War Everlasting (Superbolan)

by Don Pendleton

  “It is nothing short of brilliant, I’ll give you that,” Tokov finally admitted. “But you’ll have to send him now. It’s going to take him at least three hours to get there, remember.”

  “More like four!”

  “And what if he runs afoul of something or someone there?”

  “Then his fate is his own,” Moscovich replied. “It’s not on our heads.”

  “So it is. Would you like me to take care of the details? My part here is finished for the moment.”

  “You can attend to it as you see fit. But there is another matter I wish to discuss, directly related to it. I will be going with him.”

  “What? What are you talking about? I thought you would be returning with us on the Belsky?”

  “Under normal circumstances I would,” Moscovich replied. “But this is my time. There will not be another opportunity, and I must see this through. We know the technology works and that it can be used against others. I’ve already put a plan in motion that will get me into America. A new set of credentials.”

  “When did you have time to prepare them?”

  “They were prepared before we even left St. Petersburg. It was an arrangement I’d made with Bea Nasenko. If this was a success, and we’ve obviously now proved it, I was to move on to America and set up new operations there.That is my new mission, and it requires I go to America, not return to St. Petersburg.”

  “And you intend to do this alone?”

  “Why not?” Moscovich put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “It’s a burden I must bear alone. I swore this promise to Bea, and I will complete it. You know who she is to me, that she treated me like a son after I lost my parents. I can’t deny her this. I know you would understand.”

  Tokov could hardly believe his ears. He’d known Vladimir Moscovich for a very long time, but he’d never known him to be the sensitive sort. He’d never demonstrated even a hint of sentimentality. He was honest and loyal to a fault, if not a bit overzealous about his methods, but Tokov couldn’t argue with the results. Moscovich had planned this entire operation, and it had been a success, though a costly success. But what he now proposed seemed like lunacy and raised concerns with Tokov on how it would affect the outcome of his own mission.

  “You realize that if you’re captured by the Americans on Adak, or your attempt to get into the country is unsuccessful, if even one thing goes wrong, it will mean utter failure.”

  “I know this.”

  “Then why risk it? You have succeeded beyond the wildest aspirations of those back in St. Petersburg.” Tokov grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him. “You are a hero.”

  “A hero?” Moscovich frowned. “If you want to know the absolute truth, my friend, it really doesn’t matter a whole hell of a lot to me anymore. You talk of success and, yes, we have been successful, but we’ve paid a terrible cost. Terrible.”

  “I beg of you, Vlad. Don’t risk it.”

  “I must. And I need your promise that you will not interfere.”

  “Vlad, I—”

  “Swear it, Ben,” Moscovich hissed.

  “Okay,” Tokov replied with a resigned sigh. “I swear it.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Adak Island

  The last thing Bolan and Grimaldi expected was an ambush. The soldier prepared to fight it out with the men who took them at gunpoint just outside Maddie Corsack’s house, but a closer assessment revealed these weren’t Russian terrorists. Bolan recognized them as employees of Otto Lustrum. Something had definitely gone sour in his absence, and Bolan decided it was better to err on the side of caution. If these were Lustrum’s men and they hadn’t killed him yet, Bolan couldn’t believe they intended to now. No, something wasn’t right here, and he put Grimaldi at ease while staying his own hand.

  They intended to take Grimaldi, but Bolan warned them firmly that he was only the transportation, and if they tried to force them both, it wouldn’t end well. The four gunmen argued among themselves a minute, realized the boss had said nothing about the pilot, and specifically recalled his instructions that if Bolan showed up alive they were bring him to Lustrum unharmed. Once it was agreed Grimaldi could go free, they piled into a sedan. Bolan remembered it as belonging to Lustrum’s fleet of vehicles, and in the blink of an eye they had whisked him away and were headed into downtown Adak.

