Lethal Authority (Wade Hanna Series Book 2)

by Joseph D'Antoni

  How Belmopan fit into Mashburn’s assignment in Belize was still a big mystery to Wade. Attacking a city wasn’t in Mashburn’s skill set or part of his prior assignments. Nothing felt right to Wade about the Belize assignment or where Mashburn fit in.

  He sat in his car looking at a glistening high-rise building in Belmopan that yielded no answers. He needed to get back to Yari, who was his only source of information regarding Mashburn’s current activities.

  As Wade drove back to Belize City, he wondered what Belmopan would be like once it was filled with international dignitaries and news media broadcasting worldwide. Frequently checking his rearview mirror for tails and finding none, Wade drove directly to the library to call Yari.

  Yari had difficulty controlling his excitement. “It’s about time you called.”

  “Just checking in for any new developments.”

  “I just monitored a call from Mashburn to Condor at the airport in Belize. You’ll soon have Mashburn.”

  “Did he give an address?”

  “No. He just let Condor know he was at the airport.”

  “Anything about the other guests?”

  “No. They weren’t mentioned.”

  Wade figured that Mashburn would be on edge and suspicious right after his arrival. “I want Mashburn to relax and settle into a routine.”

  Yari anticipated Wade’s anxiety about Mashburn’s whereabouts. “I should know his location as soon as he makes his first call from the house.”

  “I don’t want to wait that long, and I’m not sure I can make it to the airport before he leaves. He has to get a rental car and go by the real estate office to pick up the keys. I’ll be in disguise at one of those positions when he arrives.”

  Yari sensed Wade’s frustration and somehow felt responsible. He was dealing with some very smart covert operatives and was also frustrated that they didn’t leave him a better trail. He couldn’t help stating the obvious.

  “You realize you may find him before I can get the coordinates.”

  “That’s a good possibility. If my hunch is correct, we’ll both know within a couple of hours. Either way, I’ll call back this evening to confirm.”

  Parked across the street from the real estate office, Wade noticed the familiar features of Mashburn’s face getting out of a green sedan, someone he recognized from the brief time they spent together at Fort Benning. Ms. Barr came out the front door to greet Mashburn with keys waving in her hand. After handing him the keys, she pointed in the general direction of the house on Adam Roy, giving him directions. Mashburn motored past Wade’s parked car, looking up and down the streets to get his bearings and make sure he wasn’t being followed. Wade knew from the direction Barr pointed where Mashburn was headed. He followed using a different route. When he saw the green sedan in the driveway, he knew his hunch about the Adam Roy safe house had been right all along.

  Wade backed into one of his observation spots down the street and turned off the engine. In no rush, he wanted Mashburn to get comfortable in his new place without suspecting a tail. Now that he’d found his target and his man had gone to ground, it was time to patiently wait for him to develop a routine. Course after course on surveillance had drummed principals of good stakeouts into Wade’s psyche. He had to understand his target’s behavior pattern before anything else. Mashburn needed to get comfortable in his new space before revealing his routine. Only then would Wade make his move.

  His surveillance position allowed a good view of the driveway and the side entrance, which he assumed Mashburn would use to unload his car. At first Wade caught no sight of Mashburn through the binoculars, just several minutes of repeatedly flickering lights. Apparently Mashburn was fastidious about turning off lights after inspecting each room. The pattern of light switching revealed the man’s exact position in the house.

  Once the lights were on in just two rooms, Mashburn came out the side door to unload his luggage. A full trunk and back seat revealed that he had more luggage than any one person could possibly need for lounging on the beach. Wade counted as eight pieces of luggage were extracted from the trunk and backseat and assumed by the effort it took to move them that they were inordinately heavy.

  Whatever was in this luggage was not bathing suits and sandals. Weapons, explosives, and detonation devices were all on Wade’s mind as he observed the action. This luggage clearly had to do with the mission Mashburn was on, and at least in this instance, that mission had nothing to do with death by poison via syringe.

