Hard Case VII - Red Waves (John Harding Series Book 7) (49 page)

“Get on your knees with hands laced behind your heads,” Lynn ordered. “If you’re slow, we start shooting, because we really don’t give a shit how many of you we take alive. Now get on your fucking knees!”

They did as ordered. Lynn has a way about her, both physically and audibly. Chuck and Sal led their team over with restraints. Kabong and Achmed assisted them in restraining our new captives. We kept Perry away from the rest. The one recruited specifically for his expertise on board ship, Faruk Gaston, was the first to start yelping.

“Who are you people? Don’t you know weapons are prohibited aboard the Starlight? Where is Captain Larsen? I demand to be released!”

I smacked him on the side of his head, knocking him over. “Shut the hell up unless we ask you something, Faruk. We know what all of you had planned. As to who we are. We’re Monsters. We torture, maim and kill the enemies of America. We have a lot of our citizens on board this vessel you were planning to assault. If you’re quiet and cooperative, you’ll make it to the Port of Khasab. If not, some of you will be tortured until you are cooperative. The others will get thrown overboard.”

“You…you cannot torture us!” Faruk was providing more amusement than originally thought.

“Perry, honey?” Lynn finger beckoned Halii. He ran over to Lynn and knelt. “Tell your friends what we can do.”

“Do not resist! Cooperate with them! They have pain no person on earth can endure! I thought I was a true Jihadi warrior.” Perry looked down. “I am nothing. I will do anything not to feel the pain again! Anything.”

Lynn helped Halii to his feet. “Well done, my little helper. Go back with Kabong.”

Lynn waited until Halii stood again quietly next to John Groves. She then walked amongst the captives. “Any questions? If there are, save them for someone who gives a shit. You two women will be coming with me. We want you to explain your mission to kill Captain Larsen to our probably disbelieving Captain.”

One surged to her feet, screaming at Perry. “You coward! You told this bitch everything, even about Larsen? Bastard!”

She charged toward Perry, only to have Lynn bitch slap her to the deck. “Oh my, Cheese. We have our first volunteer for the hard way. Bring her Sister Suzie too. Can you and your team handle the rest of these twats, Chuck?”

“We have a place ready in the emergency War Room,” Sal answered for Chuck, stepping in front of the group. All of the team were also armed with silenced MP5’s. “Here’s the deal. We’re escorting you bunch through all the crew passages we can until we reach our destination. Only two places will we be in sight of passengers and crew. Speak and you die. We will be smiling and pretending we are an entertainment drama show.”

“Heed Sal’s words well,” Chuck added. “If you make a fuss, we knock you the fuck out, pretending it’s all part of the show. Then we’ll break your fucking neck when we get to our destination. Believe me. We’ll get there with all of you, with some of you, or none of you.”

“Thanks guys. On your feet, kids,” I told the kneelers. Chuck, Sal, and their security team herded the infiltrators away while I took charge of Sister Suzie. Seeing the treatment her bigmouthed counterpart received, Sister Suzie opted for sullen obedience.

Lynn pulled the other woman to her feet by her hair. The woman squealed like a kitten getting squeezed by a boa constrictor. Lynn chuckled and grabbed her nose in a brutal clamping grip, shaking the woman’s head violently.

“Shut up! I’ll let you know when it’s time to scream. By then we’ll have a ball gag in place so the only thing that comes out of your mouth will be a tea kettle whistle.” Lynn shoulder hugged her. “Oh, you and I will have such fun soon.”

The woman wasn’t as stupid as she seemed. She started sobbing. That didn’t go well but it showed her survival instinct was finally kicking in, along with whatever imagination she had.

* * *

Captain Larsen paced back and forth in the anteroom chosen by Chuck and Sal for our conference. He had listened in tight-lipped annoyance to our infiltrator assassins and their leader, Perry Halii. They were all Lynn’s good little helpers. Lynn did not take any chances. Raya Baris and Mimoza Dibra were now her very good helpers. She spared nothing. They received her lessons with Perry forced to watch. He literally shook as we forced him to watch with stoic acceptance of a deed needed to gain our objective.

“I can tell you’ve tortured these people!”

“There’s not a mark on them, cowboy,” Lynn said. “Raya? Tell Captain Larsen how well you’ve been treated.”

