Hard Case: Boxed Set Books 1,2 & 3 (John Harding Books)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Scarpatha received the details for the trap, agreed to the amount, but had a serious hacker logged on to trace the money. Brannigan fucked up. This one’s tough, John. Brannigan is a billionaire purveyor of drugs, arms, and political chaos. He can buy off anyone.”

  “No, he can’t.”

  Denny chuckled. “Sorry. There isn’t one person in your crew I would doubt even for a moment. I meant the political structure in California is in debt to this guy up to their eyeballs. He buys and sells people, especially politicians, in the background of the most dangerous agenda of all: chaos. He thrives on it.”

  The bright lights shine for a moment. I’m the deer in the headlights as this set of Denny insights hits my brain. “The Harvard serial killers. You think they were his baby.”

  Denny pulled off the road and parked. “Son of a bitch! How the hell did you come up with that, John?”

  Not as hard as you think, Den. “I know you. I’ve learned a lot from you. Don’t short change yourself. I’d bet you haven’t even received confirmation from Clint yet on the threads you probably have him working on. This Brannigan is a cold blooded killer without the guts to do anything up close and personal. He throws a seed in here and there, hoping for disaster without rhyme or reason. He struck pay-dirt with those scumbags Clint and Lynn nailed. They were his perfect passion for perversity. Three psychopaths with IQ’s off the charts torturing and killing in perfect harmony without leaving a trace until Clint arrived to investigate. It’s only now when you mentioned Brannigan that this shit all fits.”

  Denny stared at me without blinking for far too long. His mouth tightened. Without another word he turned back to the wheel and accelerated toward our destination. It was another five minutes before he said anything. “It proves his only agenda is a chaotic set of games where he drives money and precious metals in any direction he chooses. He has no conscience as to countries’ treasuries he devalues, or the myriad lives he destroys. This is war, John.”

  Now, you’re speaking my language. “I agree, brother. Let’s ignore the fallout and concentrate on getting Laredo out. Then we go after Brannigan. You handle the white wash while we go dark op on this guy. No more sideways slants into obscure bullshit.”

  Denny shook his head in the negative. “We can’t play it that way. Terrance Brannigan is the most high profile entity on the planet. The reason he’s able to perpetrate this crap with impunity is he owns players at every level.”

  “I didn’t say anything about taking the prick into custody. We have the top of this particular food chain. He’s not in hiding. Laredo’s a priority. We know now all the incidental characters in this are a smoke screen. We can do this op with care, pluck Laredo out, and then take care of the kingfisher. Oh Lord in heaven would I like to put that cocksucker into Lynn’s care for a few days.”

  Denny chortled for a few moments trying not to show his amusement at that vision and failing. “Good God, that woman is habit forming. Okay… you’re right. I won’t insult you with some two bit lecture on the danger of your whole crew ending up on an Interpol most wanted sheet.”

  “We protect everyone here at ground zero, hit Laredo’s capture zone hard and heavy - then we work on the end of Brannigan. I’ve seen the entertainment sheets. He thinks he’s untouchable. Forget about taking him out in some covert hit. I say we take him out as an untraceable assassination. Brannigan can be our illustration that no one is untouchable. You can’t be anywhere near that part of it. We get caught and we’re a rogue outfit.”

  Denny shrugged, his eyes never leaving the road. “I hate the plan, John. I wish I had a better one.”

  I don’t look at this as a bad plan. Survival dictates new rules. I’ll get Brannigan. I’m not sure about much other than that, but I will get him. All of these incidental attacks have his fingerprints on them, and form a picture I can recognize logically. The loose ends were mounting up before I heard his name. I’m a lot more comfortable now than before. Some folks just need killin’.

  We arrived at pain central, driving in through the open big door. Clint closed it up behind us, walking over to Denny’s side. “Hell of a day, guys. I worked the facts, traces, and coincidences in the series of events with Terrance Brannigan as our cipher key. Oh yeah.”

  “Where’s Scarpatha?” Denny exited his side, looking around.

  “She’s in lockup for now. Lynn’s getting some alone time because she didn’t get to play with Katy.”

  “You told me Scarpatha told you everything,” Denny replied.

