The Koda Files Boxed Set - Books 1 & 2

by Ivan Bridgewater

  "Everything I could lay my hands on," she agreed, nodding as she stood in the door. "You might recall, you left in a hurry!"

  "Well! They were kind of intent on killing me," I stated calmly.

  Kath stepped close to me, and asked, "Why didn't you take me with you!"

  I don't know why, but she made me nervous standing so close. I resisted the temptation to step away, looked down at her, and said, "You were already far too attached to me as it was! I had nothing to offer you but a life on the run! You were too young to ruin your life!"

  "So you dumped me," she noted dryly. Then she leaned up and kissed me. She lingered for several seconds, and then stopped. Leaning up against my chest, she quietly asked, "Why don't you love me Mike?"

  "I guess I do," I replied, "I just haven't gotten over Nancy! The bad part is, I doubt I ever will! She was special Kath! A really good person! Better than me! She made me want to be a better man! Just knowing her, made me a better person than I was!"

  My shirt was wet. It was the only way I could tell she was crying. She quietly said, "I'm sorry she's dead Mike! All I ever wanted, was for you to be safe and happy!"

  "I'm sorry too, Kath! I'm not the man I used to be any more," I pulled her closer to me, and just held her for a minute. Then I softly told her, "This is all the past, Kath! We both need to let it go!"

  "I'm not letting go of shit," she stated as she stepped away. She walked into the bathroom, and came out wiping her face off. Pointing toward the wall, she said, "I kept the room!"

  "You kept the room?" I repeated in a great deal of shock. Turning around, I tapped the door release in the wall, and my old weapons closet opened up. It looked just as I had left it. I stepped in, looking around in disbelief...

  Closet probably isn't the best description. The room is twenty feet wide and fifty feet long, with a low ceiling. At just over seven feet tall, the ceiling makes the room seem closed. Sound doesn't travel well in the area. It always seem hushed, like a large closet.

  The room was packed with weapons of all kinds. I had forgotten I had ever owned many of them. Hand weapons, pistols, automatic weapons, all neatly kept, and ready for use.

  "Why did you do this Kath?" Stunned, I looked over to see her, smiling, "This is so over the top!"

  "I love you, you idiot!" she told me softly, "I have ever since you started training me! It took me four years to get you into bed, and even then, I knew you didn't feel the same about me. I didn't care! I just wanted to be with you! To share your life! To experience the places you've seen."

  "We were professional killers, Kath!" I tried to pick my words carefully. "We both know you can't live that life, and be attached! It's too great a weakness. Sooner or later, it will get you and your loved ones killed."

  "But Nancy was different," observed Kathy.

  "I don't want to talk about Nan," I quietly told her.

  "Well, I think you owe me!" she exclaimed as she waved her arms around. "I want to understand how you could love her, and walk away from me!"

  I stood, debating what to say. I wasn't sure I even knew the answer. "I was almost old enough to be your father!" I told her, faltering slightly. "I was in hiding for two years before I met Nancy! We met, and she thought I was some sort of recluse!" I almost laughed aloud, and added, "I guess, in a way, I was!"

  "I looked for you," Kath said. Her words were hushed. Stressed.

  "I couldn't come back," I told her in a matter of fact voice. "They would have killed everyone in the team if they knew who you were."

  "They could have tried," Kath corrected. "I've lost track of the people that have tried!" She hesitated, then added, "Tried... and failed!"

  "I refused to take that chance," I acknowledged. "In my own way, I loved all of you! I wasn't willing to risk your lives for my sake!"

  "So you just took the choice away from us," Kath said. "You just walked away."

  "Ran away was probably more accurate," I corrected. She smiled up at me, but I could tell she wasn't really amused.

  "We better get back," she whispered softly. "The others will wonder what happened to us!"

  We stepped out, and secured the wall panel that hides the closet. For a moment, I stood looking around the room again. Kath abruptly said, "This is your stuff Mike! You're home! You can stay here if you want!"

  Looking around, I told her, "This is the past Kathy! We need to let it go!"

