Echoes
in Eternity - Ransom
Part
Two
- The Plan
by
Reagan
Kavanagh
This work
of adult fiction, loosely
based on characters portrayed by Russell Crowe, includes adult language
and
experiences; you have been warned. This specific
work includes
references to sexually predatory criminals and their behaviours and may
be
difficult for some readers. No copyright
infringement on the original
work is intended. © Reagan Kavanagh 2006.
Author’s
Note: Please
note that I do NOT speak French fluently – aside from that
required for cooking
and making love – and I’m dependent on the various
online translators. If
you speak French, I apologise now for the errors and inaccuracies
contained in
this document. I did a version of this without the French
inserts and it
lost a great deal ‘in translation.’ Reagan
“Nous vous souhaitons pour nous faire un logement.”
‘We wish
you to
make us an accommodation.’ I looked at the man.
He had visited me twice daily since
my having been taken captive six days earlier. An
accommodation. I
stood and walked to the window – the glass reinforced with
metallic mesh as I
had anticipated – and gazed out at the roofs of
“Quelle
est la nature de ce logement?”
(What
is the nature of this
accommodation?)
“Une
petite faveur, rien plus.” (A small favour,
nothing more.) He
handed me a photograph.
“Connaissez-vous
cet homme?” (Do you know this man?) I
considered, then shook my head.
“Non, je
ne me rappelle pas pour l'avoir vu précédemment.
Pourquoi
demandez-vous? Qui
est-il?”
(No, I do not recall having seen him previously. Why
do
you ask? Who is he?)
“Il
vous
connaît, mon ami.” (He knows
you, my Friend.) I looked more
closely at the photograph; my memory stirred.
“Et
ce qui si je le connais ...si je l'ai vu quelque
part?” (And what if I do
know him …if I have seen him somewhere?) He smiled
at me. He had
ceased to cover his face, apparently no longer concerned at my being
able to
identify him. I was not worried that my ability to recognise
him placed
my life in jeopardy. I had realised this man and his
companions wanted
something from me other than money or my life. I was now
certain I knew
what that something might be.
“Nous
savons qui il est. Nous savons où le trouver.
Nous voulons que vous le tuiez.”
(We
know who he is. We know where
to find him. We
want you to kill him.)
“Pourquoi
est-ce que je souhaiterais vous adapter dans
cette matière? Je
ne suis pas un tueur loué.”
(Why would I wish to accommodate you in this matter? I am not
a hired
killer.) He shrugged before speaking.
“C'est
un tueur des enfants, un animal que le premier
maltraite de petites filles et puis les jette quand il est fait avec
elles.
Il ne
mérite
pas de vivre.”
(This is a killer of children, an animal who first abuses little girls
and then
throws them away when he is done with them. He does not
deserve to
live.) I shook my head.
“Je
vous dis encore. Je ne suis pas un tueur
loué. J'ai tué dans le passé, mais seulement
si nécessaire pour survivre ou pour sauver la vie des autres."
(I
tell you
again. I am not a hired killer. I
have killed in the past, but only when necessary to survive or
to save
the life of another.) His hand went to his pocket, bringing
forth a
copy of the photograph of Cassandra he had returned to me that first
day.
He looked at it for a long moment, then back at me.
“Tueriez-vous
pour protéger votre femme?” (Would you kill to
protect your
woman?) There was no need to dissemble. It was a
rhetorical
question; he would not have asked had he not known my
response. I
breathed deeply before answering.
“Sans
hésitation.” (Without
hesitation.) He nodded, seeming to choose
his words carefully.
“Nous
avons la confirmation qu'il l'égrappe. Elle
- les deux de vous -
et vos associés a
interféré ses plans pour le Veronica
d'enfant; il cherche la récompense. La mort de votre femme à ses mains sera lente, torturant; il appréciera chaque moment. Il prend le grand
plaisir dans son travail. Soyez assuré qu'elle
vivra plus longtemps que
n'importe quel enfant, et la souffrirez davantage ...est un adulte, et
fort. Sa mort
ne viendra pas facilement.”
(We have confirmation that he is stalking her. She
– the two of you – and
your partners interfered with his plans for the child, Veronica; he
seeks recompense. Your woman’s death at his hands
will be
slow, agonising;
he will enjoy each moment. He takes great pleasure in his
work. Be
assured that she will live longer than any child and will suffer far
more …she
is an adult, and strong. Her death will not come
easily.)
