Theatre of War (Matt Drake 28) Tenth Anniversary Novel

by David Leadbeater

  Hayden pursed her lips. “That’s incredibly dangerous. How can you be sure they don’t know you’re working against them?”

  “We can’t.” Sutherland sighed. “But I’ve been careful and already have a couple of friends on the inside. So far, according to them, we’re good. And not forgetting we have Mr. Chopper’s help on the outside.”

  Mai nodded thoughtfully. They had nicknamed Bryant Mr. Chopper for anonymity, due to the amount of helicopters he’d been supplying them. Bryant had happily, and unsurprisingly, accepted the moniker.

  Drake watched the struggle on Hayden’s face. They couldn’t trust anyone here, not in this place. Washington was the capital of lies, of backstabbing and personal agendas, of political maneuvering on a grand scale at any cost.

  “But listen,” Sutherland went on. “There’s a stormfront moving across America right now, and it’s comprised of fire, weapons and bad intentions. This is our only play.”

  Hayden sighed. “If we go inside that place,” she said, “it’s a suicide mission. You know that, right?”

  “I understand it’s a one-way ticket,” Sutherland said. “I understand it’s the only way to corner our friend, to get a few minutes with him; and that once we’re done, escape won’t be an option. The Secret Service will kill us. Do you understand that?”

  Hayden glanced across at Kinimaka. The Hawaiian’s face was creased with worry and determination.

  “After everything we’ve seen,” he said, “with our own eyes... that’s enough. The risk is worth the reward.”

  “It’s a 101 percent risk,” Dahl reminded him.

  “Like I said—worth the reward.”

  “Together.” Hayden nodded and then turned to the others in her car, also addressing the other SUV. “I really wish you guys were coming with us.”

  Drake fought down a rush of emotion. In any other situation he’d see a way out, offer some kind of olive branch. But walking into the White House to abduct the President of the United States and torture information out of him? Well... that mission carried zero chance of survival. And the Secret Service would only be doing their job when they took Hayden and Mano out.

  He said nothing, not trusting himself to speak. He held out a hand and shook both of theirs. He swallowed drily, wishing there was another way.

  “Hey,” Alicia said quietly. “When you’re inside, Mano, maybe you could grab a glass for a souvenir.”

  Drake turned away, gazing out the window. Sutherland cleared his throat and announced his time was up. He would see Hayden and Mano in an hour.

  An hour.

  Somehow, Drake imagined they’d have more time. He didn’t know why. The missions they’d carried out together meant any of them could be killed at any second. But... somehow... there was never enough time.

  The car pushed further into the heart of Washington DC—the Capitol building and Washington Monument clearly visible as they approached the center of the city. Barricades were in place everywhere, along with armed police and groups of the military. Kinimaka made sure he steered clear of the main gatherings.

  Twenty minutes later, he parked them in an underground lot close to a hotel. They sat with the engine running for the AC, staying silent for a while until Hayden announced it was time for her and Mano to take their leave.

  She turned around, offering hands to Alicia, Mai and Drake. “It’s been an honor,” she said. “See you on the other side.”

  Drake thought about all that was happening in America, about the terrible potential for the rest of the world, about the Scourge’s shocking intentions. He thought about the sentence: See you on the other side, which had a chilling double meaning.

  “Wish it could be different,” he said. “Wish we were going with you. Take care.”

  Lame, he thought, but then he’d never been a man of fine words, just distinguished actions.

  He sat back and watched Hayden and Kinimaka climb out of the car. When the doors closed behind them, they shut with a deep sense of finality.

  They sat for a while, none of them wanting to break the silence, and when the phone rang and Karin’s name flashed up on the screen, Drake was the first to reach out and grab it.

  “Yeah? What is it?”

  “We’ve found Zuki,” came the breathless reply.

  CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

  Drake sat up immediately. “Where?”

  Karin cleared her throat. “Get moving to the nearest airport or helipad right away. I’ll brief you on the way.”

