“It was a domestic dispute, Sir.” Dorsett could see the aggravation building in Atherton’s body language.
“I have the video in my possession of the incident you withheld. I also have a file containing your dealings with former Senator Cameron and her pursuit of US Marshal McCarty. Her reasoning was revenge for his ending the Senator’s selling out of the nation. Your reasoning was obviously financial… and oh my, you certainly received that.”
Dorsett leaped to her feet. “Where the hell do you get off spying on my personal life?”
“I didn’t. When you continued dealing at Cameron’s beck and call even after her forced resignation from office, your name showed up on the terrorist watch list for consulting with her. The authorities tracked your dealings under Homeland Security auspices. Nothing would have happened to you but in choosing to pursue Cameron’s vendetta on Marshal McCarty, you committed a number of felonies. They will be recorded in your file. We will not be implementing legal proceedings against you. Pack your things and clear out of your office. There are two policemen waiting for you there to make sure you don’t commit any other crimes.”
“I’m being set up! You see what’s going on here, don’t you, George?!” Dorsett turned to her fellow district attorney for support.
Retired Commander, George Whittaker, stood too. “I was given this case because I still have a Top Secret clearance from my naval career. Former Senator Cameron is a traitor. You conspiring with her to frame Marshal McCarty proves you’re no better than she is. My advice is this. Don’t say another word. This meeting has been recorded. I will be prosecuting those two bastards Gayle and McKinley on so many felonies, they won’t see the light of day for fifty years. Anything else you have to say will be used against you in a court of law and by God I’ll be the one doing the honors. If not for Marshal McCarty, the wife, kids, and probably numerous civilian hostages would have been murdered.”
Atherton waited until Whittaker finished before standing. “If I hear even one word of bullshit from you either here or in public I will have George pursue every single felony against you. I will have you frog-marched in handcuffs from wherever you are, directly into a jail cell. Now get out of my office.
A terrified Dorsett left the office without a word as ordered.
“I still think we should have charged her, Daryl.”
“I know. The only reason I’m not pursuing her is I don’t want any distraction from putting those idiots away for as long as we possibly can. That video scared the shit out of me. They were on the verge of executing everyone on the pier.”
“I will get them. Don’t worry about that. I’ll update you at the end of the day.” Whittaker left the office.
Atherton dialed the number he had been given. When Paul Gilbrech answered, Atherton said, “it’s done, Sir. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”
“Thank you for dealing with it, Mr. Atherton. If you ever have need of Marshal McCarty’s services, call me. I know he will help if he can.”
“I will indeed.”
* * *
Nick escorted Sonny and Jean to school along with Gus. The greeters from the other morning arrived as Nick walked toward the car alone. They awaited him away from the school front. As usual with the traffic dropping off kids, Nick parked half a block away from the school. Nick smiled as the man and his friends approached. Sergeant Neil Dickerson and his partner, Cheryl Rossdale stepped out of their unmarked car to intercept the men. Neil’s arrival with his partner in full uniform caught the three men by surprise. The big man Nick had run over the morning before tried to lead his companions across the street. Neil stopped them.
“Excuse me, Sir,” Neil said. “Do you have children attending this school?”
The man answered in Arabic, shrugging with a fake smile, pretending he didn’t know English. Nick stepped in and repeated Neil’s question in Arabic.
“That is none of your business.”
“If you wish to avoid being arrested with me as your interpreter, you should answer the question,” Nick said. “I know you speak English. It would be best if you did so now. You will not be going anywhere until I find out why you tried to stop me yesterday.”
“I do not have children in this school,” the man told Neil in English. “This is a free country… correct?”
“Yes… if you’re a citizen,” Neil replied. “Also, you tried to stop Marshal McCarty yesterday in front of the school. If you don’t have a very good reason for doing so, you’ll be coming to the station with me in handcuffs along with your friends. We don’t allow people to stalk others outside our schools.”
The man behind the big guy reached inside his coat, only to have Nick draw his .45 caliber Colt with the barrel pressed against the man’s temple. “Move, and I blow your brains out.”
