by G. K. Parks
“Is that what it looked like when I put a bullet into the detective’s skull?” he asked, his voice deeper and more menacing just like it had been the night he killed Donaldson and Ivan. “I should have put one into you inside the kitchen instead of waiting.” He scoffed. “Women are weak and fragile.” His eyes focused on the cast on my arm. “You were lucky I let you live as long as I did.” He sneered. “You’ll die, just like the rest of them.”
“Really?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “How do you plan on achieving that? Have you not been paying attention?” I pointed to the photos. “You’re in here. You’re not gonna get away, so how are you going to do it?”
“My family will enact vengeance. We are righteous. You will pay and suffer.”
“Suffer?” Jablonsky asked in a lethal tone. “I’d say there’s enough suffering to go around.” He moved next to Horvat’s chair and punched him hard in the gut. “Does that make you feel more righteous?”
Horvat began muttering again in his native tongue. He looked up at Mark, smiling disconcertingly. Then he focused on me and said something that, despite the language barrier, came across loud and clear. Obviously, we’d pushed Niko’s buttons, but I didn’t know how to get him to talk. His life was destroyed, so no amount of threatening would work. And he had no incentive to bargain or cooperate. We were at a stalemate. Niko would talk if it served his purposes, and that was it.
Thirty-five
“You’re done for now,” Behr said, opening the door. “We’ll take it from here.”
Jablonsky grunted in acknowledgement, never breaking eye contact with Niko. “Now the fun begins,” Mark warned. Then he left the room, not breaking stride.
I stared at the shackled man, not understanding what led us here. Images from inside the police station ran through my mind. Grenades exploding, people screaming, bullets flying, the death count and casualty list, those things were because of this man, and we’d just spent the last few minutes trying to convince him none of it happened.
“Parker, move it,” Behr snapped.
“Yes, sir.” I gave the table a good kick and smiled wickedly at Niko. “Game over. You lose.”
“We’ll see,” Niko replied, watching as I left the room.
“What the hell did that accomplish? You wanted us to crack him. Isn’t that why you dragged me here to conduct an interrogation?” I asked as soon as the door slammed shut. “He didn’t give us anything.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Behr said. “My Slavic language skills leave a lot to be desired, but that madman’s ramblings provided a few hints about the next attack.” He looked at the translator who was transcribing the conversation from the recording. She gave him a thumbs up. “See, we got something.”
“What?” I asked, fearing a repeat of yesterday or something far worse.
“Not yet,” Behr said, ushering us away from the DHS agents. “We’ll evaluate it first.”
“The hell you will,” Jablonsky said. “This is a joint venture. Director Kendall was told that he’d receive your full cooperation. It’s the only reason he agreed to help. Now I want to see that intel you have on Niko. We’ve waited this long already.” Mark glared at Behr. “Or should I call Kendall so you can explain to him what the holdup is?”
“Fine,” Behr glanced at both of us, “you can set up in conference room C. I’ll have someone bring you the intel.”
After we were left alone, I turned to Jablonsky. “What the hell is going on? DHS agents came to Martin’s house to pick me up. They said it was time sensitive and a matter of national security. Then I get here, Behr screws around for a bit, tosses me into the interrogation room completely unprepared, and flips the entire investigation on its head.”
“Jakov is Niko. We missed it. Call it a clerical error or a computer glitch, but that was on us. He was in our custody until Behr took over with updated intel. If you ask me, the CIA or one of the other fifteen intelligence gathering agencies gave it to him. He wouldn’t have found it on his own.”
“What does it say?”
“Aside from the fact that Niko was impersonating Jakov, I don’t know. Supposedly, it’s beyond my clearance level.”
“Then what are we about to see? Behr’s vacation slides?”
“Director Kendall made a few calls and had us both granted temporary top-level security clearance on this matter. Behr’s annoyed that Kendall went over his head. He’s also annoyed that this shit happened on his watch. Suffice it to say, he’s gung-ho about foiling Shade’s next attempt in order to claim the victory and blame us for not stopping yesterday’s attack.”
“Politics.”
“Yep.” Jablonsky shrugged. “Frankly, that’s the least of our worries.”
“I agree. How could we have been duped into thinking one cousin was the other? Maybe we really are incompetent.”
“Shush,” Jablonsky said, silencing me a second before the files were brought to us.
For once, it was nice to be able to read through the intel without having to deal with the redacted bits. Those were always distracting and a bit troublesome. The information was highly detailed, containing a complete profile of Niko, his family, background, and the origins of Shade.
Niko Horvat was orphaned as a result of the war. The war claimed the life of his father, who had been a soldier. While Niko’s mother, brother, and grandparents attempted to escape the siege, the entire village was destroyed. A firefight broke out between the insurgents and U.S. forces that had arrived on a peacekeeping mission. Neighbors, friends, and extended family were killed while trying to flee. Unfortunately, many civilians were caught in the crossfire, and Niko’s mother was killed. The U.S. soldiers took Niko and his brother to a refugee camp, but they were of a tender age and didn’t fully comprehend what happened. All they knew was their mom and dad had been killed by soldiers.
