The Carbon Trap (The Carbon Series Book 1)

by Randy Dutton

  Anna checked her ‘go bag’ for the spare IDs, Maulana’s passport, the euros and small sachet of diamonds. She chambered a stun shot round into the shotgun and loaded the magazine, then put the weapon back into the bag. Next she included a small box of USB flash drives from atop a desktop computer.

  The training BeltSword was laying on the work bench. She pondered it for a moment. I sharpened it before I left. I’ll put it on...just in case. She took a switchblade off a shelf and put in her back pocket.

  Now for the armory. She wound detonation cord through the barrel of the stored guns so that no forensic evidence of past crimes could be identified and wired it to a detonator. She put the self-destruct equipment on standby, considered, and then stuffed a homemade, hand-held antennae, cabled to an iPad, sitting on the workbench into the go bag. She opened the refrigerator so it wouldn’t thermally insulate its contents, and grabbed a bottled water and put it into the bag.

  Okay, I think I’m set.

  She turned on a perimeter speaker system and microphone. Using as gruff an electronic voice as she could imitate, she announced, “Warning. Electromagnetic Scanner Alert – You Have Activated A Self-Destruct Sequence. This building will explode in 10 minutes!” She repeated it, this time in French. She set the self-destruct timer for 10 minutes, while simultaneously setting her watch timer.

  Anna silenced the microphone to prevent the sound of her escape through the hatch from being transmitted. She watched the dojo monitor and saw the warning had been taken seriously. A guard had come down and told the others to evacuate.

  She made a quick check of other house cameras, and was aghast to see Maulana tied up in a chair.

  Maulana’s eyes were wide with fear as a grinning Jared pulled out his knife.

  The loudspeaker announcement had startled both of them.

  Jared gritted his teeth in anger, then looked at the servant. A malicious sneer formed and he put his knife away.

  He pressed his transmitter. “Get out of the dojo! Everyone out!”

  Damn that woman for having set a trap. I should have known she’d do something sneaky.

  Jared opened his cell phone, while directing the evacuation. Men rushed past him as he barked orders. “I want two in back, one close to each side. I and another will be in front. Anyone tries to leave, shoot to kill!”

  Jared saw Maulana’s pleading eyes. “No, I’ll let her kill you with her explosives.” He smiled malevolently, and walked out the front door while carrying a canvas bag of evidence from the villa. He yelled to his men, “Have your weapons ready and keep at least 40 meters away. Shield your faces.”

  Then Jared spoke to the phone. “Mr. Swanson, your fixer just set the villa to explode...your villa. We must have tripped something. We’re evacuating and will hold a perimeter until it’s safe. More later.” He walked out the door.

  Anna watched the camera feed. He’s still alive! Jared’s talking on the telephone, probably to Swanson. He looks somber, and he’s pointing to the exits for his men to go out.

  I’ve got nine minutes remaining. I can’t leave Maulana to those wolves.

  With her silenced Walther in hand, she opened the Armory door and rushed up the steps. Peering around the staircase corner to ensure the coast was clear, she dashed behind Maulana’s chair and whispered, “No noise Maulana!”

  The switchblade sliced through his bindings, which she grabbed to conceal how he escaped. She tugged on his arm, pulling him to the stairs.

  He wordlessly followed her downstairs and into the armory. She shut the door.

  His eyes were wide by the sight of all the weapons, tools, and computers.

  This is the first time Maulana’s even known about the armory. “Down the ladder now and go fast! Meet me just outside the entrance, but stay hidden and very quiet!”

  He obeyed without comment.

  Four minutes remained. She stuck the pistol into her belt and turned on a forced air ventilator that would pump air into the armory and exhaust it out a hidden stack. The hatch open was left open. As she climbed down the tunnel, her thoughts remained on the escape. The dett cord will go off and ignite a metallic fire. The whole armory and tunnel will soon be a phosphorus-fed, superheated inferno. Nothing inside will survive, but the building itself is protected by the steel plating, insulation and fire brick. No sense in destroying my dream villa. But we must clear the tunnel opening fast.

