Deadly Resonse (The Jake Stryker Series Book 1)

by Warren Conrad

  Herb’s car made a drive-by at 11:00 p.m. and determined from the cars present that the targets were inside. He drove several miles to the staging area and described his observations to Stryker, Sparks and the team.

  Herb’s blood pressure increased remembering the many times he commanded hatchet teams in Vietnam. They were the tip of the Special Operations group killing behind enemy lines and taking no prisoners.

  “We will move as soon as the snow begins, and remember we want to look like ordinary people with our weapons hidden. Ok, now we wait,” said Stryker.

  Stryker’s men and cars were parked in an old shopping center not visible from the street. Two hours into waiting, the snow started falling and the wind began to howl. The storm had arrived. They waited for another half hour and decided it was time to go. Both cars headed toward the house. Stryker and Herb parked two blocks away and Sparks and his men waited near the alley entrance. They all performed a communication check before Stryker and Herb started walking slowly toward the house. Fortunately, both houses adjacent to the target house were vacant as were three houses directly across the street. Sparks planned to capture a watcher and have him communicate with the people inside that all was well.

  Spark’s men took the watcher alive and had him call the house. He then relayed to Stryker that he and Herb had a “green light.”

  Herb took the steps two at a time with Stryker right behind him and to the side. Herb rapped the door twice and a voice answered. Herb answered back in Spanish but the door did not open. Herb and Stryker kicked the door, losing precious time. Finally, the door gave and Herb and Stryker burst into the house and were met by three armed men. Herb rolled left for cover as the men fired. Stryker dove behind a couch firing his MP-5, all his rounds going high. Herb fired full auto, covering Stryker, who crawled to the end of the couch and stood firing as he ran to the kitchen. Herb found cover behind a brick interior wall. Stryker inserted a new magazine and fired on the bad guys, covering for Herb. Herb hit two men who popped up after Stryker ran dry. Both died immediately, hit multiple times from Herb’s MP-5. Herb and Stryker had taken cover behind a heavy stairwell and fired at the last man, missing him. The remaining Hatchet members kicked through the back door and yelled “flash/bang!” as Herb and Stryker covered their ears and closed their eyes. The flash/bang exploded with severe concussion, sound and light. The last bad guy was former Mexican Special Forces and began firing through the smoke in all directions, hardly affected by the explosion. The Hatchet forces quickly silenced him as they moved into the room, firing suppressed weapons on full auto. Herb and Stryker joined them as they prepared to move to the basement. Herb pulled a grenade from his vest yelling “flash/bang!” as he tossed it down the stairwell. Another explosion ripped the basement as the team advanced downward, taking no fire. They quickly zip-tied seven men, some injured and others dazed. The blast scattered drugs and supplies everywhere, covering the men on the floor. The cartel would not be happy.

  Sparks entered the house and watched Herb interviewing some of the men in Spanish. Only one man had heard about a contract killer who lived in Argentina. The man stated they smuggled twelve dark skinned foreigners across the border in the last six months and more were on the way.

  “Tell me where they were delivered and you might live. Your friend needs immediate treatment or he will bleed out, so let’s hear it,” ordered Herb.

  “I know only Minnesota. Nothing more, I swear. “Please! Don’t kill us.”

  Herb nodded at Stryker to listen to him.

  “They won’t be going to the police and if they live, their friends will clean the place and dispose of the bodies, plus send a message,” said Herb, looking at Stryker.

  “Ok, we let them live, have Sparks tend to the bleeder. We need to hurry so let’s get this done. We need pictures of all these men,” said Stryker.

  Sparks moved quickly, cutting off the remains of the man’s damaged hand and bandaged the stump. Stryker watched, thinking he had seen this man before and then remembered.

  The garage… New York… he got away.

  The cartel men were cut free and told not to leave the house for ten minutes. Stryker, Herb and Sparks went through the rear door and disappeared into the storm, headed for the airport. Herb’s men would take care of the equipment and vehicles.

