The Remote Traveler (The Remote Series Book 1)

by Finian Blake

  Dillon and Detective Worthy watched Pauline drive out the gate. His target was secured to a gurney. He and his team had been up all night hijacking the ambulance. They also tried to get Simone’s gear from the police without success, so Pauline and Evan had to step in. They were on their asses. Sam and Lee would be returning from dumping the ambulance in Delaware as Pauline instructed. It was a long drive but she did not want it in the same state. They dropped it on a back road and headed back in the white Ford delivery van. When they were almost to the main road, a black and white Ford Galaxy blocked the road in front of them. The driver hit the sirens and Lee stopped short of the car. He pulled out his NSA badge holding it up to the approaching officer. A bullet tore through the ID and into his head. Sam started to react as a bullet came through his side window. They were pulled out of the van and rolled into a ditch. Nadia pitched a bucket of water in the van and furiously started to wipe down the interior while Suki did the same from the other side and they were back on the road within minutes. Victoria hopped in the back of the van continuing to clean. Sarah drove the black and white to where their rental car was parked switching to a grey Ford Taurus. They started for Pauline’s place. Nadia was ecstatic with the ease at which the move had gone down.

  “Layla would never have found them if Dillon hadn’t pulled out a map and shown them where to dump the ambulance. Do you think that we can get there in time?”

  “Layla said that they were waiting for Simone to come around,” Sarah was confident of their progress. “Suki and I will follow you two into the guest house. With those two dead we will have four targets Dillon, Susan, Pauline and Evan. I will take Sarah’s back, and Suki will take Victoria’s back. Layla can hold down the front door. We will have thirty minutes tops.”

  The van made a swing into the tree lined drive. Nadia pushed the opener for the gate driving the van slowly to the front of the house making a wide swing so that the passenger’s door was even with the door of the guest house. Victoria got out of the van and tried the door finding that it opened easily. The other women got out of the van and moved to the door ready for action. Nadia moved into the room silently, swinging her silenced Glock nine right, and left. The room was empty. She checked the kitchen and found it to be empty. Two silenced weapons lay on the kitchen table. Nadia moved down the hall to the last door with Suki at her back. Sarah and Vicki took the door in the middle of the hall. Nadia gave the signal and they kicked both doors simultaneously. Sarah’s room was empty.

  Nadia burst in the room to find Susan steading the gurney while Dillon was climbing on it to have sex with Simone. Susan was dressed in the iridescent purple spandex skirt, and gold high heels that Simone had worn the night before. She was approximately the same size, but she was not as toned as Simone so the effect looked almost comic since the curves and bulges were not in the best of places. Dillon was three quarters of the way on the gurney with his pants at knee level. Susan turned trying to draw her weapon, but the gurney interfered. Nadia closed the distance quickly disabling her with Suki delivering a solid blow to Dillon’s temple using her pistol. His knees buckled, causing him to sag on top of Simone’s midsection. Nadia looked at Simone.

  “Where are Pauline and Evan?”

  “They went into work. These two were supposed to bury me alive when the crew out there finishes removing the septic tank. There are two more men coming back when they get rid of the ambulance.” Simone wiggled in her restraints. “Get me out of these damn things!” Nadia quickly released Simone replacing her on the gurney with Dillon. Sarah and Vicki burst in the room.

  “We double checked and the house is empty. Should we check the main house for Pauline and Evan?” Nadia shook her head.

  “No they went into DC. We need to watch those workers. Simone, why don’t you clean up and dress. Suki and Sarah can interrogate these two. Vicki help me with these two, I have an idea.” Simone ran to the shower and did a quick clean up. She switched into the jeans, top, and flat shoes that Suki tossed to her. Fifteen minutes had elapsed before Simone was back. Nadia was standing in the doorway watching Sarah and Suki work. Suki gave up and turned to Nadia.

  “They don’t know shit. We know more than they do.”

