How had Brandt and Rebecca managed to find a path through all of that hormonal haze? Brandt though had a normal upbringing. Had that allowed him to figure out how to do his job and also to love?
“Well, great,” Lopez said lowering his weapon. “Now what the hell are we supposed to do?”
“Perhaps go back to DC?” a voice stated from the door. Everyone swung their weapons up as they turned to face the new threat. A tall, yet older African American man with a shock of white close shaven hair strode in. He had on forest fatigues.
“And you would be?” Lopez asked, his eyes slanted down in disapproval.
“Colonel Malvern, your new CO.”
Davidson had heard the name before, distantly, a long time ago. Certainly not as their new commanding officer.
“Sure,” Lopez snorted. “Really, why are you here?”
The Colonel’s lips spread into a full smile. “Really.”
This took Lopez aback a little.
“Um,” Levont stepped in. “Not to be rude, but aren’t you a little long in the tooth for a covert special ops team?”
“Not rude at all,” Malvern stated. “I got talked out of retirement to join you fellas. I think they hoped a more seasoned hand might be best.”
“Look,” Lopez stated. “I know that brass wants us to have --”
Malvern put his hand up. “I get it. You guys don’t think you need me and for the most part you are right. But there are times you probably would like someone to run some interference up the chain of command for you.”
Davidson studied the man’s expressions. He seemed sincere. However Davidson had first hand knowledge of how much malevolence one could hide in their heart if they wanted to.
“We’ll take you on,” Lopez said, “But that doesn’t mean we have to like it.
“But I sincerely hope that you do,” The colonel explained. “I know all about Saint Svengurd.”
Davidson tensed up. That was there name for the corporal. Was Malvern mocking them? And Svengurd? If he was there was trouble already in paradise.
“No disrespect, I know that he died in combat under tense circumstances,” Malvern went on. “I know he was Prenner’s boyfriend.”
Prenner gripped his gun tighter. “Are we going to have a problem with that?”
“I’m not the ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ kind of guy,” Malvern stated. “I’m more the ‘I don’t care’ kind of guy. Keep it in your pants around me and I don’t care what you do with it at home.”
Malvern continued. “I also know That Brandt was beyond reproach. He was one in a million and I will never be able to replace him.”
Well, he had that right.
“I’m not here to replace him. I’m here to support you guys, one thousand percent. I’ve read your files. I know the good work you’ve done and I just want to make sure that you can do it without interference from above.”
Lopez snorted. “And how do you plan to do that?”
Malvern smiled. You’ve done a great job, Lopez. You are an excellent field commander, but let’s face it, brass is up your butt about your paperwork and your frequent disregarding of direct orders.”
Even Lopez’s dark cheeks flushed. Apparently what Malvern said was true. Lopez hadn’t let on at all that he was taking heat from up above.
“I also know that you’ve had a merry-go-round of COs that ranged from dicks to jokes. I am determined not to fall into either category.”
“So what illogical sweeping changes do you want to make?” Lopez challenged.
“None,” Malvern said. “We all know that a specialty team like this should have at the minimum a colonel at the helm with several captains and a bunch of lieutenants and should be at least eight men.” When no one disagreed, Malvern went on. “But because of your success, everyone has left you alone. You’ve been given unprecedented latitude and finances. But you aren’t without your detractors. Men who want to rein you in. Put you on a tighter leash. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Davidson seldom thought about institutional politics. None of them did. Which was probably why they were in this situation.
“And me?” Bunny asked.
“A civilian on combat missions? Yah, that’s not normal, but hey, if it works, it works. You’ve signed all the waivers needed to be embedded with the team.”
CHAPTER 7
Stark cleared his throat. “And what about us?”
“A special ops team having its own IT support is unusual and no offense but having it be a son/mother team is a little weird.”
“Hey!” Stark retorted but his mom put her hand over his.
“Come on, we’ve got to give that to him.”