  The attack in New York was tied to the cartel, but why? And still no name for the assassin. I need to find Morgan and soon, thought Stryker.

  The flight back to Washington DC was rough due to the weather. The plane had to detour around parts of the storm and come up to Washington from the south. They landed at Dulles and taxied to their hangar. The aircraft was a rental so after letting the men off it departed back to South Carolina. Sparks felt using a rental was better than either Alpha’s Falcon or Stryker’s Gulfstream. The operation went off better than expected so everyone doubted that it would have mattered. Now it was the cartel’s move.

  11

  New York City, New York

  2016

  Months had passed since the attack and Ann’s funeral. Riley tried to stay busy working with Kelly but her mind kept returning to the events from the night in Central Park. She had been removed from the investigation and had no way of finding out information. Since the jurisdiction was both NYPD and the FBI, she had reached out to Ann’s brothers. They kept her updated, but not much was known. The attackers were not in the system and remained unidentified. None of the physical evidence produced meaningful results and the case remained open with two homicide detectives assigned to work with the FBI. One of the detectives called and told her she could pick up her phone from the evidence room.

  They have nothing, absolutely nothing, she thought as tears formed.

  Riley called Ann’s brother Paul who had made detective recently and asked if he had seen the evidence. Paul told her he had not, but was given Ann’s personal belongings, including her phone. Riley asked if she could look through Ann’s things and Paul agreed to meet her the next day and give them to her.

  Riley left the FBI office and met Paul for lunch at a small café in lower Manhattan. The café was a place she and Ann both enjoyed. Paul knew the café and was already there when Riley arrived. They both were on tight schedules and ordered food and visited briefly about the recent police slayings. Paul gave her a bag filled with Ann’s things and wished her luck and to call him if she found anything of interest. They hugged, and then Paul was gone. The lack of light in his eyes told the story… he missed his sister.

  Riley returned to work and finished the day. She was tired, but would not rest until she went through Ann’s things.

  Riley entered her apartment and changed clothes to get comfortable. She warmed soup she had made the day before and started coffee. After eating and settling down, she took the bag and spread its contents on her table. None of Ann’s clothes were in the bag. Mostly the bag contained her purse, phone and contents from her desk. Riley started with her purse but found only usual items and nothing of interest. She picked up the phone and suddenly remembered she had used Ann’s phone to call Uncle Ryan the night of the attack. She had given it to the police at the scene. She had recovered her phone and never thought about Ann’s again. She scrolled through the phone looking at numbers and then text messages from Ann’s father. Many of the texts showed pictures of fish her father had caught. Riley looked at the last pictures sent to Ann and realized some may have been close to the time of his death. Riley checked the date of his death and sure enough, one picture was on that date. The picture showed two men holding fish. The facial features of the men were not clear and they had fishing hats pulled low over their eyes.

  Probably nothing, she thought.

  Riley awoke on the couch with Ann’s phone next to her. She had been exhausted and not thinking clearly. Refreshed, she looked again at the picture. What did it mean if anything? No idea, she thought.

  Riley scanned the picture and sent it to her uncle. Maybe he would have some ideas.

&nb
sp; Ryan Sparks was working in the hangar two days after returning from Chicago when Jackie called him and said Riley had sent him a picture. Ryan went to the office and opened the e-mail attachment showing two men. The size and shape of one of the men seemed vaguely familiar.

  Could it be possible? he thought and reached for his phone.

  12

  El Paso, Texas

  2016

  Stryker’s private jet landed early afternoon at El Paso International Airport and taxied to Atlantic Aviation. He picked up a rental car under one of his aliases and drove south out of the airport. He was meeting Dirk Morgan aka “Dirk the Dagger.” The meeting had been set up through CIA connections.

