Assassin (Assassin Series Book 1) Read online

  Jake moved from desk to desk, all of which were clearly in use, until he stopped at the second to last work station on the left where Nancy had worked. Her name sign had been removed from the front of the empty desk. He took a deep breath, memories returning.

  The only thing bothering him was, what was he really looking for? He deduced that anything to do with the Trojan Project would be a good place to start and he quickly went through what were Nancy’s desk drawers but they were empty. “Damn!” he whispered.

  He then looked at a nearby filing cabinet and tried the drawers. They were locked, but not for long. His special tools had the cabinet opened in seconds. He rifled through the files and his eyes lit up when he found the file he was looking for in the second drawer. He read the words ‘Trojan Project’ on the front of the file in the dim light from his flashlight. He opened the file, took out his cell phone and quickly scanned the contents of a number of pages that he thought might contain pertinent information about what was going on.

  Jake was suddenly alerted to a noise in the outside corridor and he saw through the window to the corridor, the flickering beam of a flashlight moving along the walls. He quickly replaced the file, quietly closed the drawer, turned off his light and ducked under the desk, just in time. The door opened, a guard looked in, flashed his light around and left.

  Jake waited a few seconds before emerging from under the desk. He locked the cabinet and moved out silently into the corridor. He approached the end of the corridor, waited a moment and then moved off towards the stairwell down to the rear exit.

  Unknown to Jake, Sarah, the FBI undercover agent, who had been working late to finish a task for her office supervisor, was tidying her desk away when she saw Jake moving stealthily down the corridor towards the stairwell. She was quickly on the phone to Senator Johnson. “Yes, Agent Schaumberg?” he asked.

  Sarah quickly brought him up to speed as she whispered. “The CIA Agent Harrigan has been in looking around, just as you suspected, Senator.”

  Johnson sounded interested. “Was he detected?”

  “No, sir.” she replied.

  Johnson thought for a moment. “In that case continue surveillance and keep me posted.”

  “Yes, sir,” Sarah closed the phone. “Poor guy!” she sighed before following quickly in pursuit of the unsuspecting Jake. Rushing to her car, Sarah felt a deep sympathy for what Jake was going through. She could only begin to guess how she would have felt if her former spouse had been murdered. She would have been even more sympathetic, had she been aware of the traumas that Jake had endured since she last spoke to him.

  Lorinda was sitting nervously in the car and she jumped when the door suddenly opened and Jake climbed in. “Let’s get out of here!” he growled. She accelerated away down the road.

  After a while, she looked sideways at Jake. “You find what you was lookin’ for?”

  Jake thought pensively “Not sure, I scanned some data to check out later.”

  He was still apprehensive about finding any damaging information or irregularities on the big Trojan Contract. He knew for a fact that even in fully audited reviews of projects this size, it sometimes took months of detailed analysis, by teams of people, to try and find anomalies and in a good many cases nothing was ever found. The chances of him finding something, that could lead to the reason for Nancy’s death, first time around, on a clandestine evening visit, might be between slim and none, but he had to try.

  Lorinda drove on in silence, while Jake was quiet and deep in thought, pondering the madness and mayhem that he had seen in the past twenty-four hours. In retrospect, he should have realized that Jamal was smart enough to leave men outside his apartment in case he returned, especially since the TV had been left on and his drink was untouched.

  The ache in his arm was a sombre reminder that he might be slowing down, or worse yet, losing his edge. Fortunately, his burning drive to bring Nancy’s killers to his brand of justice, would not let him contemplate the latter.

  He looked at the sweet, frail woman beside him, realizing that if it hadn’t been for her, he might never have made it this far and yet here he was, shamelessly involving her even more. If anything happened to her as a result of his recklessness, who would take care of her son? His mind returned to his immediate concerns. The CIA had sold him out to the Arabs, who were out to blow him away and he was still no nearer to bringing his wife’s killer to justice.

