Apocalypse Cult (Gray Spear Society) (24 page)

Instead of going into the house itself, Aaron and Marina went to a garage in back made of cinderblocks. They found Ethel and Victor inside, sitting on folding lawn chairs in front of video monitors. Live feeds from a dozen hidden cameras showed various views of the street.

"There you are!" Ethel said. "Five minutes late."

"Sorry, ma'am," Marina said.

"The cult members are inside that one." She pointed at a yellow house on one of the monitors. "And the DEA is hiding there." She pointed at a brown van parked on the street. "Four men, including Hoskins."

"That's a small van for four guys plus gear. It must be snug in there."

"I'm sure it is, so don't whine about our luxury accommodations."

The garage was dusty but spacious and well ventilated. Between the lawn chairs were two grocery bags full of soda, fruit, and snacks.

"You won't hear me complain," Aaron said. "This is nice for a stakeout. Comfy."

"I drew a schematic." Ethel gave a piece of paper to Marina. "It shows the locations of cars, cameras, and other items of interest. Study it."

"What's the plan?" Aaron said. "When are we going to grab the cult members, ma'am?"

"Soon. I'm sure there are other cult houses. If we take out this one, the rest will know to expect trouble, so for now we'll just gather intelligence. Besides, before we deal with the cult, we will have to deal with the DEA."

He looked down, not liking the implications of her statement.

"I think that's all," she said. "We'll be back at 1600 hours to relieve you."

Ethel and Victor stood up and headed for the door.

"Wait, ma'am!" Aaron said. "I need a few minutes with you alone, please."

He and Ethel went outside together. They stood on the back lawn behind the abandoned house. He made sure to close the garage door so Marina wouldn't hear.

"What's wrong?" Ethel said.

"Something happened last night, ma'am."

"What?"

"While we were at the harbor," Aaron said, "we heard screaming. It turned out to be a girl getting raped. Marina..."

"I can guess the rest. She went berserk."

"She shredded two men."

Ethel nodded and sighed. "We're violent creatures fighting a violent war, but there are boundaries. She sometimes forgets that."

"What's wrong with her?"

"All I know is that she had a very bad experience when she was young. She's still angry about it. I've tried to talk to her many times, but she refuses to even discuss the matter."

"So," he said, "you just tolerate this kind of murderous behavior, ma'am?"

"I'm in a very difficult position. Marina is a phenomenally talented
legionnaire,
and when she stays in control, she's a star performer. Just as important, she's a survivor. To give you an idea, twelve different
legionnaires
have worked for me during my time as a commander. Eight were killed."

That last number troubled him. Those weren't good odds of survival. "Wait. You have three now, plus eight is eleven."

"You're forgetting Yvonne," she said. "She was a
legionnaire
too, and technically, she still is. My point is surviving five years is a substantial achievement. Marina is almost at her tenth anniversary. Some day you'll understand how impressive that is. This team would be much less effective without her. I keep hoping she'll get better. I've been trying to counsel her. It hasn't helped."

Ethel's dark eyes were full of sorrow. It was as much emotion as Aaron had ever seen her express.

"Maybe I can help her," he said.

"I very much hope you can, but be careful. You could easily become another victim of her rage. At least she didn't compromise the mission. Headquarters reported they received the photos. Nobody on the team was injured, and the police weren't involved. Good work."

He looked up at the lush trees. "Victor is a thug. Edward was a professional crook. Marina is dangerously insane. It makes me wonder whether I'm on the right team, ma'am."

"Your history is not without blemish. You were a Chicago cop for long enough to get plenty of innocent blood on your hands. When the department threw you out..."

"Those charges were fabricated!" Aaron clenched his fists.

"Not all of them," Ethel said. "The reports I saw called you a maniac and a gun slinger, and they were written before the bribery incident. That's one reason I recruited you."

"I don't understand, ma'am." He shook his head.

