Hard Case: Boxed Set Books 1,2 & 3 (John Harding Books)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “That’s your opponent, John?” Clint whispers over at me. “Damn.”

  “Yep, that’s my pal Abdul,” I whisper back at him, as the entourage approaches.

  “I am glad to find you, Harding,” Abdul tells me, the smile flickering away from his face. “Death is the only way to end our bond, John Harding.”

  I grin at the goofball. We don’t have a bond. We don’t even have a connection. I’m going to kick the crap out of him or he’ll kick the crap out of me. There is no bond. “So, how can I help you today, Abdul?”

  “I have lived only to see fear in your eyes.”

  Clint starts laughing. One of the thugs in Abdul’s entourage moves over and grabs hold of Clint. In seconds, Clint reverses the man’s hold, arching his arm up high behind his back. “Don’t know what you think you’re doin’, but I don’t like being handled.”

  Clint pushes and releases the man back amongst his brethren. “I’m sure you gentlemen have business with John I can’t help you with, so I’ll be going. See you later, John.”

  “You bet, brother.”

  “Wait!” Abdul commands, irritated at Clint’s tone. “Why do you think Harding will even leave here alive?”

  Clint and I both chuckle at that question. He glances around at Abdul and his retinue with professional courtesy. “John will be okay. You don’t have enough men here to make me think I need to stay. My advice is to not beard the bear here in his natural habitat. Try your luck in the cage ‘Slayer’. If you mess with him now, you not only lose your money, but you may very well lose your life. He won’t obey any rules.”

  Clint glances over at me. “Is this something more than I think it is, John?”

  “Nope. Abdul is just marking his territory. I’ll see you later, brother.”

  “Indeed,” Clint replied, walking toward the exit.

  “Okay,” I engaged Abdul. “What’s this all about? You won’t make any money messing with me outside the cage. Like my friend told you, if I get faced away from the cage, this won’t end well. What is it you want?”

  I could see ‘The Slayer’ was getting second thoughts about what he had planned for this ill advised jaunt. “Why don’t you back your boys on out of here, and we’ll address your issues with me in the cage like my friend suggested. He’s right. If you start something here, everybody loses.”

  Abdul gets testy. He starts jabbing his finger in my direction. “You will pay for what you did, Harding!”

  I shrug. I’m already bored with this. My workout’s done. Seeing Clint was great. This bunch… not so much. “Look, either take your shot or walk the hell away. I’m going up to my room to get cleaned up. Anyone touches me walking away, and I open up.”

  I picked up my gym bag and headed for the exit. The ‘Slayer’ and his crew watched me without interference. I hope he has some good lab enhancements, because I’m starting to get the hots for him. I figured he didn’t have enough knowledge or common sense to stay the hell away from me until he could take a shot at me with people watching. He’s like a lot of people who take far too much for granted. The ‘Slayer’ proves he’s not entirely stupid by staying put. I wave. It’s time for a little recreation.

  * * *

  Clint found Montoya lurking outside his apartment. She grinned at him while pointing at the door. “Tonto missed me.”

  Clint nodded while gathering her into his arms. “Yeah, well he’s not the only one, babe. You’re growing on me in leaps and bounds. My friend, John Harding, wants to meet us for dinner with his little family. Want to go?”

  Lynn hugged him tightly. “You mean the guy who runs the West Coast Murderers’ Row with daycare?”

  Dostiene nodded. “That’s the one, and you ain’t kidding with what I told you about the Murderers’ Row tag. I’ve been around the block a few times. These guys make up a group you’d have to nuke from orbit. My boss walks carefully when he directs these guys. He put them together, and he instinctively knows if he ever screws them over, he better have a sanctuary at the center of the earth. Hell, one of them trained me. My point is, they’ve accepted you. We’re all part psychopath and predator. What we hold in common is a belief without this nation or a moral foundation, we’d be exterminated. I don’t wave the flag with you, but I damn sure believe in it. It’s all too easy to spit on everything that has meaning. It means something to me that you don’t. I consider the everyday dipshits that whine about not getting enough handouts, and look for any opportunity to spit on their own country in a way I don’t even like to talk about.”

