Takedown (An Alexandra Poe Thriller)

by Robert Gregory Browne

  “Do that again,” Valac said, “and I will have him break your legs.”

  Favreau swallowed. This wasn’t going the way he hoped it would.

  Valac held out the two cards to the thug who had brought them to him. “Karl, check these with the reader.”

  The thug took them and headed for a computer station to Valac’s left. Favreau noticed Alexandra was tracking the guy with her gaze, looking at the cards. He couldn’t help staring at that face and body of hers, wishing she hadn’t turned out to be such a bitch.

  Why couldn’t he catch a break when it came to women?

  Valac said to him, “I assume you put some type of protection on the card?”

  Favreau snorted. “You think I’m stupid enough to hand those things over to you without an insurance policy? You transfer the money to my bank account, let me verify the transaction, and I’ll give you the password when I’m safely back home.”

  The gray-haired guy laughed. “That’s a bit one sided, wouldn’t you say?”

  “How so?”

  “How are we supposed to check the authenticity of the codes if we don’t know the password?”

  Favreau shrugged. “I guess you’ll just have to trust somebody for once in your life.”

  Valac nodded. “Trust. Yes. As you trusted the young lady.”

  “Hey, I told you, I’m not responsible for—”

  “What type of encryption did you use?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “On the key card. AES? Blowfish?”

  “I used an MD5 hashing algorithm, and believe me, you can try all you want but you’ll never crack that password.” He tapped his temple. “It’s all right here in my head.”

  “So you have me beat, do you?”

  Favreau grinned. “You bet your ass I do. And I gotta tell you, it feels pretty good to pull one over on the great Reinhard—”

  Valac raised a pistol and fired.

  Favreau felt the impact, felt his chest go numb and saw a neat round red hole there.

  Then he toppled forward and hit the carpet.

  CHAPTER 38

  LEONARD LATHAM YELPED and pushed back in his chair as if he wanted to disappear into the cushion. “Jesus Christ, you just shot that guy!”

  Valac narrowed his eyes at him. “Thank you for stating the obvious, Leonard.”

  At the sound of the shot, Alex had jumped to her feet and was backing away from the body. Favreau lay facedown on the floor, a pool of blood spreading beneath him. The guy had repulsed her and probably deserved to die for a multitude of reasons, but she wasn’t thrilled about being a witness to it.

  Hopcroft frowned at Valac. “Was that really necessary, Reinhard?”

  “I didn’t like him much.”

  “I get that impression.”

  “He was an amateur. I do not have time for amateurs.” He waved his pistol at the muscle boy, Karl. “Are you going to check those cards or not?”

  Karl gestured to the body. “You just shot the password.”

  “Were you not listening to him? The MD5 hashtag algorithm has been considered unsafe for over a year now, and our software will break it with ease. So scan both cards, see which one asks for a password, and we’ll know we have our codes.”

  As Karl went back to work, Valac turned his reptilian gaze on Alex. “Don’t think I have forgotten about you, Ms. Barnes. You treated my friend Frederic there quite poorly and look at him now.”

  Alex didn’t respond. What could she say to a sociopath? It took all of her will to resist shooting a glance at Hopcroft.

  “Jesus Christ,” Latham said again. “How could you just shoot the guy?”

  Valac trained the pistol on him. “It’s quite simple, Leonard. I point the gun and pull the trigger. Any more questions?”

  Latham hastily shook his head.

  Valac signaled to his other man. “Salvadore, take our host up to his room and give him his pill. He looks as if he could use it.”

  Salvadore gestured with his fingers and Latham rose from his chair, trying not to stare at the corpse as they stepped past it and crossed the room to the door.

  When they were gone, Alex said, “How long has he been like that?”

  “Who? Leonard?”

  “From what I’ve seen of him on TV, he always struck me as such an egotistical bastard.”

  “He gave us trouble at first, but now he’s a good boy. But what about you? How do you fit into all of this? Who is it you’re working for?”