"We are God's attack dogs. Priests and preachers take the high road, but we take the low. Have you ever read the
Old Testament?
Sodom and Gomorrah. Jericho. Exodus 11:5: All the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall
die
. Deuteronomy 20:3: Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto
battle
against your enemies. Jeremiah 18:21: Deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their
blood
by the force of the sword. The Lord commands us to crawl through mud and slay His enemies without hesitation. Marina will do that. If I'm worried about anybody on this team, it's you."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure you have the stones to be one of us."

Not too long ago, that comment would've offended Aaron. He had to admit maybe Ethel was correct.

"I have to get some sleep," she said. "I'll see you later."

She called for Victor, and they left.

Aaron went back into the garage and sat with Marina on the lawn chairs in front of the monitors. The only visible activity was one squirrel chasing another around a tree. He exhaled slowly. It would be a long, dull day.

"You told Ethel about last night," Marina said softly.

Aaron glanced at her. "I had to talk to somebody. Sorry."

"I thought you loved me."

"I do."

"But then you rat me out."

"It's not like that." He shook his head. "Besides, do you really want to keep secrets from Ethel?"

She took a long moment before answering. "I'm not proud of what I did. I completely lost control, and that's inexcusable. How did Ethel react?"

"She's not going to kill you this time. No guarantees about next time though. You're sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Very sure. And it's not smart to tell Ethel everything. She doesn't need to hear about every screw up."

"Oh?"

"If she decides you're too weak or too stupid to be a Spear, she will revoke your membership... with her machetes." Marina made a slashing motion across her own throat with her finger. "Understand?"

"Yes," Aaron said. "I understand very well."

Chapter Seventeen

Aaron was having trouble keeping his eyes open. The garage was too warm, the air was too still, and the only sound was cicadas chirping in the trees. He glanced at Marina. She was slouched in her lawn chair with her head at an angle. His watch showed 2:00 PM.
Two hours until our shift is over
, he thought.

Hoskins and his team were still in their brown van, which hadn't moved an inch all day. One of the surveillance cameras showed a partial angle through a back window of the van. Aaron could sometimes glimpse the men inside, and he didn't envy them. It was probably as hot as an oven and stinking of sweat inside there. They couldn't run the air-conditioner without starting the engine, and they couldn't start the engine without attracting attention.

Aaron slapped his own face to wake himself up. He grabbed a can of cola from one of the grocery bags that Ethel had left behind. The can was warm but the drink was caffeinated, and the latter was the most important consideration.

A white sedan pockmarked with rust pulled into the driveway of the yellow house where the cult members were hiding. Four men immediately rushed out of the house and began unloading small wooden crates. The men wore street clothes, but green tattoos on their faces marked them as agents of the Church of One Soul.

"Do you see that, Marina?" Aaron said. "Are you still awake?"

"I see," Marina said.

It took just half a minute to move eight crates into the house. The sedan drove away. The driver never even got out of his seat.

Marina walked over to a video control console next to the monitors. She played the video back until they had a clear view of one of the crates. She zoomed in.

"Russian markings," she said. "Military high explosives."

Seeing the actual explosives crystallized the danger in Aaron's mind. "What should we do?"

"I don't know. Ethel has to make the decision. Our orders are to stay put and observe." Her phone rang and she answered. "Hello? OK." She pressed the speakerphone button so Aaron could listen.

Edward's voice came through the phone. "I just intercepted a phone call from Agent Hoskins. He was excited about some crates that were just delivered. He sent photos to a lab in Washington for analysis."

"We saw them," Marina said. "Russian high explosives."

"That's not good."

"Did you tell Ethel?"

"No," Edward said. "She and Victor are still sleeping."

"What about the guy who delivered the explosives?" Aaron said. "We can pull a license plate number off the surveillance video and track him down."

"I think Hoskins had the same idea, sir. His phone call included a license plate number, so the DEA is already chasing that lead."

"OK," Marina said. "Wake up Ethel and advise her of the situation. Bye." She closed her phone.

She and Aaron looked at each other.

"What now?" he said.

