The Toymaker

by Chuck Barrett

  “Do you have something for me?” Jake asked.

  She dug underneath her fleece and pulled out a sealed manila envelope. “You are to treat this with the same scrutiny as his first message—eyes only.”

  “Got it.” Jake understood. Burn after reading. “Do you work for him? Are we allowed to talk?”

  She smiled. “Once we confirm identities we may talk freely. My name is Francesca, I’m an Emissary.”

  Emissary. There’s that word again. “You work for Wiley too?” Jake asked.

  “He told me you called him ‘the toymaker’ the first day you met.”

  “I did.”

  “So did I.” Francesca said. “Wiley says we think alike but I doubt it, you’re still a rookie.”

  “Rookie? How old are you?” Jake studied her face. Her green eyes were penetrating. She seemed tough. He motioned to her check. “Get that in the line of duty?”

  She rubbed her fingers over her scar. “Not that it is any of your business, but it is a reminder of a run in I had with an irritable Irishman.”

  “Maybe Wiley’s right, we are more alike than you think. I had a run in with one of those as well.”

  He had so many questions he wanted to ask. About her. About Wiley. But he didn’t have time. “Are you working with me on this?”

  “No.” She smiled as she started to leave. “Wiley said you’re on your own. Sink or swim. I think you’ll be surprised at what you read. If you don’t get yourself killed, I’ll see you again…if not, it was nice meeting you.”

  Jake stared as she walked away. She never looked back, never turned around, and disappeared out of sight.

  He opened the envelope and read the information twice, committing every detail to memory. He was indeed surprised at what the documents contained. Vital information he needed if he wanted to kill Khan. Information that neither Bentley nor Kaplan had access to. Information that would get him to Khan, but might get him killed doing it.

  The element of danger just increased tenfold.

  CHAPTER 56

  KYLI WULLENWEBER AND her grandfather, Elmore Wiley landed in Brussels earlier in the day. She’d slept almost six hours on the flight back from Atlanta so she decided to go by the office to take care of her backlog of work. She’d been out of the office for several days, recovering from injuries caused by the explosion at the Louvre and attending the funeral of Jake’s parents.

  She stared at her computer monitor in a daze, not focusing on her work. The last few days were surreal. Jake had saved her life in Paris, killing the second terrorist before he detonated his suicide vest, a blast that would have killed her. Jake stayed with her at the hospital during her recovery until CIA Director Scott Bentley delivered the news of the tragic fire that took the lives of his parents.

  She wanted to comfort Jake at the funeral, but the reality was she hadn't known him long enough. As a matter of fact, she barely knew him. So why did she feel such a strong connection to him? It wasn’t just Paris, she felt the first pang when he left for Yemen with her grandfather. This was all new to her, these feelings. She’d had previous relationships, some she’d thought at the time were serious, but she’d never felt like this.

  Come on Kyli, get a grip.

  Jake still had issues with the tragic loss of his fiancée seven months ago. Wiley had explained the entire incident to her before Jake arrived in Belgium. At times, he’d seemed withdrawn, but it was always short lived. She knew Jake was interested in her. She could tell. When she stood close to him, he seemed nervous. She felt him shudder when she touched him. He needed time to cope with his past and she was willing to grant him as much time as he needed.

  She shut down her computer, locked her desk, grabbed her coat, and walked to the elevator. Her backlog would have to wait until morning. Wiley had dropped her off at MEtech so she was without a car and needed a ride home.

  When the elevator reached the lobby, Kyli walked over to the reception area. The office manager was shutting everything down for the day.

  “Getting ready to lock up?” Kyli asked.

  “Yes Dr. Kyli. You are the last to leave, as usual.”

  “I know it’s a little out of your way, but would you mind taking me home? Mr. Wiley left me without a car.”

  “I don’t mind at all.” The woman made a few keyboard strokes. “Let me set all the alarms, and we’ll be on our way.” She paused. “Mind if I ask a personal question?”

  “I don’t mind, go ahead.”

