Black Hawk Day Rewind: An action packed spy thriller (Mark Savannah Espionage Series Book 1) (30 page)

100

Ransley Bain woke up the next morning with a severe headache. He went into the bathroom, thinking about the night before. “Asshole,” he said to himself, looking at his face in the mirror.

That same day, he would go back to Biosketch Technologies Inc. in the New Mexico desert, he had nothing more to do in Dallas.

He was knotting his tie when the phone rang: it was Anaïs Degann.

"Hello Ransley, how are you this morning?"

"Like an idiot with a hangover...I must apologize to you."

"Instead I wish to thank you for the lovely evening last night."

"But...well...did I do anything I shouldn’t have…?"

"If you're asking me if we went to bed together then don't worry, no."

"Oh, thank goodness, I don’t remember anything... I mean, I didn’t mean that...oh my goodness, what am I saying? I wanted to say that because I don’t remember anything, I would be sorry if...and not to remember anything about it.”

"Ransley, I understood what you meant," Anaïs said, laughing. "Don't worry, you were a gentleman."

"When can I see you again?" he asked her.

"I don’t know, Ransley. I have to complete my last operational mission which will take me away from New Mexico, and then once we’re back at HQ we can’t do more than say hello to each other briefly."

"I totally understand, but you’ll come to say hello?"

"Yes, of course, so…see you soon."

"Goodbye Anaïs. Always watch your back, please!"

Anaïs hung up and thought that Bain was a son of a bitch but terribly charming and that he, like her, was in search of his life partner.

She left the hotel after having spoken with Jago C. Green, and headed to the station to examine the recordings of the cameras in search of clues about Savannah.

As she walked, she brooded over the situation, and after ten minutes lost in deep thought, she decided to dial the phone number that had appeared on her screen two days before.

"Any news, Anaïs?" asked Mark Savannah without even greeting her. He was another type altogether, nothing in common with the refinement of Ransley Bain.

"Savannah, good morning, eh?"

"Rewind, sorry, in reality I didn’t think you were going to call me back, Anaïs. Good morning. How are you?"

"Ok, you were right. The project under military secrecy is called "Brainexe"."

"And all the transplant soldiers have a micro-transponder grafted in their necks...and there are problems, right?"

"Affirmative, what do you know about it?"

"Enough to not stand by and do nothing," answered Savannah.

"Bain, however, didn’t tell me anything else, even though he was drunk he controlled himself."

"Bain? Direct to the source, huh?"

"It's not what you think, tell me what you know."

"Do you take me for an idiot? You're Reed’s favorite pet, you meet with Bain, you have Green behind you, you want to terminate me and I should tell you what I know so that then you can report it to your friends in Biosketch Technologies Inc.?" ventured Savannah, who as a good psychiatrist knew how to touch the strings people’s weak points.

"Who knows, but how the hell do you know about Green, too..."

"They’re hiding a lot of things from you and they are keeping you away from New Mexico at this time. Haven’t you noticed?"

"I'm not part of the project, why they should inform me about it?" Anaïs, in fact, knew that Savannah was right.

"I need you."

"What?" That phrase, point blank, sent a shiver up her back; she couldn’t tell if it was the tone of his voice or the words, but her breath broke in her throat.

"I need your help." Mark repeated in a firm voice. "The situation is very serious and Reed is the author of what’s happening. There is no one else who can help me to stop them. They are ready to industrialize "Transtem 1.1" with all the consequences that you can imagine."

"I listened to Bain’s press conference, but I'm not going to help you. You are a murderer, a cleaner, an expert manipulator and I have a task to accomplish."

"What about meeting each other on neutral ground? I'll show you why you have to trust me...Alva Regional Airport, tomorrow, 4:00 pm at the bar. I'll arrive in an Aviat A-1C Husky. If you kill me, you'll never know what’s really happening. By the way, call Mayer. Reed hasn’t told him anything!"

Mark hung up without waiting for an answer from Anaïs. He was playing a dangerous game and could only hope that she, intrigued by his bluff, would come to find out the truth.