  Clint laughed. “Believe me, Denny. I didn’t need a polygraph to know Katy told us everything. She starts hyperventilating if Lynn is within twenty feet of her. Lynn thought she should have taken Katy through a little confirmation process. She didn’t take kindly to me overriding her suggestion.”

  Lynn walked out of our complex’s back area, smiling and giving Clint a wave. “Hello, guys. Sorry. I needed to get a grip on reality. Something about that Katy just jinks me the wrong way. Clint probably told you I went a little mental on her, but I was just being thorough, right, Den?”

  “You’re golden with me, Lynn,” Denny answered, putting a comforting arm around Lynn’s shoulders. “The Dark Lord here went into shock at your shortcomings though. He thinks you need a time out.”

  Lynn smacked Denny’s shoulder. “Not funny. Did Clint get a chance to tell you what he found out?”

  “Not yet. We get the impression Clint’s come to the same conclusion Denny and I were coming to on our way over here.”

  “There’s no doubt about the trail, John,” Clint told me, handing the file he’d made over. “I had to stick with basics once his name was added in. The asshole is behind nearly everything you can think of, including fogging up the investigation with the Harvard trio. When I show Sam Reeves what I’ve found, he will issue a federal warrant on him.”

  Denny and I traded looks Clint picked up on right away, as did Lynn. Our silence hung like the noose at hangman’s tree with no wind.

  “Boy, you two are ambitious,” Clint said, hugging Lynn to him. “Bagging a multi-billionaire is not something to be taken lightly, but as the targets of this Brannigan’s latest assassination attempts, I’m in.”

  “Hell yeah!” Lynn put her own stamp of approval on it. “I guess we need a priority check though. We’re still going for Laredo first, right?”

  “Absolutely,” Denny answered. “I’m hoping we can move before Brannigan initiates anymore abstract missions with us as the targets. The Harvard connection was as eerie as I’ve ever run across. The money exchanged hands in more than a few places to make sure his toy serial killers were not found out. I’m glad they never came to trial. I have a bad feeling Brannigan’s lawyer team would have found a way to get them off.”

  “Thanks to Lynn, we know where to get Laredo at,” Denny continued. “I have a team of analysts going over the data about that Belize farm where Laredo’s being held, gathering up to date satellite footage. I’ll know the details within hours about weather and flight conditions very soon. I want this op on the move by tonight. Our best chance is to hit them quick, when they don’t think there’s any way in the world we can do it.”

  “We know you’re workin’ it,” Clint said. “It wouldn’t do us much good launching a rescue where we get everyone killed in the process? Laredo doesn’t want a fast tracked suicide mission for his benefit.”

  Lynn moved over in front of Denny. “What plans do you have for our killer?”

  “Because of your complete success with her, and the dead-bang case they have against her, I think we should turn Katy over to the locals. She will never get bail again after this last run, coupled with the ambush attempt. We’ll need to launch an attack on the judge if someone lets her out after all this.”

  I laughed at Denny’s point by point on why Katy would never get another chance at bail. I wished I shared his optimism. We now knew if a price was given, she’d be able to meet it with Brannigan’s money. “I see Lynn doesn’t like
our contingency plans for Katy.”

  Denny made a gesture of understanding with placating hand motions. “We will deal with Katy no matter what, Lynn.”

  “As John pointed out earlier, they let me go. If this Brannigan guy can buy judges, he can certainly buy juries,” Lynn replied.

  “He can also make enquiries about where she is, since we are on record as having her. We’re not turning her over until Laredo’s here with us. Brannigan doesn’t believe she knows anything about him so that works in our favor. I’m not stupid enough to think she wouldn’t get word to him.”

  Lynn smiled. “Sorry, boss, I see what you’re saying. We may have gotten our signals crossed. If I would have had to extract the info from Katy, she probably wouldn’t have been in any shape for a locals’ turnover.”

