“Thanks to Steve, almost from the day after we arrived at the base.”
Kardel's head slumped forward. “Of course… you bugged my office. Has Dr. Morrison been in on this from the start?”
“Not willingly. Tom, we can make a deal. I can’t say as I care why you did it. Give us the names up the ladder from you, and we will end this crap, and move on. The higher ups can retire, and you can go back to work on computers and codes. Our country still needs you. Hell, we need you, but your days of power dreams are over. Move on, you can still be rich.”
“Once you get the name, I will be dead a second later.”
Steve leaned over from where he sat. “If it were me asshole, you would not be dead for a long miserable time.”
“You will not be harmed, Tom. Do you trust Colonel Braithwait? He can tell you. We’re only interested in breaking this thing up. In fact, I have an idea of luring your boss or bosses here, just as we did you. Do you think it would work?”
Kardel sat searching Jack’s face for a clue as to whether this were some elaborate ruse. Jack looked back at him unwaveringly. “Would they be harmed if I set them up for you?”
“No, I think the Colonel would be happy if they merely retired, and disappeared. Would that be accurate, Colonel?”
“I can swing that, Tom,” Braithwait replied. “If we can end this right away, and get these enclaves of the enemy within our midst wiped out, I can make it happen.”
“General Katzenbaum and General Crighton. With the right bait, and your help, I can get them to meet with you. I will tell them you want in on the plan, and that they can count on your military contingent here. I will explain it would be to our advantage for them to fly here, away from Washington, and establish a base, where strategy can be planned.”
“Do you have a number where you can reach them now,” Braithwait asked.
“Yes.”
“We’ll patch them into this room. Look Tom, I don’t need to warn you how bad it will be for you if you try to tip them off.”
“There can be nothing on the line I call them from. I will be contacting one, or both of them over a secured line, where nothing we talk about can be monitored. How far will you trust me?”
Jack smiled. “Not very far. I will be sitting right next to you. Do what you have to do, but remember your future will be with us. They have no future.”
An hour later, Jack and Colonel Braithwait, sat together in the now empty room. They monitored the animated conversation Kardel was having with the Generals. Jack listened as frustration crept into Kardel’s voice, and he wondered if they had overplayed their hand.
“They won’t come, Jack,” Kardel said, as he severed communications. "They want the Colonel in Washington as soon as possible.”
“Can you have them arrested, Colonel,” Jack asked.
“All we have for grounds remains circumstantial,” Colonel Braithwait replied. “I will go back with Kardel, after I let a few people know about this. We’ll have to do a sting operation, and get them on a recording.”
“I’ll go too then,” Jack said, “but everyone else will have to stay here. We don’t want them to get worried. Do you normally take many aids with you when you go, Tom?”
“I have always gone alone. They have worked this network in secrecy since the beginning. I am their contact with the other bases. The other people in on this operation, in one form or another, have no idea what the ultimate goal will be. I was a fool to think they would be stupid enough to be lured here. I guess I’m the only one dumb enough get taken like that.”
“You came pretty well prepared,” Jack said. “I never for a moment thought you would come here with a bomb. Frankly, I was more worried the Colonel might be in on it.”
Colonel Braithwait’s face darkened for a moment, and then he laughed. “I’m beginning to like you, Jack. You’ll need to be in uniform when we go to Washington. The uniform will be that of a major. You will be my adjutant.”
“They won’t want him in on the meeting,” Kardel stated flatly.
“I will insist on it. We can gauge how interested they are in a military base, completely under their control, with an airport.”
Kardel considered this for a moment and nodded. “That angle may work. They have been desperate to have some other location, where they would not have to fear discovery. If they suspect us even for a second, we will be dead men. More than a few men have died since they hatched this plan.”
“I have an idea of how to do this,” Jack said.
“If you think you can wear a wire or something with these guys, think again,” Kardel said. “They will only meet you in a secured room. The room will be scanned continually. You will not get what you want.”
“If they meet with us, will it be in a room with just the five of us,” Jack asked.
“Yes, but they will have a small army outside the room.”
“I want to keep this simple. We meet with them anywhere they want. The Colonel can explain we know all about them, with you to back it up. We will offer them a chance to retire with full benefits. If they refuse, we will go directly to General Anthony.”
“Simple,” Braithwait agreed, “but what leverage besides our word against theirs will we have if they refuse, or decide not to let us leave the room alive?”
“Not much, but we’ll tell them we have the recording of Kardel, and Dr. Morrison, and a recording with Tom implicating them in all of it. Add in the usual threat of it being in safe hands, and ready to be turned in if anything happens to us. In other words, we will have to be prepared for the worst. I have no delusions of these guys going quietly, so we will have to be ready to play hardball. Want to gamble along with me, Colonel?”
“I’ll take a hand,” Braithwait agreed. “You will be our guest until we leave, Tom. Come on, Jack. I’ll get you fitted for the proper uniform, and then you can take the army you have outside the gate, and go on home for the night.”
