The Shadow Patriots Box Set 1

by Warren Ray

  They waited a few minutes until the gate opened. “The Colonel will meet you in the mess hall. He’s there now.”

  Scar looked at his watch. “Four in the morning, he must just be getting up.”

  They wound their way around the base and parked the car. Getting out of the car proved to be more of a challenge for Scar than it was for Bassett, who jumped right out. Scar’s body had cramped up over the long drive and it took a moment to work out of the kinks. Bassett shot him a glance and started to laugh.

  “You just wait buddy, someday you’ll know how this feels,” chided Scar.

  “I hope not, I want to get old, but without the pains.”

  “Good luck on that.”

  The two of them entered the mess hall. The place was alive with men and women getting breakfast. Bassett felt comfortable in the setting, army mess halls were army mess halls, no matter the nationality. They found Colonel Brocket sitting with General Standish, the base commander.

  “Colonel Brocket, it’s good to see you, sir,” said Scar as he extended his hand.

  Both Brocket and Standish rose from their seats and shook hands. “It is indeed good to see you, Mr. Scarborough, but I have a feeling this isn’t a social call,” said Standish in his deep baritone voice.

  “No, it’s not. This here is Corporal Bassett, he works for Major Green, who is now in Washington.”

  “Yes, we’re aware of that arrangement,” said Brocket.

  Scar gave him a slight smile. “Of course you are.”

  British intelligence had their spies all over Washington. It was essential for them to know what was going on with their American cousins. U.S. relations with Britain and Canada had deteriorated over the last decade to the point where the U.S. didn’t even request any assistance for the war with China. This was unheard of and led them to believe something else was going on within the U.S. government. Having a long common border with America, it was imperative that Canada be in the loop. Many American refugees from the West Coast had fled to Canada. This was not a problem and they gladly took in all who came.

  “Well, here’s something you don’t know. Captain Winters was captured yesterday morning.”

  The news startled Brocket and Standish.

  Scar and Bassett gave them an account of yesterday’s events. They sat entrenched by the story and nodded to each other.

  “So, what are your plans?” asked Brocket.

  “We mostly came here to get our guys back.”

  “Yes, I would imagine you’d want them now. They should be along here shortly. All but Mr. Murphy. He’s in no shape to travel.”

  “Elliott?”

  “He’s still in some pain, but I’ve no doubt he’ll be wanting to rejoin you.”

  “How are the girls we rescued?”

  “Health wise, they’re all going to be fine.” Brocket paused for a moment. “Emotionally, well, that’ll take longer to evaluate.”

  “We’ll have to stop by and visit them before we go,” said Scar.

  Bassett nodded in agreement.

  “Colonel, what can you tell us about this Mordulfah guy?”

  “Yes, after Nate gave us the heads up, we’ve been looking into him. He’s a Saudi Prince, but one of minor standing, which is probably why he’s been trying to make a name for himself. He’s into international banking and real estate and has holdings all over the world. The affairs of these businesses are where he’s been making important connections, including Mr. Perozzi, the man behind the curtain in your government. We don’t know the extent of their relationship, but it obviously concerns money and possibly real estate.”

  Scar didn’t know what to say.

  “As to why they’re torching all those towns, it would seem it’s a continuation of their mission to drive the current citizens out. Only they’ve moved their operations from Minnesota to Michigan.”

  Scar thought about that. “Well, we did eliminate all their guys up in Minnesota, so it would make sense for them to start over in Michigan. There’s a ready supply of Jijis around Detroit.

  “Jijis?” asked Brocket.

  Scar smiled. “It’s our nickname for them. It’s short for Jihadis.”

  Brocket nodded. “I like it.”

  “There’s something else,” said Standish. “Mordulfah also has some banking connections with the Chinese. We don’t know with whom or how deep these connections are.”

  “It’s just one big party in America,” said Bassett.

  “Yeah, including raping little girls,” said Scar.

  “Yes, that is a dreadful business,” said Brocket.

  “Mr. Scarborough, let us know whatever it is you need from us,” said Standish.

  “I could use a phone, I need to call Major Green,” said Bassett.

  “Come by my office, you can use mine,” said Standish.

  “I’ll get your vehicles loaded, and will add a few more supplies than what Nate had requested,” said Brocket.

  Scar and Bassett took advantage of the buffet and devoured a pile of warm food. As they finished, a surprised Nate approached them with Burns following. They retold all that had happened. Afterward, Bassett left to call Major Green, while the other three found Elliott in his room. Emotions ran high during the conversations and no one wanted to waste another minute in Canada. They did find time to look in on the girls and Murphy, who was frustrated he couldn’t join them. On the way out of the medical wing, they ran into Mr. Peterson, the man who had given them rest at his farm in Minnesota.

  “Mr. Peterson,” smiled Scar, giving the older man a bear hug.

  “Scar, how the heck are you? What are you doing here?”

  “Came to get these guys back, they’ve had enough R & R up here,” said Scar, and then proceeded to tell him about Winters.

  Shock and then anger came across Mr. Peterson’s face. “I’m coming back with you.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “As sure as I’ve ever been. I’ve been getting antsy up here anyway. I’ve never felt more alive than when I was with you guys.”

