Nightmare in Red

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  When John finished transferring the millions in their accounts to Nick’s offshore accounts for The Unholy Trio in Belize, he said, “one more thing. We’ll need to confiscate everything in your on board safe too. Please include the whereabouts of precious metals or anything else of value. My very deadly and sadistic friend is an expert in finding hidden lairs for valuables nearly anywhere. If he finds other hiding places on board in addition to the ones you tell us about, it will not go well for you, so be thorough in your listings.”

  “You three are nothing but fuckin’ thieves,” Kel complained.

  Nick moved to Kel, ripped open the man’s shirt, and cut a shallow eight inch cut from the man’s sternum down. Florencia screamed in horror. “That’s just a small sample. One more hesitation, I cut down to your dick, and we all watch what you have inside slither out for cleaning.”

  Nick’s actions led to an uninterrupted revealing of monetary and precious metal treasures aboard the ship in a number of locations. The treasure recovery amounted to over two hundred thousand dollars in cash and convertible bonds, plus a hundred one ounce American Eagle gold coins. John completed the necessary recordings of all facts concerning the drug pipeline into East Coast ports, complete with names, ship registries, and the people connected to Senator Cameron who acted as go between agents to convey her wishes or shield the operation. When Caulfield and Florencia finished, Nick took over.

  “Sammy, have you ever seen Pinter with any of these weapons we’ve gathered?”

  “He uses the Glock with the fancy grips.”

  “Does Kel use the Colt we took off him?”

  “It’s the only one I’ve ever seen him with.”

  “Good enough.” Nick turned to Gus. “Please administer the sedatives to Pinter and Kel for transport.”

  Gus retrieved two syringes from the equipment bag they brought with them. He injected their two prisoners. In moments the two men were unconscious and snorting in breaths raggedly. Gus clipped the plastic ties on their hands with side cutters. Sammy took a deep breath, turning to Nick.

  “You don’t have an overdose or something instead of a bullet in the head do you?”

  Nick grinned. He handed Sammy the bag they put the convertible bonds and cash in, but kept a hand on it for a moment. “You did time in the sand. That means something to me. It means a second chance. Take the money, and get as far away from here as you possibly can. If I ever cross your path again, you better be a man to be counted on or I put a bullet in your head. Here’s my card. Stay in touch at the E-mail address on the card. Let me know how you’re doing. Don’t ever mention my name or anything relating to this incident to anyone. If you do, you’ll meet me in the night, and I won’t be there to read you a story.”

  Sammy took the money, his mouth hanging open. “Why the hell would a killer like you do this for me? Man, I seen guys like you overseas, special forces grunts trekking with CIA. I’m grateful, but what’s in it for you? Ice cold dudes like you don’t do shit like this for a special place in heaven.”

  “I have people everywhere, Sammy. Think of it as a retainer. Stay in touch. If I reach out to you for something, I expect a return on my investment. That clear enough for you?”

  Sammy looked at the name on the card and put it in the money bag. He held out his hand and Nick shook it. “I’m Sammy Rico, Nick. Call me for anything you need me for.”

  Sammy gestured at Pinter and Kel. “Those guys ain’t goin’ into no witness protection anywhere, are they?”

  “Best to be on your way, Sammy,” Nick replied. “I believe our business is at an end for now. My advice is get far away from anyone who might know you were in with the Sinaloa folks. They have a long reach.”

  “I’m from Alabama. I know a place there I can get a new start.”

  “If they find you, contact me. I don’t like people messing with my investments.”

  Sammy nodded. “Understood. I will let you know where to find me. Thanks, Nick.”

  Nick watched Sammy leave the boat. Gus was the first to speak after a brief silence. “What have you done with El Muerto, and who is this sissy boy someone dumped in his place? Seriously, you letting that kid go is on a par with aliens landing in the water next to us.”

  “I told you I take chances with people. I’ve never been wrong so far. You do remember our friend John here was an enemy terrorist, right? Sammy was a vet. I don’t know where he went wrong, but I might need a favor down Alabama way sometime. I bet John understands my reasoning.”

  “I would have shot him in the head, Muerto,” John admitted. “I am not as evolved as you, brother. You shocked the shit out of me too.”

