Live Bait

by David Archer

TWENTY-ONE

  Sam leaned against the tailgate of the truck and looked at him. He was young, probably not more than twenty or twenty-one. “What’s your name, kid?”

  “My name is Roberto,” he said. “Roberto Del Toro.”

  “Del Toro? Are you Spanish?”

  “I was born in Spain, yes. Now I am a citizen of Nigeria.”

  “Okay,” Sam said. “Roberto, here’s the situation. Heinrich is gone, he has left you behind. Unfortunately, he’s also taken one of my people with him. Where would he be going?”

  Roberto smiled. “I have no idea where he would be going at this moment, but I can tell you where he will be later today: he will be somewhere in California, preparing to load his bombs onto a ship, and there is not even any way for you to stop them, because you do not know which ship. Who did he take?”

  “A young woman,” Sam said, keeping his cards close to his vest. “She works with me. What will he do with her?”

  Roberto’s eyes seemed to show the slow dawning of realization. “This young woman, she is someone who is important to you? To you personally, I mean?”

  Sam nodded once. “She is. All of my people are very important to me.”

  “But this one, she is apparently somewhat more important to you than the others,” Roberto said, a statement rather than a question. “That makes some sense, Mr. Prichard. Heinrich will use her as bait, to set a trap for you, and just when you think you are going to be able to get her back safely, while you are watching, then he will kill her. He will kill her in the same way that you killed his nephew, so that you will know how it feels to lose someone you care for.”

  “Why would he take her? He had what he wanted, and he was getting away, so why would he arrange to take her?”

  Roberto began to chuckle again. “You really were so easy to manipulate. Heinrich expected there to be a trap here, so he planned to turn it around on you. Why do you think he did not simply kill you when he had the chance? It would have been easy, all he had to do was let the bomb explode. Or he could have insisted you come up here with him and put a bullet into you himself. Why do you think he did not already kill you, Sam Prichard?”

  “Holy crap,” Darren muttered, but Sam only nodded once.

  “Because he wants revenge,” Sam said. “I should’ve seen it. I should’ve seen where this was going, and killed him when I had the chance.”

  Roberto nodded his head. “You probably should have. Of course, then the bomb would have exploded and you, your woman, all your people and many more would be dead. Heinrich said you would never let that happen, and he was quite correct, wasn’t he? You did exactly what he predicted you would do, and let him take the bombs and leave.” He chuckled again. “Obviously, he knows you very well, Mr. Prichard.”

  Sam looked at him for a moment, then nodded again. “Better than I had him figured out, obviously. Of course, now I have you. I’m sure you realize that if anything happens to Indie, I'll personally put you through more torture than a dozen Hells could ever produce.”

  Roberto shrugged. “I have been living on borrowed time ever since I joined the PAF,” he said. “You can torture me as much as you wish, if it will make you feel any better. It won’t get you any information, because I do not have any. Heinrich keeps it that way, he makes certain that only a very few ever know what he is truly doing. You can, however, be certain that he is not finished with you. Soon, very soon, you will hear from him. He only has to prepare his surprise for you, and then he will contact you directly.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Sam said. “He managed to turn my trap around and use it against me, so maybe I can do the same to him. As for not getting any information out of you, I think you might be surprised at two things. First, you might be surprised how much you really do know, and second, I think you’re going to be very surprised at how much you’re actually willing to tell us.”

  Roberto suddenly laughed, a hearty laugh that echoed off the buildings and the hills. “Oh, Mr. Prichard, you are most welcome to try. You should know, however, that my loyalty to Heinrich is absolute. I'll never betray him, I'll do absolutely nothing to help you. Feel free to kill me now, since you will almost certainly end up killing me anyway.”

  “Let me keep on working with him, Sam,” Denny said. “He thinks he’s tough, but I can crack him.”