“You saw the ‘Wild Bunch’ out there, huh?”
“My men did. I didn’t know it was a matter of trust though.”
“It never will be again, Colonel,” Jack said, shaking Braithwait’s hand. “It’s always a pleasure working with a professional. I will be waiting for your call.”
Chapter 34
The Generals
Jack sat still in his chair, as Sarah gave him a military regulation haircut, with only stubble on the sides. She carefully cut over the scar tissue, which had formed on the wounded side. The others sat around the table, comfortably sipping beers. Wolf, as always, slept next to Jack.
“You will look handsome in a uniform, Dad,” Sarah informed him, “but your face will probably look a bit gruesome with these scars.”
“All the better, my dear,” Jack replied. “These guys will want to see someone who has been in combat.”
“Hopefully they won’t want anyone who has seen action in a biblical sense,” Steve quipped to everyone’s delight.
“I noticed your love life has bloomed,” Jack replied.
“As a matter of fact, my good man, I am seeing someone I met over at the Center. If you had not been out plotting destruction, you would have met her.”
“How about if some of us go on a flight after yours, Jack,” John asked seriously. “These Generals won’t know you have anyone arriving after you.”
“We can’t take a chance they don’t have every movement concerning arrivals reported directly to them, John. Hell, I would love to take all of you with me. Have I ever left you out of the action before?”
“You have to admit,” Mitch replied, “going it alone with no backup is not our way.”
“And another thing,” Paul mentioned, “what the hell are you whittling?”
Jack looked down at the tapered piece of oak he had been forming with his knife. “Just a new hobby I decided to try out. I figured I needed a hobby now that I’m older.”
“A hobby… yeah right,” Mitch said. “When are you going to go by your shop? You said you h
ad some stuff there.”
“I did a drive by. It ain’t pretty. Someone already gave their life disarming my security system, and I’m not in the mood to go through the rubble just yet. Maybe when I get back from Washington, I’ll have a look.”
“You’re going to Washington,” a voice asked incredulously from behind him.
Jack spun around to see that Dr. Morrison had again entered the room without detection. He looked down at Wolf, and kicked him gently. “You’ll need a hobby too, you mangy cur. At least I haven’t retired on the job.”
“Never mind your disappointed expectations of Wolf, Jack,” she continued. “I have as much right as anyone else here. I don’t need a guard dog to mark my entrances.”
Debbie came in laughing, as it had been her first time arriving with Dr. Morrison. “She sneaks in Uncle Jack.”
Dr. Morrison turned quickly. “You little snitch.”
Debbie smiled. “Sorry, Dr. Morrison. I respect you and everything, but I only have one side here.”
Dr. Morrison nodded, and turned on Jack. “When do you leave for Washington?”
“Soon,” Jack replied. “Tom has been very cooperative, and we need to go to Washington to smooth things over there. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Then everything went as planned at the airport?”
“As well as anything we do.”
Dr. Morrison stared at Jack, and he could see her features soften. She watched Sarah finish his close-cropped haircut, and brush away the cut hair. He continued looking at her, now that she had moved in front of him, with a contented smile, as he scraped the pointed stick he held. She blushed under his gaze, as desire for this dangerous scarred man welled up again inside of her.
“I’ve had another long day. I think I’ll turn in early.”
Jack stood up. He placed the piece of wood and his knife on the table. He walked over to her, and gently drew her to him, as he kissed her passionately. Her arms wound around him, and gripped him strongly. He lifted his face away, gently ending the kiss. As she opened her eyes, he kissed her once again, gently on the forehead.
“Goodnight Doc,” Jack said, releasing her.
She looked at his smiling face, tensing as if to strike him; but turned away instead, and walked stiffly towards her room.
“Oh man,” Peter said shaking his head, “that was cold.”
Jack went to the cupboard, and got down the Bushmills bottle. He poured himself a shot. He retrieved a bunch more shot glasses, and poured everyone else one too. He raised his glass up, and clinked it against theirs, as they too rose to join the toast.
“I remember a quote by William S. Smith: ‘The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure’. Here’s to it only being the blood of tyrants from now on.”
They drank with him solemnly.
__
The transport landed at Ronald Regan Airport, and taxied to a docking port. Kardel led the way off of the plane, with Colonel Braithwait following, and Jack close behind. They were met on the tarmac by a limousine, with a two man uniformed honor guard, who saluted smartly. The Captain in charge stepped forward, after the trio returned their salutes. The Sergeant with him got back behind the steering wheel.
“Generals Katzenbaum and Crighton send their greetings. They await your arrival for the meeting. Please come with me.”
He opened the back door for the three, and they rode in silence through a vastly different capital. Very little traffic motored on the streets, and most of it appeared to be military vehicles. They arrived at a gate, which formed the entry point into a small fenced in complex, which looked to be a group of industrial offices. They could see a fully armed detachment of soldiers walking guard duty. The gate guards, with automatic weapons, waved them through without stopping them.