  Morgan and Stryker went back to his days as a Ranger in Fallujah, Iraq. Morgan had been his spotter and also a sniper. Since returning from the military it was rumored Morgan took assignments all over the world as a mercenary. His nickname came from his proclivity in the use of knives and other edged weapons. He was 6' 0" and weighed 250 lbs of solid muscle. His baldhead and massive black body made others move out of his way. Morgan was not someone you wanted to mess with.

  Stryker found the biker bar ten miles outside of the city. The bar seemed a likely spot to meet a man like Dirk. The bar was made of patched tin and rusted steel appearing ready to fall down at any minute. The wood porch reflected many stains, mostly blood. Fights were commonplace, some involving knives and guns.

  Stryker parked his rental car on the far side of the building and walked to the door. He went inside and took a few minutes to adjust his eyes even though he had worn sunglasses. The bar had the usual rough crowd peering at the stranger. He went to the bar, took a seat and asked if Morgan was around.

  “Who wants to know?”

  “The name is Stryker, Jake Stryker.”

  “He’s not here but will show up shortly. What are you drinking?”

  “Crown, on the rocks.”

  While waiting on Dirk, Stryker took a call from Sparks.

  “Jake, Daniel’s granddaughter died last night.”

  “Has Herb been told?” asked Stryker.

  “Yes, he called to tell me,” replied Sparks. “Also, Riley sent me a picture found on Ann’s phone from her father the day he died.”

  “What is it?”

  “I am sending it to you now, let me know what you think,” replied Sparks.

  “I’ve got to go,” Stryker cut him short.

  Ryan remembered Stryker being like this before. He thought, bad guys are going to die for what they did to Daniel’s granddaughter, it’s just a matter of time.

  Stryker received the picture and immediately called back to Sparks.

  “I can’t believe what I’m seeing but it sure looks like him,” said Stryker.

  “Let’s run the picture through Next Generation Identification System and CODIS/IAFIS and see if there is DNA or fingerprints. Let’s keep this under the radar before we alert other agencies. This is a long shot at best. Also, speak with Riley and get her to canvas witnesses in Digby and see if anyone remembers seeing these two guys. Oh Jake, I told her about the cartel connection and Ann’s death,” said Sparks.

  “I’ve got to go, catch you later,” replied Stryker.

  No sooner than he clicked off the phone, Dirk Morgan walked into the bar. They acknowledged each other and Dirk motioned for Stryker to follow him to a back booth by the pool table. Stryker slid in his side and Dirk looked around before sitting down.

  “Been a while Jake.”

  “Yeah, more than you can imagine.”

  “I heard you were working with Alpha, said Dirk.

  “Only special assignments. You know Herb Miller?” replied Stryker.

  “Everyone knows Miller, he has put many bad guys in the ground over the years,” responded Dirk.

  “Funny, he says the same thing about you. So what have you been doing?”

  “Assignments,” said Dirk.

  “Killing type?” asked Stryker.

  “Yeah, I was even offered a contract to kill you.”

  “I gather you refused,” laughed Stryker.

  “Come on Jake, quit busting my chops. I have been trying to find you to let you know.”

  “Ok, so who got the contract, asshole?”

  “Some guy from Argentina, don’t be so touchy.”

  “Who the hell is he?” asked Stryker.

  “I don’t know his real name, but he is an assassin working for several of the drug cartels. The locals refer to him as if he is a demon,” said Dirk.

  “Scary, I can’t wait to meet him,” replied Stryker.

  “Is this guy any good or just a typical cartel thug?” asked Stryker.

  “I don’t know, they say he kills at night and is responsible for hundreds of deaths.”

  “You believe any of it?”

  “I think some of it is hype but I would still take him seriously.”

  “You want a new job with me and Herb? We do this just like old times. The difference is we now have a small army and intelligence,” said Stryker.

  “Maybe, what do I have to do?” replied Dirk.

  “Go hunting and make money,” said Stryker.

  “Sounds entertaining, let’s hear the details.”

