Harold and the Angel of Death

by Gary McPherson

  Harold sat down at the top deck’s dining table, looked over the turquoise waters, and let out a long, slow breath. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Garcia emerged with two mugs of coffee, and Frank appeared directly behind him with two plates of eggs benedict. Harold said nothing and watched the two men approach.

  “I come bearing gifts of food if I might join you,” said Garcia.

  “Suit yourself,” responded Harold curtly.

  Garcia took a seat directly across from him and put a coffee in front of himself and Harold. Frank placed the two plates down in front of the men and left.

  “A million for your thoughts,” joked Garcia.

  Harold rolled his eyes. “I’m bored. Bored and irritated.”

  Garcia made a show of looking over the deck of the yacht. “First world problems?”

  “I’m not joking. You’ve done nothing but keep me in the dark about what we are really doing today. In fact, you’ve been keeping me in the dark for most of my life.”

  Garcia’s right eyebrow went up slightly. “Me? Who told you this?”

  “Who told me doesn’t matter. The fact that you aren’t denying it just confirms what I found out.” Harold took a sip of coffee and a large bite of his eggs benedict. He was in a mood to argue, but he was also hungry.

  Garcia’s lips curved up. “You would be such a good agent.”

  Harold waved his empty fork in Garcia’s direction. “Forget it. Quit deflecting. We both know what I know. Why didn’t you tell me about you, Dad, and Darla?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Garcia. “I told you when we met I’d been watching your family.”

  Harold took another bite of food and let Garcia stare at him while he chewed. Harold pointed to Garcia’s plate. “You should eat this before it gets cold. Frank did a great job.”

  Garcia leaned against the table and hovered just over his plate. “Don’t try and play me.”

  Harold smiled and took a sip of coffee. He put his mug on the table and let loose a satisfied sigh. After wiping his mouth, he said, “I wouldn’t try to play you, Agent Hernandez. At least not any more than you’ve played me. I’m curious though, why didn’t you try and stop John’s extortion scheme before my father killed himself? From the sounds of it, you and Dad were close enough to help Darla overcome her demons.”

  “Oh.” Garcia began to eat his eggs, followed by a long swallow of coffee. “So, she told you about all of that.”

  Harold finished his food and coffee without saying a word.

  “Okay, I see you want an explanation, and you deserve one,” Garcia said. “I did know about John’s schemes. That’s why I brought Darla and your dad together. She’s a good agent, a real good agent. I needed her to see that there were things she could use her talents for besides finding terrorists to bomb.”

  “But that’s not my concern. You knew John was dirty. Why didn’t you take care of him?”

  Garcia finished off his food and then continued. “I’m surprised you would even ask me that. You know the CIA can’t target US citizens. The FBI would have had to get involved.”

  “Exactly.”

  Garcia looked him in the eye. “Harold, you may not realize it, but your dad had enemies besides John. All powerful men do.”

  A small frown formed on Harold’s face. “I never thought of my dad as powerful.”

  “Your father was building nuclear weapons. It doesn’t get more powerful than that.”

  Harold’s mouth dropped open slightly and he nodded. His dad never talked about what their weapons could do. He always focused on the business. Harold had been viewing his new role as chairman as a purely business responsibility. If he was honest with himself, he blocked out what their weapons would do to humanity. “It just never occurred to me.”

  Garcia pushed his chair back and put his napkin on the table. “I know. Ironically, your father’s enemies obsessed about the power your company represents, but your dad never thought about his business that way either, and I can tell you learned his lessons well.”

  “Thanks.”

  Garcia continued, “If I had pulled in the FBI, then word would have gotten around to certain politicians. I didn’t know how deep the conspiracy went at the time. John boxed your father in, and he took the only action he thought he could. I was angry, so I knew I couldn’t handle things directly for fear my emotions would cause me to make a dumb mistake somewhere along the way. I knew Darla could get us the evidence without directly involving the CIA. I was right too, at least until John went full psycho. I didn’t see that coming, but fortunately, you had that handled.”