  The driveway light reflecting off Mashburn’s face only enhanced the coldness in his eyes. His expression was not menacing or brutal but a blank pale stare, like that of a scientist who enjoyed injecting rats with diseases and drugs to see their effects. The body struggling with the luggage was not toned or remotely fit for combat; he was clearly built to wear a lab coat rather than body armor.

  Wade saw in him the lowest form of life - a human being who no longer cared whom he caused to suffer before they left this earth. Terminating this less-than-human could only benefit society. Wade kept telling himself he was not a judge or jury. This was a target who had information he was determined to extract. Patience, patience; now was not the time to rush to judgment or act prematurely.

  The light switching sequence told Wade that heavy luggage had gone into the living room. The light pattern also told Wade that Mashburn had chosen the bedroom nearest the back door for himself.

  After several hours of stakeout, Wade squirmed in his seat, restless from observing the same two lighted rooms with no activity. He wanted to check in with Yari for an update. His biggest concern was ignorance regarding the arrival times of Mashburn’s housemates. If he didn’t finish with Mashburn before their arrival, the stakes would get a lot higher. Only Yari had the answer to that question.

  Wade had to be at his surveillance post early the next morning to confirm the maid and gardeners’ schedules. The time to grab Mashburn would be soon, before the other operatives arrived. He evaluated his options: he could either remain in position or chance missing Mashburn if he left his post to call Yari. After evaluating the risks of each alternative, he chose to leave, because he needed the intel.

  When he left for the library payphone, the only light on in the house was in Mashburn’s bedroom. The rest of the house had been dark for the last three hours.

  Sitting at the payphone booth in the hallway, Wade was anxious to hear Yari’s voice. “It’s me. Listen, our man is at the house and I need to know if he’s made any calls.”

  “Yes. He tried to make one to a no-answer number in New York. I’m tracking the owner of that number now.”

  Wade considered his next comment. “Good. The thought crossed my mind… what if Mashburn doesn’t know any of the other operatives, and he’s not in charge of this mission. Where does that leave us?”

  “That one’s got me stumped as well.”

  “What about going back and listening to more of the Condor’s calls?”

  “I’ve done that. Nothing there. Did you ever think that Condor may not be running the operation either?”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t leave us anywhere either. The problem I have is that if I take Mashburn out now, we’ll be left clueless as to the details about this op.”

  “It will get really complicated if they’re operating independently.”

  “I have to make sure Mashburn gives me the information I need on the Lockhart matter first.”

  “How can you be sure he’s telling you the truth?”

  “I have my ways.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be Mashburn right now.”

  “He’s fine right now, but you won’t want to be him in a few days.”

  “I’ll stay on the calls. I think you should check in every day, since I don’t have a way of reaching you.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Wade returned to the stakeout. For the first time since arriving at 5:30 that evening, Mashburn left the house. Keeping a safe distance between them,
Wade tailed him to a food stand near the beach. Much to Wade’s surprise, Mashburn found a walk-up pizza stand. He thought to himself, With all the wonderful seafood and local cooking in the area, why would he eat a pizza? Old habits die hard, I guess. In a beautiful tropical paradise filled with fine local cuisine, and he stands at an outdoor counter eating pizza. How boring and unappealing.

  With nothing better to do on the stakeout, Wade nicknamed Mashburn “Possum.” He’d been taught to always nickname his targets as an easy way to remember them by their habits. Perhaps Mashburn is some form of nocturnal creature who only ventures out when the sun goes down. Wade’s sense was that Mashburn might be a good assassin, but he was also weird to the core.

  Wade was on stakeout from early evening until Mashburn shut off his bedroom light at 2:00 a.m. Wade wondered if this detailed stakeout of Mashburn was necessary. He wondered if he was overthinking his target. As a creature of habit, Mashburn would be an easy target to hit even if he was constantly on the move. His sloth-like movements didn’t exhibit any of the evasive tendencies a well-trained undercover field operative would use.

