Let’s play with the electricity once more, maybe shut it down for a minute again. Oh, wait.” He snapped his fingers. “That will kill the air conditioning, too, right?”

  Luis shook his head. “The AC is on its own generator. Both main generators are through that door.” Luis pointed to a door to the left of his big console. “That way if we have an electrical failure for some reason, our guests won’t sweat to death.”

  “What about the fire alarms?”

  “The same but with battery backup. If we have a blaze the electrical would probably stop working anyway.”