Black Brick - Part One

by Dan Decker

  I turned my attention back to the ear bud.

  “--your plan depended on a weak link,” Janessa said. “It was too much of a risk.”

  “It got the job done, didn't it?” Vargo said, by the tone of his voice, I could tell he was giving her an annoying grin.

  “But we have a mess now. Are you behind it? I have a hard enough time fighting fires for you internally. If you are and this becomes public, it will be outside of my skill set to handle it for you.”

  There was a pause in the conversation and I got the impression that Vargo was taking time to make eye contact so he could send his point home.

  “Janessa,” he said, “I didn't have anything to do with this.”

  There was a lengthy pause. “I've been calling in favors from my oldest friends to get you the best. Employees like Lauren Griffith are hard to find and harder to keep. I'd be very disappointed to learn that I'm putting them into a toxic situation.”

  “Lauren is working out great. You were right about me trusting her.”

  “I'm glad to hear it,” she said. “If I find out you had something to do with this thing, I'll terminate my contract and pilfer those I've brought to you for my other clients.”

  The way Janessa was talking, it sounded like Griffith would be more loyal to Janessa than Vargo. I made a mental note to mention this to Beltran. He likely already knew of this dynamic, but it wouldn’t hurt to make sure.

  “You've nothing to worry about,” Vargo said, “I promise.”

  Apparently that satisfied her, because they moved onto other things. Their conversation had been innocuous enough that it could have been about anything, but with the weak link reference, my mind jumped to Jason Kurt.

  If Beltran was correct about the relationship between Vargo and Kurt by using Andrews as an intermediary, then Vargo had known Kurt was a weak link. He probably expected Kurt to steal from them as he siphoned money over to Payne.

  Was that the job that Vargo had been referring to? Could the mess be the explosion at the Kurt home? Had Vargo been working late because he'd been coordinating the attack?

  I looked at Shannon and could tell that she was jumping to the same conclusions. All small talk between us ceased as we spent the rest of the evening listening to every word they said, even though they never returned to the topic.

  Once they finished with their meal, we followed them as Vargo had his driver drop Janessa off before taking him home.

  After that, the surveillance team told us we could go home because Vargo’s place was too secure and there was nothing more we could do.

  On the drive back to Black Brick, I promised myself that if I ever learned for a fact that Vargo had been behind the deaths of Jason Kurt and his sister, I would make sure that Vargo didn’t get away with it.

  Chapter 8

  The city passed by as I looked out the train window and tried to relax. The morning news coming out of San Diego said the explosion at the Kurt home was a gas leak, but I knew better. Four people had died. In addition to Jason and his sister, their parents had been home as well.

  Vargo would have a lot to answer for once I could prove he was behind it.

  I yawned and tried to clear my mind. The train was slowing down and I could make out the stop ahead when I leaned in closer to the glass. It had been a low key day but I was afraid that wouldn't last for long. The morning had been spent in a biology class.

  After that, Shannon and I had met up with Cherry and Tom and we began to make plans to apprehend Lauren Griffith. It turned out that Beltran had already known of her connection to Janessa and wanted to exploit the division in her loyalty.

  I’d been a little surprised when we’d followed Lauren onto the train. When she and her bodyguard had taken the seats at the back, Shannon and I had opted for seats just behind the doors at the center of the train car. Cherry and Tom were several rows behind us.

  We believed that Griffith sometimes acted as a courier for Vargo by moving information and items that were too sensitive to be trusted to the normal ways of communication and transportation. At some point in the day, she was going to make a pick up. After that, we were supposed to bring her in to Black Brick.

  I was surprised at the boldness of our orders but couldn’t help but wonder if Beltran had leverage on her or Janessa. We didn’t bring somebody in unless we had evidence that they were involved in something serious. As far as I knew, we didn’t have anything like that on either of them.

  It made me curious about what Griffith was picking up. If the pickup was supposed to happen on the train we wouldn’t notice from our vantage point. But we didn't have any other option.

  “If it looks like she’s heading back to work after this,” I said, “we’ll have to move in.”

  Shannon rolled her eyes, but didn’t respond. I supposed that it was an obvious next move, but I’d wanted to make sure that we were both on the same page. Given her response, I decided to not say anything to Cherry and Tom.

  “Let’s take a break,” Shannon said, leaning in and setting her hand on my leg. “We get so little time together as it is.” Today she was wearing a green coat with a white blouse and black pants. We didn’t know where Lauren would take us so I was stuck in a suit.

  Shannon had pulled her hair back. When we'd attended class earlier, she'd been wearing high heels that matched her coat but switched them for a pair of running shoes. She'd learned that lesson the hard way. Whenever she went out wearing heels, it was a good bet that she was carrying a better pair of shoes in her purse in case she needed them.

  I didn't respond. Her lips barely touched my ear and sent a chill down my spine. Her smile reminded me of a stolen moment we had last night in the car before returning to Black Brick. I lived for the moments we were able to share, though they were few. Beltran might blow a gasket if he found out about us, but he didn’t seem bothered by Martinez and Cherry.

