The problem, Lara knew, wasn't Madi's men. It was the next million after him who were the problem. With Ben's cover blown, he and Lara would have a target on their backs for their rest of their natural lives. From that day forward, they were one bullet away from planning their own funerals, or several funerals, for that matter. This was the one constant worry cycling through her mind day and night.
As they waited in the parking lot, Bettencourt went inside the bungalow, checking to make sure all was well. He spoke on the com and told them to come inside.
“I’ll make coffee.” Lara volunteered. She went into the kitchen and noticed something was not right. The cupboards had been opened and several items were askew, including the coffee maker.
“What’s up?” Bettencourt said, leaning against the kitchen door casing.
“Nothing much. Just some things seem messed up here.” Lara said.
“Like what?” Bettencourt asked. “Give me details.”
Lara showed him, and he spoke on his com to Rusty, “Look around. See if it looks like someone might have been here….stuff in the kitchen has been messed with…”
Lara watched Bettencourt as he went through every square inch of the tiny kitchen looking for anything he could find. He took a plastic bag from the drawer and used two toothpicks to pick up a few items and put them into the baggie.
“What was that all about?” Lara quizzed him.
“Just some fresh mud and a couple of other things. I have a feeling someone has been in here, but they didn’t want us to know.” Bettencourt gazed into her eyes, all business-like. “You know what that means…”
Lara’s eyes locked with his. “We’ll not be able to work here any longer.”
“Yup.” Bettencourt exhaled. He waved to Monique and asked her to help pack up everything they needed. They were heading back to the farm. Lara’s heart sank. She knew what was coming, more restrictions, with more lockdown time. There was only one way to end this. It would be violent, but necessary.
~ Abdul ~
The student visa idea was a good one. The three men were now in an apartment near the campus where Ben Keegan was teaching. Ibrahim followed Keegan on a regular basis, and some days he followed his wife, Lara.
“What did you find in the bungalow the other day?” Abdul questioned Ibrahim.
“Nothing, really…it was a waste of time. There were some items in the kitchen. It looks like they work or eat there on a regular basis.” Ibrahim reported.
“Good. We could place some C4 there and detonate when she’s there.”
Then his attention turned to Saleh. “How about you? What have you found out about the layout of Clearwater Farm?” Abdul asked pointedly.
“Here’s the map from city hall. I told them my father is looking at purchasing an adjoining property. They gave me this information willingly. I flew a drone over the place and captured this video. Here, I will send it to you on your phone, if you’d like.” Saleh offered.
“No, keep it on your phone. I can watch it there.” Abdul commanded. After viewing the footage, he had to admit, he hadn’t thought of buying a hobby drone and flying over Keegan’s property. The thought might have come to him later, but Saleh was proving to be very helpful and useful. Maybe he had underestimated him all along.
~ Saleh ~
Feeding information to Ben Keegan was the biggest challenge for Saleh. For one thing, his cell phone was not secure. Abdul frequently looked at his iPhone. Keegan had supplied him with a burner phone, which he used. He tucked it into the band of his underwear. All of his communication with Keegan was done via encrypted texts and e-mails. No talking. Keegan had explained there were too many ears and eyes in the United States regarding phone calls. They were all recorded, whether they needed to be or not. The encrypted texts and e-mails would be a better idea. But, Saleh was nervous that somehow Abdul would find the burner phone. Even if he did, the words on it were encrypted. Nevertheless, Saleh still had nightmares about it sometimes.
Today, Saleh was going to the far end of the parking lot to send a message to Keegan, letting him know about the drone footage and about Ibrahim’s breaking into the bungalow. He hadn’t known Ibrahim was going to do that. Saleh tried to get the women and children out of the picture. He attempted to focus Abdul and Ibrahim on their prime target, Ben Keegan. But they often argued it would be best to capture a family member, and then they could get Keegan. Their focus was Lara.
The text today was critical. Abdul was bringing another terrorist to the United States to help with the mission. The new guy had a reputation for going off on his own. He had a big ego, was unpredictable and had killed many Christians -- innocent women and children, posing for pictures with their dead mangled bodies and posting the photos on social media.
