The Reluctant Assassin Box Set

by Lee Jackson

  “Unconscious. We stopped the bleeding before she lost much blood, so she’s out of immediate danger, but she’ll need medical attention. She won’t take any pain medicine—she’s afraid she’ll hurt the baby.”

  “Did she get the NUKEX?”

  “She got it and held on to it like it was gold.”

  “Right now, it is.”

  “Listen Burly, Klaus seemed familiar with the backside of our house and the bluff down to the river. The company is less than a mile from here, downstream. There are expensive homes and offices between the two locations on both sides of the river, and most have surveillance cameras. Get a team to collect those and screen them. I’ll screen our own. Maybe we’ll see him placing the bomb.”

  “Will do, but didn’t Klaus say he had surveillance cameras of his own in place?”

  “He’s bluffing. When he kidnapped me last year, he controlled Sofia by telling her he had placed a remote-controlled bomb in our hotel room. He never did. He hasn’t had time to put in a surveillance system. Between stringing wire, attaching components, and testing, he’d need a few days.”

  Burly heaved a sigh. “He had time to put a sniper in place.”

  “That was probably him. Snipers don’t grow on trees. The police will be all over the shooting site by now. Tell them to look for surveillance cameras belonging to homeowners and businesses. Maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of Klaus. He’s moved on.”

  “All right, we’ll assume he has limited eyes on the bomb. I hope you’re right.” Burly was quiet a moment. “Ya know,” he said in a low voice. “He thinks you’re flying to Washington from Berlin. Wherever he set that bomb—and he had to have done it within the last day—if he had known that you and Sofia were both at home—”

  “I hear you,” Atcho interrupted. “Listen, Camp Mabry is less than a mile from here. It’s that Texas Army National Guard post I mentioned at our last meeting. They might have mobile jammers that can be wheeled into place.”

  “Good idea. I’ll get the surveillance videos and coordinate with Camp Mabry. Ivan is closing in on the firm that had surveillance on Sofia. One of our guys is working with the cell phone companies to shut down the towers within a five-mile radius of your house on a moment’s notice. Between that and jamming, that should cover the field.”

  “You’d better pinpoint the bomb’s location quickly and accurately and let me know where it is. I have no secure radio here and none that could get through the jamming.”

  “What about a landline?”

  “It’s been cut. Once you shut down commo in the area, I’ll be deaf, dumb, and blind.”

  41

  Klaus cursed Sofia from across the river as he took apart his rifle and jammed it into its case. He had no time to be careful. His objective now was to get out of the immediate area. Why can’t infidel men teach their women to do as they’re told?

  He had found a perfect sniper platform near the water’s edge. It provided both cover and concealment with plenty of room to lie flat on his stomach far back in the shade so that the barrel of his rifle did not protrude.

  He had watched with curiosity through a high-powered scope when a speedboat approached the opposite shore below Atcho’s residence. Weather in Austin was turning to spring, but the air was still chilly, and watercraft were few. As Klaus had watched the boat pull in, his attention shifted to a blur of motion over the top of a clump of bushes. Then Sofia had stepped into view, walking swiftly.

  Klaus had had little time to think. He had seen Sofia disappear on the other side of the boat, her intention clear. Quickly, he sighted on the vessel’s pilot and squeezed off a round. The man had gone down as he pulled Sofia onto the boat. The craft turned in the water. Klaus saw Sofia’s head briefly as she clambered over the outboard motor. He had fired off a few more rounds but could not see where they struck.

  Sofia had disappeared from view. Then Klaus had seen her again running on the shore. She had ducked behind the same bushes where he had first sighted her. He had fired off another round but did not see her again.

  Already, as he scrambled up the shore, he heard sirens closing the distance—fast. He reached his car, hidden in shadows in an overlook, and threw the rifle into the back seat. As he slammed the door closed, two police cars wheeled into the small parking area. An officer from each vehicle threw the doors open and jumped out.

