“What the hell was he talking about?” Jared muttered to himself, staring at Liam through a small window in the door to the room.
“What was who talking about what?” Vincent asked, coming up from behind him.
“Good, you made it,” Jared said. “How was the trip?”
“No trouble. We had some fuck from the convention try to tail us, but we shook him as we got over the river,” Vincent explained. “What’s he doing in there?”
“He talked like he knew about the kidnapping all along when he was in the car,” Jared said. “Like he planned it.”
“The dude’s nuts,” Vincent said, shaking his head.
“But he knew something that no one else should know,” Jared said. “I’m trying to get him to talk, but the longer we stall, the more likely the Fed or the Conspiracy will get here.”
“I think he was waiting for me,” a voice behind them said.
Jared and Vincent turned to see Ryan Waters behind them. Jared drew his gun and said, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Such hostility, Jared,” Ryan said, teasing him. “I did wish you luck did I not? By the way, you were hard to follow,” he added, nodding at Vincent.
“So…you…you knew?” Jared said, utterly flabbergasted.
“Of course we did. We have the same boss after all,” Ryan said. “Let me in there and we can catch you up to speed on what is going on.”
Zach’s phone suddenly rang. He looked at it and said, “I don’t recognize this number.”
“Take it anyway?” Greg replied, shrugging.
Zach took the advice and answered the call with a calm, “Hello?”
“Captain Gates, this is Major Stanford. We need you and your company to come to Madison Square Garden immediately to help deal with the abduction.”
Zach was surprised, but he said, “Yes, Major, right away.” He hung up and said, “That was the Army officer I helped transport the gold. He’s calling us in to help.”
“I’m coming with you,” Greg replied.
“I don’t know if that is a good idea,” Zach countered. “We’re likely to be in a firefight by the end of the day.”
“I don’t want to get involved in the fighting, but as the leader of the Conspiracy, I just want to understand what’s going on since you are technically under my command,” Greg replied.
Zach nodded and said, “In that light, you certainly do have to come along. I’m sure you’ll let me fight though.”
“Of course,” Greg replied. “I just need to be aware of what kind of danger I’m letting you get into.”
“Hopefully not that much. The Black Hand can’t have that many people on this if they didn’t communicate it to the whole city,” Zach reasoned.
Ryan and Jared entered the room where Liam was sitting. Ryan looked at Jared and said, “Were the handcuffs really necessary?”
“YES!” Jared roared. “I need somebody to tell me what the fuck is going on!”
“Well you’ve earned that,” Liam said. “Ryan do you have the communicator?”
“Of course,” Ryan said, pulling out the messenger. He dialed a number and said, “We’ve got Bennett here.”
“Good,” the female computerized voice said. “I’ll bring him up to speed, Waters,”
Jared said in a high voice, now thoroughly spooked, “What the fuck is going on?”
“Jared, your Black Hand movement has been playing into the Globalist plan since the beginning,” the voice explained. “In the past year, you have excelled in all areas in bringing New York down and for that I decided to put you in charge of a national militia that will serve two purposes.”
“The first is to destabilize the country. With Liam’s message of safety and security, your efforts are meant to drive voters to him so he and the other Globalists will win offices and enact the second phase of the plan. The way that the second part involves you is that your national militia will act as a strong arm to enforce Globalist policies. Terror, deportations, destruction of property, you will do all of those.”
“What’s the point of all that?” Jared asked.
“The world needs to be saved from itself, Jared. We will do what it takes to do so,” the voice said. “The ends will justify the means, which is why we are planning on using you to enforce our policies.”
“And this kidnapping?” Jared asked, hoarsely.
“It’s a false flag. I wanted to bring you up to speed and put you in contact with Liam and Ryan so you did not target them when they said they would be shutting down rogue militias and gangs,” the voice explained.
“It crossed my mind,” Jared said. “But why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I had my doubts about whether you could be trusted to play your part in this grand mission of ours. But your steadfast loyalty to me has allayed those concerns,” the voice said.
Jared was still having a hard time swallowing this revelation. “What am I supposed to do next then?” he managed to ask.
“Two things. One, eliminate the Conspiracy. They are going to be trouble down the line if they are antagonizing you before you have free rein in January,” the voice explained.
“I actually have a plan for that,” Jared said.
“Good, keep it to yourself,” the voice replied back. “The second is to keep your expansion plans on target. We need you to have as wide a presence as possible by the end of the year.”
“What if the local governments try to stop us?” Jared asked. “My network isn’t in the best of shape right now…”
“There are Globalists in every branch and level of government across the nation. They are aware to some extent of our plan and have been told to look the other way from what the Black Hand is doing,” Liam explained. “This has been several years in the making, Jared. We just couldn’t act more forcefully until we got our foot in the door, which started in 2036.”
Jared fell silent for a moment. When he was able to gather his thoughts, he said, “So, I’ll be in charge of an entire army basically?”