  Lynn moved against him with fervor. “I don’t care about anything but you. Lying to you isn’t an option. I recognize I’d probably have been dumped into a wood chipper anywhere else on earth. I love you.”

  Dostiene’s face lit up. “I love you too. I’ve never met another woman who can accept what I am and what I do. I’ll do anything to make the other aspects of our lives work.”

  With a gasp and sob of pure emotion Montoya gripped Dostiene with a physical acknowledgement. “I guess… I’m not as much of a psycho as I thought. I…I don’t think I can be Betty Crocker… but I probably can boil hotdogs at a second’s notice.”

  Clint brushed the hair aside from her face with a gentle movement of his right hand. “I like the personal touch, but we have so much money that you can decline any of the domestic duties that repulse you.”

  “With you… those domestic duties don’t seem so bad at all. Want to take your little doggie for a walk together? We can discuss my domestic duties along with my other duties.”

  “I’d like that.” Clint let out an overly excited Tonto into Montoya’s arms. She laughed and gagged as the jubilant Tonto launched into a licking attack.

  “Damn, dog,” Clint protested. “I just took you for a run. I figured you’d be all calmed down. Okay… go get your leash, and don’t forget your deposit bag.”

  After an excited yelp, Tonto ran inside to emerge with his leash and his waste disposal bag. Montoya watched her two companions with hilarity. “You two… need to take… your act on the road.”

  Dostiene waited until Montoya’s laughter subsided. “We are on the road, Lynn.”

  That set Montoya off again with the very interested Tonto showing his eagerness to get out of the room. She bent down to hug the dog. “Okay, let’s go. I don’t want to anger a canine capable of ripping my throat out in a heartbeat.”

  “I love that sundress, Lynn. Did you just get it?”

  Montoya brushed her hands over the thigh high, dark blue toned off the shoulder dress with a self conscious gesture. “It’s not really a sundress, but thanks. I bought it to wear for you today. It works, huh?”

  Dostiene ran his hands over her hips with an approving nod. Tonto nipped comically at his heels. Clint roughed Tonto up playfully. “Apparently I’m not allowed to pause for anything including compliments, babe. Let’s get Tonto walked so I can peel you out of that very enticing garment.”

  “That’s what I wanted to hear,” Lynn replied. “I’m glad I only wore my medium heels. I didn’t know wonder dog would be panting for road time.”

  As if sensing Lynn’s lighthearted protest, Tonto sat down in front of her, offering his paw to her. Montoya laughed and shook his paw. “Okay, you got me. I’m a sucker for a dog that shakes. Let’s do this. I’m a little stiff anyway. This will loosen me up.”

  They walked together toward the elevator when one of the men who had been with Abdul Bacca walked around the corner, hesitating for a moment when he saw Clint. Tonto, sensing his master’s feelings toward the man, moved quickly to cut off his progress, growling impressively. Clint smiled, reaching over to squeeze Lynn’s hand.

  “Whatever you have in mind, partner, keep your hands in sight. My dog Tonto is a domesticated guard dog. He’ll rip your hand off at the wrist before you can blink. Then he’ll rip your throat out.”

  Startled, the man who had been moving his right hand toward the inside of his suit coat, kept it out in front of him instead. He
glared at the snarling dog. “My employer wishes to know your connection to John Harding.”

  Clint notes the heavy Middle Eastern accent and Lynn’s narrowing look of appraisal toward this new arrival. “Tell your employer John and I are friends. I don’t take offense to your boss’s curiosity. Take the answer and leave now. A word of advice though – don’t start stalking me or I see bad things in your future, what will be left of it.”

  The man grimaced as Lynn laughed at Dostiene’s warning. He pointed at Dostiene as if unaware of anything he had seen or heard. “If I am told to watch you, I will do so. Make no mistake I will-”

  Dostiene waved a hand. “You’re beginning to bore me. We’re going for a walk, and Tonto hates it when his walk is interrupted. Take a hint and let us proceed to the elevator without you following, and everyone has a nice day. Keep blocking our way and I have Tonto escort you to the elevator in front of us. Believe me, you don’t want that.”

