SAFE HAVENS: Shadow Masters (A Sean Havens Black Ops Novel Book 1) (43 page)

“I suppose. Well, I won’t say to tell him hi from us. Can’t say we were close, but, man, he was a god when it came to a crime scene.”

“Let’s just pray he doesn’t become one,” Sean added.

“Hey, here’s a puzzler for you. Who do you think would win? Mexican cartels or the Albanians?”

Neil gave his partner a punch in the arm. “OK, Havens, we better get going. Have a good holiday.”

“You too, guys. Maggie and I are going on a little road trip to see a specialist out west, but we’ll be back for the Super Bowl if you aren’t doing anything.”

“May take you up on that if you have Cujo here locked away.”

“Deal.”

Chapter 70

C
onrad knocked on the solid oak door. Despite the sterile feel of the corridor doors within the Pentagon, the quality of wood for the executive offices was quite nice.

“Come in, Conrad.”

“Sir.”

“Have you found him yet? Or the war chest of his that we funded?”

“No, sir.”

“Have you searched his home, his records, everything?”

“We are still looking for Draeger’s home, sir. The addresses we had ended up being abandoned homes in unincorporated areas. No utilities on, nothing. Mail was all sent to a forwarder and we lost the trail at a PO Box. Checked the security cameras and it had been him, but he paid in cash all the time. Trail is dead there. No credit card trails, money transfers, nothing. Draeger’s gone, sir.”

“How much did we lose from the approved funds we gave him?”

“Just over six hundred thousand. There could be more, but his guy Jason, the other commo whiz, is gone too. They moved the accounts so we can’t access the funds. It appears they tapped into Silver Star too. Someone took a few hundred thousand. Draeger had another fund that is gone too. He kept the books on that.”

The general sat in silence. He rubbed his chin, then his ear, scratched his neck. He began to nod.

“Conrad, that snake accomplished as much as we could have hoped for. I can’t say I think he was the best man for it, and it was messy, but he succeeded in raising awareness and vigilance again in this country to an appropriate level. And we now have some resources back to keep our enemies at bay. To lose six hundred thousand dollars or six million dollars at this point is a shot of piss in the pot. It’s a fart in the wind compared to what we gained. No, I think this ended up alright. Plus, I’ve been ordered by someone else to use him, so we’re clear.”

“So should we call off the hunt?”

“God, no. Do I have to do all the work here? Eliminate those motherfuckers from the earth, wherever they are.”

“Sir, that won’t be easy.”

“My God, man, how did you make it this far? You make sure that man and his lackey cannot leave the country, cannot return to this country, cannot set foot in another country, cannot move by air, rail, sea, or dig under the fucking ground with the help of a million Chinamen. You trump up something bad and get it on all the wires. And if someone finds him…pffft pffft.” The general made a pistol motion with his fingers.

“Yes, sir.”

“Now go start me another war somewhere near Mexico or Canada. Let’s get some more of that Canuck skin in the game. Those fur hat-wearing pussies. And get good people this time. We have more money now to hire good people. Get me the best. Get Havens. Let him pick his own team. We can clean up this little mess of his and expunge the records. Let him run the show. Shit, have him hunt down Draeger. And don’t ask me how to do it. Just do it or find me someone who can.”

“On it, sir.”

“Close the door on your way out.”

The general watched the door close before opening his drawer to pull out a royal blue folder. It was embossed with a corporate logo. He opened the folder and pulled out the top sheet. He looked at the figures in the offer letter.

850K plus 200K guaranteed bonus to run a homeland security business unit for this company? Wait’ll I really get things fired up. Let’s see what the competition will pay by summer.

Chapter 71

T
wo men shook hands in greeting on a mountainside in Arizona. While one unhitched a pair of mountain bikes the other went to the truck and extracted their rifles. Both agreed on the hide position and prepared themselves with their C14 Timberwolf sniper rifles arming .338 Lapua cartridges. They watched the target location through the lenses of the TrackingPoint precision guided firearm system until they marked their man. The PGF did all auto calculations through the scope, which was ideal for enhancing old sniper skills that had gotten rusty.

Lars Bjorklund was moving about in his kitchen. The panoramic window provided an excellent vantage for the shooters. Lars opened the refrigerator and grabbed a quart of eggnog. One of the benefits of being a bachelor was never having to hide when swigging right out of a milk carton. Swigging from an open carton of eggnog was one of those sweet moments in life for Lars these days.

