Payback: A sniper seeking revenge terrorizes the mob (Assassin Series Book 1)

by David Nees

  “We’re full of secrets and, yes, we have quite a system of compartmentalization.”

  “So what do you want with me?”

  “I’ll get to that, but first a little background.” Jane needed to take her time. Dan needed to hear enough of the story to feel he had an honorable part to play in what she was proposing. Her review of his file gave her the sense that Dan was not a killer. Not in the same way a mob hit man was. He operated from a moral sense—in this case a sense of retribution or payback—however misplaced that might be. He would need to square what she proposed with his own code of conduct.

  “Politics has become a larger factor in the CIA than ever before. Our director is very focused on making sure the agency does not run afoul of public opinion and the administration. In the midst of this, terrorism has not decreased.

  “We’re fighting an enemy that doesn’t have an army or navy or air force. This is asymmetrical warfare. It requires unconventional methods. And we’ve got an administration that doesn’t want to own up to the full extent of the dangers. They just want to keep things from blowing up so the next administration can deal with it. Global trade, multi-national corporations are more important than defeating the enemy. Security is more about security for business and trade. But we get blamed when things go sideways.

  “With terrorists, you’ve got a dangerous, shifting landscape of alliances and operations. Yet in spite of this reality we have cut back our HUMINT, human intelligence. Field operatives take time to develop and sometimes create embarrassing situations. Local operatives and contacts are often messy and unreliable. It’s especially hard to find ones capable of penetrating terror networks.

  “Because they’re messy, informants are politically incorrect and have become a liability. They’re generally not very moral or motivated by high minded ideals. It’s often about grudges or the money. So it’s become less politically acceptable to have hundreds of informants trying to get us the information we need.”

  “I get it. You’ve got problems. How does that affect me?” Dan said.

  “We’re relying on satellite and drone surveillance and electronic communications intercepts more and more, and when we get actionable intelligence, we often send in a drone. Now that is becoming controversial…and we can’t use them in Europe. We’re finding ourselves more and more de-clawed.”

  “Again, what do I have to do with that problem? Or do you just want to cry on my shoulder?”

  Jane smiled. “I think I would pick an easier shoulder to cry on if I needed to. I’ll get to the point. The CIA is not just involved in gathering intelligence. We don’t just need information—stealing secrets. We need to act on the information. These terrorists are not other government’s spies, they are sworn enemies of the U.S. We need to take out these characters before they act, not after.

  “We’re in a new era. You did two tours in Iraq. You know what I’m talking about. That war has now gone stateless to a large extent. The Islamic fundamentalists are waging war against the West and the U.S. is one of its main targets. We can’t just send in troops like in a conventional battle. So we need operatives that can walk the streets of a city or stalk desert hills and who can take out these terrorists.

  “In an attempt to adjust to this reality, and to get past the political correctness that has infected the agency, I have been given an assignment that’s under very deep cover. It’s well below the Directorate level. The Director probably is probably happy to have deniability on this one. I’m charged with setting up a small group of operatives that can function anywhere in the world.”

  Dan stared at her as she finished her point. Finally he said, “You want me to kill terrorists?”

  She stared back at him. “Yes, and those that help them. That’s what this boils down to.” She let that sink in for a moment. “You have the skills. You used them in Iraq and again in attacking Vincent’s crew. In fact that’s how you came to our attention. I’m giving you a chance to use these skills for a good purpose.”

  “As opposed to how I’m using them now?”

  “I’m not here to judge what you’re doing. Lord knows you have motivation enough, more than I can fathom.” She turned in her seat to face him. “I’m offering a way out. Not only can I give you a positive purpose for what you’re good at, but I can get you out of the trap that’s being set for you. I can make you disappear…to the mob and to the Feds.”

  “This is not what I expected. I’m not sure what I expected, but not this.” He paused. “So you’re offering me a job as an assassin, is that right?”

  “I’m offering you a job to use your sniper skills to take out the enemies of the U.S. It’s like Iraq, only it’s not conventional warfare. We haven’t declared war on any country, and there’s no appetite for sending in the military, and some of us in the spy business recognize that drones can’t do it all, especially when they are becoming more controversial. You could think of it as being a substitute for a drone strike.”

  “A human drone…” Dan turned that image over in his mind. “Why don’t you use special forces guys? They’re good at this and trained up.”

  “Those guys don’t fit well into civilian society. It’s hard for them to walk down the streets, especially in Europe, and blend in.”

  “I wouldn’t know what to do, how to find targets. In Iraq it was easy to find the bad guys. And we had planners setting up our operations.”

  “We’ll teach you. You’ll go to a training site. There are updates to your skills that you need to master.”

  “But Europe? Why there? I thought the fight was in the mid-East.”

  “It’s spreading. Europe has cells of terrorists waiting to activate. Some jump out and shoot up a kosher bakery or other Jewish business. Others are waiting, plotting, looking for larger targets. We need to find and eliminate them. We also want to take out the people supporting the terrorists, the ones who never get into the fight but help through recruiting, logistics and money. There’s no shortage of targets.”

  “So what training do I go through?”