  “You mean on the run with us,” said Nate.

  “That was a helluva a day,” said Mr. Peterson reminiscing about their escape from his farm to Canada.

  “Luckiest day of my life,” said Nate.

  “Let’s see if we can have another one of those,” smiled Mr. Peterson.

  Chapter 49

  Alexandria Virginia

  Green got off the phone with Bassett and started pacing the kitchen floor of his mother’s home while trying to figure out what to do next. He could easily lie about Bassett’s whereabouts and say he flew back to Washington. The first thing he wanted to do was find out more about Mordulfah, a person Green had never heard of before. He wondered if he should ask Reed directly. He had no doubt that Reed would lie to his face about his connections, but he could at least gauge his response. Mordulfah must matter to the government, otherwise, why would he be in Detroit and be able to get his hands on Winters. He wondered if Reed knew about it. He also wondered if Reed was aware of Cox going behind his back and not keeping him informed on their mission to capture Winters. Surely, it would be a better news story to have Winters brought to D.C. and put on trial. Of course, they would plaster his face all over the media, creating a spectacle for a show trial. The public would eat it up as well since they believed Winters was a murderer of innocent women and children. The government almost needed Winters to be the boogieman, so they could keep blaming him for what they were doing. On the other hand, maybe the government wouldn’t even bring him to trial. They might just pretend the man was still on the loose. Maybe this is why they allowed Mordulfah to retain him.

  It was all speculation at this point. Until Green could get into his office and start investigating who Mordulfah was and his connection to the government, he’d just have to be satisfied that Bassett and Scar were going after Winters.

  After filling his mother in on the latest events, Green left for the office. He arrived earlier than
usually and was there before his secretary. He had always liked being the first one in. This would give him peace and quiet before the start of what was shaping up to be a very hectic day.

  He sat down at his desk, booted up the computer, and entered Mordulfah’s name in the government’s system. Nothing came up but a few newspaper articles on a couple of charities he was involved in, one of which was a children’s hospital. “Like to be close to children, do ya?” he thought to himself.

  He needed to inform Reed of what was happening, but before he did, he would call Cox and express interest in the capture. He would also have to convey his displeasure in the way Cox had treated Bassett.

  He pulled up the number on his computer and clicked the auto dialer.

  Chapter 50

  Detroit Michigan

  Captain Cox got up early, excited with anticipation as if it was Christmas morning. He couldn’t wait to get on the phone to Mordulfah and give him the good news. He looked in the mirror at his bandaged nose, which reminded him of his stupidity for letting Winters get close enough for the sucker punch. Had he not lost control of his temper, none of this would have happened.

  He arrived at the station, and asked Millsap, the watchman for the night, for any updates.

  “Everything was pretty quiet last night,” said Millsap, who relished having tattoos inked on his body. He would have more if he could find someone capable of quality work, but with the war, finding a talented artist had become impossible.

  “Any problem with the prisoners?”

  “No. No problems at all, I checked on them regularly.”

  “And that’s all you did, right?”

  “I didn’t touch them if that’s what you mean.”

  “You know that’s exactly what I mean. Those girls are not for us. I’ll kill anyone who goes near them.”

  “I know, I know,” said Millsap. “I don’t know what the big deal is with the older blonde. I heard some of the guys say she was at our Saline house.”

  “I don’t care if she was the house mother. I don’t want to upset the little one any more than she is right now. The last thing I need is for her to be hysterical when I bring her to Mordulfah. We’ll let him decide what to do with the other one.”

  “Fine, whatever.”

  “What about Bassett? Did we find out who let him go?”

  “No, not yet? I still need to ask Hadley.”

  “Hadley? Where is our little Texas hick?”

  “He didn’t come in yesterday?”

  “He didn’t? Well did it cross your little pea brain that he might have been the one to let Bassett go?”

  Millsap shrugged his shoulders.

  “Did you call the airport like I asked?”

  “Yeah, they don’t know anything about it.”

  Cox started toward his office. “There’s something about Bassett that makes me think, he’s not on our side.”

  Millsap whispered to himself. “Whatever, nose boy.”

  Cox sorted through some papers before going downstairs to check on his prisoners. He made a big production of descending the stairs to make a grand entrance as if he was going to be formally announced to an audience. He looked at each one of them. The older blonde had fire in her brown eyes as she stared Cox down, to the point where he was the first to turn away.

  He stopped at Winters cell. “Well, how did our rebel killer sleep last night?”

  Winters stretched himself out. “I haven’t slept this good in quite some time. How’d you sleep? Oh, I do hope you don’t have sleep apnea. That mask would have been a bitch to wear.”

  Sadie let out a chuckle.

  Cox caught himself before he lost his temper again. “So, you slept well, on just a piece of plywood?”

  “I usually sleep outside on the ground, so this was a real treat.”

  “Even knowing that we captured and killed some of your men?”

  “Can’t let that worry me,” said Winters, who in fact worried all night.

  “We even killed your friend Bassett,” said Cox trying to trick Winters.

