by David Archer
The line went dead.
TEN
“Noah to Marco,” Noah said softly.
“Marco to Noah, I’m here. What’s up?”
“Potential opportunities. Do you remember Richard Belcher?”
“Belcher? There was a Belcher at Neverland a couple years ago, one of the team leaders. Is that who you mean? He got killed in Bosnia.”
“That’s the one, but he isn’t dead. He’s the guy running the victim snatch for these people. Allison is concerned he might recognize you.”
“I’m pretty sure he would,” Marco said. “I was assigned to his team as backup a few times. Damn, I never would’ve believed he would have bolted. Before you came along, he was one of the best.”
“We have to take him out, now. What I’m hoping to do is create a vacancy that will get you into his position. Allison is making some changes to your cover identity as we speak, making you a former CIA agent who is hiding from a murder charge. I’m probably going to have to set it up to look like you killed Belcher, in order to keep him from exposing you.”
“Whatever we gotta do, boss,” Marco said. “Just let me know how to play my part.”
“It shouldn’t be difficult. Listen, can you figure out a way to get yourself fired? I don’t think we have time to wait for you to give notice, I need to put you on my crew now.”
Marco chuckled to the subcom. “No problem at all,” he said. “I’ll be out of work by ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”
“All right, good. I’ll see you when I get home.”
He locked up the building and got into the Charger, then reached for the button that put the top down. It had been a nice day, and not excessively hot. He decided to enjoy the wind a bit.
Sarah told him, through the subcoms, that they were all having dinner at their place that evening. Noah stopped at a grocery store on the way home to pick up an assortment of soft drinks and some chips, and arrived at the apartment just after five. He put up the top and locked the car, then went to his apartment. Neil and Jenny were already there and Marco and Renée showed up a moment later.
“Okay, we have a new development,” Noah said when they were all gathered in the living room. He took out his phone and showed the photo of Harmon/Belcher. “This is Richard Belcher, now going by the name of Jim Harmon. He was introduced to me today as being in charge of ‘procurement,’ which means that he is the guy who actually snatches people to harvest their organs. He is a former E & E assassin, and he actually brags about it. Allison says he’s extremely dangerous and that she suspects he would probably have a team of his own working with him. Because he would recognize Marco, we need to eliminate him right away.”
“Yeah, like now,” Neil said. “If he figures out who we are, we can all end up dead.”
“That is a possibility,” Noah said. “Are we secure here?”
Neil nodded. “I scan the whole building several times a day,” he said. “There are no bugs in this building, so we can speak freely.”
“Good,” Noah said. “As far as we know, Belcher isn’t aware that Marco is around yet. I’m going to orchestrate things so that they come face-to-face the way I want them to. Allison is making some changes to Marco’s back story, making it look like he is a former CIA agent who is wanted on a murder charge. When he and Belcher meet, he’s going to kill Belcher to avoid being exposed. That’s going to leave a vacancy in the organization that I’m hoping Marco can fill.”
“You want Marco to be their new snatch master?” Jenny asked. “That would certainly help. He’d know where the victims are, that’s for sure.”
“Yes, and he would probably be able to find out who else is involved in that part of the operation. When it comes time to shut them down, we need to shut them all down at once.”
“The question is,” Marco said, “how do you want me to take him out? I remember Belcher, and he’s not a man I would want to go up against unarmed. For that matter, you can bet he doesn’t go anywhere unarmed. Should I start packing heat?”
“Absolutely,” Noah said. “How are you doing on getting yourself fired?”
Marco grinned. “That’s easy,” he said. “The ambulance service has a no tolerance policy on drinking. All I gotta do is show up drunk tomorrow, and I’ll be headed for the unemployment line.”
Noah nodded. “Good. Make it believable, because I need you working with me.”
“Easy. I’m going to go in half crocked, whining about how me and the wife got into a big fight. I’ll give them some sob story, swear up and down it will never happen again, but the policy says I have to be fired immediately. It won’t be a problem.”
“Then come out to the new office as soon as you’re free. I don’t know when Belcher will show up again, but I need you there when it happens. The moment you see him, you take him down. I’ll back you if I have to, but it would be best if you can handle it on your own.”
“And suppose these other guys are with him again? What happens then?”
“That would only play into my plans. You’ll have to explain why you decided to kill him, and that’ll make you attractive to them as his replacement.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Marco said. “You really think they’re going to offer me the job?”
“I think I can sell them on it, yes. Ex-CIA? Wanted for murder? You’re exactly the kind of man they are going to need to replace this guy. It shouldn’t be all that difficult to make them understand that.”
“But it’ll be just the two of you?” Jenny asked. “What happens if this team of his is with him, and they take exception to seeing the boss get killed?”
“We’ll handle it,” Noah said. “We can’t afford to have you step out of character, so you can’t miss any classes. I’d love it if I could have you on a sniper rifle, just backing us up, but you have to stay in character.”
“What about me?” Renée asked. “I’m qualified with a rifle.”
“Yes, but you’ve never actually killed. We can’t afford to rely on you and then have you hesitate. It’ll be better if we simply handle it ourselves.”