  “You’ll get an advanced course in disguises.” Dan raised his eyebrows. “Yes, I know you’ve used them in keeping the mob off balance. We’ll make you much more effective in their use.”

  “Then I just sit around waiting for you to send me off to shoot someone?”

  “You’ll travel widely, and under cover. You’ll get all the information you need about your targets. Resources will be made available to you, weapons, identities, money. None of it will be able to be traced back to any official government agency, but you will be well supplied.”

  “What happens if I fail, if I don’t kill the target, or if I get caught?”

  Jane paused for a moment then looked him in the eye. “I promised myself to be completely truthful with you, within the limits of what I can reveal. You’ll be on your own. Your operations, your missions, are going to be so deep under cover that it will be very difficult to extract you from any problems you encounter. The people who will support you will not know who you are or what your mission is.”

  Dan frowned. “That’s some recruiting pitch. So you want me to sign up for a life of being a solo killer, under cover, with no back up. And no one can know about it. How does that sound to you?”

  “You’re an orphan right now, except for your sister out west. And you can’t reveal what you’re doing to anyone now, can you? What you should realize is that I understand your situation and I understand what I’m asking…or offering.”

  “What would you know about my situation?” Dan asked.

  “Think about it,” Jane replied, “I can’t tell my family what I do for a living. They think I’m some network administrator in management consulting company. And I gave up having a husband and family some years ago. I was a field operative for six years until I was called back to DC. So I know about surveillance and counter surveillance, about dead drops and live contacts. And I’ve given up a normal life to do what I do.”

  “Why? Yo
u had a choice.”

  “So did you, remember that. Maybe it was for the adventure or because I wanted to strike back at the bad guys…kind of like you did in the Army, only I’m doing it undercover. Now I’m offering you similar work.”

  Dan digested her words for a few moments, letting silence fill the van. Finally he asked, “How much does the job pay?”

  Jane raised her eyebrows. She was not expecting that question. “I’m not looking for someone who just wants to do this for a big payoff. Those loyalties shift too easily.”

  “That’s a fair point,” Dan responded. “But frankly, I’m finding out its pretty lucrative ripping off the mob, dangerous, but lucrative. And since I’m going to be totally on my own with no safety net, I have to ask.”

  “I’m just pointing out that in our profile for this job we determined that we couldn’t work with pure mercenaries. But since you asked, we can pay you well. I expect that you can become quite comfortable in a couple of years, if you don’t spend it all.”

  “And if I live that long.” Dan shifted uncomfortably in the seat. “I appreciate all this info and the sales pitch, but why should I take you up on what is a very dangerous job versus making a deal with Mike, the FBI guy?”

  “That deal is less dangerous in one way, but more in another. You won’t be going out to fight terrorists in a clandestine war, but you might end up in prison with multiple murder convictions hanging over your head.”

  “Maybe I can make a deal with him. You told Tommy he needed my help to take Vincent down.”

  “Yeah, he needs your help right now. But when Vincent turns, all bets are off. What guarantees you get from Mike Warner can be overridden by the AG on the case. Do you really think they will just let you walk clear of all those killings? You’re going to do some time.”

  “I was fighting for my life. They were trying to kill me.”

  “Some of them, but if you’re honest, not all. And that may not matter to the courts. They have to respond in some manner to public opinion and you may not be portrayed as a Robin Hood.” Jane paused for a moment. “And if I’m correct, you have one more score to settle which will be a straight assassination.”

  “You don’t sugar coat things, do you?” Dan said.

  “I know what’s at stake and I want to hit the enemy. You’re the guy that can do it. I’m betting that you have the skills and the motivation to be very effective at this work—a soldier on the front lines of the war on terror.”

  “One no one knows about,” he replied.

  “You didn’t do two tours in Iraq for the accolades. I’m betting you did it to protect your fellow soldiers. This will be a similar mission, only more secret. It’s better than a life on the run, hiding underground, never getting to excel at anything for fear of being found, either by the FBI or the mob.”

  “You should’ve been in sales.”

  Jane smiled at him. “I believe in what I’m doing. I’ve sacrificed a normal life to do this. I’m good at selling what I believe in. Look, on the run, you have to stay in the shadows. It can cost a lot to stay hidden. It’s a pretty grim existence and it will wear you down. You may even turn to killing for hire and that will take your soul away.”

  “You don’t know that.” Dan’s voice now took on a hard edge. She had touched a nerve. He glared at her. “And that’s just what you’re asking me to do.”

  “But I’m asking you to do it for a good cause. Kill the bad guys, kill the enemy. And you will get well paid for it.”

  Dan changed the direction of the conversation. “Will I be just given an assignment and thrown out there?”

  “No. I’ll be your contact. I’ll work with you while you’re in the field, arrange support and resources for you and help you return after completing a mission. We’ll be getting to know one another very well. My job will be to protect you up to the point it will compromise the agency.”

  “Then I’m toast, is that it?”

  “My job is to keep you alive, and, unlike most of the desk agents, I know the streets so I’m better at it. I’ll do everything I can to be successful. If I lose you, it sets us back and maybe ends the program. You see, you’re going to be the prototype. If it works with you, we can add more soldiers to this battle. You fail, we all fail.”