  With three minutes left, she exited the tunnel and pulled the Walther from her belt. Maulana was there, his face still fearful. She touched her finger to her lips and aimed it upward toward the walkway edge.

  With the heavily loaded pack, there wasn’t time to climb along the cliff edge. They had to take their chances going up the stairs.

  She motioned for him to follow, but had gotten no more than halfway up before Maulana slipped on the metal steps, hitting his shin on the sharp edge – grunting from the impact.

  The momentary distraction put her at a disadvantage.

  “Put the pistol down, now!” a guard commanded loudly as his face appeared just beyond the edge of the walkway. A Heckler & Koch UMP9 was aimed at her head. He was pressing his radio to call for backup. A second armed guard appeared over the edge 40 meters farther, and also had his machine pistol aimed at her.

  She lowered her pistol and placed it on the stair, knowing it was no match for two automatics capable of spitting out nearly eleven rounds a second.

  Maulana already had his hands up.

  “Now you will come up here,” the grinning guard said. “Jared said you’ve broken the rules. You’ll suffer the same fate as your dogs.”

  She was trapped, and now livid. “You killed my dogs?!”

  He nodded with a grin. “They weren’t very good guard dogs anyway, Miss Picard.”

  She knew she had to try. Walking up the stairs to the pathway, she was within two meters of the dog killer, when he demanded, “Put the bag down, then raise your hands.”

  Positioning herself so that the first guard blocked the view of the second, her right hand slowly unclipped the pack buckle, while her left quickly released the BeltSword buckle. She swung her body in a slow, exaggerated leftward motion to give the impression the bag had destabilized her.

  As the bag dropped to her left, her body quickly rotated. Her right hand grabbed the handle of her BeltSword. In a fast swoosh, she drew it outward and up, nearly decapitating the first guard. As she crouched behind the still crumpling corpse, she lunged for the clanking UMP9 that had fallen from his hands.

  Dropping her right knee, she went into a shoulder roll while reaching with her left hand for the skittering pistol. Knowing it was long odds, she had to try to prevent capture. She hadn’t completed the roll when the second guard, now 10 meters away, fired two rounds – one thudding into the corpse, another ricocheting off the rock centimeters from her head – then it was silence.

  Half a second later, Anna was still coming out of her roll, her hand just getting a grip on the fallen pistol. As she brought the pistol to bear on the second guard, she froze.

  The second guard’s corpse toppled forward as a fist-sized rock plopped onto the sidewalk just in front of her, having spent its energy impacting the back of the shooter’s skull. The bent body settled as his smoking UMP9 now clanked on the cement.

  She looked past him, her barrel aimed down the walkway.

  Twenty meters beyond, Pete was running towards her and motioning for her to run the opposite direction.

  She jumped up out of her kneeling position. There was no time to scold him as she twisted around to get Maulana’s attention.

  “Maulana, grab the pistol on the steps and run to the cemetery, now!” Turning to Pete, she shook her head at him while she tried rolling the first guard over the edge of the cliff, blood pooling where the head had lain.

  Pete grabbed the nearest shooter by the belt and collar, and flung him over some bordering shrubs. As he got to the first body, he hoisted the headless man to waist height and swung it. The body
smacking the angled rock face and disappearing.

  “Grab the other pistol!” she said a second later.

  Within seconds they were shielded from view by the neighbor’s tree as they ran towards the cemetery.

  She glanced at her watch timer, her 10 minutes were out. Over the sound of crashing surf, they heard a rumble and looked over their shoulders. A long tongue of flame shot out the tunnel entrance. It flared about 10 seconds before they heard the pops and rumbles as ammunition and explosives cooked off inside the armory.

  Dashing to the cemetery parking lot, they caught up with a shaking Maulana.

  “Maulana, you’ll be okay. Give me the pistol,” Anna said.

  He complied.

  “Here’s your passport and some money. Now take these keys and that car”—with a stack of euros she pointed to the Fiat rental—“Return it to rental agency.”

