“I get it. You figure the woman knows a hell of a lot and I can extract a plethora of facts to trip our male contestants.”
“That’s the plan, Lynn. Once Muerto gets in for an audience with Al-Kadi, he can recon guard numbers, look-outs, and possibly trick the number of men billeted at the compound in the initial conversation. Nick’s roving encounter with Al-Kadi may make the difference between our confiscating the compound or blowing the hell out of it.
“Not to mention when he’s through with the initial introductions, I’m thinking Muerto will reduce the number of combatants significantly,” Lynn replied. “We’ll be able to get a handle on how receptive Al-Kadi is to an audience with Nick during the phone call we’ve been rehearsing with Carone.”
Clint joined us with Clint Jr. in his arms. “Sam called. He and Janie have our new arrivals twenty minutes away. Achmed and I found out a lot more on the Nazari guy and his two pals from Al-Kadi’s compound. C’mon out and have a coffee while I show you the folders I printed out on them, Cheese. I made you a tea, babe.”
Lynn gathered the baby into her arms as she and I followed Clint to their meeting area. “How’s my little man doing without his Mama?”
“Quiet, hungry, and the usual. He seemed to be very entertained watching my computer screen. The Parakeet is with Achmed. She sat between us with Mia in her arms. The babies laughed and giggled at each other the whole time. We put them in the playpen together. They handed each other toys, crawled over each other, and sat together with the finger foods we gave them to munch on.”
“That’s cute.” Lynn held Clint Jr. so she could examine him closely. “Is your old man fixing you up with an arranged marriage, kid? Mia’s pretty cute, huh?”
The baby nodded and giggled which surprised me, but not his parents. “He’s already understanding some words?”
“Sure,” Clint answered. “Watch this.”
Clint peered at his son with a stern frown. “Naptime for junior.”
“No!” Clint Jr. shook his head in the negative while cringing away from his Dad. “No!”
We were still enjoying that demonstration when we reached the meeting room. Samira’s melodious but non-stop help, while pointing and commenting at Jafar’s screen, paused as we approached. Jafar sighed in relief only to get a smack in the back of the head.
“I am only trying to help,” Samira said plaintively as she sat down with arms crossed over chest.
“You have been annoyingly chirping at us for the last hour, Parakeet,” Clint said. “Give your husband a break.”
Samira gasped as Jafar enjoyed Clint’s observation and request as much as the rest of us. She jabbed a finger in my direction which I expected. “This is all your fault I am now the Parakeet, Cheeseburger!”
“No… it’s because sometimes you chirp without taking a breath for a solid hour,” Clint refuted her charge. “Cheese labeled you correctly. Sometimes you have to be reminded that silence is golden.”
“Lynn! Is this true?”
“Listen, kid… you know my abhorrence for cleaning anything. That fact catches up to me at odd times with a pointed reminder. I love you but you are a chirpy little bird at times. Calm down. You’re the Parakeet. Big deal. Embrace it. Jafar is ‘Achmed the Dead Terrorist’. Clint’s been telling us how well Clint Jr. and Mia get along.” Lynn placed Clint Jr. in the playpen where Mia’s face brightened as she crawled quickly to her buddy. Lynn watched the two babies giggling and chasing each other around the playpen for a moment with a big smile. “I think it’s time to talk dowry, Achmed.”
Jafar nodded, taking a break from his screen to join Lynn next to the crib. “They do get along wonderfully well. Is that not so, Parakeet?”
Samira took Jafar’s hand with a sigh. “Yes… they get along very well. I will try to be less chirpy. Will I lose the Parakeet nickname after a time?”
“Not a chance, my love,” Jafar answered. “Sit down with us. We need to show Cheese and Crue the folders Clint printed out.”