  The traffic was a bit heavier now, and many more people were out, signaling the weekend had passed into a new workweek. Bolan felt weary and his bones ached. He wished he’d been able to talk to Corsack first, get his finger on the pulse of what was going on, but he knew it wasn’t going to happen now that he’d agreed to go with Lustrum’s men. Bolan looked at his watch. It had taken them three hours to reach the island, even by jet, and he figured by now Brenda Shaffernik had to be deeply engaged with the military investigators.

  Bolan’s conversation with Brognola had gone well, however. It seemed the Stony Man chief was thinking ahead and had already been in contact with the President. The Oval Office had agreed to lean on the Pentagon and make them ease up where it concerned the activities around Unalaska. He’d also agreed to start sending a military force toward Adak Island, something Bolan appreciated on a personal note. The big Fed had given him a bit of information about what the military team had been doing on Unalaska, as well.

  The Executioner had been the one to prompt that last move by the President. After his encounter with some of the Russian gunners here, Bolan had theorized the RBN hadn’t been headquartered on Adak but operated from a base on one of its many neighboring islands. Bolan knew the bureaucrats would think that idea had little substance, but he didn’t give a damn. There were dozens of unpopulated islands spread throughout the Aleutians. Bolan read that one in particular, Semisopochnoi, had an active volcano that could erupt any time. Bolan doubted Lustrum had the answer, but Haglemann did, and Lustrum was the best way to the guy.

  The vehicle pulled to the curb in front of a building that proudly displayed the emblem of the Adak police. Bolan pushed down the feeling of unease as he was escorted through the front door, down a long hallway and into a sparse office.

  To Bolan’s surprise, the department chief sat at his desk with Otto Lustrum directly across from him. The two men appeared to have been engaged in conversation for some time because there was a half-empty bottle of whiskey on the chief’s desk, and both men were clutching tumblers half full of brown liquor.

  “Come on in, Blansky,” Lustrum said, waving at a chair near his. “Have a seat.”

  As Bolan did, Lustrum dismissed the two heavies.

  The Executioner exchanged glances with the two men and tried to come up with a reason they were sitting here together. It didn’t seem as if they would want to have much to do with each other, as they worked at cross purposes. In fact, theirs was likely a highly competitive relationship since Haglemann had put guns in the hands of the police but also equipped Lustrum and his band of mercenary laborers with weapons, as well. That Haglemann had been paying both of them was nearly laughable had it not been so serious in its effects on the lives of those working and living on the island.

  “This is Chief Chakowa, but we just call him Bull.” Lustrum said. His words had a small slur to them.

  Bolan nodded at Chakowa, then turned his attention toward Lustrum. “I was surprised to find your men waiting for me.”

  “I needed to talk to you.”

  “You could have just asked.”

  “I thought you were dead.” Lustrum took a pull from the glass, then slapped his head. “We’re forgetting our manners, Bull. You want a drink?”

  Bolan shook his head, and Lustrum repeated, “I thought you were dead. Fortunately, the coroner was able to tell Bull here pretty quickly that all the guys who were killed didn’t match your physical characteristics. He was able to identify three of them immediate
ly just by dental records.”

  “Not many on this island we don’t have a full set of dental records for, you know,” Chakowa added.

  “Once we knew you weren’t among the deceased, I figured you’d be back and just about figured out where you’d go when you came back.”

  “You figured right,” was all Bolan replied.

  Lustrum nodded drunkenly, although the Executioner could tell he wasn’t that lit. “I did. So that makes me think you did the job yourself on my boys.”

  “They forced my hand,” Bolan said. “I wasn’t left with any choice. And if you’re thinking about retribution, you should probably think again.”

  “We’re not looking to bring you down, Blansky,” Chakowa interjected. “Quite the opposite, in fact. We need your help.”

  “With what?”

  “To take down Davis Haglemann. Once and for all.”

  “I take it, then, you know what he’s been up to.”

  “We know some of it,” Lustrum said. “Maddie told me everything she thought she knew. She told me you’re not working with Haglemann’s associates, that you’re actually here to take the guy out. She said he’s working with some Russian terrorist group. Is it true?”

