Vengeance
Page 10
“What about Belkin? Where is he?”
“Pay attention, Seychel. He’s gone. He had a fatal accident.”
Seychel’s expression on the computer screen was morbid.
“Is there something wrong, Seychel?”
“No, are you sure Belkin is dead?”
“Yes. There are seven survivors of the sailors and CIA personnel, but Belkin killed a dozen others. The good news is the Pacific has become a safer place.”
Seychel wiped the sweat from his brow.
Chuck pulled out the envelope that he found in Belkin’s residence by the waterfalls. He said, “You don’t seem happy, Seychel. I wonder if this could be the reason.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know, I wondered why you sent in one man, knowing that Belkin had forty killers on the payroll. You sent me in because of my reputation for getting the job done, but you were certain that no man alive would have a prayer against Belkin’s enforcers. I was sent into a death trap. I was supposed to die so that you could cover your ass. You wanted to be able to say that you’d tried to deal with the Belkin problem, but I failed in my mission. You thought you were protecting Belkin by sending me into an impossible situation. Oh, you’re nervous, Seychel, and this is the reason.” Chuck held up the envelope again.
“You’re lying, Brandt.”
Chuck shook his head. “This is a handwritten letter from you to Belkin. The tone is desperate as you pressure him to hurry up with a $10 million payment to Maxim Cress, one of the most powerful and ruthless transnational criminal bosses. You emphasize that Cress was becoming impatient. I have a note here about a loan that you and Belkin took out from Cress to drill for oil in Colombia. Your wells didn’t produce, so you owed Cress ten million.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Brandt.”
“You were going to quietly sell the surveillance ship to the Russians. How much did you plan to make? Fifteen million? Twenty million? Or was it more?”
“All nonsense.”
“You don’t have to convince me of anything Seychel. Cress is going to be coming after you very soon. Good luck explaining to him that you can’t pay back the ten million.”
“None of this is true.”
“The good news,” Chuck said, “is that you are the deputy DCI. I recommend you use the resources at your command to create a new identity and go into hiding. With your skills, you can do that.”
Seychel shook his head in denial.
“The bad news,” Chuck said, “is that with Cress’s contacts of corrupt officials like yourself, he should be able to track you down within a matter of days. It would probably be a good idea to make sure your life insurance payments are current.”
“You bastard. You are fired, Brandt.”
“Fine. It’s a small price to pay next to what you’re facing. That will be my vengeance.”
Deputy DCI Carl Seychel logged off.
“That guy sold you down the river.” This came from one of the sailors in the rear seats of Thunder Child. Chuck turned around. He recognized that the talker was Joe Berg of St. Louis. He was a big curly-haired man with a mustache. His wife Talia had just learned she was pregnant three days ago. She would soon learn that her child would have a father after all. So sad, Chuck thought, that many of the others would not be receiving good news.
“Why did you come, knowing that it was a death trap?” Berg said.
Chuck was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “I’ll tell you why I came. I came for you even though I never expected to get out of there alive. I read about each of you. I learned who you were, and so I knew the prize. That’s why I came for you.”