  Dahl jumped into the main seat and clicked the car into drive.

  Kenzie spoke up from the other SUV. “We can’t. Air travel’s banned for now.”

  “Is it?” Karin said with a smile in her voice. “Or are you talking to the NSA here?”

  Drake felt a rush of adrenalin. “You can get us to Zuki right now?”

  “Yes. The princess appears to be orchestrating the sixth attack; the one she didn’t reveal in full that involves all the royal families of the world. The secret ones at least. I think she’s wiping them out.”

  Drake held on as Dahl threw the car out of the underground lot and turned onto the main road. “Of course,” he said. “She wants to be the only one. Makes sense. Imagine her status then... at least to herself.”

  “Being the only shadow royal family left on the planet would elevate Zuki to a grandeur previously unheard of,” Karin told them. “Of course, the Romanovs would also be there, but my feeling is that they’d come into the foreground. They’ve already haunted the shadows for too long.”

  Drake tried to think. “How many secret royal families are there?”

  Karin laughed. “Well, your question pretty much answers itself. Only Zuki and the Scourge will know that. But there are at least eight I’ve found working from what’s called ‘old money’ alone.”

  “You mean people like the Vanderbilts,” Shaw spoke up. “The Rockefellers. The Astors. The Saxe Coburgs.”

  “That’s the idea. The Rothschilds, the Grosvenors. We don’t know with any certainty if any of them belong to this secret royal sect that governs the world, that resets society if it gets too affluent or too miserly, that manages wars and epidemics to control mass population and valuable or rare minerals, but we do know that some do. And there are never any new invitations. People like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, though ultra-rich, will never be invited to join.”

  “I doubt they’d want to,” Cam said. “Aren’t the royals all beholden to each other in a way?”

  “Good insight,” Karin said. “And yes, they can’t possibly act alone. Not on something of great importance. Which helipad is closest to you?”

  Dahl tapped several times at the navigation screen before reeling off an address. Drake gnawed on his bottom lip as the Swede kept just one eye on the road.

  “Thirteen minutes’ drive.”

  “I can handle that,” Karin said. “There’ll be a chopper waiting for you all.”

  “Not all,” Alicia said quietly. “We’re leaving Hayden and Mano here.” She proceeded to elaborate.

  Karin was silent for a moment or two afterward before picking up her explanation. “Zuki was spotted first in New York City, after the attacks, and then later in eastern New York State. Impossible to know her destination. But then we started seeing others high up on the watch list. I mean wanted mercenaries, killers for hire, fallen ex-soldiers who’ve lost their way in the world.”

  “All headed in the same direction?” Drake guessed.

  “Exactly. The Long Island Expressway lives up to its name and has a ton of surveillance cameras. And with air travel excluded, this makeshift army was forced to drive it. I guess the Scourge never factored that into their wider plan, did they?”

  “You can’t anticipate everything.” Drake shrugged. “And that potentially buys us more time. Any idea of their schedule?”

  “As I’m sure you know, the Hamptons form a series of villages and hamlets in Suffolk County, New York,” Karin said. “Long established as the histo
rical summer colony of the northeastern United States, they’re a playground for the rich. Real estate prices are among the highest in the country. One street in Southampton Village is known as Billionaire’s Lane. You get the picture.”

  “Got it,” Dahl said.

  “One of our wealthy royal families owns an entire hamlet down there. It’s not a huge secret. The shadow royals survive not only on their wealth and their secrets but by staying—ever so slightly—in the public eye. It’s why you have buildings, parks and universities named after them. Events. Football teams.”

  “An entire hamlet?” Shaw questioned. “That sounds big.”

  “It is. We’ve tracked Zuki and around a hundred mercs headed there right now.”

  “A hundred?” Mai said. “Isn’t that overkill?”

  “Maybe,” Karin said. “I guess she wants to be sure. The royals will have a decent security set up, don’t forget. Oh, and there’s something else.”