Right now, it was Abdul, Ibrahim, Saleh, Aaron and Tim. But, this guy was only known as Khouri. Saleh had little information about him, except he was a wild one. Saleh told Ben in the text, once Khouri arrived, he’d let him know as much as possible. He did hear today from Abdul that they could not return to Pakistan until Keegan was dead or captured. Their father was on a rampage. He was grasping at straws, trying to kill Ben Keegan. It was his major topic of conversation. He had become obsessed with killing Keegan.
~ Ben ~
Being home with Lara the last few months had been nerve-wracking for him. It was as if he was on a mission and he had her with him to protect at all times. The Dark Horse Guardians were in a state of upheaval, but acted with professionalism and precision. Even though their families were stuck on the compound of Clearwater Farm, they made the best of it. And, he noticed Lara was bonding with each person on his team. There was some good coming of this awful situation.
But Ben could tell Lara was sometimes exhausted having that many people around all day and all night. Their private life was no longer private. One time a child walked into their master bedroom while they were making love. Of course, he laughed it off, but Lara wasn’t too happy about it.
Then there was mealtime and bedtime every night, filled with routines and rituals that seemed to intrude on his and Lara’s personal time together. Lara always ended up helping one of the women with an unruly or sick child. She was kind, hard-working, and generous, however, and he often wondered how she put up with him and all that was taking place. She took it in stride and smiled.
When she returned home from her design work in the late afternoon today, he would walk with her on the beach and kiss her, hoping for a tiny sliver of privacy. Soon it would be their one-year wedding anniversary. Monique and Bettencourt were planning their wedding. They wanted to have it at Clearwater Farm, but it was on lockdown at the moment. It seemed all of their lives were on hold.
The April sun was warmer now, and Lara would often walk with him after dinner for a short while with Einstein, just like when things were normal. But things weren’t normal, and he wanted more than ever to get back to a semblance of their old routine. Hopefully, Saleh would help him get there.
He saw the Suburban coming down the driveway and knew Lara was in it. Einstein did, too. The dog whined with excitement. As Monique, Lara, Bettencourt, and Rusty exited the vehicle, within seconds, there was gun fire. Not knowing the direction it was coming from, Bettencourt instructed Lara and Monique to stay in the vehicle, as he drew his weapon. Rusty and Lara did the same, automatically taking cover. The vehicle had been bullet-proofed, but they instinctively crouched as another round hit the Suburban. The bullet lodged in the backside of the vehicle. Then, more rounds hit it, all coming from the same direction. Bettencourt spoke into his com, “It’s a lone gunman. Got his location, south cliff.”
Ben watched as Bettencourt took aim with his H&K M23. The big man crouched near the edge of the vehicle, took careful aim, and got off ten rapid rounds in the direction of the ledge.
Gus and Tom were already awake inside. Ben spoke on the com, “Get the Silver Shadows, we’re going to play laser tag from the upstairs windows.”
It wasn’t
long before Ben realized this wasn’t the greatest spot to be pinned down under gunfire. There were rocky bluffs surrounding them and long stretches of sandy beach. Not a lot of cover, except for the house, itself. The windows were hurricane-proof, but he didn’t think they’d stop a bullet and didn’t want to test them right now. He dreaded the thought of bullets going into the house, killing someone randomly. He spoke into the com, “Get everyone down to the basement in the middle of the house, now!”
Crouching on the porch yielding his Glock, more bullets came toward Ben, one whizzed right by his head. He held his breath for a moment. The next bullet caught him in the left shoulder. He winced and cried out in pain as it grazed through his clothing.
“Shit. He breathed into his com. “Damn it -- I caught a bullet in my shoulder.”
Ben trained his 9mm Glock19 on the south cliff and fired twelve rounds. Within the course of two minutes, Ben heard the Silver Shadow let go above him, and the distinct sound of a bullet hitting its mark. Thud, thud, thud. The small cannon with a laser scope painted its target, as Gus dropped one guy from the cliff. They frantically searched for any others, but Ben surmised they scurried away as the police siren grew louder in the distance.
