“Oh please,” Bull looked heavenward with his hands clasped as if in prayer. “Please, Dirtbag Dink, please come looking for me.”
“He’ll also know Holly’s address, Chief,” Peace reminded him.
Bull nodded, all semblance of frivolity gone from his features. “I’m beginning to see where you’re going with this now, and you’re right, this is no time to take things for granted. We can laugh about it a month from now over a couple of beers if it turns out to be nothing.”
“How exactly do you plan on finding out all about Dink, Peace?” Dan asked, adopting the more somber mood. “Are you talking about hacking into places you don’t belong?”
“I have some experience in that particular realm, Lieutenant,” Peace admitted. “I’ve kept up my skills, and I’ve been practicing them, so as to add to our capabilities out in the field if we can adopt this new computer phase we’re working on.”
“Experience?” Dan said, questioningly.
“At Berkeley, I hacked into the Pentagon, without being caught,”
Peace whispered, leaning forward. “I also installed a worm virus in at the CIA and FBI offices at Langley and the Department of Justice.”
“Jesus, Peace,” Bull gasped. “You could have damaged National
Security… how many people know… I mean…”
“Two others, Chief, and they both died in Iraq,” Peace answered.
“Why have we never heard of this?” Dan asked in awe of what he had been told. He never thought for a second to question Peace’s veracity.
“You probably did,” Peace answered. “The Feds thought I’d try a Uni-Bomber deal, take credit for my cyber attack, and they’d get me. They announced they had captured a Pentagon hacker with the cyber handle of Wild Warrior. They…”
“Shit,” Bull exclaimed. “That was you? You’re Wild…”
Peace clamped a hand on Bull’s arm. “Louder Chief, I don’t think they heard you in LA.”
Bull laughed uneasily, as Peace removed his hand. “Sorry, Peace, but man, you’re famous. I thought WW was in prison, serving a life sentence or something.”
“So, they set a trap to try and get you to hack in again to prove you weren’t in their custody,” Dan deduced.
“Exactly,” Peace confirmed. “What they don’t know, is I have those worms in place, and can access their databases anytime I want; but it would be very difficult to do so without being detected and traced. They have much better protection than they used to.”
“They’ve probably changed everything a thousand times over, Peace,” Bull objected. “Those things you had in place are probably already gone.”
Peace shook his head. “I planted the worms in their informational databases. Unless the CIA and FBI erased their information, which they haven’t, I could still get in. Getting out, however, would be a different story.”
“You’ve tested it, haven’t you?” Dan asked with a smile.
“I did make small breeches just to check,” Peace admitted.
“I vote we forget about Dink, and arrest this dangerous bastard right here, Lieutenant,” Bull exclaimed, grabbing Peace around the neck.
Dan laughed and nodded, as Peace fended off Bull, good-naturedly. “To think we considered ourselves dangerous, Chief. Considering the damage WW here could have done when he was only in college, I guess we’ll have to rethink missions to save traitorous civilians.”
“I agree completely, Sir,” Bull said enthusiastically.
“Hey, we rescued Jill on one of those missions,” Peace added, chuckling over their threats. “The two of us are prime examples of rescued idiots turned from the dark side.”
“Maybe Jill, Petty Officer Peacenik,” Bull said sternly, “but the jury is still out on you.”
“In any case,” Peace laughed, “I know how to get some info on Dink, and I don’t have to raid government resources to do it. I’ll take my laptop with me on the trip to LA with Jill. We’ll type up our depositions on the way, and I’ll have them ready for the lawyer tomorrow.”
“Sounds good, Peace,” Dan agreed, as Peace stood up with Bull following suit. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Maybe by then I’ll have some more information from Jessup.”
Peace and Bull walked out to the parking lot together, after saying goodbye to Dan.
“I’ve got your back on this, Peace,” Bull affirmed as they came abreast of Peace’s Buick.
“Hell, I know that, Chief. We have to be careful with our involvement. Anything happening to Dink will draw us immediately under suspicion. You know that. We aren’t secret agents, we’re Seals, and the cops know it.”
