Monster

by Bernard L. DeLeo

  * * *

  “What the hell is this?” John Hughes asked out loud as his brother dozed in the passenger side of the van.

  Charlie Hughes sat up groggily, peering through the wet windshield. The brothers had taken the Southern route through the Gulf States. They were on route ten heading toward Houston. In front of the van was a long line of vehicles waiting near the state line.

  “Charlie, I got a bad feelin’ about this. Jump out and walk on up toward the front of this line. See what the hell’s going on.”

  “Okay, John.”

  Charlie Hughes lumbered out of the passenger side door. He walked nearly a quarter of a mile in the cold misting rain before he saw it was a roadblock checkpoint with at least a dozen police cars. Even from where he stood, Charlie could see black clad S.W.A.T. agents with bright FBI letters on their chests and backs. He returned quickly to the van.

  “What is it, Charlie. You look like…”

  “They…they’re on to us, John.” Charlie Hughes pulled himself up into the passenger seat. “They’s cops everywhere, includin’ those men in black guys with the full auto’s.”

  “Those son-of-a-bitchin’ Russians ratted us out.” John Hughes slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

  “What’re we goin’ to do?”

  “I’ll drive back toward Baton Rouge.” John Hughes u-turned out of line, speeding away in the opposite direction. “We’ll dump the van, snag a vehicle, and head for the hills. Start wiping down everything up here, Charlie. If they find the van at least they won’t have any real proof connecting us to Reskova.”

  “We’ll have to hole up somewhere till the weather changes.” Charlie Hughes picked up a rag off the floor. He methodically wiped down the interior passenger side of the van.

  “Yeah,” John Hughes agreed, cursing under his breath. “We ain’t as good in the city as Stanton was. They’ll get us for sure if we hang out in the damn lowlands too long. If we can make our way up to that old cabin the three of us wintered at after Stanton killed the lady over near Galveston, maybe we’ll be able to sneak down into Mexico in a few months.”

  “How we goin’ to get by, John?”

  “We have the ten grand the Russians gave us. It should be safe for us to dig up some of the money Stanton buried. We’ll have to do it later after things cool down at the ranch.”

  “Can’t we head for Mexico now? Man, it’s freezin’ up at the cabin. We’ll spend the whole time we’re up there just finding enough wood to stay warm.”

  “Can’t be helped. We’re in it now. They’ll have the border covered,” John Hughes explained.

  “What about the woman?”

  “She ain’t seen us. If we leave the bitch alive maybe that Cold Mountain bastard will leave us alone. I wish I knew whether the Russians actually did double cross us or if somebody’s a lot smarter than the Russians gave ‘em credit for.”

  “I don’t think the Russians did it, John. They’d know we’d tell the cops it was them put us up to this.”

  “You’re right. I could see ‘em killin’ us. It won’t do ‘em no good to leave us able to talk,” John agreed, glancing into the back of the van. “We’ll need to give her another shot before we ditch the van. I know where there’s a mall on the outskirts of Baton Rouge we can get some wheels at.”

  * * *

  Reskova lay groggily trying to assess where she was. She had tried to move her hands and feet to no avail. She was bound just tightly enough to hold her without shutting off circulation to her limbs. Reskova felt the bounds of her makeshift prison by rolling slightly, and easing her head up gently. She clenched her teeth against the cold while trying to keep her heart from pounding out of its chest cavity by taking slow breaths. Once she felt calm enough Reskova listened for other noises besides the sound of what she figured was a large van traveling down a road smooth enough to be a main route. She could barely feel the vibration of the vehicle travel.

  Reskova strained to isolate the noises outside the trunk which seemed to engulf her. After many moments Reskova could hear what sounded like human voices but they were too faint to decipher what was said. Only a word or two was emphasized loudly enough for her to understand it. She mentally listed all the reasons why she still lived and could find none boding anything but bad times for her. The van stopped finally. Reskova heard the shuffling noise of someone approaching. Hearing the locks on the trunk being opened, Reskova feigned unconsciousness.