  He obviously hadn’t done much research on her yet, and she knew Hopcroft wasn’t about to share. But before she could come up with a suitable answer, the one named Karl said, “Reinhard, we have a problem.”

  Valac sighed. “I’m speaking to the young lady. I don’t appreciate interruptions.”

  “I think you’ll appreciate this one.”

  Valac turned. “All right, what is it?”

  Karl showed him the cards. “I didn’t get any requests for a password. According to the reader, they’re both legitimate room keys.”

  Valac frowned. “Check again.”

  “I’ve already checked twice.”

  Valac shot up from his chair. “Check again!”

  Karl immediately turned back to the computer.

  Hopcroft crossed to the desk. “Take it easy, Reinhard. It’s probably a glitch.”

  “Or our friend Favreau was playing a confidence game all along. And very poorly at that. I should never have agreed to do business with him.” He pointed to the corpse. “Look what a mess he’s making.”

  Karl said, “I hate to tell you this, sir, but I’ve tried three more times and got the same result. One of them is registered to Favreau, and the other to a company called Travel Planet Lifestyles.”

  Alex flinched. How could Favreau have gotten his hands on one of their…

  And then it hit her.

  When she returned his room key to his wallet, she must have mistakenly given him the one to her suite. That was why hers hadn’t worked.

  Her shock must have shown on her face, because Valac was now eyeing her with suspicion.

  “What do you know of this?”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly.

  “You lie. I can see it in your eyes. You don’t survive in this business if you can’t read people’s eyes. What do you know?”

  She backed away. “I don’t know anything.”

  He looked up at the frozen image on the screen of her and Favreau with their lips locked. “You switched the cards, didn’t you? When you were kissing him.”

  “No, I swear to you.”

  He raised his pistol, pointed it at her. “Give it to me.”

  “I’m telling you, I don’t have it.”

  As he came around the desk, she wondered how quickly she could get to her own pistol. “I know you took it from him. Give it to me.”

  Hopcroft stepped toward him now and said, “Easy, Reinhard. Take it easy.”

  “She has the card. I know she does.”

  “Fine,” Hopcroft said. “So I’ll search her. We don’t need any more bloodshed tonight.”

  Valac looked at him, softened. Lowered the gun. “You’re right, my friend. Why am I arguing with some useless whore?”

  Then, without warning, he raised the pistol again. As he fired at Alex, Hopcroft grabbed his arm, sending the shot into the carpet.

  Alex dove to the floor, ripping at her dress, wrapping her fingers around the grip of the P380 as Karl launched himself from the computer station and pulled out his pistol. Bullets gouged the carpet only inches from Alex’s torso as she rolled and came up firing. Her first shot punched the wall but her second hit center mass, slamming Karl against the computer desk, the monitor crashing to the floor.

  Hopcroft and Valac tumbled to the carpet, struggling for control of Valac’s weapon. The pistol went off and Hopcroft grunted, released his grip and fell away.

  Before Valac could get to his feet again, Alex fired at him. He rolled to the side, barely escapin
g the hit. She adjusted her aim for a second shot, but when she pulled the trigger, the little gun jammed.

  Valac thrust himself back to his feet and swung his pistol around, pointing it at her.

  She sprang forward without thinking, hitting him in the chest and shoulders as his gun went off, the bullet barely missing her ribs. Before he could shoot again, she began punching him over and over and over, using all her strength, battering his head and bloodying his nose.

  Fighting through her blows, Valac reached up and grabbed hold of her neck, throwing her off him as if she were a rag doll. She thudded into the carpet, the wind flying out of her. As she struggled to catch her breath, Valac dragged himself to his feet, staggered slightly, then picked up the pistol and pointed it at her head.

  “Shlampe,” he said.

  Slut.

  A moment before Valac’s finger could find the trigger, Alex heard the door burst open, then Valac grunted and grabbed at his neck, clutching at the feathered tail of a tranq dart protruding from his jugular.

  He dropped the pistol, fell to his knees, and pitched forward, out cold.

  Still trying to catch her breath, Alex turned and saw Deuce—beautiful, beautiful Deuce—standing in the doorway.