Renée stared at him, her mouth open. Marco reached over and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Relax, honey,” he said. “Noah isn’t trying to be insulting, he just doesn’t have any tact. He’s probably right, because shooting at a target and shooting at a man are two different things. If you hesitated for even a second when we were counting on you to take a shot, it could get one or both of us killed.”
“I wouldn’t hesitate,” Renée said. “Not when it comes to protecting you or Noah. I wouldn’t.”
“The day may come when we have to put you in that position,” Noah said, “but this isn’t that day. When Belcher shows up, I’ll have Marco get out of sight. If the situation isn’t controllable, I won’t let them meet. Please understand me, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s simply a matter of knowing exactly what is going to happen. I can’t afford any variables, not in a situation like this.”
Renée managed a slight smile, and nodded. “Okay, I get it. I still say I wouldn’t hesitate, though.”
“Then what about me?” Neil asked. “I’m no good with the sniper rifle, but you could have me there with the mini machine gun I usually carry. You know I won’t hesitate, not anymore.”
“Yes, but that might be a bit too much. The whole point is that we need to make this look like something that happened on the spur of the moment. If you were there with a machine gun, it would look staged. Besides, you’re supposed to be a computer security consultant. How many of them carry machine pistols around?”
Neil shrugged. “I’m just trying to help,” he said. “What about calling in somebody from Neverland? At least have a sniper to cover you, just in case.”
“No,” Noah said. “Belcher claims that he still has friends back at E & E, so we can’t afford the possibility that someone got wind of reinforcements being sent here. We have to handle this on our own, but I’m confident Marco and I can do it.”
&
nbsp; “Yeah, of course we can,” Marco said. “Besides, we can probably take him by surprise. He’s not going to expect somebody to kill him when he’s part of the team, right?”
“That’s what I’m counting on. I didn’t get any hint that he was suspicious, so I don’t think he’s going to expect to face any dangers coming by the office. He didn’t have a team with him today, so hopefully he won’t when the time comes.”
Sarah shook her head. “You know, I’ve been doing real good lately,” she said. “Now I’m starting to get nervous again. This guy is as much a pro as you are, Noah, and I think it would be hard to take you by surprise. Just be careful, please? Both of you.”
“We will, babe,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
Neil had picked up his ever present computer and opened it on his lap. He looked up suddenly and crooked a finger to get Noah’s attention.
“Boss? I hacked the picture out of your phone and ran it through facial recognition. Belcher, or Harmon or whatever, also goes by another name. I found him on a corporate website for Blackwell Investigations, as John McGinty. Blackwell specializes in tracking people down, and McGinty is the CEO.” He looked up at Noah. “He’s got a team, all right. Blackwell employs seven ex-Navy SEALs as skip tracers.”
“Where is the company located?” Noah asked.
“About four blocks down the street. It’s a good sized building, used to be a car dealership.”
Noah looked at him for a moment, then took out his phone. “Change in plans,” he said. “If he’s operating out in the open, we might be able to do this with even less risk.” He dialed a number and then put the phone on speaker.
“Camelot, report,” Allison said as she answered her cell phone. “Anything new?”
“Yes. It turns out Belcher is running an investigations company out of Galveston. Have you ever heard of Blackwell Investigations?”
“No, but that’s no big surprise. What does this have to do with anything?”
“If you’re sure that this is Belcher, then operating so publicly is basically flaunting his continued existence in your face. Rather than risk a confrontation between him and Marco, why can’t we just let the feds come in and take him down legally? You wouldn’t even have to bring up anything about this current operation until after we’re finished.”
Allison was quiet for a couple of seconds. “Neil found all this?” she asked a moment later.
“Yes. He took the picture and ran it through facial recognition, and that led him to the company’s website. Belcher is apparently using the name John McGinty, and he’s the CEO of the company.”
“That son of a… Fine, I’ll handle it. If he’s operating publicly, he shouldn’t be that hard to find. I’ll let you know what happens.”
The line went dead again, as it always did when she was done talking. Noah put the phone away and the entire team seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
* * * * *
The next morning, Noah reported to his office at the medical center and was immediately told to see Conley. He went up the elevator and into his boss’s office and was surprised to see his supervisor, Linda Phillips, sitting there.
Conley pointed at a chair and Noah sat down.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Not really wrong,” Linda said. “I’m just a little irritated that you’ve only been here a month and you’re already leaving us. What brought that on? I thought you were really happy here, Robert.”
“I actually have been,” Noah said, watching Conley from the corner of his eye. “I’m not leaving because of any kind of dissatisfaction, it’s just because I got an opportunity to start my own business. I’ve had some ideas along this line for quite a while, and I just got approved for the financing. I’m sorry if it’s creating problems for you, I really didn’t mean for that to happen.”
Linda shrugged, grinning. “I don’t guess it’s that big a deal,” she said. “We had a few other applicants for your job, so I told personnel to pick one and get them in here so you can show them how you do things, but Harold says we won’t need to hire anybody.”
