Thrilling Thirteen

by Ponzo, Gary

Nick stepped behind her and rubbed her back, “I’m sorry, honey. It’s just—”

  “You don’t have to explain. Your job will always take precedence over our marriage. I knew that going in and I guess I just like to test the theory every now and again.”

  “Aw, come on, Jule, do you really believe that?”

  “Nick, there’s always a reason why we can’t go on a long vacation, or plan a party, or raise children. That reason is your job. I know it seems like more than a job to you, but in the grand scheme of the universe, that’s all it really is. A job.”

  Nick walked to the bay window overlooking the backyard. The grass needed mowing and the hammock he’d bought over the summer swayed unoccupied between two large oaks. It occurred to him that he’d never even sat in the hammock. She was right, of course. Even after the therapy sessions, Nick was still compelled to police the country. Single-handedly, if necessary.

  He wondered what Julie had seen in him that kept her so close. Even when they were dating she must’ve been aware of his preoccupation with his work. He wished he could give her more. More time. More emotion. More . . . life. Julie was thirty-five, and if they didn’t do something soon, time would sweep past them and deny her what she deserved. She loved kids so much she chose a profession that surrounded her with children all day long.

  “Okay,” he said, staring out the window. “I’ll quit.”

  “Don’t be sarcastic.”

  “I’m not. I’ll get out of terrorism and find a resident agency in some small town and work nine to five. I’ll come home at night and eat dinner and read books to our children and push them on the swing set I’ll build in our backyard.”

  She wrapped her arms around him from behind and pressed her head into the nape of his neck. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You don’t know how it kills me to talk about this stuff, but every time you go on a mission, Nick, part of you doesn’t return. I shouldn’t be adding any more stress to your life, but I just want us to be happy, that’s all.”

  Once again it was time to say it. Let those three words out and watch her eyes sparkle with delight. He leaned back into her hug, letting the moment pass as it had a thousand times before.

  “Just let me handle the KSF attacks,” he said. “Once they’re resolved, I’ll get out.”

  She sighed, rocking back and forth with Nick to an imaginary song. “However long it takes, Mr. Bracco, I’ll be there.”

  * * *

  Tommy Bracco knocked and when the door opened he was hit with the aroma of homemade marinara sauce. Don Silkari swatted him on the back and led him into the kitchen. Three men in white, starched shirts shoveled spaghetti into their mouths, a paper napkin tucked into their collars. The burly one in the middle pointed his fork at an open seat.

  “Sit down, Thomas,” the man said.

  Tommy sat down while Silk stood over his shoulder.

  The two bookends eating next to the husky man timed their bites to coincide with their boss. They wouldn’t be caught with a mouthful if a quick, respectful response was needed.

  The boss wiped his mouth and Tommy couldn’t help feel like he was watching a silent film. The three men were practically breathing in unison.

  “Thomas,” the boss said. “How’s your father doing?”

  “He’s good, Sal.” Always the family questions first. That was Sal Demenci’s style. He could be about to whack someone and he’d ask how the guy’s sister was doing in school.

  Sal dove into his mound of pasta. When he came up for air, he said, “Ever been to Payston, or Patetown?”

  “Payson,” one of his men clarified.

  “That’s it, Payson,” Sal said. “It’s in Arizona. You familiar with this place?”

  Tommy shook his head.

  “Well,” Sal said, “it’s supposed to be beautiful. Up in the mountains a couple of hours from Phoenix. Anyway, there’s a guy up there, he likes to book with a friend of ours. One day last week, the guy lays down ten large on a football game . . . I forget who he bet—it doesn’t matter. The thing is—this guy’s a twenty-dollar bettor. He never dropped more than a small one, not even on the Super Bowl. The guy’s name is Fred Wilson. One day he started blabbing to our friend about how he’s gonna make a killing selling some Arab a bunch of giant blasting caps. Our friend doesn’t think anything of it until Fred loses his head.”

  The bookends chuckled while Sal drew a finger across his throat, “I mean literally.”

  Sal twirled long strands of pasta into a spoon, the image of headless Fred Wilson unable to slow his appetite. “Anyhow, our friend gets to thinking maybe this Arab has something to do with the bombings. You know, that whole one-house-in-every-state thing.”

