Necessary Retribution (4 page)

A hand shot up from the middle of the room. A detective from the Japanese National Police had received a severe beating from some Yakuza gangsters when he got too close to shutting down their black market operation. It cost him the use of his left eye and most of the hearing in his left ear.

“Shosi.” Robin nodded in his direction and the short muscular man stood.

“Mr. Marlette…”

“Please call me Robin.”

“Thank you, Robin.” Detective Shosusha Tanyaka said with a bow. “I am concerned about what your clients may ask you to do. I will not compromise my integrity for any cause.”

“And we would never ask you to. We may, however, draw a fine line between what is ethical and what is legal in any particular country. In other words, we will never ask you to violate your integrity or ethics. On the other hand, we may ask you to violate the law of a particular country, but the choice will be yours. You can choose not to help us on any particular operation or part of an operation.”

“Will that mean we will be fired if we choose not to assist you?”

“I'll decide those times on a case by case basis, but I don't think it'll be a problem. If you're really standing firm on principles, I won't fire you. I will say, however, if you believe you can never violate a law of any country in your area of operation, this would be a good time to bow out of your association with our company.”

“Under what circumstances would you ask us to violate a country's laws?”

“Just off the top of my head, we might ask you to violate a country's laws to rescue an innocent person, if the person is being held against their will with the tacit approval of that government.”

Shosi nodded.

“I take it that might be acceptable to you?”

“Yes, that would be acceptable to me.”

“Good, Shosi. Any other questions?” Robin waited for silence to settle in the room.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the services section of our company is primarily geared to those kinds of operations law enforcement officers would perform. You are here to protect the innocent and bring fugitives to justice where governments simply can't or willingly don't. You were chosen to be here today because of your proven courage and integrity. We will only do operations that further the free world's sense of justice. The emphasis is on the word ‘free’. Does that answer the tough questions?” Heads nodded and Robin noticed all eyes were fixed on him. “Good. Your area directors will show you around our facilities and will brief you on the strategic plans for your areas of operation. We're happy to have you aboard.”

F
OUR

AS ROBIN DROVE
towards the Clinton/Mukilteo Ferry that would take him across Possession Sound to the mainland, the new day started to filter through the pine trees lining Highway 525. Glowing white cumulus clouds dotted the rose color of the early morning sky. He never tired of the beauty of his new home.

Seattle was the company headquarters. On any given Friday, the team trained with special operations teams stationed at one of the five major military bases in the area. The CIA believed in the event of an emergency, the military could transport them anywhere in the world in a matter hours. But, after considering Robin's arguments for the unit to be self-contained, the CIA decided to equip the team with its own assets for rapid deployment.

Robin allowed the men to live anywhere they wanted in the general Seattle area. He and Karen considered Seattle a beautiful city, but after living in Phoenix, they were determined to live in a small town. They explored many small towns in the Puget Sound area, but none seemed to be just what they wanted, until they took a trip to Whidbey Island.

They drove through deep forests, farm fields with the pleasant smell of new mown hay and towns that came from a picture post card until they reached the town of Coupeville. They drove down Main Street and then turned on a street lined with buildings built in the 1800’s sitting on the shore of a body of water called Penn Cove.

Karen looked at Robin and said, “This is it.”

“I like it too, Dad.” Eddie chimed in from the back seat.

“How ’bout you Laurie?” A long silence filled the car. “Laurie?”

“I don't want to live in a small town. I'd rather live in Seattle.”

“Well, you enjoyed Pinetop when we lived there.”

“Get real, Dad. I was twelve.”

Laurie's voice became loud and harsh. “What do you want from me? Cathy and Casey have started their own lives. It's just Eddie and me and he will do anything you say. So do you really think I believe you care about what I want? I wanted to do things, to be someone who did good things and now you want to stick me in a small town on a dumb island.” Laurie choked back tears.

Robin slowed and parked near the Coupeville Wharf. He looked over to Karen who gave him the It's your problem look. Eddie wore a confused and hurt look on his face.

“It's all right, Eddie,” Robin said in a quiet voice. “C'mon, Laurie. Let's take a walk.” He got out and opened the door for Laurie. She stepped out, but wouldn't look at him. He put his arm around her shoulders and guided her to the pier, a redwood carpet stretching to the wharf at the end. Blue water framed the wharf with a background of deep green forest and the lighter green of pastures on the other side of Penn Cove. A bright blue sky graced by white cotton ball clouds topped the scene. Robin was struck by the beauty of it all.

“Laurie, it might do you good to look up.” Laurie slowly raised her head and as her eyes went higher, her steps slowed to an eventual stop. She looked slowly to the right and then slowly back to the left, taking in the deep soothing color on nature's canvas before her. Her breath seemed to stop for an instant.

“I have never seen a more beautiful place, Dad.”

“Same here, kiddo.”

She looked into Robin's eyes. “I'm overreacting, aren't I?”

“No, you're not. Our family has been through hell…because of me. Last time I checked, you're part of this family. You've never said a word about the attack. Never said a word about the hell that followed. Never said a word about the move out here. You just did what we as a family needed you to do. No, sweetheart, you're not overreacting…you're just now reacting, which you have every right and reason to do. We do care about what you have to say. It's about time you said it.”

