by Jerry Bruce
With deft precision they crept in, and before he knew what hit him, the valet had succumbed to the lethal injection. His body would be taken and disposed of later. Within a minute the team assembled outside the door that led to Wilkins’ suite of rooms. They stealthily made their way through the sitting room/office and positioned themselves outside the bedroom’s double doors. It was determined and practiced many times over that the best way to capture him was to have one agent hold him down at the ankles, another agent pinning down his arms over his head, while the team leader put his hand over Wilkins’ mouth, simultaneously injecting him in the neck with a fast acting sedative.
The team watched in silence as their leader counted down using his fingers … three … two … one. With everyone moving in unison, it was over in a few seconds. Wilkins never had time to clear his head from his sleep before the sedative kicked in. He had no time to resist or any opportunity to scream. Wilkins was placed inside a body bag for the short trip to the van and agent Bradshaw, an imposing figure of a man with a great deal of strength, was able to lift the diminutive Wilkins over his shoulder and carry him with ease. Their exit down to the van went without incident and as the van sped away Wendt heard the team leader comment “mission accomplished.” Those were the only two words spoken during the entire operation. Wendt sent his two partners over to the apartment to remove the valet’s body and “sanitize” the scene. Wendt then called the special number he had been given and after the phone stopped ringing and without waiting for an acknowledgement, he repeated the phrase … “mission accomplished”.
Wendt’s agents brought the valet’s body down to a waiting van, locked the body inside, and then took their equipment back to Wilkins’ apartment to begin their clean-up process. They would complete their business and be miles away by the time the building would show any signs of life. In the meantime, Wendt took to removing his equipment and returning the borrowed apartment back to its original configuration. A cleaning crew was scheduled to spend the next day making sure the apartment was spotless for its returning owners.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Once the van was moving, agent Bradshaw opened the body bag and exposed the Controller’s head and torso. He unbuttoned the top two buttons on Wilkins’ pajama top, and then using a stethoscope, he confirmed that the Controller had an even heartbeat and was breathing comfortably. He nodded in affirmation that all was well with their captive to the team leader who was looking back from the front passenger seat. Each agent turned off his transmitter so that they could converse without a signal being sent out.
“Great job men.” Team leader Vale was smiling and relieved that all had gone according to plan. “Just like we practiced. Is everyone clear on what each of us has to do when we arrive at the house?”
All indicated with a “thumbs up” gesture that they knew what was required of them.
“Good. We have a two hour drive ahead of us, so everyone relax, just keep your eyes open in case someone might be following us.”
* * *
They turned off the main highway onto the narrow dirt road leading to the house which was set back about two miles from the highway. About half way up the road the driver stopped the van and the demolitions specialist slid open the van’s side door. He walked to the rear of the van, to a clump of saplings that edged the road, where he knelt down and attached one end of a trip wire. He then carefully played out the nearly invisible wire across the road to another clump of trees and attached it to the explosive device, which when tripped, would deploy smaller bombs, blanketing the road with enough explosive force to take out a tank. This was up the road far enough to avoid blowing up an innocent lost traveler. Anyone up that far was ignoring the “No Trespassing” signs and was assumed to be looking for the house, for no legitimate reason.
Once at the house, three of the team jumped out to check the perimeter and make sure the property was secure. They checked each of their booby traps and disarmed them. Then they walked around and checked each window and door to make sure that the hair thin wires they rigged hadn’t been broken—a sure sign that someone had entered the house. They then proceeded into the house and checked every nook and cranny for anything untoward. Each man carried a detector they could employ to locate any electronic devices that may have been installed since their last sweep.
Vale remained in the van with the drugged Wilkins, ready to push the button that would blow up the van and its occupants should anyone, other than his teammates, approach. Once assured the premises were secure the agents returned to the van to help extricate Wilkins and get him into the house. While Vale and Bradshaw took Wilkins into the house, Taylor and Nelson put the van into the garage then proceeded to arm the claymore mines they had placed strategically around the perimeter of the grounds and house. Once inside, the perimeter security system was activated. The agents were now voluntary prisoners.
The agents made sure that Wilkins was revived and comfortable before calling the hot line numbers and giving the coded message that the second phase of the mission was successfully executed. Once Thornton was notified, he gave Vale the combination to the wall safe wherein he found detailed instructions on how they were to proceed with the interrogation of Wilkins. Included in the information was a list of questions that were required to be asked and answered. Wilkins would be given a couple of hours to recover from the sedatives but once recovered he would be fair game. No time was going to be wasted—being a little confused and disoriented could result in him revealing information that might prove useful.
