Operation (10 page)

His deep voice felt like smooth velvet brushing against her skin. She immediately felt another a series of goose bumps explode along her skin.
Get a hold of yourself…

“Honey, everyone here is looking for someone,” she said in an amused tone of voice. She immediately regretted her off hand remark, thinking that this man would think she was insinuating that she might be suggesting some kind of…lack of interest in him?

“Oh, it’s not like that,” he said and smiled.

 His teeth were a bright white and perfect, she thought. When he smiled, she felt that tingling sensation again. This time, she didn’t try and avoid it, but rather embraced it.

“I didn’t mean anything by that. Sorry. It’s just the usual clientele here is pretty one-track minded, if you know what I mean.”

“Sailors will be sailors,” he said.

“So you aren’t
in
?” she asked and then added. “The Navy, that is.”

“No. We are private contractors and consultants. We do work for the Navy all the time and were hoping to run into some people here to discuss issues. We’re negotiating some additional contracts and also doing some schmoozing, so we thought it best to see if we could catch them off duty and maybe get to know them a little better.”

“Hey Susie,” a young man called from across the bar. “I’m getting pretty thirsty here. Have you forgotten about me, you sweet thing?”

“Hold on a minute,” she answered over her shoulder, struggling to keep the harshness out of her voice. She wanted to scream that she didn’t care right now what anyone else wanted—only what she wanted.

“Maybe I can help,” she said. “I know most of the people around here. Regular and Navy, same thing.”

“I would appreciate that very much,” he said.

Those eyes…oh my God
, she thought.
The most beautiful…

She felt his hand touch hers. He wrapped his fingers around hers, as if he was going to lead her somewhere. A jolt that shot through her and she was with him somewhere else… lying on a bed, completely naked. The silk sheets felt warm and slippery against her body as she writhed in pleasure against them.

A bed wrapped in a gossamer curtain, which moved in motion to a warm wind that caressed the air around them. She could see filtered moonlight through the material and she could smell roses; their scent so heavy and thick in the air…so intoxicating.

He was kissing her. She could feel his lips over all parts of her body at the same time: warm kisses, slippery and tantalizing. His hands touching all the right spots. She could actually
feel
him. Her mind tried to reason what was happening; that she was not really here, but she couldn’t. Even more, she didn’t want to. She felt the beginning of an orgasm that she just knew would be the best she had ever had.

“Yo, Susie,” a voice screamed, dragging her away from the ecstasy of a lifetime.

She was back in the bar, the warmth of the bed replaced by the blare of the country music, and the feel of the hard wood around her, the smell of alcohol. Her knees buckled and she reached out for the bar for support. Then as suddenly as the vision and sensation had taken over her, it was gone, leaving her feeling as cold and alone as she had ever felt.

“Are you all right?”

His voice drew her back into reality. A reality she no longer wanted. She wanted him and that place they had been.

“Yeah…I’m fine. Just a—”

“Yo, Susie, come on already,” the young man across the bar called again. “What are you doing over there, for Christ’s sake? I want a damned drink!”

 “All right, I’m coming!” she yelled. She looked disdainfully at him, it took great effort not to grasp a bottle and throw it at him…or better yet, walk over and just smash him with it.

The young man, seeing her expression said, “Ah…take your time, Susie. I can wait.”

“Please excuse me,” she said to Dimitri. She calmed herself and got him another drink. The young man cautiously took a step back from the bar when she approached.

In those few seconds of looking away from the mysterious man, she felt some of her strength return.
Man oh man…what is it with this guy,
she thought,
and what the hell just happened to me?

Then she turned back around to face the man that had enthralled her and those questions quickly left her thoughts. As soon as her eyes met his, she felt the hypnotic pull draw her in. This time, it was different. She found herself somewhere between the bar in which she stood and the bedroom in the dream. She wanted the bedroom, very badly, but something kept her from it. A sense that she had to do something to go there again and she so wanted to go there. She would do whatever she had to do to get there. Anything. 