  “What is happening Miss Anna?” His voice was quavering.

  “They’re trying to kill us! Don’t say anything to anyone. Get out of the country today...back to Bangladesh. Go, now!”

  Maulana dashed to the vehicle and drove off.

  Pete handed her the keys to his Peugeot. “Here. You know the roads.”

  She started it in an instant, threw it into gear, and raced out of the cemetery lot.

  Pete expected a scolding – what he got was her right hand squeezing his left leg.

  “Thank you, Pete. God, I love you. You proved you must have been a great quarterback. You really are my guardian angel, even when I think I don’t need one.”

  Both her hands went back on the wheel to negotiate the sharp turns and quickly get them out of the area.

  “I would say you just became Maulana’s guardian angel,” Pete said as he looked around to see if anyone were following.

  She reached into her bag on the floorboard and pulled out a set of pliers and her Krugerrand. “I need you to turn this off.”

  “But nobody else knows how—”

  “Pete, just do it...please?”

  “Okay.” He turned the pin to turn hers off and then pulled the coin he had brought and turned it off as well.

  She looked at the second coin. “You got Patrick monitoring?”

  “Had...until just now.... By the way, how much did you give Maulana?”

  “About 40,000 euros.”

  “Wow, talk about a severance package.”

  “It’s over one hundred years of pay in a Bangladesh village…One moment.” She picked up a disposable cell phone, dialed 1-1-2, and said in French, “Police, there a bunch of men with machine guns at a villa on Cap Ferrat near Saint Hospice. I think they shot some dogs. They started a fire.” She ended the call.

  Her smile was restrained. “That should distract them a little.... Please remove the battery.”

  He complied. “Did you accomplish what you needed to?”

  “Yes, here at least. There’s one more place.” She exhaled noticeably.

  They remained silent while she maneuvered the curving peninsula roads.

  Once they hit the main highway her adrenalin slowed and her emotions suddenly kicked in. Her voice quavered and tears ran freely.

  “Pete...sniff...they killed Styx and Perses! My dogs didn’t even attack them. Jared’s men did it for spite…”

  “Or precaution, if the guards feared they would suddenly be attacked,” Pete added calmly. “I’m really sorry, Anna. The Rotts really were my friends.”

  “No…they did it for spite. I could tell by the guard’s voice. He enjoyed telling me.” Her hurt was turning into rage.

  “Anna, pull over. Let me drive. You’re too upset.”

  “No…I’m okay. Grab me the bottle of water out of the bag...please?” She was trying to get her emotions in check.

  As he did so he looked at the odd collection of items in the bag. “Going to war?” He handed her a tissue with the bottle.

  “Most of that stuff’s a precaution.” She drank part of the bottle and handed it back.

  He picked up the directional antennae. “What the hell’s this thing?”

  “It’s a SCADA transceiver…I made it for hacking cars.”

  “You’ll have to explain that to me.”

  “Later. Right now we need to get to Eurécom.”

  “What’s there?”

  “The hacker site I set up. I don’t trust Swanson or Jared not to know. We have to get there before them.”

  Anna drove full out while trying not to appear too erratic with her driving. “If Jared hits Dark Energy—”

  “Dark Energy?” He was slightly irritated. “You obviously didn’t tell me everything you intended on doing here.”

  “Sorry. I’m used to compartmentalizing.... It’s the name of the spoof company I set up as cover for the hacking operation. It made billions for Swanson. That’s where my…our… nest egg originated. There they know me as Claire. I’m Irish, and emo. I dress a little…weird when I’m there.”

  “If you go there dressed like this, won’t you blow your cover?”

  “Maybe. Grab my airline carry bag and pull out some pantyhose.... Cut off the legs.”

  “Huh?”

  “Hey, Marine...” Her voice strengthened as she reasserted control over her emotions, “ever watch TV where bandits put pantyhose over their faces?”

  “I get it. You can get access and do what you need but obscure your current appearance. They’ll still know it’s you but not what you really look like.”