  "You let go! I like visiting the past!" she quipped huskily. Then she turned, and walked out of the room.

  I'm in so much trouble!

  Chapter 6

  A Killer with Scruples

  As I stepped out of the guest house, the sun was almost blinding. The day was in full swing, and we walked toward the main house in silence. We stepped up to the door, and Kathy turned to me and said, "I'm just glad you're back, Mike!" she leaned in close, and kissed me on the cheek. Then she palmed the lock, and the door opened.

  Rock music with a heavy bass beat was playing in the house. We stepped into what I had come to call the command center. Everyone was busy, each on their own computer. Watching them, I began to realize how much the world had changed over the last twenty years. It was a sobering realization.

  I would have spent days in libraries searching for what they found in hours. The computers are an amazing tool in the hands of a hit man. They allow you to research and plan a killing with amazing speed and versatility. By dinner time, we had three plans to send Mr. Robert Hetrus to his maker.

  The bad part was, it looked like it was going to be a blood bath.

  One plan involved blowing the top off a twenty story building. Another plan was going to destroy a rather large yacht, and all the people on it. They weren't nice people, but most of them probably didn't deserve to die.

  In my day, we walked up, kissed you on the cheek, and then shot you at close range. I preferred to talk to the mark before I made the hit. I wanted them to know and understand what was happening.

  The third proposed plan was a hit on the move. The target would be in a vehicle, and on roads used by the public. That would make all sorts of issues arise. I hate leaving a trail of bodies everywhere I go. It looks bad on the resume.

  By dinner time, the team was in high spirits. They were ready to get to work, and close on the target.

  "If we can get the explosives, we can be ready for Friday night," observed Harold.

  "There plenty stored in the bunker out back," Kathy informed him. "There's a transponder by the back door that will lead you to the access hatch."

  "You have a bunker out back?" inquired Shooter.

  "Just a small one," stipulated Kathy. "I had to build up the field out back to put it in. You can't bury anything in the ground in Florida. It just fills up with water, or floats."

  "We're not going to need it," I corrected. "I'm going to make the hit myself!"

  Silence descended over the room.

  "You mean I wasted a whole day on the computer," joked Tim aloud. "I was ready to go blow this twit up!"

  "What's the problem, Mike?" asked Shooter.

  "He's suicidal is the problem," stated Kathy with obvious irritation. "Mike! I swear! I'll have Shooter tie you up and leave you here if you mess me up!"

  "Hey! Leave me out of this!" yelled Shooter.

  At that point, Koda stood up, obviously agitated, and left. The room became very quiet, and after a few seconds, Kathy looked at me, and exclaimed, "Follow her, you idiot!"

  So I did.

  I caught her just as she stepped out of the building. She looked pretty upset, and tried to shrug me off. Grabbing her arm, I asked, "What's the problem here?"

  "I'm the problem here," she observed. "You were retired, and then I came along, and dragged you all into this! I never intended for any of this to happen! Hetrus killed my family, and now I'm going to get your family killed!"

  "My family isn't that easy to kill," I commented. "In fact, we have a combined body count that would make a grown soldier cringe!"

  She
stepped away, looking me up and down. Crossing her arms as she faced me, she looked me in the eyes, and asked, "Is Kathy right? Are you going to suicide yourself?"

  I stopped to really consider her question. "I don't believe so!" I quietly replied. "I don't think my training will let me." She stood there, waiting for more. After a few moments, I continued, "This is about not harming possibly innocent people, just to get this really bad guy!"

  I was stressing heavily. The pain was starting. I reached into my pocket, and got a pill. She quietly observed, "You're taking more of those now than before, aren't you?" We had broken eye contact as I dug for the pills. Our eyes met again, and she said, "I thought so!"

  "Don't worry about me!" I stated. "Worry about the guy you pissed off out there!"

  Kathy stepped out the door, and looked at both of us. "Are you two okay?" she asked.

  "We're fine," I told her. Koda nodded her head, and Kathy quietly stepped back into the house.

