Dark Toll

by Warren Ray

  After getting input from everyone, Winters decided a raid on the mansion in the middle of the night was their best option. Thanks to Thomas, they knew what rooms everybody was in and where the guards were posted. The only question was where they would penetrate the estate.

  “Captain, the only logical way in is to come in from the lake,” said Bassett pointing on the map. “Burns and I had no problem doing that when we did a recon of the grounds.”

  “What about a boat?” asked Winters.

  “Plenty of them out there we can steal,” said Burns.

  “I think a six-man team should do it,” said Bassett. “We can come in quietly. We’ll have the advantage using our night-vision optics.”

  “What if we get in trouble?” asked Winters.

  “We can have a team out front to divert attention,” said Burns.

  Bassett nodded at Burns. “Might want to bring the RPG launcher with us.”

  “That’ll get their attention,” said Burns.

  “And another team off to the side here if needed,” said Bassett. “Just need to figure out who you want and where.”

  Winters liked what he heard and thought for a few moments about what would happen once they were inside. “The biggest problem I see is my daughter. She may not want to come, which means we might have to force her. Amber, would you be up for going in with us? If she sees a female, she might not need as much convincing.”

  Amber seemed surprised but responded without hesitation. “Absolutely, Captain.”

  “Meeks, you got your speed back?”

  “I’m fast enough.”

  “Okay. Bassett, you, Burns, and Scar will give us our six for the penetration.”

  They all nodded.

  “Elliott, I’m going to have you and Taylor cover the front with the SAWs. I’m sure Nordell will want to get in on this as well. I’m thinking if you had fifty guys with you that should be enough. We can have another a hundred men on standby should things get dicey.”

  “Captain, now might be a good time to use Posey to send some false info,” said Bassett.

  Winters leaned back in his chair to give it some thought. He wondered what Mordulfah was thinking he would do. He couldn’t be sure we wouldn’t just attack, which was probably why he instructed us to go to Detroit and give up to Vatter. Either way, we wouldn’t be near Grosse Pointe.

  “Let’s have him confirm what Mordulfah expects us to do, that we’re going to attack Vatter’s new headquarters.”

  “Let ‘em think it’ll be just before sunrise,” said Bassett. “Keep ‘em busy waiting and give us enough time to get in and out.”

  It would be a daring raid, but not one they hadn’t done before, when his men rescued Winters from Grosse Pointe, only this time, there would be a lot more bad guys to fight.

  After the meeting, Winters and Bassett left the hospital to go find Nordell. They found him at home and brought him up to speed.

  “Sounds like a solid plan,” said Nordell. “The only thing I see missing is a sharpshooter. You’re going to need one out on the water to cover your exit.”

  Bassett nodded.

  “My friend, Hollis, can handle that. He’s as good as they come and has experience with night time shooting, even has his own rifle with an infrared scope.”

  “He’ll join us?” asked Winters.

  “Captain, this is your daughter we’re talking about, he’ll gladly do it.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

  “Now, I’ll go and let Posey find me. We’ve got a meeting soon anyway and that’s where I’ll let it slip. What time you want to leave?”

  “I think we should be in position by 0200,” said Bassett. “An hour to get there and another hour to find a boat and get to shore, so right at midnight would be ideal.”

  Winters’ confidence level increased as they left Nordell’s home. They had put together a solid plan. The biggest wild card was his daughter and whether or not she’d cooperate. He hoped by having Amber with him that it would be enough to show her; he was not a murdering rapist.

  Chapter 75

  Grosse Pointe Michigan

  After taking a shower, Cara was still a little shaken from having seen those twin girls in the basement. She couldn’t get past the look of despair on their faces or the angry stare from the crappy lady. Why were they there? Were they relatives? Cara then thought about the hostile reaction from the man who leered at her. She had never, felt more afraid than she had at that moment. He could have easily raped her and gotten away with it. After what happened, she was glad CC came with her; otherwise, she wouldn’t have anyone else to talk with. She left the room and knocked on her door.

  “Hey, did you catch up on your sleep?” asked CC.

  “Yeah, I really needed that.”

  “I thought so. Hope you didn’t mind me leaving you out at the pool.”

  She sat on the bed next to CC.

  “No, not at all.”

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  Cara told her what happened.

  “Oh honey, I hate to be the one telling you this,” said CC as she put her arm around Cara.

  “What?”

  “Those girls were rescued by Mordulfah.”

  “Rescued?”

  “Yes, they’re from Jackson and were your dad’s prisoners.”

  “What?”

  “Yes, they were being used as sex slaves.”

  “Oh, my God! That’s disgusting. Oh my, those poor girls. No wonder they looked terrible.”

  “Yes, they’re being cared for by Mordulfah’s aunt. She’s a therapist and is very protective of them. That’s probably why she was upset at you.”

  “Oh, I feel so bad.”

  “Hey, don’t worry. We’re gonna get him and when we do, you’ll be able to tell him to his face how disgusting he is.”

  Cara nodded, but then wondered how she knew this.

