Systematic Attrition

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  Systematic Attrition

  Robert C. Waggoner

  Copyright 2006 by Robert C. Waggoner

  Smashwords Edition

  “Systematic Attrition”

  A Brad Pratt Novel

  Volume 2

  Robert C. Waggoner

  2006

  January: Word of Warning

  Chapter 1

  Billy Ricker sat in his home near Sea-Tac International Airport staring wide eyed at his computer. He couldn’t believe his eyes looking back at him was a picture in total black except a ten inch circle of white with his own face staring back at him. Then the lips moved and a voice said, “Billy, are you enjoying your Marlboros? Myself I don’t smoke, but from once being hooked, I empathize with your desire to taste the good life.” The face changed from each one of the “Batt Team” members until the face of a prominent politician appeared to continue his dialog. “I have a challenge for Brad Pratt and his team. Systematically I’m going to knock off some of the most powerful people in the United States. There is no doubt after the first death you will see where I and my associates are going with this attrition.” The voice was unmistakable, but Billy knew it was computer generated. Billy from the beginning was taping the message. Once more the voice continued, “Unlike the Senior Killer we are not psychopaths, but realists. Soon you will realize we are well connected and can and will follow each move you make after the president gives you the go ahead to find us. The first clue, after it is too late to stop the first one, will be found in your beach cove called Devils Kitchen, aptly named by the way. Here is a hint you don’t need, but look for it in your circle of friends on a cold night.”

  Billy’s mouth hung open as the picture faded and the screen went black and stayed that way. The cigarette he held burned his fingers as he dropped it to the floor picking up the phone to call his boss, Brad Pratt at the Round House on the southern coast of Oregon.

  Brad Pratt sat on the floor with his team in the upstairs of his earth round house that overlooked the Pacific Ocean from his private bluff. With him were his team members that less than six months ago had put John the Senior Killer in a place we would rather not go after death. Wendy Brown, a former FBI profiler turned team member; Agent Jones a rookie from the same agency as Wendy whose specialty was intellect and for one so young of exceptional reasoning ability; Mike Henshaw Brad’s close friend and retired Navy Seal whose silver tongue makes the people he meets spill their most darkest secrets; Billy Riker, a frumpy looking computer dork that Brad found in jail for hacking; whose ability with computers even astounds him sometimes; and overseeing the team is Brad’s old commander from his days in Naval Intelligence, Steve [Burberry] Lewis. His job is to liaison between the politics and the day to day running of the team; focused and on center not having Brad worry about Washington DC. To Brad, Steve is his mentor and along with his retired military father, who seems to have friends in high places, keeps Brad in balance when on an operation to insure America is safe from all dangerous elements. Last, but not least is Brad's wife Sujin who is a multi-talented South Korean specializing in martial arts and Chinese traditional medicine. She is his center piece and keeps him for falling off center

  Brad was telling his team about the phone call with Billy while holding his newborn son. His Korean wife Sujin was in the kitchen with her sister Earie along with an old Korean woman preparing a late afternoon lunch. Brad said, “Billy is on his way down and should arrive in a few hours. I only want to say, so it doesn’t influence our evaluation of what he has for us, I’ll say this, if true, and I have no reason to doubt the intended threat, means an operation forthcoming will make our last case seem like child’s play.” Sujin came over to pick up the baby as it was starting to fuss wanting his afternoon snack of mother’s milk. She went downstairs to feed the little guy as Korean’s are more conservative and would not breast feed a baby where others were present.

  Mike Henshaw who lived down the road in a coastal town about an hour’s drive to his farm in the foothills of the coast range said, “I for one, am stiff from sitting here and suggest we go for a run on the beach before lunch, any takers?” Not a word was spoken as they all rose in unison and followed the boss down the stairs to change into running gear.

  Outside the mostly soundproof house with glass that would stop a high powered rifle was cloudy but cool with only a slight wind blowing on a January day. Nevertheless, all of the team was dressed in heavy sweats and a windbreaker. Baseball hats of various insignias helped keep the heat from escaping through the top of their heads.

  Walking out the door, Sandy the female German shepherd stood looking at her master waiting for the call to run on the beach. She still had two of the three pups left after her master gave one female to his father and mother. Now the other two were in training down in California in Orange County where a special training school for shepherds used in law enforcement and for personal security was located. They would remain there for almost a year before returning home. Rocky the father of the pups thought he was more important than his mate when it came into being with his master. Usually it was Rocky who went everywhere with Brad. In a sense, Sandy was Sujin’s and Rocky was Brad’s. However, both were trained and knew the joint rules of each master. Nowadays Sandy stayed in the house more than Rocky as mothers tended to stick together. Now, Brad decided both could go running on the beach with them. It was rare indeed when one was not on point around the yard to alert the occupants of any approaching people be it friend or foe.

