by Karl Weber
“Which is?” Anna asked.
Price straightened the gray baseball hat that he always wore to cover his unkempt brown hair. The hat had a digital outline of a fox head on the front of it. When Jack asked Price some time ago what the fox meant, Price only answered that it reminded him of his hero. “Check this out.” Price brought up an image of a man standing in the middle of what looked to be a bank lobby. Based on the grainy quality of the image, it had to have been taken from a standard security camera.
Anna leaned in over Price’s shoulder to get a better look at the man in the picture. The graying brown hair along with the cold, calculated demeanor the man had in the picture made Anna shudder when she realized who he was. “Tobias Blake, you bastard,” she muttered with distain in her voice. Having been the former director of operations of the CIA, Blake was one of the people responsible for the kidnapping of Anna’s sister and for the failed terrorist attack against the UN General Assembly.
Jack was also looking at the picture slightly awestruck. “You weren’t kidding when you said it would be something of interest to us. How did your guy even get this intel?”
“I have friends all over the dark web who poke their noses into financial institutions all across the world,” Price noted. “Break through the bank firewalls and take any money that is irredeemable.”
“Irredeemable?”
“Money that was earned through illegal means.”
“Why not just rob the whole bank?”
“Because if you do that, especially to a bank with account holders belonging to the one percent, you’ll have authorities chase you down to the ends of the Earth. Not a great idea. Therefore, what you do is you find accounts that contain funds the account holder doesn’t want the authorities to investigate the origins of.”
“Makes sense. So how did your source discover Blake?” Jack asked.
“Said he discovered some mysterious funds belonging to a recently created bank account belonging to a Mr. Gregory Wilson. After digging some more, he found out Mr. Wilson was a fake name, which eventually led him to what’s in front of us now.”
Anna spoke up. “What I see in front of us is the fuck who put my sister in danger.” She tapped Price on the shoulder to get his attention. He looked over at her and trembled in his chair slightly when he saw the evil look of determination on her face. “Where is he?”
Jack held up his hand like a stop sign. “You can’t kill him, Anna.”
“Why not?”
“You know why. Blake has to be a member of the Deep State. We have to assume they’ll make an attempt on the POTUS’s life. And right now we don’t have any clue on how or when it’ll happen. I know you want revenge on Blake, but we can’t lose what could be our only lead.”
Anna placed her palm on her face and sighed. “Fine. I won’t kill him.” She wouldn’t admit it, but Anna knew Jack was right. Blake was too valuable to just simply kill off for some simple revenge. They needed him alive for questioning. To find out just how deep the rabbit hole went.
“Anna?” Jack wasn’t fully convinced by her statement.
“I’ll be sure to bring him in alive,” Anna said with noticeable frustration. “I assume we know where he is now?”
“My source gave me the home address that was listed on the account,” Price stated. “Nova Scotia.”
“Canada?”
Price nodded. “Apparently he is staying on a small private island.”
“Of course, he is. Other than your source, are we the only ones with this intel?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Let’s keep it that way. The Deep State has eyes and ears everywhere. Last thing we need is interference from corrupt government agents,” Anna stated.
Jack nodded. “Agreed. And we probably shouldn’t wait for them to find out either.” He looked up at the digital clock on the wall that read six p.m. “If we go ahead and start making the necessary preparations, we could have you on the ground in Canada by tomorrow night.”
“How about tonight?” Anna quickly asked with stone cold seriousness lingering in her green eyes.
Jack was hesitant to answer, not wanting his partner to race into a situation unprepared. “We probably can if we don’t waste any time.”
“Then let’s get started.” Anna turned to leave the command center with a good amount of pace in her step.
Jack worried for his partner. He raced up to Anna and grabbed her shoulder to get her attention. “Anna, please just promise me that you’ll treat this like any other mission and won’t make a personal vendetta out of this.”
Anna scoffed while she tried to lightly shove Jack away. He hardly budged due to his sturdy, muscular frame underneath his suit. “I won’t. I’m not worried about anything.”
“Your reaction says otherwise.”
Anna sighed innocently. “Sorry. I just …”
“Want to get this guy, I understand that. Just remember that you’re the predator. Blake is prey and nothing more. Keep that in mind and only that in mind, and you’ll be just fine,” Jack said while playfully patting Anna on the shoulder. She grinned at him. His short speech must’ve helped.
“You’re right. I’ll be sure to keep my head screwed on straight.”
Jack breathed a sigh of relief. “Glad to hear to it.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to prepare for my trek into the Canadian wilderness tonight.”
Chapter 3
It was early in the morning with the sky still pitch-black over the Nova Scotian wilderness. Located in eastern Canada, the province fronted the Atlantic Ocean.
The ocean waters were still and calm as a head slowly emerged above surface. Anna found herself staring at the private island that Price’s source had led them to. It was one of several scattered just off the mainland; most of the islands being small enough that it would take someone no longer than an hour to walk around their coasts, covered with tress and having a sandy oceanfront.
