Encountering Evil: Dark Horse Guardians Book Two (23 page)

~ Lara ~

Moving day was now upon her and Lara knew she'd be happy when it was over. A box truck backed up to the pink Victorian condo and two men loaded everything she and Ben owned into the truck and she followed it to Clearwater Farm. Bettencourt had been given orders to lay low. So, Lara, with the help of her mother, Rusty, Don and Olivia Henderson, organized what would now be her new home. Monique and Tony watched over the renovation projects
over the weekend while Lara took two days to try to get the move completed.

Items arrived one after
another. The new washer and dryer got installed. New furniture came from several different stores and the deliveries seemed to come in rapid succession. Lara guided the deliverymen to the designated room for each piece. Olivia and Don unpacked Ben's extensive cookware collection and Lara's dishes and silverware. Meanwhile, Lara's mother and Rusty unpacked the bathroom items. The one item most coveted arrived late in the day – the new king sized bed. Lara and her mother put fresh sheets on it and then collapsed onto the bed exhausted. "Oh thank you, Mom! I don't know what I would’ve done without you." Lara exhaled. Rusty stood in the doorway, "Hey, no sleeping on the job!"

As the last delivery truck pulled out of the driveway, Lara realized she'd spend the first night alone in her new home. Well, she wasn't
really
alone – she had Einstein to keep her company. And, tomorrow the alarm system selected by Ben would be installed. She had to be present while that was taking place. She wondered where Ben was now and how he was doing. It would be difficult to fall asleep tonight alone in the big beautiful house. She walked along the private sandy beach with Einstein and tossed the ball for him. As the sun moved toward the horizon, she thought she saw someone in a dinghy on the water. She shaded her eyes and peered at the figure, "Eliot! What are you doing out there?"

Eliot Stone, now her new neighbor, was rowing a dinghy slowly toward her beach. He expertly jumped out barefoot and dragged the tiny boat onto the sand, "Welcome to the neighborhood, Lara! I brought you a little portable dinner…figured you could use it right about now…" He rummaged in the dinghy and produced an old-fashioned picnic basket that contained a bottle of the best French champagne and a gourmet meal prepared by Charles, his talented chef. Lara smiled and gushed, "You are so thoughtful. How did you know I was hungry?” Eliot smiled as he slipped on his boat shoes, “Everyone is tired and hungry at the end of moving day.
He slipped his arm around her shoulders, “Come along, beautiful girl. We will sit on the porch and watch the lovely sunset from there.”

~ Ben ~

Ali Farouz finally left Ben alone in the laboratory. There was only one clean suit in the place and it did not meet hazmat standards. But, Ben slipped into it with Habib waiting in the office area. Ben used the security code that Farouz had shared with him. He proceeded to check the building for security cameras and listening devices and found only cameras, which could be easily jammed when the time was right. Comfortable now, he made himself intimately familiar with the anthrax storage area. The canisters were yellow, the highest grade of the deadly bacterium, and it was definitely from China. He mentally made notes while noticing that nothing in the makeshift laboratory was being carried out with the proper protocol. Ben surmised the previous scientist that died mysteriously probably contracted anthrax. It was a disaster waiting to happen. The good news was: no scanning electron microscope was in this laboratory. It was rudimentary, at best.

After a week of planning, the thought that went through Ben's mind first was the safety of the women and children living on the compound. And, of immediate concern was the expectation that he would poison three of the woman because Ali Farouz ordered him to do so. He had a scheme devised to get the women and children
off
the grounds for a few hours as a distraction along with an escape plot for the three unwanted wives and their respective children. Ben's Dark Horse team had surreptitiously arranged a farmer's market to be set up just outside the compound, a half-mile down the road. There was Middle-Eastern music and treats for the children and lots of kitchen items and food to draw the women out. All of this was designed to get the women
off
the grounds. Habib acted as a messenger and encouraged all of the women and children to attend together. To keep the men busy, Ben had a phony arms dealer set up an appointment to make a presentation on the latest weaponry he was peddling.  With his perfect Arabic, Nate did an excellent job with the presentation.  Of course, he took a large security deposit from Ali Farouz promising delivery in six weeks. 

