Echo Six: Black Ops 4 - Chechen Massacre (33 page)

"I should never have let the bastard get the drop on me! That deputy should never have gone that way."

"Don't blame yourself," Talley reassured him. "It happens."

Both Whitefeathers arrived on the scene. Albert checked over his deputy and grimaced.

"Poor bastard. He was due to be married next month. I guess it’ll be a funeral instead."

"I'm real sorry," Brooks started to apologize, but the Indian cut him off.

"He was a cop, and this was his territory. It's a chance we accept when we sign on, all of us. As long as there are people like that murdering bastard around, the good guys will sometimes get hit." He took out his cellphone. "I'll call for the coroner. You guys go ahead. We'll catch up with you later. You may want to make yourselves scarce. I mean, for when the FBI arrive. We'll tell them we took the bad guys down ourselves, and then handed the boys over to you to take them home."

Talley met his eyes. "Much appreciated." He looked at Jesse Whitefeather. “Just one thing, how did you…?"

Whitefeather shook his head. "Don't ask. It's just an Indian thing, hard to explain to a white man."

They both grinned and shook hands. Talley’s squad piled into the Captiva SUV, with the boys squeezed in next to Alessandra. Virgil headed back to the town, and he pulled up outside the Police Post, switched off the engine, looking at Talley for orders.

"What now? Do we go after Colonel Ho?"

“No, I have to get the boys back to their mother. If they…”

Guy interrupted. "Hold it, quiet! Do you hear that?"

In the distance, they could make out the sound of engines. Engines they'd heard many, many times before on operations, the engines of two Black Hawk helos coming in fast.

"Drive," he told Virgil. "Don't use lights. Just get us out of here."

The trooper nodded, started the engine again, and eased the vehicle away. They were five hundred meters away when they saw the Black Hawks swoop in for a fast landing on the concrete, right outside the Police Post. Black-uniformed men swarmed out of the machines, with a big, heavily muscled man at their head, Special Agent in Charge, Dwight Masterson.

"He'll be real pissed," Roy grunted.

"True," Talley agreed. "Maybe we should send him after Colonel Ho. It'll be a tossup who gets him first, the CIA, the FBI, or Kim Jong-un."

"You reckon Kim wants him back?"

"In small pieces, yeah."

They drove through the night. They were keenly aware of a possible FBI pursuit, and Brooks’ plan was to make a fast run to Yuma, close to the Mexican border. The commander of the Marine Base at Yuma, Brigadier General Kurt Mays, was an old friend of Vice Admiral Brooks, and he’d help them lie low while the FBI were venting their rage. Afterward, it was a short journey into California where the boys would be reunited with their mother. Talley ached to give her the good news, but the cell towers were few and far between in the thickly wooded area. When they neared the population centers, his phone came to life, and he made the call.

"Kay, I'm bringing them home. They're with me in the car."

She let out a piercing scream. "You really mean it? Are they okay? Did they hurt them?"

"They're fine. We'll be driving through the night and resting up tomorrow and the next night. We'll drive up to you the day after."

"Where are you staying?"

He hesitated, but after all, she was their mother, so she had to know. "Yuma, the Marine base."

"I'm coming down,” she said immediately. “Give me a few hours."

Of course, I should have known. No way will she delay seeing her sons.

"In that case, I’ll see you later. Listen, Kay, we're not too popular with the FBI right now, so if they come knocking, you never heard from us."

She laughed for the first time. "Abe Talley, you haven't changed a bit.” She paused. “Thank God."

They drove on through the night, and soon the boys' fears were overcome by tiredness, and they fell asleep. He started to doze when Alessandra spoke softly.

"I heard what she said to you. She’s right, don't ever change, Abe. If you weren't the man you are, the boys wouldn’t have got out of there. I can see Masterson charging in with his gang of gung-ho hostage rescue operatives, and there would have been real trouble. I doubt they'd have got the boys out without them getting hurt. In the end, the only way was your way, the Echo Six way."

"What about the Indian way," he added with a grin.

"That too,” she stopped as a thought came into her head. “Abe, after this, can things ever go back to normal?"

