by Annette Mori
“Gimme those. I’d worry about getting your clothes on, if I were you. I hear they aren’t too shy about entering without knocking,” Kim teased.
Sophie spotted her discarded T-shirt and shorts and dressed quickly. She glanced back at Kim and noted her sitting on the bed tugging on her shirt.
“Come on in,” Sophie shouted out.
Sophie could hear someone in the living room area and a few seconds later, she heard a crisp knock on the bedroom door. Sophie opened the door and waved Char inside.
Char sat on a chair in the corner, while Sophie joined Kim on the bed.
“So, did we give you two enough time to rejuvenate your brains? We could use your help,” Char inquired.
Kim blushed. “Yeah, we’re ready to join you. Thanks for the break.”
Char smiled at Kim. “You’re very welcome. Dani is showing Toni a new program she’s designed that may shed some light on how we will be able to penetrate Viktor’s financial holdings. While we still haven’t quite figured out how to get the retinal scan, I believe Toni and Dani might have a way to uncover where all his holdings are. I’m pretty sure he has some of those holdings under different names and different corporations that only he has access to.”
“Is there any way we can use Byron’s choice of date enhancement to drug Viktor and then pry open his eyes to get the scan?” Sophie asked.
“I don’t think so. He’s always surrounded by guards. I don’t know how we could get the drugs in his system. We don’t have any agents who can pass for twelve or thirteen.” Char shuddered. “That’s his preferred age range.”
“You mentioned that you have about forty agents, correct? What if we planned a major siege on his residence, drugged him, and then got the scan and handprints?” Kim asked.
“It’s risky. Ronda would be the most qualified to lead the assault if we choose that route. I don’t know if Maggie is willing to take the risk but I’m pretty talented with that kind of offensive. I would be willing to volunteer my services and I know of at least three others that would join us,” Char offered.
“I think I could be helpful if we decide to go that route. I can take out at least ten guards without firing a single bullet,” Sophie chimed in.
“I respectfully withdraw the idea. Soph, I don’t want you involved in something that risky and I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what a shitty and selfish idea it was. I shouldn’t have been so cavalier with the lives of the other agents.” Kim looked down.
“Don’t apologize, Kim. It’s actually a viable option,” Char commented.
“Char, Kim and I were talking.” Sophie paused. “We wanted to run something by you and Toni.”
Char smiled. “Careful, it almost sounds like you might be starting to trust me.”
“God, you are a perfect match for Toni. You’re even starting to sound like her. In all seriousness, we have a major pest problem and all our planning could go up in smoke unless we rid ourselves of the mole. We’ve narrowed down our top two choices to Ronda or Ted.” Sophie held up her hand. “Stop, I know you don’t think it could be Ronda, but we can’t be absolutely sure of that. It seems like she operates on her own quite a bit and you don’t really know where she goes or who she talks with. I get the sense she is the lone cowboy type. She could easily be playing both sides and then advocate for Viktor’s disposal as a means of ensuring that her activities are buried,” Sophie explained.
“All right. After we do some initial planning, let’s meet in my quarters. I’d like to bring Dani and Maggie in on the planning. Would that be okay?” Char asked.
“Sure, she might have some additional ideas. How about if Kim and I put on some sweats and join everyone in the control room. Maybe with all our heads together we can add to the shared pool of knowledge and come up with a brilliant plan that minimizes the risk to everyone.” Sophie stood up and kissed the top of Kim’s head.
“Sounds good to me. I’ll leave you two to it and meet you in the living room.” Char stood and left the bedroom.
Sophie smiled at Kim and held out her hand. “To be continued.”
†
Char, Sophie, and Kim strolled into the control room. Char noticed how animated Dani was around Toni.
“That’s incredible, Dani. Your program is genius,” Toni exclaimed.
“You really think so?” Dani asked.
“Absolutely. You’ve found a way to not only track every single person’s accounts, but you’ve managed to crack all the account numbers and passwords. Now all we need is Viktor’s retina scan and handprint and we’ll be able to decimate his resources.” Toni smiled down at Dani.
“I’m afraid that is where we’re now stuck. Kim came up with an idea, but it’s risky,” Char added.
“Do tell, what’s the idea?” Toni asked.
“Well, we could do a major siege on Viktor’s residence and drug him to obtain the needed biometric access,” Char explained.
“Now we’re talking. I’m in. Can we take them all out in the process?” Ronda asked.
“Maggie will never agree to that. Assassinations are only done as a last resort,” Dani interjected.
“I think we may be at that point,” Maggie spoke quietly as she slipped into the room.
Char was surprised that Maggie would agree to an assassination.
Ronda pumped her fist in the air. “Yes. Finally, I get to utilize the skills they trained me to do. We don’t even need to risk a siege on the house. I can take him out and all we need is a retrieval team to obtain the body.”
“You’re a trained assassin? I’m surprised this organization provided that type of training.” Sophie narrowed her gaze at Ronda.
“That training was not provided here, but we have made use of Ronda’s skills on occasion. That option is never completely off the table, but it remains a last-resort alternative,” Maggie clarified.