“So what can do for you?” she said.

“I was wondering if you could help me find some people?” he said.

“Sure. Why don’t we see if I can help you find the people you need.”

“Thank you,” he said. “You’re so kind.”

She smiled and thought,
and you’re the kind of man I want in my bed tonight. Whatever it takes, hon…you’re mine.
“I’ll be right back,” she said.

She turned away quickly, almost tripping on the wooden slats of the bar floor. 

The man turned and looked around the bar for his two associates. As if they knew he searched for them, one appeared and then the other. They met his gaze and shook their head in a negative response. He acknowledged their answer with a nod of his head. The two men disappeared into the crowd again.

“Okay,” the bartender said as she returned. “Now let’s see—”

“I want to meet you tonight. What time do you get off at?” he asked.    

“At two,” she said without hesitating, as if she had been ready to supply the information at the first chance she got.

“Two it is then,” he said, “that is…as long as I can meet these people. Unfinished business can’t wait. It is so distracting, I’m sure you know what I mean.” He reached out and touched her hand, and flashes of arousal flowed through her.

“Tell me who you’re looking for,” she said as she looked into his eyes. She knew she would do anything that he asked her to do.

“These people work on the Amphibious base. They are SEALs working security at the compound by the old horse stables.”

“That’s Lieutenant Johnson’s old platoon,” she said quickly. “They used to bitch about the stink of that area all the time when they came in, said it smells like the horses or cows never left.” Then reflectively she added, “But they’ve gotten kind of strange since Johnson died. Don’t say much anymore and kind of stay to themselves.”

“Lieutenant Mark Johnson?” Dimitri asked.

“Yes, that’s him. Did you know him?”

“I knew him in Kosovo,” he answered and appeared to reflect upon an old memory. “He was a good man.”

“Yes, he was a nice guy,” she agreed. “He used to come in all the time.”

“Are his men here now?” Dimitri said.

She looked up and scanned the bar. In a few moments, her view narrowed to the far corner.

“Over there at the pool table, the three guys by themselves, they are all part of that platoon.”

“Ah…very good. If I could trouble you for just one other small thing?”

“Name it,” she said emphatically.

He removed a small pad of paper and pen from his pocket and began to write. When he was finished, he tore it off the pad, folded it, and handed it to her. “Give me about five minutes and then deliver this piece of paper to them,” he said.

“Is that it?” she asked. “Just give them this piece of paper? I thought—”

“Well I just realized that it’s an extremely sensitive issue. We probably shouldn’t be seen talking together. You know: contractor personnel and Navy. It would give an impression of impropriety and I could get into a lot of trouble. Your help would mean a lot and I would be so grateful.”

“Of course,” she said and smiled. “Yeah, they do get a little funny about that.” She took the note from his hand and felt the touch of his fingers on hers. The warmth coursed through her like a shot of electricity. She felt a small moan try to escape her lips.

“You have been extremely helpful, my dear, and I look forward to this evening,” he said as caressed her hand. He then raised it to his lips and kissed it.

“I’ll be waiting,” she said breathlessly.

He removed his hand and he rose from the barstool. “Until later then.”

The cold emptiness returned to her and with it the surroundings of the familiar bar and her bartending duties. As she watched him step away, she saw the three scotches sitting on the bar in front of her.

“What about your drink...and your friends? You haven’t touched them.”

He turned back toward her. “Alcohol affects my performance,” he said and smiled. “I’ll see you at two.”

*****

Dimitri and the others waited in the dark shadows in the alley behind the bar.

“Why do we go through all of this nonsense?” Andre asked. “We can easily take what we want.”

Dimitri said calmly, “Because this way they won’t know it was us. It must appear to be what it is not. Just do what we discussed and remember, do not kill anyone.”

The sound of the back door opened and the three men who had been playing pool stepped out. They were large men, at least two hundred pounds, all physically in great shape. They intuitively searched the area cautiously, an obvious product of their training as Navy SEALs.

