Forty-four
John and Craig’s distraction consisted of a duck
call. Ignored for ten minutes, the main house emptied of guards when the
noise grew raucous, and it was at that moment that Emily cut her way
through the chain-link fence in back.
“She’s disturbed the fence perimeter detectors by
now,” Craig announced, consulting his watch. “Nobody inside to keep an
eye on things. Someone’s gonna get their ass canned for this.”
An explosion sounded in the distance, sharp and
echoing. Lights went out briefly in the house, and then the generator
kicked in for the five or ten seconds left to its functional lifespan.
The antenna alongside the house blew in a show of
sparks. Fuel detonated in the generator shed, sending a fireball rolling
into the pitch black, early morning sky. Craig and John had already
donned their night vision goggles. “Heads up. We’ve got company.”
Dobermans arced across the front lawns. Battery
powered yard lights came on and flooded the grounds with the cold
illumination of mercury vapor lighting, each terminated by a quick
succession of shots fired from a surplus M-14 resting against Craig’s
shoulder as John armed and chucked the flash grenades across the interior
of the fence.
Beeps sounded in John’s ears. He looked away and
covered his eyes. Blue-white light flashed. Dogs howled in terror, and
men roared in anger and outright panic.
They had the time needed to cut through the fence.
Craig took a break long enough to exchange the M-14 for the tranq gun,
taking out two reinforcements from the house and another of the uninjured
dogs bounding from the rear of the property. The dog and one of the men
collapsed close enough to reach out and touch. Craig ginned at John’s
expression of resentful exasperation.
Behind them, a car approached. Francis and Evelyn
would park nearby and wait until called. Once John and Craig were inside
the house, John had changed plans to have Evelyn on hand to calm her
father on the outside chance the Senator could order security to stand
down.
Craig and John ran for the house and took cover
behind planters. “Senator Hacks!” Craig called out. “Your daughter is
here to speak with you! We’re not here to hurt anyone!”
The front door creaked open. One of the guards
stepped out with raised hands. “Who are you! Identify yourself!”
“I’m here!” Evelyn cried from a distance, her voice
carrying well in the night. “Father, I’m here!”
Senator Caliph Hacks and one of the guards inside the
house stepped out onto the porch clutching handguns. Craig took the
initiative to expose himself with raised hands. “We tranqed the dogs and
your guards. Hear your daughter out. Either it’s done peacefully, or
we’re gone and you’re never going to know what this was about. It’s
something you need to hear.”
Senator Hacks gestured for a guard to put his sidearm
away. Evelyn drew closer.
The senator’s voice was flat. “I thought you were
dead. All these years...”
“Somebody has tried to murder me!”
The man’s eyes widened. He shook his head
emphatically. “I know nothing of that. I had nothing to do with it. I
swear.”
“Nobody else has any reason! Nobody even knows who I
am!”
“I wasn’t my idea! I swear!”
Evelyn stared at the man in
dismay. He had reacted to an accusation, but the woman standing
before him could have been anyone. The fact that it was his daughter
meant nothing to him.
The Senator glanced nervously about. “We can reach
some sort of accord,” he said. “It wasn’t my idea to allow anyone to get
hurt. I have not had a personal hand in this.”
Evelyn stared at John and Craig, confused and
helpless.
“Evelyn, be reasonable,” Senator Hacks said. “It’s
not too late to come to some accord. I can give you everything you could
possibly want out of life. We don’t have to do this to each other.”
“All I ever wanted was my own life, you bastard! You
know they lied! You know they hurt me!”
“None of that mattered!” Senator Hacks yelled back at
the girl. “My God, Evelyn, do you know what the press would have done to
me had I tried to defend you against those men? It would have meant my
career!”
“But what about my career, my honor!”
“You were nothing but a plaything to hang clothes
on! I have the potential to become the President of the United States!”
Evelyn’s tone of voice empted of even anger. “No
President of the United States ever tried to murder his own daughter, you
heartless bastard.”
Evelyn whipped a handgun from the elastic of her
slacks, startling John with the realization that nobody had anticipated
this particular turn of events.
“I wanted so bad to see you again, father. I thought
you would be glad to see me and tell me that it has all been a terrible
mistake. I wanted you to tell me you love me!”
Francis cried out. “Evelyn, wait!”
Evelyn fired twice. The first bullet spun the
senator to the ground. The second went wild, her aim deflected by
Jennifer’s double-fisted blow between the shoulder blades that sent Evelyn
pitching to the ground.
The Senator’s guard dived for the gun rattling to his
feet. By then, John had his own pistol drawn and aimed at almost point
blank range, shaking his head with a grim smile. The guard climbed warily
to his feet and backed away.
Jennifer retrieved Evelyn’s .22 caliber revolver.
Craig shrugged, eyed unhappily by his partner. “Okay, I shouldn’t have
given it back to her.”
John gestured for the guard to attend the Senator.
“We weren’t expecting that. It wasn’t our intention. Get him inside
before some other idiot starts shooting.”
