Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (18 page)

PUSHER #2
:
Yeah.

The man motioned with his head at the end
table where two new mobile phones sat in chargers.

PUSHER #2
:
Usually calls once in the morning and once at night. Wants to know
how big our haul was.

MSGT
TRENT
: How was your haul
today?

The man looked at his companion not knowing
how he should answer the hulking trespasser.

MSGT
TRENT
: Wrong answer,
dipshit!

Trent depressed the power switch again
wondering how many times he’d have to do it. After a good long
shock he turned off the power.

MSGT
TRENT
: How was your haul
today?

PUSHER #2
(trembling): Dammit, man! It was good, OK?! You know what kind
of trouble we’re gonna be in with Dante for telling you this
shit?!

MSGT TRENT
:
Don’t you worry about Dante. I don’t think he’s gonna be around
much longer. I’ve heard I’m not the only one looking for money. I
just want to be the first one to get mine.

PUSHER #2
:
You can take whatever we’ve got here, just don’t taze us again,
man!

MSGT TRENT
:
How much do you have?

PUSHER #2
:
A couple grand.

MSGT TRENT
:
What?! I thought you said you had a good haul today.

PUSHER #2
:
We did, but Dante sends one of his girls to come pick up every
night. She usually comes by around midnight.

Knowing he had to keep up the charade, Trent
went in another direction.

MSGT TRENT
:
OK, where’s the money you have here?

The man on the left pointed to a cardboard
box on the floor.

PUSHER #1
:
It’s in there.

MSGT TRENT
:
Alright, you two sit tight as I make sure you’re not bullshitting
me.

Keeping the two men directly in front of
him, Trent shifted around and glanced down into the box. It
definitely looked like there was a couple of thousand dollars in
assorted bills piled neatly inside.

MSGT TRENT
:
Here’s what’s gonna happen next, boys. You’re gonna turn, face each
other and give one another a big hug.

PUSHER #2
:
What?

Trent didn’t even bother warning the men as
he depressed the tazer one last time. When the jolts ceased both
men had obviously met their limit and were ready to comply.

MSGT TRENT
:
Like I said, I want you to face each other, give your buddy a big
hug, and hold it.

The two men looked at each other not really
wanting to know what was coming next. They did as instructed and
glared back at Trent.

MSGT TRENT
:
Now, you with the arms on top I want you to straddle your
homeboy.

The man hesitated only briefly then
awkwardly climbed onto his friend’s lap with his legs and arms
wrapped tightly. Trent shifted the tazers so that he had both in
his left hand, then reached into a large cargo side pocket and
pulled out a handful of long black zip ties.

MSGT TRENT
:
If either one of you fuckers move, I’m gonna shock you until you
pass out. Got it?

Both men nodded and didn’t budge as Trent
expertly tied both set of hands and feet with the cables.

MSGT TRENT
:
I hate to do this next thing to you guys, but I can’t have you
running after me. Don’t worry, as soon as your ladies wake up, they
can cut you out.

He linked two zip ties together and looped
it all the way around both men’s necks. He secured a neck restraint
by looping another zip tie between the two and cinching it down
tightly. They weren’t going anywhere without help.

He finished by pulling out the tazer wires
and stuffing them, two cell phones and two pistols into the
cardboard box full of cash.

MSGT TRENT
:
Well, boys, thanks for your cooperation. And remember, Just Say No
to drugs.

Trent exited the way he came in and slowly
made his way back to his concealed pickup truck down an alley a
couple of blocks away.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Cal.
Cal picked up on the first ring.

CAL
:
Yeah.

MSGT TRENT
:
I think I got one of those breaks we were looking for.

CAL
: OK.
I’ll put on the coffee and wake up the boys. I’ll see you when you
get back.

MSGT TRENT
:
Roger, out.

Trent replaced his phone, started the big
diesel engine and made his way back down to the compound.

A
fter relaying the story (with intermittent laughing) to the
assembled group consisting of Cal, Brian, Andy, Travis and Neil,
Trent went on to explain what he thought they should do with the
stolen cell phones.

MSGT TRENT
:
It seems to me that West is pretty tight on cash. I doubt he’d want
to miss any one of his pickups. My vote would be to set a little
ambush for his cash girl and convince her to take us back to Dante
tomorrow night. The problem is, now he’ll know we’re onto him if he
calls one of these cell phones.

Cal turned to Neil.

CAL
: Do you
have any way to tap into these cell phones?

NEIL
: I
thought you’d never ask. I can make these phones do things you
could never imagine. When I’m done with them, they’ll be singing
like canaries.

CAL
: You
wanna tell us how you’re gonna do that or do I have to zip tie your
ass like Top’s buddies?