Dimitri could sense their frustration at being summoned in such an unorthodox manner; they were used to giving orders, not receiving them. If it hadn’t been for the bartender, he doubted that they would have come out here. Observing them, Dimitri judged by the positions they took and the stance of their feet, they were prepared to fight if need be—typical SEAL procedure. 

“This better be good. You wanted to talk to us?” the lead SEAL said, his voice gruff and deeply annoyed. “Why do you hide in the dark?”

“Thank you for joining us,” Dimitri said. “I have some information that you might find extremely useful.”

“Cut the shit, wiseass, and get on with it.”

“As you wish,” Dimitri said. He sent telepathically an order to Andre and Iliga,
Immobilize them and do it quickly! And remember—do not kill!

Immediately the two vampires lunged from the darkness and descended upon the Navy SEALs. The fight was over in a matter of seconds as the vampires easily subdued the unsuspecting men. The SEALs lay on the ground unconscious.

“First, get their identification cards,” Dimitri said.

Andre and Iliga searched the SEALs’ pockets until they came up with the three credit card sized military identification cards.

“Take their money as well, that way it will appear as a robbery,” Dimitri added.

Dimitri reached into a small bag and produced three wax molds, shaped like a thumb. “Get their thumbprints in the molds. Be careful you don’t blur the lines by moving it while you press their thumbs inside the molds.”

When they finished, Andre and Iliga rejoined Dimitri, who had been watching for any intruders.

He turned toward them. “Well done. We have what we need. Let’s go and pay a visit to our old prison and see what they have.”

Chapter Seven

Naval Amphibious Base-Virginia Beach, Virginia

The two young girls sat restlessly on a small sofa as they waited for something to do. Thirteen-year-old Ishma kept her arm around the shoulder of her eight-year-old sister Crema. They were both thin, but not famished looking. They both possessed long dark black hair and an olive-tone complexion of European origin. Their facial features reflected a sibling similarity, with the same dark brown eyes and the aquiline nose.

Over the past few months, they moved around from one place to another, without any explanation as to why or where they were. Each move seemed accompanied by an act of killing; called tests by the people who controlled them.

They were currently in a large area filled with chairs. The only access to the room was through a locked door that only opened from the outside. The quiet sounds of the air conditioning and the mechanized motion of the monitoring camera as it swept left and right, filled the air.

“I’m hungry,” Crema said.

“We’ll eat soon.” Ishma assured her. “We can play cards while we wait. Would you—”

“I’m hungry!” the younger girl repeated.

“I know,” Ishma said. She placed her arm around her younger sister again. “It’s almost time. Our captors are always on time for events. Why don’t we a play a game—it will pass the time.”

 “I’m tired of all this,” Crema said. “I want to go home and—”

“We cannot go home,” Ishma said. “Things are not the same anymore—we are not the same anymore. You remember what Papa used to say about the scary stories that grandmother told him; the ones about the creatures that lived by the old ruins?

“Yes. I remember.”

“So you know how the other people felt.”

“They hated them,” she said, as tears filled her eyes. “But Papa would be there and he loves us. He could take us to the special place in the mountains where we could take a picnic lunch. It was so pretty there.”

“Yes, it was,” she agreed.

Ishma remembered the clean mountain air in the spring, all the flowers blooming and the scent in the air heavy. The bright sunlight and the warm feeling on her face…then she abruptly shut out the memory. “I don’t think we can go there anymore.”

“But why? I don’t understand all of this.”

“I know, Crema, I know.”

The sound of the door unlocking took their attention from each other. A voice came from a speaker somewhere above their heads.

“Let’s go, ladies. It’s time to eat,” the deep voice said.

Both girls rose immediately, their hunger making them eager.

“The door is unlocked,” the voice said. “Step out into the corridor and follow the yellow arrows on the floor. They will lead you to the area where you can get your food. There will be two guards to escort you. Remember—you are not to make any harmful gestures of any kind—you will be punished if you should do so.”