Bug Out! Atlantic Book 4, page 15
***
Dr. Saperstein finished checking Dan Dannon’s wounds. “You’re doing well. Should be up and around in less than a week.”
“What if I needed to be up and around tomorrow?”
Dr. Saperstein sighed. “Your wound might open, but you’d probably survive. Try to take it easy for at least a couple days, though. Seriously. You’ve been through a lot.”
Dempsey came in with Freeze and Moth. “Confirmed where the Sturm safehouse is, but it’s a four story building, and there might be a lot of UN Peacekeepers there.”
“Or worse,” Freeze added. “Two Islamists were there, in black garb instead of white garb. Apparently they were barking orders at UN Peacekeepers.”
“Wonder how that went over?” Dempsey asked.
“Our source said the UN Peacekeepers looked scared of them.”
Dannon chuckled. “I need a favor from you guys.”
“What?” Dempsey asked.
“I’ve got a penthouse apartment at 89th and Broadway. Address is 251. There are some specialized weapons in my safe. Could you bring them to me? Two steamer trunks, so it’ll be heavy.”
“Whoa, that’s expensive over there,” Freeze said. “You get that on a State Senator’s salary?”
“No, I earned the money in my former job,” he said. “This place is totally off the books. I’m trusting you to keep it quiet.”
“What did you do?” Dempsey asked. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“I think I’ll leave now,” Dr. Saperstein said. “I really don’t want to know.”
Moth cracked up. “Oh, this gonna be good, man.”
They watched as Dr. Saperstein turned to leave. “Try not to go crazy for a couple days, Dannon. I’ll be back tomorrow.” He left the room.
“What’s he afraid of?” Freeze asked.
“I don’t blame him,” Dannon said. “It can be dangerous to know certain people right now. Look what just happened in Boston.”
“Should we be worried?” Moth asked, looking serious all of a sudden.
“You’re in the resistance,” Dannon said. “You’re in danger because of that, but not because of what I’m about to tell you guys. I’m the only person in danger from this information.”
Dempsey smiled. “What were you, a CIA guy or something?”
“It was a lot more illegal than that.”
“Go ahead,” Dempsey said. “If you trust us, I trust you.”
“You guys saved my life, and we’re both on the same side in this war,” Dannon said. “In for a penny, in for a pound. I was a very high-level hit man.”
“Hit man?” Moth asked. “Like for the mob?”
“They were sometimes my customers,” Dannon said. “Sometimes it was business leaders or political leaders. Sometimes it was foreign leaders. Almost always it was people who weren’t very nice.”
“Shit man, I shoulda known,” Freeze said. “You iced a bunch of those men who tried to kill you at the hotel.”
“Yes, those men never had a chance against me.”
“But Sturm does?”
“Sturm is like me. We’ve even met before.”
“What is it you want picked up?” Dempsey asked.
“Tools of that trade. Kept them just in case. They’ll come in very handy when I go in after Sturm. I’m gonna kill everybody in that building. I’ll make a few of them talk first, of course.”
“You really are as shady as the stories say,” Freeze said. “No offense. I am on your side. Anything you can teach us would be helpful.”
Dannon chuckled. “I don’t have a problem with that, but it’s a double-edged sword at best. It tore me up doing this stuff after a while. I pushed it way back after I left, but it came out when I was in Canada.”
Freeze got out of his seat. “Hell, you iced Senator Walter, didn’t you?”
Dannon nodded. “I did.”
“Was that because he was a rival for Governor?” Dempsey asked.
“No,” Dannon said. “I found out he was in on the Nuke attack. He tried to enlist me to help him take control of the state. He found out about my skills from a former client.”
“I thought it was all about your girlfriend,” Dempsey said.
“Seeing her dead on the street was what pushed me over the edge. I hadn’t decided to get fully back into the game until that moment.”
“You were trying to kill Sturm, and you killed Walter and the other guy,” Moth said. “Iced guys at the hotel too. Then you hunted Sturm.”
