One Rough Man Read online

  “I haven’t talked to anybody. I just found out ten minutes ago. Anyway, nobody will contact the family until the family lets the Taskforce know it’s okay. I’ve been here before. Some wives want a lot of support; some just want to be left alone. Once that’s sorted out, we can do whatever we think’s best. I’ve got to go.”

  “Don’t you think we should be doing something to help out his family? I don’t even know them and I feel like I should help.”

  “Please don’t fight me on this. There’s nothing we can do right now. I’m not doing anything until I talk to Kurt. This might have something to do with our visit.”

  “What? What do you mean by that?”

  Pike backtracked, sitting next to her on the bed. “It’s just a big damn coincidence, is all. Look, you have to trust me on this. I can’t stay. I’m running behind as it is. Please don’t leave the hotel. I’ll be back in probably two hours.”

  Pike exited to the hallway through her door, not returning to his room. Jennifer sat on the bed in a little bit of a daze, still absorbing what he had said. It didn’t seem real. Outside of going to a funeral for her grandmother, and one high school friend who died in a car crash, Jennifer had had little experience dealing with mortality. Now it seemed like death was stalking her everywhere she went. Whatever she touched turned to ash. Why would Ethan be dead? It wasn’t fair. He had a wife and a family. He didn’t do anything to deserve this. But neither had Uncle John. Or Pike when he lost his family. She closed her eyes. Please don’t let it be because of me. Please, please.

  Her mind clicked on where Pike was headed, snapping her eyes back open. He might think Kurt was a peach of a guy, but she wasn’t so sure. Yeah, Pike was a one-man wrecking crew, but what if he was moving into a trap laid by a bunch of guys just as good as him? He wouldn’t even recognize it because of the trust he placed in the Taskforce. She grabbed her phone and dialed his number. She listened to it ring in her ear, then realized she could hear it ringing in his room as well. She jumped out of bed and went to his room through the connecting door. She saw his phone on the nightstand next to his bed.

  “Damn it!”

  She ran back to her room, ripping through her clothes in an attempt to get dressed before he got on the elevator. She left the room bare-footed, running to the foyer, but Pike had already gone down.

  HEADING TOWARD CLARENDON, I realized I had run out of the hotel so hastily I’d left without my cell phone. Stupid, stupid mistake.

  Not only could Kurt not contact me for anything, such as changing the meeting time or location, but I couldn’t make sure that Jennifer was safe. I thought about returning for it, but knew I didn’t have the time. If I missed this meeting with Kurt, I might not get another chance.

  By the time I got to the Orange Line I saw I was running late, causing me to worry about missing Kurt. He had stressed he had little time. Should’ve never gone into Jennifer’s room. I paced back and forth, staring at my watch every few seconds like that would speed things up. Finally, the train arrived.

  Luckily, the Court House stop was the first one past Rossyln. I exited the train at a trot. Glancing at my watch, I saw it was 11:03. Shit. Kurt’s probably already called. Probably leaving Four Courts right now. I broke into a run.

  Exiting the Court House stop I could see the Four Courts pub about a hundred meters away on Wilson Boulevard. Two people were outside it, neither of them Kurt. If he had left in the last couple of minutes, I should be able to see him. Maybe he’s still there. I waited for the light to change, allowing me to cross the street. After two seconds, I had had enough of waiting. A break in traffic presented itself, and I sprinted across. I continued to the entrance at a fast walk, straining to see if Kurt left the pub.

  My attention was jerked to the street by a car swinging onto Wilson Boulevard at a high rate of speed, tires squealing fast enough to produce smoke. I saw the car immediately slow down, the right side window lowering.

  I watched a man wearing a ski mask stick his head out, looking like an IRA terrorist in Belfast. What the hell? I stopped walking, processing the scene and preparing to react. The man stuck a Heckler and Koch MP5 out the window, aiming it at a couple to my front. He let the MP5 rip, spraying the front of Four Courts with rounds. Both the man and woman were hit instantly, spinning and falling to the ground.

