by Matt Lincoln
Before I could make another move, there was a blast from a clearing horn, meant to get your attention and signal that authorities were on the scene. I knew that I was supposed to stop what I was doing and to get down on my knees. But I refused. I looked for Arik and saw him standing next to Kippy, who, for some reason, was bent over from what I assumed was a wound on her right side. She was holding onto herself and grimacing.
A guy in a suit was standing in front of them, and he had a gun trained on Arik’s head. I could see everything clearly now, as the place had been cleared of airport passengers and most of the staff. We were the only ones left in this huge, open bay.
I needed a minute to figure it all out, but I didn’t have that minute. I looked back to see who had used the clearing horn, and it didn’t surprise me to see Nace leading the way toward us. He was carrying his service weapon in one hand and the horn in the other. And he was looking smug beyond belief at having the upper hand here.
“That was amazing, Mr. Header,” he crooned. “You have stopped the leader of the Yabut from smuggling this young man out of the country. You are truly an American hero.” He was speaking louder than he needed to, most likely for all those people that were still within earshot to hear his cover story. He wanted them to hear everything. He wanted this to sound good.
“Agent Ryan Nace.” I could play that game too. I’d make sure that everyone listening would know who was involved. “This is Arik Fu. I’m sure that you know that he’s be---” There was a sharp cracking sound, and I heard Kippy cry out in agony. I turned to see her hit the ground from a blow to her head by the suit with the gun. Arik reached out for her with concern.
“He’s going for a weapon!” Nace’s unemotionally practiced voice sounded out, and in those seconds, I saw the suit that was aiming his gun at Arik’s head brace himself to fire. I heard Nace moving up behind me to attack. I knew that he was going to be aiming at Arik as well. I couldn’t stop them both.
I saw a flurry of movement from Kippy as she flung herself up to grab at Arik and to pull him down on top of her. He fell hard to the floor as I turned and punched the hell out of Nace’s face. Nace held on to his gun, but I threw him off balance just enough so that the other suit’s shot lined up perfectly.
With Arik pulled out of the way, the bullet hit Nace in the chest, just inches from his throat, and he went down. I tumbled over his body to put some more distance between myself and the agent who had fired. This definitely added some pain to Nace’s situation. I was able to force myself up to my feet, and I got to see everything that came next.
There was a flurry of DEA agents, other suits, and airport security that flooded the surrounding scene. Medical personnel rushed up and attended as they were needed. Kippy held onto Arik until we could convince him that I was one of the good guys. Then and only then did she let the first responders see to her wound.
Chapter 33
Jake
As the scene was rushed upon by the DEA, airport security, and probably a few other agencies with concerns about this, I took a minute to scan the area and to see what was going on. Suited agents were running around and taking and giving orders on their cells. There was one woman that stood out among the rest, though. She was a smartly dressed woman in her late forties who was calling all the shots. At least it looked that way to me from where I stood. The other people around her made it a point to listen and act quickly when this woman had anything to say.
Eve arrived from out of nowhere and was ready for her objective. She marched right up to this agent in charge with a flourish. The agent saw Eve heading for her and stopped giving instructions long enough to address her. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I will need you to leave this area immediately.” She had a deep, commanding voice, and I could sense that she was used to being obeyed the first time around.
Eve pulled out her credentials and handed them to the lady with her most gracious smile. “Eve Sarabia. S.J.D. I do appreciate your concern, but I’m presently in attendance to retrieve my client, Mr. Arik Fu. I am to remove him to his private physician for and into his care at this time. Mr. Fu has certain pre-existing conditions that I cannot disclose to you or anyone outside of his personal medical staff. And as he has been under an extreme amount of stress, as well as physical, mental, and emotional peril, I am removing him in accordance with not only his wishes but the requirements of my previous agreements per my employment with Mr. Fu.”
There was a lot of fluff and unnecessary words in Eve’s statement, and I figured that was the point. She was getting her lawyer on. Eve was staring at the head agent, steely eyed and unswerving. She took her qualifications back from the woman and proceeded to reach her hand out for Arik to take.