“Those were acts of self-defense,” Dannon said, then smiled. “Oh hell, guess I really can’t say that about Sturm. He wasn’t coming after me personally. I’d categorize that as an act of war. I originally wanted to capture him.”
“What are you gonna do now?” Freeze asked.
“Go into that building and kill everybody there, including Sturm if I can. He might get away. The guy has skills. It’ll be a challenge.”
“You gonna need help in there?” Dempsey asked.
“No, I don’t want you guys in there for this one, but I will do some training. Just one thing, though.”
Dempsey looked him in the eye. “What’s that?”
“I’ll be honest. Some people have the capability to do what I do. Most don’t. I won’t put you into deadly situations if you can’t handle it.”
“We handled ourselves well against Sturm and Major Krieg.”
“I know, Dempsey, you guys are all good soldiers. That’s not what I do.”
Freeze laughed. “Oh, I get it, like the difference between Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp, right?”
“That concept is right, but there are conflicting stories about just how much better Doc Holiday was with a gun. He used a shotgun at the O.K. Corral.”
“Everybody goes for the scatter gun when the chips are down, Hoss,” Moth added. “So you’re gonna get all John Wick in there.”
“Who’s John Wick?” Dannon quipped, bursting into laughter.
“Somebody’s feeling better,” Shell said, walking in. “You aren’t thinking about getting back into the fight already, I hope.”
“I need some stuff first,” Dannon said.
“Let us know the particulars and we’ll get on it,” Dempsey said.
“You’re working for this guy now?” Shell asked.
“We’re all in the resistance,” Dempsey said. “We’re not his step and fetch it, don’t you worry about that.”
Shell looked at all of them, then shrugged. “Dr. Saperstein checked your dressing?”
“He did, thanks,” Dannon said.
“Okay. Don’t you be taking advantage of my boys.”
“They saved my life,” Dannon said. “We’re on the same side. I won’t ever take advantage of them. Believe me.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Shell said.
“Yes you will. There’s a place in the resistance for you. Doesn’t have to be with me specifically.”
She sighed. “Oh, I guess I’m in this crazy outfit with the rest of you. We’ll do this, and then we’ll go back to fighting amongst ourselves.” She left the room.
Dempsey came over with a small pad of paper. “Here, put down the address, combinations, that sort of thing.”
Dannon nodded, taking the pad and jotting down notes.
***
Mateo sat at his desk and called Sanchez, who picked up after the first ring.
“What the hell do you want?”
Mateo chuckled. “Good to talk to you as well, my friend.”
“Cut the crap. I’m busy.”
“There was an escape from the Halifax base. Thought you might want to know.”
There was silence on the line for a moment. “Is the facility compromised?”
“No, I’ll handle it,” Mateo said. “That’s not the main reason I called, though. I need info from you before I get with the World Court on the UN Headquarters blockade.”
“Okay, I’ll have Greta put together a synopsis and email it to you. It won’t do any good.”
“You and I both know that, but we must respond with appropriate outrage. How goes the battle for Manhattan?”
“The Peacekeepers have hunkered down across the river from Manhattan, after taking losses,” Sanchez said.
“Where?”
“Randall’s Island, mainly,” Sanchez said. “We’re expecting a major assault on that position. We’ve got nearly three hundred thousand men making their way south, but they probably won’t get there in time.”
“Randall’s Island is reachable from the Atlantic,” Mateo said.
“That’s one of the strategies we’re weighing now. It’s risky. If we put our forces onto a ship and the enemy finds out, we could lose all those men in an instant. It might be safer to trickle them out of there.”
“If you trickle, you’d better be careful to hide it.”
Sanchez sighed. “Yes, that’s what we’re working on right now. I’ve got to go. Anything else?”
“I need an all-points put out on the fugitive. It’s a young woman. I’ll send you the info.”
“Uh oh, what does she know?”