"Professor Mayer? How are you? This is Anaïs Degann. I’m well, thanks. Did Colonel Reed tell you about me? No? Ah! Well, then I’ll inform you in advance of the call.

“Colonel Reed has granted my request to come and work with you...I'm glad that you're happy... Thank you, I accept the direction of the lab with great pleasure...I don’t know...I have to carry out one last task and then I'll be with you. No, you can wait for his call. The Colonel is very busy at the moment, so don’t worry if he doesn't call soon. I wish you a good day, professor, and thanks again!"

Anaïs was furious, Savannah for the second time had been right. Reed had made fun of her without the slightest scruple. At this point she would go to the meeting Savannah had proposed for the next day at Alva Regional Airport.

Anaïs spent the rest of the day at the station with two Interpol agents viewing the photographic material, but as usual she found nothing.

101

SkylineP92 left the Ritz-Carlton at 9:00 am, and headed in her car to Wiley Post airport. There she would rent a plane for four hours, she would have a nice ride and then she would land at Alva Regional Airport.

By 2:00 pm she was at Wiley Post, and this time she chose a Cessna 182 Skylane; she felt uneasy but couldn't wait to fly. She was curious about what Savannah would say, seeing as he had paradoxically made an appointment with the person who was hunting him down, telling her that he needed her help.

It was an absolutely surreal situation, Savannah could be arranging a trap for her, but on the other hand she could kill him easily if she communicated the location of the appointment to Green, who would immediately organize a team.

She paid at reception, went to the hangar, carried out all the routine checks and then boarded the plane. The weather was CAVOK, it would remain so for the next six hours and Anaïs was eager to take off and return to her favorite element.

She started off towards the taxiway, called for permission and after a few moments began take-off. As always, her adrenaline peeked as the plane left the ground, and the feeling of pleasure began when, after having become familiar with the plane, she enjoyed maneuvers and looking down at the landscape below.

She was utterly alone for about forty minutes, the sky was clear and at last, for a short while, her troubled soul could enjoy the flight without reproaching her for anything, and then she turned the plane sharply towards Alva Regional Airport.

She was almost downwind when she saw an Aviat A-1C Husky enter her field of vision, she decided to turn and circle round to see if it was Mark Savannah.

Anaïs had done aerobatics for many years, and it wasn’t at all difficult for her to place herself side by side an amazed Savannah, to travel a short distance beside him and then to move away to go first into the final leg. They both landed and headed to the parking lot.

Anaïs got out of her plane first and got down and walked toward Mark.

Savannah watched her approaching him, he didn’t feel under pressure, he had two guns on him, but he was sure that he wouldn’t need them. The woman, who was walking fast and securely towards him, still seemed strangely familiar to him. She was certainly as beautiful as he remembered from the first time he had seen her in New York. She could not be an ordinary sniper.

Anaïs on the other hand couldn’t tear her eyes from Mark’s green eyes; and even if she considered him a brutal murderer, she knew she had an inexplicable soft spot for him.

She had two guns, one tied to her ankle and another under her right armpit, but she was convinced that she wouldn’t need them.

"Are you alone, Savannah?" she asked.

"I like parties without party crashers. Hi, Anaïs, and are you alone or did you bring the cavalry?"

"If my cavalry knew that I was here without having informed them, I would have to disappear just as you have the last few weeks. I guess you don’t sleep often Savannah and when you do, you sleep with one eye open," Anaïs answered directly.

"In fact, I sleep very little, but now that’s a habit. Come on. Let’s go up to the bar."

The two went up a flight of stairs and found themselves on a large balcony.

"This is where you spied on me from while I landed, right, Savannah?" SkylineP92 asked with a smile.

"Yes, and, as I said, you were incredible," he replied.

"I’m a general aviation pilot with many flight hours and I’ve done aerobatics for years."

"While I practiced and enjoyed bush flying, because of my job, which is also yours."