  What did he expect? After learning to depend on one another under extreme circumstances, could he really be surprised when his agents became involved?

  I wasn't worried. The risk was worth it in my estimation. I just didn't want Cherry and Tom to learn about our relationship.

  “Come now,” Shannon said, looking bothered that I was ignoring her. I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder at the others and hoped they hadn't heard.

  I half expected a kiss when she leaned in again, but she kept that boundary, for now. She always seemed to get flirtier when there was a chance that somebody from Black Brick might catch us. I think she got a thrill from it. It just made me uncomfortable. Even though I thought our relationship was worth the risk, I didn't feel a need to increase our odds of getting caught.

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” I whispered, checking my watch as I threw her a smile to make sure she knew I was teasing. We still had a few minutes before the next stop.

  “For good luck?” she asked. When I didn’t lean in she looked disappointed. We’d both agreed to keep it quiet. She chuckled.

  I gave in and checked on the others. Cherry was absorbed in a magazine. It was surprising that an editor thought the woman on the cover was attractive enough to sell copies, perhaps she was the daughter of somebody famous. Tom was beside her and playing a game on his cell phone. Neither of them were looking our way.

  “You don't think this is the test, do you?” Shannon asked in a more normal voice.

  “No,” I said. “It isn't dangerous or complicated enough.” If the rumors were true, you either ended up dead or ready to quit. I didn’t see that happening today. “I overheard Martinez and Scott Henry talking about their final test and didn’t get the impression that they’d known about it beforehand or that it had been easy.” Martinez had stopped midsentence when he noticed me. I didn’t bother to ask for more information because Martinez wouldn’t give it. I was glad Martinez wasn’t on assignment with us today. I needed to find a way to get him booted from our organization.

  “Ready to quit or dead.” Shannon frowned. “I don’t like
the sound of that.”

  I shrugged and pulled out my phone to reread the email from Beltran about today's assignment, looking for anything I might have missed. At the top was a color photograph of Griffith.

  “We’re flying blind,” I said. “This feels rushed.” For an operation like this, we should have spent the last week keeping close tabs on Griffith. A month would have been better. The email we'd received from Beltran this morning was short and lacked information and the briefing with Beltran a few hours ago had been quick as well. He had been in a hurry and didn’t have time for questions before leaving the room.

  “That’s why it could be our final test,” Shannon said. “Beltran is testing how we handle pressure and uncertainty.”

  I shook my head. “Unlikely, the final test will be more challenging than what we’re facing today.”

  Suppressing the butterflies in my stomach, I began a silent meditation. When we’d first come to Black Brick, many of our missions had been fakes. They’d been setup to look like the real thing but had been fashioned to be a learning experience. As time continued, some of the operations turned out to be real, where lives were at stake. Eventually the fake missions had been phased out.

  When I realized that I was fiddling with one of the .40 caliber subcompact Glocks that rested in the pocket of my coat, I stopped. Small enough to hide in my pocket, but carrying a large enough round to rip a hole the size of volleyball into a man's chest. I’d have preferred my compact, but that wasn’t as easily hid. Subcompacts took more skill and concentration because the smaller pistol had enough recoil to jump out of your hands if you weren’t careful.

  The train slowed to a stop and I kept an eye on the exit to make sure Lauren didn’t get off the train.

  I examined the people that boarded, wondering if one of them would make the drop. Several old women, a mother with a young son, a couple of men and women in business attire, and a man wearing a jogging suit were among those that got on. None of them looked like a fit and most of them sat forward of us. As they sat, I noticed a man in a baseball cap up front, who had been reading a paper and looked back at the new passengers. I caught a partial glimpse of his face and made a connection.

  “Payne is here,” I said.

  “What?” Shannon asked. “Where?”

  “Man in the ball cap near the front.”

  Shannon groaned. “I think you’re right.”

  Biting off a curse, I used the front facing camera of my phone to keep an eye on what was happening behind us. Nothing out of the ordinary yet. I fired off a text to Cherry and Tom, letting them know about Payne.

  Griffith looked bored but her guard was alert and paying attention.

  As the train started to move again, Payne stood up at the front of the car, brandishing a pistol with a thirty round magazine extending out the bottom.

  My training kicked in and before I realized what I was doing I had my hand on my pistol and was about to draw when five other armed men stood. Two were right beside Payne at the front; the other three were several rows in front of us. I lowered my hand. The men were wound up enough that none of them had noticed me.

  “Nobody has to die, but I might kill a few to keep the rest of you quiet.” Payne pushed his sunglasses up the tip of his nose and pointed his pistol to the back of the train. He smiled. That chin was unmistakable. I felt like an idiot for missing his team of men. Everything we knew about Payne said that he liked to work alone, so instead of trying to assess whether he had a team with him or not, I'd just assumed that we had one problem, not six.

  Shannon swore softly.