  Sam shook his head. “It was undoubtedly some of Heinrich’s people who took Indie, and they’ve been gone for at least twenty minutes. By now, they could be just about anywhere in this whole desert, and I’m sure he and his men are better equipped at the moment than we are.” He looked back at Roberto. “Luckily for you, I’m not ready to kill you yet. Instead, I have an interrogation specialist who is going to wring you out to dry. When she gets done with you, I suspect you will tell her anything she wants to know.”

  Summer stepped up. “Did I hear you talking about me?” she asked.

  Sam nodded. “I want you to put him through everything you possibly can,” he said. “Anything he knows, I want to know it. Think you can handle that?”

  Summer smiled. “It’s going to be a pleasure, Sam. Where should I take him?”

  “Someplace nobody can hear him when he screams,” Sam said. “Anybody have any suggestions?”

  Sergeant Douglas waved a hand at him. “I’ve got one,” he said. “There’s an old toolshed behind the garage. It’s made of steel and pretty sturdy. Would that work?”

  Summer turned her smile to him. “Oh, it most certainly will. Come on, Denny, let’s get Roberto into position for me.”

  Denny and Sergeant Douglas grabbed the man by his arms and marched him around the garage. They took him into the toolshed and Douglas produced a pair of handcuffs that he used to secure the man to a steel rack against the wall. He was standing up, his arms stretched up over his head, and there was no way he was getting the cuffs unhooked.

  “Shall I stick around and help?” Denny asked, grinning at Summer.

  “No, thanks,” she said. “Trust me, I got this.”

  Then he looked up at Roberto. “Poor chap,” he said, and then he and Douglas walked out and shut the door behind themselves.

  Sam took out his phone and called Ron and quickly filled him in on what had happened. Ron agreed to contact the air force base and get helicopters out to secure the truck and the two bombs, then call in every possible favor to try to track down where Heinrich might’ve taken Indie.

  “At least he didn’t get the bombs,” Sam said. “The man we captured said he would’ve taken them to California, to load them on a ship at one of the ports. He’s probably still going to head that direction, just because that was his exit strategy.”

  “Then I'll get people watching every possible route from where you are to California,” Ron said. “Keep the faith, Sam, we’ll find her.”

  Sam rode the elevator down with the rest of his people to gather up their things and get ready to leave. He went into the room he had shared with Indie the night before, quickly zipped his own bag and Indie’s closed, then grabbed them and carried them back to the elevator. He rode up to Level 1, then went into the control booth. The duffel bag was right where Heinrich had left it.

  Captain Howell was standing there, looking at it. “Do you think we dare try to take it outside?”

  “I think we ought to take a look inside it, first,” Sam said. He reached down and picked it up, allowed himself to breathe when it didn’t go off, then set it on the table in the room and opened it up. Heinrich had told him that the money was only there to hide the bomb, but, as far as he could tell, there was nothing there but bundles of bills. No, that wasn’t quite correct; at the very bottom of the bag there was a cell phone, but there was absolutely nothing inside that could have been a nuclear device.

  “I got played,” Sam said. “I let him walk right out of here with those bombs, and there was never any threat to us at all. God, I’m such an idiot.”

  “No, you’re not,” Howell said. “And just because this one wasn’t real, that does
n’t mean the others weren’t. You did exactly what had to be done, Mr. Prichard. You did what was necessary, according to everything you knew, to save lives. That’s exactly what Uncle Sam would expect of you.”

  “It won’t matter,” Sam said. “If anything happens to Indie, I'll always know that he played me.” He looked at the very real ten million dollars, then zipped the bag shut.

  “There’s nothing you can do about that, sir,” Howell said, “but to do everything possible to rescue her and kill him.”

  “Too bloody right,” Denny said. “That sonofabitch just made a fatal mistake! Windlass takes care of our own!”

  “We’re going after her,” Sam said, “and I'll even confess that at this moment, I want Heinrich dead. He’s far too dangerous, so if we can’t take him alive, then we take him any way we can.”

  “What I can’t believe,” Darren said, “is how cool that bastard is. He actually stood right here and bluffed us into believing that was a nuclear bomb. DHS is going to take away our contract after this.”