  Looking straight into Koda's eyes, I said, "Having the power to kill, doesn't give you the right to kill!" I saw a frown cross her face, and I continued, saying, "It's gotten so easy to destroy a whole mass of people, we've lost track of the innocents being slaughtered. Even if we can justify the death of our target, we must try to minimize the killing of others around him."

  "Wow! A killer with scruples!" Koda exclaimed sarcastically.

  "What? You don't have any personal limits?” I demanded, slightly pissed. “Let's just shoot up a school bus full of kids, or blow up a church full of small children? You can't tell me you don't have a limit!"

  Seeing hidden meaning in the question, Koda asked, "What was your limit, Mike?"

  I almost told her off, and then caught myself. I practically whispered, "They sent me to blow up a building!" I hesitated, debating how much to tell her. Then I just went ahead, saying, "I found out the place held the target's kids. The assholes sent me to kill a bunch of kids, to get at their father!"

  "What did you do?" she asked. Her voice was as hushed as mine now.

  "I walked away, came back here, and killed them all!" I replied.

  "Killed who?" she asked, a confused frown on her face.

  "The people who sent me to kill the kids!" I answered.

  Her eyes widened, as she asked, "You killed your handlers?"

  "And the asshole politician that sent me in the first place!" I confirmed.

  She stood there with a dumbfounded look on her face for several seconds. Then she said, "You're not retired! You're on the run!"

  I nodded, and agreed, saying, "That's about the size of it!"

  "So, if Hetrus doesn't shoot you, our own people might," she observed.

  Nodding yes, I told her, "Thanks for pointing that out!" She cringed. I smiled at her as I explained, "It’s okay Koda! I'm long since over worrying about it."

  Just starting to smile slightly, Koda said, "You sure don't mess around, do you?" She seemed to reflect for a moment more, then she asked, "Is there any way to call them off?"

  "I can die," I observed.

  "Very funny," she responded sarcastically. I felt the question building in her. She finally asked, "Why are you helping me, Mike?"

  Not thinking, I blurted out the truth, saying, "Cause it was the right thing to do!" Funny, how this young girl could get me to say the damnest things. Nancy would have liked her.

  If we had been able to have kids, they would have been Koda's age. They might have gone to school together. I stood thinking a moment more. Then I bluntly said, "Nancy would have told me to help you!"

  "I’d have liked her," she observed quietly.

  "Let’s get back in, before they start to think I'm hitting on you!" I joked, trying to be flippant.

  We went back in. Shooter and Kathy were setting out a pretty nice dinner. Thick steaks and baked potatoes with some nice side dished. We all ate till we couldn't eat any more. We were all painfully aware it might be our last meal.

  We each cleaned up our mess, and took a few hours to relax. Shooter and Harold were watching a movie. Tim sat reading a book. Koda, and Kathy, were playing a game of chess. I took a seat in the relative shadows, and watched my family enjoy a quiet evening. We could have been any urban family. All you had to do, was overlook the weapons that were laying all around.

  The evening wore on. Harold and Shooter finished their movie, and said goodnight. Koda had already gone off to bed, and Kathy looked exhausted as she yawned, "Good Night!" and stumbled off to her own room.

  I had been sitting, watching the group. The room was quiet for a few minutes. Tim finally said, "I remember the first day we met. You actually intimidated me. You were a real bad ass, and years ahead of me in your ability to do the job. As we all signed on, you carried us over and over. We're your family! You made us that way! We respect you, and we have no intention of letting you do this without us."

  "I've been getting a lot of that," I noted.

  "Hey old buddy. You made us a family," he observed, smiling. "I happen to think that's a good thing!"

  "I suppose you're right," I agreed. I stood, starting to leave. I stopped at the door, turned, and told him, "I remember the first day we met! You were a sharp young kid, ready for a fight! I'm proud to have worked with you!" Then I walked out, and went to bed.

  Chapter 7

  The Recon

  I woke up the next morning reaching for the covers. It was cool enough, that the blankets felt good as I laid there. I felt disorientated for a few seconds, then it all came back to me. It was time for Mr. Robert Hetrus to die!