  Time stretched out, moving at half speed. I assessed my options and realized I was in serious trouble. I was standing in front of the plate-glass window of Four Courts with no protection in sight, nothing at all to stop the rounds that were about to tear into me. I knew my best bet was an alley to my rear about thirty feet away, but from the time of the first round until now, I computed that I wouldn’t make it there before I was hit.

  The man was still spraying rounds on full automatic, the bullets shattering the plate glass to my front, stitching toward me like a sewing machine. I saw the man’s gun hand begin to lose control from the recoil, giving me a sliver of hope. The car continued forward at a slow rate of speed, only fifteen feet away. Take him head-on. If I was wrong, I was dead. I launched myself at the vehicle, watching the man’s eyes widen as he saw me coming. He tried to swing the weapon directly at me instead of shooting rounds at the front of the building. I beat him by the blink of an eye. Just as the weapon was about to cross my body, I closed my hands on it.

  Jerking upward, I tried to rip the MP5 out of the man’s hands, the weapon cycling with the rounds blasting skyward, inches from my head. The man fought me to regain control, and almost succeeded, when his driver decided to accelerate, causing the weapon to be wrenched out of his hands. The car hurtled forward with its tires squealing again.

  I watched the vehicle race away, then scanned for any other danger. I caught movement over my right shoulder and trained my weapon on the threat. A man was exiting the alley I had passed on my way to the pub. The same alley I had been going to use for cover. He had a pistol in his hand and was looking for a target. I let loose with the remaining rounds in the MP5’s magazine, chipping the bricks around him and forcing him to retreat back down the alley.

  The air was split by the sound of sirens approaching. I looked at the couple shot earlier, seeing the man sitting up holding his shoulder. The woman lay on her back, rolling left and right, her abdomen sprouting a red stain, dripping on the concrete. I knew I should help them, but had to make a hard choice. My conscience screamed for me to stay, but the man in the alley told me this wasn’t random, and that I was the target. I decided to leave the scene. I dropped the weapon and took off at a dead sprint back to the Metro station across the street.

  74

  Two blocks away, Lucas was on an encrypted radio trying to get a handle on what had occurred. “What’s the status? What happened?”

  Mason came through first. “The target came alone. The girl wasn’t with him. He didn’t give me time to set up. He came out of the Metro at a dead run. I didn’t have time to give the mounted team a warning order. By the time I called, he was almost at the pub. The mounted team was forced to rush, alerting the target that they were coming before they could engage.”

  The mounted team cut in. “The psycho didn’t run for cover like you said. He ran right at us. He grabbed my weapon right out of my fucking hand. We were forced to exfil.”

  Lucas cursed. If they were lucky, Pike would think it was a random drive-by. That would be a break, but wasn’t assured. The hope was crushed by the next call.

  “This is shooter one. I saw what occurred with the mounted team. I tried to get a clean shot but was compromised. He suppressed my fire with the weapon from the mounted team.” Shooter one’s clinical description broke down. “He came close to fucking killing me. I didn’t get off a shot.”

  Lucas dropped his mike in frustration. Pike definitely knew it was a setup now, and that he was being hunted. Shit. This operation just went from easy to almost impossible. Picking up his cell phone, he called Jerry. “Did you find the hotel they’re at? Next to the Metro?”

  “
Lucas, there are about five hundred hotels next to Metro stations. There’s no way I can neck it down without more information.”

  KURT TORE OUT OF THE FOUR COURTS PUB, trying to ascertain what had occurred. Seeing no sign of Pike, he moved immediately to the wounded civilians, honing in on the woman as the most seriously hit.

  “You’ll be okay. Help’s on the way,” he said, conscious of approaching sirens. He began initial first aid, checking her airway and putting direct pressure on her wounds as an ambulance screamed to a halt beside them. Paramedics leapt out to conduct triage.

  Kurt told them what he knew, then walked away before he got tied up by the police. He pulled out his cell phone and called Pike’s number. At the sound of a woman’s voice, he was about to disconnect, thinking he had a wrong number. Then he remembered.

  “Jennifer?”

  “Yes. Who’s this? Where’s Pike?”

  “This is Kurt. I don’t know where Pike’s at. Where are you? You’re not with him?”

