“Weren’t you afraid they would catch you,” Cala asked.
“I didn’t leave a thing other than tiny pieces of debris on the water surface. Then I moved away down the coast to my safe haven in Ajman. I traveled from there across the peninsula to Khor Fakkan where Frank had a boat waiting for me. We had a hard time getting paid for the job because they didn’t find the debris for weeks. Someone in Qatar issued the contract. It established me as one of the top five private hitters in the world.”
“So that general was a bad guy, huh,” Cala continued with interest.
Gus laughed, remembering a similar question Rachel told him she asked. “He was to someone, right Muerto?”
Nick shrugged. “Yeah, we didn’t really look into right and wrong on contracts in the sand. They were all bad to us except the Israelis. The Mossad agents helped me out of a number of tight jams both in Europe and the Middle East. We had similar interests. Anyway, I guess I’ll have to add the Prince onto my list. I have a rather unusual idea about how to do it. I’m thinking of taking the contract on Al-Kadi and confirm it with my usual upfront funds transfer.”
“You dog! You’re going to see Al-Kadi with the ploy to take the contract on Al-Saud as an ice breaker,” Gus finished his thoughts with certainty. “What will you tell Al-Saud when you turn around and take a contract on Al-Kadi? We did just put his messenger boys in body-bags.”
“Very observant, Payaso. I’ll tell Al-Saud he should have approached me in the regular way. Then, I’ll tell him the truth – I tortured his men until I found out his plan and then killed them. He’ll think about that for a few moments and ask how he can make things right. I’ll tell him no hard feelings and I’ll take the Al-Kadi contract for double my usual price. He’ll laugh like the rich pirate he is in reality and cough up my upfront fee, asking when he can expect completion. You’ve been around me too long to have figured out my twisted plot so quickly.”
“Show of hands,” Gus addressed the amused Johnny and Cala. “Did anyone not figure what Muerto planned the moment he mentioned taking the contract on Al-Kadi?”
No hands. Nick chuckled. “Does this mean you’ll be converted to the entertainment of Kabuki dancing too since you know me so well, Payaso?”
“Just because I can decipher a sicko’s plans does not mean I want to be one.”
“Understood. We’ll put our room temperature guests in the freezer and then I’m going home to do some Dark Web contracting. Johnny, can you and Cala collect the ID’s, return the Ford, and retrieve all their gear from the hotel?”
“Absolutely,” Cala answered for Johnny.
“Drinks, conference, and dinner afterward at your house, Muerto?”
“Yes. I should have word about Pilot Hill by then, Johnny. Can you and Tina come over too, Payaso?”
“We wouldn’t miss it. I want to hear about your conversation with Al-Saud. That will be one interesting interaction,” Gus replied. “You’ll have to return to the sand in order to get him. Are you sure it wouldn’t be better to settle with killing Al-Kadi, and collecting the fee?”
“Better for whom,” Nick asked as they loaded the bodies on the gurneys again for transport to their freezer. “Al-Saud knows me too well. He sent men to Jean’s school. I’ll have to repair that break in my security net just like I’ll deal with the New York Kader. Eliah Kader will have to be tracked while we’re on the Pilot Hill mission, so everyone bring your iPads with you on our trip. We know all his hotspots in New York, thanks to Lynn. If he runs, we’ll have to find out where. As I explained, I did a job in Dubai before. I can’t expect Al-Saud to go fishing, but there are a number of easily approachable places at the Atlantis Water Park in Dubai.”
“We will go with you, Muerto,” Johnny said.
“No can do, Kabong. You and Cala are too valuable here. I’ll have to do Al-Saud alone. It will all be easier that way. I have contacts there and a Mossad agent I collaborated with. He couldn’t figure a way to get at the Syrian General without an international incident. Frank put me in touch with him. We shared intel and I completed the contract at sea without a trace. He’ll help me if he’s still stationed in Dubai.”
“I can go with you, Muerto,” Gus said.
“No you can’t. You don’t speak the lingo. If I have to take Al-Saud at the Atlantis Hotel, I’ll have to infiltrate as a worker or something. Besides, you have to assume leadership of the Unholy Trio in my absence, Payaso.”