  “Alright Vicki I want to leave these two dressed as they are? I will take the main gate. When the crew leaves, we can go to work. Simone you have until that crew finishes their work. See if you can think of any way to occupy these two?”

  “What are my limitations?” Simone asked.

  “I am going to need some fluids for DNA testing from Dillon and the detective here. Feel free to be as messy as you like. Simone I need some fluids from you too.” Simone took Vicki by the arm closing the door to the room. After an hour the construction crew started to pack up their equipment parking the backhoe next to the hole. Nadia went back to the room knocking on the door.

  “I can hear a lot of screaming for a sound proof room.” She tossed in two one hundred foot lengths of cotton rope. Remove the hand cuffs, bind them tightly face to face and make sure that the detective is still wearing all of your clothing with her skirt and top down. I want Dillon’s pants at half-mast and smear those fluids over everything when you are through.” While Vicki and Simone started with her instructions Nadia started looking through the cabinets for an IV. She pulled a half pint of blood from Simone and smeared it on Dillon, Susan and then on the gurney. Nadia stood by the window and watched the workers truck drive off with the old septic tank on the bed of the trailer. They loaded Dillon, Susan and the gurney in the van driving to the hole. Shortly after they rolled them out of the van Nadia killed each one with a shot to the head. She righted the gurney in the hole. Nadia fired up the back hoe scooping in the dirt while Victoria squirted water in the hole for good compaction. The sewer pipe had already been installed so the hole would not be disturbed again. It was nicely compacted by the time that they were through except for the fact that the lack of fill left a big divot, so Nadia scraped the surrounding area to make it less deep. Suki broke out the electronic gear and found three bugs in Simone’s purse. She tossed the bugs in the top layer of dirt keeping the purse.

  Nadia had Vicki drive the van to a truck stop leaving the keys in the ignition with the doors unlocked. She went in the coffee shop, slipping on a jacket and hat in the wash room. By the time that she came out the van had already been stolen. Victoria walked out to the main road calling Layla and Nadia on her cell phone for a pickup wanting to avoid any security cameras that might be monitoring the parking lot. The other three women took Simone to a cheap motel where they all showered with everybody stripping off their clothes and bagging everything before going to a beauty shop that had been prearranged by Four Diamonds Security leaving all of the clothes at Four Diamonds for disposal. The six women were drinking their first cocktail on the airplane by six.

  Pauline and Evan came back to the farm around seven it had been a long day. They both had an ominous feeling that they would come back to a disaster. The guest house was in perfect order. They looked for Dillon’s crew and found no one. Evan started to feel confident.

  “Well we had a successful run. Dillon said that he and his crew were driving down to Virginia Beach for a long weekend. They even filled in the hole for us. It looks like a good job.” Pauline picked up a transceiver.

  “I am not so sure. I put three bugs in her purse. Let’s take a walk.” They walked out to the freshly filled hole and Pauline turned on the receiver. She switched channels finding all three bugs to be working properly. “It looks like a success at least one thing went perfectly.”

  Evan was quick to respond, “What about the Senator?”

  “It was just as well. He was becoming a liability. His urges were off the scale. He even dressed in drag in front of Dean. I thought that Dean was going to go out of his mind when he woke up in a nightie.”

  “What about that,” Evan asked nervously.

  “I don’t think that he is going to tell the media that he had sex with a drag queen S
enator. That is not the kind of thing a top level public servant will do if he wants to remain a public servant.”

  “I would love to have pictures of that.”

  Pauline smirked, “We have pictures of the entire orgy. I turned the cameras on. I still don’t know what the FBI found in all that mess in the hotel room. My contact over there said that they found the Senator’s finger prints on the cash, ATM receipts, the condom and its package, plus all of the bondage equipment. The Senator was screwed anyway. I still need to know how he came up with all of that crap. He was supposed to kill her quick and get out. With all of that gear and the other hotel room he was planning a major party. The greedy prick even took the time to steal $11,000 from her. They also have pictures of him from the ATM machines. It was not at all difficult to nail that one down since they found him in drag with a little bit of luck this won’t spill over on to us. Fortunately, most of George’s activities were classified so if anything is discovered we can claim that it involves National Security.” Pauline shook her head, “It’s a damn good thing that he’s dead. He would have caved in for sure. Remember that old pirate saying ‘dead men tell no tales’.”