He didn't answer at first. He knew what she meant. When a girl talked about 'things', she meant relationships. Like the one they’d had together. Normally, he’d have said yes; they could get their lives back on track, and try to carve out a future together. Even if it meant a change of career, which was an option he'd considered more than once.

But there was an obstacle in the way of that golden future. Like an obscene, black spider sitting astride its web, blocking the path they wanted to take, ghoulish, threatening, almost all powerful. Ho. There was only one way to deal with someone like that, and until he was dealt with, he would always be there, watching, waiting. Always poised to strike the deadly blow that would shatter their lives and their hopes. She deserved to know. He owed her an honest reply.

"Nothing will be normal, not right now. Until that guy is taken out of the picture, nothing will ever be the same again. Men like Ho, they won't give up, not until they've exacted their revenge for what he feels we did to him, and he'll want his revenge in blood."

"Will he try to get back to North Korea?"

"Eventually, maybe, if he can make his peace with Kim. At the present time, they’ll be out looking for him, and if they find him, they’ll savage him like sharks.”

That’s one way to deal with him. Like a shark, stakeout some bait, draw him in, and then rip out his guts with a harpoon. Not a bad idea.

"So there's no hope?"

"It's the nature of the business we're in. When the bad guys misbehave and innocent people start getting hurt, our job is to go in and sort out the mess, climbing over the dead bodies of the guilty. With any luck, one of those bodies will be Ho.”

He realized she was considering his answer. Would he be able to kill the murdering scumbag? But he had to. It was that simple. No matter what it took, the alternative was unthinkable. And he knew he’d need to move fast. Before Ho gave him a trail of bodies to follow.

A golden dawn preceded their arrival in southern Arizona. Brooks had called ahead, and the canteen welcomed them with plates of hot chow in the Marine mess hall. Afterward, there were comfortable beds for all of them in military lodgings. Joshua and James settled into a room next to his, and within minutes, the two boys were at peace, deep in sleep.

For Talley, there would be no peace, not yet. They called him and Brooks after only two hours’ rest. An irate, red-faced Special Agent in Charge Masterson waited for them in the Base Commander’s office.

"You bastards," he greeted them, his face screwed up in righteous anger. "I should toss you into a deep hole and make sure you never crawl out. I told you to leave it alone, and look what happened! A deputy was killed, and that Korean got away. It's just lucky he got in touch with…" Masterson paused, realizing his mistake.

Got in touch with whom? What’s the bastard up to?

He brushed off the error. "Forget what I just said. You made us look like fools. What the hell did you think you were playing at?"

Talley fixed him with a hard stare. "I don't know what you're talking about. Wasn’t it the Apache Police who went in?”

Masterson snorted. "The fuck it was. You know damn well what happened. You charged in there and ruined my operation."

"Now hold on there," Brooks said softly. "You're out of order, Mister. I’d go easy on the accusations. Commander Talley told you what happened."

"The fuck he did! I'm inclined to arrest him here and now, and..."

"Except you don't have jurisdiction," the Base Commander interrupted him. "I'm in charge around here, and what I say goes. If you have any problem with that, I suggest you take it up with the Pentagon. I think you’re done here, Mister, so I’ll ask my clerk to show you the way out.” He pressed a buzzer on his desk. “Gunny Alvarez, would you escort Special Agent Masterson to the gate. He’s leaving.”

The FBI man glared at each of them in turn, and then swiveled around as the gunnery sergeant entered the office. He couldn’t resist a parting shot over his shoulder.

“This isn’t finished, no way. You’ll hear from Washington, and they’ll be pissed.”

The door slammed shut. “That went well,” General Kurt Mays smiled.

Brooks nodded. “Yeah, thanks for covering for us.”

“No problem. It was a pleasure tossing that FBI bureaucrat off my base. What’s next for you guys?”

“I’m due back in Brussels, NATO business. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up after this mission, and maybe some lost property to recover.” He nodded at Talley. “I’ll arrange for transport to take me somewhere I can pick up a flight for Europe. Los Angeles International is my best guess.”

“I’ll put my car at your disposal,” General Mays offered. “He’ll be ready when you are. The journey is about two hundred klicks, all on good roads.”

