Hard Case VII - Red Waves (John Harding Series Book 7) (46 page)

Jafar looked uncomfortable as hell. He should. “I can’t do that, Lynn. Those digital masks are meant for amateurs. They can be reversed so the original version can be seen. I didn’t say anything when you asked me about doing this because I never thought you were serious.”

“Damn it!”

Clint waved his hand comically. “Ah… dear… if you had asked me, I could have told you about the reverse digitization.”

“Damn it!”

I could tell Nick, Gus, and John enjoyed the Monster interplay. “We need to have Monster vacations and parties.”

“I like it, Cheese,” Nick said. “In spite of not being able to have a 24/7 holding cell channel, I appreciate the frequent updates very much. We’ll exchange secret Unholy Trio video. We get some very entertaining stuff once in a while. El Kabong is involved in most of it. We don’t really have a cameraman like Achmed the Dead Terrorist.”

“Yes, Director Deville, I am extremely limited in my video career,” Kabong noted.

“I’m taking you with me on my next ‘Hollywood Bounty Hunters’ segment, Kabong,” Lynn promised. “Sometimes I’m a little short of killers on scene to handle unexpected crowd control.”

“Yes!” Kabong pumped a fist with attitude. “I am at your disposal, Director Deville. It would not offend you if I made small suggestions, would it?”

“Of course not. Your input would be welcome.”

“You don’t let Cheese and I make suggestions, babe,” Clint pointed out.

“You two are cardboard cutout extras, far beneath a director’s notice,” Lynn replied with haughty perfection. “My assistant, John Groves, understands the complexities and market appeal for quality. His suggestions can make a difference in the popularity of a scene which will grab our viewers’ attention. With you and Cheese, I’d be better off asking some homeless bum to edit my script.”

It took a while before any of us could speak after that dissertation on Director Deville’s status in film. I think Nick’s friend John enjoyed the exchange the most. It all had to be done in hushed tones to keep from waking the babies. The knock at the door jarred us. Jean came running out of the kitchen with hands waving calm.

“Just us, Dad. I ordered for you. They had a munchies plate to die for so I got that for all of you, along with an extra pizza.”

“God bless you, princess,” Jess said. “I’m starvin’. You are so lucky to have such a caring daughter, Nick.”

“Yep.” Nick stood and moved to the door with his hand on the Colt at his back. “She has survival instincts you can’t teach either… except at camp.”

Jean giggled and moved to the kitchen, making sure Sonny and Al stayed where they were until Nick could take a quick peek through the door eye. He opened it a moment later, never removing his hand from the Colt at his back. We Monsters had his back, but it was nice to get a legitimate server in the room with smiling countenance to serve our pizza main course along with the munchies plates, one for the kids and one for us.

Jess made the most entertaining part by looking over everything and turning to the server. “This is wonderful, brother. Can you wait about a half hour and find out if we want a refill?”

Nick put a hundred dollar bill in his shirt pocket.

“I will do so, Sir. Thank you all. Enjoy.”

He left while we were still raking Jess over the coals for his order addition.

Nick smiled at Jean who still waited near the kitchen where the kids’ food had been served. “All good, Viper.”

Jean nodded and rejoined her friends. Lynn took instant notice.

“Okay, Muerto, you do know Jean’s one of us and Sonny is close, right?”

Nick smiled. “Yeah, Lynn, Rachel and I are aware we’re in trouble. Jean is a blessing to me. I don’t have to pretend, hide, or lie to her. I’m certain you and Clint understand how many people would die who threatened her. We’re all in the same boat here. We have families with a wish to be able to protect them on a scale where we probably need an instant response team. Count me in on family protection to the max. I’ll arrive in defense with everything I have at my disposal… and God help the innocents in the crossfire because I won’t give them a thought.”

“Amen, brother,” I said with everyone with us expressing solidarity.