At the farmer’s market, Ben methodically marked the three women whom Ali Farouz
wanted dead. He passed the information to the waiting team. The din of the music and the chattering amongst the women created just enough chaos in the marketplace for a few people to conveniently go missing. Being ostracized by the other women in Farouz's harem, the three women and their children huddled together as they wound their way through the market. Finally, the perfect opportunity presented itself. The targets and their children entered a tent on the perimeter where an opening had been carefully constructed by the team. Inside were toys and simple musical instruments to attract the children and a special display of colorful hijabs for the women. Only a handful could be admitted at one time. The Dark Horse Guardians dressed as women in burkas, silently gagged and bound the three women along with their children. An unmarked van hidden on the opposite side of the tent whisked them away to a safe house far from the compound.

An hour passed before anyone noticed they were missing. Ben made it appear as if the women escaped on their own volition. Ali Farouz ordered a group of his men to search for the missing women and children. For hours they combed the area
surrounding the compound, but the unwanted wives and their brood were nowhere to be found. While Ali Farouz was distracted with the search, Ben slipped away.

Ben told Farouz he had to do some work in the lab and he made his way to the cinder block building. Working calmly in the laboratory, he dressed in the clean suit and carefully took the yellow canisters from the storage locker. The anthrax was sealed and he broke the seal on each canister. The UPS package he earlier sent to Habib was now on the countertop. He needed to work quickly before anyone noticed the one security camera in the room with him was scrambled. With the clock ticking for this nerve-wracking task, Ben felt the sweat dripping into his eyes inside the clean suit. He took a moment to marvel at his own handiwork. The color and texture was perfect. No one would be able to tell the difference. Chanel translucent face powder was inserted into the yellow canisters. The
real
anthrax was being saved for another purpose and was carefully stored in the Chanel face powder jars with screw-top lids. This was not the safest way to store the live anthrax, but it would have to do for now. Within forty minutes the transfer was complete and he slipped out of the clean suit and into a shower. His breath was still ragged and his heart beat like a drum with the fear of being discovered.

The next few days were harrowing as Ali Farouz confronted Ben asking about the disappearance of the three women he wanted poisoned. Ben explained in Pasto dialect, "Somehow, these women
knew
you didn't want them anymore. Did you ever
tell
them you did not want them as your wives? Did you say anything to them to make them think they were no longer useful? Did you threaten them?" Ben waited for the answer. Farouz spoke angrily, "Yes, of course I did. I told them I wanted more children and beat them when they refused to bend to my will. I took their daughters and raped them. I forced their mothers to watch me. These girls are twelve years old and ready to bear children now. When finished, I spat upon their mothers. I told them they were
not
doing the bidding of their husband! By refusing me, they were dishonoring me, their husband. This is a great insult for me to bear."

For a moment, Ben nearly gasped. But, outwardly he forced himself to act like this was acceptable behavior and he spoke calmly. "Then we have to assume the women took the opportunity to
leave
during the farmer's market. It was you, Ali Farouz, who told them they were useless to you. They felt they had no other choice.
It is your fate
. You must accept this. You have beautiful women coming from Syria who are younger." Ben knew the more he argued the worse the situation would become. Using Ali Farouz's own crazy reasoning he had a better chance to control the madman. But he also knew there was
no
controlling a psychopath. The only answer was to put a bullet in his head, and Ben dreamed of doing so.

Although Ben was thankful at least three women and their daughters escaped the horribly abusive life Farouz was imposing upon them, he was painfully aware there were many other women and children living an existence akin to slavery. Innocents were being tortured and they saw no other way than to submit to the brutality every day just to stay alive. It was at this moment Ben recognized the feeling of pure hatred that swept over him. He wanted so much to kill Ali Farouz and all of his henchmen on the compound, he could taste it. But, first he'd let them go through with their
Sparrow plan. Let the idiots sprinkle Chanel translucent powder all over Boston stadium. Only then would Ben exact revenge and enjoy every moment of it.