Samira became animated immediately in gesture, and tone, as she grabbed the folders to place in front of Lynn and me after we sat with our beverages at the table with Clint. “They are horrendous! The two assassins come from Karachi, Pakistan. They commit heinous crimes in the tribal areas as enforcers of Sharia Law when called in. Isis smuggled them through Mexico to be at Al-Kadi’s command. He shuttles them across the United States to enforce Sharia Law Edicts upon request. They come into an area, kill the target in horrendous but anonymous ways according to how they are requested to do it. When they leave, the police have no proof to arrest the suspected ones who hired the killers. Isis has expanded their duties. How in the world did Mr. McCarty capture them?”
“Sam told me they tried to kidnap Nick’s daughter near her school in broad daylight,” I told her. “Nick and his dog, Deke, got them in unspecified terms along with the Nazaris. That they are alive for us to interrogate is a blessing.”
“Dead Boy’s enemies are my enemies,” Clint said. “I say they go on a day flight over the ocean when we get done with them. I’ll leave it up to Lynn about the Nazari woman, but the male mutants die.”
“Agreed,” I said. “Any idea how Florence latched onto Majd?”
“Typical liberal guilt trip,” Clint continued. “Her maiden name is Florence Domki. She’s Pakistani, born in a Pakistani enclave in Los Angeles. I found nothing on her parents. They run a dry cleaning business in LA, spent a fortune sending Flo to Cal State Berkeley where she met Majd Nazari on a student visa out of Saudi Arabia. She married him after graduation and never spoke to her parents again. Samira confirmed that fact by calling them to say she was a classmate from Berkeley trying to get in touch with Florence. Flo and Majd have been working the Islamophobia card ever since. He’s a professional con-man with ties to every place the Unholy Trio has hit in their area. That Al-Kadi sent his two best assassins at Nazari’s request on behalf of the Kader family makes this interrogation very important. Nazari is very good or very lucky.”
Our door beeped. Samira walked over with me close behind, checked our surveillance cam screen and opened the door. “Hello, Sam. How are you Janie? I have Mia with me and Lynn has Clint Jr. Come see them in the playpen together.”
“That’s wonderful,” Janie said, her face a serious mask. “I looked over the files Clint put together on our prisoners. I felt like taking them into the desert and shooting them all in the head. Let’s see the babies. Can we get a little help transferring our Isis gang?”
“Sure. Come inside.” Samira accepted the SUV keys from Sam. She led the way to where the playpen was set up. While the two FBI agents enjoyed the two babies’ antics, Samira handed the keys to me.
“Lynn? Would you like to introduce yourself now to our guests?”
“No. Call the minions. Tell Gus to put them all into our holding cell together after a bathroom break. I want to read these files over more thoroughly before I decide what I want to do.”
“On it. I’ll help them.”
* * *
Gus opened the SUV door with a big smile. “Buenos Dias, my friends. Welcome to hell. I, Gus Denova, will be your host. These are my other helpers, Quays and Sylvio. We serve your interrogator, Dr. Deville and the big guy here, the Dark Lord. Come out of there. Save your breath for the screaming later. We will take you all to the most comfortable place you’ll probably see again while living.”
Sylvio fired an arc from this cattle prod. “Please don’t make this a difficult journey. There will be time for all of that later. We try to be pleasing and polite while following our orders to transfer prisoners. You do not want to make this difficult. It will not go well for you.”
The woman began wailing so loudly as the prisoners left the vehicle, Lynn came to the door. “Get her silent or unconscious, Sylvio. That damn screeching is upsetting the kids.”
“On it.” Sylvio used the cattle prod on Florence.
She did the dance electric for a moment before collapsing in a heap. Gus
and Quays nailed the three others the moment they moved to interfere. Being larger, the men received an extended electronic hello. In moments, silence reigned.
“Excellent, my minions,” Lynn gave final approval. “Bring them in when they can do so quietly.”
“Should we warm them with the video montage, Crue,” Gus asked.
“Definitely. I don’t feel like starting from the beginning. Warm them to boiling point, boys.”
I slapped and kicked them all into groaning reality. “Get to your feet, or I drop kick each of you through the door. The noise will upset Dr. Deville and she will order another dose of silence. This time my greeters will fry your asses for a full minute. You have ten seconds to get on your feet.”
