by C. G. Cooper
BRIAN (deadpan): I didn’t want to make you cry.
CAL: Hey, Doc, you know Travis and Neil, but let me introduce you to the rest of this motley crew. This is Captain Bartholomew Andrews. We served together in the fleet and I consider him one of my closest friends.
Andy leaned over and shook Brian’s hand.
ANDY: How are you, Doc?
BRIAN: I’m good, sir. We talked over the phone at the hospital, right?
ANDY: That was me. And you can cut the sir crap. Just call me Andy.
BRIAN: Got it.
CAL: Now this other fine fellow is the amazing former Marine Master Sergeant Willy Trent.
Brian looked up at the huge black man.
BRIAN: Hey, didn’t we see you at the chow hall?
Cal laughed and turned to Travis.
CAL: I told you he was sharp for a squid. Willy runs the mess hall when he’s not kicking the crap out of the troops in the gym. Not only is he a professionally trained chef from Johnson and Wales, he’s also one of our martial arts and urban raid instructors.
Trent bent his hulking frame over and shook Brian’s hand.
MSGT TRENT: Good to meet you, Doc.
BRIAN: You too, Top.
CAL: When you walked in, we were discussing our upcoming mission.
BRIAN: I’m sorry, what?
CAL: Let’s just say I’m about to start playing out of bounds and you need to tell me right now whether you want out. You can still stick around, but we’ll politely ask you to leave whenever we’re talking operationally.
BRIAN: What are you talking about?
CAL: Let’s just say it has to do with finishing the job I started in that downtown alley.
BRIAN: You’re talking about going after that West guy.
CAL (smiling): What do you think?
BRIAN: I’m thinking you’re about to go WAY out of bounds.
CAL: Listen, Doc, if you’re not up to this, just say so and we’ll come get you in an hour or so.
BRIAN: Can I ask a couple questions?
CAL: Shoot.
BRIAN: First, can I have one of whatever you guys are drinking?
CAL: It’s Famous Grouse.
BRIAN: What’s that?
CAL: Scotch. My dad’s favorite and pretty much all I drink around here. We’ve got pallets of it.
BRIAN: Sounds good.
Travis walked to the bar to get the drink for Brian.
CAL: Next question?
BRIAN: Why not find the guy then alert the cops?
TRAVIS: I’ll answer that one. We’ve already been monitoring the situation through discrete channels. Believe it or not, even with the eyewitnesses, they don’t have enough evidence to pin it all on West.
BRIAN: Really?
TRAVIS (raising his glass): Welcome to our world, brother.
BRIAN: How are you planning on getting away with this?
Cal glanced at the other members of the party with a conspiratorial look.
CAL: Well, apparently there’s a lot that this company can do that I had no idea about until about an hour ago. Before we got here, I thought I was going to borrow some of Neil’s toys and go do some snoopin’ and poopin’ by myself. Thanks to these guys, it looks like I won’t have to do that alone anymore.
Brian’s faced changed to a look of disbelief.
BRIAN: Cal, you can’t go waging some kind of private war on the streets of Nashville!
Cal scrutinized his new friend as if deciding whether to go on.
CAL: Look, Doc, I can’t promise things won’t get dirty, but the initial plan is that we find this little shit and dump him in the laps of the local cops. I’ve gotta say that part of me hopes he’ll fight back.
The determination in Cal’s eyes made Brian wait to reply. What the hell am I getting into?
BRIAN: Can I ask another question?
CAL: Sorry, Doc, that’s it. Either you trust me and you’re in or you can go take a break in your room. I’ve made my decision and so have these guys. You’re part of the family or you’re not.
Brian’s eyes flashed with his own cold anger as he continued.
BRIAN: I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you weren’t trying to be a total prick with that last statement and that maybe the booze is talking a bit. I was going to ask you how I would fit into this little operation.
Cal flashed another conspiratorial smile and nodded to the team.
CAL: I told you he wouldn’t puss out, guys. He belongs here.
BRIAN: Tell me you didn’t just put me through some kind of test, Cal.
CAL: What can I say, Doc? Once a Marine, always a Marine. Didn’t your company gunny give you shit until he knew you weren’t just another swabby?
Brian chuckled as he reminisced.
BRIAN: Yeah. That guy rode my ass for months. Good guy though. He’s one of the guys I saved.
MSgt Trent decided to chime in.