Noah smiled. “That’s the plan,” he said. “I’ll still be here a few more days, but I will have to spend some time each day working on getting my new operation set up. I hope that won’t cause any problems.”
“Nothing we can’t cope with,” Linda said. “And believe me, I understand. If I had the chance to start a business of my own, I would be out these doors like a rocket. Harold says your new business is going to be handling all of our organ transports from now on. How is that happening?”
“Actually, it’s basically just the same thing I do here. I’m starting an organ transport company, because there are a lot of hospitals that don’t have their own transport specialist. I was planning to approach the administration here about contracting with us, but Harold beat me to it.”
“Which I think was a great idea,” Conley said. “That way, we still have Rob doing all the paperwork and keeping us out of trouble, but we wouldn’t have to maintain a complete department for it. Linda, I happen to know that the powers that be are interested in promoting you to a higher management position. Farming out our transport responsibilities to Rob’s new company will undoubtedly give them the impetus they need to do so.”
“I wouldn’t have any problem with it,” she said. “I’ll try to talk to Mr. Alvarez this morning, and bring up the idea. What’s the name of your company, Rob?”
“Townsend Transport Logistics,” he said. “I’m setting up out on Eight Mile Road, not far from the airfield.”
Linda nodded. “I’ll bet I can sell it,” she said. “Alvarez has mentioned once or twice that he’d like to have me move up to the operations office.” She got out of her chair. “Let me go see what I can do. Rob, best of luck and I’m glad we’re going to be your first customer.”
ELEVEN
As soon as she was gone, Conley turned to Noah with a smile.
“Well, there you go,” he said. “Not only will we have our own little operation going, but you’ll still be handling all the work for the center here. Pretty slick, wasn’t it?”
“I’d say so,” Noah said with a grin. “You really got the contract set up already? That would look good, you know what I mean?”
Conley was nodding his head. “I do, which is why I already got the ball rolling,” he said, “and why I set up this little charade. Trust me, Linda wants that promotion. She’ll convince Alvarez to agree to this with no problem at all.” He leaned forward, rubbing his hands together excitedly. “Now, she just told me there’s really nothing for you to do today. You think you can get started on some of our specials today? Bill says he can have them ready by the end of the day, if you can.”
“I could,” Noah said, “but I’d really rather wait another day. I want to get some people hired this morning, so I need to get out to the office right away. I’ve got interviews starting at ten o’clock.”
“Okay, I’ll tell Bill to hold off until tomorrow.” He chuckled. “It’s not like the sources are going anywhere.”
Noah grinned, then got to his feet. “No problem, then,” he said. “I’ll get busy and get as much done today as possible, so we can start shipping tomorrow. Of course, that means I’m going to be out of the office. You’ll cover me on that?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Conley said. “I’ve got your back.”
Noah walked back to his office, told the office manager that he would be out for the rest of the day and then headed to the parking lot. He got into the Charger and started it, then turned onto the street and headed toward his new office.
He got about half a mile when Marco suddenly called on the subcom. “Okay, I’m officially fired,” he said. “Want me to come on out to the office?”
“Yes. I’m on the way there myself, now. I’ll see you when you get there.”
“Marco out.”
The drive from the medical center to the new office took about twenty-five minutes, most of wh
ich was getting through town. Marco’s SUV was sitting in the parking lot when he pulled in, and the two men got out of the vehicles at the same time. They shook hands, then Noah led Marco inside.
“I’m going to have you running errands this morning,” Noah said. “I’m setting up a break room, but we need a small refrigerator, a microwave and a coffee maker, plus all the supplies and goodies to go with it.” He went into his office and opened the locked door on his desk, reached into the envelope full of cash and pulled out five hundred dollars. “This ought to be plenty. Stock us up on coffee, soft drinks, snack items, maybe even some of those frozen sandwiches. Also, grab a television set, the kind that hangs on the wall. There will be people hanging out here a lot, so we might as well keep them entertained.”
Marco nodded. “You got cable here already?”
“Yes, came with the Internet service. You probably ought to pick up some extension cable, I’m not sure where you have to tap into it at.”
“No problem, I know how. I’ll pick up the tools I need while I’m out.” He turned and walked out the door, got into the SUV and drove away.
* * * * *
Four miles away, Richard Belcher, a.k.a. Jim Harmon and John McGinty, pulled up in front of his building at precisely nine a.m., as he always did. He stepped out of his car and started toward the front door of the building, then suddenly came to a stop. The back of his neck was crawling, the way it always did when someone was watching him. He stood where he was for a moment, then slowly turned and looked at the four men in business suits who were approaching him.
“Something I can do for you gentlemen?” he asked. He had put his hands on his hips, but was trying to look relaxed.
One of the men removed a sheet of paper from inside his jacket and held it up. “Richard Belcher,” he said, “we have a warrant for your arrest.”
Belcher moved instantly, throwing himself to the left so that a car was between him and the other men. A split second later, he came up over the hood of the car with a pistol in his hand, and two of the men dropped instantly as his bullets struck them in the head. The other two dove for cover and Belcher ducked back behind the car.