  Bolan sighed, wishful that he’d been able to keep that part of it quiet. Once they knew, the news would undoubtedly spread like wildfire, and that could incite any number of unpredictable responses. What Bolan didn’t need while he was trying to put Haglemann out of business was an armed mob shooting at anything that looked like it might be a threat to them. That would only result in more disastrous consequences, especially in lieu of the fact the military was on its way.

  But at this point in the game, Bolan would need allies, and he no longer saw any reason to keep it quiet. “It’s true. Haglemann’s allied himself with a group called the Russian Business Network.”

  Lustrum nodded. “I’ve heard of them. You, Bull?”

  “Vague rumors,” Chakowa replied. “Nothing more than that. But I don’t see how they could profit from what happened here.”

  “That’s because their efforts are a distant memory of events for most of you and the people here on Adak. A while back, a small military aircraft dropped a military inspection team here to get readings from some of the equipment they left behind.”

  Chakowa nodded. “Sure, it’s a pretty regular thing. Military has some satellite communications and other equipment stowed on a few islands in the area to capture meteorological data, or some damn thing. I don’t pretend to understand it all. They send a flight out quarterly with some personnel to collect those readings. And they pay us all a lease fee so we don’t see any disadvantage.”

  “The plane carrying an inspection team went down in the Bering Sea forty-eight hours ago. Disappeared right off the radar, and all communications with it ceased. The military wasn’t sure what happened, so they sent a US Coast Guard cutter called the Llewellyn to investigate. It disappeared, too, although we just recently located it at an abandoned docking facility in Dutch Harbor.”

  “I don’t get it,” Lustrum said. “What’s that got to do with us?”

  “The plane that went down was the same plane that came here three months ago.”

  “And that Coast Guard cutter, as I recall, stopped here to deliver some emergency supplies we requested for our medical facility,” Chakowa said.

  Bolan nodded. “I only recently came into that information, which is why I was able to trace the link here to Adak. Once I got inside the system, I realized Haglemann was the only one with the resources to pull it off.”

  “What about the hit on his club? Was that you, too?”

  Bolan nodded.

  “One of the men who died there was my friend, Blansky,” Lustrum said. “And I knew all those guys. They had families. What’s going to happen to them now?”

  “Most all of us have families, Lustrum,” Bolan replied quietly. It wouldn’t do to alienate the guy or be confrontational. That wouldn’t serve his purpose. “But they were working with enemies of this country, and they had done some bad things. You can’t deny that much.”

  “They were just doing what I told them to do!” Lustrum rose, his face reddening. “It’s my fault they’re dead, and you had no right—!”

  “Sit down, Otto!” Chakowa commanded.

  Lustrum looked stunned at first, but he sat in a huff, anyway, some of the color in his face dissipating as he calmed.

  Chakowa looked at Bolan. “Under ordinary circumstances I’d lock you up, Blansky. But in light of what you’ve told us and what Otto here told me, I don’t suppose that’s the right thing to do. Probably wouldn’t help my career, either, since I sense you’re probably one of the few people in all this who’s on our side.”

  He threw a furious look at Lustrum before continuing. “I have to admit that Davis Haglemann had us all fooled. Frankly, I’m ashamed of myself for allowing this to go on as long as it has. I’m no criminal and I’m no traitor. And I’d like to run up there right now and beat the hell out of the guy.”

  “While I appreciate the sentiment, it’s not a good idea,” Bolan said.

  “Why not?”

  “I’ve been inside Haglemann’s residence. I’m sure you have, too. The place has every modern security measure and countermeasure money can buy. I’ve seen it before, and believe me when I tell you that. You wouldn’t get halfway to the front door before someone took you out.”

  “We could storm it.”

  “With what limited resources and weapons you have?” Bolan shook his head. “You’ve trusted your instincts about trusting me, and you should listen to them. I’ve done this kind of thing many times. I hit Haglemann’s club, so you know what I’m capable of doing. Besides, this is going to turn into a game of capture the flag. I need the guy alive, so he can tell me where the Russians have set up their main base. He’s the only one left who I think knows, and it’s critical we get that information.”

