Cold Vengeance

by K. J. Dahlen

  Sweat beaded his forehead and he rested on his elbows as he tried to catch his breath. This time was even more intense than last night. His lips nuzzled her neck and he felt his body respond to hers.

  “Oh, my god,” she whispered. “You leave me weak but very satisfied.”

  Gage chuckled. “I could say the same about you.” He tried to move away but she held him to her for a moment then let him go.

  When he moved away, Willow sighed out loud. Rubbing her hands over her face, she groaned. “And now back to the real world.” Closing her eyes briefly she said, “I suppose everyone wants to talk to me today.”

  “Are you ready to talk to them?”

  “I’d rather not but I suppose I almost have to, don’t I?” she countered.

  “Just tell them what they need to know,” Gage spoke softly. He kissed her again. “You haven’t done anything wrong and you have nothing to apologize for. You couldn’t help what your grandfather did.”

  She turned her head to look at him. “Will you stay with me today? I don’t think I can answer their questions without you being there with me.”

  Gage wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I can be wherever you need me to be.”

  “I know we just met, but I feel so safe with you.”

  Gage went to kiss her again, when his phone rang. Answering it, he spoke a few minutes then hung up. “Stone and the others are on their way up to the room.”

  Willow sighed heavily and got up. Pulling her clothes on, they barely finished getting dressed when someone knocked on the door.

  The first thing Kenn saw in Glenn’s briefcase was a folder with a blood red triangle on the front of the file. A Viper figure inside the triangle and there were Arabic symbols under the triangle.

  He reached inside his drawer and pulled on a pair of latex gloves. When he lifted the folder, he was careful not to touch anything but the edges. He saw the number eight on the top of the page. Reading more he saw that Glen’s assignment was to firebomb Michael Severns’s house. But the date was wrong. Michael’s house burned down this morning but the date on the pages in front of him said it was supposed to burn in four days. Kenn reasoned that Glen got over-ambitious and jumped the gun.

  He opened Sean’s briefcase and found another file. On this file was the number one. Kenn read about Sean’s assignment. It would have been his job to set the three canisters of VRSA in the House of Assembly for February 14th. He was to have set the canisters in the air ducts, on a timer. The timer was to have been set fifteen minutes after the President’s State of the Union Address began.

  Kenn’s blood ran cold as he read the orders. February 14th was the day President Travis was giving her State of the Union Address. Most of the members of the government were going to be there, as well as a group of school kids.

  He reached for his cell phone and called Michael. “We arrested Glen Portman and Sean Courtney tonight,” he announced when Michael answered.

  “Why?”

  “They tried to leave and I had security bring them back. I asked everyone to hand over their cell phones and other handheld communications and they refused to do so. They didn’t give me a choice.”

  “Okay.” Michael sighed. “I’m still running facial recognition on the unknown person in the video.”

  “I found out something else as well.”

  “What would that be?” Michael asked.

  “I found out what they were supposed to do. As part of being in the Viper Crew, Glen was supposed to firebomb your house, but he wasn’t supposed to do it until the evening before the fourteenth.”

  “That’s interesting. I wonder how he knew I was even here, working on this case?” Michael asked after a pause, “What was Sean supposed to do?”

  “He was supposed to set up three canisters of VRSA in the House of Assembly. On the fourteenth when the President is going to give a speech.” Kenn hesitated briefly. “Everyone there would have died within two days, including the President.”

  “I’m afraid that’s where you would be wrong.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because their first step is going to be to assassinate the President. She never would have made the meeting.”

  Kenn felt the blood drain from his face. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes, I am. I need to speak to the President without anyone else knowing I’m there.”

  “I’ll have to call in some favors to get that done,” Kenn replied.

  “Well, call in what you have to. I really need to talk to her tonight. When the Viper Crew find out Glen and Sean have been arrested, they might move up the time frame.”

  “Do you have any idea who these people are? Or how many there are?” Kenn asked.

  “Yeah, I’m working on that right now. I think I’ve identified three or four members already. With Glen and Sean, that brings the total up to six. I think this is a major sleeper cell. The members have all been here a number of years. Some have even changed their names. They have all gotten high level jobs and no one would suspect them of any wrong doing.”

  Kenn sighed heavily. “I’m afraid I have more bad news for you. Matthias Ewing was found beaten to death earlier tonight.”

  “Damn. They really don’t want to be discovered,” Michael hissed.

  “But why beat him to death?” Kenn asked.

  “They probably saw him give Harper the flash drive,” Michael suggested. “They wanted to find out what was on the drive and who wanted it.”

  “Do you think Matthias would have told them anything?” Kenn asked.

  “Probably not.”

  “Why not, if it meant his life? Why not tell them what they wanted to know?”

  “Because Matthias would have known they meant to kill him either way,” Michael explained. “These men don’t take prisoners and they don’t leave potential witnesses behind.”

  “Bastards,” Kenn swore.

