by C. G. Cooper
He brought the drone back outside and stowed it and the glasses in his pocket. After a second to think, he knew the easiest way to find out what he needed was to just knock down the back door. He was pretty sure he could take care of the two men.
Trent prepped by stashing his pistol back in its holster. He withdrew two more of Neil’s presents. They were specially modified tazers. They were a lot smaller than the commercial version used by police and private citizens, but just as powerful. In Trent’s hands, they each looked like matching Pez dispensers and were roughly the same size as their candy counterparts.
Out of habit, he checked to make sure the laser sights worked. Before leaving, Neil had suggested taking two just in case. Trent would have to remember to thank the techie for the forethought. If he was lucky, he could incapacitate both men without much noise. The last thing he wanted to do was burst into the house with guns blazing.
He stayed in a crouch as he moved around to the back of the little house. The keys to what he was about to do was overwhelming force and surprise. Having the two idiots shooting at him wouldn’t do any good. MSgt Trent was hoping he’d catch the men with drug and alcohol slowed reflexes. He took two more settling breaths, squared himself to the back door and pictured the two men ten feet from the rear entrance. Holding the Pez tazers loosely in each hand, he took one big step back then exploded through the door with his size fourteen boot leading the way.
The door shattered the locking mechanism and Trent followed the door into the entryway. He looked down at the surprised expressions of the two drug dealers and didn’t hesitate to aim each tazer at their chests and depress the triggers.
Before the guys could reach for their guns the tazer wires reached out. The probes penetrated their thin shirts and instantly started pouring voltage into their nervous system. Trent held down the switches for five seconds then released and watched the shocked duo slump back down on the couch.
Not waiting for questions, the former Master Sergeant started the interrogation.
MSGT TRENT: Where’s Dante?
PUSHER #1: What?!
MSGT TRENT: I said, where’s Dante? You don’t start answering my questions and I’m gonna keep shocking.
PUSHER #1: No please…
Trent switched on the electricity and watched as the men writhed in agony. Turning the juice off, he started again.
MSGT TRENT: Like I told you, answer my questions. Now, one more time: Where’s Dante?
PUSHER #1: I don’t know, man!
The next shock threw the man’s head back, hitting the wooden frame of the couch with a sharp crack. Turning off the power again Trent explained again.
MSGT TRENT: I’m gonna tell you this one last time. Dante owes me some money and I mean to get it tonight. The only thing I want you boys to tell me is how I can find that fucker.
PUSHER #2: OK, OK!”
Despite the screams and grunts, neither of the passed-out women on the floor had yet to stir. Good.
MSGT TRENT: You ready to tell me where he is?
PUSHER #2 (gasping): We don’t know exactly where he is. He’s been moving around a lot.
MSGT TRENT: You mean since he killed that girl?
PUSHER #2: I don’t know anything about that, man. All I know is that the cops are after him and we haven’t seen him for a while.
MSGT TRENT: So how do you know he’s still around?
PUSHER #2: He calls us a couple of times a day. Dante wants to make sure we’re still making money for him.
MSGT TRENT: Does he call you on your cell phone?
PUSHER #2: Yeah.
The man motioned with his head at the end table where two new mobile phones sat in chargers.
PUSHER #2: Usually calls once in the morning and once at night. Wants to know how big our haul was.
MSGT TRENT: How was your haul today?
The man looked at his companion not knowing how he should answer the hulking trespasser.
MSGT TRENT: Wrong answer, dipshit!
Trent depressed the power switch again wondering how many times he’d have to do it. After a good long shock he turned off the power.
MSGT TRENT: How was your haul today?
PUSHER #2 (trembling): Dammit, man! It was good, OK?! You know what kind of trouble we’re gonna be in with Dante for telling you this shit?!
MSGT TRENT: Don’t you worry about Dante. I don’t think he’s gonna be around much longer. I’ve heard I’m not the only one looking for money. I just want to be the first one to get mine.
PUSHER #2: You can take whatever we’ve got here, just don’t taze us again, man!
MSGT TRENT: How much do you have?
PUSHER #2: A couple grand.
MSGT TRENT: What?! I thought you said you had a good haul today.
PUSHER #2: We did, but Dante sends one of his girls to come pick up every night. She usually comes by around midnight.
