Barrington and McDaniels laughed as Rutledge’s body went visibly rigid for a moment before walking on. She glanced over her shoulder at McDaniels accusingly.
“Not funny again, Cold.”
“Not meant to be, little Sculley.”
* * *
Barrington stopped at two checkpoints as he drove the last mile to the crime scene on Chain Bridge Road. The officers manning the first checkpoint examined all four occupants individually, with McDaniels and Mehmed drawing the most scrutiny. The last checkpoint was manned by an operations team from their own division. Although the agents there actually greeted Barrington, Rutledge, and McDaniels by name, they still checked their identification anyway.
“Wow, I don’t know what you guys did but I can’t wait to find out.” Rutledge patted Mehmed’s hand from where she sat next to him in the backseat of the van.
Barrington led the way over from where they parked the van to the still smoking hulks alongside the road. The ruined vehicles were surrounded by Homeland Security teams marking and taking pictures of everything within the blast radius. Rutledge watched McDaniels and Mehmed carefully as they approached the scene. While McDaniels looked around with professional interest, Rutledge noticed Mehmed glancing up at a hilltop which bordered the road. An agent with a harried look on his face broke away from the group he was with to intercept Barrington. The man’s face was flushed. His demeanor gave off an aura of stunned impatience. He shook hands with Barrington and nodded at Rutledge.
“God, Tom, am I glad to see you. I was told to leave the vehicles untouched until your team arrived.”
“It’s good to see you, Jim. You know Jen and probably Colonel McDaniels. Our new man is Mehmed Ahmadi. Mehmed, this is Special Agent Jim Bristol.”
“Hi, Colonel, I heard you were back.” Bristol shook hands with McDaniels and then Mehmed. “Good to meet you, Agent Ahmadi.”
“Yes, Sir,” Mehmed replied. “It is very good to meet you also.”
“Give me the Reader’s Digest version, Jim,” Barrington said.
“The Mercedes in front here was hit dead center by some kind of missile as yet to be determined. The shrapnel from the blast made the BMW behind the first vehicle into a flaming sieve. Five dead in the first vehicle - that’s a guess, determined from pieces and burned husks of bodies inside. Two dead in the second vehicle perforated by the blast from the first vehicle and burned beyond recognition. We’re wondering if this was a strike from possibly a helicopter.”
Barrington peered into the first vehicle. He straightened, glanced up the hillside opposite the road and then at Rutledge.
“I think the missile theory is accurate but I doubt it was a strike from the air. What do you think, Jen?”
“I agree,” Rutledge examined the blast pattern carefully. She stepped back, pointing up the hillside across the road. “I’d say this hit came from a rocket launcher, probably from the top of that hillside.”
“I concur,” Barrington smiled slightly at Rutledge, having noticed the same looks Mehmed had cast upwards. “Have you sent any agents up the hillside, Jim?”
“No… I thought…” Bristol began, and then backed away, looking at the blast radius, emanating from where the missile had obviously struck. He looked up the hillside Rutledge had pointed to. “Shit! Sorry, I should have had people up the surrounding hills as a matter of course. Missile strikes are a little out of my expertise.”
“Let’s hope it stays like that, Jim,” Barrington replied. “Director Aginson mentioned Russians and Syrians. Was there enough of the license plates to give you that idea?”
“The BMW in the rear is registered to the Syrian Embassy,” Bristol answered. “We ran the plate for the Mercedes in the front. It belongs to a suspected Russian mafia member’s name: Serge Romanko.”
“Good work. Get a team up the hillside and scour the area carefully. Send another crime scene group over to work under Jen here.”
“Will do, Tom, thanks,” Bristol acknowledged with obvious relief in his voice.
“That was pretty intuitive, Tom,” McDaniels complimented Barrington as Bristol hurried away. “You and Jen took two seconds to look at this vehicle and come up with a theory on what and where. I’m impressed.”
“We owe it all to M here.” Rutledge put an arm around Mehmed’s shoulders. “He looked up the hillside so many times since we left the van I thought maybe he had relatives up there.”
“I’m afraid Kay was right about honing your deception skills, M,” Barrington smiled in agreement.
“I have no idea what you and Agent Rutledge are talking about, Sir,” Mehmed stated with a suddenly bewildered look on his face.
“Better, but a little late,” McDaniels commented, his arms folded over his chest. “What would you like us to do, Tom?”
“Jen will take over the scene down here. You stay with her and observe, M. As soon as Jim’s team discovers whatever’s at the top of the hill, I’d like you to go up with me to look it over, Colonel.”
“All this and another crime scene too?” Rutledge scowled at McDaniels. “You didn’t do two missile strikes, I hope. This is going to be one long nasty day. Thanks, Cold.”
“If I knew what you were thanking me for, little Sculley, I’d say you’re welcome. You okay with this, young Mehmed?”
