Villains and Vixens

by Charles Dougherty

  "You said you had the keys," I said.

  "Yes, and the rest of your stuff."

  She hefted my backpack and tossed it in the SUV. I must still be dopey; I didn't notice that she picked it up before we set out.

  "Get in," she said. "I'm driving; I don't ride with druggies, Stud."

  "Yes, ma'am. But I'm okay. And I didn't like it when she called me Stud."

  "That's what they all say. Don't give me any trouble, or I'll put on a string bikini and make a handbag out of you."

  "Anything but that, please. I'll do whatever you want."

  "I'm going to hold you to that when this is over."

  "Yes, ma'am. I hope so."

  18

  I fell asleep once Mary got us to the highway. Drugged or not, I was still exhausted. When I woke up, we were stopped. Startled, I looked around and saw that we were at a gas station just off the Interstate. Mary was filling the tank. I started to get out of the SUV, but she held up her hand and shook her head. She finished with the pump and got behind the wheel.

  "Do you need to go to the restroom?" she asked.

  "No, I was just going to stretch my legs."

  "Later, then. I just talked to Aaron. We need to keep moving. The feds showed up and surrounded Grissom's place right after Aaron got out of there."

  I shook my head. "The feds?"

  "That's what he said. He barely missed getting caught inside their perimeter; they've choked off the whole area."

  "That's strange," I said. "How did they get there so fast?"

  "I don't know, Finn."

  "Should we switch cars, or something?"

  "We've come almost 150 miles. Aaron figures we're good. He's about 20 minutes behind us. He says they've got checkpoints set up on the roads around the gated community, but we're well beyond them."

  "How does he know?"

  "You're asking me? You're the one who has known him forever. How does Aaron know anything?"

  I shook my head. "That's Aaron. How did you get past Grissom's security when you came in to get me?"

  "We knew there was no point in stealth. You saw the Humvee, right?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "Aaron used an antitank weapon; an M72, he called it. He got out and blew the gate apart and I drove the Humvee through. He rushed the door with a 12-gauge pump shotgun with two rifled slugs up front. He took down the door with that and we cleaned out the security detail as we went. Eight of them, besides the people in the room with you. They never knew what hit 'em."

  "Is he following us in the Humvee, then?" I asked.

  "No. He had some of his people waiting close by. They picked him up. They stole the Humvee from a drug dealer in the area while we were driving up from the lodge."

  "They? You mean Aaron's people?"

  "Yes," Mary said. "I didn't realize he had so many people that he could call on. And they're spread around, too. This bunch was from Jacksonville."

  "I don't know much about his organization, but he never seems to come up short. So the Humvee is part of his misdirection, I guess."

  "Yes. He's set it up to look like this was a rival drug dealer out to rob Grissom, or maybe kill him. That's about all I know about it. But Aaron's handy in a gunfight; I'll say that for him."

  "He is that," I said. "I can vouch for it myself. You okay, or do you want me to drive for a while?"

  "I'm fine. Besides, I'm not about to let you behind the wheel. I remember when I was doped up with whatever they use. I felt wide awake after an hour, but I know better, now."

  "Why do you say that?"

  "From watching you," she said. "You're loopy. You're drifting in and out on me, flickering on and off like a burned-out neon sign. I know you don't think so, though. I've been there."

  "I'm fine, Mary. I had a nice, long nap, until you stopped for gas a few minutes ago."

  "Uh-huh." She laughed.

  "What's funny?"

  "That was an hour and a half ago when we stopped for gas. We're less than an hour from the lodge, now. Go back to sleep; I'll wake you when we get there. Sleep's the best thing for you right now."

  I knew better than to argue with her. The last thing I remember about our trip is reclining the power seat.

  When Mary shut off the SUV's engine, the silence woke me. Dawn was breaking, although it was gloomy. We were shrouded in patchy fog.

  "Morning, sailor. Rise and shine," Mary said, as she shook me gently, her hand on my shoulder. "You doing okay?"

  "Uh-huh. Where are we?"

  "The lodge. I took the same route in as the first time. Ready for a hot shower?"

