Chapter 20
The three men didn't have time to register their confusion at Brad's command before a short deep growl ended with a man's painful scream. Recon clamped on to the man's upper calf at the hamstrings, sinking his teeth into the his leg with jaws powerful enough to break bones, Recon jerked his head to each side, maiming the muscle and tearing it from it's holding tendons. As the man went down, the dog released the leg and dove for his exposed neck with such speed that he didn't have time to put his hands up to protect himself.
Brad felt the old wood of the rickety chair cracking as he hit the floor. He lifted up and threw himself backwards, shattering the chair. Pulling his bound hands over his butt, he reached into his boot and pulled out the razor sharp T-bar. Pulling his bound hands over his feet so that they were facing him he gave a small thanks when he saw his bindings was duct tape. The knife had almost sliced completely through the tape when the dazed man came off the floor and kicked the knife out of Brad's hand, followed by a roundhouse right that Brad saw soon enough to move with the blow, giving it less impact, but still hard enough to bring stars. The man swung with a wide left, which Brad ducked, all the time trying to yank the last of the duct tape loose, releasing his hands, but it wasn't breaking. As the man came at Brad again, Brad clasped his hands together and brought them up hard against the man's chin, knocking off the man's momentum, sending him on his back across the floor. With a hard pull that took skin from his wrists, Brad tore off the last of the tape
As the man came to his feet, Brad stepped forward and back wristed him at the temple, which if done properly momentarily shuts off the blood supply to the brain, rendering a person unconscious. As the man went down, Brad slammed a boot into the man's sternum, guaranteeing he would not be a problem for a while.
As Recon was attacking one man and Brad fighting the other with bound hands, the old man, who was standing near Susan, took a moment to register what was happening. When Susan said, “Oh, my God.” in surprise and shock, it seemed to bring him out of his stunned stupor. He grabbed the handle of his cane and pulled on it, unsheathing a thin, deadly looking sword. Ignoring Susan, he turned to rush to his team mates aid. Susan threw her feet out in front of the old man. Tripping, he sprawled on the floor, his sword falling from his hand, skidding across the worn cement.
Brad could see that Recon had a strangle hold on his adversary. He could have just as easily tore the man's throat out, but the hold he had was lethal enough. The man was slowly suffocating under Recon's grip.
“Recon. Release.” Brad commanded. Recon immediately obeyed, but did not move, his face inches from the gasping man, his teeth bared menacingly.
Brad turned to the old man who was getting to his feet. “No. Don't get up. Sit there and don't move until I tell you to.” The old man looked up at him and sat back down. Brad saw the T-bar in the shadows, picked it up and sliced threw Susan's bindings. She pulled the tape from her wrists and rubbed them as she stood. Brad turned the lamp to the floor. Finding the sword he picked it up and relieved the two other men of their sidearms.
He then walked over to the old man and commanded, “Stand up.” The old man silently did as he was told. Brad frisked him, finding the taser and a Smith and Wesson.32 snub nose. “Bet you've had this a long time.” Brad said looking at the revolver.
“Forty years.” the man responded softly.
“Good for you.” Brad said. “Sit down.” He said brusquely. The man resumed his seated position.
“I was right about you, wasn't I? We found a semi-automatic on you – not a common accessory for a hippie.” the old man said. “I know a professional when I see one. What's your part in this game?”
“If you and all these other crazy bastards weren't after this lady, I wouldn't have any part in it at all.”
“But, obviously, you do.”
“I'll tell you who he is.” Susan said as she walked over to the sitting man. “He's the only person in the world I trust at the moment. “And you, my protector, was going to kill him.”
“I seriously doubt that you would have let that happen, Susan. I was trying to get information, and I knew the threat of his death would loosen your tongue if you knew anything.”
Susan snickered. “Well, in that case your two buddies over there.” she swept the darkness with her hand, “should get Academy Awards for acting.”
She looked at Brad's face in the lamp light. She reached up to touch Brad's swollen cheek and said to the old man, “It looks to me like you guys were pretty sincere in your actions.” She looked at Brad again with concern as she touched his cheek and he pulled back slightly with pain. “Oh.” Susan said, pulling her hand back. “Sorry, baby.”
“Ah!” the old man exclaimed. “So, you lied quite well. You are lovers.”
Susan looked at Brad quizzically, “Are we lovers?”
“I don't think we've known each other long enough to officially be lovers yet, even though, I've probably gone through more with you than any other woman I've ever known.”
“Well, Ditto for me too, Cowboy.” she said with a grin.
“Okay, Pop.” Brad said grabbing the man by his armpits and helping him to his feet. “Have a seat in that chair over there.” he said, pointing to the chair that Susan had been bound in.
“Let's try this question and answer game from a new direction. Who are you?”
“I'm not telling you a damned thing until I know who you are. You're not just some local. I'll bet that I.D. is a fake.” They looked at each other in silence, the old man's eyes filled with defiance.
“If you want to beat me around, it won't do you any good.” He said. “It won't be the first time.”
“No.” Brad said. “I suspected that it wouldn't be the first time. What agency do you work for.”
The old man laughed. “I'm retired, you damned fool. Look at me. Do I look like someone who would be out in the field? I walk with a cane.”
“Yes. A very deadly cane carried by a deceptively dangerous man.”
Brad and the man studied each other before Brad spoke. “I'm retired Major Brad Wilson, Army Special Forces. The I.D. you looked at is accurate. Susan needed a little help, which I gave her.” He paused. “Okay. Now it's your turn. Who are you?”
