by David Archer
It was a few minutes after twelve when all three of their cell phones suddenly started ringing. The girls had arrived in Vegas, and all six of them knew that the final phase of the mission had begun.
* * * * *
The women checked into their hotel just before eleven, Vegas local time, but they were all too excited to go to sleep. They carried their bags to their room and left them, then headed down to the casino that was connected to the lobby.
“Two days of fun and relaxation,” Jenny said. “And I plan to make the most of it!”
“Just don’t get too crazy,” Sarah said with a giggle. “I’m all for having fun, but we still have a job to do on Monday.”
“Don’t worry, I know,” Jenny said with a smile, “and I’m looking forward to it. You know, it’s no secret that I enjoy my work, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a target that I wanted to kill as badly as these guys. Well, maybe the bastards who murdered my sister, but I’m talking about since I took this job. These guys deserve everything I intend to do to them.”
“Which brings up a question,” Renée said. “At the moment, the only one we really know about is Schlatter. How do we find out who else we need to take out?”
“We take out Schlatter, everyone at his holding facility, and anybody connected to his company. There’s absolutely no doubt that he’s the guy in charge of their operation out here, so anybody working directly for him is involved. The FBI report that Allison sent me says that he has three doctors and two nurses in Vegas on his secret payroll, so they made the list as well. I got all the information on them in my phone, so they won’t be hard to find.”
“Okay, okay, I don’t want to think about all that tonight,” Sarah said. “Let’s go have a couple drinks and play some games. I want to try my hand at blackjack, I always do really good on the video game versions. Let’s see if I can win any real money.”
TWENTY-ONE
Noah, Neil and Marco relaxed through Saturday, sleeping in until almost 11. Noah had pointed out that they would need all the rest they could get before everything began on Monday, and the others were smart enough to take his advice. When they finally rolled out of bed, they all got together at Noah’s place and made sandwiches for their late breakfast.
Noah went down the hall at one and knocked on Esmeralda’s door. She answered it with a smile and stepped aside to let him enter.
“Hello,” she said. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. I just wanted to make sure everything is ready for your trip to New Jersey.”
“I am ready. I have packed my clothes and have already arranged for a taxi to take me to the airport. I’m going in a small jet and will be the only passenger. When I arrive, there will be a car waiting for me at the rental counter. Logic dictated that I should select one of the sports cars, so I chose the new Mustang. I will be checked in at the hotel before eleven p.m.”
Noah nodded. “Very good. Once you have checked into the hotel, stay inside the room and hang the do not disturb sign on the door. Remember to call room service and order food for breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow. Follow your programming to maintain the appearance that you are human. Call me when you have checked into your room to give me the room number, and I will make contact after I arrive.”
“Yes, sir,” the robot said.
Noah turned and walked out the door, then went back to his apartment. He and the other men continued watching movies through the afternoon, only taking breaks when the girls called after getting out of bed around their own lunchtime, and when it was time to make themselves some dinner.
“We need to come out here together sometime,” Sarah said to him. “I need your logical mind to help me know when to stop throwing money away.”
“How much did you lose?” Noah asked.
“Oh, not that much,” she said hastily. “When we went to the casino, I told myself not to gamble more than a thousand dollars, but after I lost that, I let myself have another thousand. By the time I lost all of that, Renée was pretty well wasted and it took me and Jenny both to get her back up to the room.”
“You shouldn’t be drinking that much,” Noah said. “Las Vegas is fairly good about people being drunk, but you shouldn’t be drawing attention to yourselves.”
“Oh, I wasn’t drunk,” Sarah said, “and neither was Jenny. I think Renée just needed to let off some stress, but from the hangover she’s got this morning, I doubt she’s going to try again anytime soon.”
“All right,” Noah said. “Just be careful. Go ahead and enjoy yourselves today, but you should probably be in bed at a reasonable time. Tomorrow is likely to be intense.”
