The Line - Part II

[Robbie C.]

Had a fairly productive day, so I figured I'd post part 2. The next one may be a few days depending...

 

Ricardo Tubbs woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and no regrets. He had no regrets because he knew he hadn’t brought Mindy back to Casa Cooper. She’d made it very clear about one-thirty that she was more than willing, but he’d begged off. “I’m too damned wasted,” he remembered saying with only a bit of exaggeration. The truth was less exciting. He didn’t want the first time he slept with Mindy to be because they were both drunk.

Groaning, he rolled over, the effort making the room tilt on its axis and do a quarter turn. He’d been tempted, though. Those damned eyes. Her smooth skin. And every inch of her lingered in his memory like the aftermath of an electrical shock. Bur he’d been drunk the first time he brought Valerie home, too. And that had ended badly. Rico didn’t like making the same mistake twice.

He lay flat on his back, the hum of the central air turning into a chorus of thunderclaps in his head. He tried again, turning slow this time, using his arms to steady himself. It took five minutes for him to make it from the bed to the master bath. The cool tile felt so good under his feet he wanted to lie down and press his forehead to it until the pain went away. But he knew the only real cure was aspirin and water. But not too much water. His stomach lurched in protest at even the thought of water.

The Caddy! Where’s the Caddy? His brain lurched for a moment, then quieted when he turned up a hazy memory of slipping two twenties to one of Robbie’s security guys at Casa Cooper’s front door. I owe that man big-time, he thought, running cold water and scrubbing his face with his hands. His guts lurched again, and he reached for the anti-acid. The drive in was going to be hell.

His sole consolation was most of the Task Force looked as bad as he did, if not worse. Dave was still wearing his sunglasses, and even Randy didn’t seem inclined to pick on him. Mindy’s hair was still a mess, and she gave him a sheepish grin when he walked in. “About last night…”

“Nothing about last night.” He smiled, then winced as the movement sent pain stabbing through his wounded brain. “We had fun, our friends had some good news, and we’ll have better chances.”

“So you’re…”

“Jenny got it right, lady.” Rico remembered that much. Jenny coaxing ‘boyfriend’ out of Mindy. The girl was part mermaid, part fortune teller, and all fox. But as he smiled down at Mindy he knew he wouldn’t pass on the Irish redhead for anything. He just hoped she still felt the same after last night.

She smiled. “She did.” Then she winked at him, wincing as pain shot through her head. “Remind me to stay away from tequila.”

“Only if you remind me. Damn Trudy can put that stuff away like water. I forgot it was a trick of hers.” He smiled, careful not to push his limits. “Are they in yet?”

“Should be here any minute. He’s got a call with the chief deputy at ten. Sonny’s got his lawyer meeting, so he’ll be in closer to noon. And Stan and Lester already ran off in the roach coach. God knows what they’re up to.”

“I don’t wanna know. They got some catching up to do.” Rico smiled again, then made his way back to the office he shared with Sonny. He wasn’t ready for the firing squad of the typewriter just yet, but he could at least squint at his notes and pretend to be going over them.

Castillo called them all together just after Sonny came in. Stan and Lester had snuck in while Rico napped in the shared office, and they sat at the long table looking fresh and chipper. Rico wanted to hit them both. He looked at Dave, who read his mind and nodded. Sonny looked tired but happy, and Trudy still glowed from last night’s announcement.

“Welcome back, Stan. You’ve been missed. I hope you had a good honeymoon.” Castillo smiled. “And in case you haven’t heard, Trudy and I will be going on our own soon.”

Stan grinned. “Great news, captain! And yeah, we had a blast. That Angie can sure as hell plan stuff right down to the last detail. That first hotel had these things by the bed…”

“Moving on. The chief deputy asked us to take over one of their warrant searches. The team that had been working it was compromised, and the target went to ground. It needs fresh faces.”

Rico nodded. “And that’s us. Solid. Is it one of the ones we worked up?”

“No. It’s been on their desk for some time.”

Randy shook his head. “Those warrants suck, captain. Let us take a look at it and we’ll see if it looks familiar. Some of them are worse than blown.”

“We’ll work it either way.”

“Sure. No question. I just wanna see what variety of shit sandwich ol’ Pete handed us.”

“We’ll start working that as soon as the file comes over and has been reviewed. Tubbs, you take lead on this one. Switek, you and Franz stay on the taps. Did the one on the target’s other girlfriend go in?”

