The Sweeper File (Remote Traveler Series Book 2)

by Finian Blake

  The naked fully excited Boris stood with the palm of his fully extended arm pointed toward the ceiling.

  “I will die before I fail you.” Cherry and Rhonda walked out of the room without turning.

  Nikki’s voice floated out from the wall. “I swear that I will not let you down, but can you survive the effects if you are successful.” Boris realized that he hit the wrong button on the console remembering that he was fully erect and naked in front of another man. This time he made sure that he hit the right button.

  It was only a quarter after eight when Cherry and Rhonda walked in the office. Both women were laughing hysterically.

  “What if he lets you down?” Rhonda was still trying to gauge what kind of a person that Cherry was.

  “He won’t let us down. He is up every day at two thirty in the morning to monitor the Russians plus he writes all of those programs and look how he monitors Felix for us. Boris is loyalty driven so he will not fail because he hates to fail. All we have to do is make sure that he has the tools for success.” Cherry’s tone turned serious. “We need to figure out how we are going to explain to the director, why we are sealing his top ‘geek’.”

  Cherry and Rhonda did some work at the office and took the rest of the day off showing up at the training gym for Four Diamonds just after noon. Nadia and Ted were having a late lunch in the gym with the trainees. Rene and Eden were sitting soaked with sweat on the mat with the other trainees. Maalik and Khalid were sitting back from the group they had both challenged Nadia at the same time in order to teach her a woman’s proper place. Nadia had quickly put them both in their place with a single encounter. Taking only a few seconds to cause some minor physical damage with the real damage being to their egos. Maalik and Khalid were just leaving when Cherry and Rhonda joined the class. Maalik recognized Cherry as the woman with the huge breasts from the bar last night and decided to observe for a few minutes.

  Ted singled out Cherry for the first demonstration. Maalik wanted to see how this little woman would stand up to the red haired giant. He roughly grabbed Cherry from behind and she smoothly grabbed the thumb of the hand that was around her shoulder stepping under his arm and applying a hammer lock after which she kicked Ted behind his knee dropping him to the mat. Maalik noted that Ted showed no signs of cooperating with the move. Cherry released him and took her place with the other trainees seated on the mat without any signs of arrogance. Ted motioned in the direction of Cherry.

  “Size is no guarantee of victory or replacement for skill. Nadia, would you take Rhonda for a partner. Sera take Eden and let’s have Cherry and Rene team up.” Ted looked up at Maalik and Khalid. “Gentlemen please stay if you have the time I can easily reassign the partners. “Maalik, I believe that you could have Cherry to work with and Khalid can have Sera.

  Maalik wanted no part of being matched with a smaller woman that might embarrass him for the entire two-hour session. “Thank you sir but we have obligations that cannot be ignored. We must have Salah for Jamal and Haroun.”

  Nadia’s voice took on a serious tone. “We will all say prayers for them.”

  “To which God will you say your prayers?” Khalid quipped back.

  “There is only one God.” Nadia said calmly. Both men nodded slightly for her recognition of their religious sensibilities and left quickly.

  Maalik answered his cell phone before he opened the car door and was greeted by Nabil’s excited voice. “The rocket fuel is useless as rocket fuel but it is quite explosive in the presence of pressurized oxygen.”

  “My friend we must discuss this in person there are many things that should not be discussed on the phone.” Maalik opened the door to the car being instantly assaulted by a blast of steamy humidity which he intensely disliked preferring the much dryer air of his homeland.

  “Khalid it appears that we have an opportunity to make a large statement but we need a new machinist and a bomb maker. We need to see how fast our contact can replace Haroun and Jamal. Tell him that we may need more money also. I will have the women stop buying gunpowder and weapons until we can discuss the new developments. We do not want to cause any undue attention.” Maalik watched another car pull into the parking lot with a man and a woman jumping out and running into the gym. He recognized them as the people that did the interview for his promotion remembering that they were polite and cordial for Americans with Layla remaining silent during the interview. They were both dressed in workout clothing so he dismissed the notion of a setup, since this was a Four Diamonds training session. Maalik, watched as Layla ran through the door wondering if she was part Saudi because of the manners that she used, and the modest way that she dressed.