  “I’ve got no man named Bassett, must be one of yours.”

  “No, I’m certain he’s one of yours.”

  “Afraid not. Sounds like you’re not a very good administrator.”

  “I’m very good at my job.”

  “And yet you ask me if one of your guys belongs to me,” said Winters in a condescending tone.

  Cox didn’t like his tone. “And yet I have you behind bars.”

  “For now you do.”

  “Oh, you think you’re going to escape?”

  “I said nothing of the sort, you’re the one who brought it up.”

  “But you said for now.”

  “If I’m not mistaken, we’re getting transferred out of here,” said Winters who was enjoying his bantering with the weak minded Cox.

  Cox’s eye twitched. He then composed himself. “You’ll be the guest of Prince Mordulfah.” He turned to the two girls. “Don’t worry, you two will be going with him.”

  Winters didn’t respond.

  Cox strutted back upstairs. Just as he made it to his office, the phone on his desk rang. He sat down and picked up the receiver.

  “Captain Cox here.”

  “Captain Cox, this is Major Green with Homeland Security.”

  Cox straightened up. He hadn’t expected this call and was caught off guard.

  “What can I do you for, Major?”

  “I understand you’re to be congratulated.”

  Cox didn’t know if Green knew about Winters. “Oh?”

  “You’ve captured state enemy number one.”

  “Yes. Yes, I did.”

  “That’s great news. I’ll be sure you’re given an accommodation. This is a very big deal.”

  “Well thank you, Major. It was quite an undertaking, and sadly, I lost some men in the process. Regrettable for sure, but to be expected under such circumstances,” he said not caring for his dead or regretting a thing.

  “So, where are you holding him, and when can we have him?” asked Green, knowing this would throw the little bastard off.

  Cox wasn’t sure how to answer this. “We have him here, and until arrangements can be made, we’ll keep him here.”

  “We’ll arrange for it today. In fact, I’ll have an escort fly in this afternoon.”

  Cox started to get nervous. “That won’t be necessary. I need to check with my boss, he’ll need to check with his, and so on up the line before I can let him go. You understand I’m sure.”

  “I understand completely, I know all about bureaucracy and something tells me everyone is going to want a piece of this action.”

  “Yeah, you know how it goes.”

  “Regardless, I’ll have our PR department put together a press release and have it ready to go. This is going to be big, Captain. You’ll be famous before the day is out.”

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” said Cox who was starting to worry that his prisoner might be too popular to hand over to Mordulfah.

  “Don’t you worry about anything,” said Green, wanting to make Cox nervous. He needed to find out how much juice this guy had and how long it would take before someone contacted him. “You’re a hero, and you know how the public loves heroes.”

  “Like I said, I need to talk to my boss and get everything squared away.”

  “Hey Captain, this has put me in such a good mood I’m even going to let that other thing go?”

  “What other thing?”

  “You know, that little stunt you pulled with my man, Bassett. He was pretty pissed off about it.”

  “Things got out of control is all. Didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I’ll calm him down as much as I can. His PTSD sometimes has a way of getting the best of him though.”

  “His PTSD?” asked Cox who was regretting picking up the phone.

  “The man saw some crazy stuff when he was in the Middle East. H
e told me about this one time when his squad came busting in on a harem of young girls. He said he just lost it and they killed everyone involved, including their family members.” It was all Green could do to not laugh aloud. “Yeah, he said that really messed with his mind, still has nightmares about it.”

  Cox’s hand started to shake. “That’s uh, really too bad, like I said I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Well, Captain, I’ll be in touch later today, I’ve got a lot to do here to get ready for Cole Winters’ delivery. Have a great day.”

  Cox hung up the phone. His mind was spinning a mile a minute. Not only did he not want to lose his prize possession but he also forgot to ask where Bassett was. If Millsap was correct, that no flights left last night, then Bassett might still be in Detroit.

  He needed to stop this Major Green before he let the cat out of the bag by telling the world about Winters. He picked up the phone, took a couple of deep breaths and dialed Mordulfah’s number.

  Chapter 51

  St Paul Minnesota

  Scar was glad to be back in Minnesota and couldn’t wait to talk to Bill Taylor. He was anxious to discuss the details of Taylor’s plan to free the captured Patriots. He just hoped they had enough manpower to do the job. He felt more confident knowing he had Nate, Burns and Elliott back with him. Mr. Peterson had brought along six new men, two of whom were former military. People with military experience were hard to come by these days. They were either already fighting in the war, too old, or murdered by their own government, thanks to the Patriot Centers. Just thinking about the Patriot Centers made Scar’s skin crawl. It was such a surreal thing that it didn’t even seem conceivable. To take advantage of someone’s patriotism was so underhanded and evil that he had difficulty understanding it. Did power and control mean so much that it justified the killing of innocent people to get what you want? It all boiled down to good versus evil.

  Scar’s thoughts turned to Colonel Brocket who had supplied them with more weapons and supplies, which was a blessing. He didn’t know what they would be doing without their generosity and understanding. It re-instilled his faith in humanity to know there were still good people in the world who wanted to do the right thing.