Knowing he had to keep up the charade, Trent went in another direction.
MSGT TRENT: OK, where’s the money you have here?
The man on the left pointed to a cardboard box on the floor.
PUSHER #1: It’s in there.
MSGT TRENT: Alright, you two sit tight as I make sure you’re not bullshitting me.
Keeping the two men directly in front of him, Trent shifted around and glanced down into the box. It definitely looked like there was a couple of thousand dollars in assorted bills piled neatly inside.
MSGT TRENT: Here’s what’s gonna happen next, boys. You’re gonna turn, face each other and give one another a big hug.
PUSHER #2: What?
Trent didn’t even bother warning the men as he depressed the tazer one last time. When the jolts ceased both men had obviously met their limit and were ready to comply.
MSGT TRENT: Like I said, I want you to face each other, give your buddy a big hug, and hold it.
The two men looked at each other not really wanting to know what was coming next. They did as instructed and glared back at Trent.
MSGT TRENT: Now, you with the arms on top I want you to straddle your homeboy.
The man hesitated only briefly then awkwardly climbed onto his friend’s lap with his legs and arms wrapped tightly. Trent shifted the tazers so that he had both in his left hand, then reached into a large cargo side pocket and pulled out a handful of long black zip ties.
MSGT TRENT: If either one of you fuckers move, I’m gonna shock you until you pass out. Got it?
Both men nodded and didn’t budge as Trent expertly tied both set of hands and feet with the cables.
MSGT TRENT: I hate to do this next thing to you guys, but I can’t have you running after me. Don’t worry, as soon as your ladies wake up, they can cut you out.
He linked two zip ties together and looped it all the way around both men’s necks. He secured a neck restraint by looping another zip tie between the two and cinching it down tightly. They weren’t going anywhere without help.
He finished by pulling out the tazer wires and stuffing them, two cell phones and two pistols into the cardboard box full of cash.
MSGT TRENT: Well, boys, thanks for your cooperation. And remember, Just Say No to drugs.
Trent exited the way he came in and slowly made his way back to his concealed pickup truck down an alley a couple of blocks away.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Cal. Cal picked up on the first ring.
CAL: Yeah.
MSGT TRENT: I think I got one of those breaks we were looking for.
CAL: OK. I’ll put on the coffee and wake up the boys. I’ll see you when you get back.
MSGT TRENT: Roger, out.
Trent replaced his phone, started the big diesel engine and made his way back down to the compound.
Chapter 14
Camp Spartan, Arrington, TN
After relaying the story (with intermittent laughing) to the assembled group consisting of Cal, Brian, Andy, Travis and Neil, Trent went on to explain what he thought they should do with the stolen cel
l phones.
MSGT TRENT: It seems to me that West is pretty tight on cash. I doubt he’d want to miss any one of his pickups. My vote would be to set a little ambush for his cash girl and convince her to take us back to Dante tomorrow night. The problem is, now he’ll know we’re onto him if he calls one of these cell phones.
Cal turned to Neil.
CAL: Do you have any way to tap into these cell phones?
NEIL: I thought you’d never ask. I can make these phones do things you could never imagine. When I’m done with them, they’ll be singing like canaries.
CAL: You wanna tell us how you’re gonna do that or do I have to zip tie your ass like Top’s buddies?
NEIL (apologetically): Didn’t mean to be a smartass, Cal. So here’s what I’m gonna do. I’ll take whatever info I can off the cell phones. I can pretty much guarantee they’re disposables so their secrets will be limited. If we’re lucky, I might be able to find the phone number West is calling from and then use the cell carrier’s network to pinpoint which towers he’s been feeding off of when he calls. That MIGHT give us a better idea of where he’s operating out of. Again, no promises.
CAL (nodding): That’s more than we had an hour ago. Do the best you can and get us close. I think the rest of us should get working on gear.
+ + +
About fifteen minutes later, Neil looked up from his laptop.
NEIL: I’ve got something!
The rest of the group crowded around to look over his shoulder. The entire screen looked like complete gibberish to all except for the excited computer hacker.
NEIL (pointing at the screen): So check this out right here. I told the program to look for the two numbers I tagged that were recently used by West. At least we know he’s still in the area.
Cal stared at the screen not fully comprehending what he should be looking at.