He glanced at Kippy, who gave him a very brief nod. “I realize the trauma that you have sustained, Arik, but she is your legal counsel, and you did authorize her to make the best decisions on your behalf before your trip overseas.” For added effect, Kippy turned to the agent. “Without disclosing too much, Mr. Fu has some memory inconsistencies that I keep track of for him, and also on his behalf.”
“Then, I’ll need to see your identification, too, ma’am.” The head agent was now focused on Kippy, who was still receiving medical care for a puncture wound to her right ribcage. I still had no idea how she got it. Kippy dug into her pockets and pointed over at a group of DEA agents watching and recording the scene. “I was already cleared by them, but here, go ahead. Knock yourself out.”
The woman took great pains to look over each and every badge, card, and certification within Kippy’s wallet. In the meantime, I also made it a point to identify this woman from her badge as an Agent C. Montrose. There was evidence of once fractured bones on her cheeks that had healed and a scar at her left temple area that caused a gap in the hair on her eyebrow. She stood like a woman who had military training at some point in her past. This could all be useful to know later on.
“Agent Kalil?” She called over to the group that Kippy had just pointed out to her. One of the more seasoned agents arrived. He was clean cut and put together like he was a poster child for the US government, complete with a military-approved haircut and a freshly pressed uniform. He gave me the once over and then sneered in my direction. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what I’d done to deserve that look, but I ignored it.
“Make a note that Mr. Fu was released to his attorney under my direct advice against such an action, please.” Agent Montrose handed Kippy back her small card case. “I do trust, Ms. Sarabia, that Mr. Fu will be available for questions as soon as his private physician clears him?”
“Of course.” Eve presented Agent Montrose with her business card. “Please call me to address any matters of concern until then.” Eve had Arik steadied against her own body and was supporting him as best that she could. “I called for his doctor to meet us outside. Would it be possible for his bodyguards to escort us out, just for security’s sake?” She gestured to both Kippy and me.
“They’re both his bodyguards?” Montrose seemed very unwilling to accept this. Eve may have pushed it too far. The agent looked me over too and scoffed inwardly, but her eyes gave her away. Montrose was not going to be easy to fool.
However, Kippy stepped up and tried to explain it away. “I’m his official defensive officer. I sub-contracted with an independent squad to secure the results you see here today. And while messy, we got the results we sought. Mister Fu has been safely secured from his captors.” The term “messy” was an understatement if I ever heard one.
Kippy pulled up to her full height and faced down the other agent. “Given the circumstances, Mr. Fu will require all of his guard staff to be released to escort him outside and into secure transport.” She looked over my shoulder and motioned behind me.
I turned to see Rosa, Doc, and Xavier, all standing around and under guard by several armed personnel. Montrose followed the sight and shook her head. “You’re telling me that all of them are working for Mr. Fu? And that all of them need to go ‘e
scort’ him outside.” Montrose bit her lip and motioned them all forward.
“That is what I am telling you. Special Operators Runar, Garridan, Huld, and Batin.” Kippy pointed to Doc, Xavier, Rosa, and lastly, to me. “We don’t use given names in my organization, you do understand.” She was laying this on thick. “Tell you what. How about that I stay to answer your immediate questions so that you may allow them to follow Mr. Fu to his transport? Fair enough?”
Montrose wasn’t having it, but Eve was already heading for the exit with Arik. Kippy stood her ground as I led my team after them. I signed so that they could all see me. Don’t look back. Just keep walking like we’re supposed to be doing this.
Rosa was quick to ask what was going on. They are not going to just let us walk out of here, Header. Everyone is watching us. What are we going to do? There is a plan of sorts, right? The crowds started to fill in the larger gaps in the cleared areas in the airport. We sped up to circle around Eve and Arik and to look the part we were supposed to be playing.