Neil and Cheryl had drawn their weapons in the intervening seconds. Nick reached into the man’s coat. He retrieved a Walther 9mm and handed it to Cheryl. “On your knees with fingers locked behind your heads.”
The three men did as Nick ordered them. Each man carried a Walther 9mm and two extra clips. They had no identification on them. Nick spoke only after they were secured. “Tell us who you are and what your business is with me.”
“We will tell you nothing.”
Neil smiled as Gus strode next to Nick. “I release custody of these suspects to US Marshal’s McCarty and Nason.”
“Thank you for the assistance, Sergeant. I know you and Officer Rossdale prevented a violent incident in front of the shool. Marshal Nason and I will take charge of the prisoners now.”
“Wait! We demand to be taken into custody by the police!”
“I’m sorry, Sir,” Neil said to the big guy. “That ship sailed. We were called to assist the Marshals in carrying out a federal warrant. Besides the felony of carrying guns near school grounds without permits and identification, you and your friends have no identification period. We have officially transferred custody.”
Officer Rossdale passed the evidence bags to Gus containing the weapons. “I hope you can find out what this weird influx of armed Middle Eastern men into our area means, Marshal McCarty.”
“So do we, Cheryl. We’ll be in touch once we identify these men,” Nick replied as he and Gus moved the prisoners toward Gus’s Ford SUV.
When they had the three men restrained in the backseat, Nick attached the silencer for his .45 caliber Colt. He stuck the silencer end under the chin of the man on the driver’s side. Gus stuck a syringe into his neck. The big man began to yell. Nick used his stun-gun on the man’s groin for thirty seconds of ultra-agony. He smiled at the last man as Gus moved to the other side of the vehicle to reach him.
“It would be best to stay quiet or I light you up,” Nick said in Arabic. “Understand?”
The man nodded. Gus used a syringe on him and the big man in the middle still shaking from the stun-gun discharge. “Would you have let Neil have these guys, Muerto?”
Nick shook his head as he entered the passenger seat while Gus slid behind the wheel. “The fix was in. Neil didn’t want them. He had a hard time believing another troop of whackos were seeking a meeting with Muerto, the angel of death.”
Gus chuckled. “You had cover with the federal warrant Paul sent by courier.”
“He’s worried. We’re still playing catchup. After the string of atrocities across the country, Paul wants a message delivered at Pilot Hill. Bring your costume, Payaso.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Gus replied. “Johnny would hound the shit out of me if I didn’t. He knows Lynn will want to join us in the movie. He’s been dying to make another movie with Crusader Crue. We better put the Cleaner in a costume too or she’ll be pissed.”
“You’re right. We’ll have to invent a name for her too. Hey… how about Scourge?”
“Oh man… that’s really good. She’ll go nuts over that one. We have to keep her happy. We need Cleaner Cala. She’s much more efficient than you were. When you help her, Johnny and I thi
nk of you as the assistant.”
“Good one,” Nick allowed. “A backup helicopter pilot is a winner too. Have you gotten Issac settled somewhere?”
“Tina found him a house near us. Until we get the papers settled, he’s staying at the Martine Inn. He loves it, but he wants his own place. With the amount of money we’ve confiscated lately, it was petty cash. Speaking of confiscated money what do you have planned for former Senator Cameron? That was one convoluted frame job she tried to play on you.”
“I’m thinking of asking Crue’s minion, Sylvio, to make me one of those portable acupuncture foot heel devices. It leaves no mark and a forty minute session of treatment will teach Di a lesson she’ll never forget.”
“She deserves it. I doubt Cameron will stop trying to get you one way or another. That prank should have cost her the deal she made to resign without prosecution.”
“I’m thinking we’ll take care of Kader in New York and stop by Maine to see the former Senator,” Nick replied. “It’s a nice thought to reeducate Cameron but I’m afraid we’ll need to save her for another time. She’ll be busy answering for her minion, Dorsett.”