  Nadia watched Edward and Layla walk into the gym, deciding to reassign the pairs Edward to Rene and Layla to Eden, with Nadia taking Cherry as her partner and leaving Sera to team up with Rhonda. After seeing Cherry take down the red haired giant Rene was thankful for the change. Ted and Tom elected to observe the exercise.

  Rhonda could not believe that Cherry was more aggressive in the gym than she was sexually. Nadia for her size was quick as a cat with absolutely no fear. Rhonda winced at some of the blows that they both took with Cherry giving as good as she got. Layla was rough with Eden but much more civilized. Sera could easily see that Rhonda was more interested in Cherry and Nadia than she was in her workout, so every once in a while she would give Rhonda a good thump bringing her attention back where it belonged. Edward was teaching more than he was sparring with Renée and Eden allowing them time to learn without getting roughed up. Edward explained the difference between police training and combat training.

  “In the academy you are taught to subdue a subject, but what we are teaching here is how to disable a subject as quickly as possible. If bones are broken or joints dislocated there will be no review board slapping your wrist.” Edward pointed to Cherry and Nadia. “They are only going half speed. Cherry, Nadia come over and show us your awards.” They both came over stripping off their sweat shirts Cherry was bruised on her cleavage and ribs and Nadia was sporting several bruises on her upper torso. Cherry lowered her sweat pants revealing some deep bruising on her buttocks and thighs. Both of their bodies were chiseled like a gladiator not toned like a fitness enthusiast.

  Rhonda burst out laughing, “That asshole Felix never put a mark on you.”

  “But I didn’t kill him.” Cherry said being glad that Rhonda was catching on.

  Rhonda pulled Cherry to the side. “Where did you get Nadia?” René and Eden moved closer to listen to the explanation that Cherry offered.

  “Nadia is technically my boss when we’re at Four Diamonds. She was a sniper in the Russian army with sixteen plus confirmed kills to her credit.”

  “How many unconfirmed kills?” Rhonda was aware of the difference between confirmed and unconfirmed.

  “Seventy-eight, she was known as the ‘Red Angel’ for the number of warriors that she sent to Allah. Ted was a master instructor with the SAS. Between them they have four security companies. She and Ted are the principal owners of Four Diamonds. Tom is the managing director of Four Diamonds in the U.S having been the principle trainer at Sembach Annex for NATO military police. That is just the top of Four Diamonds thanks to their direction we were able to get the cream of the crop from all of the hostage rescue teams worldwide especially Russians, Germans, British and American’s, but that does not exclude the French, Chinese, Japanese, Brazilians and Australians. We have personnel of every ethnic, racial and religious background working for Four Diamonds.” Rene was starting to realize that she and Eden did not match Cherry’s description and joined in the conversation.

  “What about us we were never trained like that.”

  Cherry punched her solidly in the arm intending to cause a bruise. “When Nadia rescued me I was a thirteen-year-old sex slave. They trained me and if you can stand up to the training you can move as far as your determination will take you.” Rene punched Cherry solidly in the arm noting that Eden was
sitting quietly. Rene launched herself at Eden grabbing the waist band of her sweat pants.

  “Are you going to stand up or give it up?” Eden fought desperately to keep her pants up. The others moved back in order to let the two trainees fight it out. With her pants half down Eden kneed Rene in the nose causing a gusher of blood spraying both women with blood.

  Layla looked at Nadia and Cherry, “I’ll stand for both of them.”

  Nadia stepped in and stopped the fight, “You are both on for the full ride. Layla stood up for you.”

  Rene took a second look at Layla, “You look familiar.”

  “I ought to I was the other shooter yesterday morning. I didn’t get the chance to thank you for standing in for us.” Layla had a second thought. “Up until two years ago I never threw a punch in anger. Let’s call it a day I’ll buy dinner.”

  Maalik was pacing in his living room. Nabil had given him enough of a teaser to kill the rest of his patience but he would not be there until four. When Nabil arrived Maalik rushed him into the living room.