“I know, babe,” she said. “We’ll do our jobs, don’t worry.”
“I don’t worry,” Noah said. “I just consider what can go wrong.”
Marco and Neil had similar conversations with Renée and Jenny, but then the girls wanted to go and relax a bit more. They promised to be back at the hotel and in bed by ten o’clock, and Noah suggested that Marco and Neil do the same.
At three o’clock, Noah gathered his bags and carried them down to the SUV. He had two suitcases, and the larger one contained the weapons he was taking along. Since it was a charter flight, he didn’t have to worry about going through airport security or having his bags searched. Taking the weapons along was easier than arranging to have someone bring them to him in New Jersey.
Neil and Marco drove him to the airfield. The small airport on Galveston Island didn’t have such a thing as long-term parking, and Noah didn’t want to leave the Charger sitting there. He locked it in the parking lot at the apartment building and set the alarm. Anyone who tried to steal the classic beauty would be in for a shock, thanks to the automated security system it contained.
Marco drove in front of the terminal and Noah climbed out with his bags, then told both of them he would see them in a couple of days and they drove away, back toward the apartment buildings. His charter jet had not yet arrived, so he bought a soft drink from the vending machine and sat on a bench just inside the gate. It wasn’t long before he heard the sound of the descending jet, and a midsized Learjet touched down on the runway. It taxied to where he was waiting, and the copilot hurried out to greet him and take his bags.
“Mr. Townsend?” the copilot asked.
“That’s me,” Noah said. “Ready for me to climb in?”
“Yes, sir,” the man replied. “I’m Jack Lehman, I’m your copilot today. Captain Fredericks is the pilot, and Patty Thompson is your flight attendant.” Lehman picked up the suitcases and hurried toward the plane, waited for Noah to climb up the small stairs and then followed him. He set the bags down and strapped them in while a stocky young lady welcomed Noah aboard.
“Hi,” she said, “I’m Patty. Can I get you anything?”
“Not at the moment,” Noah said. “Thank you, though.”
“My pleasure. Once we get in the air, we have dinner for you. You can have your choice of roast beef sandwiches or pizza.” She shrugged and gave him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, it’s kind of an economy flight.”
Noah grinned. “Roast beef will be fine,” he said.
He strapped in and a few minutes later, the plane left the runway and got into the air. The flight would last a bit over three hours, he knew, so he leaned back in his seat and thought about possible problems he could run into during this last phase of the mission.
The plane reached cruising altitude and Patty brought him two roast beef sandwiches and a large bottle of Coke. He thanked her and began to eat, glad that he wouldn’t have to find a restaurant when he arrived. Finishing his dinner took a few minutes, and then he leaned back in his seat and drifted to sleep.
He awoke when the plane began its descent, the change in altitude telling him that they were going to be landing soon. He looked out the window as the plane approached the ground, watching the buildings and cars grow quickly larger, and then the wheels touched down on the runway. The plane taxied to the terminal building, Lehm
an helped Noah retrieve his bags, and an airport employee pointed him toward the rental counter.
Noah picked up his car, a new Toyota sedan, and used the navigation app on his phone to get directions to the hotel. It was only a few minutes away and he found it quickly, then checked in. He was in room 406, just two doors away from Esmeralda, who had told him she was in room 402. He took his bags to his room and set them inside, then called Esmeralda’s room and asked her to come over.
“I have stayed in my room, as you instructed,” she said when she entered. “No one seems to be paying any attention to me at this point.”
“That’s good. I want you to be ready to follow me tomorrow morning, and I’ll need you to take this suitcase down to your car.” He indicated the one that held the weapons. “Put it on your back seat, because it has the weapons I’ll be needing tomorrow. I’ll let you know when I leave the room in the morning, so that you can see what I’m driving and follow me.”
“Yes.”
