by Jon F. Merz
“You know that’s no promise of security,” said Belladonna. “Lawson’s right. Let’s get inside.”
Arthur shooed some of the cats away from him and we followed him back into the house. On the dining room table, he’d spread a map of Bar Harbor out on the table with several locations circled in red marker. I leaned closer and looked at them. “Seems like you found some potentials?”
“Potentials, yes. But there’s no guarantee.”
“What is guaranteed in our line of work, old friend?”
Belladonna took a look and nodded to herself. “Seems like a couple of good places there.”
“They’re relatively isolated so putting OPs on them is going to be tough without being seen,” said Arthur.
I shook my head. “If it comes to it, we’ve still got the Cloak. We can use that to get close.”
“CTR?”
I shrugged. “If we get a location from the app and one of these happens to fall within the area, then I’d definitely say we should close target recce it. Getting up close and personal with it will allow us to hit it with maximal force at the right time and hopefully have the entire affair done within a couple minutes.”
“Brilliant,” said Arthur. “I forgot all about the Cloak while I was checking them out, but that’s a gift right there to have it for this.”
Belladonna sat at the table. “We got in and got out without any problems.”
“So what was Lawson talking about then?”
“A guard came in on us while we were in the process of taking the Corantu.”
Arthur eyed me. “You handle it?”
“No need,” I said. “Belladonna talked to him like they were great friends and he let us pass.”
“Therein lies the problem,” said Belladonna. “The guard spoke English and, as I explained to Lawson, everyone inside the armory speaks Geralach at all times. The fact this guy spoke English has me worried.”
Arthur took her hand. “It’ll be all right. We’ll have this sorted in no time.”
She smiled at him. “I hope you’re right, Arthur.”
“Any thoughts on who it could be?”
I sat. “There’s a retina scanner at the checkpoint - that’s how the lycans check themselves. Apparently when they morph, they can’t change their retinal signature. Whoever this guy was, he either had the right pattern, or was somehow able to use a fake.”
“With the guards right there?” asked Belladonna.
“They weren’t even paying attention,” I said. “I could have walked up and used a printed contact to fool the scanner into letting me pass. What concerns me is this guy used English. Maybe he didn’t know about the strict requirement for language. I mean, I had no idea that it was required.”
“One of ours?” asked Arthur.
“Have to be rogue if he was,” I said. “There’s no way it would be sanctioned by the Council. What would they have to gain by infiltrating a lycan armory? It would cause a war, for crying out loud.”
“So we’re left with a fresh variable then.”
“One of three,” I said. “Don’t forget about the clowns at the bar yesterday.”
Arthur nodded. “Aye, that’s right. That’s at least three extra players in this thing and we don’t even know what sort of opposing force we’ll be dealing with when we hit the location.”
“It’s complicated,” I said. “But not impossible. We don’t even know if the variables are involved.”
“We have to assume they are,” said Arthur. “I wish we had more manpower than the three of us. It’d go a long way to making me feel better about this gambit.”
“We can’t bring anyone else in on this. It’s bad enough you and I are involved. We drag anyone else in and the Council is going to have a field day executing all of us.”
“True,” said Arthur. “We’ll just have to play it as it comes.”
Which is right when Belladonna’s phone range.
23
“What do we do?” asked Belladonna. “I thought they were going to text.”
“Pick it up,” I said. “Tell them you’re driving. If they give you the address for the drop, tell them to text it to you because you can’t write it down now.”
“All right.” Belladonna picked up her iPhone and switched it to accept the call. “Hello?”
Arthur and I stayed still just in case the guys on the other end of the phone had extraordinary hearing. I didn’t want them thinking that Belladonna had acquired any sort of help on this thing. If they thought she was still operating alone, that much the better.
“Yes. I understand.” She hung up the phone and handed it to me. I double-checked to make sure the line had disconnected before looking at her.
“What’d they say?”
“They’re texting the address for the drop.”
Arthur frowned. “Gonna assume it’s not the same place as the stash house. Which means we’ll have to cover two locations at the same time.”
“Damn I wish we had more manpower,” I said.
“You and me both, mate,” said Arthur. “But this is what we’ve got so we’ll roll with it.” He smiled at Belladonna. “How long before they send the location?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. He asked if I had the Corantu and I said I did. Then he said that they would be texting me shortly.”
“Good,” I said. “The sooner we can make this thing end, the better.”
“Talking of which,” said Arthur. “We’d better hit some blood if we’ve got a long night ahead of us.”
“I prefer the term ‘juice,’” I said.
“Don’t care what you call it,” Arthur grumbled. “Just get some down your neck and let’s suit up. The sooner we can hit the stash house, the better. I’ve got plenty of guns and bullets with me.”
“The ones that will work on lycans?”
Arthur grinned. “As soon as you told me where you were, I had a feeling we’d be dealing with the likes of them, so yes, I planned accordingly.”