“I don’t like it.”
Nick shrugged. “I’ll be careful. It will be an important message to establish about coming anywhere near me in the future without an invitation.”
“I hate to mention this, Muerto,” Johnny said, “but although the Saudi Royal Family squabble and back-bite, they will take it badly when finding out about the assassination of an Al-Saud.”
“I’ll make sure they know it was an Al-Kadi contract – just business, nothing personal, Johnny. It’s just business.”
Johnny immediately lowered his head. “Yes… Godfather.”
* * *
On the balcony, Nick finished writing the scene in his new Diego novel with a satisfied flourish of dark humor. Leo and Jed discovered their femme fatale partner, Fatima, planning yet another behind the back ploy to betray Diego while hiding out in their Caribbean safe-house. Knowing his lover intimately both in mind and body, Diego listened with amusement to Leo and Jed’s warnings. Diego explained how the trap backfired already, with local authorities on his payroll tipped off in time to nab both Fatima and her accomplices.
Nick leaped out of his chair, spilling Deke off his shoes, as Rachel slapped him in the back of the head while Jean giggled. Sonny, sitting next to her, studiously looked away. “You betrayed Fatima! How could you? She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to Diego, you jerk!”
Putting aside his angst at how he had allowed his wife to ninja approach him, read over his shoulder, and attack him, Nick made calming gestures. “It’s part of the story. I don’t deserve to be slapped around for writing pulp fiction. You do understand these people are not real, right?”
“I thought ‘Blood Beach’ would be a deepening romance between Diego and Fatima,” Rachel replied, folding arms over chest. “You have imagination. Use it, you block-head.”
It took both Nick and the kids a few moments to recover composure after Rachel’s verbal smack-down. Deke sat uneasily, watching his two human companions with furrowed canine brow, face tilted in questioning pose. “I’m the writer. If you don’t like my story, write your own, shrew.”
Rachel gasped. “You called me a shrew! That’s it! Put ‘em up, Muerto. It is so on. I’m going to kick your ass right in front of the kids.”
Rachel dropped into fighting stance, her hands in boxer like position, ready to punch or defend. When Nick started laughing, she launched a respectable jab towards his head. He caught it in one fist. When she couldn’t pull it back, Rachel tried a right cross with her other hand. Nick caught that one too with Deke yipping next to him. He glanced down.
“She started it.”
Deke ‘grumpfed’ and nudged Nick’s leg.
“Okay… okay.” Nick forced Rachel into a chair while she unsuccessfully tried to yank free of Nick’s hold on her fists. “I’ll let her go, but only because you asked. Want a beer, Deke?”
Deke leaped from side to side as the awakening Quinn squealed in delight from his swing chair. Rachel relaxed as Nick released her. “Brute.”
Nick retrieved three beers from the refrigerator and poured Deke one in his bowl. He took the other two over to the table. “Want a shot to sip with it, babe?”
“I might as well. That’s how abused women handle their lot in life, right?”
“Absolutely.” Nick served the shots. He sat down, holding his in toasting pose. “I’m not killing Fatima off. It’s all part of a larger plot. You can’t critique me on content until you’ve edited to the end. I’m not even there yet.”
Rachel toasted with him as Jean and Sonny smir
ked in quiet observance. “I’ll wait until I finish. You’re not giving Fatima even a hint of trustworthiness. Now you have Leo and Jed distrusting her.”
Nick shook his head slowly from side to side. “That’s because she is untrustworthy. Fatima will have to earn their respect again. They will forgive but not forget.”
Deke’s ears perked as he looked toward the balcony entrance a moment before the doorbell chimes announced visitors. Nick checked his security screen on the balcony. “I’ll get it. Our guests have arrived. Think about what we’ll order for dinner.”
“Can we have Chinese tonight, Dad,” Jean asked.
“That sounds good to me. I’ll run it by our guests. Start writing the stuff down you’d like to order while I let my cartoons and T-Rex in. I’ll send T-Rex up for a moment while I update the cartoons about Pilot Hill.”
“Intercom me about the food so we can order while you talk.”