  At least, that was the plan.

  By eight in the morning, we were all awake, and going over established routes and timing schedules. I had opted to terminate him on the way to his boat. I would be taking point, with Shooter and Harold running interference for me. Tim and Kathy were my backup people, with Koda assigned to work as a simple observer.

  The main problem was the firepower around him. Like so many, He thought a dozen guards made him bulletproof. That's just not the way it works.

  The old adage says that if a shooter is willing to die to get at you, simple numbers can't stop the hit. You must think smarter, not just stand behind a wall of guards. At the point where you are pretty safe, you are also cut off. People like Hitler soon learned that standing behind even a vast army, is sometimes simply not enough. You don't realize how cut off you are, till they start digging you out of your hole.

  By then, it's too late.

  Mr. Hetrus left his offices every day at four in the afternoon. He used a limo, and two escort vehicles to travel out to the docks, and his yacht. There he spent the night each night.

  Most nights, his ship would sail. It would range up and down the coast, always returning to the dock by morning. The parties held on the boat were legendary, and a bit notorious. It was rumored that uncooperative business partners sometimes were left to sleep with the fishes, and never returned when the boat docked.

  The simplest way would be to blow up his business, or his boat, killing him in the process. As stated before, that would have a high body count.

  I had a simpler plan. I was going to initiate a full stage attack at the dock, just as he prepared to board. Then blend into the local population, and disappear. I had done the same thing once before, almost twenty-five years ago. Both Tim and Kathy had seen me make the hit back then. They knew it could be done.

  They also knew I wasn't the same man I used to be. Entropy is the way of the Universe. We all age, and fall apart. I was really in pretty good shape, for a really old guy. My one saving grace was all the years of training. The big question was, how would I react when the shooting started?

  Over the next few hours, there was heavy debate about the wisdom of what I was planning. In the end, I overrode their concerns, and we moved forward. At four in the afternoon that day, as Mr. Hetrus left his office, I was waiting for him at his boat.

  As his car pulled up at the boatyard, I started moving toward him. I was in a suit, and had jus
t eaten a sandwich while I waited on the target. There was a nice restaurant that had a commanding view of the boatyard. I sat there waiting for the target, and had seen him and his group pull up.

  This was what I called a spontaneous opportunity hit. If it looked too bad, I’d just walk past, and get at him later. At the least, it was a recon. If safely possible, I’d finish the job here and now, once and for all.

  The doors to the limo were just opening up as I turned, and started up the sidewalk toward them. I was focused on the limo, and it suddenly dawned on me that I could see a police car sitting in the background about a hundred yards away. A woman cop was standing at the front of the car watching us. She was leaning on the police car's right front fender. As I realized she was standing there, I got the distinct feeling she was staring at me.

  I instantly mentally aborted the hit, and started to walk past the target. He climbed out of the Limo, and started to walk toward his yacht with his entourage all around him. Mr. Hetrus didn't seem to recognize me. But as his group began walking up the boarding plank to the boat, one of them seemed to pause, and stare at me.

  Between the cop, and the guy on the dock, I was feeling a little rattled. Kathy was my closest driver. She was two blocks away to the north. I started walking toward her. There was a number of large stores on the sidewalk. I could tell that two men from the target's security team had followed me. I could see them mirrored in the store's windows as they moved into position behind me.

  I had now turned, and started walking away from the cop. She had been just watching us when I last saw her. I got to the end of the block, and she cruised past going very slow. She stopped at the stop sign, looked right at me, and then pulled away. I crossed the street, and could see the building that I was headed for.

  As soon as I got to the end of the next block, I could see Kathy sitting in her car. If I continued, I’d lead the two men right to her.

  I stopped at the end of the block, and stood looking at the store window in front of me. The place was a dive shop, and didn't have much going in the store window. The two guards stepped up to me. The taller man, dressed totally in grey, asked, "Do I know you from somewhere?"