  He grinned. “And Warlock said I was crazy.”

  “We need to check on Hopcroft,” Alex said as Deuce helped her up. “He’s over by the desk.”

  “Hopcroft? Who gives a damn about—”

  “Just do it, Deuce. I can’t explain right now, but he’s one of ours.”

  When they reached Uncle Eric, he’d already pulled himself upright and was sitting against the desk, the side of his shirt stained crimson. “I’m okay…the slug didn’t penetrate…”

  Alex checked his side. “You need help.”

  “Believe me, I’ve been through a lot worse than this…and help’ll be along soon enough. That’s why you need to grab Reinhard and go.”

  “I can’t leave you like this.”

  “You can and you will. The key to the cuffs is in my shirt pocket. …Your friend is in the third room down the hall.” He tilted his head toward Valac. “Do you have a way to get him off the island?”

  “We’ve got a floatplane and pilot waiting for us on the leeward side.”

  “Good. But you’d better…make it fast. The music downstairs probably masked the gunshots, but the guy who took Latham to his room will be returning any minute now.”

  “What will they do to you when they find you?”

  “Nothing. With Reinhard gone, I’m in command. And getting shot…will actually work in my favor.”

  Deuce said, “I know I’m coming in late on this, but if you’re in command, can’t you call security off?”

  “Not without blowing my cover. The group I’ve infiltrated has to believe I’d never betray them…and I’ve worked too hard to get this far. So go. Now.”

  Deuce nodded, then went to Karl’s corpse, relieved it of its gun, and stuffed the weapon in his belt. “How much resistance are we talking?”

  “I don’t think the rent-a-cops or Latham’s guards will be much of a problem. They’re mostly here for show. But Valac’s got about a dozen loyal kamikazes…like Karl…and they’ll want to get him back.”

  After crossing toward Valac, Deuce kicked Valac’s piece over to Alex, then grabbed hold of him and hefted him up and over his shoulders like he was a prize deer.

  Deuce was big, but it didn’t look like fun.

  “Can you manage him like that?” Alex asked.

  “Do I have a choice? But don’t worry, he’s not as heavy as he looks.”

  She turned to Hopcroft. “I wish you could come with us.”

  “You know I can’t…”

  “Then at least tell me what’s going on. Why are you doing this?”

  “You father will tell you soon enough. Now, take your prize…and go. But when you get back home, don’t trust any of them. Especially Richard Munro. He’ll smile at you and tell you…whatever you want to hear, and you won’t feel the dagger slipping into your back until it’s too late.”

  Alex nodded solemnly, not wanting to leave him there.

  Deuce said, “Come on, Alex, this asshole isn’t getting any lighter.”

  She nodded, then threw her arms around Hopcroft’s neck and hugged him, trying not to cause him too much pain. He laughed and winced and said, “I love you, Allie Cat, and so does your father. Always remember that. Live by that.”

  “I will,” she told him. “I will.”

  CHAPTER 39

  VALAC’S MAN WAS on them before they got to Cooper, shouting as he raced down the hall, pistol blazing. Deuce dove for safety, sending Valac flying off his shoulders as Alex returned fire, cutting down the thug with a shot to the neck.

  “You hurt?” she said to Deuce.

  Already on his feet, he shook his head and began hefting Valac again. “Get Cooper. There’s a service elevator in the south hall. I’ll meet you there.”

  He grunted and took off down the hall like a lumbering Cyclops. Heading the other way, Alex found the room Cooper was in and threw the door open. He was on the floor, cuffed to a bed frame he had already half torn apart, trying to get loose.

  “Thank God,” he said. “I heard gunshots and thought the worst.”

  She took the key from her pocket and unlocked the cuffs. “I think I’ve used about six of my nine lives in the last ten minutes, but it isn’t over yet. Deuce has Valac and is headed for the service elevator.”

  “Nice. Sounds like I missed a lot.”

  “We can play catch-up later.”

  As soon as Cooper was on his feet, she handed him Valac’s pistol and they raced out of the room.

