by Craig Reed
"Then it’s us," Tanner said. "We have to assume that. Let’s talk strategy."
Stephen chimed in for the first time. "They could try hitting us in the lobby.”
“I don’t think so," Liam said. "They'd want to get all six of us at once. If they try and hit us in the lobby, it would alert Dante and Dani and give them a chance to get away, right?”
"We can't be sure of that," Stephen said. "They could easily stage it as a terrorist attack. A lobby full of people would handicap us more than it would them. They don’t care about mitigating collateral damage."
"Assuming they just want to kill us," Liam continued, "they want to do it fast. The police are already on high alert after last night, so a prolonged gun battle is out. They might think we'll be easier to surprise in our rooms than in the lobby."
"I think they'll wait until we’re in our rooms and hit all three rooms at once," Tanner said. "They want answers to who we are and how much we know. They may want prisoners, but they also want our technology, especially any computers we have."
"It would be quicker and easier to grab it all at once," Liam said.
"Here's what we're going to do." Tanner outlined the plan quickly, finishing with, "Dani, Dante, make sure you sanitize the rooms, then call us when you're ready. Any questions?"
There were none, and the conference ended. Danielle packed up her computer equipment while Dante moved through the suites, wiping down all surfaces and objects with cleaning solution and cloth. They gathered everyone’s belongings and consolidated them into duffel bags.
Then they carried the bags back to Tanner and Liam's suite, and while Danielle watched the security cameras on her laptop, Dante went out, down the hall, past the elevator lobby, to a small vending area. At the back of the alcove was a door leading to a housekeeping room where linens, bath towels and other housekeeping supplies were stored. The room was locked, but Dante picked it in less than fifteen seconds, wedging a bottle of cleaner between door and jamb.
He returned to the suite and grabbed all the bags and carried them down to the linen room, putting them inside. Danielle followed a few seconds later, toting the still-open laptop. They entered the linen room, and while Danielle placed the laptop on a shelf, Dante closed and locked the door behind them. While Dante took his phone out and dialed Tanner, Danielle pulled out her H&K pistol and threaded on a sound suppressor.
Tanner answered and Dante told him they were ready.
* * *
Tamrez watched the two men enter the lobby. Both were dressed in suits and ties, but they didn't move like normal business men. Instead of the ambling of men who spent most of their time sitting and talking, these men moved with purpose. Both wore sunglasses, but Tamrez got the impression they were aware of their surroundings. Tamrez shifted his gaze to the clerk, who gave him a nod.
The pair stopped near one of the chairs and began a quiet conversation, standing close and keeping a hand over their mouth to make it impossible for anyone to lip-read. Tamrez wondered what they were discussing.
After a couple of minutes, another pair, this one consisting of a man and a woman, walked into the lobby. They were dressed less formally than the first two, but walked right over to them and joined the conversation. Another glance at the clerk confirmed that these were the other two Americans they'd been waiting for.
Tamrez found his gaze lingering on the only woman of the four. The African woman had an attractive figure and was easy on the eyes. He decided then that she would be one of the ones they took alive, for further "interrogation."
As a group, the foursome headed for the elevators, still talking amongst themselves. Tamrez waited until they had walked out of sight before he said to Dahab, "Tell the others we move in ten minutes." His man nodded and left the table.
The ten minutes passed slowly, and Tamrez, who considered himself a patient man, found it hard not to fidget. After glancing at his watch yet again, he decided it was time and stood.
Followed by Dahab, he walked out of the restaurant and into the lobby. As he made his way to the elevators, the rest of his men began to walk toward him. By the time he reached the elevator bank, he was surrounded by the rest of his team.
Tamrez directed four of his men to take one elevator, while he and the rest took the other. Once the doors closed, he and the others checked their firearms. Tamrez and two of his men had pistols, while the fourth carried a VZ-61 Skorpion machine pistol. After he had put his Browning Hi-power away, he closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself for the imminent battle.
* * *
"Six to all: Tangos in the elevator."
Danielle's voice was steady in Stephen and Liam's earpieces as they fast-walked in opposite directions from the elevators on the fourth floor. Both operators were headed for the emergency stairs at each end of the building. They reached the doors at about the same time and stopped.
"Numbers, Six," Tanner said.
"Eight in the elevators, two in each staircase," Danielle came back over the radios. "The two on the northeast staircase have just reached the second floor, while the ones in the southwest are half a floor behind them. I'm seeing only pistols and machine guns."
"Any civilians in sight?"
"Not at the moment."
"Start scrambling the security footage … Now!"
"Security footage scrambled. Hotel security is now looking at snow. We still have eyes on the Tangos."
"Copy," Liam said, reaching the northeast stairwell door. He looked back at Stephen while he screwed on his sound suppressor. "Ready?"
"Yeah.”
"The northeast pair of Tangos are on the third floor now, guns in hand," Danielle interjected.
Liam put his ear to the door and listed. When he heard echoing footsteps growing louder, he shoved hard against the door and moved into the staircase, pistol pointing down into it.