“So, you are saying you are neither an agent of the government or Alberto De La Cruz.”
“Alberto De La Cruz.” Brad said thoughtfully. “I've heard that name somewhere before.”
“If you have heard that name before, Major, I would suspect that you have worked with CIA or some other similar agency in your past career.”
“I was Special Forces, Mister. What do you think? Of course we worked with them on occasions.”
“I'm starting to believe you.”
“Well, that's dandy. Now, tell us who you are.”
“My name is Joseph Eichmann.”
“Great, Mr. Eichmann. How about explaining your role in this fiasco.”
Joseph Eichmann looked tired as he took a deep breath and started. “I spent most of my life working as a spy. Alberto De La Cruz was a person of interest to us because we knew he was a main supplier, arming Warlords and third world dictatorships. In many cases, through force and bloodshed, these people controlled resources the world needed, though not in large enough quantity to collapse world markets.
“A Cartel of these vicious leaders was formed for the purpose of domination over countries that retained such resources as oil, minerals, lumber, even water access. The only problem is that the world would not let that happen. The United States and its allies would be forced to take action against these countries, which would not only result in war, but the demise of their plans, as the military force against them would be too great. They knew this.
“American military technology is the most advanced in the world. What we have formulated and diagrammed, prepared for production is closely guarded. If produced, these would be the most lethal weapons systems in the world. Whoever had them would be near unstoppable. It is top secret and access to it is open to very few top echelon personnel. Even they must show proof of 'need to know'.
“So, how come you know this information?” Susan broke in.
“As I told you, I was a spy. I was attempting to penetrate the De La Cruz network when I met your brother. He was a fringe operative of De La Cruz who was quite easy to turn. He had been drawn into the De La Cruz organization when he was twenty years old through, what he saw at that time, as glamor, adventure and money. As he grew older and became more involved in the organization, his moral values came into play more and more. He became disenchanted and saw more clearly the horror that De La Cruz gave to the world as Jeff got closer to the center of the operation.
“I turned Jeff and became his official handler, and he was our inside man to De La Cruz's operations.
“At a meeting with Jeff, he informed me that there was a mole in our agency, which was quite a surprise to me. The mole had to be someone De La Cruz either had devastating information on, or had accepted a bribe he couldn't resist. Perhaps both.”
“Do you know who the mole is?” Brad asked.
“No. I never saw him. Jeff was ordered to pick up a small package from a specific location at a predetermined time, which was placed by the mole. I got to the spot an hour early and hid, waiting in hopes of seeing who it was, but the mole paid a homeless person to make the drop. I watched as Jeff picked it up and left.
“I spoke to Jeff on the phone later, asking him what he had done with it. He asked me if I knew what was on the memory stick. I didn't even know that much, that it was on a memory stick. Because it was De La Cruz, I knew it had something to do with weapons.
“Jeff told me that he had downloaded the stick, which he had orders from De La Cruz to not do. He was suppose to pick it up and deliver it. Nothing else.
“Jeff said that he couldn't give it to Alberto. The stick was dangerous to Jeff on more than one level. He realized what the sales of the information would mean to the world and he couldn't live with being instrumental to such devastation. People of less moral value saw it only as something worth billions of dollars. Once knowledge of the sticks existence was out, who ever had it was in danger from many directions. He couldn't return it, as the mole was still in place and Jeff would be dead. He felt trapped.
“He said that he would put it in a safe place and use its existence as leverage if he were caught or innocent people were snared into the scenario. He felt he couldn't do anything or truly trust anybody until the mole, or moles, were discovered. He trusted me enough to request my assistance if I got a call from you, which would only happen if you were in a threatening situation.” he said, looking at Susan.
“The next time I heard of Jeff was when I was informed that he had been a mule for stolen information, and had gone down at sea, obviously trying to escape with a billion dollar payday in his pocket.”
“What about your two goons here?” Brad asked, nodding towards the two men on the ground under Recon's watchful eye.
“They are men who have worked for me in the past. When I need muscle applied, I call upon them.”
“Do they know what this is all about?”
“No. They are used to following orders without question, as long as they get paid well. They know just enough to fulfill their jobs.”
“It looks to me like once you found out what was on that stick, and what it was worth, you had a change of heart as Susan's protector.”
“I am only human.” Joseph said defensively. “Of course I want the stick, but I also had every intention of protecting Susan in the process.”
“Would that be after you tortured her until you were satisfied she didn't know anything?” The old man stared at Brad in silence.
“I'm not going to kill you, Joseph, which I may regret later. What I am going to do is take your vehicle. You can find it back at the Park where you abducted us. I suggest you call who ever your contacts are and get your men to a hospital.”
“You're making a mistake, young man.” Joseph said. “One person does not have a chance against the power of the different people who are looking for Susan. This is worth well over a billion dollars, which would make us all very rich. Word will leak into Intelligence communities. Countries will know that it is here. It will be like an international Easter Egg hunt, only dangerous. Work with us and we will keep you safe.”
“The term 'we' tells me a lot. You're not alone in this.
“I'm afraid I don't trust you, Joseph.” Brad said, seeing the hard, calculative eyes peering at him from a kindly face.
“I think you're telling the truth, but giving only as much information as necessary to be convincing.”
Brad gathered up the three men's weapons, walked to the wide doors of the tannery and threw them out into the darkness.
“Recon.” Brad said sharply. “Let's go.” Recon bared his teeth one more time and snapped an inch from the man's nose who lay frozen in terror of the dog. Recon turned and ran out the door in front of Brad and Susan, inspecting the darkness for hidden trouble, protecting his team.
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