  “I didn’t say this was a precision game, Lynn. Shit happens. You did well without any marks, so we hold her and give her over later. Back to business. Our entry into Belize will be by chopper. The farm on Hummingbird Highway is a little past twenty-six miles in. I want your team dropped five miles out. Leave a force there protecting the dirt road leading to the farm. I want John, Clint, Casey and Tonto on the attack, with Lucas, Lynn, and Jafar protecting and monitoring the LZ. Get your equipment together now, and be ready to go. I’ll need to put your team on a carrier wing already in position. I want the chopper going over Guatemala rather than on the Caribbean side, hence my plan to use the Vinson. I’ll have a team watching your people here until you get back.”

  I liked that the place was way inland. I’d been to Belize on another matter, along that same route. It was open terrain with plenty of cover. “Sounds good to me. It’s probably a little too close to Guatemala for Clint’s liking though.”

  Clint chuckled. “No worries there, brother. I assume Denny isn’t putting us with the fleet for a laugh. They’ll chopper us in with one of those Black Horizon stealth babies that can fly us into position, and drop us off without being picked up on anyone’s radar. That means we’ll have the tools we need rather than making do with a couple of pistols and a prayer.”

  “Clint’s right,” Denny added. “We’re not going half ass into this. I have the go ahead all the way up the chain. The only thing I won’t have for you is recognition you guys even exist. This op is black all the way. The pilot will be one of ours. He’s already in place on the USS Carl Vinson. The carrier strike force is in maneuvers near Guatemalan waters now. I have a C-2 ready to take you aboard the Vinson tonight. Our guy will chopper you all in the early AM. If this goes bad, there will not be a rescue.”

  “In other words, if something goes wrong and we get burned, we get to blast our way out of Belize. Cool!”

  Denny shook his finger at Lynn while Clint and I laughed. “One more statement like that, Montoya, and you’ll be swabbing decks on The Sea Wolf for the next year.”

  “Big deal. That’s the only way I’ll ever get aboard the damn thing anyway.”

  Chapter Five: Belize Black Op

  We huddled at spaced intervals, watching the Black Horizon whisper away, skimming low over the land. Clint and Tonto immediately set out to check and secure our LZ. The rest of us stayed in place until their return. The humidity caused sweat to bead out of every pore, soaking our black incursion outfits with built in Kevlar armor. Within moments rain began to fall as predicted. A thunderstorm was due to hit, which would help us on our approach. By the time Clint and Tonto returned, Lucas, Casey and I had a low slung enclosed lean-to up over our computer geek, Jafar. Lynn took up position next to him without comment. Her job would be to protect him. Lucas would watch the road.

  We were all on com with Jafar. He tested our communications before Clint, Casey, and I headed for our target with Tonto in the lead. Thunder and lightning began lighting up the night sky with an awesome display. Tonto took up a position slightly ahead of Clint, where he kept sight of his master while moving in a similar direction. Our pace brought us to the outskirts of the elegantly built ranch house in less than forty minutes. It was now nearly two in the morning. We spotted a single roving guard in raingear.

  “This is perfect, John,” Casey whispered, setting up the silenced .50 caliber M107 Barrett sniper rifle. “I’ll take the guard out on his next round.”

  “On it.” Clint and I moved rapidly while the guard was out of sight. We were in position at the front entrance when the guard appeared again. Casey double tapped him. I went over to the body and confiscated everything he had on him, including his keycard. We were blessed with the mojo working for us.

  Tonto sat attentively at Clint’s side. Our masks and flop hats in place, I opened the front entrance door. The assault was prearranged. Clint whispered to Tonto and the dog leaped into the house, with the two of us rushing after. Tonto crept along low to the floor once the entrance was secured. I won’t bother whitewashing our incursion. It was a massacre. Our MAC 10’s with silencers disturbed no one as thunder claps sounded every few minutes. The men we found died unready for what we did, and we killed everyone we found on our search for Laredo. We located him in a makeshift cage at the rear of the sprawling house. Once we confirmed where he was, Clint and I moved on while Tonto guarded access to the unconscious Laredo.

  We had killed six to that point, all living in semi-military style. When we reached the last bedroom on our route around the villa, it was obvious this was the leader of the group holding Laredo. He was the only one to have a woman sleeping with him. Since we needed a bit of information to go along with pulling Laredo the hell out of there, Clint stayed in place with him while I went through the entire house once again with thoroughness. I joined him a few minutes later. The woman was already stirring uneasily in her sleep because of the thunder. Clint made her sleep much deeper with an injection once we identified her companion as Sadar Kopensky. He snored gloriously unaware of anything going on around him.