“When we get to my destination, I want you to simply wait in the car. You will connect with Sarah by telephone, so that I can relay information to you if I need to. I will turn on my subcom before I go into the meeting, and Sarah will be able to hear what goes on. She will describe to you what she hears, and relay any message that I tell her to give you. If all goes well, I will simply come out of the buildings and retrieve my weapons. Team Pegasus is already here, and will also be following me in the morning. They’ll be aware of your presence, but probably won’t interact with you at all. When the meeting is over, I will give them their orders and then go after my own targets. You will continue to wait in the car where you are unless I give you other instructions at that time.”
“Yes.”
“That’s all. Go back to your room and wait for me to call you in the morning.”
Esmeralda turned around without another word and left the room, going down the hall to her room and stepping inside. She closed the door and Noah took out his phone to call Sarah.
“Hey, babe,” Sarah said as she answered. “How’s it going?”
“Fine. I’m in Trenton, about to go to bed. How’s everything out there?”
“We’ve been having fun,” Sarah said. “We went to see a show this afternoon about the history of rock ’n’ roll. It was actually pretty good, there was this band and they kept turning into different bands and singers from history.”
“That sounds interesting,” Noah said. “You haven’t run into any problems, have you?”
“None at all,” Sarah said. “And none of us are drinking, either. Renée says she’s never touching alcohol again for the rest of her life, but Jenny and I just figured we didn’t need to do anything that might slow us down in the morning.”
“That’s good thinking. With any luck, this will all be over by tomorrow night. Then it’s just a mop up, and the FBI can handle that.”
“I’m ready,” Sarah said. “I’m ready to do whatever I have to do tomorrow, and I’m ready for this to be over. I think we all are, to tell the truth.”
“I agree. Just be sure to get some rest tonight and be up fairly early. Esmeralda is going to call your cell phone in the morning, and I want you to turn on your subcom at that point. I’ll turn my own on at the same time so that you can relay information and instructions to her.”
“Okay, babe. You’re going to bed now?”
“Yes, I want to get plenty of rest before morning. Be sure you do the same.”
“I will. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Noah said. “Good night, babe.”
Since he knew he had to be up early, he went straight to bed and was asleep moments later.
* * * * *
The three women played slot machines for a while longer, and Jenny even hit one of the smaller jackpots, winning two thousand dollars. They’d already had dinner an hour or so earlier, so at nine o’clock they decided to call it a day and headed up to their room.
Renée was the first one to notice the man following them as they made their way toward the elevators. She nudged Jenny and whispered, “Some guy’s following us. You think it’s a problem?”
“We’re three hot babes,” Jenny said. “It’s probably just some guy wishing he could make a fantasy come true.”
“Yeah, probably,” Sarah said. She glanced behind them, but the only man in sight, about ten feet behind them, didn’t look familiar. “I think he’s already lost interest, anyway, he’s looking off down another hall.”
They got to the elevator and had to wait a moment, but the man didn’t bother trying to catch up to them. When the elevator opened, they stepped inside and Jenny pushed the button for their floor. The doors began to close, but suddenly a hand was pressed between them and something dropped out of it.
The hand retracted and the doors closed, everything happening too quickly for the safety system to cut in. All three girls looked at the small, round canister that had hit the floor, and that was when it made a loud popping sound. It burst open along one side and hazy fumes erupted from it.
“It’s gas,” Jenny said, but the effects hit almost instantly. They smelled something like garlic, and all three of them suddenly felt weak and woozy. Within five seconds, they were slumped on the floor against the walls, completely unconscious.
The elevator opened on the third floor and three men wearing small gas masks stepped inside. Each of them picked up one of the women and carried her toward a room, and it was less than ten minutes later when the paramedics arrived. All three of the women were loaded onto stretchers and carried down the elevator and into a waiting ambulance.
In the ambulance, a man sat in the front passenger seat. He looked around as the women were loaded inside and nodded.