The guard did as he was told. Already, an ashen
Senator Hacks climbed to his feet, the inside of his chest and arm
bloodied by a flesh wound, but nothing more serious. The guard helped the
older man inside and seated him on a couch near one of the battery-powered
lanterns. John followed them in, leaving Craig outside to stand guard.
“There have been a succession of attempts upon your
daughter’s life, all of them badly botched,” John said, and the Senator
looked up from his bloodied hand in surprise.
“The body count stands at eight, including three
women, three of Evelyn’s friends. For the sake of a friend of my own, I
need to put a stop to this. Unless you want those deaths made public, I
need your cooperation. I need the name of the people you’ve hired to kill
your daughter.”
“I hired nobody!”
“As you wish.”
The Senator’s eyes widened as John started to turn
away.
“Wait! I don’t know who he may have employed! I
don’t know how he learned of my daughter and what she was doing! He
warned me that the political liability was unacceptable and offered to
help if I expected his continued support! He said nothing about harming
anyone!”
“She’s family, you fool,” John murmured, “your own
flesh and blood.”
“I can’t survive without the financial support, for
Christ’s sake! Two hundred million dollars worth of campaign funds! He
told me he’d take care of the matter, that I’d never hear of it again!”
“I need a name.”
The Senator moistened his lips. He broke out in a
cold sweat in the warm evening air, trembling and pale. Seeping blood
continued to soak his shirt. “Leave Evelyn with me,” he said softly.
“We’ll work something out.”
“You’re out of your fucking mind.”
“He’s untouchable! He’s one of the wealthiest, most
powerful men in the country! There’s nothing you can do!”
“I don’t have to be here, Hacks. I don’t like it
here at all. I want to get this over with one way or another and get some
fresh air. As far as I can see, we can end it here and now by going to
the press.”
Senator Hacks lowered his head is panicky
submission. “Bertrand Bartow. His name is Bertrand Bartow.”
John nodded his satisfaction. “Then you had better
hope Bartow is as far as this goes. If we’ve reached a dead-end, our only
recourse is to watch both you go down in flames and hope it takes the heat
off the rest of us.”
The Senator shot to his feet. “Please let me
mediate. We can reach some accord.”
John retreated to the front door and called back to
those behind him. “Everyone, back to the car.”
John caught the guard’s eye. “Everything’s been
recorded and the recorder is miles from here and linked to a rather
popular internet site. If we’re stopped before we reach Bartow, it’s
already too late to silence us. We won’t involve your name in this if you
cover for us. Do you understand?”
“We say nothing of this if the Senator’s name is
never mentioned,” the guard said. “Is that the agreement?”
“It is.”
The man gave a grim nod. “You have our word.”
John trotted back to the waiting car. “I need to
make a phone call,” John said to nobody in particular on the drive back to
the house. Jennifer handed him a cell phone.
“A payphone,” John said.
The car emptied at the house. Jennifer took the
wheel and drove to a truck stop outside town with the sun glowing on the
eastern horizon. John left the car, comforted by the cool morning
air. He dialed the operator, asked for a number, and reversed the
charges.
“State your business,” Garko murmured quietly on the
other end of the line.
“I have a name to work with. Bertrand Bartow.
Evelyn Haxx is the daughter of Senator Caliph Hacks. According to the
Senator, a man named Bertrand Bartow offered to resolve the threat his
daughter poses to his career.”
“You’ve been busy, John.”
“The Senator’s got himself standing behind an eight
ball the size of a planet. Maybe we can salvage the situation if we can
negotiate with Bartow and get him off our back.”
“I had no idea of the scope of this situation, John.
I’ll do what I can. Give me a call this evening.”
John returned to the car ready to call it a night.
“I feel like running and hiding like a little rabbit,” Jennifer said once
secure in their room. “I’m scared to death.”
“Some things you can’t hide from,” John said. “Some
games you gotta play.”
“What if we don’t know the rules?”
“Make your own. Bartow is the end of the line. He’s
got to be the one.”
Jennifer thought about it. “The Senator said Bartow
is untouchable.”
“No man is untouchable. They all bleed.”
“You won’t forget that number you’re supposed to
call, will you? I’ve been poisoned, and I’ll die. John, I’m so scared.
What if it doesn't work? What if they still want us to kill her?”
John took the girl into his arms. “Don’t waste your
time on fear. It’s hard to believe any of this is really happening, but
we have time. Things are happening. Keep your focus on the here and now,
kid. This is where the action is.”
“But even if we find out who wants Evelyn dead, what
about me? You don’t really believe there's an antidote, do you?
They’ll let me die!”
“Kid, don’t even think another thought until we get
to Bartow. If he’s big enough to hire a killer, he’s plenty big enough to
pay the man off and stop the hit. I’ve seen it done a thousand times.
It’s the easiest money I’ve ever made.”
“I forgot that you’d know all about that.”
“I’d forget, too, if I knew how.”