I slammed him
against the wall, my hand at his throat. He made no attempt
to defend
himself; he had anticipated my reaction. “Ne
vous inquiétez
pas pour elle. Nous avons averti vos associés; ils
la gardent bien.
Nous leur avons envoyé sa photo. Il ne
pourra pas la toucher
...cette fois. La prochaine fois que? Qui peut
indiquer?”
(Do
not worry for her. We
have warned your partners; they are guarding her well. We
have sent them
his photo. He will not be able to touch her ...this
time. The next
time? Who can say?)
TERRY
I stared at the picture as it came out of the fax machine then read the covering document a second time.
Now they were
referring to Max as our ‘colleague’ and
‘friend.’ They knew we could
trace the location of the fax originating the message unless they
disconnected it immediately and obviously didn’t give a toss;
the phone they
would use would be a throw-away cell. Who the fuck was
the man in
the picture? Reags was standing beside me, and I handed it to
her.
“Have you
ever
seen him before?” Her eyes shifted slowly from
right to left and back
again. Her head came up suddenly and she turned to look me
fully in the
eyes; there was no doubt in her voice when she spoke.
“Yes.”
“Where
…when?”
“In
The office was
uncovered today. I’d marshalled the troops, and
Sooze and Dino were at
Reags’ with the rest of us. The phone rang at
six-thirty in the morning;
we were sitting about in the lounge drinking coffee. Reags
jumped so hard
she split coffee all over her jeans as she jumped to her feet and ran
for the
phone. I beat her there, and my hand closed over the handset
before she
could grab it.
“Let me
talk
first, Love. They have information for us. If
they’ll give us a
couple of extra minutes and allow it, you can talk to
him.” She took a
deep breath but nodded; I could only imagine what giving over to logic
and
pushing her heart aside must have cost her. I looked at Sooze
before
hitting the ‘record’ button on the answerphone and
picked up the handset.
“Terry
Thorne.”
“Mr.
Thorne. How good of you to speak with
me.” I had him on speaker,
and Wesley was inputting information into the data base on his laptop,
as was
Dino. Reags was on her own laptop, plugging information into
a
psychological profiling data base. Ackerman was writing on a
notepad, his
head cocked toward the phone's speaker as he
listened. It would be
interesting later to compare the various impressions of this
bloke. I had
Sooze here to try and get a satellite link on the cell in case
it wasn’t a use-and-toss, and assuming it was a new
model with a GPS
chip. Her fingers were flying over her keyboard.
“Same
here,
Mate. Now, I believe we have business to
discuss.” Heavy accent,
Arabic certainly, but something else was in the mix.
French? Didn’t
matter at this point. We were recording the call and could do
voice
analysis later if we felt it necessary.
“We
do.
Permit me to assure you that your colleague is quite well. It
is not our
intention to harm him and has never been. We wish him to
perform a
service for us.”
“You want us
to pay you $25 million US dollars so my mate can do
you a
service? That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t
you think?” He ignored
the question, intent on putting forth his own agenda.
“You have
received the photograph? And you are aware that we have one
of our
operatives in
“We have
the
photo, and I didn’t think you’d got Fed Ex to tape
the note and proof of life
to my office door.”
“His woman
–
Cassandra – she is safe?” He’d
obviously got Max’s name for Reags out of
him.
“Yes
…why do you
ask?”
“The man
in the
photo seeks revenge, compensation for his …loss. Your
colleague and his woman –
all of you -
interfered with his intentions regarding the child, Veronica.
He has
settled on the woman as an acceptable substitute
for the
child. Guard her well; keep her safe …her life
depends on your
vigilance. You may speak to your colleague now.”
“Wait
…after I
speak with him, may he speak to his woman?”
“For two
minutes. I know you are tracing this call, but it will avail
you little
aside from a momentary location. Do nothing foolish; we watch
as well as listen.”
“I
understand. Let me talk to him.” I heard
the phone change hands,
and Max’s voice came on the line.
“Terry?”
“Yeah,
Max. Are you all right?”
“I am
unharmed.
They have done nothing other than hold me captive. I am well
fed.
They have moved me from my initial location to a room with
windows. I can
see the major hotels from where I now stand. I am permitted
to exercise
to alleviate my boredom. Is Cassandra with you? Is
she safe?”
Trust Max to put business before personal matters; we were all like
that.
Call it an occupational hazard.