  “You should have seen the local cops when you pushed your way into the house that day. They were none too happy. To be fair to those guys, they’re all good people. They were really nice to our family when Dad died.”

  “It’s a territory thing. None of us like it when someone comes over to take a case we think we should solve.”

  “Even,” Harold raised fingers to form air quotes, “the CIA?” He let his arms drop and slapped the table and laughed.

  “Yea, yea,” said Garcia, rolling his eyes. “Listen, I didn’t really come up here to explain myself to you. I need you to be ready for this afternoon.”

  Harold pushed back his chair, stretched his legs, and crossed his ankles. “Well, since you haven’t been telling me anything, I’m sure I’m totally prepared.”

  Garcia dismissively waved off Harold’s verbal jab. “Relax. You’re not really doing anything. Chuck may ask you if the boxes of weapons really came from PDS. You’re just there to reassure him and validate the transfer.”

  Harold put his elbow on the table, rested his chin on his hand and fluttered his eyelids. “I think Chuck has a man crush on me since he thinks I saved his life. I could probably tell him a box of water pistols are the smart rifles and he’d believe me.”

  Garcia moved up to the edge of his seat and leaned in. His tone became urgent. “Harold, listen to me. Chuck is a very dangerous man. Even his friends fear him. He may say you saved his life and now you’re best buddies, but he can just as quickly put a bullet in your head.”

  Harold leaned back in his chair. “Easy. I was only making a joke.”

  “This is not the time for joking. From this moment until we see Chuck sailing away with his sample boxes, we have our game faces on. And, for the record, Darla is off limits. She is in her cabin talking with Alice via radio finalizing today’s events before we all leave.”

  Harold slapped the table with his large right hand causing the dishes to bounce. “What! She can’t go. She has an injured arm.”

  Garcia glared at Harold. “Never tell me how to take care of my team. Darla knows what she’s doing. I already offered to pull her and take one of the Franks along, but she refused. Besides, there shouldn’t be any gunplay. We’re simply delivering the weapons.”

  “Really? What about the first two times we met? There was plenty of gunplay then.”

  “Yes, and Haidar was at the center of it all. He’s dead. Nigel isn’t exactly the aggressive type.”

  Harold grunted and went silent for a few seconds. “We’re sure they won’t find the trackers?”

  “Not unless they bring an electrical engineer with a microscope to trace all the circuits, and even then, your engineers confirmed it was impossible.”

  “Fair enough, I trust my people to do a good job.”

  Garcia stood. “I’ll see you in three hours at the dive deck. Today we’re going to put away some very dangerous people.”

  Harold watched Garcia make his way quickly down the steps. He was a man on a mission, hopefully a successful one.

  ***

  The next three hours were long and restless for Harold. He had eventually made his way back to his small office. He decided to write out a quick impromptu update to his will. He had no idea where the thought came from, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Tom had done something similar when he was deployed while in the military. Tom mailed his will to H
arold to avoid upsetting his parents. Harold wanted Joshua to have half of everything, and his lost half-brother, Bill, to have the rest. He folded and slid the paper inside an envelope and then gently laid the envelope on top of the bloodstains on his father’s desk.

  Finished with his paperwork, he made his way to the main deck a half an hour early. Garcia, Darla, and Frank were busy on the diver’s deck prepping the Kodiak and checking communications gear hidden in the small craft.

  Garcia pointed at Harold. “You’re on time. Have you ever shot a gun?”

  “Dad made sure I could safely handle a weapon.”

  “Good. Do me a favor, grab that hand radio and sound check with Alice. After that, check those small handguns and make sure they’re properly loaded. Those are for Darla and me.”

  Harold strolled over to the coffee table near the ladder leading to the dive deck. He picked up the radio. “Radio check, radio check.”

  “Five by five,” Alice’s voice replied. “Why do you have the radio?”

  Garcia hollered from below, “No names!”

  “I know.” Harold pressed the transceiver’s button, “I was told to do the radio check,”

  “Roger,” answered Alice.

