by Newbiel
Chapter 134: :
Rome. 10/12/2012. 03:20.
Squatting on one of the pillars making the fence around the villa, Nathaniel was attentively looking at his surroundings. Wearing black pants and a black hoodie, he was barely visible in the dark. There was an unexplainable calmness inside him when he was surrounded by darkness like that, almost as the shadow was an old friend, welcoming him back with warmness.
Looking downward at the two German shepherds asleep on the ground show that the sleeping pills he put in the food he gave them earlier was effective. Jumping down from the pillar and rolling to attenuate the steep fall, he made sure the two dogs were sleeping peacefully, passing his hands in their fur. He always liked dogs but he couldn't have one because of his mother's allergies to them.
Running low to the ground, he quickly approached the back of the house. Not bothering to try picking the lock as it was linked to a security alarm, Nathaniel started climbing the face of the house. The security alarm was not really a problem as he had the means to bypass it but it was the kind of things that leave a numeric trace and he wanted what was going to happen here tonight passing as anything but a murder even if anybody with a brain would find it weird if the head of the police were to drop dead the next day right after many cops were also found dead on the street.
Minding the beautiful sculpture on his climb to not damage them, Nathaniel could not help but shake his head. The villa was a 250 square miles property located in a rich neighborhood in the middle of Rome and nobody ever asked how a public servant with a not impressive salary could afford it. Schooling his mind back on the topic, he jumped to the side, catching the edge of the roof and hissing himself on it.
Smiling, he starts taking off tiles on the edge of the roof, working efficiently and quietly. Security alarms were put on the door and perfectioned systems like the one the head of the police used had every window on the circuits, if one were to be opened it would trigger the alarm immediately. What people always forget was that there was a simpler entry then that and it was the roof. Granted, you had to get on it first and then enter without waking every living soul in the house but after that, you had nothing to worry about. Moreover, the rooftop was not where people were looking when walking on the street for obvious reasons.
Once he made a big enough hole in the roof, Nathaniel slipped inside and found himself in the attic. Walking with light steps to not make any noise, he quickly found the access trap, opening it and letting himself land on the floor with a little thud. Pausing long enough to make sure there was no movement in the villa, Nathaniel nodded, satisfied. Directing himself to the master bedroom, the door was already open and despite the darkness, Nathaniel could see his target.
He wasn't alone of course and in the bed beside him was a very attractive twenty-something years old brunette. There was something we had to say about fifty years old men's attraction to women being younger than half their age. Nathaniel had investigated him and found out he was blowing most of his illegal money on women, the brunette one in his bed right now and another one who just got eighteen years old which was even more not okay.
Taking out a syringe from his pockets with a clear solution inside it, Nathaniel pricks the sleeping girl behind the knee, making his utmost to not take a peek at her asset. Once injected with the sleeping agent, Nathaniel took her in his arms and put her on the chair in the room, taking a vest belonging to the head of the police to cover her privates. He had now five hours worth of time where she would not wake up no matter what.
Focusing his attention on the man in the bed, Nathaniel searched around the bed; not finding anything. Lifting his pillow lightly, Nathaniel shakes his head again. How cliché it was to hide a gun there. Taking it without waking him, he starts moving away every furniture close to the bed as he did not want to take an unnecessary risk. After the day they had yesterday and considering Scott was jetlagged and Amal had passed the day before on the run, he let them sleep as they needed it and go alone.
Once satisfied, Nathaniel pinches the nose of the man sleeping and then waits. He did not have to wait long before the man woke up abruptly feeling himself suffocate and thrashed in his bed.
"Oh sorry Matteo, did I wake you up?" Nathaniel said with a fake apologetic voice.
Realizing there was someone in his bedroom and shocking himself from the haze of sleep, the man's hands drove beneath his pillow.
"Looking for that?" Nathaniel asks, showing the gun in his hand. "Sorry, I took it away. You were a bad boy, consider yourself punished."
"Who the fu** are you? Do you know who I am?" He shouts, angrily.
"Yes, I know who you are. People with my kind of skill do not knock on the wrong door when they visit someone in the middle of the night you know."
"I don't fu**ing care! I will kill your entire family for this!" He yells again.
"Well, talking about family, Robert Lyndon is my grandfather, you know, the man that the terrorist organization you cooperate with kidnapped on your watch," Nathaniel said, his eyes turning cold.
"Haha! You're the grandson of that fucker? Ah ah! You will never get him alive!" The man mocked.
That mocking sound cut off when Nathaniel took one of the man's fingers and started twisting it, making it bend at an unnatural angle making the man moan in pain.
"That was not very nice of you to say. I wanted this conversation to go with much more civility. I was going to ask questions and you were going to answer them. Now, it seems you do not feel very cooperating so…" He let his voice trail, twisting the finger with a sharp movement, turning it from his socket.
Nathaniel used his hand to muffle the scream he let out. At this point, he was so tired from torturing people that he did not lose time and applied pressure with the man's own gun on his groin. That gathers his attention and the man looked at Nathaniel with a terrified expression on his face.