  “This way,” she said.

  She led him down the hall toward the corridor that would take them to the service elevator. Rounding the corner, they surprised another of Valac’s thugs, who had apparently been running toward the sound of the gunfire. His eyes went wide as he fumbled for the gun at the small of his back. Before he could get it free, Cooper buried a shot in his chest and sent him sprawling.

  “That’s three down,” Alex said.

  She grabbed Cooper’s arm and pulled him down the hall and through a doorway, hoping she was taking them in the right direction. She’d done her best to memorize the basic layout of the house, but dodging fire had a way of shattering your concentration.

  Hearing shouts behind them, they crossed through a bedroom and exited into yet another hallway. Alex was beginning to think whoever had designed this place had a fondness for M.C. Escher. They traveled the length of the new corridor then burst through a doorway, relieved to find Deuce holding the elevator open for them, Valac in a heap at his feet.

  “Come on, come on,” Deuce urged, waving them forward as if it would somehow speed their progress. “Took you damn long enough.” As they got on board, he let the doors close and said, “Warlock, do you read me?”

  “I’m here, mate. Did you find them?”

  “All present and accounted for, with Valac in tow.”

  “Really? I’m impressed.”

  “Don’t be until we’ve blown this pop stand. We’re headed for the loading dock. I need you to put some blinders on Valac’s men. Cut all the feeds to the CCTV.”

  “Copy that, but you might want to look for a different way out. They’ve found the van and the guards you tranked, so they’re crawling all over the back of the house. I don’t think they’ve quite figured out what’s going on yet, but they know something’s up.”

  “Shit,” Deuce said. “What about out front?”

  “Looks like a parking lot for limos. But most of the guards are either inside or out back, so they must be thinking you’ll come out the way you went in.”

  “All right. Once you cut the feeds, get your ass back to the Buick and meet us at the rendezvous point. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

  “With pleasure, my friend, but do me a favor.”

  “What’s that?”

  “T
ell Alex she still owes me a pack of snouts.”

  They got off the elevator at the first floor, Deuce once again hefting Valac over his shoulders. They tried to move quickly and quietly down the hallway past the ballroom, but as soon as they came around the corner, they discovered half a dozen of Valac’s men heading in their direction.

  Guns came up and bullets began to fly.

  Deuce cut through a doorway into the ballroom with Alex and Cooper at his heels, returning fire. Putting his head down, he plowed through the crowd of dancers, showing no mercy as he knocked them aside and headed across the room. More than once, he thought he heard the jangling of jewelry as they stumbled out of his way.

  Guests started shouting and pushing at him, but he didn’t falter or slow down, determined to get to the front of the house before the weight of Valac’s body made it impossible to keep moving. He was running on pure adrenaline at this point, and he knew if they got out of this alive, he’d have one hell of a backache tomorrow.

  Nearing the far side, they saw another of Valac’s men, a rodent-faced punk holding a FAMAS Infanterie assault rifle. Deuce tried to duck as the man scanned the crowd, but at his height and with Valac on his back, it was an impossible task. The punk spotted them and opened fire, shooting indiscriminately into the crowd. Around them, guests began to fall to the floor.

  Holy shit, Deuce thought. This guy is out of his mind.

  With bullets dancing at his feet, Deuce dodged left and nearly plowed into Cooper as his friend raised his pistol and put a hole in the punk’s forehead.

  Screaming in horror, the guests stampeded toward the exits, shoving at each other as they stumbled their way toward the front doors. Deuce, Alex, and Cooper used the pandemonium for cover, flowing with the crowd as Valac’s remaining men tried to fight their way toward them.

  When they got outside, Cooper sprinted to the nearest limousine, threw the driver’s door open, dragged out the terrified driver, then leaned in and popped the trunk.

  Deuce moved toward it as it swung open, and was only a few feet away when one of his legs finally gave out. With a groan, he buckled and fell onto the gravel driveway. His cargo tumbled across the grass, landing against one of the limo’s tires. If Deuce didn’t know Valac was tranked, he’d swear the guy was dead.