  Payne’s three closest men moved to the rear of the car and I chanced a look back. Griffith’s guard hadn’t moved and he eyed the gunmen as they approached.

  When I saw Payne take a step forward and look down at a man, I hesitated, unsure what to do.

  “What's this?” Payne asked. I couldn't tell what the man was doing to provoke Payne, but it looked like he had his phone out. Payne shot him before I could react. The gunfire in the enclosed space sounded like a bomb. A child near the front started crying. The mother put her arms around him in a comforting and protective fashion.

  “No phones,” Payne said.

  I gripped one of the pistols in my pocket while folding my other hand over the top. I didn’t see a way to intervene without getting shot, but holding my pistol grip, helped me to remain calm.

  Payne motioned to Griffith. “Come here.”

  Everybody's eyes focused on Griffith as she stood and stepped into the aisle. I felt bad for her. Griffith’s bodyguard looked furious and I wondered if he would do something stupid. The man had to know that there wasn't anything that he could do with six armed gunmen staring his way.

  The child started wailing again as the gunman nearest Griffith grabbed her and pulled her forward. They were right in front of me when Payne spoke.

  “I’ll throw that child off the train if he doesn’t shut up.” His voice was matter of fact and calm, leaving no doubt that he would. Our briefing on Payne had said that he could be cold, but I was taken aback by the threat and tightened my grip on my pistol.

  The mother clasped the head of her boy close, whispering into his ear. The boy had quieted by the time the train started slowing for the next stop.

  “We’re getting off, everybody else stays here.” Payne pulled a bag out from under his seat. “If we’re not followed, there’s a fifty percent chance of this blowing up. If we are, it becomes a hundred percent--”

  He was interrupted by a gunshot. The man that had latched onto Griffith fell, blood spilling out of his chest. For a moment I wondered if Tom had done something stupid, but it was Griffith’s guard that had fired the shot. He had stood, pistol in hand. Foolish idiot, he was going to get other people killed. Reaching across Shannon, I pulled Griffith into our row as her guard dove behind a seat.

  There was a brief silence before the cacophony of gunfire filled the train. It stopped several minutes later once the guard was dead. During that time Shannon and I kept our heads down and I expected that Cherry and Tom were doing the same. We knew a no-win situation when we saw one.

  That didn't mean I liked it. It also didn't mean that the guilt I'd feel about how this day had gone down would ever go away.

  It took me several heartbeats to realize that the gunfire had stopped. The sound was still echoing in my head. The small confines of the train car made the gun shots seem five times as loud.

  The people in the rows around me started lifting their heads up, fear at war with curiosity. The guard's body lay halfway into the aisle and it looked like he'd been shot more than ten times. Payne still stood where he'd been when the firefight had started. If anything, his face registered annoyance at the interruption.

  “There's now a seventy five percent chance the bomb goes off,” Payne said. “Any more heroes?” Nobody moved.

  One of the gunmen pulled Griffith out of our aisle as the train came to a stop. When the doors opened, he pushed her out and followed after her. The others weren't far behind.

  Payne placed the bag on the floor and stepped over it. As he walked to the door, it looked like he wasn't concerned about being the last of his men on the train. In fact, if I had to guess, his mind was now on to other things. We were beneath his notice. He'd said his peace and was now making other plans.

  Once he left the train, I ran up to Payne’s bag. The people around me were shying away. I noticed the woman with the child had pressed her son against the wall.

  “We have no time,” Shannon called after me, but I didn’t stop until I had the bag in hand. When I turned around, she was waiting at the door for me, her hand on the door trying to keep it open. As I ran towards her, I saw we weren't going to make it. The door wasn’t stopping for her hand.

  “Get off the train,” I yelled, but she didn't budge. I swore and yelled again, but it did little good. The door was already almost closed. I considered trying to toss the bomb to her so she could chuck it off the train but t
hought better of it. I doubted that Payne would have taken any precautions with it.

  The door was closed and the train was moving again when I reached it. Tom and Cherry were on the other side, chasing after Payne. In my hurry to get to the bag I hadn't noticed them getting off the train. Shannon and I tried to pry the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. Shannon gave me a look that didn't need an explanation. She was pissed at me for going after the bag. I was surprised she was still here. She'd had ample opportunity to get off.

  “I had to make sure somebody kept you from getting killed,” Shannon said, when I pointed that out, “because you sure aren't doing the job. You're supposed to run away from the bombs, not towards them.”

  I didn't respond as I examined the bag and wondered how long we had.

  BLACK BRICK

  PART TWO

  This episode is available now.

  Author’s Note

  If you have enjoyed this episode, please leave a quick review and tell your friends. Also, if you would like to receive notifications about the sequel to this episode, other upcoming works, sneak peeks, and other extras, go to dandeckerbooks.com and sign up for my newsletter.

  About the Author

  Dan Decker lives in Utah with his family. He has a law degree and spends as much time as he can outdoors. You can learn more about upcoming novels at dandeckerbooks.com.