Bull nodded as Peace unlocked his door. “Man, we were having such a good time last night too. Makes you wonder about fate. Just when a guy starts having everything his own way, whamo, he gets smacked right in the face.”
“I’m glad you’re seeing Holly,” Peace said, getting behind the wheel of his Buick. “Dan will warn Ed, and you have Holly covered. Jill will be returning to LA with me, so at least the unintended consequences of this bit of reality will be covered until I can find out what I’ve gotten us into.”
“You ain’t going all whiny on me, are you, Peace?” Bull smiled. “From what Ed said about the other night, you had only two choices: drop the guy, or have some fun with him. It just so happens your little arm wrestling game was with some psycho. Lucky us.”
Peace laughed. “See you tomorrow, Chief. I’ll expect a full report from your meeting with Holly.”
“You have more chance of a head butt,” Bull retorted, waving at Peace disdainfully as he walked away.
__
Jill answered the door on Peace’s first knock. Peace’s intake of breath confirmed his surprise at her garb. Jill wore a see through black mesh top, and black thong underwear. She laughed at the look on his face as she drew him inside and closed the door.
“Jesus,” Peace whispered.
“Think it will take as long to say hello as it did to say goodbye this morning?” Jill asked, as he enfolded her in his arms.
“Much longer,” Peace replied.
Chapter Twelve
Deadly Development
Peace had driven no more than half a mile when sirens went off behind him. He glanced in the rear view mirror. A police car filled his mirror vision, lights flashing. He pulled over immediately on the nearly empty street.
“It’s the two policemen from last night, Jill,” Peace told her. “Don’t say anything right now, other than answering anything and everything they ask. This is no coincidence.”
Jill nodded solemnly, as they waited for the police officers to approach the Buick. Peace put both hands high up on the wheel after he rolled down his window. They kept him waiting for ten minutes before both officers left their squad car, and approached on either side of the Buick, with hands on their holstered side-arms. Peace recognized the driver as Officer Arthur McCray, who had questioned him the night before. His partner, Officer Angel Miguel had interviewed the witnesses at the entrance to the restaurant; but had stayed quiet when around Peace. McCray was a six foot tall, ruddy complexioned man in his middle twenties with sandy colored hair cut in a crew cut style. Peace remembered Miguel to be in his early thirties, approximately Peace’s height, with longer, raven colored hair. Both men looked stocky of build to Peace, but in good shape.
Peace kept his eyes straight ahead as McCray leaned down with a smile. “Driver’s license, proof of insurance, and registration please, Sir.”
“Yes, Sir,” Peace said as he reached deliberately into his back pocket, and brought out his wallet. He took out his Navy ID, California Driver’s license, and then very slowly opened his glove compartment, removing the proof of insurance paper and registration. He handed the four items to McCray.
“Know why we stopped you, Mr. Peacenik?” McCray asked, pretending he was reading the name from the license.
“No, Sir,” Peace replied, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
“Well, we’ve been re
ceiving reports about a Buick of this vintage being involved in a robbery and assault. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“No, Sir.”
“Step out of the car, please,” McCray ordered, opening the driver’s door for Peace, “and walk over to the front of the vehicle.”
Peace did as he was ordered, keeping his hands in plain sight as he walked.
“Spread your feet and lean forward, placing your hands on the hood of the car.”
Peace complied, as Jill watched uneasily. McCray then patted him down roughly.
“Mind if we search your car, Mr. Peacenik?” McCray asked.
“Yes, Sir, I would mind,” Peace said politely.
This caught McCray by surprise, and Jill saw him glance over at his partner. “Unless you have something to hide, I would suggest you let us have a look.”
“I have nothing to hide, but I will not give you permission to search my car, Sir,” Peace replied.
“I guess we’ll just have it impounded then,” McCray threatened, his voice betraying anger for the first time.
“As you wish, Sir.”