Stan looked at Lester, who shrugged. “Yeah, captain. It did. Lester got it rolling yesterday afternoon. I think we got the asshole on it once already. We’re writing it up now to give to Trudy and Mindy.”

“Good, Keep me posted.” He shifted. “Crockett, you may be needed for backup on that new folder. Blair and Mather, once you’ve looked that folder over I need you to move overwatch to YA32. The chief deputy has some kind of operation taking place there next week and he doesn’t have a good overview.”

Randy nodded. “Roger that, captain. We’re on it.”

Rico leaned back, weighing the odds. He didn’t like what Randy said about the target folder, and he doubted the deputy marshal was wrong. He knew their system and he knew the local office. It was like asking Rico about Bronx Armed Robbery back in the day. He knew how they moved and how they acted. It was the same for Randy. And if was nervous about getting junk dumped on them, Rico guessed he should be, too.

Sonny agreed when they got back in their office. “I met Pete during that whole gang thing. He’s a straight shooter, no question. But yeah, I could see him dumping a case that was going nowhere fast. Or one that had a team blown. He doesn’t have that many deputies, and we sure as hell would be new faces to most of the guys he’s chasing. They go after everyone, and when we were with OCB we stayed pretty focused.”

“True enough.” Rico rubbed his temples. “You were smart to stick with beer and cut out when you did, partner. Trudy switched us all to tequila not long after you and Jenny hit the bricks.”

“Not Tequila Trudy? Oh Lord. I think I’m glad I missed that.” Sonny shifted in his chair and winced, making Rico squint.

“Something wrong with your back?”

“Oh, uh…no. Not really. Just strained something hoisting some sails.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you did.”

“Enough about me. Did you…”

“No. I wasn’t drunk enough to make that mistake. We’re cool. Going out to Downbeat this week, in fact.”

“Nice.” Sonny shook his head. “Jenny had a little meltdown when we got back to the marina. She was afraid I’d want a wedding now.”

“So she doesn’t…”

“No, man. In her mind she thinks we’re already married or something. Just not with the church and all.” Sonny shook his head. “I just can’t figure her out. The second I think I’m onto it, she throws me a curve. Yeah…I know. Roll with it. I’m tryin’, partner.”

“Just let it happen. She’s a great lady, Sonny.” Rico sighed. “You’re thinking about it again. Don’t. She doesn’t. The more you try to think her into something, the more she’ll slip away.” He smiled. “She’s like a damned jazz solo. Floats just out of reach until you catch it. And when you do, you don’t know how it happened.”

“She doesn’t like jazz.”

“Go figure. But the metaphor still applies.”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “Yeah, I guess it does, Rico. Hell, let’s go get some lunch if you think your stomach can manage and maybe when we get back Pete’s little surprise will be here.”

Rico’s head felt like it was going to stay attached to his body after a sandwich, and they headed back up to the office. Mindy smiled as they came in. “That file got dropped off about ten minutes ago. The captain wanted me to make sure you got it as soon as you came in.”

“Did he look through it already?”

“Not really. And Randy’s waiting in there, too.” She lowered her voice and leaned forward, letting Rico get a good look down the front of her shirt. The look in her eyes told him it wasn’t by accident. “I took a peek, though. It’s a case that’s been in our office over there for close to two years. Guy always manages to stay just out of reach. And know at least one team blew their cover trying to get close to him. We could never figure out how he knew.”

“A leak?” Rico smiled, seeing that she either hadn’t worn a bra or had taken it off before they got back.

“I don’t think so. Not in our office, anyhow. It could have been Gorman, though. We did coordinate with Metro-Dade, and a lot of that went through OCB. And he did sell to more people than Moncado.”

“Solid.” Rico gave her a wink to show his appreciation, and small red dots bloomed on her pale cheeks. “We’ll see what Randy can add. Thanks, Mindy.”

Randy was sitting at his normal spot at the conference table. “Dave had to run home,” he said with a smile. “Touch of flu, I think.”

“Not surprised. He did try to keep up with Trudy.”

“I warned him, but he’s one of those guys that has to accept a challenge.” Randy smiled again. “Me? I pick and choose my spots.”

Sonny grinned. “That’s a smart move when Trudy and tequila are together.” He tossed the folder on the table. “This is what Pete sent over. Mindy already gave us a little bit of background on it. Two years is a long time.”

“Yeah, and I bet she mentioned a leak.”

Rico shook his head as much as his lingering hangover would allow. “Naw, but we did.”