  “You catch on quick. Now, I’ve got a trusted side-kick who can help, but whom they won’t be able to identify. We have to protect your identity...Robin. I need someone to stand guard.”

  “Okay…Catwoman.”

  She was finally smiling, but dried tear tracks still were evident on her face.

  She wiped her face with her sleeve. “God, you’re fun to have around, Pete.”

  “Well, you certainly know how to show a guy a good time.”

  “I know why you came. And I appreciate it. But you took a big risk.”

  “I’m protecting my family...my son, as well as my wife. Without you, I’m a hollow shell.”

  She looked at him with great appreciation. “Family...” She let the word resonate. “You think it will be a boy?” she asked warmly.

  “Hell, yes…though if it’s a girl, I’ll be just as happy. And if it is a girl, I sure hope she looks like you. Hey, maybe they’re twins!”

  She just smiled. He knows how to make me happy.

  They cruised past Nice, then up the winding hill leading to Eurécom. Anna, now fully recovered, seemed to be scanning the curves and turnabouts.

  Pete finally asked, “What are you looking for?”

  “An ambush point.”

  “I thought they were far behind us?”

  She grinned. “Not for them…for us.”

  Chapter 75

  August 5, 1000 hours

  Dark Energy Computer, Eurécom, France

  Anna parked the rental car near Dark Energy’s delivery drive. The location she chose was shielded from the parking lot in front, and landscaping blocked the view from distant roads. The building itself was located on the edge of Eurécom’s vast complex.

  The couple left all electronics in the car – their watches, key fob, and cell phones.

  “Bear with me on this.” She put her hair up into a black net to mask her blondeness and with a finger wiped some dark make-up over her eyebrows.

  At the building’s corner, they put the pantyhose over their heads. Both looked extremely silly but nobody was on the street to notice.

  He carried the back pack, and she, in the lead, carried a shotgun. They strode quickly into the front office. As the guard rose to defend the access, Anna blasted him in the chest.

  Pete’s eyes widened as he watch the stun shot incapacitate him with over 100,000 volts.

  She shrugged. “I didn’t have time to convince him.”

  From behind the desk, she pointed at a button. “Press this and I’ll swipe
my card.”

  When the buzz sounded, she placed her hand on the biometric reader. They rushed in to the cool room.

  The relative dark was punctuated by well-lit work areas. Pete was surprised by the number of hackers and computers.

  Anna yelled in an Irish accent, “Everyone, this is Claire! I’m declaring a bug out! We’re about to be raided! The police want to put us all in prison! They’re sending non-uniformed officers for the raid!”

  Chatter and the sound of chairs scraping the floor increased.

  Her voice got louder. “You’ll have money deposited into your accounts, enough for five years, unless you talk! Then it’s jail, or worse! You’ve done great work...the environmental movement considers each of you an eco-hero! Go home...go on vacation...go back to school...be happy and live great lives! Grab your personal things but leave all your portable electronics here...repeat...do not remove any electronics from this building. They will use it to track you or use it as evidence. Collect some spending money at the door. Never come back! Never talk about this!”

  Unzipping her go-bag containing the euros, she handed a bundle of notes to each passing employee, then passed the responsibility off to another.

  Turning to one of the first evacuees, she demanded, “Somebody grab the guard and take him with you.”

  Her voice boomed to the remaining employees still in the center. “Get the hell out of here...Scram!”

  The brown heroin addict carried a box of drugs past her and out the door. Anna shook her head. He’ll overdose before the day’s out.

  As people flowed out of the building, Jillian rushed over. “Claire? What’s going on? Why the costume? Who’s he?”

  “An assault team’s headed this way.... For your own protection, help us set the incendiary devices. I’ll explain later.”

  “O-k-a-y...” she said slowly, her eyes squinting at the woman in the stocking, then widening as she pulled something out of her pocket. “By the way, here’s your latest update. I guess it’ll be the last.” She handed Claire the thumbdrive.