Eventually, other aid workers arrived. Peace was temporarily restored, and Niko and many other boys were sent to an orphanage. According to the records, two of the peacekeeping soldiers repeatedly brought supplies to the boys. A brief profile was provided for the troops that Niko encountered, but one profile stood out. One of the peacekeepers had taken a leave of absence from his job at the police department in order to serve overseas.
“R.J. Cook,” I read the name aloud. “This was roughly twenty years ago. If he’s still around, he’s probably retired from the force.”
“He’s the commissioner’s driver,” Jablonsky said. “How do you not know that?”
“Why would I know that?”
“Because you’re like a friggin’ badge bunny. Every time I turn around, you’ve made a new friend in blue.” Mark rolled his eyes. “That’s why Shade targeted our city and our police force. Niko must blame Cook for losing his family and tracked him down.”
Jablonsky flipped through the file, finding a transcript of an interview Behr had conducted with Cook yesterday. While he read that, I continued leafing through Niko’s history. After the war, a well-off family showed an interest in adopting a son, but they only wanted one. The administrator altered the documents, saying that Niko and his brother were cousins, not siblings, in order for Jakov to be adopted.
“Holy shit, Jakov’s his brother.” I reread the words on the page. “His twin brother.”
“Damn, when did our investigation turn into a daytime soap?” Mark grumbled. “Hey, get this.” He held up a page from Cook’s transcript. “Cook doesn’t remember the boys specifically, but he remembers being stationed over there and seeing so much destruction. Families were broken apart. The place was a mess. It was total anarchy. He said he used to save whatever rations and candy bars he could and bring them to the kids at the camps and in the orphanages. He regaled them with tales of being a policeman in the United States and the importance of maintaining law and order to protect the people. He told the children that he and the other soldiers were there for their safety. I guess he thought he was improving U.S. relations. It’s too bad young Niko took tha
t to mean that our people should suffer too.”
“Jakov might be the only living blood relative Niko has. We have to find him. He’s the leverage we need to get Niko to spill on his next plan.”
“I agree we need to find Jakov but not for that reason. Jakov was brought to the U.S. after his adoption, but there’s every indication that Niko indoctrinated his long-lost brother with Shade’s ideals.” Jablonsky flipped to a financial assessment. “Shade’s hierarchy was comprised of Niko’s fellow orphans, and damn, if one of them hadn’t done exceptionally well for himself.” Mark shook his head. “This mogul could give Marty a run for his money. Shade at one point had an estimated net worth of nearly six million dollars, ninety percent of it coming from a single source. Niko must have convinced his fellow orphan to invest his money in creating Shade. They did a good job of hiding their assets. None of our intel came close to this.”
“So we bring them in, track the cash, and get them to talk,” I said, hoping to find another avenue.
“As of six hours ago, Shade’s commanding body was declared dead.”
“Dammit, who’s still alive?”
“Niko and Jakov. Everyone else was identified at Shade HQ and eliminated.”
“That means it’s up to Jakov to carry out Shade’s mission.”
The door to the conference room opened, and one of Behr’s lackeys stepped inside. “Agents, your presences are needed in the command center.” She held the door, waiting for us to leave the room. I was certain it was so they could hide the information from us again.
“You summoned,” Jablonsky said, sounding incredibly displeased once we were back in the central room of the black site.
“As I was saying,” Behr said, not even glancing in our direction as he continued to speak to the team assembled, “they planned a multipoint attack on key precincts and station houses. Firearms and small incendiaries were delivered to three area restaurants throughout the city. The FBI confiscated the remaining two shipments last night, and the police have the original shipment at the site of yesterday’s attack. Niko Horvat hired private military contractors from Eastern Europe to travel here and orchestrate the attack. At the present, we are unsure how many contractors were hired. We have several in custody. Keep in mind that yesterday wasn’t Shade’s first attack; it was their second. The first attack occurred against a police transport that was escorting a prisoner to the district attorney’s office.”
“Prisoner?” I scoffed, and Behr gave me an icy glare.
“The weaponry that these contractors used was provided by Shade. Therefore, we’re assuming whatever Niko Horvat has planned will continue to rely on weapons that Shade personally obtained,” Behr continued. “Our interviews with the private contractors reinforced this theory. However, we have yet to determine how many men were hired.”
“Have you tracked their compensation?” Jablonsky asked.
“We didn’t meet success following the money. The parties in custody said the funds were sent to a trust that would be transferred to their families in the event of their demise. It involves foreign banks with closed policies. Despite our insistence that these funds were provided by a terrorist organization, no country is willing to turn over their information or assist in our endeavor,” Behr said. “Scolari and Cleaver, let me know when the private contractors have been broken.” Two agents nodded, waiting for the dismissed order before leaving the command center. “Brotherton, is the translation complete from Niko’s earlier interview?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, reading a very obscure message. “That’s the literal translation, but based on cultural and slang references, it roughly translates into meaning ‘stomping on the memory of the dead and spitting on their graves’.”