“She’s
standing
beside me as we speak; she’s fine, Max, and we’ll
make sure she stays
safe. We’ve all of us moved into your house for the
duration – Dino,
Sooze, Ted Ackerman, Jim Wesley, and our other friend. Dino
and Sooze
rotate days and nights at the office; I take every third or fourth
night there,
but aside from that, I’m here 24/7. Max,
we’re going to get you out of
there.” I was careful not to mention
Diana’s name. No point in
giving them that information, though I’d no doubt they could
– and would - get
it if they wanted and had use for it.
“That
likely
will not be required. They wish me – us - to
perform a service for
them. On accomplishing that, they will set me free; I trust
them in
this. Their demand for money was a ruse, designed to
get
your
attention.” I took a deep breath.
“What do
they
want, Max?”
“You have
received the photograph?”
“Yes.”
“They want
us to
kill him. They say he is an abuser and murderer of female
children -
worse than any beast, according to them - and does not deserve to
live.
They have said they will forward proof of their words to you
within
hours.”
“Is this
some
sort of Jihad thing, Max?”
“I believe
it to
be entirely personal. I suspect this man may have killed a
relative of
one of my captors.” It was both Old Testament and
Sharia law …an eye for
an eye, a life for a life. “They tell me he
is in
“If they
have
him under surveillance, why don’t they take him
out?”
“They
believe we
can make his death seem accidental, making it appear he has simply left
the area;
because of
their collective rage at his transgressions, they are less confident of
their
own ability to do so.”
“How about
we
just grab the fucker and turn him over to the authorities for
extradition?”
“I
suggested
that as an option. They want him dead. He has been
apprehended
previously and set free for lack of evidence. He apparently
covers his
tracks well.”
“Max, you
know
we can’t do this.”
“I have
told
them as much. They are adamant in their position. I
have also told
them they would not have an answer today, that there will be
negotiations. They say they will wait; they believe once you
have their
information in hand, you will agree.” I took a very
deep breath and lit a
cigarette.
“Tell them
we’ll
consider all options. We want to work with them, but there
has to be
another way to do this.”
“I will
tell
them. Let me speak with Cassandra.” I
gave her the phone.
REAGAN
"Maximus! Are you all right?” I saw the puzzled looks on Jim and Ted's faces when I said ‘Maximus’ and realised I’d have to explain that away.
“I am safe
and
well, Cara. They have made no attempt to
harm me in any way.
We have only moments. Listen carefully.”
“Yes.”
“Go
nowhere
unaccompanied. Be constantly aware of your surroundings; wear
your vest
and sidearm at all times. Take no chances. Have
Terry and
Dino take
the same precautions with your friend as with you. Do not
fear for
me. I am certain they will not harm me; they have nothing to
gain – and
much to lose – by doing so.” He
didn’t say
“I love
you,
Max.”
“And I
love you,
Cassandra; all else is dust and air. Cara,
I must go …they wish to
speak with Terry again. Be
safe, Cara, siete la mia vita,
la mia anima.” Terry
took the phone from my hand before I could answer.
“Thorne
here.”
“Begin
your
investigation, Mr. Thorne. You will have our proof before the
day is
out. I will speak with you soon.” The
line went dead, and I turned
to look at the others.
“If they
knew
how to get to Max, to TEO, they could have found to some underworld
lowlife to
kill this bastard. Why TEO?”
Terry shook his head.
SOOZE
"I’ve got him.” I couldn’t believe they hadn’t used a throw-away cell phone, and the one they were using was a recent model. It had a GPS chip, enabling me to find the bastard anywhere on the planet. Everyone gathered around my computer, looking at the location on the screen. The satellite uplink and bounce from the GPS chip in the phone told us the call was placed from within 50 yards of the north entrance of the old covered souqs in the heart of
“Too bad we can’t microchip you guys the way Reags has her dogs …that would make it easy to track you in a situation like this. Think about it …micro-chipped Max!” Everyone laughed, and that even got me a grin from Reags. Ten minutes later the data files on the satellite link had been encrypted and uploaded to our secure server and were on their way to Stillwell and Parker in
DINO
Jethro
Parker called half an hour after
Sooze sent the files. Bob
Stillwell was already on the street and had his local contacts working,
looking
for any-fucking-thing that appeared even remotely like someone moving
shop from
one spot to another. Although Max’s swarthy skin
would allow him to blend
in with the locals to some degree, he was probably larger and more
solidly
built than the average man on the streets in Damascus. That
might make it
easier to
spot him, assuming they didn’t have him wrapped up in a
frigging burkha.