* * *
“Who are you people? What am I doing here? And where are we?” Wilkins was trying to get his bearings and clear his head. He had come around and with slightly blurred vision, was able to discern two figures sitting in the shadows. He could hear rain running off the roof and dripping onto the ground outside the window. He couldn’t see out the window as the regular glass had been replaced with black painted, bulletproof glass; he couldn’t see out and no one could see in. The other windows in the house had clear bulletproof windows so the agents wouldn’t have to rely solely upon the surveillance cameras for watching over the property. It also allowed them to have the benefit of sunlight, something Wilkins would not see again for a long time, if ever.
“You are our guest. Who we are is not important. Where we are is not important. What is important is this: you are here to be interrogated. You will tell us everything we wish to know. How painful the experience is will be determined by your level of cooperation. Make it easy on us and we will make it easy on you.” Vale came out of the shadows and moved closer to Wilkins as he talked until he was only inches from Wilkins’ face. His eyes never lost focus on Wilkins’. Vale’s voice left no doubt that he meant business, and staring into Vale’s eyes gave Wilkins his first taste of fear, and for the very first time in his life, the new sensation of the hair standing up on the back of his neck.
“Who do you think you are? You can’t just kidnap me like this and get away with it. This is America, I have my rights.” Vale had upset him so much Wilkins was almost making a humble suggestion, his earlier antagonistic tone obviously tamed.
“You have nothing but the clothes on your back, and I can take those away should I wish. The only rights you have are to tell me what I want to know, when I want to know it. We are going to give you a few minutes to decide whether you will cooperate or not. Personally, if I were you, I would cooperate—failure to do so would force me to do things that I’m sure you wouldn’t appreciate.”
Vale released the bindings on Wilkins’ wrists and ankles and pointed to the door to his right. “The bathroom is there. I suggest you take a shower; it seems that you have messed yourself. There are fresh clothes in the dresser and closet.”
* * *
Wilkins took a shower before taking note of his surroundings. The bathroom window had also been replaced with the same painted glass as the bedroom and the mirrored cabinet over the sink contained everything he needed for his personal groomin
g, he didn’t notice that the mirror was polished metal, not glass, to prevent him using a glass shard as a weapon or to commit suicide. He dressed himself from the new clothing that was neatly arranged in the dresser and closet. Everything was perfectly sized, from the socks to shirts. The wardrobe wasn’t extensive, but was sufficient for the time being. He was about to open the bedroom door when Vale suddenly pulled it open and appeared in the doorway.
“I see you’ve found everything. We wanted you to feel comfortable should you decide to cooperate. We can just as easily make things uncomfortable. Have you made up your mind?”
“I don’t know what this is all about, but if you’re after a large ransom … .”
“Stop playing games with me Wilkins. You know very well why you and I are here. Come with me, I want to show you something.”
Vale led Wilkins into a room at the back of the house. Agent Taylor followed them and took station in the doorway. Wilkins wasn’t quite sure what to make of the furnishings except that it resembled a hospital room of sorts. There was a bed equipped with arm and leg restraints, one of those metal stands used to hang an intravenous bag, a monitor for checking a patient’s vital signs and a couple of stainless steel wheeled carts, presumably containing medical supplies and instruments.
“This is the room where you will be interrogated. How much of this equipment will be used is dependent upon you.”
“Just what is it you want with me?”
“I see you are choosing to continue with your charade of innocence. Very well, we will assume that you do not wish to cooperate.”
“I simply want to know what this is all about. How can I cooperate if I don’t know what you want?” Wilkins was either a good actor or genuinely confused.
“Okay, I’ll play your game for now. You are here to answer questions regarding your activities and involvement with governmental officials of various countries. That, in a nutshell, is why you are here. I have a list of specific questions that we will be addressing shortly.”
“You must have me confused with someone else. I don’t have any dealings with foreign governments.”
“You deny that your companies have contracts with countries in the Middle East to do oil exploration and drilling? You deny that your companies built and are maintaining some of the desalinization plants that are located in Africa and other parts of the world?”
“I don’t deny those facts; I was referring to me personally having contact with foreign governments. My companies do business all around the world. I have companies that I can’t even remember the names of let alone with whom they do business.”
“You obviously think that I am someone who is interested in engaging in semantics with you. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong. I have a very simple job to do here and that is to find out, from you, what my boss wants to know—nothing more, nothing less.”
“Who is your boss? Let me talk to him and maybe between us we can straighten out this mess.”
“I’ll hand it to you, Wilkins, you put up a good front. You are almost believable. Now, enough of this idle banter, it’s time to get to work. Lay down on the bed please.”
“No, I refuse.”
Vale had indulged Wilkins far more than he should have and was now paying the price. To get back control and instill fear back into Wilkins he made one quick, unwavering motion and swung his right arm with all the force he could muster in a backhanded motion while making a fist. The clenched hand caught Wilkins flush on the right cheek, snapped his head viciously and knocked him backward halfway onto the bed. Dazed and trying to catch himself from slumping to the floor, Wilkins looked up at Vale in disbelief.