“Oh, Dad!”

“What, honey?”

“You make it so hard to stay mad at you!”

“Well, that's a good thing. Laurie, we don't have to live here.” They stopped at the end of the pier and Laurie leaned on the rail. Robin waited as she looked at the vista of Penn Cove before her.

“Actually, Dad, I think this might do. I'll figure something out about the rest.”

As they headed back to the car, Robin stopped and looked at Laurie. “You sent your little brother into a tailspin a while ago.”

“Don't worry, Dad. I'll fix it.”

“I know you will. You know me, I love to point out the obvious. That way I'm always right.” Robin spotted Karen and Eddie coming out of a store across the street eating huge ice cream cones. They both were smiling until Eddie saw Laurie.

She crossed the street and walked up to Eddie. She put her arms around him. “I'm sorry, little brother. You know I didn't mean what I said.”

“I thought you were serious, Sis.” Eddie's eyes started to well up.

“If you think I was serious, then you have a lot to learn about girls. I love you, Eddie. Sometimes girls get crazy about little things.”

“Sis, nothing that's happened lately is a little thing.”

Robin, Karen and Laurie looked at Eddie with surprised expressions.

Karen spoke quietly. “I think we all need to find ourselves a quiet place to live in this town and bring some peace to our family. It has been a rough two and a half years.”

“I think that's a very good idea,” Robin said. Laurie looked at Eddie who seemed more relaxed now.

“We do too, Mom and Dad.” Eddie grinned at his sister.

Robin knew he would treasure that moment for the rest of his life. He pulled the car into the ferry toll booth lane. He waved at the toll collector, who was always at this booth on the early weekday mornings with a bright smile, as she acknowledged his monthly pass and pointed him to the line in lane three. Robin had about fifteen minutes before the next ferry, so he decided to get a cup of coffee and a pastry. He was about to walk over to the little snack stand at the end of the ferry dock when a man at the window pulled a gun. The man's hand shook.

“Damn!” Robin quietly opened the pickup door and slipped out. He moved quickly and silently across the asphalt of the dock toward the man's back. The woman behind the counter looked terrified as she stuffed cash into a paper sack. She glanced at Robin. The robber started to turn…too late. Robin grabbed the gun hand and jerked it down pulling the right side of the gunman down off balance and slammed a fist into the back of the man's head at the medulla. The robber's legs folded and he collapsed in a heap. Robin grabbed the gun, stripped the magazine and cleared the chamber in two swift movements.

“State Patrol! Don't move!” Robin froze. He slowly raised his hands, spreading his fingers as he did. A man in plain clothes moved into view holding a semi-automatic pistol, which Robin knew to be the issued State Patrol duty weapon. Although he saw no badge, he didn't move. His eyes, however, followed the man's every move.

“I think I know what happened, but I saw what you did. You don't move unless I tell you to.”

Robin nodded.

The trooper was young and wide eyed at this point.

“The guy on the ground tried to rob me!” The woman behind the counter yelled pointing to the suspect. “He saved me!” She pointed to Robin.

“Who are you?” The trooper demanded.

“Robin Marlette.” He could hear sirens in the distance.

“No, not your name. What are you? Who do you work for?”

“I'm a businessman just trying to help.”

“Bullshit! No businessman can do what you did!”

“I'm trained in martial arts.”

“That was not martial arts! That was combat training!” Robin knew he had to change the subject.

“Officer, I don't want to tell you what to do, but I would appreciate it if you would point your weapon at the ground instead of at me.”

The trooper lowered his gun, but it didn't look like his curiosity had lessened.

“I have a concealed weapons permit and I'm armed. I am carrying a Colt .45 and a folding knife. If you care to, you can remove my gun and knife and search me for other weapons. I'm on your side.”

The trooper kept his distance. The sirens were getting close. Robin sighed.
Grassley isn’t going to like this.
His pager started vibrating.

Detective Mel Roush of the Island County Sheriff's Office was a twenty-two year veteran of the department. He really didn't care why or how this Marlette guy stopped the armed robber. He had an ironclad case against the suspect with very little work. This made the detective very happy. Trooper Echoles, on the other hand, would not let his concerns drop.

“Mel, you had to see that guy in action to understand what I'm telling you. He was good…too damn good.”

“Let it go, Tim. If he's some kind of operator, he isn't going to say shit to us about it. Marlette did us a favor and he is willing to testify. He's as good as gold to me.” Det. Roush wrote a few more notes on his pad then walked to where Robin leaned against his pickup.

“Mr. Marlette, you're free to go now. Thank you for your quick action and thank you for your cooperation.”

“No problem, Detective. Glad I could help.”

“The sheriff is probably going to give you an award for what you did.”

“With all due respect, Detective, I would appreciate it if you would dissuade the sheriff from any kind of an award. I'm not good at such things.”

Roush had to fight to suppress a smile.
I'll bet you're not.

“Where the hell have you been?” Burke fell in step at Robin's elbow as he walked through the door.

“I ran into a little…situation.”

Burke's eyebrows rose sharply.

“I had to take down an armed robber.”

“Oh shit. Grassley's going to go ballistic. He's been calling.”

“About what?”