“We’ll be here. We’re going to close the school. This will be a media circus soon.”
“Meet me at the corner of Penniman and 38th, Earl. Give me about forty minutes. I’ll stick Vergues in your car with all the info we dug up. Then you can take him anywhere you want. He should be all ready for the Chicago pickup. He’s a changed man.”
“You want a parade or the key to the city, John? You deserve it.”
“Actually, if that woman over there with ‘Rique hadn’t faced off with me this morning, my stepdaughter, my neighbor’s twins, and hundreds of others might be in pieces all over this block. I had the easy part. I again introduced a fake monster to a real monster. After that, it was just a matter of snipping two wires, and finding him a change of pants.”
“Amen to that, but someone else would have played around trying to get that clown to surrender in the office. You tuned him up, and pissed him off so much he revealed something he didn’t want to reveal. You had a good day, my friend.”
I grinned. “I had monstrous good fortune. Be back in forty minutes.”
Chapter Thirteen: Evil Empire Threads
Lynn and I found a store on MacArthur Blvd. I bought jeans and underwear for our repentant sinner. After letting him clean up at a service station, we had Vergues back at the school corner with a few minutes to spare in Earl’s handcuffs. Lynn patted Stevie’s cheek, which caused a tear to run down his face.
“You be good, Stevie. Make sure they lock you up and throw away the key. If you don’t, and they let you out, we’ll find you no matter where you are. That would be very bad, wouldn’t it?”
Stevie nodded in the affirmative until Lynn had to grab his chin. He cringed. “Yes, Lynn. Yes, Lynn!”
I helped him out of the SUV and into Earl’s squad car. I handed Earl the key for the handcuffs along with the USB drive with Vergues’s confession. “It’s all there, including two other murders no one knows about. If you can keep me out of this, I would appreciate it. We’re on the trail of something big down in LA, and any notoriety would be bad. I’ll call my FBI contacts. They’ll get in touch with you about an ongoing investigation cover story, and the FBI being overjoyed to help local police capture a deadly killer.”
“That sounds great, John. You’re really getting good at this government lingo.”
“That’s me, Earl. I’ve always had a dream. I wanted to be a bureaucrat.”
* * *
I called Sam Reeves.
“John Harding. What have you done now?”
“With Lynn’s help, stopped a school bomber. Want to hear the story?”
That perked him up. He called his partner over, and put me on speaker. “Janie’s here. Give it to us.”
I recited what happened in detail, leaving out only the interrogation description. I repeated the advice about how to handle the media. “I just dropped him back with the Oakland PD. I gave you Earl Taylor’s number a while back as part of our local contacts here. There’s not a mark on Vergues, and Earl has his complete confession, including two murders no one knows about. He did it across state lines. Chicago is picking him up tomorrow on the first murder charge.”
“That’s damn good, Harding. This is very strange. You know that, right? You’ve become some kind of lightning rod for trouble. The jury’s out on whether you’re somehow creating this shit, or simply in the right place at the right time. What’s with the anonymity on your part?”
I ignored the lightning rod remark. “We’re pursuing the slave ring in LA. I don’t want anything messing that up. You two can have this whole thing. Tell them the FBI worked undercover on this.”
“We’ll take care of it. Thanks for this. How in hell does Montoya… oh, never mind. There are a lot of kids and adults alive because of that teacher, you, and Montoya. Nice work.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you know if there is anything you can use on the LA sting.”
“Good luck.” Reeves disconnected.
Just like that Lynn and I are free and clear of this. I got in the van. “Your friends from the FBI will be handling publicity and police about our part. I’m going to get Jafar and the kids. They’re closing the school down for the day.”
“I need to have the van cleaned professionally,” Lynn said. “I don’t want cranky to come home and get a whiff of fear and loathing permeating the cargo area. Thanks for letting me in on this, John. It really broke up my day. I bet Reeves is wondering how the sky could be falling everywhere you go.”
I grinned, and stepped out. “Something like that. Great idea about the cleaning. I’m putting off the inevitable, but I know Tommy will be hounding me shortly about our workout schedule. Nice working with you, Dr. Venkman.”