MSGT TRENT: Look, Doc, you might as well get it through your head that this place is a lot like the Marine Corps, including Cal’s smartass comments. We all give each other a hard time, but in the end we take care of one another. You’ve probably already heard some of the stories of some of us second-chancers.
Brian’s eyes went wide as he stared at the six foot seven mass of muscles.
BRIAN (blurting): You’re a second-chancer too?
MSgt Trent’s chuckle sounded more like the rumble of a mountain landslide.
MSGT TRENT: Yep. I’m a former screw-up just like the rest of these boys. I had the misfortune of getting on the wrong side of a prick Major. At the time I was working in the chow hall with Fifth Marines. Long story short, it turned out this guy was not only looking at kiddy porn on our government computers, he also made some inappropriate passes at my young female Marines. The guy had the balls to do it right in front of me. He was a terminal Major with close to twenty years in so I guess he thought he could do whatever he wanted. Well, as soon as one of my Marines told me what was going on, I confronted him. He denied it in one breath and in the next told me that even if he was doing anything, it wasn’t any of my business. I told him the next time I heard about him messing with any of my Marines, he’d end up in the hospital.
I hoped that would be the end of it. He wasn’t that smart or lucky. A week later, I went into the walk-in freezer to get some supplies. I open the door and find this Major with his hand up the shirt of one of my female Marines pushed up against a produce rack. It was pretty obvious she’d been struggling. The prick had the nerve to tell me to leave. Instead I picked the scrawny fuck up by the front of his cammies and threw him through the door.
I’m not proud of what I did next, but he’d had his chance. Let’s just say he ended up having an extended stay in the hospital and won’t ever have the option of getting a woman pregnant. The MPs showed up five minutes later and I told them the whole story. While the regimental commander was sympathetic, he couldn’t ignore the fact that I assaulted a Marine officer.
Next thing I know, I’m getting a visit from Travis over there. He tells me who he is without getting into details, then offers me a tryout here at SSI. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.
TRAVIS (grandly): And the rest, as they say, is history.
Trent nodded thoughtfully and continued.
MSGT TRENT: Doc, nobody’s forcing you, but if you remember anything from today, I’d want you to walk away with this: This company and these guys will become your family. They’re fair and will fight to the death for you once you’re here. Plus, the pay’s pretty damned good too.
He smiled as he finished and took a long pull from his glass.
Travis, now visibly in the cups, picked up where Trent left off.
TRAVIS: I guess what we’re saying, Doc, is that this’ll be the last job you’ll ever have.
Brian found it impossible to keep the look of surprise off his face and reddened in embarrassment as the small group of men smiled knowingly.
BRIAN: Wait, are you offering me a job
?
TRAVIS: You’re not technically a second-chancer, but I think your record and Cal vouching for you pretty much makes you a shoe-in. Plus, Neil told me he’d love to have some input from a medical combat vet on some of the life-saving gear he’s developing.
BRIAN: No shit?
Now Brian was completely floored. This couldn’t be happening…could it?
TRAVIS: Well, you’d have to split the royalties from any new patents with Neil and the company, but I don’t think that will be a problem. That would be on top of your salary.
BRIAN: But you guys don’t even know me!
TRAVIS: Look, Doc, we’ve been doing this for a while. We’ve obviously got an eye for talent. Cal aside, everybody else around here is in the top one percent of their peer group.
CAL (smiling): Screw you, Trav. What my cousin’s trying to say is that we’ve done our homework on you. We know about your awards. We know about your perfect PFT and shooting scores. We know you’re like us. I know this is a big decision, but we’re all in agreement.
BRIAN: What would I do about my other job?
CAL: Would you rather be working there?
BRIAN: That’s not what I’m saying. They’ve been good to me and the pay’s not bad.
CAL (grinning): Come on, Doc, you really want to go back to changing bed pans after what you’ve seen around here? Plus, I’ll twist Trav’s arm to take care of you on the salary side.
BRIAN (thinking out loud): It does look like you guys have a pretty good thing going around here. I guess I’m in.
Travis walked up to Brian and put his non-drinking arm around his new employee.
TRAVIS: Then welcome to the family, my boy. I just have one more question for you: you’re obviously a smart guy, super fit, a warrior. How come you didn’t go to B.U.D.S. and become a SEAL?
Without pause, Brian innocently answered.
BRIAN: Because it only took me one time to pass the ASVAB.