  Today’s afternoon run was a short one up to the jetty to the mouth of the Coquille River next to Bandon: a small tourist town on the southern Oregon coast that reaped a harvest in the summer and starved in the winter time. Brad had told Sujin the run would be short and they would be back in an hour as he put on his running gear and giving her and the baby who was sucking noisily at his mother’s breast a kiss. Brad stood for a few seconds staring at his family as Sujin noticed his look of love for her and baby. She also knew another look of a very capable and dangerous man trained under the most rigorous of combat training Navy Seals go through. Killing the enemy was natural for him and that is where they met about four years ago when he was leading a team of Seals into the mountains of Afghanistan. Then an Asian traitor almost succeeded in thwarting a mission to find and destroy an Al Queda training camp not long after nine eleven, the hit on the World Trade Center. She too was on a humanitarian mission gone badly and running for her own life in the mountains when she stumbled across him wounded and near death. As she was a Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor, she plied her trade and a few weeks later they teamed up, finished the mission but not without her saving his life for the second time. Six months later they were married after a long recuperation period in India.

  Mike had called his most significant one, Julie and she were on her way up later for dinner and to play with the newborn. Now as they walked down the narrow side hill trail to the beach seeing brown winter beach grass swaying in the ocean breeze as the salt air mixed with seaweed filled their noses, Brad noticed a slight change in the wind as it swung around to the west bring with it another wet storm by nightfall. But now, all was go as they hit the heavy sand from the trail and ran towards the sea to hard wet sand next to the surf. The tide was coming in as dogs and people lined up shoulder to shoulder made their way to the jetty. All knew, Brad their leader did his best thinking when he was running pumping fresh blood and oxygen into this fit body of middle thirties. This was a special time for the team as after a run they sat down and brainstormed a problem that was eluding them. The only member missing was Billy who never ran, but seemed to draw his strength from a blood starved brain while sucking down his Marlboros. His comment was always, “Whatever works
, to each their own.” Maybe it was not so original but understandable. No one doubted his ability or his intelligence when it came to computers and making sense out of nonsense.

  Making a wide turn from the jetty where the waves crashed against the manmade rock wall protecting the harbor, they picked up the pace on the way back. Mike the tallest at six three, Brad and agent Jones next just an inch shorter. Mike started legging it out with agent Jones. A rivalry was developing between the two of them who could run further and faster on the way back regardless whether a five or ten mile run. It usually resulted in a tie as they scrambled to the top of the bluff pulling on each other’s running clothes fighting for the top raising their fists high in the air like Sly Stone in Rocky. Brad hung back with Wendy and they kept a steady pace all the way to the top and then stretched out before taking a shower.

  Downstairs was vastly different than the top floor. Rooms like a spokes on a wheel met in the center around a large glass table top with a stand made of driftwood from the beach. White sofas sat around the table where each sofa could sit two for a total of eight. A special computer room backed up by a generator was the heart of the operation. Their team was a special branch of the government under the direction of the president and run from Langley by an aged bureaucrat whose influence and power some thought were akin to Hoover in his hay day. After the last case where Brad and his team made the FBI go back to the drawing board when it came to understanding serial killers, had its budget increased by the president and now instead of having to borrow the NASA private jet, a new sleek Gulf Stream 550 sat in a hanger at the North Bend airport waiting for a call from Brad or Steve. With a speed of over five hundred miles per hour, seating for fourteen, with a range of reaching any continent without refueling, it was ideal for the team.

  The remainder of the rooms was bedrooms each with their own bathrooms and in cases if special guests stayed over, agent Jones and Billy would have to share a bedroom, but other than that, each had their own room with all the amenities of any modern home. No doors were evident as hanging beads or curtains blocked the view from outside. The only room with a door was the computer room which was constantly kept at sixty eight degrees and a humidity of no higher than seventy.

  The basement was underground with a two foot space between the top floor and the basement. The roof of steel plates was topped with Red Cedar shingles and walls, all were made of steel studs, and covered with hardwood plywood against a steel I-beam construction top to bottom. The whole interior was painted an off white with recessed lighting that was easy on the eyes. Sujin was a very popular photographer gaining worldwide attention from her last show in Seoul, South Korea. Framed pictures adorned the walls both up and downstairs were mostly landscapes and seascapes, family or team members. Her biggest fan was Wendy who told the group one day she never tired of looking at each photograph, that every time she looked she saw something a little different catching her eye. Sujin when she heard that lowered her head and gave off a small smile of shyness.

  It gets dark early in the dead of winter in the Pacific Northwest. By five pm light has relinquished its hold and given way to darkness as the sun goes to bed in the west. Just as the outside security lights came on and Sandy pushed the outside button alerting the occupants visitors have arrived. That sent a high pitched sound and turned on flashing lights inside as the team realized either Julie or Billy and Steve had arrived. Small yips of happiness from Sandy alerted Brad to Billy’s arrival as he held a special relationship to both Rocky and Sandy. Soon the stage would be set and the team would lock horns with the threat of murder forth coming.

  Stage Setting

  Chapter 2

  While Billy was sucking down a cigarette, Steve Lewis arrived, parked and got out wearing his usual Burberry raincoat without a hat revealing his medium length wispy white hair. He was tall and thin with eyes of intense gray blue and few ever seen him smile. Brad was like a son to Steve and without his protection from DC, the agency would not exist.