  Michael sighed. “I need to see the President. Her life is in danger and she has the right to know what’s coming.”

  “All we have is supposition right now.”

  “Oh, I think we have a little more than supposition.” Michael scoffed. “We almost have the whole plot, along with most of the players.”

  “Okay, I’ll try to set up a meeting,” Kenn said. He glanced up to find Harper at his door. He motioned for her to join him.

  Michael continued, “No one must know about the meeting. I don’t want anyone speculating about why the meeting happened in the first place. Is there any way you can send me those files? I’d like to have a look at them before we meet the President.”

  “Yeah, I can have Harper copy them and send them to you,” Kenn agreed. “I have to tell one person, Scott Winger. He can set it up and get us into the White House without being seen by anyone else.”

  “Okay, but no one else can know about it. Call me back when you have it set up.” Michael ended the phone call.

  When Kenn closed his phone, he looked over at Harper. “He wants me to set up a secret meeting with the President.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “He found proof there’s a plot to assassinate her on the fourteenth. I found Sean was to set off three canisters of VRSA in the Assembly right after the shooting.”

  Harper paled. “Then all hell takes place,” she whispered. “My God, our country will be destroyed by this.”

  “I think that’s the point. A small sleeper cell is going to do what Al Qaida couldn’t. This will make the Vipers bigger than anything else in the world.”

  “Hopefully, Michael can put enough of the pieces together to stop them,” Harper said.

  “He also said they may move up the timetable.”

  “I suppose that’s possible. If they know Michael is working on busting them, they’d have to do something drastic.”

  “We have to keep a lid on the developing events. I want you with me tonight when we go to see the President with Michael and Judson. I need to call Scott an
d get it set up.”

  “What about Sean and Glen?” Harper asked. “What are we going to do with them?”

  “Locking them up in some obscure prison cell and throwing away the key comes to mind, but all we can do is keep them separated and under guard. I don’t want them to talk to each other or anyone else right now.”

  “Well, I have some work to do and you have a phone call to make.” Harper got up. “Let me know when you get the meeting set up.”

  Kenn reached for his phone and made the call.

  In an apartment across town, Jethro Gibbons was washing blood off his hands from his work this afternoon.

  A woman walked into the bathroom and asked, “How did it go? Did you find anything out?”

  Jethro shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  “Damn it,” she swore softly. “Ali isn’t going to be pleased.”

  Jethro chuckled. “Jasmine, you really shouldn’t swear so. It doesn’t become you.”

  Jasmine Cole frowned. “You always surprise me, my love. You know what we do is dangerous, yet you treat me like a china doll. Why is that?”

  Jethro put his arms around her and drew her close to him. “Because I love you that’s why. I love your dainty beauty and your passion. I know what we choose to do is not the normal nine-to-five job and being a hit man has its disadvantages, yet you always manage to maintain your soft delicate nature.”

  Jasmine grinned. “What were you able to find out?”

  Jethro sighed and moved away from his girlfriend. “Not much, he was a stubborn man right up until I snapped his neck. He wouldn’t tell me what was on the flash drive nor who he gave it to.”

  “What about the woman he handed it to in the first place? Do you know who she is?”

  “Her name is Harper Lamb. She works for Homeland Security. I followed her this morning to an internet café but I didn’t catch who she passed the information to.” Jethro grabbed a towel and dried his hands.

  “Then I’ll have to see what I can find out,” Jasmine said. “I can get in the offices tonight and search her office. I’ll give Glen a call and find out when the office is closed for the night.”

  “Be careful with contacting them, either one of them. The less they know about us the better. Ali doesn’t want one hand to know what the others are doing, or even who the others are.”

  Jasmine smiled. “Ali has made his position very clear and I will abide by his wishes. After all, he is paying us very well to do just what he asks, when he asks us to do it. One of my qualities is I know how to get in and get out without anyone knowing I was there in the first place.”

  “Just be careful, one of the reasons we are so successful is that no one knows about us, what we do or who we work for,” Jethro reminded her.

  Jasmine stepped closer to him and ran her hands up his chest. “I know. Maybe you should worry more about your own problems. You still have to find Michael Severns and Judson Parker. Since your bomb didn’t kill them, they are still out there somewhere. Don’t forget Ali wants them dead, sooner rather than later.”

  “I know and that will be my pleasure. They escaped twice and that’s twice too many times. They will die the third time.”

  “Too bad, Matthias couldn’t tell you where they are,” Jasmine reminded him.

  “That’s okay, really it is. I may know of another, that if I can get my hands on her, I’m sure she will tell me where they are.” The color in Jethro’s eyes almost disappeared as he thought about how he would get the information.

  Jasmine laughed. “Down boy, you haven’t got her yet.”

  Jethro shook his head. “No, but I will and when I get done with her, she’ll tell me what I want to know.”