“Will do, Hon.”
At the door, Nick ushered everyone to the kitchen while pointing upstairs for Tina. “Rachel and the kids are upstairs, Tina. They’re picking out Chinese food to order if that sounds good to all of you.”
“Oh yeah, it does,” Tina stated. The others agreed to Chinese with enthusiasm. “I know just what stuff to get.”
In the kitchen, Nick poured Bushmill’s Irish for Gus and Johnny. “You’re designated driver again, right Cala?”
“Yep. I’ll have some of Rachel’s iced tea though.”
Nick served the iced tea. Once seated, he recounted where the operations they were involved in stood at the moment. “John told me we go tomorrow night. Can Issac go on that short of notice, Gus?”
“Are you kidding? He’s so pumped, he can hardly speak. What about the ‘Red Dragon Security’ guys?”
“Chuck and Sal will be there. We needed extra perimeter troops. Even with all of us, it will be good to have Cala, Samira, and Issac along as armed extra drivers. Laredo and Jafar will be updating us with satellite shots and troop numbers. If all goes well, I’ll own the main house before anyone needs to be inside. Final tweaks will have to be done after we fly into Oakland.”
“What about Al-Saud?”
“I made overtures for a communication at my drop. I see you have your laptops with you. Did anything on the electronics you retrieved from the hotel room reveal anything of note?”
Cala held out an iPhone. “I went into their rooms dressed in a burka so I couldn’t be filmed. We checked them out of their room electronically after I gathered everything in the room. Johnny loaded it all in a hat and hoodie. Omar has a direct line to Al-Saud on his iPhone.”
“We will go through everything at home later,” Johnny added.
Nick waved the iPhone. “This is outstanding. It will save us time if Al-Saud thinks it’s Omar calling. I have an added idea to discuss with him. If he agrees to the contract terms, I’ll let him know I’ll be in Dubai soon, and ask him if he would like me to look for anything in particular to bring him from Al-Kadi’s compound.”
“That is very devious… and delicious, Muerto,” Cala said.
“I think I’ll sip one down here and call our buddy Al-Saud. I’ll have to wait until eleven tonight. With the time difference it will be 9 am where he is. I don’t want him to be irritated because I woke him. He may have received word of my greeting on the Dark Web by now but I doubt it. This phone call will be fun. I guess we’ll talk later after I contact Al-Saud. We’ll be flying to Oakland tomorrow at 10 am so it would be best to get a good night’s sleep.”
Gus and Johnny booted their laptops into networking operation. They spent the next half hour until the food arrived briefing Nick on everything Omar and his cohorts stored on their electronic devices. Johnny made a file with everything, except the Al-Saud phone number, and sent the digital fingerprints to Paul Gilbrech, including pictures of the dead men. Nick added a brief on how he planned to handle the Isis/Al-Qaeda rivalry. The food arrived and the friends adjourned to the balcony.
“What kind of mischief did you cartoons invent down there,” Rachel asked.
“How many have you had, Rach?”
“Never you mind, Muerto. I only sipped one other after you left. Quinn has been entertaining us with facial contortions.”
“While you’re gone, we don’t have to stay in the safe-room, do we, Dad?”
“Not if I can trust you and Sonny to be as observant as you two were at the Point when the hoodies tried to get your Mom and me. Both of you take your knives, stun-gun, and spray with you everywhere. Pretend while I’m gone we’re back on the road with the mobsters chasing us. By the time I get back from this outing, I’ll have a lead on our safety factor here at home.”
“We’re on it,” Jean stated, bumping fists with Sonny. “Nobody better mess with Viper and Cracker. Let the cuttin’ begin!”
Rachel’s head dropped to the table. “Oh my God!”
* * *
At eleven o’clock Nick used Omar’s phone and direct line to Al-Saud. He answered irritably in Arabic. “You were supposed to call me the moment after you met McCarty. Is he dead? I saw a vague notice to me from him on the Dark Web. What is going on?”
“I am not dead, Prince,” Nick replied in Arabic. “Your emissaries confronted me at my daughter’s school. They are dead. You could have contacted me on the Dark Web. Why throw away your men’s lives in so wasteful a manner?”