The whole room exploded in laughter as Travis shook his head in mock surprise.
TRAVIS (lifting his glass in toast): Looks like you’ll fit right in around here, Doc.
+ + +
Dante cut the connection on his cell phone and looked around at his newly assembled forces.
DANTE: I just got the address. Be ready to go tomorrow night after I do a drive-by.
The hired guns all nodded and continued preparing their gear for the impending mission. Dante looked around the room, appraising his beefed up crew. Bulletproof vests and automatic weapons weren’t cheap, but they were effective. Things were about to change. A war was coming.
That Marine’s about to feel some pain.
+ + +
The newly formed team spent the following days going over “borrowed” police reports, courtesy of Neil.
TRAVIS: Someday you’re gonna have to show me how the hell you find this stuff, Neil.
NEIL: It’s called plausible deniability, Mr. CEO. If I don’t tell you, you can honestly tell your interrogators that you had no idea how I got my hands on this stuff. Besides, I can’t show you all my secrets.
TRAVIS: Fair enough. How about you give us a quick rundown of what we’re looking at. My eyes are starting to hurt.
NEIL: Ok, here’s the gist. The local authorities haven’t come up with much. I will give them credit, though. They’ve put a lot of resources into this investigation. Based on what Cal has told us, it looks like their rendition of what happened in the alley is pretty spot on. On the other hand, their search for West is lacking. They just don’t have the resources. They’ve beaten the bushes and interrogated this Shorty guy but haven’t come up with much. This kid was a new recruit and didn’t have much knowledge of West’s hideouts and operations. What they have gotten from him, they’ve exploited pretty efficiently.
CAL: So what you’re saying is that we don’t have much to go on.
NEIL: Right. I’ve gone over everything they have and it really doesn’t give us much help on finding West.
Cal turned to MSgt Trent, who was carefully studying a map of the Nashville area.
CAL: What do you think, Top?
Without turning away from the map, Trent answered.
MSGT TRENT: I think we need to start beating some bushes too. I’ll volunteer to start on the north side of town.
CAL: No offense, Top, but you’re not the most inconspicuous of detectives.
MSGT TRENT: Don’t worry about me, Cal. What my size lacks in subtlety it more than makes up for in intimidation. I figure West is probably not only in deep shit with the cops, but also with some of his customers and rivals. The way these guys work, they’re all thinly connected by financial obligations and past favors. I’ll just pretend I’m looking for Mr. West to pay back the money he owes me. I can be pretty convincing when I want to be.
CAL: OK. Can’t say I have anything better. Neil, what do you think?
NEIL: I’m with Top. We need to get some boots on the ground. He’ll blend in best in that area anyway. I can give him some help with some gadgets if he wants. Just let me know what you need, Top.
CAL: Trav, I know you’re busy, but can you spare some time to talk with some of your contacts within the Metro Nashville Police Department?
TRAVIS: No problem. I’ll see if I can swing a lunch with a couple of my buddies. We’ve made some good friends on the force around here. They’ve even spent some time in our simulators and on our live fire ranges.
CAL: Good. See what you can find out about on-going operations to find West and make sure they don’t think we’re jumping into this thing.
Cal turned to Brian.
CAL: That leaves me, doc and Andy.
ANDY: OK. What are we doing?
CAL: Now that I’m getting around on my own, I want to go have a little talk with Irene.
BRIAN: The girl at your condo?
CAL: Yep. I have a bad feeling that her walk through my condo wasn’t just professional curiosity. Anybody have any other questions, comments or concerns?
Travis raised his hand.
TRAVIS: Yeah, we may have one small issue. Just got a text from our legal department. Seems as though we’ve gotten a couple of inquiries from some local reporter. He was trying to find you and was looking for a comment on the investigation.
CAL: Just tell them to blow him off.
TRAVIS: I did, but I’ve heard about this guy. He’s a tenacious fucker. Young and ambitious. Gave the local police hell earlier this year over some alleged abuse scandal. Turned out to be nothing, but it really gave the police a black eye. This guy smells a story.
CAL: What’s his name?
TRAVIS: Henry Bellinger.
CAL: Why do I know that name?
TRAVIS: You’ve probably seen his name on any story condemning conservatives, the military, or the police. He loves conspiracies and is smart as hell.
CAL: So how do we deal with this guy?
TRAVIS: Let me think about it. I may just put The Hammer on it.
BRIAN: The Hammer?