"Please no! Not that! I will tell you everything you want!" He begged.
"I want everything you know about the man you talked with, and who approached you to cooperate in the kidnapping of Robert Lyndon. Lie to me, and you are going to lose one ball. Resist, and I will make you eat them. Are we clear?" He asked, icily.
"Yes! Yes! I will tell you everything you want! Please, put the gun away from… me."
"Start talking." Nathaniel ordered, putting more pressure on the gun.
Half an hour later, Nathaniel was exiting the villa the same way that he arrived. He had put the sleeping girl back in the bed with the now lifeless body of Matteo Pirlini and cleaned every evidence that someone entered the house. Looking at his watch, the time was ticking for his grandfather, and he had still a lot of work to be done before attempting to save him.
He knew now that the team in question had left Italy by boat and then took a plane in Corsica in the direction of Saudi Arabia. That means his grandfather was over there now and if his intuition was correct, that this is where the man is going to ask for his money to be brought up. Looking at the sky, he hoped he was okay and that everything was alright for him. He also hopes that everything was going well with the company and his grandmother and mother were dealing with the situation. He will call them later. He was feeling tired but knew sleep was out of the question for now. There was still much to be done.
Chapter 135: :
New York. Lyndon tower, 09/12/2012. 22:55.
Diane Lyndon was in her husband's office, looking at the picture of her family on the desk with emotions. She was missing her husband and her grandchild. Nathaniel had told her it was normal if he were not to call and that she should not worry but she was worried anyway, how could she not? With her husband in the hand of a terrorist organization and her grandson in Europe trying to find him, she could barely work as it was.
Looking at the time, she sighed knowing she still had a last meeting to have before leaving the office and going back to her empty home. Hearing the phone ringing, she brought her game face on and answered.
"Mister Bones is here
to see you, Madam Lyndon."
"Good, let him in." She said, hanging the phone.
It was not long before the door of the office opened and a forty years old man entered, wearing an impeccable designer suit. Diane had to hold back the expression of disgust that she felt seeing that man and keep her face impassive.
"Ah ah! I had to see this, Diane Lyndon in the flesh back to the company. I thought I would never live the day." He said with a pleasant voice and a fake smile.
"And I thought I would never had to see you ever again Bryan. It looks like a life changing day for both of us." She retorted, not bothering to fake pleasantness with him.
"Ah ah! I forget how passionate you can be. Back to the company to fix your husband's mistakes as per usual." He shook his head with regret, sitting down.
"An accident can happen to everyone." She answered, not taking the bait.
Bryan Bones was one of the shareholders of the company, owning 11 percent of it. He was also a devious, ambitious, manipulative little shit. Him and Diane had a long history of fighting and cursing mostly at each other.
"You know, that's what I don't understand. Breaking his phone can happen to everyone, No argument here. But not finding a replacement in almost two days? I know Italy is a shitty country but not that shitty either. What is really going on here?"
"Nothing is happening, like I told you just a broken phone. Ah Bryan, always trying to find hidden agenda and cover up everywhere. I should do the same with you. Maybe there is merit in that line of thought." Diane said, looking at him.
"Ah, I forget how sharp your tongue is Diane. The fact that you are so keen to counter attack tells me there is really something going on. One of my people also told me that you were busy invalidating the security pass of Robert. Care to tell me the real story now?" He said with a gleam in his eyes.
"This is the real story. Since it was broken, he dumped it in a trash can but forgot that he had security code inside of it. So I made them change for security reasons. You of all people should appreciate taking precaution."
"You know what I believe really happen?"
"If I say no, would you leave?" She asked, exasperated.
"No. I believe he fucked up and you had to change the security because the access to our server may be compromised and I believe you and your daughter are covering that up."
"Wow, you should really write novels , you know that? I know a good site if you want to launch yourself and embrace your new career fully." Diane said with a dry tone.
"Cute but I would have to pass on that, I'm good where I am. Robert is getting old, you know and your daughter is still untested. Maybe it's time for a change of direction." He said wistfully but keeping his eyes on Diane.
"We hold the majority of the share Bryan." She answered, it was not the time that she heard something like that. Bryan wanted to be the new CEO for a long time now but they always managed to counter him in his ambition. But between Mary, Robert and her, they hold sixty two percent of the company.
"Yes but the board still has power. If we were to find that Robert is starting to get senile and endanger this company, we will have to choose another CEO. We can't have a president with not all of his head wandering around and making us look like fools. If a vote were to be put in motion, everything could happen and everyone could become the new CEO, even me." He shrugged visibly unconcerned.
"Yes, keep dreaming Bryan. Everyone should have hope and unrealistic expectations. Glad to know yours never changed."
"We shall see what happens before judging my dreams. What I do know is that beside your daughter, you only have a single grandson. He's smart I hear but sometimes the most shining star is the first to disappear from the sky. After all, he almost died once, everything could happen and the board is worried about that."
"I believe we are done here." Diane said, her voice getting colder and her eyes narrowing.