  As they headed back to her apartment, Lorinda could see the unrelenting stress and fatigue in Jake’s eyes. She looked at him with a determined look on her face. “Okay, you can sleep in the spare room, jus’ for tonight, Jake, and then you can decide what to do tomorrow.” For once, he really didn’t have the energy to argue. He looked at her and smiled. “Thank you, ma’am!”

  CHAPTER 22

  Back in Lorinda’s apartment it was still early evening and Jake was busy checking out the documents he had scanned into his I-phone, for anything that would give him some insight into what was happening. Lorinda brought him a welcome cup of coffee and a sandwich, which made him realize how long it had been since he had eaten.

  She watched him for a second. “Anythin’ of interest?”

  Jake rubbed his eyes pensively. “It doesn’t look promising.”

  “Looking for somethin’ in particular?”

  “Kind of a long story.” he replied.

  She smiled, perching on the arm of the sofa, sipping her coffee. “I’m a good listener?”

  Jake took a breath and collected his thoughts. “My wife was working on a service contract that Midecon were supplying to a big oil company in Dubai.”

  She thought for a moment “That’s the Middle East, right?”

  “Yes.” he replied.

  She looked suddenly concerned. “You said was....is she?” her voice trailed off.

  He nodded sadly. “She and a friend of hers, one of her co-workers, were both murdered, and those bastards at Midecon are in it up to their ears!”

  She looked so sad. “I’m so sorry, Jake. When did all this happen?”

  He shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe it. “Just the last few days.”

  She looked up when Marcus came in the room. He looked across at Jake. “You okay, mister?”

  Jake smiled. “You can call me Jake, son. I’m fine, thanks.”

  Marcus brightened up. “You wanna play a game of tic-tac-toe?”

  He nodded. “I’d love to.”

  Marcus grinned. “Great!”

  Jake couldn’t help but smile. In the midst of the chaos that had become his life, everything was suddenly diminished to the outcome of a game of tic-tac-toe!

  On the street below, two black SUVs pulled up and turned the engines off. Jamal and his men had discovered his whereabouts. They exited the SUVs as the bodyguard in the second SUV behind Jamal made a mistake and slammed the door shut. Jamal immediately turned in the direction of the noise and glared at the man responsible, as he motioned for silence. Fully armed, all the occupants made their way towards the apartment building.

  Pondering the location of his next ‘x’ in the game with Marcus, Jake’s concentration was suddenly broken by the noise of the car door slamming outside. He moved quickly to the window to take a look. “Oh, shit!” he turned to Lorinda. “Quick, grab Marcus, we need to get out now! Let’s go!”

  Lorinda looked terrified. She grabbed Marcus to her and the boy looked at her in shock. “What’s wrong?” She dragged him from his chair onto his feet. “Nothing, we just gotta go, now!”

  Jake already had the door open as he motioned them out the back way.

  Marcus was wide-eyed. “Wow! Is there gonna be shootin’?”

  Jake tried to downplay things. “I hope not.” he already had his tote on his shoulder, the loaded Glock in one hand and Lorinda’s car keys in the other as they hurried out the back way. They rushed down the rear stair well to the parking lot and Jake already had Lorinda’s car door open for them. They scrambled inside, qu
ickly closing the door. Lorinda and Marcus huddled together nervously in the back seat.

  Back outside the front of the apartment, Jamal and his men were climbing the front stairwell, automatic weapons drawn. Jamal signalled to Anwar to get ready to break the door in and on his signal they rushed in, weapons blazing. This time Jamal was taking no chances!

  Back in the car, Jake looked on in amazement at the scene unfolding in front of him. These bastards were relentless! Jake started the engine, the noise of the ignition muted against the sound of the gunfire and the muzzle flashes from the gunfire inside the apartment could be seen behind the window as they pulled away from the building.

  Lorinda saw it too and looked across at Jake in disbelief. “What the hell was that? What they doin’ to my home?” she asked.