  Sal looked Tommy in the eye, as if to say, “You see what I’m getting at here?”

  Tommy nodded.

  Sal waved his fork between Tommy and Silk. “You two get down there and find out what our friend knows. I want this rat bastard to pay for what he did to the Capelli’s. Capisce?”

  Tommy stood and waited for his final instructions. Sal wiped his mouth. “I trust you, Thomas. I don’t need nothing from you but your word. Don’t come home until the Arab is dead.”

  Tommy winked at Sal, then followed Silk out the door. It was standard procedure for Sal to request a finger or an ear as evidence that the hit was completed. But Sal had awarded Tommy with the ultimate show of respect. Trust.

  Chapter 11

  Rashid’s patience was reaching its limit. Both the hardware store and Target were out of the batteries he needed and he was on his way to Wal-Mart to continue the search. Something about the stores made him uneasy. They both had plenty of AA and D batteries, but no C batteries. They were conspicuous in their absence. Rashid became suspicious of everyone he saw. Every movement in the corner of his eye became a concern. There was no way anyone could recognize him in a place like Payson, Arizona, even if they knew what to look for. He’d shaved his mustache and changed the color of his hair from dark to blond. Besides, if the government knew where to look, he’d be back in custody already. He had to control his emotions and get through this last chore before the next series of bombs could be transported. He’d hoped to avoid attention by spreading out the purchases among several stores, but he was running out of options. He parked the van in an empty row of parking spaces and decided to buy only twenty batteries this trip. He would come back tonight after the employees changed shifts and purchase the remaining thirty.

  He was relieved to see a full shelf of C batteries and got up the nerve to purchase twenty-five of them. When he exited the store he spotted a thin, dark-haired man wearing a navy-blue blazer, brand new blue jeans, and shiny black boots. The man was just three or four steps behind him and he made no pretense to be ignoring Rashid. The man smiled at him as if he was about to begin a conversation. Rashid picked up his pace and when he reached the van he noticed the man had stopped in the middle of the parking lot and was scanning the grounds for onlookers. Rashid was so mesmerized by the man’s actions he didn’t notice the second man approaching from his blind spot. The man waited for Rashid to open the door and sit down before he jabbed him in his side with the long barrel of a silencer and said, “Get in the back.”

  Rashid froze. He knew time was critical in these situations. The element of surprise was with his attacker for a few moments, but any sudden reversal of aggression would be just as surprising to the attacker. Something in the way the man held the pistol made him hesitate. The man was maneuvering a purple toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. While Rashid contemplated his counterattack, the man glanced around the near-empty parking lot, raised the gun an inch and said, “Goodbye, Rashid. Nice knowing you.”

  “Okay,” Rashid blurted. He jumped off the driver’s seat and scuttled into the windowless rear of the van. There were no seats, just a loose-fitting carpet that slid under the quick moves of the two men entering the space. Rashid sat with his back to one wall and the man sat directly across from him,
pointing the gun at him as if it were part of his hand. The passenger door opened and the other man sat in the passenger seat and began reading a newspaper like he was alone.

  Rashid’s knife was taped to his back and he began to creep his right hand toward the weapon.

  The man across from him inspected the austere interior of the van and said, “I like what you’ve done to the place, Rashid.”

  The man reached into his pocket with his free hand, unfolded an eight-by-ten photo and held it in front of him. He switched his gaze between Rashid and the photo a few times then stuffed it back into his pocket.

  “It looks like you a little, but you must’ve got fancy with the hair, eh?” the man said.

  Rashid had no intention of speaking. The man could guess all he wanted, but Rashid wasn’t about to give him any answers. His mind raced, working out the escape plan. His knife would take too long to retrieve, he needed another option.

  The man said, “Hey, relax. My name’s Tommy and that’s Silk.” Silk waved the back of his hand without ever looking up from his newspaper.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” Tommy said. “I’m just here to give you a message. If I kill you, then the message doesn’t get sent and I’ve wasted a lot of my time. Shit, a five-hour flight with headwinds and all. Just don’t give me a reason to put you down.”