  Jennifer voice grew alarmed. “No, I’m at the Embassy Suites. Pike left to meet you alone over forty-five minutes ago. What did you do to him?”

  “Me?” He was shocked by the question. “For Christ’s sake, why would I do anything to him? Jennifer, listen to me. Get out of the hotel now. Don’t even bother packing. Get out—go somewhere safe. Do it now. Write this number down”—he read out his cell number—“call me when you’re safe. Let me know where you are.”

  It took several more attempts before she took him seriously, testing his patience. “Get out, Jennifer,” he repeated, “every second is dangerous.”

  “But Pike—”

  “Leave him a note that only you and he would understand. But get out. Now!”

  Jennifer’s voice grew cold. “I hear you. I’m leaving. I’ll do as you say, but if you’ve done anything to Pike ... if he’s hurt ... I’m going to fucking destroy you. I don’t know how, but I will.”

  LUCAS HAD REGAINED CONTROL OF HIS TEAM, reconsolidating in an empty parking lot eight miles away from the failed hit. He was running his options through his mind when his phone rang.

  “Yeah, what do you have?”

  Jerry was breathless. “They’re staying at the Embassy Suites in Old Town Alexandria. The girl’s there now but was just told to leave. Pike doesn’t have his cell phone. The girl has it. He doesn’t know she’s been told to leave. I’m sure he’s headed back there, but he only has the Metro. If you hurry, you can get both of them. Worst case, you’ll only get him.”

  Lucas grinned, immediately barking out commands. “They’re at the Embassy Suites in Old Town. Mounted team go there immediately. Stake out the lobby and try to find the girl. She’s probably already gone, but it’s worth a shot. You other four head to the King Street Metro station. Pike’s headed back. Pick him up when he gets off the Metro. Once you have him in sight, call the Embassy Suites team. He’ll be headed that way. Close on him and finish the job. We can find the girl later, if necessary.”

  RIDING BACK ON THE METRO, my mind was running nonstop, trying to figure out what had just happened. I could come up with only one answer: Dr. Evil did exist and his name was Kurt Hale.

  Earlier I had decided that didn’t make sense, because Kurt wouldn’t kill Ethan. I then realized that I didn’t even know if Ethan was dead. All I knew was that Kurt had said so. Now it looked like he had said it to keep my mind occupied on Ethan’s death instead of looking for threats. Every other fact pointed to Kurt.

  Only one person knew where I was going, and that was Kurt. In fact, it was Kurt who had set the meeting up. Kurt had said he needed to straighten out some things because of Ethan’s death, but if Kurt really had set this up, then Ethan was alive, and Kurt had used that time to set up his trap instead.

  The thought sickened me to my core. The Taskforce was an anchor I had placed my entire trust within. If Kurt could do this, then there was no such thing as good. The world was just a mess of gray. I knew that Kurt wasn’t inherently evil, but nothing else explained what had occurred. It wasn’t a bunch of amateurs who had attacked me, but guys who knew what they were doing. I had to have been under surveillance to trigger the drive-by, surveillance that I had failed to notice because I was conveniently thinking about Ethan’s death and the meeting with Kurt. The shooter in the alley was the final touch. It was clear that the drive-by shooter was simply the sweeper, designed to push me into the alley, and certain death. It was a miracle it hadn’t worked. Had I been five feet closer to the alley, I would have immediately sought it out, looking backward at the drive-by shooter, not forward into the alley.

  The more I thought about it, the more I began to build into a rage, feeling the anger grow white-hot. For the first time, wanting it white-hot. Savoring the feeling.

  Kurt must have set us up in the Homeland Security database. When that didn’t work, Kurt had used my loyalty to the Taskforce as a weapon to kill me. Kurt must have also turned off the CIA from investigating anything further in Belize. Few people in the U.S. government had the power to do all of that, and Kurt Hale was one of them. I was just lucky I had come alone. If Jennifer had been there, I would have reacted differently, and we’d probably both be dead.

  I felt an electric jolt of adrenaline. Jennifer’s alone at the hotel. I racked my brain, trying to remember if I had told Kurt where we were staying. I didn’t think so, but I might have. I looked at my watch, wishing the train would move faster. I settled back into the seat, letting the rage flow through me, raw and thumping. If Kurt did anything to Jennifer, I was going to burn the Taskforce down.