“I used to think I’d like to lie low, keep out of trouble, and live the good life without thought to the destruction of a nation. Never again. After all the Isis attacks and attempted attacks coupled with a resurging Al-Qaeda, I want to be one of the violent men allowing other more peaceful souls to sleep at night without worry.”
“Amen, brother. Pilot Hill will be our first actual offensive against these Isis mutants.”
* * *
“Hello there,” Nick said in his device altered voice. The Unholy Trio and the newly named Scourge ringed the gurneys with strapped in captives. “I’ll save you some time. You three are new illegal Muslim mutants arriving from our porous Southern Border. We researched your pictures and fingerprints. You’re wanted by Interpol pussies who couldn’t catch a cold. The US Marshals decided we could help you three into the light once we found out everything you dunces came here to do. We know you originated from Saudi Arabia. Omar Kazir. You’re up first, big guy. Tell me what you’re doing here looking for Nick McCarty.”
“I will tell you nothing!” Omar and his companions stared at the black-light illuminated horror scenes on the ceiling above them. The creepy theme from the ‘Exorcist’ movie played in a hushed accompaniment.
“Oh my… I was hoping you’d say that.” Nick walked toward him with scalpel in hand. “I don’t have the new tools yet so we’re going old school today. You’re probably wondering why we stripped you munchkins down to your underwear. Let me show you.”
Nick cut Omar from his breastbone to his groin. Johnny sprinkled bleach into the screaming Omar’s wound over his bulging intestines. They allowed Omar to scream on until he passed out from the pain three minutes later. Nick gestured over the other two terrified men.
“Now that I’ve cleared any notion in your tiny minds about whether we take no for an answer, let’s get started. You’re next, Solomon Didi.” Nick pointed at the thin man with thick black beard on the gurney at the opposite end from Omar. “Yes, we know your name too. First, tell us where you and your buddies are staying, where the room key-cards are, where the vehicle is you parked near the school, and then get talking nitwit or I start cutting. We have the Ford keys from Omar’s pocket.”
“The Monterey Hotel. The green Ford Explorer we rented is parked a block in the opposite direction from where you left your vehicle. Our identification and hotel keys are in the glove compartment. We…we were sent to hire McCarty before Al-Kadi could reach out to him. Saudi Prince Rabiah Al-Saud sent us. He wishes to have McCarty kill Saran Al-Kadi. On the Dark Web it is rumored McCarty was approached to kill the Prince. We were either to hire McCarty or kill him,” Didi confessed, realizing he would never see the light of day again anyway.
“Very good, Mr. Didi. Why approach McCarty at his daughter’s school?”
“We knew about an incident where a very rich man, Milton Formsby, approached McCarty in a restaurant setting. He and his men were never seen again after that night. Omar… thought if we approached McCarty at the school he would hesitate to shoot before we had an opportunity to try and hire him.”
“But then you three would have executed him if he refused?”
“Yes.”
“I like you, Solomon,” Nick said. “I have some technical questions for you. We’ll be recording so answer in detail. Tell us everything about Al-Saud’s whereabouts, guards, and favorite places he goes in public. Don’t leave anything out because we’ll be torturing the truth out of good old Omar. If he has another version different from yours, I’ll be very unhappy with you.”
“I am a dead man. I do not wish to die screaming. I will tell you everything I know.” Didi did exactly that for the next forty minutes.
“He is telling the truth, Muerto,” Cala said.
“I think so too,” Nick agreed. He nodded at Gus. “We’ll keep Omar for a few moments longer.”
Gus administered the syringes to Omar’s relieved cohorts. After they expired, Johnny and Nick put them into body-bags held open by Gus and Cala. By then, even with the cleansing Nick did and salve he put over the wound, Omar screamed his way into consciousness. Nick bopped him in the head.