  Something about Tommy’s mannerism had Rashid believing him, but it didn’t prevent Rashid from running through a plan of attack. The man in the front seat wasn’t even an issue, it was down to one on one, and Rashid liked those odds, even without a weapon.

  Tommy removed the purple toothpick from his mouth and pointed it at Rashid. “You Middle-Easterners think you’re real bad, don’t ya? Well, I’m not here to judge your methods. Shit, I don’t even give a crap what you’re all pissed off about. All I know is you guys killed a family in Maryland who was very dear to me and my friends. The name was Capelli and you morons killed them while they were sleeping. Cowardly, really. Anyway, I’m here to tell ya—don’t let it happen again. Don’t let any of those missile thingy’s find their way into any more Sicilian homes. Capisce?”

  Rashid had read about the Capelli family and how they were considered one of the largest crime families on the East Coast. It had been a random pick, but Rashid had no regrets. Maybe that’s how these Sicilians operated? Maybe they sent messengers to protect their interests. He definitely wasn’t with the police or FBI, or Rashid would be on his way back to prison. And if he was there to kill him, why would he wait?

  Something gnawed at Rashid. If these guys could find him, then someone else could too, and that would be devastating. As if Tommy could read his mind, he said, “Want to know how I found you?”

  Rashid’s curiosity got the best of him, but he resisted the urge to nod. Even though Tommy kept calling him by his name, the man might still be guessing.

  “Ever hear of something called tendencies?”

  Rashid stayed motionless.

  Tommy appeared amused. “Didn’t think so. You see my cousin is in law enforcement and recently I had a conversation with him about this situation. At first he gave me this long speech and told me not to be a vigilante and all that jazz, but he did tell me a lot about these things called tendencies. You won’t believe this, but you know when you go to the can when you first enter the joint, the FBI actually gets a fucking stool sample from you without you even knowing it. Wanna know why? They find out what kind of eating tendencies you have. Wanna know what they discovered?” Tommy waved a finger at him. “You have a sweet tooth, my friend. Chocolate to be exact. With nuts.”

  Rashid winced as if Tommy had revealed some deep, dark secret. He noticed the gangster lower the gun into a more casual position in his lap. It was almost as if Tommy was daring him to make a move.

  “Anyway,” Tommy continued, “another, more important tendency you have is your pattern for making bombs. Apparently you have a habit of using C batteries for your detonator devices. This isn’t that uncommon except you tend to purchase them shortly before you set the bombs. Maybe you like using fresh batteries, maybe you’re superstitious. I don’t know. So Silk here got the idea—see, Silk, I’m giving you credit for that one.”

  Tommy grinned at Rashid. “He thinks I don’t give him enough credit for his creative thoughts. He thinks I’m a little selfish. I probably am. Anyhow, where was I? Oh yeah, Silk got the idea to buy up every C battery here in Payson, except for Wal-Mart. This way all we had to do was wait for someone to show up and purchase a large quantity of them here. Pretty clever, huh?”

  Rashid shrugged. Still, Tommy didn’t answer his question. How did he find out Rashid was in Payson to begin with? It was killing Rashid not to ask, but he knew to keep his mouth shut and not engage this guy in dialogue. He was so intrigued by Tommy’s informal demeanor, he’d almost forgotten about his knife, or any other method of counterattack. Rashid was not used to this form of warfare. Why talk with your enemy? When you’re assigned to kill someone, you kill them quickly and leave. You don’t stay and chat like this American gangster. Was he really just there to give him a warning? Was that possible?

  Tommy was making sucking sounds while jabbing his toothpick into various creases between his teeth. “You know, Rashid, you and I aren’t so different. I mean both of us operate on the wrong side of the law. Right? So why can’t we agree to keep it simple. I mean, I could’ve followed you to your little hideout up here in the woods and ratted you out to the Feds, but no, I came peacefully. Just me and Silk delivering a little message to you and your Arab friends. You’re an Arab, right? I mean I know you’re from Turkey, but does that make you Arabic?”

  Rashid blinked and nothing else.

  Tommy got to his feet. He said, “Well, we gotta go, Rashid. It’s been a pleasure talking to ya. You’re a regular fucking chatterbox. Just tell me one thing. Who issued the bomb in Maryland? Was that you, or that Kemel Kharrazi guy?”