“Sweet,” I mumbled sarcastically.
“He also had quite a few imaginative things to say about you, Agent Parker,” Brotherton said, “but I don’t believe any of that bears repeating. It wasn’t particularly useful.”
“Neither is this,” Jablonsky said. “He didn’t give us anything, and we have no leverage to break him.”
“We could quite literally break him,” Behr retorted, “but given his psychological profile, it’s unlikely that would provide results.” Behr picked up the translation, reading the words again. “Niko’s a self-centered egomaniac with delusions of grandeur. He truly believes that his plan would work to fall the police force.” Behr flipped through the pages, muttering to himself.
‘Fall the police force,’ I mouthed to Jablonsky, who sighed and shook his head. I wouldn’t doubt that Assistant Director Behr was also delusional and self-centered. Edging to the corner of the table, I picked up a copy of Niko’s psych profile and skimmed through it again.
“He doesn’t know what to believe,” I said, causing all eyes in the room to turn to me. “Until I told him that his plan failed, he believed that yesterday was a success. Obviously, he hired the trucking company or delivery driver to store his weapons around the city. That’s three different locations. Does anyone have a local map?”
“Here,” Scolari said, handing me a city map. “The marks are the locations the weapons were found.”
“And each one is close to a different police station. However, we discovered Pepper first. That’s why the attack yesterday happened so quickly. The mercenaries didn’t have time to organize or plan. The other two locations were probably supposed to happen at a specific date and time, but hopefully, we pulled the plug,” I said, verbalizing my thoughts as I went.
“Have these precincts been alerted?” Jablonsky asked, pointing to the map.
“Affirmative,” someone replied. “The police department is being incredibly vigilant right now.”
“As they should be,” Behr said. He put the translation down. “Agent Parker, you were saying something about Niko believing his plan of action worked. Please elaborate.”
“Actually, something doesn’t jibe. Niko’s been in custody. How would he know that the police confiscated the weapons from Pepper? Why would he assume that the last twenty-four hours were a vital turning point?” I stared at Behr. “Hasn’t he been incommunicado?”
“You tell me. Did your people keep him deaf and blind?” Behr asked.
“The transfer tipped him off,” Jablonsky said. “He’s smart. He knew something was up. Hell, we almost gave him access to the outside world a couple of hours before the attack went down.” Jablonsky turned to the translator. “Did he mumble anything about the first phase being completed or anything like that?”
She thought about it. “I don’t know. He rambled a lot in metaphor and allegory. It’s possible.”
“What do you think?” Behr asked.
“He wants to spit on their graves. Regardless of if any of the precinct attacks were a success, Niko could be certain of one thing. At least one cop’s dead,” Brotherton said.
“Donaldson,” I sighed, “which means there will be a cop’s funeral.”
“All right, people,” Behr said, “let’s investigate this theory. Sniff around and see if it stinks. If we can’t find fault with it, we’ll begin prepping for that possibility. There’s no doubt that the police department will hold a huge memorial after yesterday’s incident, so we need to have actionable intel before anything else goes down. We’ll reconvene in two hours. Dismissed.”
Thirty-six
“Jakov’s our best bet,” I said. “If we can locate him, we might be able to sway him to give up Shade’s plan.”
“You mean give up his brother’s plan,” Mark corrected. He chewed on his bottom lip and flipped through the updated police reports. “That’ll be a hard sell.”
“Jakov was raised here. He has no record of violence. There’s nothing to suggest he’s unstable. Have we contacted his adopted family?”
Mark snorted. “His mom and dad won a month long cruise, or so they were told. We haven’t been able to locate or reach them.”
“Then how do you know that?”
“Tickets were purchased in their
names on one of Niko’s accounts. He probably wanted to remove the stabilizing influence from Jakov’s life. For all we know, they might be dead. Regardless, we have people sitting on their house and at every single place that Jakov has visited in the last two months. We should have never called off the BOLO.”
“We thought we had him. How the hell were we supposed to know they were identical twins?” I glared out the door of the conference room. “It’s not like Homeland bothered to share their information.”
“They didn’t have it at the time,” Jablonsky said. “The time codes printed on the sheets matched two days ago. They’re not our enemy, Alex. We all screwed up. That’s why we’re gonna fix it.”
“How?”
“By getting out of this secret facility and back to the real world.” Without another word, Jablonsky left the conference room. A few minutes later, he was back with a couple of Homeland agents that were being forced to deliver us to the federal building. “It’s time to go.”
As soon as we were back at the federal building, we hit the ground running. Within ten minutes of our return, our team was convened inside the conference room and updated on the situation. The biggest threat was Jakov Horvat. Teams were continuing to scout the area for signs of his presence. Our tech geniuses had access to every public camera available and had the facial rec running through the incoming data for sightings of Jakov. It was an incredibly expensive and tedious procedure, but the city was under attack. We had no choice.
“I want agents sitting on those three restaurants and the trucking company,” Jablonsky said. “If someone so much as coughs within a hundred yards of there, I want them brought in. These private contractors should be hungry for weapons, so they’ll come sniffing.”