  Drake glanced down at the phone. “That sounds ominous, love.”

  “It is, I’m afraid. Over half these mercs are foreign nationals. They entered the country at separate locations legally on holiday visas over two weeks ago. Most are Japanese, and all have some affiliation to the samurai.”

  Drake winced. “How could that not have been flagged?”

  “I had to dig deep,” Karin said. “And such deeply buried ties would not necessarily have been noticed nor raised red flags if it had. They entered in ones and twos clear across the country. Different dates and times. None were on any kind of watch list. They’re not criminals in their hometowns. Maybe some were detained and fifty was all she could get.”

  “Still, fifty samurai and fifty mercs is a formidable army,” Dahl speculated.

  “Not just mercs either,” Karin said. “Thirty of the fifty we identified are ex-Delta. Proper warriors, I’m afraid.”

  Drake looked at Dahl in the silence that followed. “Is this a good idea?” he wondered. “Leaving DC, and Hayden and Kinimaka, to pursue almost certain death? We can get that here. I’m wondering if Zuki is so important?”

  “She’s known the plan all along,” Mai said. “I’m sure of it. Which means she also knows the location of the Scourge. If we stop them, we stop the attacks, give America the breathing space it needs, and we can install a new leader. The Scourge can be linked to President Lacey, I have no doubt.”

  “You can’t be sure she knows where they are,” Drake said.

  “I am,” Mai said. “She’s one of them. Always has been. They offered her the chance to be the last surviving old royal and she jumped at it. She worked this plan through with them. The link to the Devil also proves it. If you remember, he was working with the Scourge and planning to break Zuki out of prison. It all makes sense.”

  “In principle, I agree,” Karin said. “But we have no proof of that. And no guarantee you can extract the information from her. She’s pretty tough by all accounts.”

  “She is.” Mai smiled. “But I’m tougher.”

  “Me too,” Alicia said. “We’ll make the brat talk.”

  “Did it occur to you she fed you all the previous information to slow you down?” Karin pointed out. “You’ve been chasing your tails pretty much this whole time. And the info came straight from Zuki.”

  Drake tried not to think about that. “Why, apart from wanting to become the last surviving royal, would she wipe the families out?” he asked.

  “The Scourge’s final revenge,” Mai answered for Karin. “Remember, the shadow royals saw the emerging Romanovs and their incredible wealth as a great threat and used the Russian Revolution to wipe them off the face of the earth. This is the Romanovs’ great vengeance.”

  “And as a bonus,” Karin said. “Exterminating the old royal families will destabilize the world, as it interrupts the flow of money from country to country. Economies will shrink. Markets will fall. A new reset will occur. And the Scourge will be perfectly placed to take advantage of it.”

  “It’s bloody diabolical,” Drake grated. “Playing with people’s livelihoods and families. Their way of life.”

  “It’s what governments do every day,” Dahl said.

  “I know, I know. It gets right under my skin, that’s all.”

  “Four minutes to the helipad,” Dahl said. “And then another hour or so to the Hamptons. We’d better tool up too.”

  Shaw located a CIA storage box located close to the building with the helipad. Karin cleared them all through security as they approached. For the first time in days, Drake saw a ray of light through this endless night. A chance to affect the outcome for the better.

  “We can win this,” he said and not just for show. “Zuki gets us the Scourge, and the Scourge gets us the President.”

  “And Hayden?” Mai asked.

  “Backup.” Drake winced a little. “We can’t pull her out now. We’re going up against fifty samurai and at least thirty Delta boys. The odds aren’t exactly in our favor.”

  “I may have some good news for you there,” Karin said.

  CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

  The helicopter swept along a wide, sandy beach, a mega-million-dollar finger of land running along the edge of Long Island and fronting the Atlantic Ocean. A single main road separated stunning properties to both sides, offering access to hundreds of exclusive homes, some of which had the ocean to one side and Moriches Bay to the other.