“I appreciate it, Kurt.” He looked at Talley. “You look like you could benefit from R&R. I’m giving Echo Six one month’s leave from today. Time to get you rested and ready to come back to work. You have some rebuilding to do.”

Is that what you call replacing the dead and wounded? Rebuilding?

“Roger that. The boys’ mother is coming here, and I’ll help her take them home afterward. Captain Falco will lend a hand. I’ll talk to the men about leave as soon as they’re awake. They’ll need to make plans to get home.”

“Sure, I guess that wraps it up. Report in one month.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He saluted, turned on his heel, and left, back to his temporary lodging. When he opened the door, Alessandra Falco was waiting for him, in his bed. She smiled, a long, slow, lascivious grin.

“I kind of hoped you’d be back soon.”

He didn’t reply, not at first, his tired brain was still reeling in shock and surprise. Pleasant surprise. She fired him a mock glare. “What are you waiting for? Get your clothes off and join me.”

She rolled her smoldering Mediterranean eyes. They seemed brighter than usual, blacker, beneath thick, rich, dark lashes. He felt his body respond, and without any further thought about the FBI, the Koreans, or anyone else, he stripped off his clothes and joined her. Her body was smooth and firm, musky and sweet with the tang of sleep, perspiration, and wood smoke. Even the shower hadn’t washed away the odors of the past hours and days, and he was grateful for its erotic aroma.

He could imagine her as an adventuress; one of the female pioneers who discovered America and explored its boundaries, pushing civilization to hitherto undiscovered corners of the globe. He smiled at the thought.

All that from the musky, erotic scent of an aroused female.
Maybe I’m getting romantic in my old age. What’s on offer is great sex, not a geography lesson.

He touched her, explored her body, nuzzled her fragrant hair, and put his fingers between her legs. She groaned with pleasure as his fingers found the right place, where it mattered to her. She murmured, “Fuck me, Abe. I want you, all of you. It’s been too long.”

A woman is always right. He dutifully fucked her, in a long, gentle rhythmic and passionate joining that brought them both to the very heights of gratification. He later worked out the epic had lasted almost an hour.

Is it tiredness, or sublime, sexual contentment with each other’s bodies? I think it’s the latter.

In the end he fell asleep, until a banging on the door brought him awake. Alessandra was already there. She’d thrown on his grubby shirt and opened it a couple of inches.

“Uh, sorry, Ma’am. I thought this was Commander Talley’s room.”

A Marine private, he’d obviously brought a message.

“It is.”

“Uh, right. The children’s mother is downstairs in the lobby.”

“I’ll tell him, and you can tell her he’ll be down shortly. And, Marine…”

“Ma’am?”

“You didn’t see me here.”

“No, Ma’am. That’s right. You’re not here.”

He grinned as he walked away. She closed the door, passing on the message as Talley swung out of bed. Four minutes later, he was dressed. He kissed her as he went out.

“That was one helluva way to see in the new day,” he murmured.

Her voice was still husky with sex. “I had an ulterior motive. You’re seeing another woman, so I didn’t want you to forget what this woman had to offer.”

“There’s no way I could forget something like that. Listen, I’ll bring Kay up to see the boys. Maybe you could meet her.”

“I’ll take a shower and get fresh clothes on. There’s nothing like a dirty, creased set of camos to make a girl feel glamorous.”

“You look great to me, no matter what you wear, but we can always stop somewhere and buy you something new.”

She smiled her thanks. “I’d like that. You too. Those camos are becoming a health hazard.”

* * *

He led his ex-wife up to the room where the boys were still sleeping.”

“I’ll let you in and leave you to it. Will you need a lift home?”

She hesitated. “One of my ex’s brought me here. He’s waiting downstairs.” She saw his open-mouthed stare. “I know. It seems crazy. It’s only been days since I was with that useless bastard, Alvi. But I called up Ralph. He’s a guy I used to see before Alvi. He said he’d be glad to help out.”

He fixed her with a hard stare. “Be careful, Kay. You made a bad mistake with that guy, Alvi. The boys could have been killed.”