  "Sure. And I'm starving."

  "I'll bet you are. They didn't feed you, did they?"

  "Not that I remember. Every time I came to, I was stretched out like I was on a rack; couldn't move a muscle."

  "Then you haven't eaten for 30 hours, give or take. Should we stop in the main building and raid the refrigerator first? Get a little something in your stomach?"

  We got out of the SUV and she opened the rear hatch. Grabbing both of our backpacks, she led the way to the trail through the undergrowth.

  "Yes," I said, hustling along in her footsteps. "A quick snack sounds good, then a shower and a big breakfast afterward."

  "Good. We can do that. It'll give Aaron time to get here."

  "Who else is around?" I asked.

  "Jill's probably still here. I don't know about Mike and Bob. But it's early; I wouldn't bet anybody's up and around yet." She held the door of the main building for me.

  I went straight to the refrigerator. A half-pint of milk and two slices of cheese and salami jammed between slices of bread did wonders for me.

  "Now," I said, "about that shower … "

  "Come with me, sailor. I'll take care of you."

  Thirty minutes later, I was freshly shaved and wearing clean clothes. Mary was putting antiseptic ointment on my cheek. She used butterfly bandages to close the deeper parts of the cuts.

  "I think you'll be good as new, once those heal," she said. "They're not deep; I don't think you'll get any new scars out of this one. That was some manicure your new girlfriend had."

  "She had little pieces of a razor blade glued under her nails," I said.

  "Yeah, I figured. That's not a new trick; I used to do it myself. A girl has to defend herself."

  "It didn't work so well for her," I said.

  "No, not that time. Taught her a lesson about fooling around with my man. She needed something a little tougher than razor blades to stop a nine-millimeter round."

  "She made a mess out of Bobby, though," I said. "Wonder if there was some history there?"

  Mary shrugged. "Hard to know. I think she was just plain crazy, myself. And don't make any smart-ass comments about why I would know that."

  "Not me. I'm scared of girls."

  "Good. You should be; girls are dangerous. You okay for a few minutes?"

  "Yeah. Why?"

  "I want a quick shower and fresh clothes myself. Then we'll go cook some eggs and sausage."

  "With grits and toast," I said.

  "Sure. Give me five minutes."

  "Take your time," I said, stretching out on the bed to wait.

  Ten minutes later, Mary and I were busy in the kitchen. Aaron showed up before we got everything cooked.

  "How're you doing, Finn?" he asked.

  "Better by the minute. But Mary says I'm still loopy."

  "Yeah, well, more than usual?" Aaron said. "You can't blame everything on drugs, you know. I've known you a long time."

  "Thanks, wiseass."

  "Yeah. All kidding aside, I'm glad you're back. From what Mary said in her texts, you will be fine — no lasting damage."

  "Other than to my ego," I said.

  "Give yourself a break," Aaron said.

  "Yeah, Finn. I told you to lighten up," Mary said.

  I shook my head. "I should have been scanning for infrared sources before I approached that wall. I saw the ones on top of the wall be
fore they got me, but it didn't occur to me they'd be watching the undergrowth that way."

  "Not a bad thought," Aaron said. "But it wouldn't have done you any good last night. They were watching the undergrowth, all right, but they weren't using active infrared."

  "But Mary said when she was in their control room, she saw that they had cameras covering a swath about 200 yards out from the perimeter wall."

  "Yeah. They were using the latest thermal imaging technology. It's passive. That makes it impossible to detect, using anything we know about."

  "That's pricey hardware, isn't it?" I asked.

  "Yeah. It isn't commercially available. That stuff's classified — still under evaluation by the government."

  "Then how the hell did Grissom get his hands on it?"

  "That's a good question," Aaron said. "Right up there with how the feds knew to show up right after Mary and I crashed the party."

  "Maybe the neighbors complained about the noise when we blew the gate," Mary said.

  "Maybe," Aaron said. "These guys weren't responding to a 911 call, though. It wasn't even a normal special ops deployment. They weren't just trying to catch us; they set up a defensive perimeter like they were expecting a follow-up assault. We're talking maybe a hundred people, with heavy weapons."