  Simone had not said a word since she sat down on the plane. Nadia elbowed her in the ribs.

  “Are you all right?”

  “No I’m not, this was the first time that someone has tried to kill me. I used sex to get what I needed but never got into any heavy work. Those assholes were going to bury me alive,” Simone sobbed. “I had to lay there and think about it while Dillon and Susan had their way with me. Why did you kill them before we rolled them in the hole?”

  “We never kill for revenge. It is always a matter of necessity. I am sorry now that I let you and Victoria have that time with them.”

  “Why, they had it coming?” Simone cried.

  “There were a few times that Alex stopped me from having my revenge. When I was with the Russian Army a general raped me and made me whore for him. Alex told me that revenge is a road that leads nowhere and I am glad now that I listened to him. It would have been the ghost that would always haunt me.”

  “Why did you close things out at the farm the way you did?”

  “Simone, with your blood all over the gurney and the bodily fluids all over the room they may accept the idea that you are dead without having a body. The sweeper teams are supposed to handle details of that nature. If they believe that you are still alive, they will keep coming. The address on your papers is a vacant apartment that we keep for emergencies. We own the building so we can show that it has been rented for several years. You were never a real person so they will reach a dead end.”

  “I will need to think about that one. I thought that you were British. I ran your name with the DGSE when I went to work for the Inn. The investigation shows that you were born in Manchester and attended university at Cambridge. You were quite the brilliant student.” Simone blushed when she realized what she had said.

  Nadia laughed at her embarrassment, “Cassandra’s husband Jeffery did our papers and Sarah will do yours like he did ours. We have links to the top forgers on six continents. There are not that many top forgers out there and they all know each other. The second rate forgers are adequate, but the best ones will produce work that will standup to any check. My aunt will do yours for free.”

  “Your aunt…”

  “Yes we are a family.”

  “You mean like the mafia?”

  “No I mean real family, like brothers, sisters and cousins. I am related to Noah, Adam, Susan, Lynn and Edward by marriage. Layla is my sister in law. Victoria is my sister. Suki and Sarah are my aunts.”

  “So I was the only one on this trip that was not family?”

  “I look upon you as a sister. Would you like to be adopted?”

  “My parents are still alive.”

  “Then we will treat them as family too.” Simone’s whole mood seemed to change with Simone spending the rest of the flight finding out about her new family.”

  9.

  UPSETS

  “Layla insisted on being the first one to be dropped off. She was eager to be reunited physically with Edward. They had a meeting with each other in an out of body rendezvous, but now she was looking forward to being with him. Layla was happy to be back in the States for even a short period of time. She was immensely disappointed when all that they would let her do was drive. Layla was dying to test out her new skills.

  “Nadia was a real pain in the ass. She stayed with me the whole time. Nadia said that I was too valuable.” Edward was not sympathetic.

  “I tend to agree with her. I couldn’t begin to tell you what you are worth to me.” Layla stroked his cheek affectionately.

  “You don’t have to tell me. We don’t really need words. What did Alex say about developments?”

  “I only had a sketch of what went on. He really regrets sending Simone. She took a lot of abuse both physical and mental. He and Lynn wanted to see Simone right away.”

  “What about you my love?”

  Edward shrugged, “Scott has been after me to find that consul. They are trying to get a ransom for him. I tried to work from a picture, but that was a bust. We tried with some old clothing and that was a bust. We asked for some proof of life and they promised to send something. That’s where we stand right now.”

  “It sounds like they want him back big time.”

  “I think that he might be related to Scott.”

  Lynn had them bring Simone to her office and Alex was waiting with her. Nadia walked in ahead of Simone and Victoria.