I’d like
to be
able to say that the demand we’d received had surprised
me.
Unfortunately, it hadn’t. I don’t think
it
surprised Terry either.
We’d known from the minute we’d planned our entry
to that villa in
The other thing
that hadn't occurred to any of us was that someone else out
there wanted the guys who got away as much as we
did. The dogs were
scratching
at the back door; I let them out and followed them, lighting a
cigarette as I
did. Terry followed me a minute later.
“You got
any
ideas, Mate?” I shook my head.
“Not a
fucking
thing, but we’d better start coming up with something
fast. When their ‘proof’ starts coming
in, maybe it will lead us to a game plan.”
“Right.”
I
crushed out my cigarette, and we went back inside, shooing the dogs in
ahead of
us. If the fucker who wanted Reags dead knew where she was
– and he
obviously did – he certainly wouldn’t hesitate to
mutilate and kill one or all
of her dogs to get his point across. We’d be
watching them as carefully
as we would her and Dee.
*
Fifteen
pages of
pictures and reports on half-a-dozen dead children, every single one of
them
mutilated. The pages were still coming out of the fax
machine. The
wounds were obviously pre-mortem. That little tid-bit was
from Reags …her
comment was ‘the dead don’t
bleed.’ Who in the name of all that’s
holy
could do those things to anyone, much less a child?
She
pulled the sheets from my hand and walked to the couch, sitting beside
Ackerman, and they put their heads together. I half-listened
to them but
was more occupied with trying not to vomit all over her carpet than
what they
were saying. I got snatches of it here and there.
“
…disorganised
early on but became more organised over time …he’s
learnt from his earlier
mistakes.”
“Thrill
killer
…no other obvious motive …clear sexual component,
fuelled and driven by
unbridled rage.”
“
…varied
dumpsites. No specific resemblance from
child to child – aside
from their youth - so he doesn’t have a clear type
….”
TED ACKERMAN
Dino
looked like
he was going to be sick and left the room. Reagan’s
eyes followed him for
a moment before returning to me; she picked up the stack of fax
pages transmitted so far and walked down the hall to her
office as
I
followed. People like Reagan and me tend to forget that what
we do is
something most people can’t even imagine, much less
understand, and it sickens
them. They’re grateful that we
do what we do, they just don’t want
to know about it. She put the papers on
her desk and opened the
closet–cum–bookcase. She’d
converted the closet and had built-in
bookshelves from floor to ceiling, but for a space large enough below
the
bottom shelf to hold file boxes. She pulled one of the boxes
out and
shoved it across the room toward her desk.
“Those are
the
files I brought from
“You
realize we
have extradition treaties with most of the Middle Eastern and other
Islamic
countries …including
“If we can
catch
him here, the Feds can extradite him to one of those countries for
trial …and
I’ll bet that would make whoever is holding Max even happier
than having the
son of a bitch dead. I’d think they’d be very
happy knowing that
he got back a bit of what he’s dispensed over the
years.” I nodded.
He might live long enough to get to trial, but
he’d be missing
significant body parts, and those parts would have been removed without
benefit
of anesthesia. I’m not a proponent of torture
because it doesn’t get you
what you want in terms of information, but we had
the information.
Knowing what I did – from what I’d seen on the fax
sheets we’d received thus
far about the children this monster had killed - I was more than
willing to
look the other way. I’d also bet a lot of money
that would be enough to get Max
released. Sharia law is basically Old Testament law
…an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth …and a life for a life. Reagan
smiled and stepped out
into the hallway.
TERRY
We’ve
always heard
that the female of the species is deadlier than the male, right? And whilst Ted may have
been the one to have
the light to on, if Reags hadn’t agreed, he’d never
have mentioned it to the
rest of us. The
three of us sat in her
office going through the pages of children this man had allegedly
killed …17
children in all as more pages had come in after Reags and Ted went to
her
office. They had gone through the specifics –
I’ll admit I don’t quite
have the stomach for that – and came to the conclusion that
the likelihood of
all 17 deaths not being attributable to the same
person was virtually
nonexistent. Dino had made a run to the closest bottle shop
to restock
Reags’ bar – we’d been hitting it
regularly since marshalling the troops here –
and I grabbed him when he walked in the front door.