  Jake was mortified and he tried his best to pacify her. “I’m so sorry, Lorinda. Now you see the kind of guys we’re dealin’ with and why I didn’t want to get you involved. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the damage.”

  She put her hand up to her face in shock. “I don’t believe this is happenin’! So, where we gonna go now?”

  Jake replied quickly. “Don’t worry, I’m going to take you and Marcus somewhere safe.”

  The boy was wide-eyed. “I’m scared, Jake.” he whispered.

  “It’s okay, young man, you’ll be safe now,” Jake answered. He thought for a moment. “How the hell did they find us so fast, that’s what I don’t understand?” He drove along, towards his destination, totally unaware of the black sedan on his tail.

  * * *

  It was raining slightly as Jake pulled into the clearing of the old lodge. This was cottage country and since the death of his parents, he had continued to maintain their cosy, old residence for posterity. He got out of the car and gave Lorinda the key to open the door as he reached into the back seat to lift Marcus out. The boy was asleep. He carried him inside and flicked on the light before carrying Marcus into the guest room, where he laid the boy on the bed, covering him with a blanket. He looked down affectionately at the child, ruffled his hair gently and left.

  In the living room, he started to make a fire as Lorinda sat there on the sofa, almost comatose, rubbing her hands together to warm herself. He looked at her, regret in his eyes for getting her involved. He retrieved a blanket for her. “We should be safe here. Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded nervously and he poured her a Scotch from the cabinet. “Get this down you.” She nodded vacantly. “Thanks.”

  * * *

  A short distance away, the occupant of the black sedan that had been following them, was watching the lodge. Inside the car, Sarah lit herself a Marlboro Red and took successive, luxuriant drags. The smoke danced around in front of her lips into a neat ball before disappearing into her lungs. She relaxed somewhat as she slowly exhaled and started to ponder the whole course of events that had led to this moment.

  After deciding to follow Jake when he had left Midecon earlier, she had seen him climb into a car down the road from the main gate and she had then followed him back to what looked like the apartment of a young African/American woman, who appeared to have been helping him.

  Outside the apartment, Sarah had then been suddenly jerked out of what had looked like being a boring evening of surveillance, when she spotted a group of armed men arrive and converge on that very apartment. Using her night vision glasses, she had seen that the armed men were Arabs and she realized that it was the Ashram boys. She had guessed right, it was Jake they were after!

  At first, she had wished she could have warned Jake, but realized that she didn’t need to bother, when she saw Jake with the woman and also a young boy, rush down the back stairwell to the vehicle that she had previously followed to the apartment, just as the Arabs broke in above and started shooting. This was when she had decided to continue to follow Jake, the woman and the boy as they sped away.

  Now, back outside the lodge, in the comfort of her car, Sarah took another deep drag on her cigarette, wondering who this African/American woman was, who suddenly appeared to be helping Jake.

  * * *

  Inside the lodge, Jake now had the fire going as Lorinda nursed her drink, staring wistfully into the flames. “Is life always this scary for you, Jake?” she asked.

  He gave a wry smile. “Pretty much.”

  She was trying hard to understand what was going on, the events of the last few hours still buzzing around in her head. “So, if I unnerstand this right, yo’ wife an’ her friend was murdered an’ this has somethin’ to do with this Midecon Project?”

  He nodded in agreement. “Right. It seemed she overheard something she shouldn’t have heard and ended up dead.”

  She was trying to understand. “What she hear?”

  Jake shook his head sadly. “I don’t know for sure and that’s what’s drivin’ me crazy!”

  “Did she tell you anythin’ ‘fore she died?” Lorinda asked.

  Jake shrugged. “Not really, just a few disjointed words.”

  She was curious. “She did?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, but they didn’t make much sense. She was real badly injured, and found it difficult to speak,” It was like a dagger in his heart to even think about that fateful day and to talk about it was a hundred times worse.