  “I would like to keep you busy working in the shadows on special projects. I will arrange payments to an offshore account that I will setup for you. No one will know about our arrangement but you, me and Herb. You will meet Jack Sparks who is CIA but he will never know our total arrangement. I have an unusual alliance with the CIA and Mossad, which you need to know about then forget. Let’s just say, we will all stay busy,” said Stryker.

  “Ok, I’m in what’s next?”

  Stryker told Dirk general information about Berryville. He filled him in on the farm and how he had prepared the place for an attack. He suggested they go there so Dirk could see for himself and visit with Sparks and Miller. They agreed to set a meeting in two days, traded secure phone information and left the bar.

  A killer just hired a killer to kill another killer, Jake smiled.

  13

  Sedona, Arizona

  2016

  Stryker departed El Paso and went to meet Sparks in Sedona. They met as usual at the airport then went to Spark’s Aviation. Jackie fixed dinner, and after eating, they went outside to talk.

  “Rachel called and wants us to attend the funeral for Daniel’s granddaughter and I went ahead and told her why we could not be there. I hope you agree?” said Sparks.

  “Yeah, how did she take the news about the picture?”

  “Not good, having Ali’s death behind her had given her closure and now she might have to re-live the nightmare.”

  “When will we have a positive identification?”

  “Not sure,” said Sparks.

  Stryker told Sparks details about his meeting with Dirk Morgan and the agreement to meet in Berryville. He left out other details, not that he did not trust Ryan but rather his trust in the CIA was a problem.

  “Ryan, I want you to go to Berryville with me. We meet Dirk tomorrow and I want your opinion.”

  “Yeah, I’ll go.”

  “Have you spoken to Herb lately?”

  “Yes, and I sent him a copy of the picture from Riley and told him we were trying to prove identity. He is standing by waiting for more information.”

  “I know you are suspect of Morgan but I would be dead now but for him. He needs to help us find and kill this assassin. We may be busy on other matters so his help is crucial,” said Stryker. I hope you can work with him. I really need this,” he continued.

  “Yeah, I can do it,” replied Sparks.

  _____

  Stryker and the others met in Berryville at a pre-determined restaurant. After eating, they drove to the farm to discuss how to deal with a multitude of problems.

  With recent ISIS attacks in France and the possibility of Ali being back in the United States, the FBI and other agencies would go on high alert once identity was verified. The significan
ce of Ali cinched the Mossad and CIA working together inside the United States. Alpha Security would front the effort, leaving both agencies with plausible deniability. The trick was to find Ali before he struck.

  Stryker took his guests on a comprehensive tour of the Berryville farm showing them hidden surveillance, mine fields, claymores, and devices for escape through two separate tunnels leading from the house. He showed them the fortification and explosives hidden inside the walls of the house, should it need to be blown. The property covered ten acres and the surveillance equipment was spaced in circles moving outward from the house approximately two hundred yards. There was only one road leading to the front of the house and anyone approaching from the back would need to cross a hill. The hill made a good ambush or surveillance point. Two clicks from the hill Stryker owned an additional fifty acres with a hunting cabin. The cabin was well secured and equipped with weapons and munitions. It would serve as a command post with all security feeds from the farm directed to the monitors located inside. The security system provided coverage of all vehicles traveling on the road. Anyone watching the farm would be noticed.

  After finishing the tour, everyone returned to the house to discuss alternatives. Stryker introduced Morgan in more detail, including their time serving together in Iraq, and revealing he was a Muslim, which raised eyebrows. Stryker assured them Morgan was an equal opportunity killer and that religion had nothing to do with his performance. Herb knew Morgan by reputation and verified Stryker’s assessment. Sparks remained suspect.

  “Morgan, you will need to be employed on contract by Alpha Security for cover just on this job,” said Stryker.

  “Will that be a problem?”

  “Not with me as long as Herb’s all right with it,” he replied.

  “We will work out details after our meeting,” said Herb.