Authors: Murray McDonald
“Jesus, Katherine, what then?” he shouted over the chopper’s noise.
She took his arm and guided him away. This was not a message to be shouted.
“There’s been a terrible accident, it’s Nicole.”
Rick disengaged from Katherine and rushed towards the house, Katherine caught him and stopped him.
“I’m sorry Rick, it’s too late, she’s dead.” Katherine watched the man crumble before her. She couldn’t help but think this was not a smart move. But Surkov’s message had been clear, the wife was to die and the governor must still travel to Russia.
The freak accident of the Governor’s wife slipping on the wet bathroom tiles after stepping out of the shower was a lesson to all. The sale of anti slip mats and anti slip tiling would explode in Texas. Of course, there had been no such accident. Katherine had secretly joined Nicole for a very private meeting, as she did whenever the Governor was not around. After a very enjoyable love making session the two had enjoyed a shower together, after which, Katherine, with an extremely heavy heart, had killed her lover. A trip backwards at exactly the right point and guiding the base of her skull towards the step ensured a quick and painless death. Staging the scene had been easy. Particularly as she would be the one who would find Nicole.
Katherine took no pleasure in any of it. Nicole had been a very beautiful woman and exceptional lover. She would miss her dearly. But orders were orders. Her task now was to ensure the trip to Moscow went ahead. It wasn’t going to be easy but whatever Katherine wanted Katherine got.
Chapter 51
“What’s happened?” asked Sean, instantly thinking James had been killed. He looked at Luis, ready to pounce.
“It’s Vincent, he’s had a heart attack,” she cried.
Sean couldn’t believe that he actually felt some relief. She hadn’t said he was dead and just as importantly it wasn’t James.
“How is he?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” her voice quivered. “They’ve just rushed him by helicopter to Bethesda.”
“He’s a tough old goat, it’ll take more than a heart attack to kill him, Jane!” comforted Sean. He knew how much she cared for the old tyrant. The only person that didn’t was Vincent. Sean had tried to tell him in the past but Vincent had brushed it aside as nonsense.
Jane sniffed loudly before she responded, regaining some composure. “The last thing he said before he was wheeled away and I had to promise before he would let them take him away is that I was to tell you he was sorry!”
She started to cry again. “But he never said what for!”
Sean knew exactly what for, not going to his funeral, or what he thought was his funeral.
“Not going to the funeral,” he replied. “Seriously Jane, he’ll be fine. Vincent Black will not tolerate a heart attack being his cause of death!”
Jane actually managed a laugh at the thought of Vincent saying exactly that and brightened slightly, until she realized what the next topic of conversation needed to be. “Katie said our team are all dead?”
“I’m afraid so!” he confirmed.
Jane, at that point couldn’t speak, the tears flowed, it had been her that sent them to Laredo, nobody else. Vincent hadn’t thought of it himself, another sign he had not been himself. She should have seen just how unwell the worry was making him; his level of agitation had been greater than she had ever seen before. If she had noticed earlier and tried to calm him, he may not have had the heart attack. If she hadn’t sent the team to Laredo, six lives in one morning would not have been extinguished and it was all her fault.
“I sent them!” she blubbered.
Sean just made out what she had said. “Well in that case, thank you. They saved Katie’s life and mine and as a result young James’s too.” He knew the latter was not a given but he’d do everything in his power to make sure it was.
“Sean?” a voice replaced the blubbering Jane, a voice that Sean had never heard before.
“Yes, who’s this?”
“Mike Ritter, I was working with Vincent this morning,” he replied.
“OK, anything I should know about?”
“Lots!” replied Mike, very much surprising Sean. He had only been in the country for 24 hours and was no longer a member of CIA.
“Sorry?” questioned Sean, wondering if he had heard Mike correctly.
“I need you to get to Langley,” ordered Mike, adding firmly, “ASAP.”
Sean looked at Katie. He had business to finish in Laredo. He wasn’t going anywhere until James was back safe in his mother’s arms.
“You do know I’m no longer a CIA agent?” clarified Sean.
“Yes,” replied Mike.
“So why the hell would I come to Langley?”
“Because, if I’m right, you may be our only hope in stopping the next world war!”