“On two. I go head, you go mass.”

The two professionals were perfectly in sync and had spent hours in planning while traveling to the hide site earlier in the day for the first and only recon. Final confirmations solidified the mission as a go. The selected round was chosen with consideration to the distance, angle, and need to penetrate the windowpane.

“Roger that.”

“One…”

“Wait. I want to shoot the eggnog.”

Havens took a full breath with a slow release to maintain his rhythm and keep his heart rate slowed.

“And why, Red, do you want to shoot the eggnog?”

“I think it would be funny.”

“If I miss we have blown our shot—literally.”

“Don’t miss. Hurry before he puts it away.”

“You are an idiot.”

“Because I am here with you ready to commit murder? I’m a hero. Heroes don’t kill cops.”

“Ex-cop. Dirty cop. On two, I have head you have…eggnog. Don’t miss. I’m gonna try using the hole you are going to make if he moves in.”

“Here he goes. I get eggnog, wait a sec, and then go head through my entrance. I think you best go direct to glass and not catch an angle. Just don’t start laughing. I’m going.”

“The round is going to slow and tumble with contact to the glass and make a big hole in that carton. May blow off his hand.”

Lars looked at his one and only Christmas card of the season. It was affixed to his refrigerator by a cheap magnet that said “Larry.” There were no Lars magnets in the souvenir shop. The card was from Sean.

After all this shit, he still sees me as a brother and thought enough to send a holiday greeting. “Lars. Wherever you are, I’ll be there for you. Merry Xmas. S.”

Lars took another gulp.

“I’ll try not to hit his hand so the coroner can fold them in his casket. Glad you decided to do this, Sean. It was the right move.”

“Yeah.”
It was your idea.

The carton exploded in Lars’ hand. Eggnog burst through the air. Red started giggling and dropped from his optic as Havens fired the second shot a fraction of a second later.

“Target down?”

“Target down.”

“I thought it would be funnier.”

“It was a little funny when eggnog splashed on his face.”

“That was a little funny. Ready to go?”

“Yep. Let’s go.”

“Sorry about all this shit, Sean.”

“I know. Thanks. Did you really want to shoot the carton or save yourself from life in prison? Either is fine. Just wondering.”
I knew at the last minute you’d want to keep your hands clean.

Red regarded his friend for a moment. He felt exposed.

“If you needed me to do it, I would have done it for you, brother. I could tell that you were going through with it. And I’ll admit the thought crossed my mind about personal liability. I guess in the moment I just got a chuckle out of the thought of his face getting doused. Seemed fitting to humiliate him first. I know we don’t laugh at a man about to pay the ultimate price.”

“We don’t. But his big ass did look funny with eggnog all over. I had to pull though before someone put us on
Funniest Home Videos
.”

Sean’s chuckle released the tension Red was feeling.

“I know. It’d be funnier in a movie.”

“Tarantino style.”

“Did I tell you that I kicked Harrison in the nuts after I killed him?”

“No!” Red scrunched his face quizzically. “Why?”

“I thought it would be funny.”

“Shit, Sean, you are one fucked up dude.”

“You too, Red. Real fucked. Your number was all over Harrison’s phone. And your travel forays were all over Lars’ computer. You covered all the federal angles of this and covered up some evidence while pushing other bits up the flagpole for national effect. You sat in the car while my wife was killed. I found out you and Draeger had been in touch regularly too. Guess you patched things up a couple years back.”

Red paused just long enough for Havens to lift and fire a concealed .38 caliber semi-automatic pistol. The shot found its mark where Havens intended—just above the right eye a bit over the temple. It was enough to kill Red instantly without looking like a professional. Havens had encouraged Red’s ride up the mountain by bicycle to mirror the Baseline Killer case of Phoenix or the Serial Shooters incidents occurring around that time. Copycat? Third party? Either way it would have folks guessing.

The serial attributed kill saved Havens the chore of cleanup aside from the rifles which he simply cased and slid through the cutout in the mattresses and box strings tied down to the pickup bed. He checked Red’s corpse quickly to ensure no pocket litter pointed to Havens. It surprised Havens to find that Red was also carrying a small Sig Sauer 38H .32 caliber semi-auto. The pistol was not Red’s usual brand. To the best of Havens’ knowledge, it wasn’t even Red’s gun. He took a deep breath in through his nostrils and exhaled slowly. Yet another friendship gone. He couldn’t waste the time or energy wondering if Red was planning to kill Havens too on that quiet mountain. Red may have been looking to finish the story as well. Havens was running low on friends.