McCray pushed Peace’s face against the hood of the Buick. He then pulled first Peace’s right hand behind his back, and then his left, after which he handcuffed Peace’s hands. McCray pulled Peace to a standing position, while Miguel opened Jill’s door, and gestured for her to step out. Jill complied with the help of her cane. Once Miguel had Jill up near the front of the Buick, he took her cane away from her. McCray had turned Peace so he could see Jill being taken out of the car, and positioned near the front. Peace kept straight, almost as if at attention.
Without warning, McCray smashed a short handled billy club into Peace’s midsection. Except for Peace tensing to meet the attack, he uttered no sound, and remained at attention. Miguel looked around uneasily as Jill gasped in shock, crying out as she covered her mouth with both hands. McCray wound up angrily, not liking the results of his attack, to launch another more vicious blow.
“I’ll scream like a banshee if you strike him again,” Jill yelled.
McCray paused, turning his gaze towards her. “We could quiet you down real quick, bitch.”
“Sir,” Peace interrupted. “May I state, Sir, I was in an Iraqi prison camp for months. They gave me this face, and the welts under my shirt and pants. I don’t know what you hope to accomplish; but if you want, I’ll ask Jill to sit in the car quietly while you do it… no problem.”
Miguel looked at his partner, and spoke for the first time. “Forget it, Art. We’re wasting our time, and we’ll end up with some amateur camera man filming it for the ten o’clock news.”
Miguel walked past Jill, and over to Peace, assessing what to say next. He smiled at the unmoving man, still standing at rigid attention. “I don’t think this boy will learn anything from a beating. How the hell did you remember it was us the other night, boy? You knew our names, badge numbers, and even the license plate number of our squad car.”
“Photographic memory, Sir,” Peace answered quickly.
“Shit,” Miguel exclaimed, scuffing his foot on the blacktop road out of irritation. “They’d have that in your service sheet too, wouldn’t they?”
“Yes, Sir,” Peace answered truthfully.
“No wonder Ste… I mean, that’s why we were getting leaned on so hard at the station, Mig,” McCray said. “His commander probably pointed that out, along with asking what possible reason could Dipshit here have for lying.”
“You’re causing us a lot of trouble, boy,” Miguel muttered.
McCray laughed derisively as he looked again at Peace’s driver’s license. “Paul Elvin Peacenik, God, who the hell has a name like that, except a pansy boy. You a pansy, Peacenik?”
“It’s a gift from my folks, which just keeps on giving, Sir,” Peace replied, staring straight ahead.
“Yea, I’ll bet,” Miguel laughed. “Let us search your car, and we’ll let you go.”
“No, Sir,” Peace said quietly. “We all know you would plant something in my car, which would further cast doubt on my report of the incident the other night. I would rather take my chances with the car being impounded, and you planting stuff later. I must tell you, Sir, we have JAG in on this now, and they aren’t stupid over there.”
“Why you…” McCray drew back to take a swing at Peace’s head with the billy-club, but Miguel grabbed his arm.
“Don’t be an idiot, Art, the kid’s right. If you mark him up worse than he already is, we’ll have the Fed’s in on this too.”
“What’re we going to do then?” McCray asked, lowering his arm.
Miguel turned to Peace. “Listen, kid, let me give you some advice. You better go in tomorrow and tell them you made a mistake. You don’t have a clue who you’re messing with.”
“No, Sir, I don’t,” Peace admitted. “Could you clue me in?”
“Listen, asshole,” McCray yelled from so close to Peace’s face, his spittle sprayed on him. “You, this little bitch girlfriend of yours, and all of your friends, could end up as gravel under the next building foundation if you don’t keep your fucking mouth shut!”
“Come on, Art,” Miguel cut in. “Take the cuffs off him, and let’s see if Dudley Doright here can come to the right decision.”
McCray stared at Peace in rage for a few more moments, and then walked around behind him. He removed the cuffs from Peace’s wrists roughly. Coming back around a still rigid Peace, McCray leaned into him again with a smile, looking down at Peace from inches away.
