Honorable Assassin (28 page)

The driver had called road services and
Dispatch. He had not called Randy Arganmajc or Henry Cuthbert. He
didn’t know it was anything but a flat tire. Henry and his crew did
not know about the delay until he called Dispatch to find out when
they were to be rescued. Dispatch told Henry about the delay and
that the tow truck had been sent. The realization that he had been
set up twice in one day crashed into his skull like a sledgehammer.
He told Dispatch to call the truck and then call back. He called
Randy Arganmajc with his suspicions and Randy went wild. Except for
some office workers and his bodyguards, his entire crew had been
lured into the wilds and neutralized. He began screaming that they
should start walking. They needed to get to the truck and secure
it. There was no doubt in his mind what had occurred. There was
also no doubt as to what the Troy brothers would do to him if he
lost the funds being transferred to Sydney.

Dispatch could not reach the truck and
called Henry. When Randy spoke with the dispatcher and found out
that two men had been dropped off in Hill Top, he all but reached
down the phone line to strangle the man. Then he thought better
about it. He called John directly and told him that there had been
a robbery and whoever came down the road was the thief. John was a
senior guard, sitting in a Hill Top pub with Terry Kingston, having
a beer.

John and Terry ran to the road that led to
the quarry. They were both armed and ready for whoever came down
the road. Randy had assured them that two professionals would join
them with a vehicle. They did not have long to wait before they saw
a cloud of dust heading their way. They tried to stop the vehicle,
an older jeep, but it would not stop. At the last second it swerved
and hit John, tossing him into the brush at the side of the road.
Terry let off a couple of rounds to make it look like he had tried
to shoot the driver and then he went to minister to John.

When the Israelis arrived, the ambulance had
been there and gone. The police had Thompson Barber in custody as a
material witness. He was not charged with a crime so he was not
fingerprinted or photographed. He gave his statement, outlining
what had happened but he had not seen who was driving the jeep or
gotten the license plate number. He explained how they had been
diverted from their regular run to pick up some men who had been
stranded out in the wilderness, and how he and John had been left
in Hill Top to make room for the men. They had been told of a
robbery and had taken appropriate action. No, he did not know why
the men were down the old quarry road or how they had gotten
stranded there. He was careful not to know anything about the
money, only that it was picked up regularly in the Capital.

A pair of constables was sent up the road to
look for the security van that should have returned from the
quarry. When they reached the van they found it jacked up on the
back of a wrecker. The wrecker driver was not the crusty old
gentleman that regularly drove that vehicle, and the van was filled
with armed men. There was quite a scene, with much noise and
invective filling the air. The officers were badly outnumbered but
there were no shots fired. They called for backup, all available
units and there was a terrible mess to be sorted out. This was
complicated by the discovery of the tow truck driver further down
the road. He had refused to pick up the van until the police got
there because there was a dead body lying behind it. All the men
found on the road were arrested with the exception of Terry and
John who had been nowhere near the incident. The bodyguards had
wisely hung back after calling Henry and finding out what he was
doing.

Randy never knew who it was that called the
Troy brothers and alerted them to the situation. It became
irrelevant. Randy was summoned to the home of Adam to answer for
the mess. While there, he and his remaining bodyguard were given
brandy and cigars, sat in comfortable chairs in the library and
made to feel at ease. Randy was not able to be at ease, however, he
sat on the edge of his chair fearing for his life.

Adam entered the library with four other
men. Each of the men had shoulder holsters filled with pistols.

Randy glanced at his bodyguard who did not
smoke but was sitting back with his brandy in a large snifter. The
bodyguard did not seem to be concerned.

“Mr. Arganmajc, how long have we worked
together?”

“About 15 years now, Mr. Troy.”

“Fifteen years,” Adam said thoughtfully and
then chewed on his lower lip. “And in 15 years we have made some
money together, have we not?”

“Yes, sir. We certainly have.”

“Do you think this is sufficient reason for
me to overlook your recent foolishness?”

“Mr. Troy, we are under attack, by somebody
who is very good at what he does. He has…”

“Enough! You were hired because you were
supposed to be good. Now you tell me that there is someone out
there who is better?”

“No, sir. He is simply good, not better. I
will get him and I will strangle the life out of him with my bare
hands. You’ll see, there is no place he can hide.”

“Ah, I see. Then you know who you are
looking for?”

“I will. I have a witness who saw him. I
will get him. I had a plan to have him shot but he turned the
tables on me. But I have a witness. I will get him. He can’t get
away now.”

“I will give you one more chance to
eliminate this man. One more. I have dispatched lawyers to that
know-nothing mountain town to secure the release of your men. I
expect results and I expect them fast. You have already lost much
respect. If I need to talk to you again, your career will be
over.”

Randy left the mansion with his bodyguard
driving. He was in a state of aggravation he had not felt since he
was a teenager. He knew there was no way he could find the American
unless he got more information. He repeatedly asked his driver to
check to see if they were being followed and made him drive around
several blocks to double check. Then he had him drive to his
apartment building. He parked outside with the engine running while
Randy went inside. It was not long before Arganmajc reappeared with
a suitcase and demanded he be driven to the airport.