Chapter 52
“What the hell are you talking about?” replied Sean skeptically, comments like that weren’t exactly rare at Langley.
“We don’t have time for this and this line is not secure. There’s a flight from Laredo at…” His voice became muffled. “Jane, what’s the first flight we can get Sean on?” Before returning to Sean. “Jane is just checking…”
“Just slow down a little,” suggested Sean calmly. “I have unfinished business here!”
“It will have to wait…” replied Mike, his voice becoming agitated.
“No,” interrupted Sean angrily. “It won’t. Whatever little crisis you’re computer models have told you are on the horizon, will have to wait. I’ve got business to resolve here!”
“We have very little time,” pleaded Mike.
“And thousands of agents to help you solve your problem, remember I’m not even one of them!”
Mike took a breath, he was getting nowhere.
“Sean,” he said, his voice more relaxed. “I can’t emphasize how important this is, we really need your help.”
“OK, let’s start this conversation again,” offered Sean reasonably. “Hi Mike, I’m Sean Fox, I’ve retired from the CIA.”
Mike realized what Sean wanted. “Hi Sean I’m Mike Ritter, the former Head of Station in Moscow. I’m also retired from the CIA.”
The realization that Mike was like Sean, not an active CIA staff member, only added to his credence as far as Sean was concerned and had Sean far more intrigued.
“That was unexpected and I have to say, somewhat surprising.”
“V called me last night and I came in. There are some very disturbing incidences occurring, obviously quite a few around yourself and if I’m right, this is massive!”
“And what does V think?” asked Sean, far more receptive to the conversation.
“I was on my way to bring him up to speed when he collapsed. He doesn’t know.”
“So who does?”
“Nobody but me and I don’t have the evidence to take it anywhere!” replied Mike exasperated.
“I’m sorry Mike but I really do need to sort something out here first. A young boy’s life is hanging by a thread,” explained Mike to help him understand he was not being awkward.
“Vincent had given me some background as to why you were there. How long will it take?”
“Without Vincent, it could be a few days!”
“Sean, if I’m right and I hope I’m wrong, we don’t have a few days!”
“Seriously Mike, are you not being a little over dramatic?”
“No!” replied Mike succinctly. “How was V going to help you?”
Sean explained what he had asked Vincent to get him. Mike listened despairingly. There was absolutely nothing he could do to help. His entire working life had been spent overseas. He had few if any contacts and certainly nothing like the network Vincent Black had built up over the years.
“You’re talking DEA and FBI, I’m sorry Sean I can’t help,” replied Mike dejected at the prospect of any hopes of stopping what was happening slipping through his hands. First Vincent collapsed and then Sean was stuck in Laredo.
“I’ll be as quick…”
“Sorry, Sean,” interrupted Mike. “Jane wants a word.”
“Sean, it’s Jane,” she offered unnecessarily but one thing was clear she had regained her composure. “Whatever’s going on, it’s put Vincent in hospital. You tell me what you need and I promise I’ll move mountains to get it for you.”
Sean explained half-heartedly that it needed Vincent. There was no way that without his clout they’d be able to get what he wanted.
“OK,” she said noting down every detail. “Give me an hour or so!” she said confidently.
“An hour?” asked Sean bemused. Vincent was going to spend the day calling in favors across Washington to get what Sean needed.
“Or less. Now, if I can get this in place by this afternoon. Can you do what you need to, this evening?”
“I suppose!” offered Sean. If she could do that in a few hours how could Sean say no.
“Good, I’ll have a company jet waiting at Laredo for you from midnight tonight,” confirmed Jane before hanging up. To be honest, keeping busy was about the only thing that would keep her going and Sean’s list of requirements certainly fitted the bill.
Jane clicked open her contacts list. First up, the personal assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, responsible for both the FBI and DEA. Sean was about to discover where the real power lay in federal government.
Chapter 53
A shout of “Oh my God!” from Katie had Sean rushing into the kitchen, the small screen she was staring at had Breaking News flashing in the top corner of the screen. The story of the Governor’s wife dying had been made public.