“There had to have been one. Dave and I were working overwatch with the team that was blown. We kept that operation in a pretty tight box, but we did have to coordinate one or two things with your pals over in Metro-Dade. Don’t know who; that was above my pay grade. But as soon as we did, the target ditched every location we had for him and disappeared.”

Rico shook his head. “Might as well hold up a damned sign. What did Pete do?”

Randy chuckled. “Lost his shit. Metro-Dade didn’t care, though. They had some other crap going on and we were just after one guy. Never mind he had major warrants for homicides.”

Sonny flipped through the file. “Yeah. He’s one bad dude. No question. At least we don’t have to coordinate with anyone.”

“That’s why Pete gave it to us. He wants this guy, and he’s tired of being burned going after him.”

Rico looked at the folder. Something seemed off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Not yet. “Has anyone ever seen this cat? I mean laid eyeballs on him?”

“Not in our office. We’d get him on the phones, and a blurry image from time to time.”

Sonny looked at his partner. “You got something, Rico?”

“Not yet. It just seems off is all.”

Randy nodded. “I thought the same thing. And you know Dave and his damned spiders. He never felt right about it. But the warrant team thought it was solid so we followed their lead.”

Sonny nodded, and Rico could see the gears working in his mind. “We’ll have a look and see what we see. Question everything in the damned folder. We’ll do it around the table so we don’t miss anything. I’ll see if Trudy wants to help, too. Another set of eyes would help,”

An hour later Trudy set down her section of the file. “Something’s off with this guy. Rico’s right. I can’t put my finger on it, but pieces are missing.”

Rico nodded, glad Trudy agreed with his gut instinct. “Yeah. Like why would a cat with Federal contract murder warrants out of Detroit run to Miami? And then stay put for years. It just don’t pass the smell test.”

Trudy nodded. “He’s got no ties here aside from this list of supposed girlfriends. These guys usually run to family. Old crew. Someone they knew from prison. He’s got none of that here. Given the people he’s supposed to have worked for I would have expected him to run to New York or Chicago. Maybe Vegas if he wants a change of climate. But none of those outfits have solid ties down here. Maybe Vegas, but he isn’t supposed to have worked much for them.”

Rico nodded, thinking hard. “So what do you think we have?”

Sonny snappend his fingers. “A nice shiny lure. Something designed to draw the big fish out from under the banks so you can hook ‘em. That’s what we got here, kids. A lure.”

“But who’s on the other end of the line?”

“Let’s show this to Marty and see what he thinks.” Trudy looked around the table.

“Sounds good to me, sergeant.” Rico smiled as he used her newly-promoted rank.

“That’s detective sergeant, if you don’t mind, lieutenant.” She smiled back as she hit him with his own new rank.

“Point taken.” Rico chuckled, looking around the table. “Sonny?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it. See what he says.”

“You’re convinced?” Martin Castillo sat at his desk as if carved from dark marble. Rico had always admired his twin gifts of stillness and silence. He’d broken more men than Rico could count with just those two tools.

Sonny nodded. “Trudy ran it through the intel process as well. Aside from a warrant that seems to have come from someone’s ass, there’s no real indication outside the file that this guy exists.”

Trudy nodded. “I ran the cases he’s connected to. Quite a few of them are sealed, but I used a contact I made at Quantico during one of those training seminars and had them check.” She looked at Randy. “Even Pete couldn’t have gotten access to these. She confirmed the files are mostly empty. Vague notes and some fuzzy descriptions. The ones that aren’t sealed could be hung on almost anyone. Sonny, Dave, even Mindy if the light was bad.” She smiled. “We’re in the clear, though. The perp was reported as White in all cases.”

Rico looked at Castillo. “But that all begs the question, captain. What do we do about it?”

Castillo looked at the file, then the faces of the people around his desk. “We move with it. But we look for the people at the other end of the line. Something specific must have prompted Chief Deputy Washington to hand this one off. I’ll look into it. Put together your concept of operations, and I’ll review it. We don’t move until I say.”

 

“How do you know they’ll bite on this?”

The stocky man looked down the table at one of his hirelings. “Because they’re cops. Cops always bite on warrant stuff. It’s like dangling free money in front of a traitor. They see an easy arrest and they go blind to everything else.”

“Even this target?”

“Yes. It’s getting handed off from another agency so there’s less chance of it being questioned. And even if it is, what are they gonna do? This imaginary guy’s been ‘on the run’ for years.” He chuckled. “Tugs every heart string those morons have. Like the Rooskies getting us to tear our own agencies apart looking for moles that don’t exist.”