  “Well, let’s wrap this up. I’ll need help to stage my drug runner fall out. The hold’s full of cocaine as Sammy claimed. We’ll arrange the scene where three desperate men decided they could no longer trust each other and got into a gunfight. Grab Pinter and put him over here across from Kel. ”

  After John and Gus arranged the unconscious men to Nick’s satisfaction, Nick used gloves to put the Glock in Pinter’s hand. “Florencia, you dirty bastard. You’ve double crossed me for the last time.”

  Nick shot Kel in the neck with the Glock. He then went to Kel with the man’s Colt. Nick aimed Kel’s Colt at Pinter’s dead center. “You shot me, you son-of-a-bitch! I’ll get you, you dirty rat!”

  Nick shot Pinter, letting Kel slump back in his seat. “Nice shooting, Kel. I think you got him, buddy. Keep watch for curious people going by, Payaso. I have to let Kel shoot Murry after I find the slug I put in Murry’s head. It’s a good thing I didn’t use hollow points.”

  John found the slug in the bulkhead behind where Murry had been sitting when Nick executed him. “I have it, Muerto. What is this with not even one Kabuki dance of the dead?”

  “Don’t get him started you suck-up,” Gus ordered.

  Nick aimed for Kel another time, shooting the already dead Murry twice in the head. “You got him, Kel. Another moment and that sneaky Murry would have ambushed you from the floor.”

  Nick then allowed Kel’s weapon to fall near him. Before leaving the corpse, Nick gestured at John, grabbed Kel’s shoulders and began humming a toneless tune while making Kel jitterbug slightly in his seat for John’s amusement.

  Gus glanced around from his watch position. “I saw that, Sicko!”

  Nick peeled off his gloves, stepped over to where Gus stood, and examined his scene. “It looks good except for Murry, but the cops will be happy with the huge cocaine snag. They’ll make the scene fit for themselves. We’ll go back to the hotel, call Paul, and let him send the notification to the locals. He’ll flip when he hears this new case of Princess Di of Maine.”

  “He’ll never believe how you stumbled over it,” Gus replied. “We’ll have to put you on leash when going anywhere from now on.”

  “With the information we extracted Mr. Gilbrech will be very happy to use it as a trading favors card with the other feds like DEA,” John added. “We obtained a nice golden bonus too. I was afraid you would give the coins to Sammy too. I would like to have a few. It makes us appear to be real pirates when we board a ship and plunder the gold.”

  “Agreed,” Nick said. “Now what’s the frown for, Payaso?”

  “I’m thinking other than the actual violence we always seem to be perpetuating, we’re getting to be more of a comedy act than agents or superheroes.”

  “Arrrrrrrr… we may have to make the clown walk the plank, Kabong,” Nick said. “He’s disjointed about his brother, sister-in-law, and niece only able to see him for an hour during our trip to their lovely city.

  John nodded, folding his arms in disapproving fashion. “It is just so, Muerto. Payaso now whines constantly after that supposed slight. It has become a distraction to the team.”

  “For one thing my brother didn’t have any warning. I’ll fly them out to the coast this coming winter when it’s freezing here. I’m done. I need a drink.” Gus walked away from the horrific scene Nick had created.r />
  “Now you’re talkin’, Payaso,” Nick said, shouldering the equipment bag while John brought along his computer equipment and gold coin bag. “What was the take from the accounts, Kabong?”

  “Nearly four million. It has been a very profitable evening, comrade Muerto.”

  * * *

  “Incredible! Where does this shit end?” The CIA Director paused before going on as if trying to speak with broken glass in his mouth. “Cameron’s network has to be one of the most extensively corrupt political organizations of all time. If justice was swift, we’d be marching the bitch in front of a firing squad tomorrow morning. Your recorded confessions are horrific! She’s opened the ports to anything the Sinaloas want to do.”

  Nick sipped his Bushmills with Gus and John sitting near him. “May I make a suggestion?”

  “Anything, Nick. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m cut out for this. The FBI and Homeland should be all over this. They’re supposed to be monitoring everything concerning the ports, and investigating even the smallest chatter concerning collusion between government officials and criminal or terrorist factions. Add to it the security committees Cameron sits on and we may as well seat Isis.”