"Suit yourself Diane, I'm only sharing my concern. A change of leadership could make the company prosper even more." He shrugged again, getting to his feet.
"I heard you loud and clear. Leave now." Diane said, also getting to her feet and staring him down. Not bothered by the stare, he made her a devious smile before walking out of the office, not saying anything more.
Slumping to her chair once he had left, that reminded her why she had left the company. Robert was different as he was striving when being challenged and that job was definitely challenging. But still, what Bryan had said just now had triggered a huge number of alarms in her head. She will have to keep an eye on him.
*****
In her office, Lina was having fun coding traps in the Lyndon network system in case of intrusion. That was one of her favorite things, imagining a hacker trying to access the system and then without knowing how it happened, being directed to the front page of the CIA website or opening multiple windows containing horrible porn or getting spam bombs.
That was why she was so exasperated when she was interrupted by an alert ringing in her helmet. Putting her work on the side, she switched screens wanting to know what was happening. Looking at the alert in question, her angry expression turns to concern immediately and she starts calling someone.
"Yes? Who is this?" A female voice answer.
"Madam Lyndon? This is Lina, Lina Campbell, Nathaniel told me to call you if anything bad were to happen. Something bad is happening right now."
"Yes Lina, he warned me, what is going on?" Mary said, immediately alert.
"We have an outside call for the editor of the Washington Post right now. Nathaniel told me to monitor every call inside and outside of the building, personal phone included."
"Do you know who is the caller?" She asked with concern in her voice.
"Yes! Someone named Bryan Bones." Lina answered.
Chapter 136: :
A long string of curses told Lina that Mary was quite pissed off to hear who it was.
"Can you do anything to cut the call?" She asked once she was done cursing.
"I can cut the connection but he's just going to call again." Lina mused out loud. "Let me try something." Lina said. starting to type like crazy on her keyboard.
Launching program after program, Lina knew that she needed to cut the call fast but on the other hand if she made a mistake, it could bite her in the ass real fast. Especially considering who she was hacking. Letting the girl work, Mary was becoming increasingly anxious until she could not hold it anymore.
"How are things going Lina? Talk to me please."
"Anddddd Done!" She shouted excitedly.
"What did you do?" Mary asked curiously.
"I hacked into AT&T, flagged the number of Bones assface at defaulting payment and let their bot cut his phone off." She said happily, busying herself wiping the trace of her hacking away and putting a false trail in case of investigation.
"But you were away for no more than forty second!"
"Yeah I know, I took my time but it was that or risking getting found out. AT&T are notoriously bad at internet security or internet in general, more than once they found themselves hacked to steal personal information. That made the news a year ago I believe."
"Unbelievable." Lina could almost hear the shake of her head on the other side of the phone.
"Well, I cut his phone off but it's just a matter of time before he goes home and uses a landline or borrow someone else's phone. What do you want me to do Madam Lyndon?"
"Just call me Mary, none of that Madam stuff. What can you do to delay him?"
"Well, I could send anonymous information to the cops that he had drugs on him or at his house. That could hold him a while, even more so if he's found with actual drugs on him." She said with humor.
"Even if this is tempting, considering he's one of our shareholders, it could reflect badly on us so no."
"I see. I can hack into his personal computer and dig dirt on him to blackmail him into compliance."
"Hum, no. Since he's on the board, I can have you uncover confide
ntial information on the company. Moreover, his computer should be very well defended as he is a notorious paranoid. Anything else?" Mary asked.
Thinking about it for a moment, Lina got an idea.
"Since we can't go against the Bones douchebag, maybe we should change the target. He was talking with the editor of the Washington Post, if I targeted him and made him incapable of focusing on other things, it could serve our purpose long enough to allow Nathaniel to bring back your father. After that, I don't believe it will matter what the guy does."
"You are right, do it but be stealthy about it, we can't be tied to any of this." Mary warns.
"Don't worry, he will never see it coming. This is going to be so much fun." Lina said excitedly, preparing the program she would need with glee.
"Alright Lina, Have fun. Nathaniel was right about you, you are a very capable and gifted young lady."
"Thank you." Lina said, blushing bright red.
"Carry on Lina, I'm going to sleep. Bye."
"Bye." Lina answered, cutting the line.
*****
Washington. White House. 10/12/2012. 07:35.
Walking in the President's private quarter, Tobias saw that the President was awake and busy putting on a suit. Seeing that Tobias had entered the room in the reflection of the mirror, William did not lose time.
"Good morning Tobias. What brought you so early? Our daily briefing is in an hour I believe."
"It is sir but you asked me to monitor Nathaniel movement in Rome."
"That I did. What the kid is doing right now?"
"I don't know sir, It proved to be extremely difficult to keep up with him. He kept disappearing from our radar periodically." Tobias said.
"I'm not really surprised, so far he always managed to disappear at his will. What is he doing right now?"
"There is no proof of his involvement but I would say he's currently killing people." Tobias said with a serious tone.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" The President was surprised, turning around, his hand froze on his tie.