* * *

Lucas’s close friends and owners of Red Dragon Security, Chuck Buchholz and Sal Sallaz, accompanied me, Nick, Clint, Lynn, Jafar, and Nick’s friend John as we toured the Starlight of the Seas. Chuck and Sal helped settle our families into the spacious suites along with getting to know Nick. We used the remaining half an hour going over the spots Chuck and Sal knew to be problems once our pirate mission got into full swing. We looked down at the helicopter forward landing deck which would also be the boarding target for the pirates.

“The infiltrators would have to take and hold the helicopter landing pad for boat boarding or a hostile landing,” Chuck said.

“If they were able to block access somehow before we rounded them all up, they could damage the ship. When the time comes, Chuck and I will hold the deck and access point,” Sal added. “We cloned the phones of your two suspected ringleaders, Perry Halii and your new name, Faruk Gaston. We have confirmation Gaston agreed to terms with Joram Mannan with call originating in the Port of Chabahar.”

“That’s not the best news,” Chuck added. “These dolts networked their phones so they could move on command together. The month on board before departure was golden. The last mystery piece fell into place with Gaston.”

“How many infiltrators?”

“Twenty-six, plus Gaston and Halii,” Sal answered Nick.

“That is great work. The networking is the key to our taking control of the infiltrators,” I said. “I think we should take Halii first and let Lynn find out how communications are handled with his network at sea. I know they work a hundred hours a week aboard these ships during the cruise. We also need to know if Perry and his gang were ordered to remain out of contact with Khan and Mannan in Chabahar until close to the time for the assault.”

“I get it,” Lynn said. “Once we know whether these bastards are supposed to report in or not, we can have Halii call a meeting on board. Where could a get together like that take place, Chuck?”

“They met on the helicopter pad once during our thirty day readiness phase. It lasted only five minutes before they went about their business. The pad is out of sight from most parts of the ship I would imagine by design. If they stay near the bulkhead, they can’t be seen. You’ll probably get Halii to confirm it, but that’s my guess.”

“I agree,” Nick said. “The only spot visible from here is part of the helicopter landing zone. I love the stack tower for my nest. I’ll have a three hundred sixty degree field of sight.”

“They’ll have the mandated emergency station drill after we get out of port,” Sal said. “When would you like to grab Halii?”

“During the small downtime for him whenever it comes,” I suggested. “Do you have access to the crew’s time off or does it change constantly?”

“It changes, but once out of port with the emergency drill taken care of, we’ll check the duty roster. The crew in the same billets do fill in for one another, but Halii’s position would not be one easily filled in for,” Chuck replied. “Do you want to take him immediately on his first sleep time?”

“That’s how I’d like to do it.” I looked at Lynn and she nodded.

“I’d rather find answers to all our questions right at the start,” Lynn said. “The problem is as we discussed before, a matter of ship’s crew disappearing or being incarcerated incommunicado. Do we try and get the Captain on board our mission boat at this stage?”

“The Captain is a Norwegian maritime master,” Sal said. “His name is Alec Larsen. He’s a very nice man but didn’t like the security force idea at all. He’s been doing this for twenty years and it’s the first time an actual security force was placed on board a cruise ship under his command. We tried reassuring him, but he was adamant about his opinion we didn’t belong on board. When he suddenly loses twenty-eight of his crew members, he will be difficult to control, or to recognize the necessity for incarceration with no contact.”

“That’s close to our original fears, so it looks like we’ll have Captain Deville take over. Good input, Sal. Clint, you and Lynn will have to take charge of Captain Larsen after we take the infiltrators captive. John will be our man to get Perry. The uniform and identification Chuck and Sal provided are first class. He can go directly to Perry’s cabin and take him. He’s studied your pictures and blueprints of the ship as did we all. Has Halii changed staterooms, Chuck?”

“No, and he won’t be. Sal and I will assist El Kabong personally. We’ve seen the Unholy Trio videos now. Thanks for trusting us with your cartoon identities, Nick. Those vids are incredible.”

“Kabong will control Perry,” Nick replied. “We want to get him to the cabin we have set for interrogation without anyone noticing. I’m thinking one of those towel carts would be perfect for transporting him to the cabin without any chance of him alerting anyone.”

“Damn… that’s good, Nick,” Sal said. “Chuck and I should have thought of it.”