  “Why do you refer to your grandfather as Mr. Wiley?” The woman typed in the last alarm sequence. The monitor started counting down. Sixty seconds to arming. “I mean we all know he’s your grandfather. It’s not a secret.”

  The two women walked through the door.

  “He prefers to keep it formal unless we’re alone. Most of the time it's out of habit.”

  Ten minutes later Kyli climbed out of the car, thanked the woman for the ride, and climbed the steps to her apartment. She inserted her key and unlocked the door. Inside she found her luggage exactly where her grandfather said it would be, on her bed, along with a note explaining that he would be out of town for the next few days on business. She smiled. Yeah, spy business, I’m sure.

  She unzipped her bag and began to unpack. She noticed the curtains were drawn, not how she’d left them. She assumed her grandfather was being protective and closed them for her. She tossed her dirty clothes in the hamper and walked over to the window.

  She grabbed the curtains with both hands and spread them apart. A reflection in the glass stared back at her. She spun around and saw a large, silver-haired man dressed in black standing in the middle of her bedroom pointing a gun at her.

  She stared at his eyes.

  One blue.

  One brown.

  She screamed.

  CHAPTER 57

  KAPLAN SHIFTED IN the passenger seat when Arlo Delgado walked through the main door of the hotel, on each arm a beautiful woman. A blonde and a brunette. The late afternoon sky was streaked with contrails from a day’s worth of airline traffic overhead. Delgado was dressed in white linen pants, a blue floral print shirt, and a backpack. Both women wore white ribbon and lace tunics, bathing suits visible underneath. An oversized beach bag thrown over the shoulder of the brunette. The women wore flip-flops. It appeared the three were headed to the beach for the day. He studied the man through his binoculars, was he Khan…or not?

  A taxi pulled in the circular entrance to the hotel and stopped, allowing Delgado and the women to climb inside. “Don’t let them out of our sight.” Kaplan said to Perez.

  Kaplan jumped when something banged against the right rear door of Perez’s car. The door opened, a man jumped inside. Kaplan had already drawn his gun and was twisting around when the man grabbed the barrel and shoved the gun into the car’s seat.

  “What the…?” Kaplan’s anger ignited when he recognized the man. “Dammit, Jake. I ought to shoot you anyway. Where the hell have you been?”

  “I told you. I had to go to the bathroom.”

  “Cut the bullshit, Jake. Where did you go?” Kaplan reiterated.

  “I was in my room. The bathrooms at the café were in use.”

  “So you went out the window in the ladies room?”

  “Seemed the quickest way.” Jake said.

  “And you were in your room?”

  “I just said that. Hard of hearing, are you?”

  “Gentlemen, please.” Perez interrupted. “Delgado and the women, they’re getting away.”

  “Follow them.” Kaplan ordered. “You drive, I’ll handle Jake. Like you said, looks like they’re going to the beach.”

  “They’re not getting away and they aren’t going to the beach.” Jake said.

  “How do you know?” Kaplan asked.

  “Drive to the middle finger pier at Puerto de San Sebastian.” Jake said. “Khan’s rented a boat for the evening. Apparently he likes taking women on sunset cruises. Not that I blame him, they are pretty hot.”
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  “How do you know this?” Kaplan asked. “Wiley?”

  “I have my ways, Gregg.” Jake said. “Now stop wasting time with the interrogation and drive to the marina.”

  Kaplan stared at Jake in disbelief. Should he trust Jake? He knew Jake was up to something, but he couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. If Jake was going to kill Khan then Khan would already be dead. Jake had the opportunity. Was Jake really in his room this whole time? He and Perez didn’t check the rooms when they found Jake had escaped the café through the window so technically it was possible. Unlikely, but possible. Where else would Jake go? None of it made any sense to Kaplan.

  “Well?” Perez said.

  “Do like he said. Drive to the docks.” He continued staring at Jake. “You better be right and you better not try anything outside of our orders. Bentley gave me instructions to keep you from killing Khan at all cost…including the use of deadly force.”

