Cold Blooded Assassin X- Hell's Half Acre Page 2

  Nick shrugged as we lodged Saad’s feet into the special stirrups. “Saad claimed to be having trouble breathing after I used the stun-gun nightstick on him at the camp, so naturally Dr. Muerto needed to ask him where it hurt. He said his chest hurt so I stun-gunned his nuts. It made him forget all about his chest pains… just another remarkable cure by Dr. Muerto.”

  “Well, boys, insert the needles and educate Saad on how he can help us.” Lynn rolled over the portable podiatry machine with clips for heat and current. Minutes later, with the acupuncture needles carefully located in the heels’ nerve clusters, Lynn readied her patient. “We need to educate you on how helping us get your crew reduces the pain factor of your passing.”

  “Wait! You cannot torture me!”

  That line never ceases to amuse us. I gagged our podiatry patient and Lynn immediately began to torture Saad, expertly varying the heat and current to the brink of a stroke before easing down. She waited ten minutes and began the process again. After the third treatment, we knew Saad lost his mind and would do anything to please Lynn. I removed the ball-gag and we waited for Saad to regain some coherency in speech. Lynn leaned down and smiled into Saad’s pinched and cringing face.

  “I’m sure you’ll be my little helper, won’t you Saad?”

  “Yes… anything… I…I can even make them come here to you! I will tell them… I was fired, but I found a place near the camp… abandoned… where we can complete our mission.”

  “We know your background,” Nick said. “You procure kids for a human trafficking ring. You’ve been filling the orders down near the Guatemala and Mexican border. Who got you up here and why the Carmel Valley Camp?”

  Saad glanced at me and looked away. “Give us the truth. You will have my word we won’t start the tool again.”

  “Ethan Carson… he paid us one million dollars to… move into position and would have paid another million if… we succeeded in snatching the girl… Alice.”

  Leave it to me. I guarantee no torture, and this guy’s mission is selling my daughter into sex slavery. Lynn’s glare of retribution for making that idiot’s bargain would have frozen another man’s soul. “The billionaire Silicone Valley magnate who wants legislation to legalize pedophilia?”

  “Yes. He tried to run for Congress. Carson lost. Even… in his position with the Bilderberg Group and Council of 300… after he was accused of visiting the Illuminati meetings on… on Cafrey’s Isle… and the accusations of pedophilia, their money and influence could not win the election for Carson.”

  “Is his position the reason my daughter was singled out?”

  “Yes… he has killed me! Carson did not tell me McCarty’s daughter was at the camp with her. We know McCarty is Muerto, and the number one assassin in the world! Your teams set back plans in Paris by possibly years! This… this was to be a lesson… that we could get to you too. Will you now kill Carson?”

  “Oh… yeah.” I would rip his head off personally… or worse.

  “Good! I…I will help you with the entire gang. They hate me anyway. They wished to invade the entire camp… raping, rampaging and killing. The idiots thought it would be as in England where Grooming Gangs get light sentences or set free because of being Muslim. I told them England was dead to us because of the City of Hope.”

  Nick turned to Gus and Jian. “Get to the camp, fully armed, in combat gear with US Marshal vests. Do not leave the camp until we settle this.”

  “Understood,” Gus said. “C’mon, Dragon. Let’s get dressed.”

  “Johnny and I will dress in plain clothes with Saad as Ebi Zarin and Amin Jutoh. You Monsters will be everywhere around us, so we can take them alive for Sam and Janie. They’re bringing ICE with them the moment I call them. They’ve alerted the locals to be prepared for a dangerous prisoner transfer. They also know Saad won’t be accompanying them.”

  “Excellent, Muerto,” Lynn said. “We probably should have flown them all back to the North Bay to feed Captain Hook, but Sam and Janie need to wet their beaks on this operation. Eight is too many for prepping in a Hollywood Bounty Hunters segment. We have the whole season in the can anyway.”

  “Saad here banged on the locked door, where Jean, Sonny, Al, and Jay were doing research, thinking to take Al right then, I’ll bet, right Saad?”

  “It is as you say. The girl… Alice… struck us out and embarrassed us in the softball game. I lost all thought.”