Lynn laughed, and waved me off on my ‘Ghostbusters’ reference. “See ya’.”
* * *
Into my third hour of training, I was phoning it in, and Tommy noticed. Knowing the details of my morning, he pretended not to notice. He called a halt to my special training item with the boards before I ended up breaking everything in my foot. I didn’t make any excuses, but for the first time in a while, I was running on empty. The lightning had struck one too many times. Dev, Jafar, and Jesse also played pretend with me. I think they were tired of kicking my ass. Tommy could not let it end with only a halt.
“Since we all know John’s timing today was so far off, that if he had been fighting the Destroyer, we’d be planning his funeral now, so let’s quit while we’re ahead… ahead of John anyway.”
“Thanks, T. I’ll be on the ball tomorrow.”
“Oh, you think you’re done for the day, white meat? I don’t think so. I’m giving these other guys a break from the joke this training session has become. You need some downtime though too. I think five miles on the incline of solitude is in order.”
Everyone laughed at the unfortunate downtime Tommy boinked me with but me. Lora was in the front office with Al. She kept her close for the day after Jafar and I arrived with Al and the twins. I gave Della the short story. We agreed God works in mysterious ways, and let it go at that. Tommy and the guys left. He knew I would do exactly what he said before I quit for the day. Then with only a mile left on my five mile, thirty degree incline, hell finish, Satan’s Spawn arrived. He smiled and waved. I kept silent because my sneaking hunch I had been right about hitting my stamina wall was pretty close. I saved what little breath I had for the finish. The day’s journey came to a blessed end at last, and I leveled the incline, walking off a mile to wind down.
“I have to admit, after the morning you had, I never expected to see you torturing yourself in here.”
“That’s because you don’t know Tommy very well, Spawn. I believe the torture part is finally over.” I shut down the incliner, and stepped off, toweling away the rivers of sweat. “Lynn was incredible today, Den. You’re about as good as I’ve ever seen, but Lynn is a close second in interrogation. Watching the two of you work one of these pricks together is like watching and listening to a great opera conducted by demons from the seventh level of hell. I’m impressed. Lucas and Casey are impressed, and they are never impressed. If we can stay out of prison, we may do a hell of a lot of good.”
“So you’re embracing this torture for penance, huh?”
“Partly. Mostly, I was going over in my head everything we’ve been doing. This interrogating outside the law is habit forming, and I already had the habit. I’m coming to grips with the fact I’m addicted.”
“It’s always best to face up to what’s right under your nose, John,” Denny replied. “We’ve been over some rough territory. We catch these jokers red-handed. We’re not interrogating Cinderella. I know you think I’ve made deals that should never have been made. You’re probably right. That’s all over. We joke about it, but we are the forces of darkness in this fucking land.”
“We have backing now - people in power who have been watching what we have accomplished. Brannigan’s evil empire turned to the light has everyone in Washington going nuts. They want to r
un the empire through us controlling Maria. That won’t be happening. We’ve been given Carte Blanche to watch dog the shadows by any means necessary by men in positions who can make problems disappear, and can’t be bought. I sold us as a package. I…I’ve been seeing Maria.”
Yeah, my mouth dropped open. “Leave the fucking gun, and take the cannoli… this is too much. You did not just tell me you’re dating. Why would you tell me that? Oh, I get it. You want us to think you’ve come in from the dark side. Forget it, Spawn. There are no givebacks once you’ve signed with the Devil on the dotted line in blood.” By this time Denny is howling in laughter. He liked the ‘Godfather’ line. “Besides, I thought you were dating some gorgon from the Greek underworld. I don’t need to ground you, do I?”
I must have struck a nerve because the Spawn of Satan is trying to breathe with tears running down his cheeks, and here I am without a camera to record this frightening event. “You, the dreaded Spawn, and Maria Brannigan with a hundred billion dollar empire, together against all logical thought, and… and shit… it’s the end of the world. We’re doomed.”