“Shut the hell up! You’re in luck. I’m sick of looking at you. Your friends were most helpful so we have a great baseline to determine the truth of what you’ll be telling us. They passed on to the great virgin hunting ground peacefully without pain. If your factual input checks out, we’ll give you a hotshot to hell where you belong. Would you like to start reciting what you know or would you like another dose of intestinal cleaning?”
Omar sobbed and cried real tears. “Can’t you… give me something for the pain?”
“Sure. Once you finish testifying you won’t feel any pain, at least until you reach hell. I don’t know what’s there for you. In finding out your real identities we also found out what you did for the Prince. Your two buddies were simply a couple of ex-Saudi military dupes. You Omar have been a very bad boy. Al-Saud used you as his enforcer. I bet you never thought you’d be on the receiving end of what you used to dish out. If you don’t start talking, nothing’s going to buy you a peaceful passing. You know quite a bit more about Al-Saud than your pals.”
“I know all of his places where he goes into hiding!” Omar suddenly became excited. “Yes…yes… I know every one of them. I was also his personal bodyguard and the only one he truly trusted. That is why he sent me here to hire the devil, McCarty. Better he had sent me to kill Al-Kadi! Can I buy my life with this extra information?”
“Ah… no, but thanks for giving me some guidelines about what you do know. Get started.”
“But… all I can do is buy death.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Show him again, Johnny.”
Omar yelped and pleaded he was ready to talk. It did him no good as he received another bleaching. Before he could pass out, Nick warned him. “I’m going to relieve you of the worst of the pain. You’d better get talking when you can speak again.”
With the wound bleach washed away and more salve applied to the wound, Omar gasped out everything he could think of. Johnny and Gus worked with their satellite laptops to pinpoint all the places mentioned. Nick guided him to numbers of men Al-Saud always had with him and if there were any nightspots such as casinos or nightclubs he frequented when traveling to his favorite hideaway in Dubai.
“He…he loves Nasimi Beach. There are always many tourist women there where he may act out his part of being a playboy sheik. Al-Saud gets a luxurious private cabana where he stays all day and night. He gets a suite at the Atlantis which is part of the waterpark there.”
Nick smiled. “Does he have any plans to go there soon?”
“Al-Saud must leave Yemen very soon or the Americans will find him with their damnable drones. He can never stay in one place for longer than a month. When he stays in Dubai, Al-Saud has enough peopl
e in authority bought off he can remain quietly for sometimes two months.”
“How many men does he travel with? I would imagine it’s difficult not to be tracked with a huge retinue,” Nick pressed.
“He has a dozen men who travel with him, but not on the same flights. It is but a short distance from either the Kingdom or Yemen. Al-Saud always has two personal guards with him. I am one of them. I was supposed to be back in Yemen before he left for Dubai. I…I could guide you. It would be easy to-”
Nick injected him. Omar tried to gasp something before the fast acting poison injected into his carotid artery worked, but failed before the light faded from his eyes with lips still quivering. “Every moment with Omar produced a new vision of his past exploits to mind. I think I’m getting soft in my old age.”
“Yeah, right,” Gus snorted out his pronouncement with a headshake accompaniment to Johnny and Cala’s amusement. “I agree with you on the atrocities the guy has committed. Damn… I thought the Saudis were slightly more civilized.”
“Only on the surface,” Nick replied. “I know the Nasimi Beach establishment from a past job in Dubai. My contract was for a Syrian General who thought he was a playboy. He stayed at the Atlantis too and he loved the waterpark.”
“Did you kill him at the hotel,” Johnny asked.
“No. I killed him on a fishing excursion about ten miles off shore. I acquired a small fishing boat, fished in the area he liked to frequent, dressed like a nomad on the water.”
Nick remained silent while he and Johnny carefully lowered Omar into his body-bag.
“Do not leave us hanging, Muerto,” Gus admonished. “You shot him in the head from five miles away, right?”
Nick chuckled. “Nope. He had his boat captain try to capsize my boat, laughing and drinking… until he saw me stand in the boat with the XM307 25mm grenade launcher. I guess you could say I had the last laugh.”
Red Horizon Page 25