Silence.
“I realize this is just business, Prince,” Nick continued. “Did you wish to present a business proposal to me?”
“I must apologize for my men. They misunderstood their orders. I wanted them to make contact with you the moment they reached your city, but they were to call you first. They were not told to confront you.”
Lie to the infidel, huh? “I understand. What were they to contact me about?”
“I wished to hire your services to erase a man near where you are who seeks to kill me. Would you be open to such a contract?”
“Who is the target?”
“Saran Al-Kadi. It will not be an easy task. He lives at a guarded compound north of you. There will be many soldiers there. I have already survived two attempts on my life orchestrated by Al-Kadi. I need the contract completed as soon as possible.”
“I have heard of this Al-Kadi. He contacted my drop on the Dark Web trying to hire me to kill you. I turned him down because I did not wish to take any more contracts in the Middle East. I have a plan though if you know where I can find Al-Kadi.”
“My intelligence on his location is correct.”
“It will cost you one million dollars.”
Silence.
“Do not waste my time, Prince.”
“I will pay it,” Al-Saud agreed after a moment more. “Will half in advance suffice?”
“Yes. I have a transfer account in Belize.” Nick gave Al-Saud the transfer instructions. “Make the transfer. Once confirmed, I will call you back.”
Nick disconnected. He checked his Belize account set for only receiving funds. The money appeared in his account after half an hour. He transferred the money to another account and called Al-Saud.
“Very well. I will begin preparations. Send me everything you have on Al-Kadi’s location.”
“How will you approach him?”
Nick smiled. “I will contact him and tell Al-Kadi I will take the contract to kill you. If he agrees to terms, I shall get money from him for his own death when I visit the compound. Once he is dead I will blow the place up to cover my escape.”
Silence and then laughter. “You are a very bad man. I will send you the information within the hour.”
“Omar told me you will be visiting Dubai soon. I will be meeting a colleague there on an arms deal he would like me to protect. Is there anything of Al-Kadi’s you would like me to bring you in Dubai?”
“Yes!” Al-Saud’s excitement was palpable in his voice. “Can you bring me everything of an intelligence nature from his computers?”
“Certainly. I can copy
the drives and bring them to you. They will cost you another one hundred thousand dollars if I can successfully clone them. I will contact you when the contract is fulfilled with proof. We can make arrangements to meet in Dubai once you have proof of Al-Kadi’s demise.”
“May I ask how you found out about my visiting Dubai?”
Nick thought of Omar’s initial introduction to pain which loosened his companion Solomon’s tongue. “The hard way, Prince.”
“Understood.”
Chapter Eleven
The Compound
John met Nick with a big smile at the Oakland hangar. They shook hands. “Hey, brother, how are things in paradise?”
“Oh… you know… a snake here and a snake there,” Nick answered. “I guess you know from my notes on the New York Kader and Al-Saud, I’ll have a busy time after our Pilot Hill venture.”
“We’ve taken a vote here in the north bay. We’re coming with you.” John shook hands with all of Nick’s crew. “You are all a welcome sight. We need everyone we can get on this caper if we hope to confiscate Al-Kadi’s compound in one piece.”
“I appreciate the offer, brother,” Nick replied, “but I’ll have to do Al-Saud on my own. It’s a tricky mission with too many questionable outcomes. I have some assets in place there I can count on. Unfortunately, the New York Kader gig is the same way. Both are narrow hits. If I go in with the forces of darkness, either one of them could explode into an incident with far too many unintended consequences. Either one could jeopardize what we’re trying to accomplish. If we can handle the Pilot Hill operation to our benefit, I believe it will ease a lot of matters in our peripheral view.”
“Clint said you’d say that… very nearly verbatim,” John said with a grin. “I’m not your Mommy, and I sure as hell ain’t in line for the number one assassin in the world race. If you get into trouble and you need our help, we’ll try to get to you in time, in spite of you disrespecting our original offer, so call us if you need us.”
“I will, my friend. I hope to plot out my endeavors with Kader and Al-Saud so they will not be missed. Did you get the outline I sent you for my plot?”
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