They made it in five, including Flo, who no longer believed this was a game. The terrified look on her face coupled with the arrogant rage billowing out from the others combined to make me think this would be an informative interrogation. Flo’s whole life flashed in front of her eyes, I’m sure. One moment Flo worked brainwashing a classroom of kids, and the next, she’s handcuffed while being led into a place that did not look like any jail she’d ever seen. After accompanying the minions to our upper holding cell, I took the handcuffs off with the key Sam gave me while the minions watched. We then took each one to the bathroom before returning them to the cell.
“You cannot leave me here with the men!”
“Being left with the men will be the least of your problems,” I told her. “Don’t worry. We’ll be getting to you very shortly. We know who you all are. We have dossiers on each of you already, especially you two women burning mutants from Karachi. My associates have videos for you to watch, so relax and enjoy the viewing screen during your short wait. They will illustrate the most pain free ways to get through the next few hours. The first mutant who touches the woman will be zapped, taken from the cell and zapped until his dick falls off.”
Flo screamed. “Don’t! Don’t leave me with them. They will kill me the moment you leave!”
I grinned. “Sylvio is a bit of an electronics genius. The room you’re in is very special. Give our guests a demo, Sylvio.”
A moment later all four crashed to the floor as the electrodes meshed inside the walls, ceiling, and floor electrocuted everything inside the room. The minions of course went nuts. They had spent many hours making our special holding cell.
“See. No one does anything inside the room without our permission. Enjoy the movie.” I walked past minions with pumping fist. “Oh my God that was an incredible tryout for the room. You guys are amazing.”
The three immediately stood at attention with heads bowed. “Thank you, Dark Lord.”
I was still laughing when I reached the meeting room where they enjoyed a replay of our electric room’s test firing. “I thought it would be a perfect test firing. I never dreamed it would be that wild.”
“Clint is sure right about the men,” Lynn said. “They do not leave the House of Pain except in proper fish feeding portions. How much of the file did you read before transferring them, Cheese?”
I sat down with them again. “Too much. Their specialty was woman burning in the outer tribal areas.”
“Jesus… God in heaven,” Janie murmured, putting aside the file handed to her. “Acid baths, wood chippers, amputations… how… how did you get these files?”
“We have hacks into the Dark Web with a data mining operation me and Achmed created with Laredo. It’s how we first heard a rumor about the ‘Starlight’ affair. All the most heinous mutant Islamists sell their wares from simple assassinations to torture and honor killings.” Clint paused, glancing over at Clint Jr. and Mia sleeping in the playpen. “The mutants will establish their Caliphate here only when we so called ‘Monsters’ are all dead with a thousand bodies surrounding us to burn for our funeral pyre.”
“Janie and I are with you all,” Sam stated. He held up the file. “Our prisoners were rerouted into Homeland Security special bureau collaboration with CIA. Yes. It’s legitimate. After everything achieved to prevent loss of life in the hundreds of thousands at China Basin, Isis compounds, and the ‘Starlight of the Seas’ operation, we have cover to wage war… a secret war… but a war none the less. McCarty and his crew are a valuable asset to this strike team. His capture of these mutants, as you call them, will be one more reason amongst many to maintain this force under cover. Janie and I will go now. We’ll write the transfer paperwork, cloaked in the collaboration cover I mentioned. Thanks for letting us see the babies. They’re an incredibly good contrast to this day.”
“Amen to that, Sam. I’ll walk you out,” Clint said. “Crue and the Cheese will take care of our transferees.”
After the goodbyes were over, Clint left with Sam and Janie. I turned to Lynn then. “Do you still want to start with Flo?”
“Oh yeah,” Lynn replied. “I watched Flo. We’ll let the minions strap her down for interrogation. You and I will go in for effect, silently smiling at her. Once I get her rolling, we won’t be able to stop her. I’ll blend a word or two in for continuity. I’ve already jotted down a list of questions for her after she burps up everything she can think of concerning these goons and their Pilot Hill hangout.”
“What should we do with her after this?” Even I didn’t know what to do with a true toady who lives in thrall to a murderous cult.