“I know that, and it won’t happen again. Ralph is fine. He runs a used car lot in town.” She grinned. “He even did me a good deal on a Beamer. I would have driven it here, but it’s in the shop right now. We came in Ralph’s car. He has a Cadillac. Change of plans, by the way, we’re going to his cabin in Oregon. It’s a long trip, and they’ll love it.”

She talked of her new squeeze proudly, as if it was the measure of a man that he owned a Cadillac. Talley said nothing but mentally resolved to check the guy out. A used car dealer didn’t sound too promising, and this time, he wanted the boys to be safe. They parted company, and he returned to his room. Alessandra was fully dressed, and they went downstairs to join the men for lunch. He told them the news of their R&R, but there were no great shouts of joy. They all had memories, too many of them bad memories.

“I’ll go to look in on our guys,” Rovere said thoughtfully. “They’ll still be in Ramstein, Germany. If there’s time, I’ll get back to my folks in Italy for a short vacation, but only if the men don’t need my help.”

“I’ll join you,” Guy informed him. “I can get to England easily from there.”

Roy and Virgil swapped glances and looked at Talley. “What are you planning to do, Boss?”

He looked at his black Sergeant. Their concern was obvious. Reynolds was the solid bedrock that underpinned everything handed down to Echo Six. He was Echo Six.

“Me and Alessandra have a few things to sort out.”

“Right. Only thing is, that North Korean is still in the wind. Me and Virgil thought we’d take a look around, see if we could pick up his trail.”

Talley nodded and explained Masterson’s slip of the tongue. “I reckon he’s been snapped up by one agency or the other. My guess is he’ll wind up with CIA, so he’ll be out of our reach.”

“But still able to make mischief.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. Although with any luck, the Agency will find him too hot to handle, and Ho will wind up the subject of one of their black programs. He’ll just disappear.”

In his head, he didn’t believe it. The man’s ability to make trouble was incalculable. He was still thinking about it when Roy and Virgil drifted off together, planning a fishing expedition. They agreed to meet up at Ramstein in two weeks time to check in on the wounded. Guy and the other men drove away in the Captiva, and they were left to hire another car at the local Hertz. She wanted a Porsche, which gave made him smile, but she was adamant.

“I’ll have a Porsche, one day, you’ll see, Abe Talley. You know what else I’d like? An apartment in New York.”

“The Bronx?”

She grimaced. “Manhattan. You know, the street that runs alongside Central Park.”

“Sounds like Central Park West or maybe Fifth Avenue. I reckon you have expensive tastes, Ma’am. Why don’t you consider something in the Dakota Building?”

Her grin became a delighted chuckle. “Why didn’t I think of that? One day, maybe.”

“Yeah, but not just yet.”

She finally settled for a Mercedes SLK, a two-seat sports car with an electrically operated roof.

“It’s just the thing for a vacation tour,” the agent assured them. “Are you folks on honeymoon?”

“Not exactly,” he replied vaguely, taking the keys to the European sports car.

They drove northwest, bypassing San Diego, his old home, and heading for Los Angeles. There was no plan to visit the City of the Angels. They skirted the southern outskirts and checked into a hotel right on the seafront at Long Beach. It was time for some R&R. Good food, plenty of relaxation, new clothes, as well as catch up with some sleep, although they both had other things on their minds. They lay in the luxury of a king size bed in the morning, and Talley clicked on the television to catch the early morning news. The first item caught their immediate attention.

“This is CNN. Over to Japan, where our correspondent is covering the story of the US Navy’s operation to locate a warship reported sunk in 1951, during the Korean War. Authorities are still refusing to name the ship until they have confirmed its identity and notified the next of kin. The Pentagon states the location will be kept secret because it will be designated a war grave. So far, there is no sign they have found the wreck.

The North Koreans have moved substantial naval assets into the area, and some observers say it could develop into something of a stand off. Quite why they would want to trade shots over a shipwreck is still a mystery, although there are suggestions it was carrying a huge quantity of gold. The State Department and the Pentagon have not contradicted these rumors. We’ll keep you posted with ongoing news from the Sea of Japan. This is CNN…”

He picked up the phone and dialed a number.

“Brooks.”

“This is Talley. What’s going on over there?”