“More or less,” Ryan said. “Do you know what the Schutzstaffel was?”
“No,” Jared said.
“Well, look it up. You’ll be basically doing the same thing,” Ryan explained. “Though in a subtler way.”
Jared nodded slowly. “Okay. I can do this. Now that I understand what is going on I can be a bit more careful in how I plan things so that they would get Hensen here elected.”
“You’re already on the right path,” the voice said. “Just check in with me every so often so I can make sure everything is coming together correctly.”
The line went dead, leaving Liam, Ryan, and Jared alone. “Is that actually a woman behind that line?” Jared asked.
“I’ve never met that person in real life, so I couldn’t tell you,” Liam said.
“How did they get in contact with you then?” Jared asked. “Some guy just handed me my messenger.”
“That’s how we got ours,” Liam said. “I’m sure this one guy knows who the Master is, but I can’t be bothered to find out who it is because I have no incentive to. Whoever it is, they’re helping me bring about what I’ve always wanted: a safe and secure world. People can’t be trusted to do it themselves. We have to be the ones to lead them to the promised land.”
“So you don’t care that I do the opposite of that?” Jared asked.
“It’s like the Master said, the ends justify the means,” Liam said. “Can you uncuff me?”
“No, you need to look like that when you get ‘rescued’,” Jared countered. “I’m planning a trap if the Conspiracy comes to rescue you and I can’t make it too easy or they would suspect something.”
“I definitely shouldn’t be anywhere near here when that hammer falls,” Ryan said. “If you’ll excuse me…”
As Ryan left, Jared turned to Liam and asked, “What did the, uh, Master mean, the whole world?”
“Americans aren’t the only ones who need to be saved from themselves, Jared,
” Liam said simply.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rescue
Greg, Zach, and the Conspiracy soldiers arrived at the Garden, which was overrun by police, FBI, Army, and National Guard units. Everyone who had been at the convention hall was being thoroughly vetted, but none of them had known that the brazen kidnapping was going to occur. The two of them were stopped by an Army sergeant, who said, “No civilians, please move away.”
“Major Stanford called us in to discuss the situation with him,” Zach replied.
The sergeant looked confused and asked, “Who are you?”
“Captain Zach Gates,” Zach replied.
The sergeant talked into his radio and said, “Major, there is a company of militia here that said you called them. Their commander is a Captain Gates.”
The reply was indistinct to Zach and Greg, but the sergeant nodded and said, “I understand, sir. I’ll let them through.”
The sergeant turned backed to them and said, “He is expecting you. If you move along this pathway here, he’s about 200 feet ahead at a command post.”
“Thank you, sergeant,” Zach replied, saluting him.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Greg said as they moved past the barricade.
“No, it wasn’t,” Zach acknowledged. “I’ve seen men get arrested for trying the same stunt without being cleared.”
Greg drove the car forward to the spot indicated and Zach recognized the newly minted Major. He got out, followed closely by Greg, and said, “What’s the situation?”
“We don’t know the full extent, other than Bennett taking the candidate,” Major Stanford said. “We’re not even sure how he got to lead the security for the event. Who is this?” he asked, noticing Greg.
“Major Stanford, this is Greg Carlton, the leader of the Conspiracy,” Zach explained. “Greg, this is Major Stanford, who was only a captain when we worked together to secure that gold.”
“Well, securing that gold got me this promotion,” the Major said. “I don’t think I’ll get another one for this operation, but I’m sure we can secure you more access to the supplies you need if you help with this.”
“What can we do?” Greg asked.
“We need to find the bastards first,” Major Stanford said. “They haven’t released any demands yet.”
“Knowing what we know about Bennett, we’re surprised he didn’t just kill Hensen when he had the chance,” Greg replied.
“The fact that he didn’t do exactly that means he’s probably going for some kind of ransom,” Major Stanford reasoned. “Aren’t they really hurting right now?”
“Apparently not enough to kidnap a Presidential nominee at his own convention,” Greg said darkly.
“I’m sure we can fix it though,” Zach said. “We’ve beaten these goons before.”
“Well, we can’t do anything about the goons until we know where they are,” Major Stanford replied. “The only thing we can do until we get a location is interview some of the crowd to see if they know anything. Which is a waste of time.”
“None of the know a thing?” Greg asked.
“None so far. None of them had contact with the hired security crew that turned to be Jared’s wolves in sheep’s clothing,” Major Stanford said. “But for now, this is all we’ve got.
“Sir, we’ve got something!” an adjutant shouted.
“What is it?” Major Stanford said impatiently.
“We got a tip that the candidate was taken into an abandoned building in Queens, along the East River,” the adjutant shouted.
“We’re going to be getting hundreds of tips like that!” Major Stanford said impatiently. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, before saying, “Look, it’ll be useful if we have you out in the streets so you can follow up on these tips as they come in. Start with this tip from Queens and then we’ll let you know about other tips when this one falls through.”