  “I’d sure like to play with this,” John Hughes said regretfully, kneeling next to the open trunk with a hypodermic needle. He ran his hand along Reskova’s thigh after pulling the blanket away.

  Reskova moaned slightly, moving as if she were coming out of the drug induced slumber. She fought down the urge to cry out.

  “Hurry up, she’s wakin’,” Charlie Hughes cautioned his brother. “She might start screamin’ and then we’d have to kill ‘er.”

  Reskova felt the needle enter her thigh. Within moments she felt nothing.

  * * *

  “We’ll leave the van unlocked and the trunk open,” John Hughes told his brother. “I don’t want the bitch dyin’ now when we didn’t even get a taste. You stay inside the van while I round us up some wheels. We’ll head north until we hear they found her. They’ll be watchin’ the ranch. We’ll be able to get up in the mountains later in the week. We’ll have to stay on the move till then.”

  “I’ll finish wipin’ everything down,” Charlie Hughes offered.

  “Grab our bag when I pull up behind the van.”

  * * *

  Reskova woke up. Pain flooded through her from every nerve ending. Moments of sheer agony passed as she controlled the urge to throw up. Only the cool air she gradually noticed kept her from vomiting. With trepidation Reskova opened her eyes a fraction at a time. Seeing the darkened van interior and not the closed trunk’s utter darkness evoked a yelp of surprised joy. When she saw the van was empty, Reskova began crying out for help, rocking back and forth violently in the trunk until it pitched over on its side.

  Sliding toward the side door of the van, Reskova kicked at the door with her bound feet. Needles of agony shot up from her feet. She heard voices outside the van. Reskova screamed out to them. An eternity passed to Reskova’s thinking before someone had the courage to pull the sliding van door open. It was a mall police officer with a small crowd behind him. He immediately called in for an ambulance on his shoulder com before reaching in to help Reskova into a sitting position.

  “Reskova… you’re Reskova from the FBI,” the mall police officer said with some surprise, taking a moment to let his superior know who the woman in the van was. “Everybody’s looking for you.”

  Reskova bit her lip to keep from crying in relief as the officer clipped the plastic ties holding her bound at wrists and feet.

  “Where…where am I?” Reskova rubbed her wrists gingerly.

  “Just outside Baton Rouge, Ma’am.” The officer gestured for the crowd to back up away from the van.

  “Could I borrow your cell-phone, officer?”

  “Sure,” the officer pulled out his personal cell-phone and handed it to Reskova. “I already called for an ambulance. The office…”

  “I’ll contact my people.” Reskova fingered in the number for Barrington’s private number.

  “Barrington.”

  “Tom, it’s me, I…”

  “Christ! Diane, where…”

  “Outside Baton Rouge. I was taken at my apartment. They left me in a van near Baton Rouge. I heard two voices. Both had a drawl like…”

  “The Hughes brothers,” Barrington finished for her. “We were trying to get our heads out of our respective asses and come up with a plan when Jen ran to her computer. She flashed the Hughes brothers on the screen and we had road blocks up on every route going into Texas within hours.”

  “How the… never mind. Here’s the ambulance. I’ll call you when I get to a hospital. They just need to check me over. Tell Jen I said thanks and I mean
for her to picture me on my knees with my hands clasped.”

  “Will do, Boss.”

  Reskova closed the phone and handed it back to the officer with a smile of thanks. “This van will have to be guarded until I can get my team down from Washington to take custody of it, officer. Can you get that done for me?”

  “Of course, Ma’am.”

  Reskova climbed up into the waiting ambulance with some help from the two EMT’s.

  * * *

  Two hours later a very relieved Rasheed walked into Reskova’s hospital room trailed by Pete Donaldson. Rasheed grasped her outstretched hand gently.

  “Hello, Boss, I am very happy to see you,” Rasheed said emotionally. “Are you hurt?”

  “They have me hooked to some liquid.” Reskova shook Donaldson’s hand next. “The doctor said I’m dehydrated. Other than that, I have a few marks on my wrists and ankles. How the hell did you two get here so fast?”

  “We were already on the border, Boss,” Donaldson answered. “We guessed the right roadblock but underestimated those two idiots’ intelligence level.”