“Jake?” Eve was whispering through her teeth. “How are we getting out of here? How do I get Arik into George’s van without everyone seeing us?” I didn’t have answers for her, and I was more worried about another problem that could blow this whole thing up any second.
“That’s nothing. What’s going to happen when they run that ID trace and realize that Arik’s underage and doesn’t actually employ any of us?” I admired the bluff Eve and Kippy were playing, but it was going to be too dangerous of an outcome when it got uncovered.
“You did what?” Doc demanded, as quietly as his outrage would let him. “Wait, so we’re not even supposed to be doing any of this?” His sigh sounded like it went all the way to his feet in how heavy it was. “Header, this isn’t going to end well for any of us. Least of all Arik when his mother finds out what we’re doing.”
That’s when I looked over at Arik. He didn’t hear any of this. The kid was only walking because Eve was forcing him to. We had to move fast. “Xavier, get on the other side of him. He’s about to collapse.” I swung under Eve’s arm and in between them to take her place as Arik’s support.
In all the talk and concern for Arik’s safety, I hadn’t noticed that he was failing to respond. Xavier and I got his arms around our shoulders, and we carried him to the exit. Agents were following us but were unable to get too close as the crowds of airport passengers began to swarm back in around us. It was a perfect time to disappear.
Doc and Rosa peeled off first, one at a time. I knew they would meet at my Mercedes and wait for a text or signal as to where to regroup. One agent saw Rosa and headed after her, but she would be able to shake him in no time. Doc got away so quickly that I didn’t even see him go. That left Eve, Xavier and I, and Arik.
“I need to go with Arik, just to keep up this charade for as long as possible,” Eve commented quietly. “Once we see George, I’ll get in with him and have him take Arik back to his compound. He can treat him there and keep him safe. I may have to lose my phone, though.” She looked at me with a very sly grin.
“A lot of that going around, I hear.” I teased back. I was glad to see that she was handling this in stride. “Xavier, I need you to either go with Eve and Arik or go after the other dynamic duo to let them know what’s going on. I think,” I couldn’t believe that I was saying this, “I think I better go back in and make sure that Kippy’s alright.”
“Jake, we still don’t have that bag, either.” Eve reminded us. “I mean, we got Arik back, which was the main point, but without whatever is in that bag, there’s no proof to anything we know about his abduction.” She was right. Xavier and I shared a look. We both knew what that could mean for us going forward.
“Arik was the mission, Eve,” I reminded her. “We all knew that. Whatever happens next, we’ll handle it as it comes.” I saw an ugly, monstrous dark green and chrome Humvee pull up into the loading spot just feet from us. I hoped that wasn’t our ride.
“That’s him,” Xavier confirmed, and my heart sank. Eve was already going for the back door as George jumped out and rushed to help us. Xavier climbed in to pull and position Arik carefully inside. That answered my question as to who he was going with. I glanced behind me and saw that the agents had been whittled down to two, and they were both watching me.
George didn’t speak. He only secured Arik and started to run an IV line to him. He checked the kid’s pulse, eyes, and mouth for whatever signs he needed to see and then reached out with the IV bag for Xavier to hold. “Please keep this up and as steady as you may manage. His fluid levels are terrible. Eve, will you be riding in the back, or would you prefer the front passenger seat?”
“Either one. Whichever works better for you, I guess?” Eve moved to allow George all the room he needed to do his job. The doctor worked extraordinarily fast and fluidly. Within two minutes, he had Arik ready to go.
He turned to us, almost out of breath. “Last call for transport. I’ll be driving, anyhow.” George sped around to the other side of the vehicle so that Eve and I could say goodbye and make final plans. Other than those two agents, the people nearby were ignoring us and going about their routines and tasks. We didn’t even rate a second glance now. “I’ll see you soon.” I kissed Eve on the cheek and turned to head back inside. I heard her close the Humvee door and then listened for the vehicle to drive away. The two agents bracketed me as we all headed back into the airport and back to Agent Montrose.