  “So, what do you expect the rest of us to do?” Lustrum asked. “We can’t just sit here and wring our hands!”

  “I need you to keep your people under wraps,” Bolan said. “Trust me, I know exactly how to deal with guys like Haglemann. But when word gets out about what he’s been doing, you could well have a mob crying for his head. That wouldn’t be good, especially since I don’t think he’d hesitate to shoot innocent bystanders.”

  “Excuse me, Blansky, but you’ve only been among our folks a short time,” Chakowa interjected. “You really think Haglemann’s capable of something like that?”

  Icy blue eyes pinned the cop with a hard stare as Bolan replied evenly, “If the current alliance he’s forged with these Russian terrorists is any indication, you can bet on it. Men like Haglemann are motivated by one thing—greed. He’s managed to buy off most of your citizens here on Adak, citizens who do the living and working and dying. Decent and honest people for the most part who aren’t going to take kindly to some business mogul allying himself with thugs like those among the ranks of the Russian Business Network.”

  Bolan thought to say more but decided against it. He didn’t have to preach to them—he could see they already knew the mistakes they’d made trusting Haglemann. No amount of talk or grandiose oratory would get better results than the dawning of a new ideal. It would be the job of Chakowa and Lustrum to convince the others that Davis Haglemann was neither their friend nor the beneficent business leader he’d tried to make them think he was. Haglemann was just a two-bit hood who happened to think everyone had his or her price, and there was no one alive whose price he couldn’t meet.

  Chakowa eyed Bolan with an expression of resolute skepticism. “So a guy I’ve known for years, someone who I trusted and thought was a friend, managed to pull the wool over our eyes. Now you’re asking us to trust a total stranger.”

  “Betrayal doesn’t lurk in
every dark corner, Chief,” Bolan replied. “I’m sure you understand that. And this isn’t about trusting, anyway. This is about keeping Haglemann alive long enough to deal with the greater threat. I let a source of information slip through my fingers once. I won’t allow it to happen again.”

  A long, uncomfortable silence followed as the Executioner let them think on that. He had just laid down an ultimatum, and Chakowa was smart enough to understand it. Whether Lustrum did, at this point, wasn’t an issue. Sure, Lustrum had influence and he could start real trouble, but Bolan figured Chakowa could keep the guy in line. And something that Maddie Corsack had told Lustrum had obviously gotten to the man, because his eyes were bloodshot and his expression worn. That made two living large ladies Bolan had encountered in just this one mission.

  “Okay, Blansky,” Chakowa finally said. “We’ll do this your way. But when you’re done with Haglemann, I want him in my jail cell. He’s going to answer for all of this.”

  “As the local law enforcement, it’s only right you should detain him.”

  “I’m going to hold you to your word.”

  Bolan grinned. “It’ll be my pleasure to keep it.”

  * * *

  EVEN AS DAVIS HAGLEMANN hung up the phone and stared at it, a feeling of unease came over him.

  Moscovich’s call had been strange, to say the least. He was coming to Adak by boat, but he wasn’t coming alone. He’d promised to be there in less than four hours. Haglemann couldn’t understand how a guy like that could have the nerve to even set foot on Adak again. Part of him wanted to send a little personal welcoming committee for Moscovich. Hit them while they were still in the boat and let them sink to a watery grave in the Nazan Bay.

  The more he considered that plan, though, the more he didn’t like it.

  Moscovich might have been little more than a thug and errand boy, but he had powerful friends in the Russian criminal underworld. They wouldn’t stand for the outright murder of one their own. Then again, it was very dangerous out there on the open seas—anything could happen. But something in his gut told Haglemann that wouldn’t wash. If Moscovich didn’t make it safely to Adak, they would hold Haglemann responsible, anyway, and that could mean he’d have to leave this gig.