“Good stuff.” I grabbed a vial of juice from Arthur and sucked it down quickly. I hate drinking blood and always have but I need the damned stuff to survive. So I get it down and get it over with as fast as I can, before I feel like retching it all back up.
The wave of life-force energy smacked me upside the head a moment later, washing over me with a wave of heat that felt like I’d touched a live wire of a million volts shooting through my entire body. Picture the quickening in that old movie Highlander and it’s kinda like that, just without the fireworks and shattering windows and levitating bodies.
Arthur went out to his car and came back carrying two black bags that looked like they could have been used to transport hockey equipment. I knew better. He placed them down on the floor and unzipped one of them, pulling out a suppressed M4 assault rifle and handing it to me. I checked it over and felt the weight.
“Zeroed?”
Arthur sniffed. “Yeah, right, I was down at the range all day, mate. Sheesh.”
“Fair point.” We wouldn’t have had an opportunity to zero the weapons properly. We were stuck with however well they’d been sighted before they left the Council armory back in Boston. I wasn’t particularly worried. The M4 was a great weapon and kept its zero pretty well. And frankly, we weren’t going to be shooting at long distances anyway, which was when you really wanted the weapon honed in well. We were looking at a crash-and-bang: get into the house, clear it of hostiles, and get our hostage away safely. In conditions like that, the contact range was going to be less than five meters. And even if the sights on the weapons had been deliberately tampered with, the range was so short it shouldn’t even affect it.
I dropped the mag out and felt its heft. “You load these recently?”
Arthur nodded. “The other day. Shouldn’t be any stoppages.”
I smiled. “From your mouth…”
“Yeah, I know, but we don’t have the time to break everything down. We’re both trained on how to react to a stopp
age, so if it happens, go with it.”
“You bring coveralls?”
Arthur shook his head. “Nah, no sense wearing them anyway. We go into an area looking all commando, we’re gonna attract an awful lot of attention. Figure we hit it in civies.”
He meant jeans and regular clothes. That way we’d stand out less. It made sense. “I’ve got my overcoat anyway. I put the M4 on a sling, strap my secondary to my thigh, and stuff enough mags in the pockets to take on an army.”
“Better not come to that,” said Arthur. “But yeah, take more than enough. P for Plenty and all that jazz.”
While we were checking everything over, Belladonna stood by saying nothing. Finally, she sighed. “And what will I be doing?”
Arthur looked up. “You’ll be making the drop, love. Get in and get out. I don’t think they’re going to be too fussed with you. All they want is the relic.”
“Are you sure?”
Arthur rose and came over to her. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Not now, not ever.”
She kissed him lightly on the lips. “I’ve never stopped loving you, you crazy old Brit bastard.”
He slapped her on the butt. “And I’ve never stopped loving you, either, you furry moon dog, you.”
“If we get through this thing intact,” I said. “You two really need to work on your pet names for each other.”
Belladonna smiled at me. “Thank you for all your help on this, Lawson. I mean that. Not many people would help me. Not many people would do what you’ve chosen to do without regard for yourself.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” I said.
Belladonna’s iPhone chimed.
“Show time,” said Arthur.
24
“What’s the text say?”
Belladonna read it quickly. “Agamont Park in Bar Harbor at two o’clock in the morning. Tonight.”
Arthur frowned. “Lovely time they picked. A moonlight stroll?”
“What are you driving at?” I asked.
“I don’t like it,” said Arthur. “It’s exposed if I’m remembering the location correctly. Not much cover to shield yourself from.”
“Thinking sniper?”
Arthur shrugged. “Gotta think that they’ll at least have eyes on her when she makes the approach. But I’d want a long gun on the target if I was in their shoes.”
That complicated things immensely. I knew there was no way Arthur was going to want to come with me and rescue the hostage if it meant that Belladonna might be walking into an ambush. He’d never forgive himself if that happened and I didn’t want that sort of regret weighing on his mind for the rest of his life.
But he was right about the sniper possibility. Agamont Park would mean that Belladonna would be terribly exposed. If the bad guys tried to get funny, they’d be able to pick her off at distance and then simply walk in and grab the relic.
I knew what the right call was. I just wished I didn’t have to say it. “You’ve got to pull overwatch on Belladonna when it goes down.”
Arthur started to protest but I held up my hand. “You know it’s the right call. We can’t let her go in there unprotected. You’d never forgive yourself and neither would I.”
“But Maxine-“
“I’ll handle it,” I said. “Believe me, I wish there was another way because I’d rather have you on my six than anyone else, but this is how we’ve gotta play it. These are the cards we’ve been dealt.”
“Well, it’s a shitty buy-in,” said Arthur.
“You’re damned right it is,” I said. “You guys leave for the drop-off. I’ll take care of getting Maxine back.”
Belladonna spoke up. “I ran the app on the text message. It’s working right now.”
“Anything yet?”
“The map is starting to zoom in,” she said.
We clustered around her phone and watched as Megan’s app did its magic. The map of Mount Desert island slowly zoomed in further and further. And when it finally gave us a location, I was surprised at where it showed the text originating from.
