by C. G. Cooper
CAL: Just tell them to blow him off.
TRAVIS: I did but I’ve heard about this guy. He’s a tenacious fucker. Young and ambitious. Gave the local police hell earlier this year over some alleged abuse scandal. Turned out to be nothing, but it really gave the police a black eye. This guy smells a story.
CAL: What’s his name?”
TRAVIS: Henry Bellinger.
CAL: Why do I know that name?
TRAVIS: You’ve probably seen his name on any story condemning conservatives, the military, or the police. He loves conspiracies and is smart as hell.
CAL: So how do we deal with this guy?
TRAVIS: Let me think about it. I may just put The Hammer on it.
BRIAN: The Hammer?
TRAVIS: Yeah, The Hammer. Marjorie Haines. She’s our lead attorney. Don’t call her Hammer or she’ll kick your ass.
Cal thought about the problem for a minute.
CAL: What if I give him an interview over the phone? What could that hurt?
Travis shook his head.
TRAVIS: No way, Cal. This prick will find some way to twist your words. He’s already suggesting that you should be arrested for the murder of those guys in the alley.
Cal’s anger boiled over.
CAL (through gritted teeth): Any idiot can see that my actions were in self-defense. What’s he trying to prove?
His cousin answered by pointing his finger at Cal.
TRAVIS: That’s what he’s trying to prove: you’re some kind of animal that should be caged. He hates the military and would love to get a juicy story on the Killer Marine. I’m saying that if you get on the hook with this guy he’ll make that famous short fuse of yours to burn out really quick.
Taking a labored calming breath Cal nodded to his cousin.
CAL: Touché. Guess it’s pretty easy to hit my hot spot sometimes.
TRAVIS: Yeah, well, even your dad wasn’t perfect there either. He had a killer temper on that rare occasion he got riled.
CAL: Tell me about it. Alright, I’ll stay away from this reporter and let you handle him. You guys ready to go?
Everybody nodded and headed for the door.
+ + +
Dante drove by the home without turning his head, but instead used his peripheral vision to take in the details. The property was probably a couple of acres and far removed from any neighbors. It was situated in the Leipers Fork area in the city of Franklin, TN. The area was known for the mansions of some of country’s oldest and brightest stars.
This home was nothing like the homes of the stars. It was a modest one level with a three car garage. No frills. The driveway was lined with neatly spaced trees and the lawn was well maintained. Basic.
Dante drove a little way past the property and looked back. There didn’t seem to be any activity outside. He decided to take a chance and pull into the vacant land adjacent to the target property. A densely wooded entryway gave him a perfect opportunity to conceal the late model Honda Civic he was driving.
Carefully slipping out of the car, he pulled down his ball cap and checked his aviator sunglasses to make sure his face was properly hidden.
He didn’t have to go far to find a decent spot behind a tree that afforded him a clear view of the whole property. From the distance he couldn’t see any movement. He pulled out a pair of small sport binoculars he’d purchased for cash at a nearby gas station. His eyes adjusted and focused onto the side window that seemed to be part of the living area. All he wanted at this point was to confirm that the owners still lived at the location and were alone. The last thing he wanted this go-around was more surprises.
He waited ten, twenty, thirty minutes. Nothing. Just about the time he’d decided to leave and come back, Dante caught a flicker of activity in the back of the house. Please don’t have a big fucking dog. Dante thought.
A middle-aged man walked out the back door onto a wooden deck trailed by a tiny Chihuahua. Dante watched as the man waited for the dog to relieve itself. Finished, the small dog ran happily back into the house and man followed. One here. Now I’ve gotta make sure Mama’s home too.
He shifted his gaze and, minutes later, saw what he’d waited for. The man’s wife walked into view after opening the garage door. Dante focused on the two modest vehicles and didn’t find the telltale signs of a family trip or impending visitors. It looked like the couple would be at home tomorrow, alone.
He took his time walking back to the car. He ran the details of the upcoming assault through his head. This time he’d be the one leading the way just like the old days. Things wouldn’t go wrong this time.
Chapter 12
Gulch District, Nashville, TN
Brian pulled his car up to Cal’s condo building and the three companions exited and headed for the front door. Through the glass Cal could see Irene sitting at the welcome desk. A deep breath and he passed through the doorway.
Irene looked up with her courtesy smile and yelped in surprise as she recognized Cal.
IRENE: Oh, Cal! How are you?!