  Nick grinned. “It didn’t matter, Saad. Jean and Sonny would have cut you to pieces.”

  “I can guarantee that,” I added. “Those two would have sliced and diced you before you ever put hands on Al.”

  “Those… those two kids? No… just no…I-”

  Nick clamped Saad’s nose, shaking his head gently. “Say no more. Believe this. I trained those two little monsters. They knew not to hesitate. You would have been dead in a heartbeat. If you keep silent until we need you to speak, you will continue for a short time with a happy, painless ending. Do anything else and the Dark Lord and Muerto will take over this operation. We will make your horrific passing last for days, ending in a live feeding to a great white shark named Captain Hook. You don’t want that.”

  Nick released that prick and I believe the Terminator may have snatched Saad’s soul from Lynn. She smiled and said, “good one, Muerto. I will relinquish control to you if Saad breaks his word in a heartbeat.”

  Nick gripped Saad’s wrist. “We have a bond now. He knows that. Don’t you, Saad?”

  “I…I will never betray you, Muerto. Let me pass without the cleansing… Allah be merciful!”

  Nick smiled. “You know of my cleansings? That is good. Keep them in mind every moment until I allow you to pass painlessly into the afterlife.”

  Nick’s stare transfixed Saad. His lip trembled. He clamped his eyes shut. “It will be your will until you release me unto death.”

  Nick patted his face. “I like your dedication to task. We’ll release you now to call your buddies here. If you need to speak in Arabic or Spanish, know this – we all speak Spanish and Arabic, along with a host of other languages. Be good, Saad… or hell awaits.”

  Saad gulped down bile and nodded.

  * * *

  The vehicles parked along the paved circular approach to Nick’s Carmel Valley property with Saad, Nick and Johnny waiting in casual garb at sunset. The eight members of the snatching crew approached with weapons in hand.

  “Who are these men,” the leader of the group asked in Arabic.

  “I am Ebi Zarin and this is my brother in arms, Amin Jutoh. We arrived only days ago to secure this residence for our purposes.”

  The leader fell back a step. “Ebi… Zarin… no! You are dead!”

  “Yes, reported so many times, but yet… here I am. Put away your weapons. We must move on the Harding child tonight, ravage the camp, and take her to Carson.”

  As the men holstered weapons, the leader spoke with passion. “At last! Direction for jihad! I will rape that little bitch first, and-”

  Nick shot him between his eyes. “Get on the fucking ground, face first, hands out in front of you, or die. Do anything else and we kill you all now.”

  I brought the Monsters out of hiding, submachine guns focused and ready for fire. Our visitors looked around at their hosts and dropped to the ground. I walked over to the one Nick had shot. “Really… Muerto?”

  “I have Jean in the camp. We needed an example.” Nick took out his Muerto mask, put it on, and signaled to Johnny. “This is for Gus, Johnny. Record and stream it.”

  “On it, Muerto.”

  Nick plucked the dead man up for a surprise Kabuki dance of the dead. Johnny added the music from the movie Sayonara to highlight the dance… very entertaining for us other Monsters.

  Restraints, fingerprints, pictures and DNA samples, sent directly to Sam and Janie on their way from San Francisco, produced an immediate response.

  “Only one dead?”

  “We had an unfortunate incident which requ
ired an immediate response, Sam. What’s your ETA?”

  “Forty minutes, tops. This summer camp deal was no accidental target, was it?”

  “No… they were after my daughter as a lesson, paid for by Ethan Carson. We can’t seem to kill our way free of these Illuminati assholes. We can’t give you Carson. He came after family.”

  “Understood. We’ll take the seven survivors. I won’t talk about Saad. We’d never be able to make him pay for what he’s done. Saad’s human trafficking days ended with this stupid collaboration Carson paid for. Janie and I appreciate what we’re getting. We figured after the month you had, life would quiet down for your teams.”

  “We did too. Nick and I will figure a way to limit close calls like today. Our network came through for us, but this attempt at our kids will need a response.”

  “I know you’ll have Jafar working the identities along with us. Can we share data you gain from Carson? I doubt we’ll get much from Saad’s gang, except connections and operations they developed while working with other human trafficking rings in the past.”