Ronda looked away. “Where I was trained is of no concern to you. All you need to know is that I remain one of the best in the business.”
Sophie opened her mouth and Kim touched her arm.
“Well, I’d like to consider some other alternatives before we revert to cold-blooded murder,” Toni remarked.
“What are you, some kind a pacifist?” Ronda asked.
“No, but as a computer geek, this is all the way outside my comfort zone,” Toni answered.
“There’s got to be some way to draw him out. I mean he must do normal things like go out to dinner or have meetings with other business associates. He had a meeting scheduled with me. Let’s find out where he goes and who he sees and maybe we can find some way to get him alone, even if we do have to drug him and his bodyguards,” Char proposed.
“I agree. I don’t think I can live with myself if I’m a party to premeditated murder. That makes us no better than him,” Kim added.
“Fuck. That’s what we get for hooking up with a bunch of pansy-assed, do-gooder civilians,” Ronda growled.
“Shut up, Ronda. Brute force isn’t always the answer.” Dani looked at Char. “It’s not going to be easy, because from what we’ve learned so far, he has most of his meetings at his residence.”
“All we need is one meeting where we can isolate him,” Char advised.
“Hey, Kim, I just had an idea. What if we arranged a meeting with someone he already does business with and you developed a latex mask to match their face. Could you do that?” Toni asked.
“Maybe. I might need some technology assistance and a high-quality picture. I’ll also need voice recordings to match their voice if we’re going to pull this off. You and Dani are the most ingenious inventors I know, I’m sure we could make that work,” Kim responded.
A loud boom sounded and the walls inside the control room shook. Small particles of cement rained down on their heads.
“Shit, what the hell was that?” Toni asked.
Char glanced at one of the monitors. “I’m afraid we have visitors. It looks like one of Viktor’s goons tripped one of Ronda’s special welco
me mats. I only see one guy running back to a black SUV. I’m assuming whoever was with him didn’t make it. Ronda, you better check things out and sweep the area.”
“I’m on it.” Ronda rushed out of the room.
“I guess that answers the mystery of who the mole is. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Ted was just here this morning,” Dani posed.
“Not necessarily.” Sophie nodded in the direction of where Ronda just left. “She had ample opportunity to make contact with Viktor while she was supposedly following Ted. If she’s supposed to be such a professional, how come she wasn’t able to follow him without detection?” Sophie inquired.
“Ted is FBI. They’re professionals too and surely they would notice a tail. It’s not necessarily that farfetched that he would be nervous. Besides, I can’t imagine you would have put your trust in some second-rate agent. I just have a really hard time believing that Ronda would betray us,” Char explained.
“Money is a powerful motivator and now that she has all three of us in one location, she’ll get triple the reward. She probably waited until we all entered this compound before making her move,” Sophie insisted.
“I don’t think we’re going to solve anything right now about who the mole is. Char, remember when Sophie and I told you we had something we wanted to talk to you about?” Kim asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m sure Ronda will be back any minute. Can we find a secure location? We’d like to run something by you, Maggie, Dani, and Toni. We have an idea about how to smoke the mole out,” Kim said.
“I’m concerned that this location is now compromised. I think we’d better move to another hub. Dani, will you be able to ensure that our Virginia hub is free of any monitoring devices? I don’t want to believe that one of my agents is a traitor, but I need to ensure the safety of everyone and frankly, you three are key to this mission. I will send Ronda on a mission that will keep her occupied for the next day. That should give us plenty of time to consider your proposal,” Maggie said.
Char was uncomfortable with the notion that her fellow agent might be the mole, but she trusted Maggie to do the right thing, no matter what the outcome.
Toni frowned. “How far away is the new hub and is it equipped as well as this control room? I’m duly impressed with everything here and I would hate to lose access to all this technology.”
“No worries. This is actually our second hub. The Virginia hub is even more advanced, but right now, there’s a bunch of other agents crawling all over that location. It could get a little cozy. Any chance we can move them somewhere else for a few weeks while we work this all out?” Dani asked.
“I think that can be arranged. We should probably take as much equipment as we can just in case one of Ronda’s bombs is triggered by someone hitting just the right place on the fireplace and they manage to find the control room.” Maggie sighed. “I’d hoped we wouldn’t have to abandon this location.”
Char immediately took charge. She quickly shut down several computers, unplugged the cords, and wrapped them up as she tossed them on the table. “Dani, can you grab the duffel bags and we can toss these cords and other small items into them?”
Dani rolled toward the door. “Yeah, sure. Toni, would you mind coming with me to help me grab Char’s to-go bag and then we can get mine.”
Toni touched Char on the arm and Char felt reassured by her touch.
“Since we don’t really have travel bags, how about if I help Dani and, Sophie, you and Kim help Char grab as much equipment as you can,” Toni suggested.
“We should plan to leave in thirty minutes. Anything we aren’t able to salvage in that time will be considered the cost of doing business.” Maggie shrugged.
Chapter 19
Viktor relaxed in his Jacuzzi while a young Asian girl whimpered in the corner. A cigar dangled from his mouth like a flaccid penis. The symbolism didn’t register with him even though his frustration with the whole fucking mess had left him feeling impotent.