“Need to
talk to
you, Mate.” Ten minutes later I had run Ted and
Reags’ extradition notion
past him, and he had the first smile I’d seen on his face
since this began; we
all did.
“What we
need
now is to sort out how to get the lot holding Max to tell us which
of
them lost a child …or a sister, to this bastard, and what
country they’re
from. I’d stake my reputation on Max being right,
and this
is
personal. And we need to fucking pray that whoever this
animal is, he’s committed
a provable crime in one of the countries with which
the
“In this
instance and knowing the Arab mind as I do, my suggestion is to be as
straightforward as possible. Arabs respect honesty as much as
anyone and
more than most; they’re a very honourable people.
Tell them what our idea
is. The problem is going to be gaining their trust.
At this point,
Arabs in general - and Iraqis and Afghanis in particular -
don’t trust the
United States Government. However, you do
have the advantage
of having two federal agents in your midst, and we’re both
friends with Jack
Marshall. If Jack goes to the Director and explains the
situation, I
think he’ll go for it. The Director will go to
Justice and then State,
and if he convinces them, they’ll contact
the relevant Government and
let them know we have the man wanted for the torture-murder of
…whatever the
child’s name was …and offer to
extradite. The motivation for Justice and
State to work with the Bureau is detente ...what a
concept! We've
not utilised that option in more than 20 years. We ask
nothing in return
aside that justice be done when they get him back to
At least now we
had an idea of where we were headed …all we had to do now
was find this
bastard. That last bit required a solid plan. I
looked round the
room.
“Anyone
got any
notion of how we go about finding this bastard, how we bring him out
into the
open?” Ted and Reags exchanged a look, and Ted
spoke.
“We bring
him to
us.”
“That’s
a given
…any suggestion how?” Reags spoke next.
“We
set the trap
and bait it.”
“With
what?”
*
The shit hit the fan when we pulled in Sooze, Diana, and Jim and told them the plan; Dino had already blown. Everyone in the room was talking, total pandemonium for a few tics there. Much as I hated the idea, Reags was right. He wanted her. If he couldn’t get to her, there would soon be a dead child somewhere in
“Let’s
all calm
down and be rational. All Reags has done is make a
suggestion.
Let’s toss everything we can think of into the water to see
what floats and try
to come up with a workable plan.” Dino was shaking
his head.
“Both of you know there’s no way in fucking Heaven or Hell Max would go along with this.” Reags looked at him as if he’d just come in from the back of Bourke.
“Dino, we
can’t
even float the idea to him without his captors knowing what
we’re thinking, and
that’s not an option at this point. All we want his
captors to know is
that we will get the killer for them. I,
for one, do not
want them knowing precisely how we plan on doing it. Given
that Max won’t
know what we’re doing, he can’t
really object, now can he?”
“You think
for five
minutes he won’t figure it out?”
“Of course
he
will, assuming he thinks on it for more than ten seconds, but
he’s in no
position to say anything to us for the same reason we can’t
say anything to
him. Even if he suspects, he won’t know for sure
what we’ve planned until
it’s done.” Dino groaned at the thought.
“Yeah
…then he
castrates Terry and me and hangs our balls over your front door as his
trophies
and monuments to our colossal stupidity for having put you in
danger.
Jesus, Reags! And just how the fuck do you plan on pulling
this guy in
without him suspecting what we’re doing?”
“Let Ted
and me
work on that. Just remember one thing, Dino …this
man doesn’t expect any
of us to be as smart as he is. He’s eluded capture
for years, and he thinks
his luck will hold forever; he lives in a fantasy world.
That’s the
common personality trait of serial predators that eventually gets them
caught;
they believe they’re invulnerable, and because of that, they
get sloppy.”
REAGAN
What no one
other than Ted and I truly understood, my little lecture to Dino,
Terry, and
The first thing
on our agenda was having the Bureau contact the Department of Customs
and
Immigration. We now had the man’s name –
Tamir Omar Khan - and his
photograph, and needed to know his point of
entry into
the States. Though we didn’t expect him to have
used his real name to
enter the country – we assumed he’d try using a
forged passport - his face
would likely be recalled simply because he was of Arabic descent, and
Customs
would have videos of all Arab nationals coming into the country
…thank God for
BioMetrics. Ted called Jack Marshall at the Bureau to get
that in motion
as I worked on what Wesley needed to say to Maximus’ captors
in order to
convince them to let us try it our way, rather than theirs.