“She did say that it wouldn’t be an exact location right?”
Belladonna nodded. “She did, but this certainly seems precise.”
I nodded. “Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. How far is that from here?”
“Not very,” said Belladonna. “Just grab 102 south down to where it forks into 102A and then follow that around. Shouldn’t take you much longer than twenty minutes to get there.”
“All right then. I’m taking Arthur’s car. You two can take the truck.” I looked at Arthur. “How are you going to insert?”
“Early,” said Arthur. “The sooner, the better, in fact. I want time to do a full recon and pick the most advantageous spot for me to take their guy if it comes to that.”
I pointed at the clock. “Nine o’clock now. The night isn’t getting any younger.”
“I’m going to need the Cloak,” said Arthur.
“You’re joking.”
“Hardly. If the park is the way I remember it, I’m going to need some sort of invisibility to be able to provide good overwatch.”
“Fair enough.” I got the Cloak and handed it to him. “Don’t lose it or we’re both screwed.”
Arthur smiled at me. “I wish we were taking them down together, mate.”
“I know it, you crusty bastard. Just get this done on your end and then let me know it’s all good.”
“You do the same.”
I looked at Belladonna. “How soon can you be ready to go?”
She shrugged. “I’m ready now, but if either of you two kooks think I’m walking into that situation without a gun, you’re crazy.”
“I didn’t think you needed one given how you took out the guy I was chasing in Boston,” I said.
“True. Give me a moment.” She walked out of the room.
Arthur clapped me on the back. “Thanks for understanding my situation.”
I smiled at him. “I’d want the same consideration from you, pal. I get it. Trust me, I get it.”
“I know you do,” said Arthur. “But I’ll still say thank you just the same.”
“Don’t leave me out there if you don’t hear from me. I expect you to come in guns blazing and taking no prisoners if I get into the shit.”
“Do me the same courtesy, wanker.”
“If you’re quite through with all this machismo silliness,” said Belladonna then.
We turned and looked. Belladonna had donned a set of dark jeans and a leather jacket to go with it. She looked primal and lethal.
“Where’s the gun?” I asked.
She smirked and lifted the side of her jacket so I could see the suppressed MP5K slung on a rig beneath her armpit. “Tell me the truth, you didn’t even notice it, did you?”
“Nope.”
“Good, then neither will they.”
Arthur pointed at the gun. “You got a secondary?”
Belladonna’s face grew serious. “Yes. I’ll tear them apart with my bare hands.”
I glanced at Arthur who looked at me. We both grinned at the same time.
“All right then,” I picked up my M4 and took a few more magazines with me. Now that I was going in alone, I wanted to make sure I’d accounted for every eventuality, as much as that was possible.
Arthur stowed their gear in another bag and we checked the house one last time. We’d be going in separate directions. Arthur and Belladonna heading to one end of the island and me to another. The fact that we were badly split up dawned on me, but even if I’d been sufficiently alarmed, there wasn’t much we could do.
Odds were good the captors would eliminate Maxine as soon as they had the relic so we had to do this at the same time to lessen the chances of that happening. Provided I could find my way into the lighthouse unmolested, I stood a good chance of rescuing Belladonna’s apprentice.
“Lawson.”
I stopped. “Yeah?”
“When you find her, say these words: chat yakh
mindarkul. Understand?”
“What is that-some sort of recognition code?”
Belladonna nodded. “Think of it more as your safety word. If you don’t say it, chances are good as soon as you free her, she’ll try to kill you.”
25
I watched the tail lights of Belladonna’s truck fade in the distance and then I took a corner and they were gone for good. Route 102 headed south for several miles of winding road. The night felt colder than it had thus far and a light drizzle fell. Not enough to soak things through, but enough to make the wipers necessary every minute or so. And probably enough to make this night a messy affair.
I found the fork where 102A broke away from 102 proper and followed it to my left as it headed further south to run around the bend of the island before it veered to the right. Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse was the only lighthouse on Mount Desert Island and sat shooting its beam out into the channel that ran over towards Swans Island and points around it.
I noticed now that 102A was called Seawall Road and as the elevation grew, it made sense to position a lighthouse down here where it could be most effective. I slowed the car, trying to get a better feel for the area. I knew that once I parked, I’d have to hoof it on to the grounds of the lighthouse itself. The goal was to park far enough away to not alarm anyone who might have ben working in the employ of the bad guys.
It disturbed me that I still had no clue who the three variables were in this mess. The two dudes at the bar and the guard at the lycan armory. None of them added up. I’d gone over the possibilities, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what role they played in all of this - if any at all.
Frick and Frack could have been a couple of idiots out looking to start trouble. But something about them seemed different. I have a highly developed ability to spot idiots and while they qualified, there was something else about them. Had the lycans spotted Belladonna’s truck in the parking spot and wondered who I was? It could have easily been just a routine check. Once they’d determined I wasn’t a threat - and I hadn’t reappeared since - then maybe they’d just dismissed me as a nobody.