He was tired and angry that every effort to rid himself of the meddling women ended in another dead end. He had no doubt there was a connection to the stolen money and interruptions to his business.
He’d already spent millions and was prepared to spend more. One girl brought a million or more in revenue so the cost was negligible compared to his continued loss of merchandise.
Viktor usually preferred blond, blue-eyed girls, but it was increasingly more difficult to obtain that particular variety of human flesh. The Asian market was still flowing, so he compromised. After all, he had needs and it was days since his last conquest.
“Girl, bring me that robe.”
Viktor watched as the young trembling girl retrieved the robe and held it out for him. Seeing her fear increased his state of arousal.
He slipped on the robe and left the tie undone. “You should be thankful I chose you to service me. Get on your knees…”
“Excuse me, sir.” A beefy guard interrupted.
Viktor looked up and growled. “What the fuck is it now?”
“Sir, I’m sorry to disturb your leisure time, but I didn’t think you would want me to wait to provide an update.”
Viktor waved his arm at the girl and she scrambled back to the corner. “Don’t move a muscle, I’ll be back, my little flower blossom.” Viktor gestured to the man. “Come with me.”
“Vladmir is in the parlor waiting for you. He has the update.”
Viktor closed the robe and tied it shut as he walked into his mansion and down the hallway to the parlor.
†
A middle-aged man with thinning hair was pacing in the parlor as Viktor flung open the door.
“This better be important. You are interrupting my leisure time,” Viktor snarled.
“Two of my men are dead. I was lucky to escape unharmed. The area surrounding the cabin contains numerous traps—both trip wires and land mines. As far as I could tell, a professional designed the perimeter protection. Whoever set the traps is an expert with explosives. Oddly, the cabin itself did not contain any snares, but it didn’t reveal anything useful either. I recommend sending an expert to defuse the rest of the bombs before we attempt to examine the cabin or the surrounding area.”
“I work with a bunch of imbeciles,” Viktor complained. “I told you to be careful. The source warned us about the explosives. Find me that expert and get your ass back to that cabin. I want answers. If I don’t hear good news by midnight, I will be very unhappy. No more fuckups or I’ll be forced to make an example of someone.”
The man bowed and quickly exited the room.
Furious, Viktor stalked to the coffee table and grabbed his phone. He punched a number saved in his speed dial list. “Two of my men are dead.”
Viktor’s frustration grew when he heard the voice on the other end respond, “Don’t try to pin this cluster fuck on me. I warned you about the trip wires.”
“I’m warning you. Don’t fuck with me. I’ve paid you well. I want a location for those sookas. I don’t give a rat’s ass about the risk of exposure. We are too close to lose the momentum now. Call me when you have the information I need.”
Viktor ended the call and threw the phone against the wall, smashing it into several large pieces.
“Dirk,” Viktor shouted out. “Get your ass in here and get me a new phone.”
Dirk hurried into the room and handed Viktor a phone.
“I don’t care if the whole country blows up. Do not disturb me again during my leisure time tonight. Bring the girl to me.”
“Yes, sir. I apologize for the earlier interruption. It won’t happen again.”
Viktor untied his robe and flopped onto the couch.
A few minutes later Dirk arrived, dragging the shivering girl into the room.
Viktor waved his hand and Dirk disappeared.
“I apologize for the interruption earlier,” Viktor said without emotion. Upon seeing the frightened girl, Viktor had an immediate erection. He liked it wh
en they trembled.
Viktor pointed to the space on the floor in front of his opened legs. “Kneel there.” He placed each arm on top of the couch and leaned back. “I bet you’ve never seen such a magnificent sight…”
†
Three hours later, in a remote location, an explosion sent tremors in the earth and lit up the sky for miles. Five of Viktor’s employees died in the blast and not a single scrap of evidence remained. Mother Earth closed off the tunnels with rock and debris. Authorities scratched their heads for days wondering why a remote cabin in the woods was completely demolished. Remnants of other smaller detonations littered the surrounding property, making it resemble a war zone.
Chapter 20
Toni was tired, hungry, and grumpy—not necessarily in that order. A lot had happened in the past few days and they still hadn’t talked about Sophie and Kim’s idea about how to smoke the mole out.
The new hub was almost an exact replica of the one they’d just abandoned.
After lugging the equipment into the new control room, Toni had tossed Char’s to-go bag on the floor and sat down in one of the rolling desk chairs.
“I need food.” Toni pouted. “If you want this brain to work, you need to feed me.”
Dani grinned. “I could eat too.”
“I think we all deserve a well-earned break. Would anyone like to rustle up some food from one of the quarters? They should all be fully stocked.” Maggie looked at Char.
“Fine. I’ll go, but if you are expecting some kind of gourmet meal, you’re going to have to join me while I cook. I’m not lugging it back to the control room.”
Toni looked at her watch. “It’s kinda late for a gourmet meal. I’d settle for a bag of chips or some ice cream.” Toni grinned and winked at Char. “If you’re some kind of master chef in your spare time, Char, I reserve the right to a rain check—without the presence of all these other bozos.”