by Alex Howell
This was the first that Mason had heard of any of this, and as such he immediately raised an eyebrow, “You mean you took it from them in person? Right in front of them? How did you do that?”
Benton informed them, “Well—these wise guys think they’re smart researching ex-SEALS? Well guess what? I researched them!”
Benton then paused before continuing, “I found out that one of them in particular has quite a penchant for pizza.”
Raina asked incredulously, “Pizza?”
Benton nodded, “Yeah… the guy is always heading to a local pizzeria in DC…”
Raina wondering how Benton could find something like that out on such short notice asked, “And how did you find that out?”
Shaking his head, Benton declared, “It was easy, I just looked at his “Instant Ram” account.”
Instant Ram of course, was the social media juggernaut in which average people routinely posted all of their likes and dislikes—often including their favorite restaurants and drinking establishments. And as Mathew Benton had discovered, this particular suspect voluntarily left a trail of all of his favorite hangouts for the whole world to see. It was just a matter of following them up.
Clara was amazed, “Wait a minute, a convicted terrorist out on parole is posting on Instant Ram?”
Benton grinned, “I’m afraid so.”
Marshal Oliver who had been busy scrolling through old newspaper reports, could be heard snorting, “Well I’ll be—they just get dumber and dumber don’t they?”
Mason then thinking of the short time frame in which Benton must have worked, found himself asking, “What was he doing? Having pizza for breakfast?”
Benton let out a dry chuckle has he informed him, “Well—it’s a kind of late-night joint near some of the bars on the strip.”
Benton cleared his throat before continuing, ‘It’s kind of a hang out for the drunks after closing time.”
Mason picturing the suspect stumbling out of a bar craving a slice of pizza, asked, “And that’s when you found him? At closing time?”
Benton nodded, “Yeah—it was around 3 in the morning. The guy was pulling a real all-nighter”.
David who had been rather reserved seated in the corner, then ventured to ask, “Okay... so how did you manage to get his phone from him?”
Benton chuckled slightly, “It’s DC…It was easy, I presented myself as a concerned citizen and told him that someone was placing a parking ticket on his car out front.”
He laughed, “I mean nobody likes a parking ticket, right? But this guy sobered up in a hurry, and bolted out of his chair so fast you wouldn’t believe it….”
David appreciating Benton’s style, smiled, “And in his haste he left his cellphone behind?”
Mathew Benton grinned, “You got it… that’s exactly right.”
Benton added, “It was just a matter of grabbing it, inserting a tracking chip into it, and putting it back down on the table where I got it from.”
Mason laughed, “Alright Mathew Benton! The ghost has struck again!”
Mason of course was referring to the nickname that Mathew Benton had been known by ever since their days in the SEALs. Benton was known for his stealth and ability to slip in and out of tight places unnoticed. The idea of him seamlessly grabbing a terror suspect’s phone right from under their nose and modifying it on the fly without them noticing, was yet another example of these amazing ghostly powers at work.
10
The Stake Out
From the info that Kyle managed to glean from the GPS provided by the suspects phone, Kyle’s info showed the group that the coordinates for the terror safe house were somewhere in downtown DC. Mason ruefully noted that many of their recent cases had led them to terrorist installations in DC. It was rather ironic that in recent years the nation’s capable had become such a hotbed of terrorist activity.
The downtown of the nation’s capital had seen better days and, in the rundown, ramshackle buildings and abandoned warehouses of DC’s huddled masses, it was often a perfect place for criminals and terrorists to hide.
And the place their targets in particular were suspected of holing up in was an old Victorian era house, that had been boarded up and abandoned a long time ago. The ever-larger Onyx team decided to take two vehicles, one driven by Mathew Benton, with Mason and Raina, and the other with Luke Simon at the wheel with Marshal Oliver and David Trenton.
Clara despite her protests meanwhile was told to stay behind with Kyle Garrison who was charged with looking after her safety. Kyle who always had a soft spot for Clara was thrilled at the idea, but Clara not so much.