The agents led me to where Agent Montrose and Kippy were standing and waiting. Montrose was talking on her cell, and once she saw me, she turned away rather abruptly. Kippy’s smirk grew as she watched my approach. “Batin.” She mockingly nodded at me. “Agent Montrose is taking a very important call that may or may not spell the end of her career as she knows it. Do be kind and let her finish.”
Whatever was going on, Kippy was enjoying it. I got up close to her and tried to be as discreet as I could, with the other two agents still watching us. “Can you tell me anything? If I’m heading to prison, I’d like to know about it first.”
Kippy pretended to look confused, but she failed miserably. “Why? Have you broken the law? For shame, Mr. Batin. Our association may suffer from such a trial. Best not to let it happen again.” She smiled and winked at me. I still wanted to punch the smirk off of her face, but it sounded like she had a plan. I could wait.
As we stood there, trying to overhear Montrose’s conversation, I noticed that Kippy had begun to make some very odd hand gestures to a man several yards away. I studied them, but they weren’t ASL symbols or words. To my eyes, they did look like a type of sign language, but none that I knew anything about.
I looked at Kippy, who avoided eye contact with me and singularly focused on the man. He had very dark skin, and a freshly shaved head. He wore heavy rimmed black glasses with a slight tint to the lenses and was dressed in solid black fatigues without any insignia anywhere on them. He had a wedding ring on, but no other jewelry at all. He wore long sleeves under the tee, and Doc’s comment about Kippy’s tattoos sprung to mind. I wondered if the man had any tattoos hidden beneath those sleeves that mirrored those of Kippy’s.
“He a friend of yours?” I asked her, trying not to draw undue attention to them. There was a fifty/fifty chance of even getting a response from her, but I had to try. The man had a blank stare behind his glasses, and he was intent on Kippy’s hand movements as well. This continued for about another minute before they both stopped and looked away from one another.
“Don’t be jealous, copain. I don’t have any friends.” Kippy’s attention returned to Montrose, who was wrapping up her phone call. Business was getting back to normal in the airport. The crowds were slowly and methodically being let in and ushered to their proper places. I figured that within a few hours, no one would ever know what had happened here. Maybe sooner than that if we got lucky.
Montrose headed over with a brand-new scowl on her face for us. “Agent Ozoa, you and your colleagues have b
een cleared to leave the premises. Thank you both for your time and your services.” She looked about ready to scream at having to contain herself, and that was only with great difficulty.
“And thank you, Agent Montrose. It has been a sincere pleasure to see you in action. Best of luck.” Kippy bowed to her, which was equally ludicrous and humiliating to watch. She raised her eyebrows at me and gestured off to the rest of the airport. “I personally feel like a nice, chilled alcoholic beverage. What do you say, Batin?”
“Lead the way. I doubt that I have a choice, anyway.” I was interested in what came next and if she had something else planned. I fell into step beside her as we walked away from the scene. “So, what’s with the secret black-ops guy back there? How does he fit into all of your schemes? And once you’ve answered that, tell me how you got the DEA agent to let us go without so much as a question into what we were doing here.”
“What guy? What are you talking about?” Kippy was sincerely ignoring everything at this point. She was heading directly to the Brewhouse and also pulling out a phone from her back pants pocket as we walked.
“Ozoa, don’t be an idiot. And don’t play me for one, either. You know that I saw you two using some kind of sign language to communicate back there.” I stopped, grabbed her arm, and pulled her closer so that she alone would hear me and might be inclined to answer. I was tired of her games. “I deserve a few answers after all of this.”
Kippy looked down at my hand on her arm and then back up into my eyes in a flash. “It’s a good thing that I like you, copain. Otherwise, we might have a problem just now.” She pressed a button on the phone in her hand, and we heard a high-pitched beeping near us.
She gently removed her arm from my grasp and started investigating the trash cans in the area. I realized she was going for Arik’s gym bag. The orange-haired kid had stashed it around here. I joined her in her search, and it took a few minutes, but I found it stuffed into another nearby garbage bin. I reached in and felt around for the handle so I could remove it.