“If I hear anything more about you, Elvin, we won’t be searching your trunk, we’ll be loading you and your girlfriend into it. Got that, asshole!?”
“Yes, Sir, I understand, Sir,” Peace answered, still staring straight ahead. He remained where he was, with Jill coming over to grasp his arm, until the police officers had returned to their car. Peace put his arm around her as the squad car squealed around the Buick, and down the street. Peace picked up Jill’s cane from where Miguel had tossed it, and handed it to
Jill.
“What are we going to do, Peace?” Jill asked, clearly shaken.
“I’m going to take you to LA, Baby,” Peace said, hugging her tightly to him. “I’ll have you back on campus by ten o’clock. If I don’t loiter around too long, saying goodbye, I can be back here before one in the morning. You did real good, Jill. Thanks for the reprieve in my interrogation.”
Jill clung to him, and Peace could feel her shaking.
“I thought they would kill you,” Jill said finally. “They really were going to plant something in your car, weren’t they?”
“Yea, they were, and we would be on our way to jail right now,” Peace admitted. “Come on, let’s get started. I’d feel better if we get out of San Diego before those two decide they made a mistake letting us go.”
Jill allowed Peace to guide her back into the Buick, and a moment later, they were driving towards Los Angeles. When Peace reached Route Five and entered the freeway going North, he leaned back in his seat with a sigh. He reached over and patted Jill’s knee. She grasped his hand with both of hers.
“God, that was scary,” Jill whispered.
“Not as scary as that Chilean toilet bowl you were in, I’ll bet,” Peace reminded her.
“No,” Jill admitted with a tense laugh. “You’re right, I’ve been a lot more scared than with those cops. Is that how you survived in Iraq, I mean, the way you just stood there… I…”
“I did a lot of screaming in Iraq, and a whole lot of begging, as I remember,” Peace replied truthfully. “As the time went by, I learned my captors tortured the ones who made the most noise, longer and harder. The ones who have the mentality to do that type of thing feed on the pain they induce.”
“So, you stayed silent.”
“Not hardly,” Peace replied, “but I didn’t beg and plead or make a single unnecessary noise. I tried to be less entertaining for them. It worked, but the worst memory I have of the time there was
hearing the others being tortured.”
Jill looked over at Peace’s profile in the fading light of the day. “They… they never did much to us physically, except slap us around a little. It’s just that… I…”
“Forget it, Jill,” Peace interrupted. “Don’t talk about it unless it helps. It’s only been months since it happened to you.”
“Didn’t you have to talk about it when they returned you to the states?”
“They questioned me, trying to get the details, but I told them it was a blank. All the guards, who had anything to do with our imprisonment, died when Seal Team Six rescued the three of us who were still alive.” Peace glanced over and smiled at Jill’s intense look.
“Dan and Bull gave me closure.”
“Wh… when the Seals led me out, and I saw all the dead bodies in uniform… it felt so… so…”
“Satisfying?” Peace finished for her.
Peace thought he could see Jill blush, even in the dimming light, as she looked away almost guiltily.
“Yes,” Jill said fiercely, turning back to meet Peace’s glance. “When the news people asked me for months afterward, until they lost interest, about the casualties amongst our captors, I felt so much rage. They couldn’t feel a sense of justice, or take pride over our rescue. All they cared about was demeaning you guys, as if you needed to read those bastards their rights or something.”
Peace nodded. “You are one special lady. The chances of my finding another woman with your life experiences have to be around one in a zillion.”
“Don’t you forget it either, mister,” Jill said, moving over next to him. “You… you were the first man I’ve been with… since I returned.” “You’re going to get me a ticket if you don’t move back over and fasten your seat belt,” Peace reminded her sternly, laughing as she slapped the back of his head playfully.
“I’ll give you a ticket,” Jill said, reaching over with her right hand.
“Hey, that will get me killed,” Peace said in a laughing protest.
Peace - A Navy SEALS Novel (DeLeo's Action Thriller Singles Book 3) Page 13