  Harold put down the radio and checked the Smith and Wesson M&P pistols. Both weapons had full clips. He carefully placed them back down and hollered to Garcia below, “Everything checks out.”

  Clattering feet quickly came up the ladder from the dive deck. Garcia hopped up on the main deck with Darla quickly following.

  Garcia placed the pistol in a holster and slid it into the small of his back. Darla reached over with her left hand and grabbed her pistol.

  “Need a hand?” asked Harold.

  Darla’s eyes looked cold and serious as she stared into his eyes. “Not today.”

  To Harold’s surprise, Darla slipped a holster out of her sling and holstered the pistol. She slid the holster back into her sling and appeared to shove it into an unseen pocket.

  She looked up at Harold, and for a moment her familiar smile returned. “Sorry, game faces.” With that, her smile disappeared as though it had never existed.

  Harold turned to Garcia. “Why pocket your weapons? You promised me no gun play.”

  “That doesn’t mean we go in unarmed. Chuck will be armed as well. I’m sure of it.”

  “Darla better not get hurt.”

  Garcia ignored Harold’s warning.

  “Let’s get boarded. We’re on a clock,” said Garcia.

  The team loaded into the Kodiak and began the rough ride over to the desert island as the yacht turned away and headed far away to safety. Nobody said a word as the Kodiak bounced along. Harold took point as usual. He looked over his shoulder at Darla and Garcia. They were the most serious he had ever seen either of them. For the first time, the demon he held inside seemed small and insignificant. It was clear his compatriots had worked to entrap people of violence before. The look in their eyes told Harold they had seen deals go bad and were working through their options. Harold turned back to the front of the boat and watched the island grow quickly before them.

  Garcia beached the craft, and everyone disembarked. The whistle of a breeze blowing left to right gave the empty desert key an eerie feeling. Harold was used to Alice or someone from the team greeting them. Today there was nobody. Two rifle boxes standing three high sat only ten yards from the water. The familiar meeting tent was nowhere to be seen. Near the rifles sat a folding table with four chairs.

  “Why four chairs?” Harold asked Garcia. “There’s five of us.”

  “We’re not here to chit chat with Chuck and Nigel,” he responded. “I doubt they will even get used. I asked Alice to put something down where we could rest if Chuck was delayed.”

  “He should be coming into view anytime now,” Darla said.

  The three stood silently and scanned the horizon.

  “Why wouldn’t he come around from the other side of the island?” asked Harold.

  Darla had her eyes shaded as she continued to peer towards the watery horizon. She responded without moving, “Chuck’s ship is supposed to meet our cargo vessel about sixty miles out from this direction. We’re fairly certain he will remain with his ship after he leaves us, so it stands to reason he’ll come from the same direction.”

  After ten more minutes, Harold went and dropped down into one of the chairs. “I don’t understand. He’s never been late.”

  Garcia looked over his shoulder at Harold. “He wasn’t technically buying illegal weapons. Today we’re exchanging money and guns. Chuck isn’t a fool. He’ll take every precaution.”

  Harold replied, “I still say he’s coming from…”

  The sound of a boat approaching from around the island broke through the rushing wind to their right. Nigel piloted the shallow watercraft while Chuck manned the lone machine gun mounted on the bow of the boat. Nigel pulled the boat up and stopped it just short of the shoreline. Chuck hopped over the craft’s side and dropped a small anchor that was tied to a rope into the wet sand.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” said Chuck with a smile. “Even in calm waters, she’s a little bumpy, but I don’t have to tell you. That Kodiak must be a real bum buster. I can’t imagine riding in that thing for very long.”

  “You get used to it,” Garcia replied.

  Nigel left the boat with a metal briefcase and stood next to his boss. “Well, let’s take a look at those weapons.”

  “And the money?” asked Darla.

  Chuck gave a quick nod towards Nigel. “We’ll take care of transferring the funds as soon as we confirm the weapons.”