Cal noticed that the look of shock mingled with a hint of guilt on Irene’s face. This girl was hiding something. Years of learning when junior Marines were lying to his face had honed Cal’s bullshit detector. He put on the nicest smile he could muster and pushed forward.
CAL: Hey, Irene. How are things around here?
IRENE: You know, occasionally busy, boring the rest of the time. You look great! How are you feeling?
CAL: A lot better thanks. Just wanted to stop by and get some of my stuff. Oh, my fault. You’ve met my buddy Brian here and this is my friend Andy. Andy’s a buddy of mine from the Marine Corps. They’re doing the heavy lifting while I just point to things.
Irene laughed dutifully as did the others. The strain on Irene’s face intensified as she processed the trio.
IRENE: Are you moving out or something?
CAL: Nope. Just gonna stay with some friends for a few days. Anybody been in my place since the last time I was here?
IRENE (shaking her head): No, just your friend Brian the other day. I’ve got a bunch of mail for you. I can go get it for you and you can pick it up on your way out.
CAL: Andy, can you go with Irene and get my mail? We’ll be back down in five minutes.
ANDY: No problem.
As Irene turned to head to the mailroom, and Cal touched his right temple and glanced at Irene’s desk. Andy followed his gaze, saw the cell phone, and nodded back to Cal. It would be Andy’s job to use Neil’s laser gadget to tap Irene’s phone. Not a problem.
Cal and Brian headed to the bank of elevators and boarded the first to appear. As the doors closed, Brian turned to Cal.
BRIAN: You think it’ll be as easy to do as Neil said?
CAL: Probably easier. By the time we get the mail, Neil should have her whole system tapped.
They were both anxious to hear from Neil and continued the rest of the way up to Cal’s floor in silence, each wondering quietly what the cell phone hack would lead to.
As Cal was entering his pass code, his cell phone buzzed.
CAL: Yeah.
NEIL: Hey, Cal, we just got a positive connection and we’re starting to download all her recent activity.
CAL: OK. Call me back when you have a better idea of what we’re dealing with.
NEIL: You got it.
Cal slipped his phone back in his pocket and walked towards the master bedroom. He came back a minute later with a small rolling suitcase.
CAL: You ready?
BRIAN: Do you need to get anything else?
CAL: Nope. Just got some extra pieces from the locker and some clothes. The rest I can borrow from the company.
Brian grabbed the suitcase and followed Cal back to the elevator. As they exited on the ground level they found Andy waiting with a thin stack of junk mail. Irene was once again sitting behind the welcome desk and appeared to be texting on her cell phone. She looked up as they walked towards Andy.
IRENE: Did you get everything y
ou needed, Cal?
CAL: I did. Hey, Irene, has anyone been here recently looking for me?
She did her best to keep the fake smile plastered on her face, but Cal noticed her face drop slightly at his questioning.
IRENE: Just the police. They came by the day after your…incident.
CAL: Anybody else that you can remember?
IRENE: Nope. I see everyone that comes in during the day. You know that the doors are locked after-hours and on the weekend.
CAL: Yeah. I was just curious. Thanks again for keeping an eye on things, Irene.
IRENE: No problem. Let me know if we can do anything for you.
He started to leave, then paused and turned back.
CAL: Oh, forgot to mention one thing. Give the staff a heads-up that I installed a video surveillance system a few weeks ago. Nothing to worry about. I haven’t had a chance to review any footage since getting out of the hospital yet. Just thought you guys should know.
Without waiting for a response from the open-mouthed Irene, he exited through the front door trailed by his two friends.
Andy waited until they’d reached Brian’s car before saying anything.
ANDY: Real discreet, Cal. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a heart attack.
CAL: Serves her right. I’m tired of sitting back and doing nothing. I guarantee she’ll be on the phone with whoever she’s been talking to as soon as we take off. In ten minutes, we’ll know where West is hiding.
Without a good response, the other two climbed into the car and they were soon back on the road to Camp Spartan.
+ + +
Dante strolled into the dark room, shedding his layers of disguise as he went. The twelve men waiting were in various states of relaxation. Some were slumped on one of the couches smoking; others were playing video games, or snacking on a huge bag of Popeyes takeout.
DANTE: Alright, listen up. I just took a look at the house we’re hitting tomorrow. I figure we can get in and out pretty quickly. I don’t want to be there more than five minutes in case some hillbilly decides to stop by with his shotgun. No shooting unless we can help it. Everybody got that?
A chorus of mumbled agreements answered West.
DANTE: Now, I want all of you to get some good rest tonight. I don’t want anybody draggin’ ass tomorrow night. That means limit the booze and weed.