Anna swam up to the island’s shore. She exited the cold ocean water wearing her Spectral Covert Tactical suit, a matte-black wetsuit that was form-fitting to help keep her movements as quiet as a mouse. It would’ve looked like a regular wetsuit if not for the light Kevlar woven into the neoprene rubber. That along with the thin, insulated, red-and-black wiring ran down the suit’s arms and legs needed to operate the cloaking device attached to the back of the suit, a small, flat box called a Mirror Light Spectrum (MLS) device that turned the suit wearer almost completely invisible, with limitations.
Anna ventured her way into the island’s thick foliage. It became darker and darker the farther she ventured to the point where it was almost pitch-black. Anna winked in her left eye and activated the night-vision ability of her Predator Lenses, a high-tech pair of contact lenses designed to grant the wearer both night and thermal vision.
While navigating her way through the many trees scattered throughout the island, she brought up the PDA device attached to her left wrist, a wristwatch-like Spectral Command Unit (SCU). She activated the device’s electromagnetic field sensor to search for electronic devices near her. In her search she discovered multiple round flat devices attached to some large trees that were motion detecting cameras. Easy enough to deal with, Anna thought.
She pulled her Multi-Tool Spec Ops 9 (MTSO9) handgun off the magnetic holster attached to the suit’s right hip. An integrally suppressed semi-auto handgun chambered in 9mm that fired specialty rounds. In this case she loaded the weapon with micro-emp rounds and, after a couple of quick shots, disabled the cameras.
Anna proceeded deeper onto the island and eventually came to a small glare of light shining through the mass of trees. It wasn’t long before a small two-story wood cabin could be seen from her position. Although it was modern in design, it also looked slightly worn, as if it’d been through a few strong Canadian winters. The humble log home was all lit up inside like somebody was home.
After doing another sweep for electronics, Anna discovered mu
ltiple cameras mounted on the roof looking out in opposite directions. She had two options for getting around the obstacle.
She had Video Loop (VL) rounds, bullets that each contained a micro-computer chip stored in the hollowed-out lead cap of a 9mm round that would make cameras play on loop, rendering them basically blind. Instead, Anna opted for her second option.
With a tap of her SCU, she activated the MLS device on her tac suit and became invisible. Anna approached the backside of the house. With little effort she unlocked the back door and stepped inside. Anna breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered the floor was only linoleum and not real wood that creaked and made noise with every step. After quickly clearing the kitchen, living room, and every other room on the bottom floor, Anna found no sign of life and headed up the staircase to the second floor.
While doing so her cloaking device shut off, leaving her visible again. The MLS device was great, but it did have limitations, such as needing to shut itself off after two minutes because of battery limitations, and not to melt the tac suit to the wearer, due to the massive amount of heat it generated.
Upon making it to the second floor, Anna had her Brigham 2031 handgun out ready to fire if needed. She checked room after room until, on her third try, she got lucky. The door slid open, revealing a man sitting down at an office desk with his back to her. He looked up when the light from the hallway shined into his dark office space and saw Anna’s red eyes in the reflection of the glass window looking out into the wilderness.
“I suppose it was only a matter of time until I was found.” Blake gave off a weak chuckle. “Seems almost poetic that it would be a Specter who would bring me to judgment.”
Anna scoffed. “It’s even more poetic that it would be the Specter who’s life you tried to ruin.”
“Ah, Miss Perkins, I should’ve known it would be you.” Blake turned around in his chair to face her with a still look on his face.
Anna kept her weapon trained on him. “You should’ve also known not to put my sister’s life in danger in the process.”
Blake shrugged. “It worked out in the end, didn’t it?”
“For everyone but you. Now stand,” Anna ordered. Blake complied. She slowly approached him before holstering her weapon and restraining him with a pair of zip-tie handcuffs. Anna was sure to tighten them to the point where they were digging into Blake’s wrists.
“You never did leave anything to chance, did you, Miss Perkins?”
“Shut up,” Anna muttered. “With any luck I’ll never have to deal with you again until …” Her statement was cut off by the beeping sound that came from the LCD table serving as both Blake’s desk and computer. Multiple windows appeared on the flat screen that were video feeds of heavily armed soldiers. More specifically, frogmen with netting over their helmets armed with Colt C9 carbine assault rifles. They looked wet from just coming out of the water. Anna recognized the background as the place where she encountered the motion-detecting cameras earlier.
“Shit,” Blake muttered. “They found me.”
“Who?”
“You know who. The Deep State. They see me as a loose end, and you led them right to me,” Blake stated irritatingly. Anna placed the barrel of her Brigham 2031 underneath his chin and made him tense up.
“Just a suggestion,” she warned, “but I wouldn’t try to trigger the only person who has the ability to keep you alive. Cause, trust me, the temptation I have to pull this trigger right now is so tempting. Now be a good boy and shut up.” Blake slowly nodded for acknowledgement. Anna lowered her weapon and forcefully grabbed Blake’s shoulder to escort him. The two of them made their way out of the office and down the stairs toward the living room.
As soon as they set foot on the bottom floor, Anna had sight on a couple of the hostile frogmen through the cabin’s tall windows. They both locked eyes with Anna. Or at least somewhat, due to their camouflage netting serving as face veils. They both raised the barrels of their assault rifles toward Anna and Blake. The closest thing Anna had for cover was the L-shaped couch in the middle of the living room. She pushed Blake to the floor, making him land hard on his stomach before getting down for cover herself.