  “First, brief the Attorney General and FBI Director completely. Get them on board by making the whole idea a joint operation so they don’t bitch about jurisdiction. Then the three of you should request a private briefing with the President, show him all the evidence we have from Phil, and our drug runners’ confessions. Sell him on my faceoff with her accompanied by Phil. It would be the best finishing touch of all if I could hand her the phone with the President on the other end telling Princess Di he knows what she’s done. If our efforts prove inadequate I’ll shoot her in the head or something of the sort.”

  “I like it! It will take me a few days to make all parties aware of our plans and what we have to bring Cameron down. Will you be done with Boston by then or do you plan on taking a few more family walks?”

  “Oh… you so funny. We’ll be ready to leave Boston for home day after tomorrow. I’ll gather Phil for a flight to DC the day after I get back to Pacific Grove. How are negotiations with Algeria coming along about their ambassador?”

  “Not well. They’re outraged we would even suspect such a thing of their trusted representative. How good is that stuff you used on our Collister? No one questioned his passing, but Algeria will suspect their ambassador’s death after all the noise we made pressuring them to remove him.”

  “They’ll suspect, but they won’t be able to tell a thing if the body’s put on ice for even half a day.”

  “Done deal. Thanks Nick. I’ll prep Clyde for both operations. Will Phil do what he’s told? We have an incredible opportunity with his help. If he blows this, we won’t get a second chance at it.”

  “He won’t get a second chance either. Phil and his wife Clarice know they’re on borrowed time with me. Not even Sonny will save them if he pulls a fast one in this Senator Cameron faceoff.”

  “I’ll start putting the pieces together. Will you handle the ambassador on the same trip into DC?”

  “That’s my plan. It’s not that I don’t trust Phil. I don’t – not even with him facing death if he blows this. I want him watched every moment I’m not with him. Do you have a man who could watch the slug until Clyde and I finish off the Algerian?”

  “Absolutely. Talk at you tomorrow, my friend.”

  “No more talk about your qualifications, Paul. The country needs you to play last resort. Your favorite cartoons are with you.”

  Gilbrech chuckled and sighed. “I hope it’s enough, Nick. Thank you.”

  Nick turned to his fellow cartoons. “It appears the game will proceed with Presidential backup call. We can’t count on every piece falling into place because of the money the bitch commands. She doesn’t know what we know. I doubt she could defend against it anyway. This will all be done behind closed doors ending with her resignation according to whatever lame reason she wants to use. It will probably be the old favorite ‘I need to spend more time with my family’. Her card to play in the game will be to demand it all come out in the open. She can get her fellow Senators she owns to delay everything until hell freezes over and quash all questionable testimony and confessions by our boat boys.”

  “What then if she does do that?”

  “I shoot her in the head, John. She deserves to do a few hours down in our special room in back of John’s place. I get to salivating thinking about all the leads we could get on underground black-hat Washington DC. I’ll bet Princess Di knows where all the bodies are buried.”

  “Democracy is not supposed to operate with a killer wing,” Gus said.

  “It’s a Republic by the way – at least for a few more moments,” Nick replied. “It only becomes a corrupt democracy when people who own nothing get to vote money out of the pockets of their working neighbors. That enables politicians to buy votes with promises of class warfare. I’ve had enough to drink. When I start talking about the political structure I feel liked putting a bullet in my own head.”

  “We can discuss the Kaders. They’ll be waiting when we get home,” Gus said.

  “We also have the serpent’s head, Omar Fontaine, to deal with,” John added. “That hit will take some strategic planning to pull off. Are you going to take him on a straight ahead hit?”

  “If I can find a place he’ll be in any length of time, I want to make a .50 caliber statement from a long distance where there will be no doubt the bastard was assassinated. It will give the people who’ve been colluding with him on his traitorous projects pause. They’ll figure if someone can sanction Fontaine what chance would they have. While I’m in DC, you guys try and break through to his personal day planner. If we did take care of him, the Kaders would be shit out of luck.”