“It’s definitely them,” he said. He turned back to the driver as the back doors were closed, and motioned with his finger for him to go. The ambulance started and left the parking lot of the hotel, took the on-ramp for I-15 and headed north into the desert.
Sarah was the first to awaken, and it took her a couple of minutes to realize that she didn’t recognize her surroundings. She was in a room with gray concrete walls, lying on what seemed to be a pad on the floor. She put a hand to her forehead and tried to sit up, but dizziness made her fall back onto the pad.
She turned her head and looked to her right, and that’s when she saw Jenny and Renée. They were lying on similar pads, and both of them were nearly naked, clad only in bra and panties. Sarah forced herself to raise her head and looked down at her own body, seeing that she had also been stripped of her clothing.
Jenny groaned and Sarah reached out and touched her arm. She shook her gently, and Jenny’s eyes fluttered open.
“What the…” Jenny said. She turned her head and looked at Sarah, then closed her eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over her. “I…” She swallowed, then opened her eyes again. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah said. “Jenny, something’s wrong. We’re damn near naked, and I don’t know where we are.”
Jenny forced herself into a sitting position, scooting back so she could lean against the cold concrete wall. She looked around the room, noticing a single light bulb that hung from wires overhead. There was a door in the wall in front of her, but it was obviously made of steel and undoubtedly secured.
“There was a gas bomb,” she said. “In the elevator, remember?”
Sarah nodded, struggling to sit up. “Yeah,” she said. “What the hell was that?”
“Probably carfentanil, or something like it. Knocks you out pretty quickly, but then it takes an antidote of some kind to keep you from suffocating.” She looked her arms over and pointed to a small, red spot. “Yeah, I got a shot.”
Sarah rubbed her own arms and winced. “Yeah, me too. What the hell is going on?”
“We’ve been spotted,” Jenny said. “I don’t know how, but Schlatter or some of his people figured out who we were.”
Jenny reached over and shook Renée, and she slowly ope
ned her eyes. The two of them told her what little they knew, and Jenny helped her to sit up with them.
“Activate all,” Jenny said. “Jenny to Noah, you there?”
There was no answer. Jenny looked at Sarah. “Did you hear me?”
Sarah nodded, and so did Renée.
“Subcoms are working,” Sarah said. “Noah? Noah, can you hear me?”
“Marco? Marco, talk to me,” Renée said.
“I don’t think it’s any use,” Jenny said. “We may be underground, or there may just be no Wi-Fi connection close enough for us to reach.” She got slowly to her feet, holding onto the wall as another wave of dizziness swept over her, then made her way to the door. She put her ear against it and listened, but heard nothing, so she tried the doorknob. As she had guessed, it was locked. “Well, we’re not getting out on our own.”
“You think Schlatter is the one who got us?” Sarah asked.
Jenny nodded. “If not himself, somebody he sent after us. I don’t know how he knew we were there, but he did.” She sat on her pad and began running her hands over her body, feeling every part of it. “It doesn’t appear I’ve been raped or anything. You?”
Sarah shook her head, and Renée followed suit.
“Not that I can tell,” Sarah said. “If it’s Schlatter, it’s probably not a good thing that we are still alive.”
“Nope,” Jenny said, shaking her head. “It means we become inventory. They’ll keep us alive until they are ready to harvest organs. Then we die.”
“Well, don’t sound so cheerful about it,” Renée said. “You’re in charge. What do we do?”
“If they have any idea who we are,” Jenny said, “they won’t take any chance on letting us put up a fight. At this point, they probably just think we’re some kind of investigating agents. The fact that they were willing to take us hostage is a little scary, though. It means they don’t believe they can be touched.”
“I wonder what time it is,” Sarah said. “I’m supposed to be on subcom with Noah around five o’clock in the morning, so he may already be aware that we’re missing. If he knows, he’ll contact Allison and she’ll be screaming at the FBI. They have had Schlatter under surveillance, and they know where his holding compound is. That’s probably where we’re at, don’t you think?”