Chapter 72

A
fter a quick call and a few minutes waiting at the front door, a rather rattled Lars emerged. He still had eggnog on his shirt. He cautiously let his brother-in-law inside.

“Sorry for the mess, Lars.”

No response.

“I’ll pay for the dry cleaning.”

No response.

“I’ll get you another eggnog.”

Sensing no threat, but still on guard, Lars broke eye contact and looked down at the floor. His eyes followed the wet mess on his shirt to his shoes.

“It was the Southern Comfort brand. And I want two. I had just opened this one.”

“Yes,” Havens said, looking Lars up and down. “I see it was rather full.”

Both men burst into laughter, breaking the awkward moment.

“Lars, I broke into your home in Chicago.”

“I know.”

“How did you know?”

“Two ways. One, I have a key light since the hall is so dark, and if I have been drinking I need to find the hole. I saw that the tarnish on the edge of the lock opening had a bit of polish to it. Like steel wool or a lock wizard.”

“And two?”

“When I saw the lock was jimmied I really wasn’t sure who would be in my home, so before I got myself killed I stopped by my neighbor’s. I asked him if he had seen or heard anything and that I was concerned about someone potentially breaking in. He really didn’t want to say anything, but figuring I have been through a lot, he assuaged my fears and said my brother-in-law stopped by just to check on me.”

Havens nodded his head in understanding.

“Christina and Maggie had a key. You didn’t.”

“Sorry, Lars. Things weren’t adding up.”

“I understand. That’s why I had to get all wiggy on you. Tried to signal you with the pets. Smart predator, dangerous predator, but it fell short. Made sense in my head. I was scared and didn’t want to be seen with you so we could both stay safe. I knew I was in over my head and just hoped you would figure it out.”

“When I called you, I hoped you would understand what I meant. That’s why I said what I said.”

“I know, ‘Remember Seany, I am your brother. Red is not.’”

“It was a helluva leap of faith. But you got it.” Lars started to tear up.

“I know. That’s why I said, ‘Sir Charles understands.’”

“I wanted to believe you, man. But boy, when that shot took out my nog, Crissakes.”

“What were you thinking at the time?”

“Well, as you know, time stands still. I was aware that my nog exploded and my window had been shot, exploding the granite near the fridge. And then I saw your card. I figured, if that were Seany coming for me, he wouldn’t have missed. If it wasn’t you, then I prayed in that instance that you were going to be there for me.”

“You said you didn’t call the police. What did you do while I was coming down from the mountain?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“I think we have been through enough where we can share.”

“Well, the place had been cleaned before I got here, and I figured if indeed I was going to die, I knew the angle of the shooters had me pinned and I couldn’t get to a piece.”

“So?”

“I got on all fours and started slurping up that spilled eggnog. My Last Supper.” Lars lifted his shoulders and shrugged sheepishly as only a giant can do. “So how is that baby girl of mine?”

“She’s coming along and can’t wait to see you.”

“Well, I’ll come back soon once I get this cleared up for you.”

“You going to call it in?”

“Nah, not unless I need to. Shooter down?”

“Shooter down.”

“Red?”

“Dead.”

“Good. Had to practically wrestle the store owner’s security tape from Red at the scene. Too much of a coincidence for you to be in the area earlier. If you had a disguise, I knew you were going into the store and they could put something on you as the initial recon guy before the killing.”

“Thanks. Don’t suppose you have the tape?”

“Long gone. Destroyed. Red was still asking me for it. Did you see my notes that Red was also in those locations where the families were killed? I hoped you would. He managed to be FBI on the scene even out of state, but no one ever knew who he was since he said it was always unofficial. He showed up when I was looking into a Chicago cartel hit. Something wasn’t right. He had an awful lot of opinion about what was going on for someone unofficially there. I was surprised to see in the report that he was at your house too when Christina was killed. He was also at another site in DC that I was following up on. We had caught a picture of him while we were swarming the scene. I sent it on to one of my buddy detectives and got a match on him. I followed up on a few other scenes and every time there was that Red.”