CAL: Dude, do you want to tell us what the hell you’re talking about? What is all that crap on the screen?
NEIL: These right here are the periodic signals from the towers on the north end of Nashville. All the recent pings are in the same area.
BRIAN: So we can see exactly where this guy is hiding.
NEIL: Nope. This just shows us the general area he’s hanging out in.
MSGT TRENT: How big of an area are we talking about?
NEIL: About two square miles.
CAL: That’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Can’t you do any better than that?
NEIL: I told you this wasn’t foolproof, Cal. It doesn’t help that West isn’t a total idiot. He’s clearly utilizing multiple disposable phones and using them only when needed. The best shot we have is if he calls one of the phones Willy brought back OR we catch him moving out of the area he’s been hanging out in.
CAL: Shit. Look, we don’t have much time before he realizes those cell phones are compromised. Anyone have any bright ideas?
ANDY: What if we just give the guy a call? What’s the worst that could happen? Maybe Master Sergeant Trent could play his ‘give me my money’ routine?
CAL: To what end? He’d just trash the phone he’s got. No, we’ve gotta have a better plan to use these damn things to our advantage.
Cal picked up one of the stolen cell phones and started turning it over and over as he contemplated their next step.
BRIAN: What if we get him to run?
Cal turned to the former Corpsman and waived for him to continue.
BRIAN: What I mean is, setup some kind of loose perimeter in the area we think he’s hanging out in. Then maybe Top can scare him enough to run into our net. It’s not the perfect solution, but at least it’s something.
It was obvious, after a few quiet seconds, that no one really loved the idea, but all were at a loss to come up with something better.
ANDY: So let’s say we get this guy out in the open. Then what? A high-speed chase through the streets of Nashville? I see way too many things wrong with the idea, but unless we can pinpoint his exact location and conduct a quick raid, I can’t think of anything better.
Cal nodded and held his chin thinking.
CAL: So if we can’t just catch him in the open, can we somehow lure him to another location and take him there?
MSGT TRENT: Cal, it’s six in the morning and I really don’t think…
The silent buzzing of one of the confiscated phones cut off Trent’s comment. Everyone looked down in anticipation as Neil carefully picked it up and looked at the caller ID.
NEIL: It’s him. What should we do?
Without responding, MSgt Trent grabbed the small phone and answered on speakerphone.
MSGT TRENT: Yeah?
DANTE: Who’s this?
MSGT TRENT: A customer.
DANTE: Listen asshole, put Jevon on the phone.
MSGT TRENT: Jevon ain’t here. He went to take a leak.
DANTE: Then put Polo on.
MSGT TRENT: He’s upstairs gettin’ it on with one of the girls.
They could hear swearing in the background as Dante tried to figure out what the hell was going on.
DANTE: Go get those idiots and tell them to call me back!
The line went dead.
MSGT TRENT: I guess that buys us a good two minutes. Any ideas?
Neil looked up from his computer.
NEIL: I think I’ve got something. My tracking program was able to pinpoint West’s location down to one square block. Is there any way we can get there fast?
ANDY: Now that it’s light out, I don’t see how we can pull this off without the whole world knowing. I say we call him back and tell him we know where he is and see what happens. Cal, can we get some of your company assets up there like yesterday?
CAL: Trav, can I get four teams of two in civvies and standard vehicles up to Nashville?
TRAVIS: I’ll have them out front in ten minutes.
CAL: Let’s split up into two teams. Me, Top and Neil will ride in Top’s truck. Doc, can you drive your car up with Andy? I would rather keep you two a little farther back just in case.
BRIAN: No problem.
CAL: Alright, everybody grab your gear and any weapons you can conceal on your person. Top, do you still have some extra shotguns in the back of your truck?
MSGT TRENT: Yeah.
CAL: Why don’t you go down with Doc and give him and Andy each one.
MSGT TRENT: You got it.
Trent, Brian and Andy left the room.
CAL: Neil, can you bring your tracking gear on the ride with us?
NEIL: Of course.
CAL: Good. Now go put on some more operational shoes and let’s get going.
Neil looked down at his Italian loafers and nodded.
+ + +
As promised, ten minutes later the teams assembled outside The Lodge. Cal gave everyone their instructions and patrol areas. Neil handed out small water-tight boxes to each team. Cal looked at him quizzically and Neil just winked back.