  Thirty minutes later all were sitting at the floor tables having lunch. For most of the team, a Korean menu was well and good; but for others like Steve and Billy a combination of American and Asia was best. Sujin and her sister knew this and always had something American for them to eat. No talking was heard only the slurping sounds of hot noodles and Billy concentrated on a chicken sandwich with ice tea. He kept looking at his boss and Brad returned the look seeing what was in Billy’s eyes. Steve, on the other hand ate his noodles and that was enough for him. He never looked up and only the new member’s Agent Jones and Wendy didn’t know him well enough yet that his stoic behavior was just that: his personality. However, they all knew how hard he fought the bureaucrats in Washington for the team.

  Tenseness grew around the table with the anticipation of what had scared the hell out of Billy. Rocky sat next to him for support. Sujin sat next to her husband while her old Korean halmony [grandmother] took care of the baby. It was Sujin job to view the participants and later report to her husband each member’s reactions before and during the upcoming discussion. Her keen sense of people was one key to their operation. She was a woman of few words, but when she spoke, best listen closely.

  Lunch over both Brad and Billy went outside to let Billy smoke and for Brad to get a first impression of what he saw and heard. While they were outside, Julie, Mike’s significant one arrived. She hurried into the house as this was the first time she to see the baby. Just after Christmas she and her two kids went back east to visit her parents while Mike stayed at the farm. She said hi to Brad and Billy while hurrying into the house. Billy sucked two quick glowing drags and stuck his cigarette into a sand can while he followed Brad into the house. The rest of the team was downstairs waiting to fill their waiting ears with the recent development.

  Brad took a place on the sofa next to his wife and Rocky. Steve was the only one standing as he admired the new additions to the wall of Sujin’s work. He loved her work and she had given him and his wife a small collection of both seascapes and team members for Christmas. When he heard Brad give Billy the floor, Agent Jones stuck in a DVD of the picture and statement of the sender. Before that, However, Billy said, “This is going to freak you out and let me tell you when it popped onto my monitor; I can’t remember when I was so surprised. I’ve sent copies to this to my friends both in Southern California and back east. Anyway, let’s look at it and then we can kick it around and see what we come up with.” The team sat and watched it over and over until Brad finally told Billy to give it a rest.

  Brad started with Steve and asked him for his take on it. Steve, rubbing his chin deep in thought look up and said, “The voice is obvious as it is former speaker of the house Lance Shoalster’s. He’s the senior partner of his law firm in Washington DC. A right-winger with ties to the current administration and sits on most of the boards of major corporations doing business in Iraq and Afghanistan; not to mention he has the ear of the king of Saudi Arabia. I made a call and he has increased security around his home and at the office. At seventy five, he thinks he is invincible. His doctors tell him he has the body of a sixty year old. He walks and exercises every morning in a park close to his home. Lance told me on the phone he gets death threats all the time and he swears he is taking precautions with body guards and security around his home.”

  Brad followed up saying, “I called Nancy Longstreet, as you remember her from our FBI special agent in charge of the Senior Killer and told her to put some agents on the house and his office or anywhere else the former Speaker went. Now, one thing we can do is set up a camera in Devils Kitchen and sees if we can catch on film someone leaving the club. We will use night vision cameras and Mike will take care of that job in the morning. Meanwhile let’s discuss what each of you think about this and the reasons why some radical thinkers believe they can change the course of business and politics in America.”

  Wendy, the team’s profiler had been sitting there thinking and was the first to say, “I think they are youn
g and well connected to big business and have a base of like thinkers. I heard while back east some time ago about a group of young lawyers, mostly Ivy Leaguers, unhappy about the way America was being held for ransom by the oil cartels. They believe the wake up call came in nineteen seventy three with the oil embargo. That event was before my time, but my parents told me about the long lines and how the American public was in a panic after so many years of cheap oil. But once the tap was turned back on, all was forgotten about alternate sources of energy. Okay, it’s a given they are well educated, probably rich, but not super rich. Maybe they are Sierra Club or Green Peace members or even Earth First sympathizers and so on. In addition they run in races or marathons or bike races and god knows what all. This was all I remembered about hearing about them some three or four years ago. Since then I have no further news of activists who appear to think death and murder is the answer to change in America.” She sat back realizing she had moved to the edge of the sofa and was totally involved emotionally in her statement. Brad noticed too and he and Sujin discussed it later behind their hanging beads in their bedroom.

  Brad looked at Mike and waited for his view on this situation. Mike finally said, “I think it is time for me to make my appearance in Washington DC as a recent transplant from California who loves hugging a tree.” Billy dropped to his knees and rolled over onto his back laughing and Rocky thought he wanted to play jumping onto him and biting his arm playfully. For a few minutes the tension broke while Brad told Rocky to behave himself.

  Brad said, with a straight face, “Mike is on the right track here. Going to Washington that is, but I think you need man body guards for the Speaker and we will put some other environmentalist in deep cover. We need you in the loop Mike and on site being able to communicate at a moment’s notice.” Agent Jones had been listening and taking notes. Now he looked up and saw Brad looking him in the eyes. Agent Jones was not intimidated at all, matter of fact he was proud to be part of this team and liked to voice his young opinion.