She shrugged.

"At least we have a little more information. The cult intends to blow something up, and the plan probably involves a boat."

"It's three days until the Fourth of July," she said. "That means huge crowds of people packed together to watch fireworks, and we barely know anything."

"Damn," he muttered. "Are all your missions this intense?"

"Each in its own special way."

* * *

4:00 PM finally arrived, and so did Ethel and Victor. Aaron pushed himself out of his lawn chair and stumbled on legs that were half-asleep.

"Walk south to 61st Street," Ethel said. "A cab is waiting to take you back to the hotel."

"Thank you, ma'am," Aaron said. "I'm desperate for an ice cold glass of water and a shower to wash off the sweat."

"Anything new to report?"

"No, ma'am," Marina said.

"Hoskins still hasn't taken a break?" Ethel said. "The man is certainly dedicated. He's been on duty for twenty straight hours."

Aaron and Marina left the garage and headed south along the street. Heat rising from the surface made the air shimmer. A slight breeze rustled the green leaves of the many trees.

"It's a shame about Hoskins," she said softly.

"What is?"

"He's as good as dead. I tried to warn him."

"He's a senior federal agent," he said. "He can protect himself."

"No." She sighed. "You'll see. It's always the same."

They found the cab that Ethel had left for them. It had the traditional yellow paint job with a black checkerboard pattern. Aaron and Marina slid into the cramped back seat, and the air-conditioning felt like a wind from Heaven. The cab driver started driving without asking about the destination.

Marina's phone rang and she answered it. "What? Shit. OK, we're on it, ma'am." She closed her phone. Then she leaned over and told the cab driver, "Take us back to the harbor. Quick."

The cab performed an immediate U-turn.

"What happened?" Aaron said.

"Two cult members just left the house in an electric golf cart," she said. "It was loaded with duffel bags and headed towards the harbor. Our orders are to investigate while our teammates watch the house."

So much for my ice water
, he thought.

The cab dropped them off just south of the harbor. Marina gave the driver a very generous tip.

A white golf cart was parked at the entrance to one of the docks, where it met a narrow access road. Two men were depositing several duffle bags in a small speed boat. Judging by the physical effort involved, the bags were heavy.

"We need to follow that boat," Marina said.

"Then let's steal one of our own," Aaron said.

He sprinted north and made a wide circle around the cult members. Aaron picked another dock about two hundred yards away. A locked gate blocked the entrance, but he climbed over it. He glanced back and saw Marina go over the gate with the skill of an acrobat. She was impressively limber.

He ran along the dock until he spotted an outdated boat with a big engine. Hopefully, the primitive controls would be easy to hotwire. He jumped onto the unsteady deck.

"Tools," he said, looking around. "We need tools."

Marina reached under her sari and produced wire cutters and pliers. "Like these?"

"Perfect. But how did you know?"

"Standard equipment on a covert mission."

"I guess I need to read the manual on covert missions."

Aaron got to work on the ignition. As he had hoped, the wiring was simple, and in less than thirty seconds he had the engine purring.

He was just in time because other people in the harbor were looking curiously in Aaron's direction. There was too much daylight for this job. He spun the boat around and aimed the bow toward the mouth of the harbor.

He stopped when he was well outside the breakwater. He could still observe the cult speedboat, but he was far enough away to be discreet about it. Sweat dripped into his eyes.

"Nicely done," Marina said. "You have real talent."

"Thanks. Sometimes a misspent youth has advantages."

Four men came running up the dock towards the speedboat. Two were uniformed police officers, and the other two had buttoned white shirts. Aaron recognized Agent Hoskins among the latter.

There was a verbal confrontation. It seemed Hoskins was trying to arrest the cult members. Instead of complying, they pulled out assault rifles and began shooting wildly. One of the cops went down, obviously hit by a bullet.

Seconds later, the speedboat shot out of the harbor with a huge rooster tail of water trailing behind. It blew past Aaron close enough to spray cool mist in his face.