  Thinking furiously, Klaus thrust his hands in the air and rushed toward them. “Help, help!” he cried. “There’s someone down there shooting. I saw him. He had a long rifle. He shot several times across the river. I think he saw me, so I ran.”

  The officers reached him. “Calm down,” one of them told him. “Tell us again, slowly. What did he look like and which way did he go?”

  “He was big, and he had black hair and a full beard. I think he went south.” Klaus indicated downriver with his hand.

  “I’ll go look,” one of the officers said to the other. “You stay with him and call it in. Request backup.”

  The second policeman escorted Klaus to the back of his patrol car. Klaus feigned weakness. He leaned against the car. “I was so scared,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow. “I thought he was going to come after me.”

  “OK. Sit in here and relax while I call in the report.” The officer held a back door open.

  Klaus stepped in, taking his time. When the first policeman disappeared into the brush, Klaus shoved against the door. His escort sprawled backward, reaching for his gun. Klaus kicked his arm and brought the heel of his boot down into his opponent’s face. The officer lay still.

  Klaus rushed to his own car. He cranked the engine and spun gravel to get onto the main road, heading north. A quarter mile further on, he turned into a neighborhood on his right, and weaved through it at the legal speed limit. Behind him, he heard more sirens screaming, their wail dissipating as they headed south along the river.

  The phone rang in the FBI chief’s office. He answered, and then handed the receiver to Burly. “It’s for you.”

  Burly listened a moment. “Put him on.”

  Another voice came over the phone. “This is Veniamin Krivkov.”

  “Listen, Doctor. This is very important. Walk me through again the arming sequence for the bombs. We’re looking for a vulnerability.”

  “I understand. I understand,” Veniamin said. His aged voice held a note of anxiety. “You see, the trouble is that Klaus rewired it. I don’t know what changes he made.”

  Burly’s voice took on greater urgency. “I get that, Doctor, but Klaus is no nuclear engineer. He doesn’t understand why the bomb works, he just knows how to put the pieces together. Aside from taking out the dummy wiring, I don’t think he would make any changes. So, walk me through the arming sequence.”

  Veniamin took a deep breath. “Hmm. I’ll try. But I’m doing this from memory, and I’m an old man.” He chuckled.

  “Doctor, please. Think. Concentrate.” Burly swallowed his agitation.

  “Oh. Yes, of course. Well, let’s see. Do you know if he intended to set the timer or use the remote?”

  “We’re fairly sure he used the remote option.”

  “Oh. Then he would have to enter a frequency for the remote to communicate with the bomb. He would need to activate the component that regulates the current running between the battery and the trigger mechanism. Let’s see. He would also need to set the delay.”

  “What do you mean by ‘set the delay’?”

  “What? Oh. Default on that is four minutes, but he could extend or decrease the time if he wanted.”

  “Doctor, what is it? What does the delay do?”

  “Oh, sorry. It’s a safety measure. With all the testing done of the battery and the sequence between components, it is possible to arm the bomb accidentally. When it is fully operational, a green diode lights up. If the delay is set, then once the remote activates, the operator has the specified amount of time to shut the bomb down—deactivate it.”

  Burly’s mind raced. “Does Kla
us know that?”

  “I don’t know. I never told him. He was pushing me so hard to show him how to detonate. He wasn’t interested in how to shut it down.”

  Burly breathed a little easier. “OK, Veniamin. This is important. Did I understand you to say that the bomb has no fail-safe? Does that mean that after closing the suitcase, opening it would not trigger it?”

  “That’s the way I designed it, but that does not mean that Klaus left it that way. He could have booby-trapped it in a way that doesn’t disrupt the detonation sequence—just kills whoever tries to open it.”

  Burly shook his head. “An obvious point. Last question. If the bomb is armed and set to detonate by remote, how would you be able to see the timer? Wouldn’t it be closed under the suitcase lid?”