  “We’ll share everything we can. See you in a while.” I disconnected.

  Claude joined Nick as Johnny escorted Saad to their interrogation bunker. I also brought Lucas, Casey, Clint and Lynn with me. Laredo flew us down. We needed to return for a security detail promised to our new mayor tomorrow. The idiot Governor of California, busy turning the state into a third world banana republic, demanded a meeting with Flo Brown over our water cannon tank episode. We stayed alert and quiet until Sam and Janie arrived with transport. Nick held on to the casualty for disposal.

  “If you think any of these guys need some special questioning, bring them to the East Bay with the questions you want answered.”

  “Thanks, Lynn,” Janie replied.

  After they left, we discussed what to do about the kids. “I hate to pull Al out of camp. What do you think, Nick?”

  “I think she’ll be safe there. Johnny will have our surveillance running 24/7 until camp ends. I need to face Rachel over leaving Jean, Sonny and Jay in place too. I left orders to call in at least once a day. We’ll go after intel on Carson immediately.”

  “They think this is a game,” Clint said. “The Illuminati scum think they can take potshots at us and our dependents. I think we need to get in on their next meeting, hopefully somewhere we can ship aboard Ranger.”

  “It does seem crazy this soon after we annihilated their Isle of Hope assault,” Lucas added. “When their army and ship disappeared without a trace and they still try an attack on our kids, Clint must be right. They think it’s a game. If we decimate their next meeting, at some point, the survivors will start having each other killed.”

  “We better get going, John,” Casey said. “We need to be at the meeting tomorrow at 8 am. At least you don’t need to get in the water tomorrow.”

  “Amen to that,” I answered. “You’re coming to the meeting tomorrow, aren’t you, Bad Penny?”

  “Your humble servant, Bad Penny Chardin, will be there. The more I stay out of Nina’s way, the better she likes me.”

  “Good. We can use you.”

  “Have you heard from Northman about a fight, DL,” Nick asked.

  I chuckled. “Tommy heard a rumor Northman wants to rethink fighting me after what I did to Carl Logan. Anyway, I think I’ll leave Al here at camp.”

  “We’ll take care of the kids,” Nick said. “I didn’t like the way Saad and his crew infiltrated the camp. The camp hires Saad as a counselor, followed by an imaginary state health department check on the camp by his crew. I plan to do background checks on the rest of the employees tonight.”

  “Nice work today, Nick. We’ll see you all soon. How’s the new novel coming?”

  “Very well. Paris in Darkness will be done and released sometime next month. I talked with Khan and Badee. The Paris Mayor delivered a bunch of refugees from their horrible squalor. They’re being rehabilitated as we speak. Khan said he’ll probably need to deport or shoot about half of them. They’ve been raping and pillaging too long in Paris.”

  “Just so they never return to Paris, I don’t care,” I replied. “A bullet in the back of the head makes a great learning tool.”

  “Absolutely.”

  * * *

  Johnny and Nick readied Saad and the man shot for the freezer, to be stored until they flew or sailed over the ocean. After completing that task, Nick took Deke for a long walk while Johnny settled into surveillance mode. Once he had the camp set on screen, Johnny recalled Gus and Jian from their on-site surveillance. Nick returned with Deke. The four Unholies worked on background checks until they were certain the other camp employees were vetted properly. Cala returned home with clothing bundles.

  “We had a great time,” Cala said. “How did the criminal roundup go?”

  “Only two for us to dispose of,” Nick answered. “I already prepared them. Did Rachel, Tina, and Joan go home?”

  “Yes. They were worn out watching me try stuff on. She picked up Chinese food for you two. I think Rachel wants a quiet evening on the balcony.”

  “Sounds good to me. We’re leaving you and Johnny in charge of surveillance, but the kids know to call in anything out of the ordinary. I’ll be back in the morning with Deke to write and watch the camp.”

  “Kabong showed us the Kabuki dance,” Gus said. “Thanks a lot.”

  Cala hurried over to her husband for a showing. She clapped her hands. “Oh my… that is a good one, Muerto.”