  Unless Mashburn had been spending time booby-trapping the house with explosives, he had to be bored or an extreme loner. He had enough equipment in his luggage to make whatever explosives devices he wanted. When he made his move, Wade would have to keep a sharp eye out for trip wires, fragmentation grenades, and C-4 shape charges around door sills.

  By 5:00 a.m. Wade was already situated in a new surveillance position. This second position was more obscure and better for daylight observation. Wade watched through binoculars when the maid appeared to clean and noted the time. Using a master key, she let herself in. Wade was glad to see that no explosives went off. While she cleaned, Mashburn broke his usual routine, and drove off in his car, with Wade following at a safe distance.

  Immediate questions came to Wade about the location of the suitcases in the living room. They must be closed and locked or covered, away from the prying eyes of the maid. Wade followed Mashburn to the grocery store. The maid was still cleaning when Mashburn returned with enough grocery bags to fill the cupboards of two houses.

  It was clear Mashburn was furnishing the bunker for multiple operatives. When the maid finished, Wade followed her to her next cleaning stop three blocks away. For that job, she pulled a commercial cleaning cart from the garage, which sported a clipboard hanging from the side. Wade wanted to get a closer look at that board.

  In disguise, Wade walked up to the maid’s cleaning cart, clumsily brushing against it and startling the maid.

  “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, ma’am, excuse me. I’m new in this area and seem to be lost. Can you tell me where I might find Adam Roy Street?”

  Approaching the clumsy tourist, the maid repositioned the cart and moved to the other side so she could give better directions. A quick glance down and Wade saw the cleaning schedule on the front page of the clipboard. A few more questions showing continued confusion gave Wade a chance to see and memorize her weekly schedule for the safe house. It confirmed what the real estate agent had said. The form read “501 Adam Roy: 3-days, M, W, F, 9:00 a.m.”

  “Thank you so much. I think I have my bearings now.”

  “You have a nice day, sir.”

  Chapter 18

  Belmopan City, Belize

  Wade’s stakeout notes were copious, giving details of Mashburn’s routine. It included times and places he’d visited over the prior two days. His pattern was that he left the house twice each day. One outing included an afternoon walk around 3:00 p.m., always along the same path near the beach. The second occurred precisely at 7:30 p.m. and included dinner at one of three places, two of which were fast food.

  Mashburn’s routine suggested an obsessive pattern of revisiting designated points precisely on schedule. His bedroom light remained on well into the early morning hours, indicating he might have problems sleeping. Wade told himself that this should not be a surprise, given his profession. Wade would have to keep in mind the man’s compulsive behaviors when he finally made his move.

  The morning of the fourth day, the maid arrived right on schedule at 9:00 a.m. She took forty-five minutes to clean and then left for her next scheduled stop three blocks away.

  Once the maid left, Mashburn pulled out, turned the car around, and backed into the driveway, then looked in all directions before opening the trunk. Moments later he reappeared with one large suitcase and two smaller ones. He placed all the suitcases in the trunk and slowly drove off. For the first time in five days, the man had broken his routine.

  Mashburn craned his neck, looking side to side while driving for three blocks before he made a sharp left turn. Wade followed at a three-car distance. Mashburn doubled back on his previous route, making a standard figure-eight pattern of turns, checking for tails. At one point he stopped following his predictable patterns and took another route to a spot Wade had predicted. He let Mashburn pass before resuming his tail.

  Apparently confident he was not being followed, Mashburn headed to the on-ramp of Western Highway and his intended route east to Belmopan. It was the same trip Wade had made just a few days earlier. As he followed, he wondered what Mashburn had in mind for the large suitcases in his trunk.

  The jungle scenery on both sides of the highway reminded Wade of his Louisiana swamp and how much he admired the Mayan civilization for having cleared enough of this thick jungle to house a civilization using only crude tools and their bare hands.