  Tommy said it so casually, like he was asking for the time of day. He was leaving now and practically out the door. Rashid couldn’t believe it. These Americans were completely irrational. Tommy closed the door behind him, then stuck his head back in through the open window. “C’mon Rashid. I just wanna know who’s in charge of the bombings so I can tell my boss I spoke to the right guy. It’s you right?”

  Rashid’s nod was imperceptible, but it was enough to forge a smile on Tommy’s face.

  Even before the barrel of the silencer reappeared through the window, he knew he’d been duped. Tommy probably wasn’t sure he even had the right guy until Rashid had raised his head an inch.

  Rashid knew it would be the last mistake he would ever make.

  Chapter 12

  Hasan Bozlak clutched the steering wheel with both hands. Rashid had been gone for three hours and it was getting dark. Hasan’s concern was for the mission, not Rashid. Rashid was a brash megalomaniac who had grown up as childhood friends with Kemel Kharrazi. No matter how dutiful Hasan was to Kharrazi, he would never reach the status that thirty years of friendship had shaped. While Rashid was busy getting himself arrested for attempting to blow up the White House, Hasan was constructing the blueprint for gutting America’s democratic resolve. The week Rashid’s mug shot was on the cover of Time Magazine with the words “The Face of Terrorism” below it, Hasan was busy planning the nationwide bombing of the United States. Hasan was the one with the foresight to calculate the pressure President Merrick would receive from the American people should they all be put in harm’s way. No one would be immune from the danger. Not even senators.

  Hasan’s prognosis appeared sound. From everything he was hearing and seeing on CNN, America was not willing to risk their lives over some country most civilians couldn’t even pick out on a map.

  Rashid had insisted on purchasing the batteries himself. Another bold move that lacked the prudence required at such a critical time in the operation.

  Hasan had just as much talent with explosives as Rashid did, but without the swagger. I
t was almost as if Rashid wanted to get caught so he could receive credit for his genius with a remote detonator.

  Hasan pulled into the Wal-Mart shopping center and groaned when he saw the van at the far end of the parking lot. He crept the vehicle through the lanes as if he was searching for a good parking spot, all the while observing the van. He became alarmed when he saw a strange man sitting in the front seat shifting his glances over an open newspaper. Hasan parked the car two aisles away facing the van. The man folded his newspaper and opened the door to leave. Suddenly, there were two of them. The other man must have exited from the side door. He saw the second man lean into the passenger window and reach for something inside. Hasan thought he heard a distant clap of thunder, but when he looked up he saw nothing but blue sky. By the time he returned his attention to the van, the two men were striding away and entering a car. The tall one was driving. Hasan recognized the car as a rental. He wrote down the license plate on a scrap piece of paper from the glove compartment and waited a few minutes, carefully watching the rental car drive away. He wanted to run to the van, but knew to remain patient. What had Rashid gotten himself into? Did his temper finally get the best of him?

  Finally, when Hasan was convinced there was nobody interested in the van, he walked over to the vehicle. He peeked his head through the open passenger window and saw Rashid slumped over in the back of the van, a round circle above the bridge of his nose. Both eyes were open and they stared at Hasan as if they had a story to tell.

  “You stupid, arrogant man,” Hasan murmured. He looked down and saw the bag with twenty-five C batteries, then noticed the keys were still in the ignition. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the sheriff’s office found Rashid’s body, and soon after that, the town would be flooded with federal agents. He had to get the van away from any spectators. He got in and started the engine. He would send someone for his car later.

  * * *

  The cabin was set deep in the woods, forty miles from downtown Payson and five from the nearest paved road. It was chosen with painstaking care. There was no way to approach the building except down a narrow dirt road that even the skilled Kurdish drivers struggled with after twenty trips. Although it was a small A-frame, it contained almost forty KSF soldiers. This included the twenty-five who worked in the five-thousand-square-foot basement, building bombs and dispatching them to the appropriate locations. The site was cleverly chosen—the canopies of the surrounding trees obscured the roof from view, making it almost impossible to detect the cabin from the sky.