NEIL
(apologetically): Didn’t mean to be a smartass, Cal. So here’s
what I’m gonna do. I’ll take whatever info I can off the cell
phones. I can pretty much guarantee they’re disposables so their
secrets will be limited. If we’re lucky, I might be able to find
the phone number West is calling from and then use the cell
carrier’s network to pinpoint which towers he’s been feeding off of
when he calls. That MIGHT give us a better idea of where he’s
operating out of. Again, no promises.

CAL
(nodding): That’s more than we had an hour ago. Do the best
you can and get us close. I think the rest of us should get working
on gear.

+ + +

About fifteen minutes later, Neil looked up
from his laptop.

NEIL
: I’ve
got something!

The rest of the group crowded around to look
over his shoulder. The entire screen looked like complete gibberish
to all except for the excited computer hacker.

NEIL
(pointing at the screen): So check this out right here. I told
the program to look for the two numbers I tagged that were recently
used by West. At least we know he’s still in the area.

Cal stared at the screen not fully
comprehending what he should be looking at.

CAL
: Dude,
do you want to tell us what the hell you’re talking about? What is
all that crap on the screen?

NEIL
: These
right here are the periodic signals from the towers on the north
end of Nashville. All the recent pings are in the same
area.

BRIAN
: So
we can see exactly where this guy is hiding.

NEIL
: Nope.
This just shows us the general area he’s hanging out in.

MSGT TRENT
:
How big of an area are we talking about?

NEIL
: About
two square miles.

CAL
: That’s
like finding a needle in a haystack. Can’t you do any better than
that?

NEIL
: I
told you this wasn’t foolproof, Cal. It doesn’t help that West
isn’t a total idiot. He’s clearly utilizing multiple disposable
phones and using them only when needed. The best shot we have is if
he calls one of the phones Willy brought back OR we catch him
moving out of the area he’s been hanging out in.

CAL
: Shit.
Look, we don’t have much time before he realizes those cell phones
are compromised. Anyone have any bright ideas?

ANDY
: What
if we just give the guy a call? What’s the worst that could happen?
Maybe Master Sergeant Trent could play his ‘give me my money’
routine?

CAL
: To
what end? He’d just trash the phone he’s got. No, we’ve gotta have
a better plan to use these damn things to our advantage.

Cal picked up one of the stolen cell phones
and started turning it over and over as he contemplated their next
step.

BRIAN
: What
if we get him to run?

Cal turned to the former Corpsman and waived
for him to continue.

BRIAN
: What
I mean is, setup some kind of loose perimeter in the area we think
he’s hanging out in. Then maybe Top can scare him enough to run
into our net. It’s not the perfect solution, but at least it’s
something.

It was obvious, after a few quiet seconds,
that no one really loved the idea, but all were at a loss to come
up with something better.

ANDY
: So
let’s say we get this guy out in the open. Then what? A high-speed
chase through the streets of Nashville? I see way too many things
wrong with the idea, but unless we can pinpoint his exact location
and conduct a quick raid, I can’t think of anything
better.

Cal nodded and held his chin thinking.

CAL
: So if
we can’t just catch him in the open, can we somehow lure him to
another location and take him there?

MSGT TRENT
:
Cal, it’s six in the morning and I really don’t think…

The silent buzzing of one of the confiscated
phones cut off Trent’s comment. Everyone looked down in
anticipation as Neil carefully picked it up and looked at the
caller ID.

NEIL
: It’s
him. What should we do?

Without responding, MSgt Trent grabbed the
small phone and answered on speakerphone.

MSGT TRENT
:
Yeah?

DANTE
:
Who’s this?

MSGT TRENT
:
A customer.

DANTE
:
Listen asshole, put Jevon on the phone.

MSGT TRENT
:
Jevon ain’t here. He went to take a leak.

DANTE
: Then
put Polo on.

MSGT TRENT
:
He’s upstairs gettin’ it on with one of the girls.

They could hear swearing in the background
as Dante tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

DANTE
: Go
get those idiots and tell them to call me back!

The line went dead.

MSGT TRENT
:
I guess that buys us a good two minutes. Any ideas?

Neil looked up from his computer.

NEIL
: I
think I’ve got something. My tracking program was able to pinpoint
West’s location down to one square block. Is there any way we can
get there fast?

ANDY
: Now
that it’s light out, I don’t see how we can pull this off without
the whole world knowing. I say we call him back and tell him we
know where he is and see what happens. Cal, can we get some of your
company assets up there like yesterday?

CAL
: Trav,
can I get four teams of two in civvies and standard vehicles up to
Nashville?

TRAVIS
:
I’ll have them out front in ten minutes.

CAL
: Let’s
split up into two teams. Me, Top and Neil will ride in Top’s truck.
Doc, can you drive your car up with Andy? I would rather keep you
two a little farther back just in case.

BRIAN
: No
problem.

CAL
:
Alright, everybody grab your gear and any weapons you can conceal
on your person. Top, do you still have some extra shotguns in the
back of your truck?