  “The first one I built was that way, but I used upgraded components on the newer version. The screen showing remaining time to detonation pops up. I had to cut a slit in the top of the suitcases to accommodate it. If the bomb is armed by remote, that screen will slide up through the slit and show the time remaining.”

  “So, to be clear,” Burly said, “if the screen is up and counting, it shows you how many seconds you have left to disarm the bomb. If you try to open it though, Klaus might have set another booby trap.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Got it, Doctor. Thank you.”

  When Burly hung up, the FBI chief stood in front of him looking grim. “I got a call from the Austin police. They started a manhunt and asked for assistance to find a shooter along the opposite bank of the river from Atcho’s house. They’ve got an officer down, and the shooter killed one of our agents in a boat just below Atcho’s house.”

  Burly rubbed his hand over his forehead to the back of his head, his expression frustrated. “Oh God. I’m so sorry. Is the police officer OK?”

  “Touch and go. Klaus did a number on his face. Could be permanent damage, if the officer lives, and that’s an open question.”

  “Are you sure it’s Klaus?”

  The chief nodded. “The other officer at the scene got a good look at him. Klaus gave them a fictitious description of someone else he claimed was the shooter before he got away.”

  Burly thought a moment. “If we get too close before we find the bomb, he’ll punch the remote.” He paused in thought. “Can we do this? Announce a manhunt with the description that Klaus gave. Circulate his real photo to law enforcement. When he hears the news reports, he’ll know we’re searching, but approaching with caution. He won’t have an immediate reason to detonate. He thinks Atcho is still traveling. He’ll think he has time to get Atcho where he wants him, and that gives us time to find the bomb. We can close in after the bomb is neutralized.”

  The chief looked at him curiously. “Sounds like a plan, but are you supposed to be doing this? Aren’t you CIA?”

  Burly shot him a wry grin. “Retired. It’s complicated. You want me to stop?”

  “Hell no. Keep doin’ what you’re doin’ and let us know how we can help. I’ll get the word out.”

  Burly nodded somberly. “Good to hear you say that. Some people in our agencies think the real battle is between us about turf.”

  “We ain’t got time for that. If we don’t get the job done, Americans are gonna die. Lots of them.”

  “Atcho, it’s Ivan. I heard about Sofia. Is she going to be all right?”

  “Yes. The pain is horrendous. She’ll need medical attention as soon as we’re through this.”

  “You sound optimistic that we’ll beat Klaus.”

  “Given where you and I have been, why would I think anything else?”

  “Makes sense. Look, you might not know yet that Klaus killed that FBI agent in the boat, and he beat a local cop to a bloody pulp. We don’t know if he’ll live.”

  Atcho leaned against a wall and rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “There’s a manhunt going on for Klaus, but the public is being given the description that Klaus made up. I’ll tell you the whole story later.”

  “Now you’re optimistic.”

  “Yeah. I tried to speak with Burly, but he was tied up. I got the sense that things might be heading south in a hurry, so I took an initiative based on a guess that the guys watching Sofia were hired help and not true believers. I had a look at their company’s record and client list. They’re C-list private eyes at best.

  “I went in and threw my weight around. Made them believe I was an FBI investigator coming in on a tip by a state auditor looking at their practices. Long story short, they sang like babies.”

  Atcho had to smile. “You’ve adapted well to the scurrilous West. I have a hard time thinking of you as a former KGB officer instead of a good ol’ Midwestern boy.”

  “Hey, I’m a Texan now. I’ve got my boots an’ all. And what about you, my Cuban guerrilla friend? If you could ever shake that slight Latin accent and your unpronounceable real name, some people might mistake you for a real American too.”

  “OK. Enough banter. What information did you get?”

  “Not much, but what I got eases the burden a bit. The wannabe detectives didn’t do anything besides watch. They reported their observations to a hawaladar in Berlin by the name of Kadir. But they’ve set up no surveillance cameras or anything of the sort. They’ve never met Klaus and didn’t know really why they were doing the stakeouts.”