  “I kind of want that,” Lynn said, giggling at how incensed the man became every time she said anything. “This guy’s used to his women in burkas, Clint. I hate these suckers. They run around hiring prostitutes and then go home and beat the shit out of their wives.”

  The man’s hands clenched into fists at his sides as he resisted the impulse to reach for his weapon. It was then the manager, Royal Kershner, who had helped Clint before, walked up on their gathering. He smiled at first until seeing the tense standoff in the hallway. The manager immediately extended his hand to Dostiene who shook it.

  “Hello, Mr. Dostiene,” Mr. Kershner said, looking uneasily at Bacca’s hired thug. “I’m glad to see nothing of note has inconvenienced you during your stay.”

  The hired thug turned away, walking toward the elevator and entering it. Kershner watched the man’s retreat to the elevator with a look of tired experience. “I assume that gentleman was not here to enhance your stay.”

  Clint chuckled while nodding in agreement to the manager’s statement. “He’s not staying at the hotel, Sir, but anything other than that, I’m not really sure of.”

  Kershner’s features transformed into a knowing look of professional duty. He pointed at the hallway camera. “I’ll review the camera feed, and make him persona-non-grata if seen on the premises other than for gambling.”

  “That’s very nice of you, Sir,” Dostiene replied. “Were you coming to see me by any chance?”

  “Uh, yes… I was. Although I’m aware of the extenuating circumstances involving your dog, I was wondering how long your stay here with us will be. I’ve been apprised of your phenomenal success at catching the serial rapist haunting the thoroughfare on our end of the strip, and we would like to extend every courtesy for your stay here. I advised your rooms should be comped, but that small token of esteem was declined.”

  Clint took out his wallet and put five one hundred dollar bills in Kershner’s hand, locking his hand around the stunned manager’s hand. “Just between friends, separate of any actual room fees, can we stay indefinitely until I find out how long we need to be here?”

  “I didn’t mean this to be a money endeavor, Sir.”

  Clint nodded amiably, reaching out to squeeze Kershner’s shoulder. “I know that. Just your timely arrival here just now was worth the five hundred. Thank you. If you could do what you can to make sure our participation in that serial rapist case gets squashed as much as possible, we’d appreciate it.”

  Kershner smiled. “In that case… thank you, Sir. I will make your stay here an open ended stay on both rooms for you and Ms. Montoya. If asked I’ll say neither of you are aware of what happened.”

  Lynn walked over to put her hand on Kershner’s chin. “You know me by name and everything after that rape gig we did, huh?”

  A smiling Kershner nodded. “The local PD leaked rumors they overheard from the FBI agents on the case, including your identity. Nothing stays secret around this town. It was also leaked amongst the locals how our rapist met his end at your hand, Ms. Montoya. My compliments, Ms. Montoya.”

  Lynn laughed, and shook Kershner’s extended hand. “Thank you, Royal. I appreciate your noticing the evil end of a bad man.”

  “My friends call me Butch, and I would deem it an honor if you and Mr. Dostiene would also. I did indeed appreciate that monster’s ending. If I can help in any way with your stay, you have my card. Since this interlude didn’t last very long, I have another problem to address on this floor so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get to that.”

  “Of course, Butch,” Clint nodded with a smile. “We will probably hold you to that offer of further assistance.”

  Kershner waved on his way by. “I expect nothing less.”

  On the elevator with Tonto, Dostiene lightly stroked Montoya’s arm.

  “We’ll have to kill that bozo sent to stalk me if he keeps showing up in our business. Even moving you over to the Mandalay Bay in preparation for our foreign friend’s arrival may still be a problem if he’s staying there with that UFC guy John’s fighting.”

  “Maybe the bigwig’s retinue doesn’t mix with the fighter’s entourage,” Lynn replied.

  “I’ll remain here with Tonto when we do your move. We don’t quite have this undercover stuff working as smoothly as we should. My boss would be pulling his hair out over that meet-up in the hallway. It’s great practice for going to Harvard to get those scumbags, but Denny only has eyes for his plans.”

  “Not to worry, Clint. I’ll make myself over so that clown won’t even recognize me. Do you like blondes?”