  Rasheed nodded his head in agreement. “We should have had people ready to stop any vehicle turning to avoid the checkpoint.”

  “Forget about it. Can you guys head over to that mall they found me at…”

  “Already did it, Boss,” Donaldson assured her. “The team we flew down with is taking the van back to Washington right now.”

  “Tom and Jen will be waiting for it,” Rasheed added. “They said if there is anything in it remotely tied to anyone they will get it. Do not worry. Pete and I will be with you until we all return to Washington together. You will not be out of our sight from now on. Tom believes the scum brothers who took you will wander into custody soon.”

  “Probably…” Reskova said, her face showing some discomfort.

  “Are you okay?” Donaldson asked.

  “I’m just sore. I’ve been dreading this but I have to ask. No one called Cold, did they? Please don’t tell me… shit!”

  Reskova saw the dark clouds pass over the two men’s faces with dread.

  “Diane, we could not leave the Cold Mountain out of the loop,” Rasheed said. “Yes, thanks to Jen we found you unhurt. Think what would have happened if we had not found you unharmed. Think of Cold coming out of Syria to find you are hurt or worse and that we never tried to reach him. He is my brother as much as any living man. I could not keep such a thing from him.”

  “We put the word out the moment we heard from you, Boss,” Donaldson added. “Agent Rutledge reached Abe right away. The Colonel had not been heard from yet. She did say they left a message for him though. They have updated the message with news of your rescue.”

  Reskova began to cry, the first break in the awful pressure she had been under since regaining consciousness. Donaldson stepped back respectfully. Rasheed put an arm around her heaving shoulders.

  “Think only of good things, Boss,” Rasheed said soothingly. “If we had not found you, many would have died, guilty or innocent. It would not have mattered to Shaun of the Dead. You saved many lives by returning to us safely.”

  Reskova chuckled in the midst of her sobs at Rasheed’s comment, wiping her eyes and regaining control of her emotions. “I’m sorry, guys. I’m getting to be a real pussy.”

  “Men cry, Boss,” Rasheed replied calmly. “All will be well. Shaun of the Dead will return and execute everyone who had a part in this travesty. We will then go on with catching bad guys.”

  “We can’t let him do that, Kay,” Reskova said firmly, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want him going to prison a week after he gets back.”

  “What you mean we, white woman?” Rasheed joked as Donaldson covered his mouth and turned away to hide his laughter at Rasheed’s accented play on an old joke.

  Reskova laughed. “You’re getting too suave with the one-liners, Kay. Where the hell did you hear… never mind. Remember what I said.”

  “You are under the mistaken impression I was having fun at your expense,” Rasheed said stolidly. “When Shaun returns, the men involved in this had better be in a maximum security prison without chance of parole. The last place in the world they will want to be is somewhere the Cold Mountain can reach them.”

  “We’ll have to make sure… the…” Reskova eyes blinked as she tried to stay awake. “Damn, they… gave me something…”

  Rasheed patted her arm. “Go to sleep, Boss. We will be here when you awaken.”

  “Okay… I…” Reskova fell asleep and immediately began snoring loudly.

  Rasheed chuckled as he patted Reskova’s hand. Donaldson’s face registered shock. Rasheed pointed at him knowingly.

  “You did not believe me, infidel,” Rasheed whispered. “Come, let’s go outside the room.”

  Rasheed led Donaldson out of the room and allowed the door to close.

  “Wow, now that’s a snore,” Donaldson stated reverently. “I’ve heard ban-saws with lower decibels. I’ll buy you dinner, Kay. C’mon.”

  “Forget it, newbie.” Rasheed positioned one of the chairs already outside the room next to the hospital room door. “You can go anywhere you like. Until the Cold Mountain returns, his woman will be safe or I will be dead.”

  “I’ll bring you back something. Coffee?”

  “Yes, bring me a double.”

  Chapter 47

  Back From The Brink

  “Hello, boys,” McDaniels said quietly from only a few feet behind the squad of Marines peering into the darkness beyond.