The two men charging up the stairs were caught by surprise. The first man was a third of the way up, and before he could raise his own pistol, Liam fired at him twice, the .45 rounds echoing despite the suppressor. Both rounds struck the gunman in the chest, ripping through clothing and flesh and knocking him off his feet. As the would-be killer fell, Liam shifted targets and shot the second man on the landing below. One round punched into his face while the second took him in the throat. The force slammed him into the landing wall, leaving a bloody smear on the off-white wall.
Liam tracked back to the first target, but the blood-soaked shirt told him that he was down for good. Pistol ready, he descended the stairs and checked both bodies, careful to avoid the blood.
"Two to Prime: Both Tangos down and out. Northeast stairwell secure," he transmitted, putting both men's pistols into his pockets, then rifling through the men's clothing for ID and any other useful information. He found a couple of cheap wallets and pocketed them.
Looking over the rail, Liam saw that the stairs went down more than four flights, all the way into the basement. He hauled the first body up and tossed it over the rail. It fell silently, except for the wet smack when it hit the floor. It’s not the fall that kills you…it’s getting shot before you hit the ground. The ex-SEAL chuckled grimly to himself as he hoisted the second body and disposed of it as with the first.
Danielle’s voice crackled over the comm channels. "Six to all: Tangos exiting the elevator.”
"This is Two. I'm on my way up," said Liam. He started up the stairs three at a time.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Standing in the linen closet, Danielle and Dante watched the eight men walk out of the elevators and into the hallway. One of them, a big man with a thick mustache, directed the others. He indicated for one to stay in the lobby-hallway and then pointed the rest toward the team's rooms.
Danielle’s eyes were glued to the laptop screen "Six to Prime: One Tango's in the hall, near the elevators. The others are moving toward yours and Three's location. Hallway is still clear of civilians, over."
"Copy Six," Tanner came back. "Get ready to hit the
m in five….four ….three … "
"I'll take the rear guard,” Dante said, one hand on the door handle, the other gripping his suppressed pistol.
Danielle nodded, both of her hands gripped around the butt of her SOCOM.
"…two…. one!"
Dante opened the door and Danielle went through, her pistol up and aimed into the vending alcove. Dante was right behind her, his own pistol also at the ready. Danielle stepped aside, letting Dante take the lead as he moved to the edge of the alcove. He stepped out, his pistol already acquiring the first target, the rear guard.
The man's jaw dropped as the sight of Dante and he dropped his briefcase. He frantically reached for the automatic stuck in his belt. Dante fired twice, both shots striking the man in the chest and throwing him back against the wall.
Dante acquired new targets, lining up on the back of one of the attackers at the rear of the group. He felt more than saw Danielle step out beside him and open fire.
The four shots sounded like small firecrackers, but the two men at the rear of the pack of killers both stumbled forward when the shots struck them in the back, sending them into the two in front of them. Those two were pushed off balance by the sudden impact of dead weight. Before they could shove their dying comrades away, Dante and Danielle fired again.
The second double tap struck home and those two men fell.
The remaining three shooters quickly spun to face the threat behind them, weapons rising to fill the hallway full of lead. They never saw the hotel room doors open behind them, never saw Tanner and Naomi step out and fire their own silenced pistols into their backs from a distance of ten feet.
Wahid Tamrez and his two men never saw the bullets that killed them.
* * *
As the last killer fell, the OUTCAST team was already moving. Danielle ducked back into the linen closet to retrieve her laptop. Dante moved forward, sweeping the elevator lobby, then moving to assist Tanner and Naomi, who swept in to kick away weapons and search the dead would-be assassins.
Several doors along the hall opened as guests poked their heads out, wanting to find out what was going on. Dante shouted, "Get back into your rooms and stay there!"
The resulting doors closing sounded almost like gunshots.
Dante searched the briefcase of the first man he had killed. He spun it around to show Tanner the contents — drug paraphernalia, a bundle of money, and a block of something that had to be drugs, either heroin or cocaine.
"Leave it," Tanner advised. Dante nodded and closed the case.
"Four to Prime," Stephen said on the radio. "Southwest stairwell clear, two tangos down."
"Copy, Four," Tanner said. "Execute Fuzzy Dragon in twenty. We're on our way out."
The stairwell door opened and Liam stepped out. Tanner told him, "Help Six!"
Liam nimbly hopped over the bodies and ran toward the linen closet. He found Danielle coming out of the room carrying their duffel bags. Liam holstered his pistol and grabbed some of the bags from her. He dropped three of them in the hall and carried the other three over to Tanner and the others. By now, five of the bodies had been searched, and the rest were currently being checked. Liam handed a duffel bag each to Tanner, Dante and Naomi, who added the assorted wallets, cell phones and other pocket litter to the bags.
Tanner motioned to the stairwell Liam had just used. "We'll take this one. You and Six join Four."
Liam nodded and ran back to where he had left the bags. Danielle tossed him a towel. He used it to take the pistols he'd taken from the killers in the stairwell out of his pockets and wipe them down before tossing them into the hallway. Picking up all three bags, he and Danielle ran for the other end of the hall and the stairs. They were three quarters of the way there when the piercing shriek of a fire alarm started, prompting them to race down the stairs.