“Everyone’s got a weakness.”

“Something like that. And every agency has one, too. The Marshal’s Service HATES having fugitives elude them. It’s bad for business. And if these rumors about some special group are true, they’ll get handed the one who got away so many times.”

“How do you know some group like that exists?”

“It wasn’t normal cops who took down Maynard and Moncado. No chance of that. And someone put an end to that mess with the Dominicans and Columbians, and took out Doc in the process. And he wasn’t an easy person to find, let alone kill. No, there’s someone out there in the shadows. And it has to be the target. All we gotta do is draw them out. Then we hit ‘em from the back.”

“How do we know they took the bait?”

The stocky man smiled. “We got a location in that file. It’s wried so we know when someone goes in. Call went out pointing them that way. The alarms trip, we know they took the bait.”

The other man nodded. “Smart. Damned smart. We could have used you in Yugoslavia.”

“Never was my beat. I ran further east. That and I’ve been otherwise occupied the last few years.” He smiled, showing the conversation was over. “I’ll let you know when we get a nibble. Be ready to sink the hook.”

 

Castillo looked around the table, and Rico felt the intensity of his eyes. “I just got off the phone with the chief deputy. We were handed this because they monitored a call setting up a drop in an apartment down by the docks. Someone’s supposed to be leaving cash for the target.”

Dave shook his head. “Just don’t sit right, captain.”

“No. But we check it just the same. If it’s a lure we need to make them think we bit.” He looked around the table. Deciding. “Deputies Blair and Mather will check it out. Sergeants Switek and Franz will provide comm and electronic support. If anyone uses a radio in that box, I want to know about it.”

“Sounds good, captain. Dave and I have run overwatch in that area before, so we know the entry and exit points pretty well.”

Rico tried to pay attention as the planning process moved forward, but he was having a hard time concentrating. It was always like that when he wasn’t directly involved in an operation. That and he had the memory of his glance down Mindy’s top. He just couldn’t get the slender deputy with the thick red hair out of his thoughts, and that had a history with him of not ending well. First Valerie and then Angelina. Maybe the third time would be a charm, but he had to be careful. Had to be sure. After all, he worked with Mindy and would be for the foreseeable future.

He snapped back to the room when his ears picked up his name. “Tubbs and Crockett will be backup. I want you staged close enough to respond if Mather and Blair need you, but not too close.”

Rico nodded. “We’ll find a good spot. And with Stan and Lester on the air they can send us a go signal in a second.”

Stan chuckled. “Less than a second with this new gear. Dave and Randy will be using the earpieces and wireless mics. Lester and I got the bugs worked out, no pun intended, last night. I can patch their signal through, so you can monitor them in real time. They need help, you know without waiting for us to tell you.”

“Outstanding!” Rico laughed and slapped Stan on his beefy shoulder. “I don’t know what we’d do without you two. Be sending carrier pigeons most likely.”

Randy cleared his throat. “How soon does this have to happen?”

“The sooner the better. If there is money there we don’t want the target getting it.”

“Roger that. Dave and I will work up a plan and brief the others.” Nodding to his sniper partner he stood up. “We’ll meet back here in thirty. I expect to launch no later than fifteen minutes after that, people.”

Rico chuckled as they headed back to their office. “Randy don’t waste no time once he gets a mission, does he?”

Sonny nodded. “He and Dave don’t at all. That’s why they’re good at what they do. They can think with the best of ‘em, but they also know when it’s time to stop thinking.” He shook his head. “Took me years to learn that. Or relearn it.”

“We all make mistakes, Sonny. It’s how we deal with ‘em that makes us men or boys.”

“Tell me about it.” He sighed. “Now I know what Evan meant. You think I’ve redeemed myself yet, Rico?”

Rico looked at his partner, trying to determine if the question was serious. The look in Sonny’s eyes gave him the answer. “Only you can answer that, Sonny. But if you ask me, I’d say yes. You made things right with Stan and Gina, you’re using Caitlin’s legacy in a way she’d be proud of, and you faced up to your own past and made peace with it. Not many men I know could do that. And you helped Jenny climb out of the hole she was digging for herself.”

“Yeah. I guess. It’s funny. Everyone talks about redemption and all, but they never tell you what it feels like.”

“You ask me, I think it feels like being happy with yourself. But I ain’t one to ask. Marty’s the deep thinker in the office.”