  “While you were sleeping I was talking to Mordulfah and he happened to mention them. I wasn’t gonna to tell ya, cuz I thought it might upset ya. It’s such a coincidence you saw them,” said CC, amused at her storytelling abilities.

  Cara wasn’t sure how to react to all this. On one hand, she was glad to hear they weren’t prisoners, but on the other hand, it upset her to learn that they had been. A shiver whipped through her body as her dad embarrassed her. She felt a strong desire to apologize to the girls for what he did but didn’t think it possible.

  CC reminded Cara about dinner, so they headed downstairs to see a huge spread of food prepared for them. Mordulfah charmed both girls, but especially Cara who relished the attention. She had never felt such gratitude from anyone before and enjoyed the moment.

  After dinner, Mordulfah regaled his guests with more stories about growing up in Saudi Arabia where he raced camels in the desert with his cousins. Cara couldn’t get enough of the stories, but the evening ended when Thomas came through the door.

  “Girls, I need to speak with, Thomas,” said Mordulfah. “We’ll pick this up in the morning.”

  CC turned to Cara. “C’mon, let’s go for a night swim.”

  Excited at the idea, they both took off for the pool. She hoped it would help get her mind off the twin girls. All through dinner, she thought Mordulfah would bring it up, and at first was glad he didn’t, but now wished he had mentioned it. It started to bother her again and wanted the issue resolved.

  Chapter 76

  Washington D.C.

  She took one final look in the mirror before stepping out of the ladies’ room of the Four Seasons Restaurant. Her long black hair was tied back in a perfect ponytail and her lipstick was red, but not too red. She plumped up her small breasts and tugged her white shirt downward to better expose her cleavage. She took in a deep breath and approached the table where Gerald Perozzi sat. She broke out in a big smile and asked for his drink order.

  “My usual,” he replied, without looking up from his papers.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, I’m new.”


  Perozzi looked up and smiled. “Yes, yes you are. What’s your name?”

  “Stormy.”

  “Stormy? Well, that’s an unusual name.”

  “Mama said I came into this world like a storm and the name fit because I was a bit of a tomboy.”

  “You look too beautiful to be much a tomboy now.”

  Stormy laughed to herself. The other girls warned her about his flirting ways. “Well, thank you, sir.”

  “What’s your last name?”

  “Robinson.”

  “Stormy Robinson. Where are you from? I detect a bit of a Midwestern accent.”

  “You’re pretty perceptive,” she replied smiling her big white teeth at him.

  “Let me guess. I’d say Minnesota.”

  “Right again.” She decided to lie and tell him she came from Minneapolis instead of Brainerd, a town he helped destroy.

  “I know my accents, but I would say you’ve lost some of yours. New York?”

  This took her off guard. “You really do know your accents.”

  “I know a lot of people from a lot of different places. So, how long were you in New York?”

  “Close to ten years.”

  “And here in the District?”

  “Just arrived,” she replied, watching him digest what he’d just learned.

  “Well, Stormy, this is a regular haunt for me and this is my table. I drink Scotch neat. Just tell the bartender it’s for me.”

  “And who might you be?”

  “Gerald Perozzi.”

  “Okay, Mister Perozzi.”

  “Please, call me Gerald.”

  “Okay, Gerald.”

  “Bring two, I’m expecting someone.”

  Stormy hoped that someone was Lawrence Reed. It’s why she started working here as a waitress. She’d never been a waitress before, but that didn’t seem to bother her new boss. He took one look and hired her on the spot.

  The fit twenty-six-year-old stepped away from the table knowing Perozzi was staring at her backside. She worked it for him and slowly sashayed toward the bar. She started modeling in her teens and was used to the attention. When she turned eighteen, she moved to New York for work, only to find the New York modeling world was petty and backstabbing, but it paid too well to quit. She joined a gym to work out her frustrations more than her body, which didn’t need any fine tuning. She started taking it seriously and it led her to find her one true passion, which was martial arts, more specifically, Krav Maga. Martial arts reminded her of her tomboy days, and as a single woman living in New York, an asset, especially in these troubled times.

  Her instructor, Kyle Gibbs, had ten years on her, but they shared the same hatred for the new National Government. His father, Jacob Gibbs, told him about what happened in Brainerd, Minnesota, and he had shared it with her. Although her parents were no longer in the area, she grew up there and had friends and cousins still living there. The news was devastating.

  After hearing about Brainerd and what Kyle’s father was involved in, she wanted to help and decided to follow her friend, Kyle, who had moved back to D.C. a couple of months ago. Even though she didn’t need the money, she offered to get a job at the Four Seasons in hopes of overhearing bits and pieces of conversation between Perozzi and Reed.

  The bartender smiled at her when she came back to picked up the two Scotch drinks. She made her way back to the table and found Lawrence Reed sitting there.

  Stormy smiled. “Here you go, sir.”

  “Ah, thank you, Stormy.”

  She then placed Reed’s drink in front of him.

  “Thank you,” said Reed, wondering how far Perozzi thought he could get with the waitress who was way out of his league. Most of the women who were attracted to him, and his money, had slut written all over them. This girl, besides her unusual name, was different, she carried herself more confidently and self-assured.