Ben waited under cover until the police arrived. Once the area was secured, the Dark Horse Guardians emerged. The police examined the body. “He’s a young man by the name of Aaron Brown. We know him; there’s a warrant out for his arrest. We think he might have killed Officer Simpson.” the police officer spoke matter-of-factly. “This guy has been in and out of trouble for a while. Well, he won’t be bothering you any longer. Hey, you’re bleeding. We’ll get a medic here to take a look at that.”
Ben sat down in the kitchen feeling defeated. “Yeah. Thanks. But, we’ve got it covered.” Elvis got the medical kit and pulled Ben’s jacket off, then his shirt.
“Yeah, that’ll leave a mark.” He teased Ben.
“Screw you, too.” Ben smiled, then winced as Elvis meticulously cleaned the gash in his shoulder.
~ Lara ~
Fawning over Ben’s bullet grazing wasn’t the thing to do; she found that out the hard way. Ben pretended it wasn’t much more than a mosquito bite, in fact those were his words. The men in the kitchen were laughing, as if it was no big deal. Having seen the scars on his body, she suddenly realized it wasn’t much compared to some of the others. But she winced thinking it had to hurt. The fact that it even happened heightened her sense of worry, not only regarding Ben, but all of them corralled at the compound right now.
“No drama, darlin,” Ben whispered after he was bandaged. He kissed her forehead sweetly, but she could see his demeanor was serious. As far as Ben was concerned, the incident was one of many. But for Lara, she imagined all of the catastrophic things that could’ve happened in that split second.
Interrupting her apprehension, she scooped up two crying children. Dinner was being prepared late, and the police warned them about stepping outside for any length of time. Lara was gravely concerned about the shooting. How did Aaron Brown get that close to the compound? The security system would have gone off to alert them. But, her answer came minutes later. Ben noticed that somehow, someone had messed with the security camera that was covering that side of the compound, and the alarm didn’t go off. He resynched it, and all was fine. But he still wanted to get to the bottom of why it malfunctioned. And she knew he would.
Aaron Brown was dead. Lara was so angry, she wished she could’ve been the one to shoot him, but it was Gus who got off the lucky shot. She felt fortunate that the dead man was a terrorist, and not her husband.
Instead of getting involved in the police processing, she sat in the weapons cache room and went over the fine points of using a Silver Shadow, the weapon Ben’s team preferred. It performed perfectly in the execution of Aaron Brown. She pulled the double barreled AR15 up and studied the weapon closely. Rusty was organizing weapons and ammo in the room silently.
“It’s made in Israel…” she whispered.
“Like what you see?” Rusty turned toward her. “It’s a thing of beauty. It has the same precision guided tag and shoot technology found in fighter jets.”
“Yes, I love it.” Lara felt herself becoming engrossed with the unique firearm, admiring its qualities, and quickly understanding why the Dark Horse Guardians preferred it. “I want one.”
“And you know the rule: no guns until I can take you to the range and teach you how to use it. Each one is different.” Rusty reiterated. “This is a serious piece of firepower.”
“I like the stainless steel barrel, what’s the advantage of that?” Lara queried.
“Accuracy is truer, plus it doesn’t overheat so easily if you’re popping off a lot of rounds.” Rusty said.
For a moment, it felt as if they were on the pond at Rusty’s range, rambling on about a gun, as they’d done a hundred times before. But, right now, Lara realized their lives had been irrevocably changed. If there was ever a time when she wanted to help Ben, it was now. A plan started forming in her mind; an outrageous one, but it just might work.
“I’ve got something to discuss with you….” Lara started. “I know this sounds crazy, but I’ve been thinking of a way to end this whole thing quickly.”
“I’m all ears…” Rusty smiled.
When she had finished explaining her idea, Rusty grinned from ear to ear. “Where the hell do you come up with this stuff?”
“You think I’m crazy….” Lara exhaled.