“You’ve heard the term ‘too stupid to live’, right? That’s how I feel about Flo,” Lynn replied. Jafar, Samira, and Clint who had only then rejoined us, all expressed agreement with Lynn’s pronouncement. “We’ve had incredible success with the acupuncture technique. She has parents in LA who even Clint thinks are legit.”
“Lynn’s right. Achmed and I went through their lives with a fine tooth comb. They’re legit. They don’t even donate to the Islamist front groups like far too many supposed American citizens of Muslim leanings. No one will believe anything she babbles once she leaves here. Hell, her mind may be gone by the time Lynn retrains her. It would be a good experiment in the dark side turnings Lynn has already had some success with. We can return her to the parents as a reformed American. We’ll check on her integration back into society without the burka.”
“That sounds good to me,” I agreed. “I guess we better get started.”
“I’ll stay with the kids, Achmed, and Samira,” Clint said. “Developing those files left a bad taste in my mouth. If you need anything in the Podiatrist Room, call out to the minions. Gus told me they’re staying until after we have enough info to decide on our plan for Pilot Hill.”
“You and Achmed did a hell of a job with the files. They even shocked Sam and Janie.” I went to our intercom system controls. “Mr. Denova… please escort our female guest to be prepped for interrogation. How did the warmup go?”
“Exceptionally well,” Gus replied. “We’ll settle Ms. Nazari into position. She’s a bit out of sorts at the moment. We’ll make her drink some water before anchoring her to the table.”
We purposely have the intercom on speaker for the inmates’ enjoyment. Flo began screaming her heart out as Gus disconnected.
* * *
Although recovering from an electronic jolt to quiet her down, Flo’s twisted features could not relax from utter terror. The minions, having strapped her securely onto the table with her feet in our special restraints, filed out of the room as we entered. Lynn wore her new interrogation costume: black slacks, black lab-coat, red-lettered nametag with Dr. Cruella Deville on it, and black exam gloves. Her blonde hair, tied tightly in a bun like a ‘Nurse Ratchet’ clone, contrasted with her very dark eyeliner and lipstick. I wore black jeans, black t-shirt, and black exam gloves.
When she first walked into a room with all of the ‘Monster Squad’ in attendance, we were struck dumb for a moment, before erupting in applause. Flo took one look and began hyperventilating as Lynn and I followed our agreed approach to the table. Lynn remained silent, stroking Flo’s hair and cheek. She then traced one black gloved index finger over Flo�
��s center, leg, and right foot, pausing at the little toe. Lynn then smiled hugely at the gasping Flo.
“Hi there, Flo. I’m Dr. Deville. This is my assistant, the Dark Lord. We are recording our examination and conversations. Would you like to tell us everything you know about everything or would you like to play ‘this little piggy went to market’?”
Flo tried to speak but could only babble. Lynn folded her arms in contemplation. “What do you think, Dark Lord? Perhaps Flo doesn’t understand she is no longer in the hands of the regular federal authorities.”
“I believe she’s terrified out of her mind, Dr. Deville. Pain might be the only balm for this malady. I could break a finger so she’ll have something to concentrate on besides her predicament.”
“No! Please…please don’t hurt me!”
“What do you know about that, DL? Flo found her voice all by herself. We have some time constraints, so tell us what you know about Nick McCarty and why your husband tried with those other two mutants to kidnap McCarty’s daughter.”
“Majd heard about an assassin named Felix Moreau being killed in Salem on the Dark Web. Moreau…” Flo ran out of air for a moment, calming herself with pleading features aimed at gaining a moment’s respite from her interrogators. “My husband knew Moreau was hired by… Isis to kidnap Emily Waterson and kill her if State Senator Waterson didn’t agree to stop blocking land acquisitions by our representatives. I-”
“Your representatives, huh?”
One look at the murderous glare Lynn visited upon her and Flo began crying. Lynn took a deep breath. She patted Flo’s cheek reassuringly. “Go on with your story. You’re doing real well.”
Red Horizon Page 20