“Yeah, but he’d just stare at me and say ‘what do you think?’ or something.” Sonny shook his head again. “Some days I do, Rico. But others…I’m not so sure.”

“You ask me, that’s Evan still whispering in your ear. You didn’t forgive him, and that ate at him. Maybe you should try just forgiving him. He was flawed, no damned question, but he was trying to redeem himself in the only way he could think of. I may not have liked the man, but I think I understand what he was trying to do.” Deep down, Rico knew he understood without question. It was the same thing that had driven him to Miami. Trying to atone for failing to protect Rafael that fatal night. Knowing there was nothing he could have done did nothing to dull the pain, even after all these years.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sonny sighed. “Hell, let’s get down to this operation. If we don’t have some kind of half-assed plan Randy will kill us.”

 

Darkness laid its hand over the lower part of the city before Dave and Randy rolled out into their mission. That was the plan. From prior recon, they knew most of the streetlights near the target building were broken or dead, and their night vision would give them an advantage. It wasn’t much, drawing on ambient light to give the world a flat, green look, but it was better than the actual blackness around them. And the best part was the bad guys wouldn’t be expecting it.

A single word from Castillo shook the goggles out of the marshals’ supply chain, and Randy was glad he’d involved the taciturn captain. Parking their mid-80s Trans Am on the edge of the district, about a block from the target building, Randy activated his watch mic. “Roach Coach, this is Rover 1. How’s the signal?”

“Clear as a bell, Rover 1. Rover 2?”

Tubbs’ voice came over the earpiece. “Read you five-by, Rover and Coach. Let’s rock and roll.”

Randy looked at Dave and nodded. “Let’s fire ‘em up and get down to business.” Pulling the bulky goggles over his eyes he activated the system and the world fuzzed before returning in a flat green.

With Starlite you got no depth perception since it only used one viewing tube. Both Dave and Randy had used the system many times before, but they aways chuckled when newcomers tripped over curbs or stepped in holes because they couldn’t judge the distance. It was all about experience and using environmental cues.

Stepping out of the dark car and easing the doors shut, the two men crossed the street in a low run, not wanting to expose themselves any more than necessary. Dave looked at Randy and shook his head to show the spiders weren’t stomping, but Randy took no chances. Always assume someone’s watching was a line his scout-sniper instructor always used during the stalking classes, and he’d taken it to heart years gone now. Once in the deeper shadows clinging to the buildings they slowed their pace, moving with deliberation and putting stealth over speed. Soon they were at the edge of the abandoned building the call claimed was the drop location.

Randy looked at Dave, who nodded again. Drawing his custom 1911-A1, he raised his hand slightly and whispered “Going in.”

The main door was off its hinges, and from their prior surveillance they knew the place was used by a variety of squatters and junkies from time to time. This seemed like one of the quiet nights, and they moved up the stairs with Dave leading, his .45 held at the low ready position and Randy close behind covering their flanks and rear. The target apartment was on the third floor of six, right off the stair landing, and they stayed close to the inner wall of the staircase to avoid any creaking treads. The sound of distant voices reached their ears as they moved past the second floor, but Randy didn’t care. Most likely some junkies shooting up or smoking their score, or maybe a hooker with a john who wanted some privacy. Anyone making noise was no threat to them.

They reached the apartment door, and Dave pointed to the knob. Randy was sure his eyebrows were raised behind the goggles. The lock looked new compared to everything else they’d seen, and the door itself was also in far better condition. Enough to stop a random junkie or squatter, but not enough to keep them out. Dave raised three fingers, then dropped them one at a time. When he had a fist he reared back and kicked the door right below the knob. It flew open with a crash, and Randy flowed past him into the room, his .45 tracking from side to side as his eyes scanned for targets.

The empty room laughed at them. They moved through the remaining rooms the same way, Dave leading and then Randy. Coming back to the entry, Randy raised his mic. “Clear. It’s a dry hole. Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here for weeks.”

“Copy that. No money?”

“No nothing. Place is empty. Nowhere you could hide money even. Dust on the floor show only our tracks.”

“Copy that.” Stan’s voice was reassuring as always. “Come on out and head back. It’s a wrap, people. We’ll stay on station until you’re clear. Just in case.”

Dave hit the button deactivating his mic, and Randy did the same. “Guess this counts as a nibble. Wonder who was watching.”

“Maybe no one. Who can tell in this neighborhood? And speaking of that we’d better get the hell back to the car before we find it up on cinderblocks or just gone.”

Castillo was waiting for them when they got back to the office. “A dry hole?”