“No, I think it’s brilliant. But, I’ve got to get Ben and the other guys on board. Let me handle this.” Rusty put his arm around her shoulder. “It’s actually possible, your scheme, but we’ve got to be careful.”
~ Ben ~
On the face of it, Lara’s plan sounded a bit unpredictable, but the more he discussed it with the team, the better they liked it. Sure, it was fraught with uncertainty and possible problems, but they could use the Dark Horse Game to help them weed out the worst scenario, then the next, and go from there.
His phone vibrated and he recognized the Special Activities Director’s ringtone and answered.
“Ben, I understand things are going badly there. I want to do everything I can to help.” Kip Larson breathed into the phone.
“I’ve got this.” Ben held his breath. He didn’t want to give one morsel of information to Larson about what the team was planning.
“We can send in some special agents to help….” Larson offered. “The CIA cares about your family.”
“No, really. Things are fine. I appreciate your offer. But, we are doing all right,” Ben said calmly. Inside, he was envisioning his hands around Larson’s neck. The leak that started all of this came from the State Department, and if he had to spend the rest of his life, he’d get the name of the bastard that was responsible for the leak. He prided himself on being able to find anyone at any time. If whoever did this thought he could hide behind a vanishing IP address; he was foolish to think that would give him anonymity. It might work with his little hacker pals, but not with him. Ben coded an app for that, too. Technically, there wasn’t anyone, anywhere in the world that he couldn’t find and kill. And, eventually, this State Department employee would be in his crosshairs; it didn’t matter where he was. By committing the act of treason, the bastard painted a bull’s eye on his own back. Leaking Ben’s personal information, he painted a bull’s eye right between his eyes.
Finally, Larson acquiesced and hung up. Good. It was time to do what needed to be done. First things first. Lara needed training on the Silver Shadow. It was an amazing weapon, but had to be handled nimbly and with care. Rusty thought it would be best to set up a firing range right there on the compound at Clearwater Farm. So, at night, the men set about building one on the beach.
Out of nowhere, several other former SEALs in the area offered their help. Ben welcomed them to the group as they joined the team for participation in the plan. The more eyes watching, the better. At their makeshift firing range, within two week
s Lara and Monique were hitting their marks with great accuracy. They could strip the weapon down and put it back together. The perimeter of the property was now reinforced with six more former SEALs and a few army rangers and a couple of marines; friends from the roadhouse. Lara insisted on paying them a generous salary for their hard work and dedication. Ben sensed she was eager to swing into action with the team, but he wasn’t ready just yet. The next step was simulation for a few days in the gaming room.
For the next few weeks, Lara and Monique enjoyed designing for clients at home in Ben’s office, when they weren’t at shooting practice or helping out with childcare. At night, when the children were sleeping, Ben’s office converted into the Dark Horse situation room. All of the team members logged into new computer stations Ben had installed and their work was laid before them. Lara and Monique wanted to participate, actually insisted upon it. The team no longer had any reservations. A well-placed bullet, center mass was all they needed. There was no difference if it came from a female or a male, as long as it hit its mark, the shot would be celebrated with gusto.
“We need to lure them here.” Ben explained. “The situation needs to look real.”
Bettencourt thought aloud, “We can set that beach scene up. But, I want the women and children out of the picture. Far out of the picture. How do you plan to do that?”
“She’s thought of that, too,” Ben smiled, “I’m provisioning the sailboat, little by little. I will take the women and children away in that. There’s an island just off the coast, Fort Gorges. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put the fort on Hog Island Ledge, which is the entrance to the harbor of Portland, right around 1865. It is similar in size and construction to Fort Sumter, but is constructed of granite instead of brick. You can actually see it from here.”
Ben showed photos of the fort on the big screen. “Fort Gorges was last used by the Army during World War II for storage of submarine mines. Accessing the island involves crossing areas with strong tidal currents and should only be attempted by Navy SEALs under the right conditions, using a proper boat, which I have.”
Hard Man to Kill (Dark Horse Guardian Series Book 4) Page 15