Nevertheless, the mission plan had been made, and as the two car loads of Onyx team members pulled up in the alley just behind the building. some distance away, they cut the headlights of their vehicle. From here they were obscured enough from view, yet
As they observed the terrorist’s hideout, Mason armed with a pair of infrared goggles, even from the darkness of the alley, was able to still see clearly right into one of the windows of the house.
Mason voiced his astonishment, “Shit—I don’t even need to use infrared… I can see these idiots right through the front window. You would think that they would at least invest in a pair of blinds!”
Raina seated behind Mason asked, “Really? How many of them are there?”
Straining his eyes to see all the shapes moving about in the house, Mason counted what he thought to be three obviously subdued and apparently tied up individuals seated on a couch. He then counted the shapes that seemed to be freely moving around and noted that there were four likely abductors.
And Mason told her as much as he replied, “I see four abductors, and three hostages.”
It was at this point that Mason heard Luke Simon break through his Comm Link, with the following update, “Correct that Mason there are a total of six abductors.”
Upon hearing this, Mason put his goggles back on and tried to verify what Luke was telling him but he still only saw 4 perpetrators.
Confused at what he was hearing and seeing, Mason asked, “Six Luke? Are you sure?
That’s when Luke let him know, “Affirmative Mason. You can’t see all of them because two are standing guard near our position in the back of the house.”
Mason glad for the head’s up, quickly shot back, “Awesome Luke! You never miss anything, do you?”
At which Luke Simon shook his head and responded back with a cool, “No—not often.”
MEANWHILE, BACK AT ONYX HQ IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Clara Walker was both worried and bored as she on the couch in the living room of her father’s home, scrolling through her phone. It was summer break and instead of having fun hanging out with her dad Mason and her newly christened step mother Raina, she was stuck in the house with only Onyx’s nerdy IT guy, Kyle Garrison for company.
Knowing that the awkward, passive aggressive Kyle had a huge crush on her, she was at first appalled at the notion. But do to the fact that he was so busy with the case, Kyle had barely left the basement. Making Clara miss even his nerdy attempts at flirtation. Instead she was left by herself, just to sit, worry, and be completely bored out of her mind. She felt completely useless.
It was times like this that she wished she had some sort of hobby. Some people play music, draw, write, garden, but she never really had much of an inclination toward any of those things, A born extrovert, her hobby she realized was talking and interacting with people. It was for this reason that being relegated to her lonesome at times like this was so hard for her.
Just talking and hanging out was what she liked to do. With no one to chit chat with she felt lost. As such, she was prepared to do the unthinkable, she was prepared to march down to the basement and actually have a conversation with Kyle.
Stepping down into the basement, the first thing that greeted her was a whirlwind of typing. She inquired, “Hello?” Still no response. She thought to herself, ‘Kyle must be working hard putting together reports for the
new mission.’
But upon rounding the corner and seeing what Kyle was up to, it was not what she had expected. He had on headphones and a mouthpiece and was looking up at a screen that depicted a sword wielding barbarian slashing away at a giant ogre of some sort, while Kyle’s dexterous, long and lithe fingers continued to drill into the keys of his keyboard. ‘So, this is what Kyle does when everybody thinks he’s working? He plays video games?’
She watched as Kyle’s sword wielding fighter appeared to slash the ogres head off, followed by Kyle excitedly muttering, “Ha ha! Take that ya damn Frost Giant! You’re done!”
As Kyle chuckled to himself at his latest gaming triumph, Clara stepped over just behind his shoulder and loudly cleared her throat to get his attention. Kyle didn’t hear her however, and instead began chatting with his undisclosed gaming partner in his ear, telling him, “I told you Mark, there was just no way that your Frost Giant Ogre could have defeated my Pillaging Viking.”