  “What purpose would that serve? If Khan is dead then how will we know what the U.S. target is?” Jake said. “And one more thing. When we get to the port and you’ve seen that I’ve been truthful, I’m taking charge of this operation.”

  † † †

  Delgado and the two women climbed out of the taxi and walked to the end of the finger pier where a water taxi was waiting to take them to the 40-foot cruiser Delgado had rented for the evening. The same cruiser he rented before with the same provisions. The boat wasn’t due back until 10:00 a.m. the next morning. More than enough time to take the women for a long leisurely sunset cruise, feed them their last meal, perhaps indulge in carnal pleasures one last time, then send them both to the depths of the Capbreton Canyon in the Bay of Biscay where they will spend eternity inside the sediment over four thousand feet below the surface.

  A small water taxi carried them to the vessel moored a few hundred yards out on the clear waters of the Bahia de la Concha. Delgado let the two women climb onboard first, tipped the water taxi driver, and climbed onboard pushing the bow of the small boat away from the cruiser with his foot. The water taxi motored back to the docks.

  Delgado flipped the switch activating the blower, letting it run a few minutes while it exhaled any fumes that might have built up in the engine compartment prior to starting the engines. The women wasted no time removing their tunics and climbing onto the bow of the boat to catch the last of the sun’s rays.

  He stared at the women through the windshield of the cruiser; they were both beautiful. The brunette wore a pastel twist bandeau top; her bare shoulders glistened in the sun as she smoothed tanning oil across them. A silver Nautilus pendant hung from a chain and dipped precariously into her cleavage. Her pastel low-rise bottom matched her top. Her thick long hair was pulled back in a ponytail and draped down her back.

  The blonde wore a ruby red thong bottom. Her tanned buttocks shimmered as the suns rays reflected off the water. Draped around her waist was a gold triple belly-chain. She wore a matching ruby red goddess enhancer top although she needed no enhancing. Perfect in every way. He preferred blondes and would miss her the most.

  He started the engines, released the mooring ball, slipped the engines into forward, and idled out of the bay.

  † † †

  Jake argued with Kaplan all the way to the docks. As Perez parked the car, Jake pointed out Khan getting into a small water taxi with the two women. “Look, it’s very simple. You two do as I say and we capture Khan. If you don’t like my proposal, then we go our separate ways right now.”

  “What’s your plan, swim after them?” Kaplan’s face was flushed. “Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here with this take-control attitude?”

  “Stay here then.” Jake got out of the car. The two men followed him. “You see, when I found out about Khan renting the cruiser for the evening, I rented a twenty-two foot fishing boat equipped with fishing gear and tackle. I thought we’d just do a little fishing with Khan in sight at all times. And if we get the chance to take him at sea, even better.”

  “Really?” Kaplan’s face softened and he looked calmer. “You did that already?”

  “I did. And unlike Khan.” He looked at Perez. “Or Delgado if you prefer, our boat is docked right here. All we have to do is jump in, fire it up, and go.”

  “Jake, I’m impressed. Since you’re obviously more prepared than we are, it’s your show…for now, anyway.” Kaplan conceded. “But, if you try anything.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Jake pointed toward a gray fishing boat near the end of the outside finger pier. “Now let’s roll.”

  “You going to tell me where you went and how you know all this?” Kaplan asked as they reached the boat.

  Jake stepped close to Kaplan and put his arm on Kaplan’s shoulder. “All in due time, my brother. All in due time.”

  CHAPTER 58

  KHAN FELT THE last of the sun’s warmth against his face. The blazing sun had almost reached the horizon when he cut the engines. He crawled up the steps and through the windshield door onto the bow where the women were laying on their towels. In his hands he held a bottle of red wine and three glasses.

  As soon as the cruiser cleared the Bahia de la Concha, both women stripped off their bathing suit tops. Three miles from shore, they removed their bottoms and oiled their skin again. The all-body tan seemed important to the women. They were proud of their young, taunt bodies and showed no hesitation in shedding their clothes around Khan.