Two hours later, the Israeli bodyguard
appeared at the gates of Abel Troy’s mansion with the suitcase in
the front seat. Randy was in the trunk.

~~~

Chapter Twelve: The Cost of Survival

Terry was not comfortable. He was sitting in
the passenger seat of a brand new Holden. The two bodyguards had
picked him up in Hill Top to transport him back to Sydney. The two
men looked as hard as nails and twice as sharp. They said nothing,
even when Terry tried to engage them in conversation. They would
not tell him their names. A feeling of dread settled over him and
he stopped talking. They did not get near the city until after dark
and Terry tried to get them to drop him off at a pub but they would
not. He knew he was deep in it when they took his pistols and cell
phone from him at gunpoint. He had called Gordon when he first knew
he was being picked up but the Scot was too far away to help and
Terry had not thought he needed it.

The three men entered the Adam Troy
compound. There was a stark contrast between the men charged with
protecting the real power and the men conducting business on the
streets. Inside the compound were the professionals. They had the
same dispassionate look as the Israelis. All three men were
escorted to the library where they were joined by both Abel and
Adam Troy. The ex-Mossad men spoke familiarly with the heads of the
Australian crime syndicate as if they had known each other for many
years. This did nothing to allay Terry’s fears. The only thing that
did make him feel any better was when he heard them say no, he
could not have had anything to do with the hijacking. He was in
Hill Top at the dispatcher’s insistence.

Until this point, Terry had not been placed
in restraints. He was not exactly free, however. They had some sort
of plan for him that did not involve his free will. Their
intentions became more and more plain as time went by. From the
library he was led, at gunpoint, into the basement. If there had
been a second when he was not under scrutiny he would have bolted,
but there was not. The bodyguards watched him like hawks. Through a
steel door in the basement was a tiled room lit with fluorescent
tubes. The drain in the middle of the floor told the tale. The
third of the bodyguards was in this room standing watch over Randy
Arganmajc who was strapped to a steel chair. There was no second
exit from this room.

When he asked the question, “What is going
to happen to me now?” he did his best to sound terrified. It was
not a difficult thing to do given the circumstances.

“Do not worry, Mr. Barber, your task is
simple.” Adam Troy’s words were far from soothing.

“Look. I had nothing to do with this affair.
I wasn’t even in the truck. Dispatch told me and John to get out in
Hill Top to leave room for more men from down that road. I don’t
know why he did that. I heard about the robbery and tried to stop
the thief. If he swerved left instead of right I’d be in the
hospital or dead and John would be… uh, here.”

“Then John would have the opportunity of
reporting what is done here. You must understand, Mr. Barber,” Adam
continued, “There are certain principles which must be followed in
all businesses. Have you gone to college?”

“No.” Terry’s throat was dry to the point of
cracking and his voice reflected it.

“Please, give our guest some water. He is
dry.” Abel Troy seemed no more affected by the situation than his
brother. It was as if they were playing a scene in a play and the
curtain was going to close so they could go home. Neither of them
seemed to feel there was anything out of the ordinary here. It was
just another day to them. Their nonchalance made the scene all the
more horrible.

Adam started up again after Terry had
cleared his palate. “All men should go to college. It is where
learning begins.”

“I could…” Terry stumbled, not knowing where
the conversation was leading.

“No, say nothing. Is it better to be loved
or feared?”

Terry said nothing as he had been
instructed.

“I’ll tell you we decided years ago that it
is better to be feared. But, we are not here for philosophical
discussions, are we? Fasten our young friend to this chair so he
has a good view of the show. You must understand, Mr. Barber, that
without witnesses, an event can only be speculated on. With a
witness it can be elaborated on. We have found it quite effective
to allow members of our organization to experience the effects of
desertion and betrayal in a vicarious fashion so they may
communicate the nature of it to their friends. It served to keep
our attrition rate to a minimum in the past. Very few love us,
though.”

Terry was strapped to a matching metal chair
and the surgical table between Randy Arganmajc and himself was
wheeled out of the way so he had a clear view. He heard the door
open behind him but could not see who had entered until the man
came around him. The small man wore a surgical mask and cap on his
head but the rubber apron and gloves were more telling. He said
nothing, just pointed to both Terry and Randy. The bodyguards set
him straight, telling him that the subject was the older man.

The sharp, glittering eyes of the torturer
would haunt Terry’s dreams for weeks. What Terry had done to
Bradley was nothing compared to what he saw done that day, in the
basement operating room. The man in the rubber apron went to work
gleefully and with flair. Terry was reminded of Ginger’s words,
“Don’t get too attached to that feeling. That path leads to
madness.” It was obvious that madness had taken this one.

The bodyguards left the room when the
torturer went to work. Terry supposed that the Troys had already
left. Terry could close his eyes and turn his head but did not.
Here he was, being forced to watch the torture and mutilation of
the man he had vowed to destroy, at the hands of two more men he
had vowed to destroy. The only rain on this parade was the fact
that he was strapped to a chair and might be next.

The small torturer made wide, sweeping
gestures, playing to his audience as if he were on stage in a
musical. His tools were kept in a leather roll and he removed them
theatrically, sharpening some of them, reverently, before he used
them. And no stage was ever more blood soaked. The victim screamed
and pleaded to no avail.

If Randy Arganmajc had survived his ordeal
he would have been unable to live with the visage left to him. He
had been a dashing, man-about-town, a role one could not fill when
one’s facial features were missing. The torturer had cut off his
ears, his nose, his lips and one of his eyes. Randy began pleading
for death, knowing it was coming and wanting it more than he wanted
to live. Apparently there was nothing more he could say because his
tongue was next.

Despite the supposition that Randy had
ordered his father killed, Terry could only enjoy so much of this.
It was not designed to kill the man being tortured; it was designed
to terrify the man watching. It had been a long-standing policy for
the Troy brothers that if a man is to be tortured, there must be
witnesses who can disseminate the methods and madness to the rest
of the crowd. It had worked well for many years but there was a
limit. Before long, Terry began to ask that the man simply be
killed. He should have kept his mouth shut. The torturer reveled in
the attention and began to dance as he dissected his victim. The
glee in his eyes was more revolting than the mutilated body of his
victim. Terry would have killed this psychopath gladly, had he been
allowed to. He would have killed Randy just to end the man’s pain.
He actually began to feel sorry for the man he had been plotting to
destroy.