The two sat down at a table and ordered coffee and orange juice, there were several people in the room and therefore they went unnoticed.

Mark looked at her face for signs that might have remained from that day in Aisha’s house.

"What are you looking at?" Anaïs asked curiously.

"Nothing, I'm sorry," he replied, sipping his coffee.

"You left no marks on me, if that was what you were looking for."

"Better like that," Mark unexpectedly cut her short.

Anaïs didn’t speak, waiting for him to do so first, she felt a strange feeling, a kind of lump in her throat and, moreover, Savannah didn’t seem to show any interest in her; he was the only man that hadn't paid her a compliment in the first ten minutes face to face with her, except that of being an incredible pilot. But it wasn’t that kind of compliment that she was used to hearing.

Savannah didn’t speak, his pale eyes were scanning her, looking for some unknown confirmation and Anaïs began to feel uncomfortable.

"I didn’t come here to kill you, trust me," SkylineP92 said, breaking the ice.

"Neither did I," and as he said those words, Mark’s hand, taking the glass, inadvertently touched that of Anaïs: he instantly withdrew his hand, leaving Anaïs in disbelief.

"I have to show you something, if I don’t compromise myself over this, you won’t believe this...I really need your help." Mark went on.

Again, a feeling of uneasiness went through her; right at that moment her instincts told her to stand up, take him by the collar of his shirt and kiss him until she ran out of breath. But how was that possible? She waited until he put his smartphone on the table, then she picked up the glass with the orange juice she had ordered.

Unexpectedly, Savannah sought her hand, he removed the glass and held her hand in his: "Look at this carefully."

Some frames of the Battle of Mogadishu appeared on the small screen and a man, Richard Reed, with an RPG on his shoulder, blew up a Humvee: it was 1993 and Mark's father, Turner C. Cooper, lost his life.

"But I know him!" said Anaïs.

"He killed my father, Anaïs. It was in 1993, during the Battle of Mogadishu, at the same time as the first Black Hawk was shot down."

"What? Richard Reed? What does your father have to do with Reed?"

"My name is Barnett Cooper, my father Turner was part of the U.S. Secret Service, and was on a special mission. He specialized in counterterrorism missions, he had discovered that some members of the CIA in Afghanistan, in addition to preparing future terrorists in the training camps, were selling drugs...and Reed did just that.

“They concealed everything, but I'm sure you can find out something about my father, he was working undercover and the official version at the time was that he was a military leader of the A squadron of the Delta Force. He was actually a special agent, and instead Andrew Davis was the real leader of the Delta Force A squadron. Find the damn file, please."

"Where did you find the movie?" asked Anaïs.

"In Afghanistan during an operation and I also saw Reed, who coordinated the work, carry a load of drugs across the border. All true. The guy that recorded Reed years ago, kept the tape because he didn’t trust him. Reed went on to become his dauphin. The man was Uday Bouda."

"But it’s not possible!"

"Find the file, Anaïs…although Reed has deleted all the information in the virtual archives, I don’t think he did a systematic deletion of all information. At that time they made a lot of hard copies of reports, some copy or some part of it might have escaped the fury of the Colonel."

Mark stood up and went to pay the bill, then came back and continued:

"Find the file and when you are convinced that Reed is a criminal, I’ll explain the crap he's doing now...but you have to call me," Savannah concluded.

Anaïs had no words, Mark wanted her to understand the situation for herself and he had not made the slightest attempt to convince her to ally with him. She still didn’t trust him, but instinct was urging her to help him even though she was Colonel Reed’s special agent, which complicated the issue all the more.

"See you soon, Anaïs," Mark said, looking at her straight in the eye. Then he immediately turned and showed her his back as he walked towards his plane.

Anaïs looked after him, puzzled he was leaving without even turning around, then her temper prevailed over logic and everything else: she ran after him, stopping him and, without saying a word, pressed her lips on his for a moment. Savannah didn't bat an eyelid.

Then she turned, without looking back, and went to her plane. She knew now that she needed to find an excuse to go to Langley.