  I frowned. "That sounds odd."

  "Yeah. It was the type of response you'd expect if they were defending the White House or something."

  "Why would Grissom warrant that kind of protection?" Mary asked.

  "I don't know," Aaron said. "I've got feelers out."

  "They were too late, anyway," I said. "You were already out of there, from what Mary said. They missed the chance to save Grissom's troops. You think maybe it was Dixon they were trying to protect, instead of Grissom?"

  "Could be. They were about 15 minutes behind us. They were responding to our incursion, but I don't think they were trying to save anybody. I think they knew we were gone. They set up their perimeter defense before they even approached the house."

  "How do you know that?" I asked.

  "We tapped all their surveillance gear, pulled remote feeds so we could see what happened after we left."

  "Are you still getting the feeds?" I asked.

  "No. They eventually shut everything down. But as best we can tell, they didn't find our feeds, so if they power their systems up again, we'll know about it."

  "What did you learn before they shut it all down?" Mary asked.

  "Somebody called 911; these people were sent out to seal the place off, keep local law enforcement out of there, like it was a top secret government site. There's something in that place that we missed — has to be, to justify that kind of security."

  "Like what, Aaron?" I asked. "This isn't making sense. You're making it sound like Grissom's compound is a government installation."

  "Yeah, that's what it looks like, all right. My gut says this is bigger than O'Hanlon's old drug ring. And don't forget, Lavrov seems to have been paying more attention to Jacksonville than to any of the other ports of entry along the East Coast."

  "He put Grissom in there, right?" Mary asked. "To replace O'Hanlon's man?"

  "Yeah. Joe Waters. Lavrov and his Spetsnaz buddy killed Waters and replaced him with Grissom. But Grissom's a known quantity; he worked for the guy running their operation in Savannah. He's got a long track record in southeast Georgia; he's a local badass, not a superspy, if that's what you're thinking."

  "Maybe they killed Waters because he stumbled over whatever they're hiding," I said. "They could have picked Grissom because they figured he was too far out of the loop to know any better."

  "That's a possibility," Aaron said. "Mike and Bob will be here soon. They'll want to kick this around. I need to go collect my thoughts and check my traps before they get here. And there's one more thing before I forget."

  "What's that?" I asked.

  "There's no sign that they recognized you, Finn. We got that from listening in on Dixon and the others. Plus, Bobby said they thought you were just snooping for some local dealer. They didn't connect you to Mary, or what happened in Charleston."

  "That may change," I said. "If they've got any pictures of me from either place, Lavrov might make the connection. He definitely knows Mary."

  "Yeah, but they don't know who she's working for. And there won't be any images of you recovered from Grissom's compound. We took care of that. I need to go get to work."

  "What about Jill?" Mary asked.

  "She's still here. Once we finish up with Bob and Mike, she'll need to talk with both of you, time permitting."

  "Sure," I said. "Thanks again, Aaron. And you, too, Mary. I appreciate your saving my sorry hide. I wouldn't have made a good handbag, anyway."

  19

  Bob and Mike joined Mary and Aaron and me just as we finished breakfast. Jill Hardwick came into the dining room shortly before Mike and Bob arrived. She sat apart from us, still eating.

  "Just pretend I'm a fly on the wall," she said, after we all exchanged greetings with Mike and Bob. "I told the others that I just want to pick up as much background as I can."

  "Good enough, Jill," Bob said. "Finn, it sounds like you kicked a hornets' nest the other night."

  "Funny, but hornets' nest reminds me. I thought a wasp stung me right before I fell from that tree. That's what their tranquilizer dart felt like. Hit me on the side of the neck. Then I felt myself falling, and that was it. Out before I hit the ground, I guess."

  "I remember the same feeling from when they got me in Charleston," Mary said.

  "So you were up a tree, Finn?" Bob asked.

  "Yes, to see over the wall. Sorry if I'm not making sense. I can't remember who knows what."

  "That's all right," Mike said. "Glad you're okay, Finn. Any idea how they spotted you?"