  “How would you like another daughter?” Alex picked up on her meaning.

  “Have you adopted another sister?” Simone stood next to Nadia while Victoria stood on the other side. Alex raised his hands in the air. “I guess that the decision has been made for me. Lynn you now have another sister.”

  Lynn moved around the desk and embraced Simone, “Is there any doubt about why we call this place the Amazon Inn?”

  Simone agreed, “There is no doubt in my mind.”

  Lynn took the lead. “You had a rough time in the States. Is there anything that any of us can do?”

  “They tried to kill me,” Simone said sounding somewhat shattered.

  Alex had experience in that area. “I can say that has happened frequently to me.”

  Lynn pointed to the door, “I don’t think that speaking from experience is what we need. Why don’t you look up Layla, and see how she is doing?” Alex took his dismissal in stride and left before she could change her mind.

  Simone gave him a kiss on the way out the door, “We will work it out dad.”

  Alex walked down to Susan’s office and knocked on the door. Susan was in her office. After a minute she opened the door, “Sorry to intrude.”

  “You would have walked in on mom. What’s up?”

  “It’s your office now. If it’s alright with you I will just walk in.” He wanted to acknowledge the change in leadership.

  “The door is always open to you. What can I do for you?”

  “It looks like Simone has been adopted by your sisters. Does she have an account with you or do I need to start one.”

  “I set one up when she started with us.”

  “Good move a million Pounds to her account. I will talk to Beth and Arlene about her wardrobe. Go ahead and clear any charges that they make in her name. I wouldn’t treat her any different than any of my other daughters.” Susan walked around the desk and sat on Alex’s lap.

  “What about this daughter?”

  “You have the check book.”

  Susan pouted. “You know that I never would.”

  “You know that you always could,” Alex countered. “Your mother could too. To tell you the truth I don’t even know how much I’m worth.”

  “I was just reviewing my books. You are worth four million pounds. Do you still want to give Simone a million Pounds?”

  Alex didn’t even blink, “Of course I do.”
r />   Susan hit his chest with a flat hand, “Your no fun what if I steal from you?”

  “You would only be stealing from yourself.”

  “In that case I am worth a hundred eighty million. You have had a lot of expenses lately.” Alex turned her over his knee and teasingly raised his hand to spank her. At that moment Lynn walked in the room.

  Alex teased, “Your daughter needs a good spanking.”

  Lynn’s expression did not change, “I still have the paddle in the filing cabinet.”

  “Mother…!” They all had a good laugh settling down to business as things calmed down.

  Scott called for Edward sounding quite shaken. “I have something personal from our consul. I am flying out with it right now. Could you please oblige me?”

  “We will take care of business as soon as you arrive.” Edward slipped into his meditative state. He watched Scott reach for a small plastic box on his desk and open it. There was a severed finger inside. Edward could sense the distress in Scott. He returned to his body resolving to give Scott his best efforts. Edward and Layla dressed quickly and called security to find Alex. He jogged over to Susan’s office interrupting their conversation.

  “Scott is on his way over with a finger from the consul and he is extremely upset.”

  “Lynn will want to know. We better set something private up. Can we use the apartment here in the center? Scott is a scotch drinker. I will have a bottle of the fifty-year-old single malt standing by. Let’s get Lynn.”

  Alex knocked on the door of Lynn’s office. When there was no answer, he opened the door and looked in. Lynn and Simone were in a loud discussion. Lynn looked annoyed.

  “You may have walked in on my mother with just a knock, but this is my office now.” Alex ignored the slam.

  “We have business to conduct. Scott is on his way over.” The frost did not disappear from her voice.

  “That does not excuse your bad manners. I will see him when he gets here.” Alex smiled and started to close the door. Susan grabbed the handle of the door pushing past Alex with her mother close behind her. “Everybody out…” Her determined roar caused a hurried procession of women to file out of the office. Susan and Lynn pushed in before Alex could enter slamming the door shut. Everybody could hear the argument begin.