Sean could hardly believe it himself. He had just met the governor less than hours earlier and he had quite possibly been one of the happiest people he had ever met. The poor guy had no idea what that day would bring. Sean suddenly thought of Vincent. What if he wasn’t strong enough to pull through the heart attack? He shook his head. If Sean knew one thing, it really was that Vincent Black wasn’t going to let a heart attack get the better of him.
“Looks like I may not be going to Moscow after all!” said Sean, more to himself than to Katie.
“Sorry,” she asked.
“The governor wanted me to go to Moscow with him,” explained Sean.
“What about James?” she asked, despite the fact that Sean had said he probably wouldn’t be going.
“I was only going if we had him back,” explained Sean.
“But should we not talk about things like that before you say yes?” she asked.
Sean suddenly realized she was talking to him like he was her Sean. She had so easily slipped into the comfortable world of him being there for her. The strangest part for Sean was that he actually thought for a second that maybe he should have spoken to her first. He really needed to get James back and to get to a beach very soon.
A thud from the living room allowed him to change the subject. “Any idea of when the builders are likely to return across the road?”
Luis was struggling to empty the house, for a second time, of its bodies. This time, however, there were far more and thanks to the daylight, they would not be unceremoniously dumped in the lake. Sean had already cranked the air conditioning in Katie’s garage as low as it would go and had laid his fallen colleagues carefully side by side, covering each with a blanket or sheet. They would be picked up later by a local coroner, courtesy of the CIA, to be flown to their respective families.
Luis was rounding up the Russians and loading them into the wheelbarrow to be stored within the empty house across the street. A specialist had already been dispatched to deal with the bodies. As far as anyone was concerned, within twenty-four hours, there would be no evidence that any Russian had ever been in Laredo, or the US, for that matter. Although Luis bitched about his role in cleaning up the mess, he was delighted that was all he was doing. If he heard another electric saw in his life, he wasn’t sure how he would react.
As Sean helped him load the final body into the wheelbarrow, the phone rang. Sean checked his watch, only thirty minutes had passed since he had spoken to Jane. Katie rushed into the hallway and grabbed the phone, looking at the caller id, 'withheld’.
Sean shook his head. Jane’s number would have shown up. He looked at Luis who shrugged.
Katie answered. “Hello?”
“Luis!” barked the caller.
Katie ran over to Luis with the phone outstretched to him, desperate for him to tell her what was happening.
“Uncle!” he answered.
“No, Juan!”
The fall of Luis’ face had Katie panicking. Sean grabbed her, as much to comfort as to quieten her.
“I believe you have sourced the contacts?”
“It’s in hand,” replied Luis as confidently as he could.
“Excellent, I have convinced your uncle that to ensure we do resolve this matter that you should point out to whoever it is helping you, that we have set a deadline,” he paused. “We wouldn’t want them to start stalling and playing silly games! Of course your uncle agrees.”
“Of course not, everything is on schedule,” said Luis his confidence wavering.
“Excellent, I’m delighted to hear that. I wouldn’t want to have to kill the boy just because you bullshitted your uncle!”
“Never!”
“Good, by close of business, five pm we’ll have our contacts or the boy is delivered to his mother in a coffin, closed of course!” spat Juan.
Luis replaced the handset and looked at Sean in despair. He knew if the boy died there was little hope he would survive.
“What?” rushed Sean.
“It was Juan, my uncle’s right hand man.” Luis began and saw the look of desperation on Katie’s face.
“A big deal we are working on, it is nothing to do with this!”
“But you look very worried?” pleaded Katie, not believing him.
“He is a very difficult man to work with!”
“Worse than your uncle?” scoffed Sean.
“Yes!” replied Luis.
“He must be some piece of work,” offered Sean. “Now come on, we need to move these bodies before anyone sees them,” he continued disengaging from Katie, again.
As they stepped out of the house and out of Katie’s earshot, Luis whispered. “That wasn’t quite true!”
“No shit,” replied Sean, amazed that Luis thought he had believed him. “ Why do you think we’re out here, what did he really say?”
“If you don’t get them the contacts by five this afternoon, they’ll kill the boy!”
“I can’t tell you the pleasure I’m going to take killing your Uncle!” replied Sean furious at the course of events and how little control he had.