The first
conversation with them had been handled by Terry, but now
he distanced
himself and let Jim take over. Terry was too personally
involved, and he’d
asked for Jim Wesley as
the negotiator. I was in the
kitchen making a fresh pot of coffee when Jim walked up to me, speaking
softly
in that way of his I’d come to appreciate so quickly.
“Are you
sure
you’re up for this, Reagan? If not, tell me now
before I start talking to
these men. When we’re
negotiating, we have to
take a very positive stance. Once I’ve taken a
position, I can’t back
down, or I lose all credibility. You have
to be very bloody
sure you’re totally committed to seeing this through once the
game’s in
play.” His hazel eyes were warm but concerned, and
he sounded so much
like Terry or Maximus in working mode …the same firm voice,
one that
simultaneously brooked no nonsense and inspired absolute
trust. I liked
Jim; I liked him a lot. More than that, I trusted him, with
Maximus’ life
as well as my own.
“I’m
sure,
Jim. Do whatever’s necessary to get them to work
with us. Once you’ve convinced them,
we’ll make the plan work.” His hand
was warm on my shoulder, and he squeezed it lightly before letting
go.
“All
right,
Reagan …I had to be sure.”
MAXIMUS
“Why did you not indicate that you spoke English?” I was angry, though more at myself than him. I knew Terry spoke French and had assumed he would conduct the negotiations with my senior captor. When the man began speaking - in English, and turned to smile at me - it was all I could do to contain my rage.
“It was
not
necessary. Had you spoken no language other than English or
French, it
would have been obvious. I am observant …you are
Spanish by birth; you
acknowledged that. You travel on a British passport; thus it
was obvious
that you speak English; you assumed I did
not. Your French is
exceptionally fluent. I should know. It is my
second
language, and I have
spoken it since the age of five. That makes three languages
you
command. Are there others?” There was no
point in further
deception.
“Yes.”
“How
many?”
“I am a
linguist; I speak seven languages. Do you wish to know which
ones?”
“I assume
Arabic
is one of them.”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Espan
…if
that is truly your name …you are what your American friends
would term ‘a piece
of work.’ Which languages do you command?”
“Spanish,
English, French, German, and Italian …as well as classical
Latin and
Arabic.” He shook his head and smiled. It
was difficult not to return
the smile as the situation was – at least for the moment
– somewhat
amusing. We had each been deceiving the other, though to what
end, I
could not imagine.
“Perhaps I
should offer you employment. We could use your talents, as
well as your
inscrutable face.” Perhaps
his
willingness to make a small joke with me was indicative of a growing
willingness to consider options.
“I would
be
forced to decline. There is a rather pressing matter that
summons me
home.”
“Yes
…and it is
a most lovely matter. Your colleagues have been warned to
watch her
carefully. The man we seek is merciless. He will
stop at nothing to
achieve his goal.” I felt the cold stab of fear in
my vitals.
“You must
understand that irrespective of any perceived danger to my
fiancé, my
colleagues will not assassinate this man. That much I can say
with
absolute certainty; however, they will offer viable alternatives for
dealing
with him. You will have the justice you
seek.” I looked at
him and the pain was clear in his eyes. I ventured an
observation and
questions. “He killed someone dear to
you.” A nod. “Your
daughter? A younger sister?” He leant
against the wall as he looked
at me where I sat on the bunk that served as my bed.
“My only
daughter. She was eight-years-old.” My
heart ached for him and his
wife, and I stood to meet him, placing my hand on his shoulder.
“My son
…and my
wife …were tortured and murdered. My son - my only
child so far as I knew
at that time - was also only eight years of age. I know your
grief, and
you
have my deepest regrets for your loss and the pain that haunts
you. I
spent years seeking vengeance against the man who killed my son and his
mother
and had it. You, too, will have the justice you
seek. It
may not be in the
form you have asked of me, but I promise you …it will
be yours. I
ask only that you keep an open mind when my colleagues propose
options.”
His head had been down when I spoke, but now he raised it and looked me
in the
eyes.
“Do you
tell me
this as a man of honour?” I lay my fist over my
heart, as I had done in
the past.
“On the
graves
of my son and his mother, I swear it.”