  “What was so important that you had to break protocol?”

  “It took me a few days of playing as I have said I found fifty, 55 gallon drums of rocket fuel stored at the dump site. That’s 2,500 gallons of fuel. The stuff has decomposed and is useless for what it was made. They can’t destroy it or burn it because it is so toxic. I tested it and in high concentrations it is lethal, even in low concentrations it will cause permanent damage.”

  “So we burn it and if the wind is right how many people will we affect,” Maalik asked.

  “It will kill a few hundred and affect a few thousand, but I have not finished. When I added oxygen it produced a moderate explosion but when I ignited it in a sealed container the explosion was impressive.”

  Maalik was warming up to what Nabil was saying. “So we need to find a tank larger than 2,500 gallons.”

  Nabil enjoyed building Maalik’s impatience, “If we can find the right size tank say about 3,000 gallons adding pressure and oxygen, the resulting explosion will be huge. The resulting cloud will be extremely toxic we could affect 10,000 or more people. All you have to do is pick the right time and place. So what is our target great leader?”

  “I did not think that you would come up with something this big everything that I was considering was much smaller. How will I deliver this gift?” Maalik did not even try to hide his surprise.

  “I would recommend using both the explosive and the toxic effect. If you use this right nobody will feel safe in their homes, and you will change the way of life here forever. We will need to find a truck mounted tank that is accepted everywhere. Remember if we can pressurize the tank we will double or triple the effect. I do recommend that we pick a target here or in Washington in order to limit our exposure. We will probably need a machinist to adapt any tank that we select to our uses.”

  “We will succeed thanks to your efforts. If you come up with a target, I would be grateful for your suggestion.”

  When they arrived home Rhonda and Cherry hit the shower. Rhonda detected five substantial bruises on Cherry.

  “Why does Nadia hate you?”

  “We love each other. She is my sister.” Cherry could see that Rhonda did not understand.

  “Then why does she hit you so hard?”

  “She knows that if she gives me any slack I will kick her ass.”

  Rhonda was still trying to figure it out. “Doesn’t that hurt? Why do you do that?”

  Cherry stroked her cheek lovingly. “When I was thirteen slavers did what they wanted to me. I had no choice because I couldn’t defend myself. These bruises hurt much less than what they did to me or anyone that I love.” Cherry stroked Rhonda’s cheek lovingly and ran her finger along the scar on Rhonda’s neck. “I would have killed the person that did this.”

  Rhonda smiled wickedly, “I did kill him. His name was Evan and I shot him in the face with a shotgun.” Rhonda fingered the scars on Cherry’s wrists. “How did you get these?”

  “The slavers didn’t like us struggling so they used very fine cord so that we would cut ourselves if we struggled. Nadia, Alex, and Anna killed both the slavers and their customers when they rescued me…The customers were just as responsible as the slavers.”

  Cherry kissed the small bruise that Sera put on Rhonda’s thigh. “I can see that Sera has dropped the issue. You only have one small bruise. I don’t expect you to train with me although you are welcome to. We are getting very close and I would like you to know my intimate details, in return I would like to know yours. I wanted you to know what drives me so that no ghosts will separate us. Our whole group is permanently in the protect mode we train defense forces, and bodyguards, but not assassins. We protect those that need it plus our own. Nadia, Anna and Alex rescued Vicki and I along with eleven others. They ended up adopting all of the girls that did not return to their parents and today they are all millionaires plus. Alex and Anna rescued Nadia and her sisters. You don’t know it but he sent Vicki and Harry to keep the CIA from killing you.” Cherry went for the big step. “Alex, Anna, Nadia, Tom and Ted kept the sweepers from killing Edward and Layla. They were the assets that Sean and Evan sent the sweepers to kill starting this affair in the first place.”

  Rhonda’s jaw dropped. “Edward and Layla what the hell did they do?”

  “It’s not what they did but what they can do. You have to see it or you would say that I was on drugs.” Cherry tossed Rhonda a towel. “I promised Tom that we would meet him at his place tonight. Edward and Layla will be there so we can continue this conversation at Tom’s place.”