  Sam nodded. “They might,” he said. “On the other hand, the fact that he took Indie and hopes to use her to get me into a position so he can kill me on his own terms, that means we get another shot at him. This time, I don’t intend to let him get away.” He looked over at Denny and lowered his voice. “I never thought I would say this, but all of a sudden, I can completely understand why people like our friend Noah are necessary.”

  “I tried to tell you, mate,” Denny said. “Think maybe we should call them up, see if they can help us out?”

  Sam shook his head. “No,” he said. “Heinrich is all mine.”

  “Hold on a minute,” Denny said. “You’re not going off alone on this, the lot of us are going with you. We’re a team, remember? A team. The question is, what do we do now?”

  “We get to somewhere safe and hunker down for the moment,” Sam said. “I’ll check in with Ron and Harry, get them both calling in every possible favor to look for any sign of Heinrich and wait for Heinrich to get cocky enough to call me out. Somewhere out there, there’s got to be some sign of him; we’re going to do our best to find it, so that we can get a step or two ahead of him.”

  * * * * *

  Up in the toolshed, Summer had stripped down to her underwear, complaining of the heat. She was simply walking back and forth in front of Roberto, talking to him in a normal tone of voice. A couple of times she got close, and once she smiled up at him.

  “I’ve always loved the way a man smells when he’s sweating,” she said. “There’s something so powerful about it, it just really gets to me. And you are absolutely drenched, aren’t you? Let me open your shirt, maybe that will cool you down a little bit.” She slowly undid the buttons on his shirt, then spread it wide, exposing his chest. She smiled again and ran her hands over his muscular physique.

  “My, my,” she said. “It’s really too bad you’re on the wrong side. You and I could’ve had a lot of fun together, you know?”

  Roberto swallowed hard, but said nothing. Summer stayed close to him and looked up at his face. She leaned toward him slowly until her body was pressed against his.

  “Now, here’s how it works with me,” she said. “I can be your worst nightmare and make you suffer, or I can be the most intense pleasure you have ever known. The only thing that determines which way I go is how hard it is for me to get the information I need out of you. If you give it up willingly, I'll show you a good time like you have never imagined in your life.” She stepped back for a moment, raised her hands over her head and spun around. “I think we can both agree that I’m pretty well-equipped for it, right?”

  Involuntarily, Roberto’s eyes looked her up and down. He swallowed again.

  “You know, I’ve been around the espionage business a little while. A couple of times, when somebody in your position decided to cooperate with me, I’ve been able to convince Mr. Prichard to let him change sides. A new identity, the chance to start over, and nobody—Heinrich, I mean—will ever know that you accepted my offer.” She stepped close to him again, then reached up and ran a hand along the side of his face. “If you came over to our side, I think you and I could have something special. Don’t you?”

  Roberto gasped as she ran a hand down his chest and let her fingernails drag down. The tent in the front of his jeans told her that she was definitely making progress.

  “Come on, Roberto,” she said pleadingly. “You don’t even really have to give up anything serious. All I want to know is where he would’ve taken Mrs. Prichard. I realize you don’t know the details, but surely you could make a good guess to point us in the right direction, couldn’t you?”

  “I’m not stupid,” Roberto said. “Yes, you’re very beautiful, but if you think for one moment that I believe that you have any interest in me…”

  She stood on tiptoes and shut him up with a kiss. Her hands were running through his hair, and she clutched his face to her own. The kiss went on for close to a minute, until she finally broke for breath.

  “Now do you believe me?” She rested her hands against his chest as she looked up into his eyes. “Look, I may come off as some tough bitch, but I know a real man when I see one. I think you might be a little younger than me, but I can overlook that if you can. You help me get Mrs. Prichard back safe, and I'll see that you get a new identity, with lots of benefits.” She gave him a lascivious grin, and stretched upward to whisper in his ear. “I can guarantee you sexual experiences you’ve never even dreamed of before.”