TERRY
“Okay,
everyone
needs to calm down and have a listen.” I
wasn’t in any mood to fuck about
because Jim and I’d made up our minds after the little
private meeting in
Reags’ office a bit earlier. Ted, Jim, Reags, and I
had spoken with Jack
Marshall, and I’d called Delta Airlines before coming back to
the lounge.
“Reags is
leaving at zero-eight-thirty tomorrow for DC. Ted will go
with her; the
rest of us stay here. They have a meeting with Jack Marshall
at 1400 and
will be back the day after tomorrow.” For a few
moments, everyone was talking
over each other. Only
Dino had opted out
of the discussion and sat watching, eyes narrowed and chain-smoking as
he
listened; he'd made his opinion known earlier. I looked at
Ted, and he
looked at Jim before speaking. Ted has a voice that commands
attention,
and finally, everyone was
listening.
“Here’s
the
plan. Sooze, you may have thought your comment about
micro-chipping Max
was amusing, but it got Reagan and me thinking about applying that
technology
to her. We can’t micro-chip her like a dog, as
it’s unlikely anyone would
think to run a scanner over her, and they'd only do it at her autopsy
so that
buys us nothing …but we can implant a
GPS chip – a VeriChip - under her
skin that will let us locate her anywhere, at any time.
I’ve talked to
Jack Marshall, and he’s willing to authorize it to keep her
safe. She’ll
be in the hospital at
“Have you
lost
your fucking mind, Reags? That bastard is stalking
you. He
probably knows every move you make outside this house, and
you’re going to get
on a fucking airplane and fly halfway across the
country?” Dino was next,
having opted in again.
“Reags
– and Ted
with all due respect to you and Terry and Jim – Max would
have my nuts in a vise
if I let you out of my sight, and he found out about
it.” Ted took a deep
breath.
“Dino, and
with
all due respect to you, I can
keep her safe. There will be
two Federal Air Marshals on the flight from here to DC to watch
us. Even
if the bastard should manage to find out Reagan’s leaving the
area and gets on
the plane with us, he’s not going to blow it out of the
sky. He’s not
a religious zealot, and he’s homicidal, not
suicidal. The
Bureau will have a car with a driver known to me meet us on the tarmac
when the
plane lands - Jack will be there as well - and the Marshals will
accompany us
to
We had them, and
they knew it. No
matter how much I
disliked the notion, it made sense. I looked at Dino; he
shook his head
at me in resignation. Diana grabbed my cigarettes, lit one,
and walked
out the back door into the yard, taking the dogs with her.
Jim looked at me; he didn’t like this any more than
the rest of us, but knew it was the
only workable plan we could devise that would get Max released any time
in the
foreseeable future, and hopefully, prevent another child from being
murdered. Sooze looked out the north window into the yard
where Diana
stood. Reags took a sip of her scotch and looked at Ted who
was leaning
against the mantle watching the rest of us. I stood and went
to the
kitchen and poured myself a stiff scotch and returned to the lounge
just as
Diana walked back inside, herding the pups ahead of her. Ted
looked round
the room, meeting everyone’s eyes levelly before coming back
to mine. I
nodded, though it was with no small amount of trepidation. He
smiled and
spoke …words I’d once said myself.
“So
we’re on
then.”
*
Once the flight
reservations had been made and I knew that Reags was in competent
hands, I went
into assignment mode. I looked round the room.
“Diana,
you need
to go home and spend some time with the dogs and horses. I
want you out
of here tomorrow morning as soon as Reags and Ted leave. Jim,
obviously
you stay here to monitor the phone and fax. Dino, you and
Sooze need to
get back to the office.” Dino looked at me, and I
knew what was coming.
“Okay
…you’ve
assigned the rest of us our homework, what the fuck are you
going to be
doing?”
“I’ve
let a few
things slide.”
To
be
Continued
|
Jihad |
A Muslim holy war or
spiritual struggle against infidels. A crusade or
struggle. |
|
TDY |
Temporary Duty
assignment. Common in both the military and federal service. |
|
Sharia Law |
The law of Islam,
religious in content and like Old Testament law. As Terry
said, ‘an eye for an eye.’ |
|
Siete
la mia vita, la mia anima |
You are my life, my
blood |
|
Justice and State |
Shorthand used by
current and former federal employees when referring to the U. S.
Departments of Justice and State. |
|
VeriChip |
An implantable GPS
chip for human usage, recently (2004) approved by the FDA. GPS in Humans or Human
Usage - http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/ch0466.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/04-27077.htm |