Clara getting fed up with being ignored, proceeded to sit down next to Kyle and tap him right on the shoulder. He was in the middle of arguing with his buddy, “Yeah right Mark, give me a break… your Ogre’s armor isn’t any match for my Viking’s custom weapons….”
He stopped himself in midsentence as he felt Clara poking him in the arm, causing the easily startled Kyle, who thought he was alone, to shout, “Ahhh!” as he nearly jumped right out of his seat.
Seeing Clara, he cursed, “Oh shit… Clara…wow… You really shouldn’t sneak up on me like that!”
Kyle then quickly rattled off to the other player, “Mark man I gotta go, something came up—see ya on the flipside bro.”
He then exited out of his game and asked Clara, “What’s going on? Can I help you with something?”
Kyle was a bit annoyed at the intrusion, but owing to the fact that he had such a soft spot for her, just one look into her eyes and he was hers to control. And in the next few moments flexed her affectionate muscle, the grip she had on him became abundantly clear.
She told him, “Sorry Kyle, but I’m just so bored. Do you think you could take me around town for a minute?”
Kyle had been unsuccessfully trying to get Clara to go out on a date with him for several months and here she was practically asking him out. Kyle nervously swallowed in eager anticipation at the thought, as he repeated her words, “Around town?”
Clara nodded, “Yeah—I’m just so bored being stuck around here with everyone gone and nothing to do. I need to get some fresh air—you want to join me?”
She made it sound like she was offering him some kind of a grand invitation, but in reality, Kyle was supposed to be looking after her and making sure she remained safe and accounted for until the perp’s that had threatened Mason and other former SEAL’s families, were safely brought to justice.
Besides being tasked with making sure Clara stayed out of trouble, Kyle was supposed to be on call in case the other teammates needed him. If Mason Walker knew that he was shirking on any of these duties there would be hell to pay. Even though hanging out with Clara was an incredibly difficult prospect for him to refuse, Kyle did initially attempt to decline the invitation.
He unconvincingly tried to blow off the invite as he sighed, “Yeah… I’d like to… But I have too much work to do here….”
Clara who had just witnessed Kyle’s “work” of being completely immersed in an online role-playing game saw through this excuse however as she questioned him, “Oh come on Kyle—you didn’t seem too busy just a few minutes ago when you were playing video games….”
Pointing to his comm link, she then argued, “Besides—as long as you have your comm-link and a tablet on hand, you can be on call for the team wherever you go.” Kyle feeling backed into the corner, stammered, “Well—well—uh…. Hmmm…. Uh…. I don’t know…. Um…”
Clara wishing to curtail all of Kyle’s indecisive “hmmm, uh, and um’s” then delivered the big guns. She looked Kyle right in the eye, smiled and purred in a long, drawn out, high pitched and melodic voice, “P-l-e-a-s-e?”
Kyle transfixed by her gaze, had lost his will to fight as he agreed, “Well—okay…. Just for a little while…I guess…”
Clara incredibly relieved that she wouldn’t be cooped up in the house any longer, jubilantly shouted her triumph, “Yes!!”
Getting out of her chair and quickly heading toward the basement steps, she beckoned the nerdy boy wonder to follow, “Alright Kyle come on. Let’s go!”
11
Make Your Move
After they discovered the number of people in the house and their respective positions, it was determined that they would split up into two groups, with Luke and his group in the back, and Mason and his compatriots going in from the side. It was determined that a diversion was needed in order to get most of the group to focus on the front of the house while in reality they were being invaded from the back and side of the house. Mason immediately volunteered for the job.
Rummaging through some of the junk in the backseat of Benton’s car, Mason was able to put together a quick disguise consisting of dark sunglasses and a ball cap which read, “DC Sanitation Department” hung low over his eyes.
When asked why he just so happened to have a hat from the DC Sanitation Department, Mathew Benton simply shrugged and said that he found it left outside his DC condo one day presumably by a city worker. He then picked it up, cleaned it out and stashed it in his car, because in the ghost’s words— “You never know when it could be useful”.