  Chapter Ten

  Three hours later, Kenn stopped by the house to pick up Michael and Judson. Harper was with him as they drove toward the White House. Kenn had Phoebe moved by one of his most trusted agents for the time they would be gone.

  Michael began briefing them on what he was able to uncover, “Did you know Alex Daniels is really Prince Ali Rudan? He’s a member of the Syrian Royal family. The same Syrian royal family that banished Drake Carrington’s father for almost allowing a family member to be killed forty some odd years ago.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Kenn looked stunned.

  “Ali came here more than fifteen years ago on a student visa to attend college. He roomed with Drew Carrington and before he got here, he changed his name to Alex Daniels. I believe he’s the kingpin in the Vipers.”

  “Why do you think that?” Harper asked.

  “Because there’s an arrogance about the man, I don’t know if it’s because he’s a royal or just used to getting his own way, but there’s something about him that makes me think he wouldn’t accept anything but the top spot. He also knows how and who to recruit for lesser posts within the group.”

  “Where does Hussian Al Mira come into play?” Kenn asked.

  “I think Al Mira is second only to Ali,” Michael explained. “As second in command, he would have been the one to do all the dirty work. He would have been the one to take the fall if the plot was ever discovered. The one to protect Ali, in fact he still is. No one knows about Ali yet.”

  “How did you discover the assassination plot?” Harper questioned.

  “Gage told me about this woman who hacked onto the Vipers chat room. She found chatter about a plot against our government. It mentioned the assassination plot but it was confirmed when I saw Matthias had a video on his flash drive. In the video, a group of people were discussing the attempt we broke up five years ago. There was one man in the group with a scar on his face who was using sign language to someone else in the room. You couldn’t see who he was talking to but he was telling them they would have to lull everyone into believing they had been thwarted, at least for a while. Then when they struck, it would be with deadly force and by taking out the President and most of the government with one blow, the next one would devastate the country and they could walk right in and take over.”

  There was silence in the vehicle as the plan soaked into their minds. “My God…” Kenn exclaimed. “If their plan succeeds they would have devastated the United States.”

  “Not to mention, they would murder thousands of people while carrying out their plans,” Harper added.

  “But somebody screwed up everything,” Judson said.

  Michael nodded. “Somebody jumped the gun. The explosion in Kansas City wasn’t supposed to happen yet, nor was the fire at my house. Glen got a little carried away, too soon.”

  “You said something earlier about different targets,” Kenn reminded him. “Were you able to find them?”

  Michael nodded. “From the files you recovered from Glen and Sean, I figured out something. Each of the players was given a specific task. They were only supposed to do one thing. Each of them had a different thing to do and they didn’t know what the next person was doing. I doubt even Glen knew what Sean was doing.”

  Harper’s eyes widened as she realized the extent of the plot. “That way, no one person could claim they knew anything else about the plot. My God, Ali is clever.”

  Michael turned to face her. “Actually, I don’t think Ali is alone in this. He may think he’s the one to fill the top slot but I think there is someone else working behind the scenes. Someone more powerful than Ali could ever be.”

  “Like who?” Kenn asked.

  Michael shook his head. “I haven’t been able to uncover his identity yet. I did see his hand and I know he uses sign language. He also has a gold ring on his finger with a jade inlay. He was on the video Matthias had on his flash drive but that was all I could find of him.”

  Kenn stared at Michael. “We haven’t been able to put a name to the face you found on the video from the fire at your house.”

  Michael shrugged. “I didn’t think you would find him. He’s a hit man and the only way a hit man isn’t identified is by not getting caught. To not get caught you have to be car
eful. He’s tried twice to kill us and I’ll bet you money, he’s the one who beat Matthias to death.”

  “How can we stop him if we can’t find him?” Harper asked.

  “He’ll show his hand again,” Michael assured her. “And I’ll bet it won’t be too far in the future. They may move up their timeline if they still want the element of surprise to bring their plan around.”

  They turned right on Constitution Avenue and drove around the corner into the parking lot of The Eclipse. Parking the car, they walked toward the building. Once inside, they took the elevator to the basement and entered the hallway. The left hall would have taken them to the boiler room but they turned right. It brought them to a locked door.

  Kenn took a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door.

  They entered the hallway and began the long walk down the hall. When they reached another locked door, Kenn knocked on it and they could hear someone unlocking the door from the other side.

  When the door opened, Kenn came face to face with Scott Winger. Kenn smiled and Scott’s face didn’t change. His scowl deepened. “What is so damn important that you have to sneak in the back door? And why can’t anyone know you’re here?”

  Kenn grinned. “My friend, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Try me or you won’t go another step.” Scott crossed his arms over his chest and stood in the doorway.

  “We need to talk to the President on a matter of national security. We don’t want anyone to know we’re here and we only want to speak with the President. The less people that know what’s going on, the better,” Kenn informed him.

  “I hope you don’t mind if I’m there, do you?” Scott asked.

  “Of course not. In fact, I insist on you being there,” Michael said.