Startled, Raya had to dial back her first reaction to fall on her knees, pleading for mercy. She remembered her lines perfectly… and with feeling. “I am fine. Mimoza and I were assigned to kill you. We would have slit your throat on the bridge without hesitation to achieve the takeover of the Starlight.”

“It is all true, Captain Larsen,” Perry stated. “We number nearly thirty, with weapons we’ve smuggled aboard to kill until we gained control of the ship for our Isis brothers to join us. These agents have somehow discovered the entire plot. They have done so to save all of you.”

“Something stinks in this! For God’s sake, I’ve heard rumors of incredible events with crew dragged through corridors in the crew’s quarters and within sight of passengers… on my ship! What is it you people want me to do?”

“Stop being such a cunt.” Lynn moved into Larsen’s airspace. Even staging his outraged demeanor, he stepped back with his folded arms dropping to his sides. “Listen, you weasel, we’re going to offload all of your mutinous crewmembers in Khasab. We will then proceed onward with the Starlight cruise, only there will no longer be any enemy combatants on board. You will follow my directions to the letter, Chief!”

In a sudden swirling whirl of razor sharp blade, Lynn held the point under Larsen’s open mouthed chin. “If you don’t follow my directions to the letter, I will jam this blade up through your brain and go get the next in command. This ain’t no game, Captain Queeg. You fuck with me and it carries a death sentence! We’re going to show you one other thing to ease your sensibilities. In reality, it’s just a polite gesture.”

Jafar put the laptop where Larsen could see Denny’s suited figure after Lynn’s ‘Caine Mutiny’ reference. “Captain Larsen. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir. I am CIA Assistant Director Dennis Strobert. We uncovered an Isis extortion plot to assault, capture, and hold the Starlight for worldwide ridicule. We will be stopping that plot with extreme prejudice. You will assist us because it is the right thing to do. Lynn will kill you otherwise. That is how important what we’re doing is. Can we count on you, Sir?”

Lynn backed her blade off slightly. Larsen nodded. “What choice do I have?”

“You have choices, pussy,” Lynn said. “Die like a dog or live as a courageous captain who helped defeat a vicious enemy of civilization.”

Larsen was silent for a long time. He smiled. “I think I would like to be the courageous captain of a safe ship.”

“Don’t mince words with me, Queeg,” Lynn barked. “You try to out us to your authorities where a leak can get out to the terrorists, I will carve you into shark food.”

“Do not doubt her, for God’s sake!” Denny didn’t want Captain Larsen’s death on his hands. “She will do exactly what she promises and her team will back her play. You challenge her and you will be splashing into the water in bite size pieces.”

“Understood,” Larsen acknowledged. “What do I do for now?”

“Red Dragon Security has the rest of your infiltrators locked down in the Starlight’s War Room. You will review the list Lynn has. Their names are on it. Find a way to function with the crew you have. If a number of slots have to be filled, work with Lynn to fill them with the least outside conversation. My advice is you have over two thousand crew. Find a way to do without the twenty-eight we have in custody. Make no mistake. You owe us your damn life. Run the ship while cooperating with us like you understand you live because of us – you do. No outside communication concerning what has taken place whatsoever. If asked about our prisoners, say they are in quarantine for their own safety and will be leaving the ship when you reach Khasab. Lynn will direct you in any other details. Goodbye, Sir. I hope to congratulate you one day.”

Denny disconnected. I took over. “Lynn will be with you from now on. That is why she has an officer’s uniform on. Everything concerning ships entertainment, and the running of the ship, will be going on as orchestrated. Call me if you need anything, Lynn, including a break. You’ll only need to stick with the Captain until you understand the workings on the bridge.”

“Captain Queeg and I are going to get along just fine.” Lynn pointed at the two women killers avoiding her gaze. “You two did well. Make sure you convince your friends of the importance to do what they are told.”

“Yes, Mistress,” the two women answered in chorus. Chuck and Sal took charge of the two women and left. Perry would be remaining with us for now.

“What the hell did you do to those women?”

“Pray I never have to show you, Queeg,” Lynn answered. “Let’s get to work. Lead the way.”

Lynn and Larsen headed for the bridge leaving Clint, Nick, John, Jafar and me with Perry.