  “This guy sounds like a buzz-saw, John.”

  “Get Tonto in here to wake him so we don’t have to shoot our way into Laredo’s cage.”

  A short whistle later, and Kopensky awoke from slumber with Tonto’s maw at his throat. He screamed, which enticed Tonto to give his neck a little shake.

  “Stay very still, Sadar, and shut the fuck up!” I turned on the light next to his bed when Sadar did what he was told. “Where is the key to the cage?”

  “In…in the top drawer of my dresser!” Tonto kept Sadar occupied, the man’s features twisted into a grimace of terror.

  Clint got the key and went back to get Laredo. Tonto and I entertained Sadar until he returned with a beaten but relieved Laredo. We shook hands.

  “Damn, John… am I ever glad to see you guys. I thought maybe they’d cut me loose like they did Clint in Guatemala.” Laredo walked over to the bed and petted Tonto. When the dog relaxed and backed away from Kopensky, Laredo punched down full force, shattering the man’s nose. He flexed his hand with a grin, watching Kopensky role around on the bed in agony, clutching his spurting nose. “Oh yeah, boys. That felt hella’ good.”

  “Why didn’t you punch him in the nuts?” I asked. “Now we have a bleeder to walk back to the LZ.”

  “Good point, John,” Laredo answered and punched Sadar in the nuts, evoking a piercing scream. “Don’t worry, I’ll kick the son of a bitch’s ass all the way to the LZ.”

  I sighed as Clint laughed. “Okay, you watch Sadar with Tonto, while Clint and I round up all his goodies. Want to find out all the money locations, and special accounts while we’re gone?”

  Laredo’s face nearly beamed. He looked skyward for a moment. “Thank you, Lord. Leave me a recorder, and don’t hurry.”

  Clint and I went through the now well lighted house, turning everything inside out. All of our search was accompanied by the sound of screams and growls from Sadar’s bedroom where Laredo and Tonto tag teamed our unfortunate Kopensky. We found two laptop computers and a safe. Laredo loved escorting Kopensky to the safe where Kopensky opened it with trembling hands but no hesitation. We load
ed up everything inside it into the pack I carried. Next came outfitting Laredo and Kopensky in foul weather gear for our walk out. Then, I smashed the control panels for lights and communications. Last, but not least, Clint had Kopensky answer one more question.

  “Who were you sleeping with?” Clint had already run across a female cartel leader when he rescued Montoya out of Mexico. We didn’t want to make an error in judgment, leaving behind someone of status because of their gender. That would be sexist.

  “She… she is my mistress.”

  “How about it, Laredo? Did you ever see a woman walking around like she was in charge here?” I didn’t like the way Kopensky had answered the question.

  Laredo shrugged. “I heard a woman’s laughter a couple times, but this is the shithead that questioned me. The guards were all male that moved me. Did you guys run across a pockmarked face with a scar along his cheekbone? I’d like some quality time with him, brothers.”

  “Gee, I’m sorry.” I did remember that face. “I can show him to you, but unless you’re into necrophilia, there’s not much use.”

  Laredo laughed. “I should have known with you two here in the same place. Sorry I can’t help with the ID on the woman.”

  “I didn’t find anything like a purse,” Clint added. “I hate like hell to leave her.”

  “Let Tonto chew on his nuts for a while just to be sure,” Laredo suggested.

  “No!” Sadar went to his knees as Tonto moved with a growl to his side. “Brannigan… Maria Brannigan!”

  Clint and I looked at each other with big grins. “Sweet Jesus, Clint, I think our ship just ported in the night.”

  “I remember the name from when I back-traced the info we got,” Clint replied. “Maria is Terrance Brannigan’s sister. How the hell did you end up with her?”

  Sadar groped around for an answer, trying to come up with something he wouldn’t get beaten or have his balls chewed over. His nasal presentation entertained Laredo. “She runs his South American holdings. I… I met her after capturing Sawyer. She had a list of interrogation questions to be answered. Maria gets bored easily. We had a few drinks one night and entertained one another. We… have been together since then.”