Okay, fine so it was weird. That didn’t mean that it didn’t work.
Malvern’s voice came over the com. “Again, I’m not here to fix something that isn’t broken. They like you and need you. That means I like you and need you.”
Stark’s tummy got all nice and warm inside. The team liked him? They needed him? That was the best news all day.
Stark watched the monitor that had the live feed from the plane. They were all wearing helmet cams, but they were focusing on Lopez’s feed since he had the best angle on the room. Fine. The best angle on Bunny.
“Alright,” Lopez said, kicking the deck. “But we’re not going to DC.”
“Why not?” Malvern asked.
“I thought you were here to support us, no questions asked.”
Malvern smiled, his white teeth showing through his parted lips. “I never said no questions asked. I can’t help you unless I understand your reasoning.”
Stark expected Lopez to put up a little bit more fight than he did. “The Righteous wanted Liza here for a reason.”
“Something to do with the Apocalypse event tomorrow morning?” Malvern asked.
Clearly the colonel was completely up to speed on the current mission.
“We have no leads, no idea where or when,” Lopez explained. “Except for Liza. Clearly the Righteous felt she held the key. If we can follow the Righteous footsteps, we might get some actionable intel.”
“And how are we going to do that?” Malvern asked.
“By giving them what they want,” Lopez stated. “Stark, did you track them for me?”
Did he track them? Come on, this was Stark and his mom. “Of course,” Stark explained. “You were right. There weren’t just the three on the Tarmac. A private jet landed several hours before Bunny filled with seven men, all clones. Three headed to the airport, but two sets of two left in different directions in cabs.”
His mom took over like only she could do. “Plus there was another figure that had on a baseball cap and glasses, I couldn’t really make out his features. He left in one of the cabs as well.”
On screen, Lopez looked to Malvern. “Did you determine where their final destination was?”
“One cab was a gypsy so we lost them to the streets of Port-au-Prince,” Stark explained, “But the other dropped the three off at an old Vudon temple. Super old school.”
* * *
“Vudon?” Bunny asked.
“Yes,” Levont explained, “It is the proper name for voodoo.”
Bunny frowned. “I know that. I meant, what are the Righteous doing at a Vudon temple? I thought they were uber-Christian?”
Lopez shrugged. “I thought so too.”
“Again, why would they be at a Vudon temple?”
“Hell if I know, but let’s go see.” Lopez announced. He turned to the new CO. “Cool by you?”
Malvern smiled. For a hard-core special ops guy, he seemed fond of doing that. “Cool by me.”
Bunny caught herself starting to admire Malvern perhaps a bit too much. She knew that she had a thing for older guys. She knew that she had daddy issues. How else could you explain Lochum and the Russian clergyman? Okay, that one she wasn’t too proud of.
But Malvern? He was smoking hot by anyone’s definition. Like a dark Sean Connery. Or Tom J
ones. Or Morgan Freeman.
Maybe that’s why Davidson and she had never hit it off as they should have. Maybe he was just too age appropriate. She’d never felt that zing down her core with all of her time with Davidson than she just had with Malvern.
Did that make her a bad person?
The others got Liza onto a stretcher and headed out. She tried to pass by Malvern, eyes averted, but he reached out his hand.
“Nice to meet you,” he said sounding sincere but not seductive. Thank goodness. Maybe she could avoid making another huge mistake.
“Nice to meet you as well,” Bunny said giving the limpest hand shake in the history of handshakes. If that didn’t put him off, she wasn’t sure what would.
“I just wanted you to know that while you are civilian, I do see what they see in you.”
“And that is?” Bunny asked, bringing her eyes up to meet his dark brown chocolate globes.
“Your expertise on world religions,” he said dropping her hand. Bunny hadn’t even realized that she had still been holding it.
“Great,” she said rather awkwardly then headed to the Jeep that Bunny could only imagine Lopez had stolen.