“Maybe now you realize that I’m not fooling around with you. That was only a small sample of what is going to happen to you if you continue to piss me off.” With ease, Vale bent over and grabbed Wilkins under each arm and lifted him up onto the bed. “Think about what I just said, I’ll be back in a minute.”
Vale turned to leave and as Taylor stepped aside Vale quietly told him to watch Wilkins until he returned. Taylor had never seen this side of Vale before; of course they had only worked on a couple of assignments together and nothing of this importance. He merely nodded, not saying a word.
Vale went into the kitchen to get a glass of water and to settle his nerves. He was angry with himself for having allowed Wilkins to get to him. His instructions were clear, no harm was to come to his captive that could preclude him answering the questions; he had jeopardized that and could very easily have broken Wilkins’ jaw, or worse. He was going to have to control himself or turn over the interrogation to Bradshaw.
After a few minutes Vale was making his way back to the room when he heard voices that made him pause outside the doorway. He could hear Wilkins offering Taylor a lot of money if he would help him escape. Vale was curious how Taylor would react and so he waited to hear his response.
“You may be willing to sell out your country, but that doesn’t mean I am. I intend to make sure that you don’t leave here until my boss says so, and even then, I hope you leave in a coffin.”
Vale quickly erased the smile from his face before entering the room. “Let’s get to it, shall we?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Richard and Christine were together in Richard’s office when they finally heard the “mission accomplished” message that Vale had left. Adam had an engagement and couldn’t be with them when they listened to the message they so longed to hear. It had been a long night punctuated with sporadic fits of sleep as neither Adam, Christine, nor Richard could stop thinking about the capture of the Controller. Each of them was bothered by the same nagging questions—what if the attempt fails, what if it’s the wrong man, what if … ? If, if, if, it was the same thing all over again, time after time, the same uncertainty kept rearing it’s ugly head.
Those two words, “mission accomplished,” were the catalyst that started off a chain reaction over which neither Christine nor Richard had any control. When they heard the words, their joy and relief was so overwhelming that they found themselves embracing each other.
“I guess we did it.” Richard didn’t realize how tightly he was hugging Christine and he couldn’t stop looking into her eyes, their faces only a couple of inches apart.
“It would seem so.” Christine breathlessly whispered the words while drawing her lips closer to Richard’s.
Christine thought that Richard might pull away, but instead he kissed her passionately and hugged her so tightly she thought she might break in two. She kissed him back with even greater passion and melted into his arms with total submission. She had longed for Richard’s embrace for so long that she didn’t want it to ever end. After that first kiss they remained entwined, staring deeply into each others eyes, saying nothing until finally they kissed again … and again.
* * *
Richard couldn’t put Christine out of his mind. He relived each moment with her over and over. He had been thinking about divorcing Veronica for some time and with the recent developments with Christine his mind was made up. Without any regard for what it might do to his career or how it might interfere with his taking down the Controller, he knew that he must proceed with the divorce. He just had to work up the courage to tell Veronica how he felt. He was sure that she was probably thinking that divorce might be the only solution to their estrangement. It was she that had suggested they separate several months ago to think things over. She felt that since she only saw him on weekends that they were already spending most of their time apart so why not make it full time. The children were both grown and leading their own lives and both had sensed that there was something very wrong with their parents’ relationship.
Richard made a note to himself to set up a meeting with Veronica at the house so he could discuss the matter with her. He also made a note to contact his attorney before meeting with Veronica.
Having finally made the decision was a great relief to Richard; he had been laboring over this issue for far too long tryi
ng to figure out a way to salvage his marriage, he just had to make sure that Christine wasn’t the motive force behind his actions. Deep down inside he knew that his relationship with Christine forced him to treat the situation with a greater sense of urgency, but that it was not the reason for the divorce; it was merely expediting the inevitable.
The relief gave way to sadness once he realized that he wouldn’t be able to make the marriage last. He and Veronica both came from environments where divorce was unheard of and long-term marriages were the norm. You were supposed to reconcile your differences and work through the problems; everything could be overcome if you tried. This was all well and good, but throw a Controller into the mix and it becomes a different ball game. The strength of the outside influence was far greater than that of the individuals. The devil himself had come between them and there was no way to repair the damage.
* * *
Richards’s attorney, a specialist in corporate law, referred him to a divorce lawyer with a good reputation. Richard had impressed upon the lawyer that he wanted this to be as amicable as possible and that he was willing to give Veronica an equal share of all assets. Richard also insisted that this be kept as low-key as circumstances permitted. He didn’t want to give the impression that his attention was being diverted from his World Organization of Nations duties. It was hard enough for Richard to balance his normal business activities while searching for the Controller, but now he had the battle to undo the Controller’s misdeeds, his divorce, and the soon to be waged war against the Controller’s pawns.