  Rhonda and Cherry arrived about a half hour early to find Tom and Ted having drinks in the family room. After Tom mixed their drinks everyone settled down in the family room.

  Ted started right in, “I wish you and Nadia wouldn’t go at it so hard. She has to wear pants tonight to hide her bruises.”

  Cherry jumped up dropping her pants as she did. “Just look at me. If I didn’t give her my best it would be worse.” Ted smiled at the shocked look on Rhonda’s face.

  “I just wanted your lover to know that you are 100% natural.” Nadia joked as Ted turned to Rhonda.

  “Everybody here says what they think. If you throw in with us, you will not have to guess.”

  Sera came running down stairs interrupting Ted. “Layla and Edward just returned and they have some bad news. Ted and Tom ran up the stairs to join Sera. Cherry motioned Rhonda up the stairs. When she arrived Edward and Layla were moving awkwardly on the bed which was a far cry from what she had witnessed this afternoon.

  “What’s wrong with them?”

  Sera patted her shoulder, “It’s alright they were traveling.”

  “But they were right here.”

  “They were out of body. Edward and Layla can go anywhere out of body. It just takes them a few minutes to reconnect when they returned to their physical body.”

  Edward sat bolt upright, “Nabil found 2,500 gallons of rocket fuel in the toxic waste dump at Fort Meade and has figured how to make a bomb out of it. Maalik is picking out a high value target. It should be a week or less before they are ready. One hang-up is, that they are looking for a pressurized tank to hold the fuel and the other is that they have lost Jamaal and Haroun which might put them over a week. Right now the stuff is stored in leaky 55 gallon drums.”

  Layla didn’t have much to report. “The women have been buying guns, ammo and gun powder but Maalik just called them off of that task.”

  Rhonda looked at Sera. “You’re shining me on.”

  “Layla give Rhonda something she can recognize.”

  “Alright Edward and I found the Lear Jet that crashed with Misses Mudson. We dummied up a fake satellite photo which still has the CIA spying on the Brits trying to find out how they could come up with the picture so clear at a depth of 2,500 feet.”

  “What else did you see?” Rhonda was nervous.

  “You and Sera did that thing with the cherries on th
e dining room table at the orgy. Senator Mudson and that other guy getting it on in drag really tore the house up.” Sera punched Layla in the arm and grabbed Rhonda taking her into the next room.

  She was completely dumb founded by Edward and Layla’s revelation. Rhonda felt like she had been violated. Sera put her arm around her as Cherry walked in the room starting to explain.

  “Doctor Swift and Layla were doing an experiment in remote viewing for the CIA which hit a wall. They decided to try it with Edward which succeeded. As a test they had Edward view a meeting in the pentagon which was attended by Sean Manworth and the report completely unnerved Sean who had the sweeper report in his briefcase. He had Evan Black dispatch three sweeper teams. The rest as they say is history. Except Alex insisted on a truce and sent Vicki to get your word not to pursue any of the issues. He insisted that no retaliation would be taken and his word protected you for the last few years.”

  Rhonda could not believe it. “How do they find people?”

  “They need physical contact or an exact location in your case they were examining Sean’s office when they discovered you. In the case of the plane they had been tracing Charlie’s crew and they were bringing him to DC on the Lear. Most people are really indignant when they find that they have been viewed. It was a pure accident that did it that time. Normally they have better things to look at.”

  “Such as…?”

  Both Sera and Cherry gave Rhonda evil looks making her think that an attack was coming. Sera got there first. A half hour later they resumed the conversation.

  “Edward and Layla spy on board rooms for financial information and we use it for our personal gain. Both Cherry and I have made over two million pounds in the last month. Momma Lynn invests our money and lets us know what we’ve made with her daughter Susan making the distributions. I know that it sounds mercenary but we never declared ourselves as a non-profit and we haven’t officially declared ourselves as being ‘the good guys’, so we cheat. We simply use insider information to protect our investments which are considerable.”