Lora and Al hear the commotion, jogging back expectantly together from the office. They watch Denny having a laughing fit, looking at me in wonder. I walk over within hearing range to shoo them away. “Denny’s having a moment. Go back in the office.”
“We better get you home, Dark Lord. You look like you’re on your last leg.”
“Gee, thanks, Lora. Three hours of torture followed by a five mile cool down on the incline take their toll. Who knew?”
Denny was finally gaining control as my two girls left together, and I closed the door behind them. I walked over and got out a couple of shot glasses and my medicinal bottle of Jim Beam. We sat down together at our small table and chair break area. I had added a Bud from the refrigerator to go along with my shot. It had been a long day, and ending it doing my Oprah impression needed something to dull my senses with. I poured. We toasted and sipped. I followed mine with half a Bud.
“Good one, John.”
“Let’s go over this. So Brannigan was the key to the kingdom, huh?”
“That about sums it up,” Denny replied. “I didn’t mean to get involved with Maria. It seems real, but for all I know, it’s just an added layer of what she thinks of as protection from certain death. When I received word from Jafar on what was going down at the school, I thought maybe we’d all gone around the bend of cosmic chaos. You have a lot to lose, John. I know that bothers you; but for the first time ever, I think we actually can have something beyond the job. Is it safe? Will there be casualties? I don’t fuckin’ know.”
I shrugged, and sipped some more. “What you’ve built here isn’t perfect. We kept attacking. We didn’t regroup, take a break, or consolidate our gains. We attacked. That’s how we got Brannigan. The results are spectacular. Always before, someone would stop us just when we had momentum on our side. By the time we’d take the next step, it was too late. Tommy and I took a chance on that kid, Halliday. He kept his eyes and ears open on our trip to LA, and suddenly we’re busting a murdering kidnapper while gathering info on a slave ring. Who knows whether somehow Brannigan didn’t make a move putting Halliday on our radar on the chance he might kill Tommy and me?”
“I’m glad you’re seeing what I’m seeing, John. Hesitation has been our weakness for decades in the Company. As far back as when I recruited you, we’d make valuable inroads, and then piss them away. When I agreed to meet with Maria, she surprisingly had nothing but good things to say about Lynn, and the real friendship they were building. Man, that item of conversation was really out there. I figured she would be the hardest dynamic to keep in line. That wasn’t the case. After she saw how easily we took down her brother, it gave her hope. Until then Maria figured anyone could be bought, or would turn against their country for money, or could be threatened into compliance. She knows better now, and she wants an active role in it.”
In his words, as always, Denny has somehow mixed business with pleasure. I can only wonder if his mission in seeing Maria involved only securing her help, or he was in fact attracted to her. One can never tell with Spawn. “You’ve briefed Maria on the sting Lynn wants to set up in San Francisco then?”
“She loves the plan. Maria believes without a doubt Dhamo will meet with her. After explaining some plausible reasons as to why the Brannigan empire divested itself of their part in the port authority, Maria will excuse herself, leaving the I am sure infatuated Dhamo alone with the most dangerous date in the Western Hemisphere.”
Nicely done, Spawn. I refilled our shot glasses. “No question whatsoever about that particular fact. I think it would be wise to allow Clint and Lynn to take over the scenario after the illustrious Ermer Dhamo thinks he’s won the interest and possibly the heart of Constance Madrid.”
Denny nodded. “That would be my choice, but there are a few new complications beyond tricking the love-struck Albanian I’m here to tell you about. I wonder how many other weird threads we’ll find with ties to the former Brannigan evil empire. You mentioned Halliday. It’s not as farfetched as you think. Talk about monsters – good Lord, was there anything Brannigan ever did that wasn’t evil?”
Denny might have a point beyond what we already knew to be true. “You’re thinking about the school bombing, aren’t you?”
“Brannigan lived the long view. He wanted us dead, John, and out of the game. He wanted it done without any tie to him like all the rest of his chaotic plots. Remember, it didn’t matter to him if every single device worked. His thrill involved the manipulation and activation of his plots. That one of them would eventually work and end us was simply like winning a chess game.”