“John and Cala will be taking care of you until after the assault, Perry,” Nick said. “John says you understand your place in all this. I hope you do.”

“I do, Sir. John will accompany me doing my regular duties. I will do as I am directed without fail.” Perry left in company with his new guardian: John.

I figured we may have a small down time while we eased into the cruise details. “What do you have going in the morning, Nick?”

“I have a book signing to do tomorrow morning,” Nick said. “I’m sure glad my agent managed to do a last minute print run. Sal told me we have five hundred novels of each in the series. I’m supposed to pick names out of a hat for a complete set to ten winners. Would you and Al like to help? Jean’s been going along with me lately. I don’t know if John will be able to join me at the signing or not. By the way, John mentioned we should call him Johnny so you can have your name back.”

“Thanks. I’ll ask Al, but I think she’s in thrall to Jean and Sonny already. I’m certain she’ll love doing it.”

“I want to come too, Dead Boy,” Clint said. “I’ve read your series. Lucas loaned me all his copies. That Diego is an interesting character. I suppose you’ll be doing a Diego novel on our little adventure. Will I be a character in it?”

“Absolutely. You’re going to be the clown member of the team Diego hooks up with that thinks he’s funny. He’ll fall overboard during the first chapter and gets eaten by sharks.”

Clint enjoyed his new character prospectus. “I’ll be at the book signing. I want to see you handle one of those ‘Grammar Nazis’ Kabong told me about. How come no one recognizes you, Dead Boy? You’re a famous author.”

Nick shrugged. “Most will after they see me tomorrow. They wouldn’t recognize many of the top ten authors in the world so I’m in good company. I’d like to make sure no one sees me killing people from the stacks.”

“It would sell more books,” Clint pointed out. “Controversy sells. I don’t know how the hell you pulled this author gig off, but I have to admit I enjoy your writing. Maybe you could write a screenplay Lynn can make into a movie.”

“That’s not bad, Clint,” Nick replied. “Are you angling for the starring lead?”

“Of course. With my ruggedly handsome good looks, I will be the formerly unknown actor who hits it big on his first assignment. You should write Cheese into it too. We can be murderous heroes capable of anything. It will be a buddy movie like the ‘Lethal Weapon’ series.”

“I’ll think about it,” Nick said. “Would you like to be a movie star, John?”

“Knowing Director Deville as I do, I doubt I’d fare well in her movie debut.”

“I’ll think about a screen play. Diego has a couple of sidekicks, but Gus and John would assassinate me if I wrote a movie that they didn’t get to play their character parts in from the novels. Maybe I’ll have to give Diego a couple rough guys who do the dirty work when the job’s not a clean assassination.”

“You know Lynn will make us into cardboard cutouts, right Clint?”

“Let’s steal a bunch of money from Khan and Mannan to finance our big chance anyway.”

“I like it. Movies cost a lot of money. Those two won’t need it where they’re going.”

Chapter Eighteen

Down to Business

Nick looked comfortable, smiling out at the hundreds of reading fans filling the Starlight of the Seas largest conference room. Johnny sat next to him as befits a character from the novel. Perry sat with Clint in the first row. He was off duty when we wanted him off duty. The kids and I sat with the great author in very comfortable seating at a plush table filled with Nick’s novels. We even had our own cashier who cared for the main bulk of the novels at our side. Anyone wishing to take a novel or novels to Nick for signing went through her first. Nick gave a very entertaining breakdown of how he writes before opening the book signing for the actual meet and greet.

Khasab, Oman, our port of call for the prisoner off loading, turned into an easy transfer where Denny indeed came through with Tom Wilders’ Seal Team meeting us in plain clothes to take charge of our prisoners. After a thorough briefing by Denny, Tom was none too happy to again be left in a support role. We were all friends now since pulling Smitty out of a hell-hole in Mexico. They secured a bad one when we discovered the Isis tugboat we now had made into an assault ship was transporting an atomic bomb. Thanks to Tom’s Seal Team we didn’t have to find a way to kill all our prisoners and dump them without the passengers and crew seeing it. We knew no one would hear from the infiltrators until we allowed it. I told Tom we owed him a big one, meaning man for man bonus that would equal their wages for five years. We take care of our guys we depend on. I was drifting into planning thought when one of the readers walking by yakked at me excitedly.