“Yes, sir,” Zach said, saluting him. He turned to the adjutant and said, “Can you give me an exact location?”
Jared was sitting in the front of the building, looking outside. Despite the measured level of calm he had displayed towards the end of the conversation, he was still rattled by what he had just learned. He knew he should have been furious for being used like that and not being told, but he was still too shocked that he was allied with a major political party and didn’t know it the whole time.
Following Ryan’s departure, Jared had sent an anonymous tip to the authorities reporting his location. He did not know if they would send the Conspiracy, but either way he was not planning on putting up an intense fight. An intense firefight would hurt his ability to expand again in the city and possible injure or kill Liam Hensen, which was now his priority to prevent.
Vincent walked into the room and said, “Somebody is coming. The guy we had stay behind said they got your tip and sent a company after Liam.”
“Is it the Conspiracy?” Jared asked.
“He didn’t say,” Vincent replied. “But those who survived the first fight with the Conspiracy are out in the borough to see them come in. If we get a positive ID on them, then we will set up the trap here.”
“Good,” Jared said. “Let me know if it is the Conspiracy.”
“Yes sir,” Vincent said. “Did you know?”
“I had no idea,” Jared said. “It didn’t even cross my mind that they were with us. I thought they were going to be a problem for us if they won, not benefit us.”
“It’s lucky for us then right?” Vincent asked.
“It seems that way,” Jared said.
The Conspiracy moved into Queens and headed towards the area that the tip came from. Greg was feeling nervous; he had never been a part of a possible shootout before and hoped that it did not come to that. Zach looked over to him and said, “Are you okay?”
“I’ve never been in a firefight before,” Greg replied.
“Well, technically you won’t this time either,” Zach replied. “You’re going to stay in the truck and out of the way. The truck is bulletproof so you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Even from that .50 cal?” Greg asked.
Zach thought for a moment and said, “It wouldn’t hold up long against that machine gun. But if it turns out that this place is where they are holding Liam, I wouldn’t park right in front of it anyway. You wouldn’t be in the line of fire for that gun.”
Greg nodded. “Can I have a gun to protect myself just in case?”
Zach dug a handgun out of the many weapons on his person and said, “Use this. It’s got a small kick to it though, so be careful. The safety is here, make sure you keep that on unless you need to use it. Don’t put your finger anywhere near the trigger either unless you absolutely need to defend yourself. You don’t need to cock it or anything like that, so if there is a threat, you just turn the safety off, pull the trigger while exhaling, and keep your hand steady.”
Greg nodded, unable to say anything because he was trying to remember everything that Zach had just explained to him. “Do you think I’ll need to use it?”
“I don’t know. Like I said, I plan on keeping the truck out of the way, since I have that option this time,” Zach said.
“I hope I don’t,” Greg replied. “But thanks for helping me out in case I need to.”
Zach was about to open his mouth when a bullet bored into the side of the truck. “Contact!” Zach shouted into his radio, which was connected to the other trucks of the company and to Major Stanford.
“We’ve got them,” Vincent said, bursting into the room. “Kyle recognized the guy who killed Ethan in a lead truck moving into Queens. The Conspiracy is coming.”
For all of his talk of keeping the fighting light, Jared suddenly felt an intense surge of rage at the mention of Ethan’s killer. Despite his better judgment, Jared shouted into his radio, “Black Hand, prepare to engage. All units to your positions.”
“I thought we were going to keep it light?” Vincent asked.
�
��We can fight them heavily for a little bit,” Jared replied, checking his handgun to make sure it was fully loaded. “As long as we are away from the prisoner, we can keep the intensity up for a few minutes. Besides, I could use some revenge.”
Zach keep the truck going on its heading while Greg ducked down. Despite what Zach had said about the truck’s protection, Greg’s first instinct was to duck and cover at the sound of gunfire. He was simply not a soldier.
“Greg sit up, you’ll be fine,” Zach said. “That was only a few stray bullets by some scouts. All it means is that we are going in the right direction.”
Greg sat back up, swallowing nervously. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come along,” he said.
“Look, this kind of thing was bound to happen eventually,” Zach said impatiently. “You need to learn how to compose yourself when under fire, because if we are to keep fighting the Black Hand, it’s probably going to come to that at some point.”
In a way, Greg knew he was right. He would not be able to hide forever, simply conducting surveillance and plotting plans for others to fight. Greg had just not expected to be thrust into the fighting so soon.
“Come on, Greg, this is your baptism by fire,” Zach said. “It’ll be a lot easier after this.”
“Will it?” Greg said.
“Well easier to keep your cool,” Zach said. “Look, there is the building the tip mentioned.”
Greg looked at the building that Zach was talking about. It was severely dilapidated and seemed to be teetering somewhat, but it was also clearly occupied as shapes were moving around in the windows. Before he could continue to look at it though, Zach pulled to the side and put another building between the truck and the hostile building.
Autumn (Four Seasons Book 1) Page 24