“I have seen much worse, Sir,” Mehmed replied quietly as he turned toward the wrecks.
“Let’s get the kits, M.” Rutledge pulled Mehmed toward the van. “I’ll make a first class crime scene investigator out of you. Maybe Cold will let me keep you out of the psycho branch of our outfit.”
Chapter 59
Final Addition
Nearly ten hours later with the second shift of investigators taking over the procedural details, Barrington and McDaniels helped Mehmed put away the gathered evidence. Rutledge continued briefing their relief team. While they waited for Rutledge to finish the briefing, Mehmed put away the last of the equipment.
“How did it look, Tom?” McDaniels asked when the two men were alone.
“With everything we found out about Hamdan the scenario I think you want to sell should go without a hitch. Diane says Kojovich and his two buddies died from an undetermined drug. If the unknown drug from that crime scene matches what killed Hamdan, we… do you think Hamdan left any prints in Kojovich’s car?”
“I’m certain of it.”
“Excellent. That should wrap everything up into a tidy package. Where the heck did you get a rocket… ah… never mind. We should be able to get the okay after this to close down the Russians as well as the Syrians. Diane already called ahead to have teams hit the Russians’ holdings. She’s waiting on word from the State Department as to how they wish to proceed with the Syrians. No matter what the State Department wants, we’ll grab up every Syrian on our list who steps out of the embassy.”
“I’m sorry this…”
“Don’t be sorry for anything, Colonel,” Barrington interrupted. “These assholes are using every law we have on the books against us and we keep letting them. If somehow a bunch of them end up dead in a very convenient manner, well that’s just too damn bad.”
“Things will calm down now. That stunt the Russians instigated with kidnapping Diane was way out over the edge. Their hooking up with the Syrians could have been catastrophic.”
“I think you’re right. Both sides will be more than a little suspicious of the other after this and we know a hell of a lot more about them than we ever did before. You don’t have any more surprises coming soon, do you, Colonel?”
“Nope. These were the last loose ends I had to take care of. I’ll tell you later what they had planned.”
“It would be nice to go after common crooks once in a while instead of wading through terrorist and mafia connections.”
“Or serial killers?”
“Especially those,” Barrington stated emphatically. “It looks like we may have nipped one in the bud with Hamdan.”
“The world seems to be breed
ing as many monsters as it always did. It’s scary as hell wondering how many we never find out about.”
“Advanced technology might be the only way we know about more of them now. The problem is we’ve lost the hard edge we had once when dealing with these demons in human guise. Present company excepted.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, you boys ready to go home?” Rutledge called out as she walked toward Barrington and McDaniels. “I think I have all the puzzle pieces logged and stored. Did Diane wrap up already?”
“She finished quite a while ago,” Barrington answered. “We lucked out and got the bomb blast.”
“At least the bad guys were the only ones in it,” Rutledge pointed out as she came to a stop next to Barrington with Mehmed joining them. “I’ll start the DNA ID as soon as we get back. The sooner we confirm the identities of our human French-fries, the better.”
“Let’s drop the van off and call it a day,” Barrington said. “We’ll take M home to your old place on the way, Colonel. Diane told me you can ride home with her after we check in. She’s probably finishing reports on today’s activities, at least the ones from her site. I doubt she’ll have to give a presentation until tomorrow.”
“Speaking of which I’ve been making notes for you on my laptop as the day progressed,” Rutledge told Barrington.
“Ah, bless you. I had visions of keyboarding until the wee hours.”
“We’ll still have to outline it for Diane before she gives an accounting to the State Department tomorrow,” Rutledge reminded him.
Barrington sighed. “I know. You’ve been pretty quiet, M. Are you okay?”
“I…I was just wondering if Agent Rasheed would want me to come over to his house and discuss today’s happenings,” Mehmed replied hesitantly.
“You’d better let it rest until tomorrow after we get a chance to tell him how great you did today,” Rutledge suggested, knowing instinctively who Mehmed wished to be with at Rasheed’s house. “He’ll probably invite you over then.”
“Yes, you are probably right, Agent Rutledge,” Mehmed relented with evident disappointment. “I had thought to…”
“See Suraya,” McDaniels finished for him. “We know, young Mehmed. Jen is right though. It would be best to approach him tomorrow after he gets a good night’s sleep which you could use too.”
“I see what you mean, Cold Mountain. I could be overly tired and allow something to happen in his house which will surely get me killed.”
McDaniels squeezed Mehmed’s shoulder as they entered the back of the van. “You’re learning, kid.”
* * *
“Hey, Cold.” Rutledge entered the office with a folder in her hand. “The results are back.”
McDaniels was seated next to Rasheed and Donaldson, where they were going over maps of the separate holding companies owned by suspected Russian mafia leaders, Romanko and Kojovich. Mehmed hovered over Rasheed’s left shoulder, making notes as Rasheed showed him keystroke sequences.