It bothers me a little Denny probably knew about Brannigan for quite a while, and that I understand it. The right time in this goofy business means everything. He’s happy now because we can attack on our own schedule – me too. Then something more sinister struck me about this getting close to Maria dating game with his mention of new complications. “Do you think this Dhamo in San Francisco might be one more Brannigan thread showing up?”
Denny stared at me for a moment before sipping his shot. “That you’re asking me that means you’ve already considered it. Yeah, I think it’s a trap, because of the convoluted new info I got. Dhamo headed from LA in a boat. The key will be if Dhamo tries to get Maria and Lynn to both go with him somewhere… in a car… up to his room… anywhere no one will be around. If he just lets Maria leave without suggesting an alternative, then I believe it will go down just as we plan. It will spread ourselves a little thin, but I think we need to act in a worst case scenario mode on this. Lynn and Maria will both have trackers on them. We can cover anything inside the hotel with Clint and Lucas. We’ll use two vehicles on the outside ready to go. You and Jafar will have our mobile command post. I’ll take Casey with me to cover the boat. Devon and Jesse will be fine for any backup tracking. We’ll have constant communication. If this is a trap, I want it sprung on my terms. Spotting his crew will be the tough part. I don’t want them in position to screw us. Hopefully, a couple of them will be with the boat.”
“You think Dhamo is here to kill Maria? How would that have ever been considered by Brannigan. His sister ran… oh… you think he knew about Maria knockin’ boots with his South American drug boss: Kopensky. So, because of that hookup, Brannigan decided he wanted a death in the family.”
“I do indeed. Maria told me her San Francisco trip was planned on the books before we took out Brannigan or moved on Kopensky. We won the chess match with the master, because he had no clue we would not only go through that setup at Samira’s conference, but also get Kopensky’s name. Never did he figure we’d streak down to get Kopensky, and free Laredo. Dhamo might have had it in mind to make a deal with the sister, but then Maria began selling off the evil empire, including Dhamo’s port interests. I think he’s decided to play out Brannigan’s death in the family wish.”
“Does Maria know?”
“That hurts, John.”
Yeah, right. “Does Maria know her brother may have wanted her dead?”
“I don’t even know if that’s true yet. I’m guessing. If I told her, she might give away the whole operation. Dhamo’s takedown would be messy.”
“It’s nice to know you’re not letting romance get into the way of your role as the Spawn.”
“Very funny.” Denny finished off his shot, and poured another. “I care about Maria. She knows who I am, what I do, and she’s okay with it. I wish there was another way to do this on Friday, but we need Dhamo alive. I want that damn Albanian Mafia shit shut down before they’re importing nukes through the Port of Las Angeles. Yes, I’m a cold hearted son-of-a-bitch to allow Maria to again be put into danger. They want her dead. If we get Dhamo and his crew, the last Terrance Brannigan thread that knows of the evil empire, and Maria’s connection to it, will be dead. From then on, she’s just an heiress with a hundred billion dollar fortune.”
He had a point there too. Those shots went right down to my toes and shot back up into my brain. The Spawn has me at a disadvantage. What’s to argue about anyway? We’re going to cover all our bases, and he’s right, Maria will be safer if we close down the Albanians. “I can’t argue with your logic. I’ve been wondering if maybe we’re playing this the wrong way. He’s coming up here by boat. Why don’t we take him at sea before he even gets here?”
Denny smiled. “We would have, if I had received any warning. Dhamo didn’t take any chances. He arrived last night with his three partners from LA. Instead of San Francisco, they parked it at the Berkeley Marina. Dhamo’s staying at the Double Tree right at the Marina. Jafar only got tipped to his landing because he’s had all of Dhamo’s holdings in LA on a watch list. It was under the radar when it left LA, but when it docked in Berkeley, it triggered a notification. Jafar hacked into the Marina security cameras. Dhamo brought the guys closest to him. It doesn’t change anything except it’s more likely to be a trap.”
Hard Case: Boxed Set Books 1,2 & 3 (John Harding Books) Page 77