  “I’ve got to think all this over.”

  “Don’t wait too long. Mike will turn up the heat, and I can’t protect you from that, I can only make you disappear.”

  “Like you said, Mike needs me for now, so there’s time to think about things. I can control the pace to some extent.” He got up. “You stay in the back seat while I drive you close to where I picked you up. I’ll drop you about six blocks from that point. Once you’re out of the van, I suspect your support team will pick up your signal and come for you. You can drive back to retrieve your phone. The one you have now will no longer be used. I’ll call you at the number you gave me. If we’re going to work together, it would be helpful if you didn’t wear a tracker next time. Maybe we can do this without all the elaborate routine.”

  “I’ll expect to hear from you soon. And yes, we can do this more directly. But I was impressed by your counter measures, even though this cage doesn’t affect my tracking device.” She smiled at him. “You’re untrained but your instincts are good.”

  Chapter 39

  Dan looked around in his apartment: unmade bed, unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink, cheap and uncomfortable furniture, worn out tan carpet, the walls painted an institutional yellow.

  Is this any way to live? With the possibility of a future after this war on the mob, he caught himself looking more critically at his life and surroundings. Is she offering anything better? Same crappy rooms, only in foreign countries? His thoughts shuttled back and forth between hope and despair. Man up. You chose this path. You got only yourself to blame. You weren’t going to be stopped.

  He grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat on his couch. What would Rita want him to do? She would want him to go on with life, as sad as that made him feel. Rita would want him to have a wife and kids—a family—something that was denied her. Would she approve of him becoming a soldier again, a soldier without a uniform, fighting an enemy who declared war on the U.S.? Confusion reigned in his mind. Part of him wanted to call a truce, end his war, and try to find a normal life. Another part of him figured that was improbable at best; he had gone too far, and all that was left was to pick one of two bad options—life on the run, or life as a clandestine killer.

  He picked up his phone.

  “Jane,” he said when she answered, “if I come on board with you, can you set it up to have the Feds stop looking for me? I don’t want the worst of both options here. If I go to work for you, I’ve got to know I don’t have to worry about getting pinched back here in the states. If I’m going to be a fugitive anyway, why should I work for you?”

  Jane was silent.

  “I don’t want to be traced. Can’t stay on this line much longer.”

  “I’ll set up a meeting with Mike Warner. It will be tricky. We’re not supposed to be involved in domestic surveillance, so I’m on the edge here. Sit tight, don’t do anything else and I’ll try to work this out for you.”

  Dan clicked off the phone and sat back with a sigh. So many issues to sort through. With a shrug he took a long pull from his beer. It looked like he was going to take a few days off.

  Chapter 40

  Two days later, Dan drove to Vincent’s neighborhood. He stopped at a cross street a block away from the house to check it out. Vincent had set some of his crew out in front of the gate, two of them in a car, just sitting there. Dan wondered if Vincent really thought that would keep him safe.

  He left, but later in the day, he drove back. He had mounted the shotgun in the trunk of the car with the barrel positioned at a hole cut in the rear of the trunk. For his drive to the house, the hole was covered with a round magnetic bumper sticker with the letters OBX on it. The gun had a lanyard attached to the trigger which ran to th
e driver’s seat so he could fire it with a pull of his hand. Nearing Vincent’s street, Dan stopped and removed the magnetic sticker. Then with his right hand holding the TEC-9 automatic pistol, he casually drove down the street. At first his car would draw no attention from the two men sitting in front of Vincent’s driveway. It was afternoon and they were bored and tired, not paying much attention.

  As he approached, he stuck the TEC-9 out of the window and opened up with a full burst at the car. His first burst took out the tires on the left side. The men dove for cover as he continued firing through the windows, high enough to miss them. As he sped away, he pulled the lanyard, and the shotgun roared repeatedly until he rounded the corner at the far end of the street. The shotgun had suppressed any return fire. The guards stayed crouched on the floor of the car. There would be no pursuit from them. Dan headed for the freeway with its anonymity and drove back to his garage in New Jersey. The car would now not be usable as any one of the neighbors might have a good description of it. The driver, if he had been seen, would be described as a long-haired man with protruding brows, a long, hooked nose and a full beard.

  When the call came into the station, Mike joined Marty as they drove out to Vincent’s house. Upon arrival, they found a tearful Sheila sitting in her living room.

  “Mrs. Salvatore, I’m sorry about these repeated attacks.” Marty said when they were let into the house. “I think we should post a police guard out in front of your home.”

  “Vincent had some of his employees parked out front to guard us. And look at their car, this maniac shot it up. They could have been killed,” she said between sobs.

  “Where are the men now?” Marty asked.

  “They drove off with some others. I guess they went to talk to Vincent. He should be on his way here now. I just don’t know what to do.” Her eyes darted around the room. “How can this man just keep coming by and shooting up everything…and no one can stop him? It’s like we live in a war zone. The neighbors probably hate us and want us to move. I don’t blame them.”