  THE FOUR MEN LUCAS HAD ASSIGNED to the Metro station entered and fanned out to positions that allowed them to dominate the platform without being seen. One, surveying the crowd simply out of curiosity, honed in on a woman across the tracks, waiting for the Metro going the other way. He keyed his covert radio.

  “Brandon, look at the woman to your three o’clock. I think it’s the target.”

  Brandon studied the woman. She was acting antsy and pacing back and forth. She carried a laptop case and a backpack that looked stuffed. “Yeah, that’s her. Stand by. I’m calling for guidance.”

  Brandon dialed Lucas’s cell. “Sir, this is the Metro team. I’ve got the female target here preparing to board a train. Do you want us to remain behind for the male, or follow her?”

  Lucas paused a moment, considering. He went with the bird in the hand. “Follow her. As soon as you get the chance, terminate her. Make sure you can get out clean before you pull the trigger.”

  “Roger that. Train’s coming. Gotta go.”

  Brandon called the team. “Board the northbound train. She’s the new target. We stick with her until we can smoke her. Hurry, I can see the train approaching. Get to the other side.”

  They raced back downstairs, moving under the tracks, then back upstairs to the northbound side. All four members just managed to board before the doors closed. None noticed Pike exit the train on the southbound side.

  IN THE LOBBY, Mason had just answered a call from Lucas when he saw Pike blow by him to the elevator.

  Lucas was finishing up telling Mason the new plan. “... so they won’t be able to give you early warning. They’re on the girl now. When he gets there—”

  Mason interrupted. “He’s here. He just went by me to his room. We can’t do anything in here. All the rooms look into a giant atrium. We can’t even get to his room without anyone seeing us, much less break in. We’re going to have to wait.”

  Lucas thought for a moment. “Okay. That’s not bad. He’ll either head to the other target, or she’ll come back here. I’m betting he heads to her. Hold what you got and tail him. I’ll coordinate with the other team. If you guys meet in the middle we can finish this thing. Don’t wait for that, though. You get a chance, kill that bastard.”

  75

  I went through my room into Jennifer’s. It was empty. All of her clothes were gone and so was the laptop. I went back to my room. For the first time, I notice
d that all of my clothes were gone as well. I saw my cell phone where I had left it, only now it was sitting on a piece of paper. Picking it up, I read,

  Kurt called. I’m going to the place I went to yesterday. I’ll be getting a bite to eat. Call me when you get this.

  I smiled for the first time that morning. Smart girl. She was going to the most crowded place she could find, and she had managed to tell me exactly where without writing it down. She would be in the food court at the bottom of the mall. I didn’t like the fact that Kurt had called, but hopefully she would be safe until I could get there. Kurt clearly just wanted to get her out of the hotel so he could kill her. He probably didn’t count on me still being alive.

  I picked up the phone and dialed Jennifer. She answered on the first ring. “Pike? Is that you?”

  Thank God. More relief than I thought I had in me coursed through my body. I put on a calm voice.

  “Yeah. How’re you? Are you okay?”

  “I think so. I just got off the Metro. Kurt called and told me to get out of the hotel. He left his number and told me to call him when I was out and safe somewhere.”

  That fucker. “You haven’t called, have you?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Don’t. Just go where you told me you were going. I’m on my way. Do not call Kurt.”

  “Pike, what’s going on? I’m scared. I think someone’s following me. I keep seeing the same guy. He jumped on the Metro at the last minute, and now he’s been thirty feet behind me ever since. I don’t want you to think I’m paranoid, but I think it’s real.”

  I spoke slowly and clearly. “I think it’s real too. Stay in crowded areas. Don’t pay him any attention. If he thinks he’s burned, he’ll either do something drastic or be replaced by someone else. Better to know who’s following you than to have to figure it out. Move to where you said you would meet me. Anybody tries anything, kick them as hard as you can in the balls, then run off screaming. Run in a zigzag pattern. I’m on the way. Can you do that?”