“She’ll claim that I raped her.”
Sanchez chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll just bet that she will. You should’ve killed her.”
“She’s tricky. I was about to do the deed, but she escaped. We’re pursuing her family, of course.”
“No public executions.”
“That was Dupont,” Mateo said.
“Uh huh. Dupont didn’t have the brains nor the guts to pull that off.”
“That is your opinion. I’ll have Dupont’s body disposed of. Will you mention it to Daan next time you talk?”
“Yeah, sure, why not. You have him fairly well hoodwinked.”
“I’ll ignore that remark, for your sake. Good luck with the Manhattan issue.”
Mateo ended the call, then broke loose with a hearty laugh.
***
“We got an inventory on the National Guard Armory in Harlem,” Penko said, looking up from his screen at Jace, Taylor, and Albena. “I’ll send a PDF to your phones. Of course I can’t be sure that the stuff is still there.”
“Where’d you find a PDF with that info?” Taylor asked.
“I hacked into the National Guard system,” Penko said. “They really should work on their security. It was too easy. Even I could get in.”
“Stop running yourself down, Penko,” Albena said. “You’re a good hacker.”
“Not nearly as good as you,” Penko said.
“Maybe not, but you’re far better than most,” she said, “and you doing this frees me up to work the stuff I’m best at. We make a good team, cousin.”
“Ah shucks,” Penko quipped.
Jace let loose a snicker as he looked at his phone. “There it is.”
Taylor nodded, scrolling on her phone. “Yeah, I’m looking at it too, but I don’t know what some of this stuff is.”
“I know what it is. Wow. Lots of stuff we don’t need, but also lots we could really use.”
“Like what?” Penko asked. “I didn’t know what the descriptions meant either.”
“They’ve got nearly two hundred mortars and several thousand rounds.”
“That’s what you wanted for Randall’s Island, wasn’t it?”
“Yep,” Jace said. “Also some tripod-mounted M19s. Lots of machine guns, but most are older. M60s, and early model M-16s. Whoa, M107 sniper rifles. We could use those.”
“What’s an M107?” Taylor asked.
“It’s a 50 caliber rifle with an advanced scope. Hell of a weapon, and we’ve got several people who know how to use them. They’ve only got five, though.”
“Are you guys going to break in there?” Albena asked. “It might be guarded.”
“And it might be empty,” Penko said. “Might have been hit by resistance fighters or even the enemy.”
“I think we should try to find somebody in charge,” Jace said. “They might be on our side.”
“I’ll see if I can find a contact person,” Penko said, getting back to his keyboard, eyes squinting as he looked at the monitor.
Mayor Fine and Governor McCain came in with Julio and Kate.
“Something going on?” Julio asked.
Jace filled them in on the inventory of the armory.
“M107s, huh?” Mayor Fine asked. “I was checked out on those. Incredible weapons.”
“We aren’t going to break in and steal that stuff, are we?” Tracy asked.
“I’m trying to find a responsible person now,” Penko said.
“What are you guys up to?” Albena asked.
“We’re preparing for a joint press conference,” Tracy said. “Needed a break, figured we’d come see what was going on here. Anything new on the Peacekeepers at Randall’s Island?”
“Still there, from what we can tell,” Penko said. “That’s why we’re looking into the National Guard Armory. We need some mortars to rain death and destruction on them.”
“We need a naval patrol,” Julio said. “They could get picked up and taken to the Atlantic very easily.”
“We don’t know who’s side the US Navy is on,” Mayor Fine said. “It would be good to find out, because we don’t have the harbor anymore. We need secure alternate routes to bring supplies into the city.”
Kate nodded. “That’s a good point. My sources are complaining about food supplies. There aren’t enough good routes to get things to Manhattan, and we’ve had to block some due to the fighting.”
“Oops,” Julio quipped.
Penko looked up from his screen. “Bingo, I got the chain of command for that facility. Sending names and phone numbers now.”