  Roberto swallowed again, then licked his lips. “You’re telling the truth? A new identity, a new name?”

  “Baby, I guarantee it,” she said excitedly. “Come on, baby, give me something I can take to the boss. Something real, it’s got to be real. Surely you can think of something that would help, can’t you?”

  “I…” He licked his lips again. “He has a ship waiting at San Pedro, Port of Los Angeles. The ship is from Australia, the Billabong. He’s supposed to meet it at noon tomorrow. That’s all I know, but that’s where he’ll be going.”

  Summer looked at him and smiled. “Now, see?” she asked. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” She reached up and kissed him again, then turned and picked up her clothes. She walked out the door with them in her hands, leaving him hanging where he was. He was still calling out to her as she shut the door. She hurried into the cavern, where it was cooler, and then stopped to put her clothes on again.

  She took out the radio and spoke into it quickly. “I got something,” she said. “Heinrich has a ship waiting in San Pedro, Australian registry. The name of the ship is the Billabong.”

  “Great work,” Sam said. “Hang tight, we’re coming up.”

  A few minutes later, Sam and the rest came up on the elevator. They had all of the luggage and weapons with them, and Sergeant Douglas came along with a couple of men. They went into the garage and got the vans loaded up all of the luggage and gear, and then waited for Sam and his people to get aboard.

  “What do we do about Roberto?” Douglas asked.

  Summer looked at him with a grin. “Seriously? The guy is a terrorist, an enemy combatant. I’m sure someone will be along to pick him up, and he’ll probably never see daylight again.”

  TWENTY-TWO

  Sam, sitting in the shotgun seat, had his phone in his hand and was talking to Ron Thomas back at Windlass headquarters. “We got a lead,” he said. “Heinrich had been planning to take the bombs to a ship in San Pedro. Now, he doesn’t have the bombs, so he doesn’t need the ship anymore, but he’s going to figure we got that information out of his man. My guess is that he’s going to expect us to head that direction, so Indie is going to be somewhere over there, as well. He can’t set a trap if I’m too far away for him to spring it, right?”

  “That makes sense,” Ron said, “as much as I hate it. I’ve got a plane waiting for you at the airport, you can be in Los Angeles within three hours. I’m also arranging rental cars and hotels, so I'll text you all the
information you need. And Sam? Call Harry. I’ve already told him what happened, but he’s worried sick. Give him a call, maybe he can give you some ideas.”

  “I’ll call him right now,” Sam said. He ended the call, but didn’t dial Harry’s number at that moment. Instead, he sat in the seat of the van and looked out the windows as they drove through the desert.

  When they got to Rockville, they were stopped by military guards. Douglas rolled down his window and spoke to the guard, showed his ID and was waved through. Sam watched as they passed the burned-out truck and realized that the fire had burned down nearly half of the old ghost town. There were several military vehicles there, including a crane that was loading the bombs onto a truck.

  “What happens to them now?” Sam asked Douglas.

  “They’ll go right back to Deep Impact,” the sergeant said. “And right back in the same vault.”

  Sam glanced at him and then looked back at the road ahead. “I’m sorry about the ghost town,” he said. He picked up his cell phone again and found Harry’s number in his contacts. He hit the dial button and put the phone to his ear.

  “Harry? It’s Sam.”

  “About time you called,” the old man growled. “What’s the situation, son?”

  “Heinrich took Indie, and we captured one of his men. He tells me that Heinrich plans to use Indie as bait to draw me into a trap, so that he can kill me on a personal level. We found out that he had a ship waiting for the bombs in Los Angeles, so that’s where we’re headed. I figure he would expect us to learn that, so it’s probably part of the trap.”

  “I would agree,” Harry said. “If you got information out of one of his men, it’s probably information they were fed to make sure you get it. That’s the way these people work. What are you going to do, son?”

  “What do you think I’m going to do, Harry? I’m going to go get my wife back, and I’m going to kill the son of a bitch that took her.”

  “Sam,” Harry said, “I know this isn’t something you want to hear at the moment…”