* * *
Baasha sat in the near dark, listening to the sounds that surrounded him. The slither of the snakes in their enclosures. The chirping of the crickets that didn’t seem to realize they were about to be fed to the lizards.
The earthen floor added a rich aroma to the room. Such primitive conditions for an age-old religion. The Vudons insisted they were connected to the earth, yet Baasha felt it was just an excuse for their impoverished life.
Liza should be here any moment. They could begin the ritual that would end the waiting. Decades in the making, the moment was finally in hand to usher in the Apocalypse. No more liberals whining about global warning. No more conservatives saying the gays were going to bring about the end of days.
No, the Righteous, as was their place, were going to call unto God to bring about their salvation.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Baasha blinked several times. His large eye was mainly a blur and his smaller eye had terrible night vision. He only knew that the queen mother had entered the dank basement by the swish of her cotton dress. Although he couldn’t see the fabric, he knew that it would be a patchwork of bright colors and patterns. A cacophony of visual stimuli.
The large, rounded woman sat down at the far side of the room, taking up her bowls and grinding the powders they would need in the ceremony to come.
It should have galled Baasha to have to stoop so low and ask for the Vudon’s help. As a matter of fact, he was the only one who would bend his head in supplication to ask for the favor. For all his brother’s virtues, humbleness was not one of them.
The Vudon were not all that different than Christianity if you looked at their religion closely. Yes, the Vudon were on the surface polytheistic, worshipping a number of gods. However they also believed in Mawu, the divine creator that gave birth to a number of lesser deities. In some ways you could see these Mawu children gods as the Saints, each one in charge of looking over a specific realm or type of person.
At least that is how Baasha choose to see it.
Elsewise why would he be here?
The characteristic that the Vudon had that his Righteous did not, was the belief that the spirit world existed parallel to the mortal plane. That the spiritual world could be accessed through the right combination or words and prayer, plus a little snake venom for good measure.
They needed the information locked inside of Liza’s head and after trying everything themselves, they had to resort to extreme measures. They could not unleash God’s wrath without knowing he approved.
* * *
Davidson clung to the “granny” bar of the Jeep, unashamed. Anyone of their right mind would be hanging on for dear life with Lopez at the wheel. They had left Port-au Prince proper and were now traversing the labyrinth of dirt roads that led out into the sprawling slum called the Cite Soleil, the poorest region in the northern hemisphere.
The air was choked with the stench of human waste and despair.
Lopez laid on the horn as a donkey drawn cart pulled out of an alley into the “road.” They skidded around the man who waved his skinny arm in the air in defiance.
“So, do we have any idea why the Righteous are at a Vudon temple?” Malvern asked. “Lopez, does this have anything to do with Santeria?”
Lopez glared over at their new CO. Clearly he knew a little more about his personal life than Lopez felt comfortable with. “How would I know?”
“I believe your mother and girlfriend are both practitioners.”
“Baby momma, not girlfriend,” Lopez corrected. Funny how that was the part of the statement that Lopez took the most offense to.
“Fine, your baby momma and mother are both practitioners. Can you shed any light into what we are walking into?”
“Look, all I know is that they buy a lot of goat blood from the Latin butcher down the street, then go into the basement and come out all smiles, saying they have cast protection spells on me,” Lopez explained. “I just turned up the game until they were done.”
Bunny leaned forward, bringing herself level with the colonel. Davidson hadn’t been blind enough not to notice the spark in her eye. He’d seen it with Lochum and the priest. Her interest was piqued with Malvern.
“While Santeria and Vudon have some similarities due to their African roots, there are some distinct differences.”
“Such as?” the colonel asked, seeming genuinely interested.
“Where’s a game when you need one?” Lopez moaned.
“I think they might be trying to perform an Vudon exorcism,” Bunny explained. Even the Catholic church consults witch doctors in difficult cases.
The colonel nodded, then glanced to the back of the Jeep where Liza was laying fairly quietly. After her last outburst, she had been sleeping soundly.