  "Yes, thanks to what Aaron told me a little while ago. He and Mary should tell the story, Mike. I don't remember much after the dart until they showed up and cut me loose. And what I do recall is scrambled."

  "I know that feeling," Mary said. "It'll fall into place once you hear things from the beginning. It did for me, anyway."

  "All right," Mike said. "Aaron and Mary, you're on. Finn?"

  "Yes?"

  "Chime in any time, if something comes to you."

  "Okay."

  "We first suspected Finn was in trouble about 24 hours ago," Aaron said. "Mary joined Jill and me for breakfast, and she was worried because she couldn't get in touch with Finn. Mary?"

  "Finn called me the night before last, right before he left the motel to go to Grissom's place."

  "Shit," I said.

  "What's wrong?" Mary asked, as all eyes shifted to me.

  "The motel. I forgot all about it. I left my duffle bag there."

  "That's all taken care of," Aaron said. "We have it. Don't worry. Mary?"

  "Finn told me he was going out on a night reconnaissance mission. He didn't say where. And we didn't discuss it beyond the fact that he was going. He didn't have much time to talk; he said he'd call me before breakfast the next morning. That would have been yesterday, about this time, when he was supposed to call. He didn't call me, so I tried to call him. I went straight to voicemail. So I told Aaron, and he took it from there. Aaron?"

  "I put the team to work locating Finn's phone. In a few minutes, they called back. It was inside Grissom's perimeter, pretty much dead center in the compound. They gave me a position accurate within a meter, and Grissom's compound is about 100 meters square, so we figured Finn was in there. That wasn't part of the plan. He was supposed to check out their perimeter security and see if he spotted any activity that would show whether Grissom was there."

  "Okay," Mike said. "Hold up for a bit. Finn, how long were you watching before they captured you? Tell us about your surveillance. Let's keep the chronology straight."

  I nodded. "I got in position just after dark, night before last. There was a big live oak tree 25 yards outside the perimeter wall. Climbing up about 20 f
eet above ground gave me a good view of the back of the house and the pool area. I was there just long enough to get situated — say two or three minutes — when a woman came outside and started her yoga routine on the pool deck. There was a man with her, ogling her while she did her stretches. I was checking the wall and the ground inside for infrared beams when the dart hit me. I would guess I was only up the tree for about ten minutes."

  "Any idea who the couple were?" Bob asked.

  "Yes, but I only learned that later. Aaron should pick it back up to keep things in order."

  "Right," Aaron said. "Mary and I figured Finn was definitely in trouble when we saw where his phone was. I made a few calls to set things in motion, and we got on the road about nine a.m. I coordinated the prep work over the phone while Mary drove.

  "The team on the ground in Jacksonville stole a Humvee from a mid-level drug dealer; they put him out of commission so he couldn't get in the way after we took his vehicle. Our plan was to make it look like he was behind the attack. The team lined up weapons for us and watched Grissom's compound from a safe distance. There was no traffic in or out.

  "We also used remote access to enable the microphone on Finn's phone so we could hear what was happening in its vicinity. From that, we picked up that they had Finn in what they referred to as the interrogation room. We later learned from listening to the two men watching over Finn that the 'interrogation room' was a soundproofed recording studio, but more on that later. Grissom was out of town and not expected back for several days.

  "A man named Bert Dixon was in charge in Grissom's absence. Sylvia Smith was Dixon's live-in girlfriend. Dixon and Smith were the couple Finn saw out by the pool.

  "Smith was one sadistic woman. Dixon and Grissom used her to interrogate people. Her interrogations were a regular entertainment feature. They even let the off-duty security men watch, sometimes. We got that from the videos we found."

  "Excuse me, Aaron," Bob said, "but tell us about that security detail."

  "Okay. This is out of chronological order. What we know about them, we learned when we attacked the compound."

  "That's okay," Bob said. "What about them?"

  "There were eight of them, all male. From their looks and their tattoos, they were ex-military, most likely booted out with dishonorable discharges. We questioned two of them briefly; those two had worked as mercenaries in the Middle East for a while.