Posing as a city sanitation worker, Mason readily concurred, as he went right up to the front door of the house and rang the doorbell. After a moment, Mason could hear cursing and movement from within, before a man finally cracked the door open, and angrily shouted, “What the hell do you want?”
Mason holding a clipboard in his hand (another useful item rummaged from Benton’s car), then proceeded to inform the man, “Sir, I’m with the sewage company, lately its been reported that your property is leaking sewage into the street.”
The man was taken a bit aback as he muttered, “What? Sewage?”
Mason nodded, “Yes sir, fecal matter is coming right out of your house and into the street.”
Mason really wanted to tell the guy that he was full of shit, but saying that his house was leaking feces was probably the next best thing. At this point Mason heard someone in the background address the man, “Kareem! Who is it?”
At which point, Kareem shouted back, “I don’t know man… he says we’re leaking sewage over here or something.”
Mason had to try hard not to laugh as the guy’s compatriot ordered, “What the hell are you talking about—we’re leaking sewage? Tell him to go away!”
Mason who actually had a brief stint as a salesman before joining Onyx, was persistent however. And just like any solicitor, he knew that once he had his foot in the door, he simply had to make the most of it.
And before Kareem could even open his mouth, Mason politely insisted, “Hey, sorry for the inconvenience, but it will seriously only take a minute.”
The man paused as if he were contemplating his options, before sighing, “Fine…
He then pointed to the sewer drain in front of the property and told him, “I’ll walk you over and show you—it’s right over here.”
Kareem paused for a moment before grunting gruffly, “Alright.”
Although these guys didn’t want to be bothered, they also knew the value of keeping up appearances and lest they get reported to the city and thereby have their presence revealed, they were willing to comply to a point.
It was precisely this willingness that Mason was going to exploit. Mason led the guy to the sewer drain which other than a few spots of recent rainwater was basically as dry as a bone. Upon seeing it, the man named Kareem leaned over and exclaimed, “Full of sewage! I don’t see anything!”
Getting right behind him, Mason then kicked the guy right in the ass causing him to fall forward, slamming his face rig
ht into the pavement. Normally Mason wasn’t into sneak attacks, and he normally made sure that those he engaged with were taken down in a manner that wouldn’t provoke much of a struggle and disturbance.
But struggle and disturbance—an outright scene, was what Mason was looking for this time around. And as such he allowed the man to pick himself up as he screamed in pain and anger, “What the hell?! You son of a bitch!!”
The man then swung at Mason, but Mason easily deflected the punch with his left forearm while simultaneously delivering a punishing blow to the side of the man’s head. Mason purposefully punched him in the ear in order to provoke the most pain as the man screamed at the top of his lungs, “Aahhhh!”
Knowing that this would certainly get someone’s attention, Mason glanced back at the house, and sure enough saw the door swing open as three of the terrorists came pouring out. Mason then spoke into his comm link the preordained code word, “Alright. You got the green light.”
Luke getting this go ahead, directed Marshal Oliver and David Trenton to follow him into the back of the house. Luke then kicked down the backdoor and found himself confronted with just one, solitary, frightened man—caught completely off guard, thanks to Mason’s diversionary tactics employed at the front door.
Wasting no time, Luke quickly subdued the man. He was unarmed so it was relatively easy for Luke to grab hold of him and put him out of commission. He charged right up to the man and punched him in the stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, Luke then punched him several times in the face until he fell right over. Quickly restraining the man in cuffs, Luke directed Marshal and David to follow him as he made his way to where the hostages were being held.
Mason meanwhile had his hands full fending off four angry men. One of the men, the one named Kareem whom Mason had already thoroughly thrashed, shouted to his incoming colleagues, “It’s the freaking meter reader guy from earlier! He started hitting me for no reason! The guy’s some kind of psychopath! Get him!!”