  He liked it.

  “Girls, a little toast.” He poured three glasses and handed each woman a glass. “To our last night together in Spain, may it be a night we will remember forever.”

  “Here, here.” The women said in unison as they clinked their glasses together.

  It will certainly be a night I’ll remember forever. He took a drink from his glass.

  The women downed their glasses and Khan refilled them. He left the bottle with the women and retreated to the cabin where he retrieved a second bottle. He opened it, poured another glass for himself, then handed it to the women through the bow hatch. Yes, it would be another good night.

  Earlier he’d noticed a small fishing boat on the horizon but it never got closer than a half a mile from his boat. He watched the men through his binoculars while they trolled along the walls of the Capbreton Canyon where the sea bottom drops thousands of feet. The men were drinking and laughing and never appeared to pay his boat any attention. Now the boat was a tiny speck in the distance. He was being paranoid. Maybe the man he’d spotted in town wasn’t watching him. He wasn’t one of the men on the fishing boat, Khan was sure.

  Khan heated up the dinner he’d had catered for the trip by a five-star restaurant in Old Town. He set the table on the stern deck and called the women when it was ready. The sun had set and only a few of the brightest stars were beginning to light up the sky. Tiki lights were strung along the roof on the aft deck, soft music played in the background. A naked blonde and a naked brunette, both giggling, came down the stairs through the windshield door.

  “Oooh, something smells good.” The blonde said. She walked to Khan and kissed him hard. “I’m hungry.”

  The brunette slipped her tunic over her oil soaked naked body. “We need food so we’ll have energy for later.” She placed the second bottle of wine, half empty, on the table and tossed the empty bottle overboard.

  Khan grabbed the already loaded plates from the galley and placed one in front of each woman. The blonde slipped on her tunic. Khan returned to the table with his plate and sat down. The three of them raised their glasses to the center of the table and made another toast. “Ladies, you’re the most fun I’ve ever had.” Khan said.

  Both women giggled then the blonde spoke. “We decided to give you a special treat tonight, so save room for dessert.”

  † † †

  Jake kept enough distance from the cruiser without losing sight of it. He’d made a couple of close passes for appearance sake so Khan could verify that the occupants of the boat we
re indeed fishermen out having a good time. As good fortune would have it, Perez caught a good-sized fish while they were near Khan's vessel. The three men shouted and yelled validating themselves as fishermen, high-fiving, and toasting with beer. He only hoped Khan was watching and his ruse had dispelled any suspicion the terrorist might have.

  It seemed to work. Now, with only the stars aglow in the sky, Jake motored away from the cruiser with the fishing boat’s lights on, then turned them off and maneuvered back to within a half-mile distance. He zoomed in with his night spotting scope. Khan was laughing and drinking and seemed more interested in the two naked women than in whether or not someone was tracking him. No better distraction than beautiful women.

  A mistake Jake planned to capitalize on.

  Jake noticed the cruiser had a large swim platform. That would make it easier to board the cruiser without alerting Khan.

  “Now what?” Kaplan asked.

  “We wait.” Jake handed Kaplan the spotting scope. “We wait and watch.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Kaplan said. “Since when did patience become one of your virtues?”

  “Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.”

  “And now you’re a bad philosopher too?”

  “We could be out here a while.” Perez said.

  “Yes, we could. But this is our best chance to take Khan alive.” Jake unzipped a duffle bag that had been tucked under the seats and pulled out night vision goggles.

  “What else you got in there?” Kaplan asked.

  “Three semi-automatic sniper rifles, ammo and some Snickers bars.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Kaplan asked.

  Jake stared at Kaplan then looked at Perez and smiled. “Yeah, I’m kidding.”

  CHAPTER 59

  TWO BOATS FLOATED aimlessly half a mile apart, bobbing up and down like a cork on a fishing line. As time passed the Cantabrian Sea grew choppy, waves slapping against the hull grew louder so Jake eased the smaller vessel further from the cruiser.