  “Good job, Ivan. Do they know why he pulled surveillance off the house?”

  “No, but if I had to guess, he didn’t want to have reports called in about a prowler around your house.”

  “Why didn’t your men or our own surveillance cameras pick him up?”

  “My men were watching the ‘Wannabes,’ so when they pulled back, mine did too. An oversight. My fault. The ‘Wannabes’ provided Kadir with a map showing where your cameras are located and their span of coverage. Kadir must have forwarded the map. All Klaus had to do was stay outside those zones.”

  “That makes sense. We know who Kadir is. We’ll relay that information to Detective Berger in Berlin. He might like to take a look at what else Kadir is doing.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Everything you told me says that Klaus is acting as a lone wolf now. He had help getting into the country, but either he likes to operate alone, or he’s reached the limit of his help on this mission. Given that his primary objective is revenge, that wouldn’t be surprising. Anyway, he probably doesn’t have eyes on the house now.”

  “But we don’t know that for sure.”

  “Correct. We’ll have to act as if he’s watching us, even if he has a limited view. That means no one comes in or out the front door.”

  “What do you want me to do?

  “Listen carefully. We can’t get this wrong.”

  42

  Klaus drove through the neighborhoods at a deliberate pace in keeping with the flow of traffic. He wanted to race back to his hotel room, but his greater instinct at this moment was to draw no attention to himself. He was sure that the police officer who had gone to check the riverbank had not seen his car. The other one would not be speaking for a while, if ever.

  He arrived at a run-down hotel on the edge of town, hurried to his room, and turned on the television. He flipped though several channels. They all reported breaking news of a shooting victim along the river and a cop-beating at the site of the shooting.

  “The policeman is in critical condition at this moment,” a reporter announced. “The identity of the victim has not yet been released. The Austin police chief called in the FBI and says a massive manhunt is underway for the perpetrator. Details are scant, but an eyewitness told police that he saw a very large man with black hair and a full beard running from the scene.”

  Klaus stared at the screen, astonished. That was the description he had given the policemen. He had expected to hear his own description with a photo. He called Atcho. No answer. He paced.

  Atcho checked on Sofia. She moaned in semi-consciousness as he leaned over her, th
en she blacked out again.

  He went back into the safe-room and picked up the small cloth bag with the NUKEX that Sofia had brought up from the boat. He slid the device from the bag—and his heart sank. Several tiny perforations showed along the base, the result of shrapnel hits. He took a small screwdriver from his workbench and opened up the casing. Then he called Burly.

  “We’ve got another problem. The NUKEX is damaged. Even if we find the bomb, we can’t use this device to neutralize it.”

  Burly groaned. “Can you see what it looks like inside?”

  “I did. Several of the wires and the circuits boards are destroyed beyond repair. Even if we could fix the wires, no operator could hold it long enough for the heat to melt the trigger on the bomb. His hand would be cooked by then. The alloys that transfer the heat and those that protect the operator have been breached. We’re talking over a thousand degrees of heat generated in ninety seconds. But if the heat is not contained and focused to the right place, not only can it fail to neutralize the bomb, but it’ll fry the operator’s hand before the trigger melts.”

  “What about the prototype? Is it functional?”

  “It looks like the casing is real, but the inside is hollow. There’s nothing in there.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “We’ve still got about fifteen hours, but we don’t know where the bomb is, or where Klaus is. We have to find the bomb, or repair or replace the NUKEX—”

  “Could your company supply a new one?”

  “They’re not in high demand, thankfully, so we do limited production. We shipped our inventory to high-value targets three days ago after Klaus crossed the border. Those targets were identified long before today. Austin was not expected to be among them. The one I had was our spare.”

  A thought flashed through Atcho’s mind. “Burly. I have an idea. I’m going to hang up. If you don’t hear from me, or if I don’t pick up your call, listen for a boom. If you don’t hear one, I’m still working.”