  “Let’s see what’s in the case first,” Harold said from his seat.

  Chuck looked over at him. “Well, my favorite warrior, it appears you are a man of brawn and brains. Fair enough.” Chuck pointed at the table. “Nigel.”

  Nigel walked over and cracked open the case. A laptop was hooked up to a spare battery with a folding satellite antenna tucked away inside the case.

  “Boot it up,” said Harold.

  “What? You don’t trust us, mate?” asked Nigel.

  Harold stared at Nigel and said nothing.

  Darla interrupted, “Harold’s serious when it comes to his company. Don’t take it personally.”

  “Of course not. It’s just business. I hook into the bank account, and you open the crates.”

  Harold gave one nod. Garcia took that as his cue to open the top crates. Chuck walked over with him.

  “Let’s open them both up.”

  “We’re going to unload both crates?” Garcia’s voice sounded a little concerned.

  Chuck raised his eyebrow, looked over at Nigel, and back at Garcia. “There’s four of us. Your winged dove over there can watch the computer.”

  Nigel immediately stood and gestured his hand towards the seat for Darla. She stepped over and lowered herself into the chair. Harold and Nigel joined the other men and unstacked the boxes. Garcia grabbed a crowbar and broke the tops off each crate. Chuck and Nigel grabbed one weapon out of each box and placed them on the table.

  Nigel looked over at Darla. “I say, lovey, mind if we close that computer and move the two of you? We need this space.”

  “Everything on the screen appears ready to go. Suit yourself.”

  Nigel shut the lid, and the computer’s power light began to blink on the side. He moved the laptop over and set it on top of the guns in the nearest box.

  Chuck pointed to the gun boxes and looked over at Garcia. “If you three wouldn’t mind standing over by the other guns, we’d like to examine these unimpeded.”

  “Of course,” said Garcia, and the three of them stood near the laptop.

  Chuck and Nigel opened the bolt of each weapon and examined it. They then proceeded to go through the process of breaking down each weapon via the convenient buttons and latches that allowed the owner easy access to clean them. By the time they were halfway through, Harold was beginning to wonder if they were
going to have to be there all day while the two examined every weapon.

  Harold crossed his arms and looked up into the sky. There was not a cloud to be found or any sign of a drone. He had hoped to spy even a dot the size of a mosquito, but there was nothing nearby in visual or audio range. Anything high enough not to be seen or heard had the possibility of leaving a faint contrail or would sometimes reflect the sun if only for an instant. It would be imperceptible unless you knew how to focus your eyes. There was nothing in the air anywhere near them.

  “Looking for something?” asked Chuck.

  Harold blinked and looked back down at Chuck. “No, I was just admiring the sky and contemplating how long today will take if you do this to each of these guns.”

  “I understand. We have a celebration planned as well. Don’t worry. These will do. I don’t suppose you all would like to join our party. I can promise you, it will be unlike anything you’ve experienced.”

  Garcia jumped in, “We can’t disappoint our own guests.”

  “Of course,” Chuck responded. “I don’t suppose anybody bothered to bring some ammunition.”

  “Right here.” Garcia reached down, opened a lone box and handed Chuck three magazines.

  “Where are the rest of my rounds?”

  “Out on the cargo ship with the guns.”

  Harold interjected, “I assumed you weren’t going to light up all your ammo on the island. They’re expensive after all.”

  “Always the businessman I see,” Chuck said.

  “When there’s business to be done.”

  A loud static squawk rose up from the walkie-talkie sitting at the back of the Kodiak.

  Chuck cleared his throat. “I thought this handoff was supposed to be unobserved. You assured me that you had gotten the approval from your superiors to run this operation off the books. Why would you need a radio?”

  “Come on, Chuck,” Darla said. “We all know we both have radios. Would you want to ride in that small thing without one? Besides, I know, and you know, we both have ships out in the ocean somewhere, and judging from your boat, yours is bigger than ours. How do you think they’ll know to pick us up without a radio? Stop playing games.”