  He thought back, memories flooding in. “First she said what sounded like ‘Broken’ and then what sounded like ‘FBI embedded’.”

  Lorinda nodded her head. “I agree, don’ make no damn sense!”

  * * *

  By this time, Sarah had finished her cigarette and covertly made her way outside the window of the lodge. The wonders of modern technology and a well-placed microphone enabled her to hear their conversation as if she were sitting there with them.

  She now realized that Jake’s wife had actually told him something and part of it was that the FBI were embedded. That must have been how he knew that she herself was working undercover. She carried on listening and inside the cabin, Lorinda was now thinking out loud. “Broken? You sure she said broken?”

  Jake thought for a moment. “What else could it have been? Broken, token...?” He suddenly slapped his forehead. “Hell, perhaps she was trying to say Trojan!” he ran his hand up and down his face in thought. “Maybe that was it. It was the Trojan Project that the FBI were trying to dig into? That would make a lot more sense!”

  He jumped up, turned to Lorinda, his mind made up. “I’ve gotta go back into Midecon and do more digging!”

  She looked suddenly interested. “I’ll come with you.”

  He held up his hand. “No. you stay here. You guys have had enough excitement for one night. Can I borrow your car?”

  She looked surprised. “Sure, you mean you’re goin’ now?”

  Jake nodded. “Make yourself at home, you’ll be safe here.” he grabbed his jacket, the tote and the car keys and headed for the door. Lorinda called after him, with a concerned look in her eye. “Be careful, Jake.”

  He smiled back reassuringly. “I’ve got this!”

  When Jake left the cabin, there was no sign of Sarah or her car, since the conversation she had just overheard had dictated her exit strategy. Driving along, he was trying to come up with a meaningful game plan, assuming that he could even get back into Midecon. He was trying to put himself in the position of Jennings and Peterson, asking himself what he would do to get a clandestine shipment of illegal arms out of the country. First guess was that it would in all likelihood be stored in a shipping container. That would rule out air shipment, leaving ocean shipment as the most viable option.

  Tight scrutiny on all outgoing shipments from the US, would mean that Jennings and Peterson would need to have one or more accomplices on the payroll to get the shipment out of the port, bearing in mind that the other staff at Midecon, who were not in on the subterfuge, would still be scrutinizing the documents in their normal course of duties. Jake also surmised that the Captain of the vessel would need to be involved in this scheme with majo
r help from the CIA to circumnavigate each port of entry along the way to its final destination.

  He drove on in the pouring rain, reviewing his objectives. He had to get back inside Midecon and check the upcoming shipping manifests for Trojan, hoping to get a vessel name and a sailing date and, if he got that far, be able to check the shipping manifest for anomalies. That was about as much as he could hope for.

  Maybe this would give him the clue that he was looking for that would indicate a big enough irregularity that Nancy may have discovered, that would have gotten her killed.

  CHAPTER 23

  The rain was light but steady as Jake drove up the perimeter road outside the Midecon plant and parked away from the main gate. He grabbed his Glock, got out, using the same point of entry before he disappeared over the wall.

  Once inside the grounds, he quickly made his way over towards the rear of the building. He approached the corner of the building carefully and slowly leaned forward to scope out the scene, to try and find a way inside. Without warning, a pistol was pushed against the back of his head and he heard a familiar voice.

  “Turn slowly, no sudden moves, Jake!” He turned slowly and his eyes widened. The person holding the gun was Sarah! He looked at her, shaking his head in disbelief. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this. What’s with the gun?”

  She gave a half smile and lowered her weapon. “I just didn’t want a knee-jerk reaction, that’s all. I’m trying to help you, okay?”

  He looked at her inquisitively as she explained. “I know what’s going on. Your wife and her friend were murdered by the CIA and now they’ve thrown you to the Arab dogs!”

  He was watching her closely, surprised at what she already knew. “Go ahead, I’m listening?”