  As they approached Belmopan, he slowed enough to read the exit signs. Mashburn took the Hummingbird Highway South exit and soon left the off-ramp on Forest Drive. He turned left to Ring Road and made another right onto Cemetery Road. Mashburn slowly drove past the two columns marking the cemetery’s entrance. Wade came to a stop several blocks behind him. A tree kept his car well out of sight. With binoculars Wade tracked Mashburn’s route through the cemetery plots on each side.

  Mashburn held up a paper from the front passenger’s seat. He drove slowly past two crossing cemetery streets. At the third intersection, Mashburn turned right. He was straining, trying to read headstones and comparing it to his notes. Apparently Mashburn located the name he sought on a mausoleum three burial plots away.

  Wade drove to the other side of the cemetery and parked behind the shady leaves of a large elephant-ear tree. He trained his binoculars on Mashburn as he crossed over a green patch of grass and entered the service road, which put him behind the selected mausoleum. Mashburn looked in both directions before he opened his car trunk.

  The side of the mausoleum was overgrown with thick shrubs extending all the way to the road. His cautious handling of the shrubs suggested they were thorny. Mashburn pulled back the shrubbery enough to make a path. He returned to the service road and looked up and down both sides again to make sure he wasn’t being observed.

  Mashburn walked back to the trunk and opened the large suitcases inside. He pulled out two smaller cases made of hard black plastic that fit snugly inside the larger case. Wade sat with binoculars, well out of sight. The smaller cases he saw looked similar to heavy duty cases used to carry heavy camera or laboratory equipment.

  Holding one case in each hand, Mashburn walked around the car and through the path in the shrubs he had just made. He moved the two cases into the shrubbery, handling them gently like fragile items he didn’t want broken.

  After the drop Mashburn returned to the back of the car and slammed the trunk, looking up and down both sides of the service road again. He backed up and took the same route in reverse. Wade waited forty-five minutes after Mashburn left, scanning the horizon to ensure that no one was watching the drop site.

  At this point, Wade wasn’t concerned about tailing Mashburn. He knew his prey would return to his hole by the seashore. Wade’s mind was cautious but curious. What’s in those cases, and why did he make the drop?

  Comfortable that the site was clear, Wade drove over the same path Mashburn had used. He approached the shrubs
and removed the two cases, carefully examining their exteriors. They were heavy for their size. Their locking mechanisms were an unusual design: a barrel lock incorporated into the strong metal handle. Rivets going from the handle permanently secured it to the case. There were four spools of alternating numbers and letters that made up the lock mechanism. Wade concluded the lock could easily be part of a detonation-trip device that might be triggered if the locking mechanism was breached.

  Explosive classes had taught Wade that it was best not to fool around with locking mechanisms even if you thought you understood how they worked. He squelched a burning desire to spin the spools to see if he could hear the movement inside. Wade kept hearing his explosive instructor’s voice yelling warnings as he handled the cases. Instead of maneuvering the lock mechanism, he made extensive notes and photographed the cases.

  After placing the cases back in the shrubbery, he made his way back to the highway and Belize City. He had a strong feeling that Mashburn would be headed back to the safe house. In Belize City, Wade passed by the house to confirm that Mashburn’s green sedan was parked in the driveway before heading to the library to check in with Yari.

  “It’s me – Wade. Anything new on your end?”

  Yari responded with some hesitation. “Yes, lots. But it’s somewhat confusing.”

  “Let’s have it.”

  “I have two calls to Condor from your location. The one last evening talked about going to a cemetery drop. The one today talked about an operative by the name of ‘Stephan’ arriving in three days. I didn’t discover much about the cemetery, but it seems he and Condor had discussed the location previously. Each seemed to know what the other was talking about.”

  Wade smiled at Yari’s confusion. “I’ve already covered the cemetery drop. Two suspicious cases were placed in the shrubbery alongside a mausoleum. The cases were locked with a very strange mechanism. Did Condor ever mention what was in the cases or the combination?”