“Aren’t these ceremonies extremely dangerous to the subject?” Malvern asked.
“They can be,” Bunny nodded.
“Okay, I feel like I need to be the Devil’s Advocate,” Davidson stated. “What about if Liza is just mentally ill and needs some lithium?”
Bunny shrugged. “That’s a distinct possibility, however I haven’t seen a lot of research on patients speaking in tongues that responded to anti-psychotics...”
Davidson should have been looking ahead instead of trying to search Bunny’s eyes for answers as Lopez laid onto the brakes, sliding the Jeep to the left, skidding across the slick mud road. Davidson grabbed the bar with both hands as they careened toward a random wall built into the middle of the road.
Although that wasn’t uncommon in the Soleil. Rival gangs would erect shanty walls to parse off their territory.
Lopez jerked up the emergency brake as he spun the wheel in the opposite direction which changed their trajectory, however they were still spinning, sliding straight at the wall.
Davidson cringed as the car finally slowed to the point they barely tapped the wall as they came to a halt.
Malvern coughed once. “I think we’ll walk from here.”
“Good idea,” Levont agreed and jumped out of the Jeep to help haul Liza from the back.
Lopez just shrugged. “Sissies.”
* * *
Bunny’s legs were still shaking a bit as they made their way down the extremely muddy road. She wasn’t even sure if water was what had gotten the dirt all wet. She was going to need a bath like none other once they were clear of the slum.
Nearly a half a million people lived in what could only be called abject poverty. Some of them lived off two dollars a week. Her cuticle softener cost more than that. At the least she could leave. The natives though might be born and die in the slum without ever seeing past its thin tin walls.
She could understand how a religion such as Vudon could take such deep hold in this pit of despair. Vudon honored ancestors and promised a closer link to the spiritual
world. Anything that could transport you out of this hovel probably sounded pretty damn good.
If your mortal life sucked, you wanted to make sure that your immortal soul was in good shape.
“Here,” Levont whispered pointing to a metal door with a hanged man fetish on the door. The priestess here must have been of the highest order to have such a powerful symbol on her door.
In popular culture that object would have been called a voo doo doll. A silly name for a ridiculous purpose. No, the proper term was fetish. It was an idol of sorts. The Vudon believed that spirits could inhabit them. The hanged man fetish was considered the most powerful of all. You didn’t mess with him unless you felt like you could control him.
The men arranged themselves flanking the door as Bunny held onto Liza’s hand.
“Finally,” Liza sighed as she lolled her head over to view the door. She gave Bunny’s hand a squeeze. “Thank you.”
Bunny hated to tell her that she had absolutely nothing to do with fulfilling Liza’s wish and actually they weren’t even here to do that. They were trying to figure out what in the hell the Righteous were up to before the world blew up tomorrow morning.
Liza more like bait than a protectee.
Again, Bunny just gave Liza’s hand a squeeze and a sympathetic grin. No need to worry the young woman with those minor details.
* * *
Stark was riveted to the screen as the team entered the Vudon temple. The upper floor looked much like any shanty town room. Dank and dirty. The floor was muddy with a central fire pit and a corresponding hole in the ceiling that let smoke out but water in.
They found a set of rickety stairs at the back of the room and right now Levont was taking them one step at a time, creeping his way down to the basement.
A beaded curtain stood between them and the lower room.
As they got closer, it became apparent that the curtain was made out of the tiny bones of animals. Levont swiped the columns of bone out of the way to reveal a small bare earthed room. Across the way was a large, elderly Haitian woman, her hair wrapped in a yon tete chap. A bright red scarf that could be seen even in the dim light.
Another figure lurked in the shadows. He stood up as the team entered. Despite having five guns pointed at him, the man seemed calm. He removed his hat and glasses to show the full extent of his deformities. The two misshapen eyes. The one nostril. The lopsided ears.
Bull's Eye Sniper Chronicles Collection (The Second Cycle of the Betrayed Series) Page 10