One of the huge men from New Orleans raised his head and spoke up in a bored southern drawl.
THUG: This ain’t our first rodeo, Dante.
DANTE: I know, I know. I just don’t want any fuckups this time.
THUG #2: You mean not like the way Shorty went down?
The comment was followed by snickers from the rest of the hired crew.
DANTE (growling): You trying to challenge me? If you’ve got a problem, I’ll take care of it right now.
THUG #2 (still smiling): Relax, Dante, I was just messin’ with you.
Dante turned and headed for the back room. The sooner he could send the New Orleans bangers back home, the better. The walls of the small house were starting to close in on everyone. Just the day before, one of his original crew had gotten into it with one of the newcomers. It would’ve come to blows if Dante hadn’t happened to walk in.
He was tired of babysitting. Tomorrow would be the night it would all end.
Chapter 13
Camp Spartan, Arrington, TN
Cal, Andy and Brian arrived back at Camp Spartan to find Neil helping himself to the liquor in Cal’s suite. On the bar, he’d arrayed an assortment of laptops, high tech headphones and speakers and half-eaten room service. As Cal walked in the door, he watched as Neil listened intently into one side of the set of headphones perched on his head. His concentration was so deep that he didn’t even acknowledge the trio’s entrance. Neil remained this way for another minute, then his eyes shot open and he ran his fingers deftly over the keyboard, apparently making notes from what he’d just listened to.
CAL: Well?
NEIL: Hold on a sec. Let me finish my notes really quick.
To kill time, Cal walked around the bar and pulled a beer out of the fridge. He motioned to the other two with the beer and both nodded. He pulled two more bottles out of the fridge, expertly popped off the tops on the side of the bar, and brought them around to Andy and Brian.
Andy waited patiently with a look of quiet amusement as Neil wrapped up his note-taking. Brian walked to the large bay window and took in the beautiful day. Cal tried to look over Neil’s shoulder just for a glimpse of what he was doing, but Neil shooed him away.
Finally Neil finished and swiveled his bar stool around to face the others.
NEIL: OK. I’ve got bad news and good news.
CAL (impatiently): Would you just tell us what you found out dammit?
NEIL: Patience is a virtue, my boy. Anyway, the good news first. Your girl Irene has not been tipping off Dante West or any of his crew.
CAL: And the bad news?
NEIL: She’s been doing spy work for that reporter, Bellinger.
CAL: What? So why the hell was she rooting around in my condo?
NEIL: Looks like little innocent Irene is a little short on cash and this guy Bellinger loves good contacts within the ranks of hotel and condo concierge. They’ve usually got the most access, so he targets them pretty heavily.
CAL: You didn’t answer my question. What was she looking for?
NEIL: Any little tidbits he could use to write a story. Your Navy Cross citation to start. He wanted her to see if you were maybe a druggy, closet gay or something like that. Anything to make his story juicier.
CAL: I’d love to pay that guy a little visit.
ANDY (shaking his head): You know you can’t do that, Cal. It’d just make things worse. Besides, you said that from the surveillance video you watched, she couldn’t find anything.
CAL: It still pisses me off.
NEIL: I know, but listen to this. So it looks like this Bellinger guy is desperate for intel. By the tone of his voice over the phone, it’s pretty obvious he’s grasping at straws. Who knows, maybe he’ll give up soon.
CAL: I doubt it. He’ll keep digging until he finds something. I’ll just have to be careful about being seen in public doing something stupid.
Brian couldn’t resist.
BRIAN: When you say stupid, do you mean like hunting down a fugitive and leaving him hog-tied for the cops?
CAL: Yeah. I guess we just need to make sure we don’t get caught.
BRIAN: You can say that again.
It was obvious Brian still wasn’t convinced the operation could be pulled off without the authorities or this reporter finding out. He took a pull from his beer.
Cal could see the apparent discomfort on Brian’s face.
CAL: Have a little faith, doc. You haven’t seen any of us in action yet. I think you may be pleasantly surprised.
That’s what I’m afraid of…actually enjoying this shit. Brian thought quietly.
+ + +
The team of four spent the next couple hours running through Irene’s cell phone logs and recent text, email, and phone conversations. Other than the dialogue with the reporter, she seemed like any other twenty-something working girl.
Cal yawned as he looked at his watch.
CAL: Alright guys, why don’t we break until tomorrow morning? By then, Top should be back and we may have a little more insight into the location of our beloved bad guy.