“The lab confirmed Romanko, Mohsin, Sadiq, and a few of their underlings. Mohsin’s boys worked in the Syrian embassy.” Rutledge handed the folder to McDaniels.
“Thanks, Jen.” McDaniels thumbed through the lab sheets. “I guess we can safely assume the Russian mob will be bottom heavy for a while. We’ve been getting familiar with the addresses turned up when we searched Romanko’s place. Romanko and Kojovich were the last two having anything to do with Diane’s kidnapping.”
“Not that you will automatically skip down the street without a care in the world,” Rutledge countered.
“Nope, never did it before, and not going to start now. Unless they take us from long distance, Diane and I can at least walk Dino with a little less on our minds. I’ve been trying to talk her into moving but she really likes her place.”
“To be on the safe side, I’m with you, Colonel,” Donaldson agreed. “Nancy and I are planning a move real soon now that the bad guys who knew where we lived are dead.”
“Let me know when you need help,” McDaniels replied.
“We will all help,” Rasheed added. “Will you be moving before the baby is born?”
“I hope so. I’d like to get a nursery arranged in our new place.”
“Will you be looking for a house, Agent Donaldson?” Mehmed asked.
“I wish. I’d have to move us so far away from the city it would take me half a day just to make it in to work.”
“If…” McDaniels began, as the office door opened violently.
Reskova marched in with Abel Dominguez and Jed Bocelli trailing close behind. Both men were in uniform. Reskova merely stood aside, glaring at McDaniels as the two marines were greeted like rock stars. Barrington hurried out of his office to join in the reunion.
“You guys weren’t due to come in until next week.” McDaniels shook hands exuberantly with Dominguez and Bocelli while glancing speculatively at Reskova. “You wouldn’t happen to know why AD Reskova is giving me the Vulcan Death stare, would you?”
“We tried to…” Dominguez began.
“Outside, Cold, right now,” Reskova ordered, walking out of the office.
“I told you guys to call me when you arrived.” McDaniels shook an accusatory finger as he backed toward the door.
“She wouldn’t give us a chance to explain, Cold,” Bocelli said with a placating hand gesture. “They routed us to Reskova at the checkpoint.”
“She told us to follow her and keep our mouths shut,” Dominguez added, which caused Rutledge to start laughing.
“Okay, relax. I’ll straighten things out.” McDaniels closed the door behind him.
Reskova leaned against the wall in the hallway, her arms folded over her chest. Rage and disappointment warred across her face in pulsating waves, finding outlet through her eyes. McDaniels met her accusatory stare with reluctance.
“Before you go off like a rocket ship, Red, what the hell are you so mad about?”
“What the hell do you think I’m mad about? You get the Marines to arrive out of the blue and collect you for another stint in the desert without even a warning? I don’t care…”
“Hey!” McDaniels cut her off, holding up his hands in a stopping gesture. “Is that what you think this is?”
Hope flashed for the first time across Reskova’s face.
“You…you mean it’s not?” Reskova straightened away from the wall.
“I ain’t going anywhere.” McDaniels enveloped her in his arms. “I talked to Aginson about allowing Abe and Jed to come TDS into our group. They’ll be assigned to us while their division is in the states which should be at least until the Iraqi elections in December.”
“Temporary duty station? Assigned to us? Why… I mean… what…”
“I need six members in our enforcement wing. I trust Abe and Jed implicitly. Having them assigned here even temporarily will give me a chance to train them. Although Kay is an accomplished sniper, he’s too valuable with his language skills to use in that billet.”
Reskova hugged McDaniels tightly. “I thought you’d be on a flight out for overseas before I could even say goodbye.”
“If you’d given Abe a chance to explain he would have set you at ease. They weren’t due in until next week. Tom received the go ahead only last week from Aginson. Come on, I’ll…”
“I have to get back.” Reskova pulled away. She kissed McDaniels lightly on the mouth. “Apologize for me to Abe and Jed. Maybe we can take them out to dinner.”
“They’ll understand.” McDaniels held onto Reskova’s hand a moment longer before allowing her to walk away.
Reskova stopped suddenly.
“I love you.” Reskova looked around, before striking a provocative pose. “You won’t be sorry you’re not going anywhere.”
Reskova hurried away without another glance before McDaniels could reply. McDaniels waited for a few moments before reentering the office. He found the team seated around their conference table drinking coffee. They were listening to Domingue
z finish explaining why he and Bocelli were there. McDaniels poured a cup for himself and sat down. When Dominguez finished talking, Bocelli looked at McDaniels expectantly.
“You sleeping outside tonight, Cold?”
“No, smart ass, I cleaned up your mess like always. What do the rest of you think about my bringing in Abe and Jed?”
“I think it’s marvelous!” Rutledge exclaimed before anyone else could speak. “Now we have a full death squad.”
The End
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