Shots rang through the cabin with the sound of glass shattering in the background. Both Anna and Blake could see the shots land on the wooden wall behind them that was quickly disintegrating.
“We’re pinned down,” Blake shouted.
“No shit,” Anna replied.
“What are we going to do?”
“Simple,” Anna said as she pulled her LMR14 off her back. “You shut up, and I do my job.” She pointed the marksman rifle’s barrel to the ceiling before pivoting its action and barrel sixty degrees to the left to where the barrel was facing the hostiles. Anna placed the reticle on the rifle’s LCD screen onto the head of the hostile to her left and pulled the trigger. Headshot. She quickly did the same to the other hostile. “Move,” Anna ordered Blake while she pulled him back onto his feet.
The two of them headed for the back door to the cabin. In the meantime, Anna straightened her rifle before swapping back to her pistol for better maneuverability. They made it outside back into the dark wilderness. Anna grabbed ahold of Blake again to keep him from getting away from her.
With a wink of her right eye, Anna activated thermal vision. She figured it’d be easier to pick out hostiles by searching for heat signatures. There you are, Anna thought as she noticed two hostile heat signatures no further than a football field away. Both were looking toward the house and away from her and Blake. “Keep moving,” Anna whispered to Blake. They moved away from house to head toward the shore for extraction.
As they moved further away from the cabin, Anna noticed another two heat signatures in the distance. Unlike the previous two, they were prone. Snipers. Very slowly, Anna had Blake moved ahead through the foliage. They just needed to get past the snipers and they’d be almost home free. Step by step they went. They were just about past the sniper’s nest and home free until Blake made the monumental mistake of tripping on a tree branch despite moving at a snail’s pace.
He fell forward with his face smacking the wet sloppy dirt. Damn you, Anna thought before looking toward the snipers to see if they heard what had just happened. Unfortunately for her, they did, as both stood up to a crouch reaching for their sidearms. Anna dropped the closest with a headshot. His buddy got off a single loud shot and just missed Anna before being met with a bullet to the chest and shoulder. Both snipers were now dead, but their pals were now alerted.
“Stay down,” Anna whispered to Blake, who was still on ground. Not that he could get up even if he wanted with his hands still tied behind his back. With the hostile heat signatures headed in their direction, Anna made herself scarce.
The two hostiles slowed their pace as they neared the area where the shot was fired. Both were looking diligently down the scope of their assault rifles, trying to spot Anna. It wouldn’t be easy since her matte-black camouflage almost made her invisible in the near pitch-black wilderness. They kept slowly moving forward as one unit and eventually gained sight on Blake, who had turned himself to where he was lying on his back. He went wide-eyed when he noticed the two soldiers in netting looking towards him.
Both soldiers trained their weapons on Blake and prepared to fire until a soft female voice stopped them. “I wouldn’t do that.” They both turned around to only receive a short glance at the red-eyed predator standing behind them before they were both shot in the head. The last two hostiles landed face first into the dirt at Blake’s feet.
Blake looked up at Anna. “Was all that really necessary?”
Anna shook her head. “No. I just wanted you to feel what it was like to be in a helpless situation.” That and Anna knew she was skilled enough in stealth to just sneak around and get behind the last two hostiles without using her cloaking device. Flaunting her ego almost always outweighed doing what was only convenient to her.
After getting Blake back on his feet, Anna
finished escorting him to the island’s coast. When they made it, Anna tapped her earpiece to contact Jack. “Jack, I’m at the coast with the package, and ready for extraction.”
“Roger,” Jack replied. “Run into any issues?”
“Came across some unwanted house guests.”
“And?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Anna sighed. “Just another question without an answer.”
Chapter 4
The only image Blake could see was the color black. As soon as Anna and he boarded the extraction helicopter, Anna had pulled a hood over Blake’s head, not wanting to take any chances with him.
It had been many hours since Blake had vision. How many? He had lost track several ago. All he knew now was that he was handcuffed and was transported off the helicopter into a building of some kind. After going down an elevator and walking down a few hallways, he was forced to make a left turn. After taking a few more steps forward, Blake’s escort made him stop in place. He was then maneuvered to sit down on what felt like a metal chair. The hood was pulled off his head. The sudden exposure to bright light made him squint.
He kept his eyelids closed for a couple of seconds. Slowly he raised his eyelids to see the figure standing in front of him. The figure was a man with broad shoulders, dressed in a slick, black suit with a black tie that almost matched the color of his black hair. His height of six-foot-three made it easy for him to look down at Blake.
“And you are?” Blake asked, his uninterest blatantly obvious.
“My name is Jack Shepard,” Jack answered. “Co-director of Vigilance …”
“Vigilance? You mean this isn’t the CIA or NSA?” Blake pressed.
“Why do you care?”
“Because there are eyes and ears everywhere in intelligence that want me silenced. If this is an uncorrupted branch of U.S. intelligence, then I might just be safe for the time being.” Blake sounded almost relieved at the revelation. He immediately tensed up when he sensed a knife at his throat.