By the time they reached the fourth floor, there were people in the stairwell. Liam saw Stephen waiting for them. He handed the former CIA agent two of the bags and quickly buttoned his coat. At the second floor, there was a steady stream of guests chattering and wondering what was going on.
The three OUTCASTs went with the flow, doing nothing to attract attention. Liam glanced over the rail and saw the bodies of the two men Stephen had killed, but the people were more concerned with escaping the building than seeing what was at the bottom.
They reached the ground floor, the concrete block giving way to glass and a large EXIT sign over the doors. The three OUTCAST operatives spilled out into the parking lot along with the flood of hotel guests and employees.
They continued walking toward the Pajero Sport 4x4. Stephen unlocked the car and after throwing everything into back, he tossed the keys to Liam.
"You're driving. I have a phone call to make."
"Two to Prime," Liam said into his throat microphone as he climbed into the driver's seat. "We're clear of the building."
"Copy, Two," Tanner said. "We're reaching the vehicle now."
"Meet you at the Fort," Liam said, referring to the Castle of Good Hope, which was a short distance away.
"Copy. See you in a few."
Liam started the Pajero and left the parking lot. As he turned onto Hans Strijdom Avenue, he heard Stephen say into his phone.
"Nigel? We need your help."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Somali Coast
Saleh Narsai sipped his coffee and stared out over the ocean. The last day and a half had been exhausting for him and the crew of both his ship and the Saad el Melik. There was no telling when an enemy might move to take the ship, and so he had only slept for thirty minutes in the last day. There was so much to do.
The first step had been the transfer of the necessary materials from the Saad el Melik to the Northstar. Timing the transfers between satellite passes and hiding the goods between the container stacks had been time-consuming. They had done most of the transfer at night with only just enough light to see by.
The second step had been the most nerve-racking, the removal of the warheads from the container. Despite Dr. Masood's assurances that the warhead was safe to move, it had taken several hours of back-breaking work to take both warheads out of the container, using a jury-rigged hoist to lower both to the deck, where they were covered by more tarps.
But still there was more to do. A construction crew from the Saad el Melik had begun the construction of launchers between two container stacks, while a second crew pulled tarps across the spaces to conceal the activity from overhead observation. Masood's team attended to the warheads and the missiles under another set of tarps in another space. The work was hot and brutal, the temperature under the tarps rising as high as a hundred and fifteen degrees during the day, even higher when the crew used wielding torches and other power tools. The work was continuous, stopping only long enough for a quick meal and a shift change after six hours.
On top of all that, Yabaal and his pirate hoodlums were nosing around like cats in a new house, trying to discover what was going on around the ship. They were promised weapons in return for their help, and Narsai would see to it they got their share of automatic rifles, but they sure as hell didn’t need to find out about the nuclear capabilities. While they were fine cover to hide the ICA's involvement in the plot to utilize weapons of mass destruction — let the world think this was just another run-of-the-mill East African pirate attack — Narsai found the Somali warlord to be greedy, arrogant, and bullying. It had taken all of Narsai's limited diplomatic skills to keep Yabaal and his men from going through the containers the moment Riyad had left.
Realizing that he had to placate the warlord, Narsai had allowed "limited plundering" of the center hold containers, where the most valuable cargo was stored. Watching a bunch of semi-savages run around in high-end fashions from Paris, trying to figure out how to use MP3 players and carry 60” TVs to their boats had left Narsai with the belief that their Somali allies were almost useless for anything but stopping bullets.
After that, Yabaal and his men
were warned to stay off the Northstar for a couple of days. So far, the pirates had stayed away, but Narsai didn't know how much longer that would last. He'd assigned by a dozen ICA soldiers to guard duty with clear orders to shoot any non-ICA member approaching the ship.
"Captain!" Musa called out.
Narsai turned. "What?"
The helmsman gestured to the satellite phone, and Narsai realized it was ringing. He strode over and snatched it up. "Yes?"
"Is everything all right?" the voice of Yasir Ilshu asked. "It was a long time before you answered."
A flash of anger coursed through Narsai, but it died nearly as quick as it came. "I've been under a bit of stress lately.”
"Contractors giving you trouble?"
Contractors. What a lovely euphemism. It was a given that the Great Satan could listen in on any and all conversations, searching for keywords to track the people involved in the triggering exchange, to obliterate them with a drone strike. In the face of this unpleasant reality, Colonel Riyad had always stressed the need to keep any electronic communications as brief and as cryptic as possible.
Narsai said, "They've been trouble from the start since the boss went away. The chief contractor has been very demanding."
"As expected. Did you give them a bonus?"
"Yes, for all the good it did."
"The product?"
"The samples are still being prepared. We've kept the contractors away from them."
"Good. I'm calling to report that the task the boss sent me on has been completed. The negotiations with the other party were short but complete. Their head man was very receptive."
"Good," Narsai said. With SeaStar crippled and its CEO dead, it would make it harder to trace the cargo.
"However, it appears we've attracted the attention of a third party."
Narsai felt his stomach drop. "Who?"
"I'm not sure yet, but it might be our American competitors. Whoever it is, they tried to cut themselves into our business."