  Clattering weapons and angry curses echoed around the small rocky escarpment, muffled only by the icy wind whistling through the jagged crevices. Lieutenant Dominguez was the first to lower his weapon, smacking the butt of it with his hand in disgust. Sergeant Bocelli, realizing who it was standing calmly behind them, clamped his lips tightly to keep from laughing despite the pounding of his heart. Bocelli stuck out his gloved hand which McDaniels grasped in his own as the other Marines relaxed in varying degrees.

  “You are one cold hearted prick, Colonel,” Bocelli stated. “How the hell are you?”

  “I’m well.” McDaniels shook hands with a still inwardly raging Dominguez. “Hi, Abe - still tunnel visioning your troops on lookout, huh?”

  “In my defense, there ain’t a living creature could have snuck up on us like that. Jed’s wrong. You have to have a heart for it to be cold. This payback for the messages?”

  “How is she?” McDaniels ignored the question.

  “Right as rain, Sir,” Lieutenant Dominguez replied. “I talked with her myself. Since they found Reskova, Kay has not left her side. He’s annoying the hell out of her. Kay says she will be well when you return or he will be dead. I’m glad you received our second message before you cut short your wonderful visit to Syria.”

  “We almost figured you bought it, Cold.” Bocelli gestured angrily for the rest of the Marines to quit standing around and get back on lookout. “It was great getting your signal.”

  The wind howled over them, causing a moment of silence. The men turned away from the blast.

  “It sure ain’t my idea of an early spring,” Dominguez remarked.

  “Best enjoy it while you can,” McDaniels said. “I like the cold a hell of a lot better than the damn heat. Let’s get on back to camp and I’ll make my report. Is Martinson still in charge?”

  “Yes Sir. He still thinks it would be best for you to give him daily updates while on mission. I think he’s come around to the fact that ain’t goin’ to happen. Hopefully you’re not planning on another plunge into Syria.”

  McDaniels chortled in good humor. “Daily updates, huh? I understand though. You Marines ain’t into this covert crap. Kick ass and let God sort ‘em out, right?”

  “Ooh-rah!” Both Marines barked.

  * * *

  “Nearly three months without word, Colonel,” Martinson said after shaking hands with McDaniels. “Don’t give me that crap about satellite phones on the fritz either. You
acknowledged the two messages about AD Reskova’s kidnapping and rescue.”

  “That was nearly three months ago, John,” McDaniels reasoned. “Anyway, if I made calls every day I wouldn’t be standing here. You would have been watching me kneeling on a mat with a black bag over my head on Al Jazeera TV. Some wanker with a blade would be standing behind me getting ready to cut my head off.”

  Colonel Martinson laughed. “Abe told me what you did to them when they linked up with you last night. Those kids are as good as we got and you make them look like they just came in country yesterday.”

  “They’re good as I’ve ever seen and they don’t whine at all. I’m glad they were all in one piece still.”

  “We’re getting pulled out of here until the elections later in the year, Cold. They want the guys to get some time stateside until then. I haven’t told them yet because I think the whole thing hinged on your safe return and what you came back with.”

  “That explains why they weren’t all dancing in the desert making short timer jokes.”

  “Yep, there ain’t nothin’ worse for moral than telling a guy he’s going home for a while and then screwing him out of it.”

  “Man, they’ll be happy about that.” McDaniels ran a hand over his shaved face, unused to having it bare. “It’ll be the first real break they’ve had other than that little visit back in November. When do you leave?”

  “We’ll probably be going on the same flight as you. Don’t quote me until I see the orders in my hand,” Martinson warned. “Did you contact AD Reskova yet?”

  “No, I wanted to see what it was like without an inch of filth on me. Man, did it feel good to get rid of that beard and get Bocelli to buzz cut my hair. I’m contacting her as soon as we’re done.”

  “You didn’t want her to see how bad you looked last night, huh?”

  “Not after what almost happened to her. I’m not even going to get on her about being taken by a couple of dweebs like the Hughes brothers.”

  “I didn’t know Lieutenant Dominguez told you who had taken her. In fact, I didn’t know Dominguez knew.”