  “Will you gentlemen be ordering soon?”

  Perozzi couldn’t keep his eyes off her. “Give us a few minutes, Stormy.”

  She walked away knowing Perozzi was again leering at her. She also knew Reed was not. He didn’t look at her like Perozzi, who like most men, was only interested in getting into her pants. Reed looked at her more intently and started assessing her the moment she reached the table. He wanted to find out what her intentions were as if it was second nature to him. She could tell he trusted no one and suspected everyone.

  She knew all about attention from men and their motivations. She learned it at an early age when Junior High boys couldn’t control themselves around her. In high school, the attention increased as did her skills in holding off their advances. She even received special attention from some of the male teachers, which was extremely creepy. She pretended not to notice but always did.

  The restaurant wasn’t busy and she waited off to the side where she could observe Perozzi and Reed. She could tell by the look on Perozzi’s face that he was unhappy about something as he talked to Reed. She decided to get closer and walked around the other side of their table behind the half-wall to see if she could hear them.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” asked an angry Reed.

  “You know exactly where it came from,” said Perozzi.

  Stormy’s heart began to race as she sat down in the empty booth.

  “The hell I do,” said Reed.

  She was transfixed at the conversation and didn’t notice someone approaching her.

  Chapter 77

  Jackson Michigan

  The only sound you could hear in the old pickup was the movement of clothing as Winters sat there with Reese and Amber out in the city hall parking lot waiting for Nordell’s meeting with Simpson to break up. They needed to monitor Nick Posey in case he left the meeting early to report to the cops. Winters wanted to be sure that he did before they picked him up. They weren’t sure where he had his radio but figured it was most probably at his home. Scar and Meeks sat in an abandoned house next door to Posey’s place.

  After some initial small talk, they only spoke about who came and went out of the building. Amber held the night-vision binoculars and kept watch on the front door. The unknown on what would happen later that night consumed each of them.

  Amber wondered what she would say to Cara to convince her of the truth, or would they have to force her to come with them? Thinking about it made her nervous, which surprised her considering everything she’d been involved in these past couple of months. She wondered if she was more nervous about the raid or meeting Cole’s daughter.

  Reese sat next to Cole wanting to be close to him before he left for the raid. She wanted to go with them but was shot down before even finishing the question to him. She knew he would say no, but wanted to ask anyway just to show her concern and to interact with him. She worried their relationship wouldn’t be able to grow now that Cara would be in the picture. It was selfish, but she didn’t care, she wanted and needed him. The more she thought about it the sadder she became until he reached over to hold her hand. The warmth of his hand instantly lifted her spirits. She turned to give him a smile.

  Winters wanted to reassure Reese, but also needed to get his mind off Cara. Every time he thought about the trouble that she had put herself in, he grew angry and then felt guilty for it. He couldn’t help himself because that had been the nature of their relationship for so long.

  “There he is,” said Amber.

  This snapped everyone back to the job at hand as they watched him cross the parking lot and get into a subcompact car. Winters picked up the radio and gave Scar and Meeks a heads up before starting the truck. He powered up his night-vision goggles and put them on. He slowly exited the parking lot and followed Posey across town through the empty streets. He was headed home.

  “We see him coming, Captain,” said Meeks on the radio.

  Winters grabbed his radio. “Copy. We’ll hang back.”

  “Aren’t we gonna follow him?” asked Reese.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get t
here.”

  “I just want to see who this bastard is,” said Reese.

  Winters let off the gas and coasted down the street. He knew where Posey lived and could see they were getting close. He didn’t want to take any chance of being spotted. Scar and Meeks were right next-door and would be able to monitor his movements. Winters figured Posey would report in as soon as he got home.

  “Captain, he’s here and headed toward the garage out back.”

  “He must have his radio in there.”

  “That’s what we’re thinking.”

  Winters parked the truck a block away. He flipped his goggles up and turned to the girls. “You guys stay here.”

  “But…”

  “No buts, Reese. Just chill until I give you the all clear.”

  “Fine, but don’t do anything to him until I get there.”

  “We’re not doing anything to him. I promised him to Nordell.”

  “What?” asked Reese.

  “Hey, it’s their people that got killed.”

  “I know that, but our friends were murdered in their beds,” said Reese in an angry tone.

  “Yes, but that was the deal I made with Nordell. He wanted to take him out the other day.”

  “Fine,” replied Reese in a huff.

  Winters flipped his goggles back down, hopped out, and disappeared up the street. He stayed to the bushes when he entered the man’s yard. Scar and Meeks stood on the side of the garage with their ears pressed against the building. A light was on and Winters assumed he had some sort of generator battery system to power his radio. Meeks tapped Scar on the shoulder and pointed at Winters as he inched over to them.

  Scar leaned closer to Winters and whispered. “He’s on the radio now.”

  Winters strained to listen to the one-sided conversation.

  “Yes, I’m sure they’re going to attack you just before sunrise.”

  Winters broke out in a smirk.

  “Half their guys are staying here to protect the town.” Posey started laughing at whatever they said to him. “I’m telling ya, these guys are a bunch of morons. If they only knew what I was doing.”