“Roger that.” Randy set his goggles on the long table. “Some junkies or hookers on the second floor, but the target room was dry as a bone in the desert. It was set up, though. New locks and the door had been replaced at least once. But the place was empty and there were no footprints in the dust aside from ours. And maybe a few roaches.”

Castillo nodded, looking at Sonny and Rico.

“We didn’t see anything, captain. One or two dealers, maybe. But we didn’t really have eyes on the building.” Sonny shook his head. “I did check the rooftops, though. Didn’t see a thing.”

Lester spoke up. “I was looking for radio signals when they went in. That whole area’s flooded with crap from the boats on the river, so it’s tough to pick anything out. At least in the normal transmission spectrums. I did get one spike when they went through the door. No more than a second. Then it was gone.”

Randy looked at the two tech guys. “Could someone rig the door with an alarm like that?”

“Sure. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy.” Stan’s face fell. “And they could do it without really going in the room. Just a contact switch and small transmitter. They could even have hidden the damned thing in the knob.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Castillo’s voice was final. “Whoever it was knows we took the bait. That was the objective. Now we see what their next move is.” He looked at Stan and Lester. “I want you on every communications channel in that target folder. They’re listed there so we will hear whatever goes out. The rest of you stick with your regular duties. We’ll plan our next move once we have another target.”

 

Sonny saw the single candle flickering in Vellamo’s stern seats and knew that was where she waited for him. Shutting off the Ferrari he sat for a moment, listening to the powerful engine tick as it cooled down from the drive here. Then he sighed and stepped into the warm night air.

She waited for him belowdecks, wearing a smile and a blue stone necklace he’d gotten for her weeks before at one of the oddity shops springing up in the fading Deco district. It reminded him of her eyes, and she’d latched onto it like some kind of symbol and never seemed to take it off. Now it hung just about her firm, high breasts like a promise. She came to him, touching his shoulder. “You had hard day.” It wasn’t a question, but he’d gotten used to that. Somehow she just knew.

“Not the day. More like parts of it.” He sat down on the settee cushions and she settled in next to him, folding her slender legs under herself and resting her head in his lap. He told her about his conversation with Tubbs, leaving nothing out. “It’s hard,” he finished, looking through the ship’s hull at the waves slapping at the fiberglass. “How do you know when you’ve done enough?”

“You don’t. But those around you do.” She looked up and smiled, her deep blue eyes sparkling in the dim light cast by another candle. “And it sounds like they’re telling you that you have found redemption. I know you have with me. I’ve never been happier in my life. And I want you to be happy, Sonny.”

“I am, darlin’.” He chuckled. “I really am. It’s not a feeling I’ve had for years, though. Ever since that night. But I’ve got great friends who were damned kind to let me back in after I screwed things up for myself. And then there’s you.” He reached down and touched her hair. “I don’t have words.”

“Then show me.” She smiled, long fingers working at his slacks. “Show me how I make you feel. We don’t always need words.”

 

The jangling telephone jarred him out of a deep sleep. Reaching out with a snarl, the stocky man snatched up the receiver. “This better be good.”

“They took the bait. The alarm went off about five minutes ago. We held position just like you said.”

“Good.” He looked at his watch reading the glowing hands in the dark. “We move to Phase II in the morning. Let me know as soon as it’s ready.”

Lying there in the darkness, he let his mind wander back to those days behind bars. It was strange sleeping in total quiet, without someone screaming down the cell block or the clattering of nightsticks on bars as the guards made their rounds. He’d come out ok, but his life had prepared him for much worse. And besides, Federal prison didn’t hold a candle to some of the shit holes he’d seen in other places around the world.

He also tried not to let this thoughts rush forward. He’d done that a time or two in the past, and it was how he’d ended up in prison in the first place. No, this time he’d do it the right way. Slow. One measured step at a time until the target was in the ground. It was a shame his main intel source had been busted, but there were ways around that. Besides, he figured he had everything he needed to move forward. His team could develop their own intel. And without some frail old man putting on the breaks success was assured.

Smiling in the darkness, Dale Menton laid back on the pillows and went to sleep.

[vicegirl85]

Ooooh!  I was suspicious it may have been Menton!

[mjcmmv]

I didn't have a clue who it was. Good villain and he certainly has revenge is certainly on his mind! Hope we don't lose anyone!

[Robbie C.]

The "hit the from the back" line could have been a dead giveaway.

[vicegirl85]

I think that's what made me suspicious.