“You guys have focused on keeping these infiltrators on your radar, and doing a damn good job of it,” I told him. “Don’t worry about anything else. We’ll keep you two apprised of everything from now on. Let’s break this up and get to work satisfying our families until Perry gets off shift.”

“I’ll be tailing Perry,” Sal told Kabong. “I will call you the moment I know he’s in his cabin. He luckily has a single as a ranking Boatswain’s Mate.”

“I will be ready,” Kabong acknowledged.

“I’ll get a towel trolley available under our care,” Chuck said. “Your weapons and equipment are all in place as we discussed.”

We split up to fit in with our families before the all hands on deck emergency station drill. I shook my head, grinning from ear to ear. If they only knew.

Chapter Seventeen

Mission Engaged

“This is stunning, Nick!” Rachel pranced around our two story Royal Suite with Jean and Sonny enjoying her spinning dance steps. “All is forgiven. I love being pirate bait. Count me in on all pirate bait missions from now on if I get a suite like this. It’s just as described on the YouTube video, only no one could describe the dual hot tubs on the huge balcony.”

“The lock box with your tools is in the master bedroom, Dad,” Jean said. “I guess they gave you the code access.”

“They did,” Nick acknowledged. “Give me about ten minutes to check over the tools and we can go explore the ship together. I imagine our concierge has introduced himself, huh?”

“He’s the best, Dad! He put towel monkeys and elephants in each of our rooms. His name is Gusti. He said he’d be back to talk with you very soon after we go through the emergency station drill. Gusti knows about the lock box. He cautioned us about you being the only one who should open it at any time.”

“Thanks, Jean. He’s one of ours through Red Dragon Security. Gusti was assigned all of our suites. If he’s a little derelict in his duties, cut him some slack. We’ll make do with this palace. I’m glad you’re happy with it, Rach. Enjoy. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, Muerto, but don’t take too long,” Rachel replied. “We’re beginning to move. They do the drill real quick after we get out of port.”

“I won’t be long.” Nick went into their Master Suite Bedroom.

The lock box was less conspicuous than he thought it would be. Inside the box, Nick checked out his M107 sniper rifle and the XM25 grenade launcher with well stocked ammunition in a separate lock box. Nick assembled his personal M107 with expert skill, making sure no damage had been done to the firing mechanisms or workings. When he was satisfied no one had disturbed a single thing on the sniper rifle, Nick moved on to the XM25. He did not leave the ammunition out of his detailed inspection. Unfortunately, firing the two weapons would be the only way he could make certain of anything and that would not be happening. The third weapon in the lock box was his silenced MP5 with many clips, all loaded and ready. Nick locked everything down, fully assembled and ready.

When Nick emerged from the bedroom, John’s daughter Al had come over to join Sonny and Jean. They busily watched the slow movement out of port from the balcony with Rachel. He joined them, putting an arm around Rachel as she leaned into him. They watched with rapt attention as pilot and tug boats maneuvered the huge cruise ship on its way out of port.

“Let’s go up on the top deck and watch this,” Nick suggested.

His suggestion was met with approval. It took a few minutes to guide everyone on the way to where he wanted to watch the departing action. The spot had a clear vista of the forward helicopter landing zone deck, but only the front semi-circular edge.

“Look, Dad! That pilot boat is inching closer and closer to that lower deck,” Jean pointed out excitedly.

“Yep. I think they take their pilot crew off at this point,” Nick offered. “I don’t profess to know everything about getting one of these behemoths out of port, but I doubt the Captain has much to do with the guidance. I think a pilot crew guides the action from the bridge until the ship clears port. Then, one of the pilot boats picks up their bridge guide.”

They watched with utmost interest as the pilot boat inched ever nearer, matching speed and distance perfectly with care. Only the so far empty forward helicopter deck could be seen from their vantage point. As the pilot boat drew ever nearer, a few men on the forward deck could be seen edging for transfer onto a moving craft. The transfer took place without a hitch as the men jumped aboard the pilot craft and it zoomed away from the Starlight.