  Clint smiled. “Oh yeah, but I love you with any color hair.”

  Lynn patted his face. “That was the right answer.”

  At the lobby, they made a quick exit, heading in the opposite direction from the busy Las Vegas Strip with Tonto taking the lead. Clint waited until they were well away from the Stratosphere before speaking again.

  “If I know Denny, he’ll have you booked in on the same floor as our player, Sargon Darzi, and crossing paths as often as possible. We know he’s a lady’s man… or at least he thinks he is. He’s amassed a fortune dealing in drugs, weapons, and the slave trade. We probably still wouldn’t touch him except he’s working on a gig to broker a deal between the Russians and the Taliban operating on the Afghan/Pakistani border. The deal will fall apart without him.”

  Dostiene took out his iPhone. He showed Lynn a picture of Darzi. “This was taken in Dubai a few weeks ago.”

  Lynn examined the picture with care. “He looks young.”

  “Late thirties by all information we have.”

  “How do you know he doesn’t want someone much younger than me?” Lynn passed the phone back to Dostiene.

  “He wants anything he can’t have. Darzi’s obsessive about women who won’t give him the time of day. The last one he wanted was a French diplomat’s wife. When you have all the money in the world, the details of reality become meaningless. He pursued. He ruined her husband. He drew her into his game slowly. When he made the conquest, he abandoned her. I guess you see where I’m going with this.”

  Lynn glanced over at him with a nod of acknowledgement. “Yeah… I get it. I have to attract him, repel him, succumb to him, and kill him.”

  Dostiene laughed. “You’re the best. I believe you have Denny’s outline down pat.”

  Clint heard the tire squeal behind and to the right of them. Three things happened immediately. He released Tonto’s leash, threw Montoya to the sidewalk, and drew his Colt .45 caliber automatic. “Tonto! Evade!”

  Tonto streaked in a zigzag pattern toward the houses without a split second’s hesitation. The black, four door Ford Taurus slowed near them. The barrel of what looked like an AK47 poked out the window of the passenger rear compartment. Clint fired a tightly grouped set of shots, and saw the weapon drop out of sight. He was up an instant later, firing another tightly grouped set of shots into the driver’s space. The Taurus powered down, drifting into a parked car on the right. Dostiene knew he had six more shots left in his clip.
He ran up on the Ford, seeing the undead inhabitants reaching startled for their own weapons. Clint fired two hollow points into each of their heads before they could clear their weapons.

  Dostiene pulled out his phone to call Denny as he raced back toward Lynn, only now regaining her feet. She smiled at him while brushing off dirt. “Damn, these dog walks are sure more exciting than I remember.”

  Clint snorted a quick acknowledgment, holding up his finger in a wait one gesture. Strobert answered on the third ring.

  “I’m here, Clint.”

  “I got four down, and no regress other than running.”

  “I’ve got your location. Keep the GPS on. Stay in place. I’ll be there with backup. I’ll bring Casey and Lucas. I don’t want John in on any interaction. Hold the line.”

  Clint gave a sharp, two tone whistle, and a moment later Tonto was sitting between Dostiene and Montoya. Sirens were drawing nearer. Clint handed Lynn Tonto’s leash. “Take off Lynn. You’ve already been exposed enough. The jackass from the hallway is one of the DOA’s in the car so maybe we’ll get a clean start.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll give Tonto a real long walk. I’ll see you back at the hotel in an hour if you get clear of this.”

  Dostiene reached under his right pants-leg, withdrawing a snub-nosed .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver. “Take this with you, babe. Keep your eyes open.”

  Lynn took the revolver, nodded with a smile, and walked briskly away with Tonto. When the police arrived in force, Clint had his hands clasped behind his head, standing in plain sight. Two of the police officers recognized him from the rapist shooting, immediately holstering their weapons and approaching Dostiene.

  “Agent Dostiene!” The shorter of the two officers with Seitz on his nametag ran up to Clint while waving at his fellow officers to relax. “What the hell happened?”

  “It was a drive-by, Officer Seitz,” Clint answered without expanding on why he was walking in the area. He nodded at the other officer with Hanson on his nametag. “My superiors will be here shortly.”