“Great, thanks,” Jace said.
“Uh oh,” Albena said.
“What?” asked Mayor Fine.
“Eyewitness accounts of EU Navy ships entering Long Island Sound.”
{ 13 }
Armory
F reeze drove the old van south on Central Park West. “Damn, still looks fine over here, even with all the crap that’s happened.”
“They can have it,” Moth said.
“We almost there?” Jones asked from the back.
“Getting close, just passed 91st Street,” Freeze said.
“Do we get to use this stuff?” asked another man in the back of the van, large and muscular, flanked by two other large men.
“No, Hickey, this is for Dannon,” Moth said, “but he said he’d train us.”
“You really trust this guy?” Hickey asked.
“Yeah, I really trust him,” Moth said.
“So do I,” Freeze added.
Jones cracked up. “Never would’ve believed it, but I’m with the guy too. He’s got what it takes to make it hard for the enemy. Don’t care about the politics. Not even a little bit. The people I used to vote for helped the frigging enemy.”
“You got that right, Jonesy,” Moth said. “There’s 89th.”
“See it,” Freeze said. “Got the gate code?”
“Yep,” Moth said, pulling the paper Dannon gave them out of his pocket. “We go in ready to fight. Some of Dannon’s former customers probably with the enemy now.”
“This is his home,” Moth said. “You know damn well his customers didn’t know where he lived.”
Freeze drove into the driveway, punching in the code as Moth read it to him. The gate opened and he drove inside. “Not that many cars in here.”
“Would you stay in Manhattan if you could afford to go elsewhere?” Jones asked.
Hickey laughed. “Yeah, half the people who own these posh joints are only here a couple weeks a year.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I think this is home base for a lot of rich folk,” Jones said. “They only spend a couple weeks per year at their chateau in the Alps.”
Freeze shook his head as he parked near the elevators. “You guys crack me up.”
“Look sharp out there,” Jones said. “Somebody might know Dannon has this place.”
“Yeah, keep a hand near your piece,” Freeze added as he locked the van. They went to the elevator, which opened as soon as they pushed the button. It took them all the way to the top without stopping, leaving them in a short hallway with a metal door sporting a keypad.
“I got the code,” Moth said, walking up to it and punching buttons. The door clicked and Moth pushed it open, leading the others into a very nicely-furnished room, opening into the large living room with a view to the east, Central Park laid out in all its glory.
“Damn,” Jones said. “This place is da bomb. Nice place for a party.”
“You got that right,” Freeze said. “Where’s the safe? We don’t want to hang around long.”
“Wine cellar room,” Moth said. “It’s behind the kitchen. C’mon.”
“Maybe there’s a game on,” Jones said, eyeing the 110 inch TV on the wall.
They walked through the living room into the attached kitchen, two doors towards the rear. Moth opened the door on the left side. “Pantry.” He opened the other one. “Here it is.” He walked inside, hitting a light switch by the door, the room bathed in dim light, rows of bottles along three walls.
“Cold in here,” Freeze said as he entered. “Man, that’s a lot of wine.”
“What?” Hickey asked. “No Mad Dog 2020?”
Jones laughed. “Doubt that made the list, man.”
“Stand around the edges of the room,” Moth said, approaching a large digital thermostat unit on the wall next to the right-hand racks of wine bottles.
“Why?” Hickey asked.
“Because the floor is gonna move in the middle of the room,” Moth said, punching a code into the thermostat. The floor slid away, Hickey and Jones having to jump off towards the wall. There was a large safe underneath. Moth got down and input the combination, then pushed a button and backed up as the vault door opened, it’s motor whining. “There’s them steamer trunks. Gonna take two men on each.”
“Those are big,” Jones said. “Should’ve brought a dolly.”
“They got wheels on the bottom, and we only got to get from here to the elevator, and the elevator to the car,” Freeze said. “Let’s get on with it.” He jumped down with Jones, each taking an end, pulling up hard.