  “C’mon, Payaso. Take us home. I’ll be glad when this camp is over. I miss Otter’s Point. I think we’ll need a meeting of the Drunken Hand the first morning we can go to the beach.”

  “Agreed,” Gus replied. “We’ll go early while Jean’s asleep, so we don’t get any guff for it from the morality meter.”

  * * *

  Nick’s phone buzzed as Gus drove toward Pacific Grove. The caller ID identified Joe from the Monte Café. “Hi, Joe.”

  “Nick! I need you over at the café! I have a gang of older teens in those damn masks hanging around outside. They haven’t come in or anything, but I’m afraid they may be planning something. I put in a call to the police, but they called me a few minutes ago and said a patrol car drove by without seeing anyone doing anything illegal. My customers are afraid to walk out the door.”

  “We’ll be by in a couple minutes. Keep everyone inside. I’ll learn what they want.”

  “I heard,” Gus said. “Dragon and I are still dressed for action. Where’s your US Marshal vest?”

  “I got it,” Jian reached back into the cargo hold and retrieved Nick’s vest.

  “Thanks, Jian. We all have our nightsticks. I’ll watch for anyone reaching or handling pepper-spray.”

  Gus parked in the middle corridor of parking spaces on the street. The three US Marshals approached the seven masked men, lounging at Joe’s outside tables under his awning, taking turns peering into the café and blocking the door. “Record this until we need to do something, Dragon.”

  “Will do.”

  Nick spoke as a few of the masks confronted him. “Are you guys planning on going in to order something?”

  “What’s it to you?”

  “I’m US Marshal Nick McCarty. My companions are US Marshals Nason and Chen. If you’re not going in to have something to eat or drink, then you and your buddies need to stop playing grab-ass outside the café.”

  “Or what?” The guy stupidly reached to push Nick back.

  Nick grabbed his wrist, twisting it while kicking the man’s right leg out from under him. Gus and Jian fried everyone stepping forward. Nick pointed at the guy with his free hand. “You are under arrest for assaulting a federal officer.”

  Nick restrained him and stood to face the rest of the cowering group. “Get those masks off right now. Your pictures will be taken, along with fingerprints and DNA samples. Refuse, and we will simply stun-gun you all into obedience.”

  Gus kept the group covered while Nic
k and Jian restrained them after they stripped off their masks. Nick saw a couple of over forty types. He grinned. “What happened? You dolts didn’t get in on the hippy/flower-power age, so you two decided to act out now? I can’t wait to read your files and learn what you’ve been doing with your lives.”

  Gus and Nick backed the restrained and unmasked group away from the door. Jian escorted the patrons from the café. Joe emerged with four coffees. “Here, guys… thank you. I’ll sit with you until the pretend police get here.”

  Joe’s remark met with much amusement, except from the prisoners. Two squad cars arrived. Neil Dickerson popped out of one to hurriedly join Nick and the Unholies. “What happened, Nick?”

  “A breakdown in communication, I’m sure. Joe noticed this gang of morons congregating outside the Monte Café, staring in the windows with masks on and blocking the door. He called your department. They sent a car to cruise by, didn’t see anything and moved on. Joe called me. Here’s what we found.”

  Nick showed Neil the recording of what happened. Neil smiled. “Excellent.” He pointed at the leader who tried to push Nick. “You’re going to jail. You just assaulted a federal officer… an officer I know will testify against you no matter what.”

  Dickerson stood him on his feet, read him his rights, and handcuffed him, giving the prisoner over to another squad car’s officers. He beckoned the one he rode over with to join them. “You drove by, saw idiots with black masks, haunting the doorway into a public restaurant and called it in as a nothing’s happening here?”

  “The… the mayor doesn’t want anyone antagonized unless something violent is in progress,” the officer with Leopardi on his nameplate said.

  “Listen to me carefully, Don. You don’t work for the mayor. You work for me. My explicit instructions are to enforce the law by the letter of the law! You are suspended for a week – no pay. This is your one and only strike against you! We protect the citizens! We arrest mask wearing morons assaulting our city’s people and businesses. Do you have a phone?”

  “Uh… yeah… I have one.”