  “The Kaders will be waiting, Nick,” Gus said. “They’ll force action immediately upon arrival. If they decide to take the money, you still have control over the conditions. If they don’t take the deal, maybe you should move on to Omar.”

  “That’s probably what I should do anyway.” Nick saw Rachel strolling out to join them in her robe. “Hi, babe.”

  “Hello boys. I just fed Quinn. What are you guys doing at nearly 2 am on a night before a book signing? Never mind. I can see what you’re doing. How did the boat recon go and how many dead?”

  “It wasn’t like that, Rach. We reached out to a determined crew of unscrupulous banditos. They supplied us with much needed information.”

  “How many dead and don’t give me any of that ‘but they were all bad’ crap.”

  “Three. I let a brother veteran live with a second chance. That should count for something. As to the book signing, it’s not until 1 pm. We’ll be adjourning for the evening pretty soon. It’s going to be a good book signing – no BK’s and no Grammar Nazis.”

  * * *

  “Your pulp is silly fun, but this latest series installment is really bad.” The reader was a round faced, roly-poly kind of guy in Hawaiian shirt and shorts with sandals, sporting three days beard growth, complete with condescending smile. He had straggly brown hair sticking out from under a Harley-Davidson ball cap. At six feet tall, he seemed to be as wide as he was tall.

  Nick nodded through the comment, signing the book the man brought with him. He saw it was ‘Caribbean Contract’ rather than his latest, ‘Assassin’s Folly’. Nick handed it to the man with a smile. “There you go, Sir. Thank you.”

  “Did you hear what I said? I couldn’t get even 17% through the damned thing on my Kindle. There’s no discernible plot, no character development, leaving just a bunch of ridiculous dialogue.”

  “Thanks for the review.”

  The man grinned. “Thin skinned, huh?”

  Nick bit down on all the cheap shots he could have launched with the word thin as part of the phrasing. Instead, he kept smiling. He could hear Gus and John stirring to get closer and hear every word. “You’re welcome to your opinion. I would only point out
if you had read the ‘Look Inside’ feature preview, you could have avoided buying a book not to your taste. Next time I would suggest reading the preview.”

  “I paid the money. I gave you a one star blast to try and get you back on track.”

  This time Nick laughed as did a few other people within hearing.

  “What’s so funny?” The man’s face had turned beet red – not a good look as he glanced around him accusingly. “Can’t you handle a little honest criticism?”

  Another man of equal girth behind him and a full beard, answered before Nick could. “He’s already handled your criticism, dodo. You didn’t read the book, but yet you know there’s no plot, character development, or decent dialogue. You only read 17% of the book, nearly less than what they give you free as a preview. I read the whole book. It’s the best of the series so far. Maybe you don’t know how to read with comprehension. Take your signed book and take a walk.”

  The man raking him over the coals whipped around to march toward the man who had addressed him. “Best if you shut the fuck up!”

  The man next in line laughed and waved off the one star reviewer. “I was in the Marines, big mouth. Come at me, I’ll bitch slap you right into the floor. Move on. You give us big guys a bad image.”

  Security rushed in although the confidence on the Marine’s face had stopped the one star reviewer in his tracks. He was escorted out. A smattering of laughter and applause followed him. The Marine stepped to the table next with a big smile. He held out a hand and Nick shook it. After setting a hardbound copy of ‘Assassin’s Folly’ in front of Nick, the big guy sat down.

  “That was a long wait, Nick. My name’s Jerry Collier. I want to talk weapons. You had Diego using an old Jennings 9mm in ‘Assassin’s Folly’. I loved the book, but that is the worst choice of weapons ever. The damn thing jams regularly.”

  “Thanks for the feedback and support, Jer. Ah… remember now, Diego uses the Jennings as a third backup. I owned a Jennings. I still have it. I can blow the middle out of a target at fifty feet with it. I noted the same thing as you though. I found the Jennings won’t do well with reloads. When I fired only brand new ammo, I didn’t have any more jams. I did have to lower my hand hold on the grip because the slide would shave a little skin off my thumb knuckle because I’ve fractured the thumb knuckles on both my hands a few times. They stick up a little and the Jennings shaves them.”