The Captain led them through a series of checkpoints after leaving the limousine. Finally, they entered the building, through another heavily guarded entryway. They arrived at a guarded door, which stood open, revealing a windowless room beyond, with two men conferring over coffee at a conference table. The guards at the door patted them down, and then sent them through a metal detector, much like the ones at many courthouses and congressional buildings.
As the Captain led them into the room, both of the men stood up smiling affably. Jack, Kardel, and Braithwait saluted smartly. When it had been returned, one of the Generals, with Crighton on his nametag, gestured for them to have a seat. The Captain poured them all coffee, and then left the decanter on the table and left. They could hear the door being bolted from the outside.
“Glad to see you, Tom. We were very surprised at your progress. May I…”
“General,” Braithwait interrupted, “we have news, which may change things here. May my aid explain them?”
“Of course,” Crighton agreed. “I wondered why Tom would have allowed you to bring anyone with you at all.”
Jack folded his hands in front of him, and looked earnestly at the two Generals. “We know what you two have planned. We plan on ending it here.” The two men started to rise, but Jack held his hand up. “Please, hear me out.”
When the two men warily sat down again, Jack continued, “we have conversations with your intent on disc between Kardel and an underling, and we have his taped confession. We would like to make a deal with you two to resign here and now. You will retire with full benefits, and no charges will be brought against either of you. We only wish for this plot to end.”
“I don’t know who you think you are, Major,” the General with Katzenbaum on his name tag said, “but none of you will leave this room alive.”
He reached under the table, and in one motion, Jack drew the oak blade from his left sleeve, and plunged it to the hilt through Katzenbaum’s right eye socket. Jack violently threw the convulsing body, and the chair where Katzenbaum still sat, backward to the floor, as he plucked the oaken weapon from its bloody sheath. He smashed Crighton to the floor. Jack pinned the General’s neck and face down with his left hand, while he held the point over the man’s now gaping eyes. Colonel Braithwait and Kardel stood, and backed involuntarily away from the flurry of motion.
“You have three seconds to make a deal, General, and then I send you to join your partner in crime. Nod when you agree, you fuck,” Jack ordered, as Crighton gasped for breath from under the iron grip. One… two…”
The man’s head nodded, as much as it could move, and Jack released his neck. Crighton choked, and grasped his neck with both hands as he struggled to get air through his bruised air passages.
“Here’s the way this goes, General. You will call the president, and have him come here at the utmost speed. You will tell him you have a confession to make, and it will concern national security. If you play this right, you will live and get everything I promised. Try anything, and I will impale you on this toothpick I brought. Any questions?”
The man shook his head negatively, and flinched as Jack picked him up bodily, moving him away from the table alarm switch. He sat him down, and moved the phone over to him. Crighton picked up the phone with a shaky hand, as he looked down at the bloody corpse at his feet. He dialed.
“So this was your plan Jack,” Braithwait asked.
“We both know these men would either give it up, or have to die,” Jack said. “When Katzenbaum went for the alarm, he made his choice. We have to make sure I have time to deal with this one if things go badly. Are we agreed?”
Braithwait and Kardel nodded, and sat down in front of Jack, with their chairs facing towards the doorway.
Forty-five minutes later, a squad of armored special-forces men crashed in through the doorway, as Jack prayed they were told to hold, and not to execute. He sat crouched behind Crighton, who sat with the back of the chair to his right and Jack's homemade knife, point side up, against his rectum. The special-forces squad fanned out into the room without sound. There was a commotion at the door, and acting President General Anthony strod
e into the room. Braithwait and Kardel saluted smartly, and stepped aside. General Anthony approached the table, glancing quickly at the sweating General Crighton, and then at the one-eyed corpse on the floor behind them. He looked at Jack, and sat down slowly in the chair left for him. He methodically folded his arms on his chest.
“This ought to be good gentlemen. I’m listening.”
__
They met him at the airport. Jack walked off first, and straight for his small welcoming committee. He shook hands, and hugged, and laughed. It was two in the morning, West Coast time. Jack looked around and said, “where’s the Doc.”
“At home, Dad,” Jake said.
“She said to say hi, and she would see you later,” Mitch added, with a knowing smile.
__
Dr. Morrison lay on her bed in the darkened room, as she heard their noisy arrival. She heard the laughter, and the footsteps to her room. She heard the doorknob get tried on her locked door, and then a knock.
“Honey, I’m home.”
“It’s been another long day. Go away,” Morrison ordered, her breathing quickening as she hoped he wouldn’t.
The doorjamb splintered as Jack kicked it in and entered, closing the broken door behind him. "It’s about to get a whole lot longer, Honey.”
The End
Thank you for purchasing and reading American Survival. If you enjoyed the novel, please take a moment and leave a review. Your consideration would be much appreciated. Please visit my Amazon Author’s Page if you would like to preview any of my other novels. Thanks again for your support.
Bernard Lee DeLeo
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American Survival (DeLeo's Action Thriller Singles Book 5) Page 34