~ Lara ~

As she savored a delicious picnic dinner on the back porch with Eliot Stone, Lara was enjoying the view from Clearwater Farm. She drank only
one
glass of champagne remembering how potent it could be. She was tired enough already. Eliot was filled with questions, "Where is the Lieutenant? I'm surprised he wasn't here to help during the big moving day. Isn’t he on vacation from the university?" Lara answered carefully, "Yes, he is on vacation, but he had other business to attend to. He's in Boston, his mother is not well…" Lara didn't like to make up stories, but she couldn't say that Ben was in Massachusetts on a Dark Horse mission. Eliot seemed to buy it for now. Lara felt he was testing her with his questions, "Don't you feel
lonely
here all alone in this big house?" It was as if Eliot read her mind, but she said, "No, I'm not alone. I have Einstein here to keep me company…and my mother and Rusty helped today…and Don and Olivia. They’re only a phone call away. And, I have
you
as my helpful neighbor!"

Lara sensed that Eliot was making passive aggressive remarks about Ben just to draw her out. It was as if he wanted Lara to try to defend him. She decided to change the subject. "So, have you gone out on any more blind dates, Eliot? What was the guy's name that set you up on the last one?" She watched Eliot's demeanor change. He didn't want to talk about it, but he gave her a little snippet of information. "That was Stewart Clifford who set me up; he's an old college buddy of mine. Oh
God, Lara, the date didn't go so well. Beauty but no brains, if you know what I mean…we went to a movie and had a snack afterwards, but I never called her back." Lara was confounded as to why Eliot Stone remained single. She knew for a fact that plenty of women were falling over themselves to get a date with him, but he remained aloof. There were times she actually felt sorry for him. Living in a mansion alone must've gotten very lonely for the past few years. He didn't even have a dog or a cat to keep him company.

~ Bettencourt ~

To get more distance from Ali Farouz's henchmen, Bettencourt accepted the transfer to the Falmouth Police Department and assumed a new identity with the help of the FBI. His new name was now Randall Harrington. The whole process was quietly and hastily done. It just so happened, his beat was the waterside area of the stylish, expensive Falmouth Foreside neighborhood where Lara's Clearwater Farm resided in all its glory. Today was supposed to be her moving day. He cruised down Route 88 past well-manicured estates until he came to the turn-off for her saltwater farm. Bettencourt was weary from moving his residence yet again…this time to an apartment that was in a former carriage house in Falmouth. An elderly couple owned the place and gave him a favorable lease. It was a relic, but he would receive a discount on rent if he made a few improvements. He wanted Lara to take a look at it and make a few suggestions. Plus, he wanted to see Clearwater Farm for himself. After all, he would be the police officer assigned to her neighborhood now.

As he drove down the long driveway the farm came into view and nearly took his breath away. His eyes swept over the beautiful estate with its private beach and the late afternoon sunlight cast a golden glow on the landscape. As he got out of the police cruiser, he stretched and started to walk toward the house until he saw two figures sitting on the screened porch. He slowly walked toward the couple recognizing Lara immediately. She was perched in a chair with her legs tucked underneath her laughing at whatever the guy across from her was saying. The moment she spied Bettencourt, Lara jumped out of the chair and ran toward him, "Bett, oh, it's so good to see you!" Bettencourt wasn't prepared for her exuberant welcome. Lara wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "I've got to introduce you to Eliot Stone…Officer Bettencourt, this is Eliot Stone, my neighbor. He brought me a picnic dinner for my first night in the new place. Wasn’t that sweet?" Bettencourt instantly felt he was intruding. He shook Eliot Stone's hand and looked him in the eye trying to get a read on the guy. He noticed Eliot didn’t hold his gaze for long. The officer smiled and said, "I don't want to interrupt. Lara, I'll swing by another time to see the house." He excused himself, "Don't let me interrupt your meal." And, Bettencourt was on his way. However, he had an odd feeling about Eliot Stone. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt the guy was a little
too
interested in Lara. There was nothing to substantiate that, it was just a feeling.