  They only had eyes for one in particular.

  The hamlet of Stonebrook Bay lay past Southampton, and toward an even more exclusive area. Palatial homes lay behind well-trimmed, hundred-foot-high trees, sprawling mansions and tennis courts, swimming pools, acres of unused land, and twenty-car super-garages that were homes unto themselves with three floors, games rooms and cinemas.

  This was a different world, and Drake saw none of it.

  They skimmed low across the trees, homing in on a particular property standing on the seaward side of a bunch of startling homes. This was the small hamlet belonging to the shadow royal family known to Drake only as the Gundowans.

  “Be careful,” he muttered to Dahl. “At this rate their security’s gonna blast us out of the air before we get chance to save their bloody skins.”

  The Swede pursed his lips. One issue was the Gundowan family’s anonymity. They were completely uncontactable. No clear line of communication existed directly to the family, and those that led to various tributaries weren’t responding.

  Dahl buzzed the million-dollar homes with impunity, raking the chopper over the tops of castle-like spires, flag poles and even battlements.

  Alicia had a digital image of the area on her phone along with a photo of the Gundowan home.

  “That could be it.” She pointed, zooming in on the screen. “Everything’s in the right place.”

  Drake studied the estate below, made up of a three-story home with two long wings and hundreds of rooms, with outlying buildings, pools and sports pitches. He counted twenty-three vehicles parked haphazardly on the land, saw people lounging by the pool and swimming.

  “That’s it,” Alicia said. “Get down there.”

  “They’re not gonna believe us,” Mai said, exasperation evident in her tone. “This has to be played a different way.”

  “And news on the Delta teams?” Kenzie asked.

  “The good Delta teams Karin is sending to help us are twelve minutes out.” Shaw was looking after communications with their approaching allies.

  “We’ve got point on this,” Alicia said. “What about Zuki and her royal band of bitches?”

  “Best guess? Less than an hour out.”

  Drake gave Karin silent thanks for finagling them a little air space, enabling them to make the journey from DC in minimal time. Unfortunately though, the problem below was escalating.

  “Guards have spotted us,” Cam said. “Pull up.”

  “Can’t you like... waggle your wings or something?” Alicia asked Dahl.

  The Swede turned and gave her a dead-eye stare. “Wag
gle what?”

  “You know. Isn’t it a sign of comradeship? Like saying ‘we come in peace.’”

  “We don’t have wings,” Drake reminded her. “And we’re not aliens. Well, not all of us.”

  “Sutherland’s had more than an hour,” Mai said. “Along with Bryant. I’m sure they’ll have made some sort of contact between them—even with these people.” Her tone reminded them that they weren’t dropping in to save regular, genuine individuals here—they were dealing with shadow-characters. People who believed they were kings and queens, and enjoyed manipulating the fate of the world and all its citizens.

  “Why are we trying to save them again?” Cam asked.

  “You know why,” Mai said. “Because of Zuki. We want her. And we don’t want the entire planet destabilized, which is what the Scourge are angling for. The fate of millions hangs on this.”

  Cam shifted awkwardly. “Thanks.”

  Below, guards gathered along the front of the sprawling house, where the looping driveway ran past the main entrance door. Drake watched as several spoke into a comms system, communicating with someone unseen.

  Dahl held the chopper steady, the wash stirring up dust whirls along the winding driveway below.

  “I think we’re good.” Dahl nodded as the guards lowered their weapons and stood back. One of them waved the chopper down.

  Dahl wasted no time dropping them like a stone through the air.

  Drake’s stomach somersaulted but the Yorkshireman held on and made ready. They were tooled up to the hilt, automatic rifles, handguns and spare ammo bristling in their backpacks.

  The moment the heavy skids touched earth, Drake threw open the door and climbed out into fresh air.

  “Who’s in charge here?” he shouted.

  A tall man with a thick beard and hard face approached. “I am. Who are you?”