Cold Blooded Assassin Book 6: Red Horizon (Nick McCarty Assassin) (4 page)

“You really have embraced John Harding’s Monster Squad, Muerto,” Cala stated. “Gus has said you hated working with anyone. Now, we are becoming an army.”

“John started out with only Lucas and Casey in the North under Strobert. They have a network now with Alexi Fiialkov watching the ports and streets, police on the pad for quick reports or cover, and a much larger force of killers. We’ve seen them in action. They can be counted on. This underground terrorist war keeps expanding, thanks to the idiots in government importing the bastards, or leaving the borders wide open for them to stroll in. For the first time ever, I’m not sure we can avoid a serious war on our soil. Like I told Gus once – I don’t like being hunted, and definitely not in my own land.”

The four sipped from their drinks quietly for a moment before Johnny broke the silence. “Have you considered anything else with the Channel Islands’ Mother Ship near San Luis Obispo? You mentioned Fernando Carone after our interrogation where we initially extracted Al-Kadi’s Pilot Hill location. When do you think we should move on him?”

“Before he recruits another bunch of ‘bangers to pick up where the crew Jay ran left off. He’s aware of the huge gang fight leaving his ‘banger explorers dead by now. Fernando may or may not believe there’s a more organized crime syndicate here establishing a presence. When a guy like Carone believes he may be getting challenged, he might send a few pros here to soften up the situation. We may have to do some detective work before we move on the ‘Mother Ship’. If he sends pros, they’ll be thinking to look for other ‘banger types. They’ll be leaning on local punks and frequenting seedier hotspots in the area, hoping to get leads on non-existent threats.”

“Where would you go for that, Muerto?”

“If I was an out of town thug, I’d check in Salinas first, but then I’d have a drink at Carbone’s on Lighthouse in Monterey,” Nick answered. “They wouldn’t expect to find anything there, but they’ll probably stay in Monterey, even though they’ll be looking for connections in Pacific Grove. Carbone’s is one of the top rated ‘Dive’ bars in the area. It’s a great bar. Chasing unknown thugs would be a waste of time. We’ll take turns checking the place for the next week. Believe me. When the pros don’t find any leads, they’ll hit Carbone’s some night soon if they haven’t already. I’m hoping since Jay’s crew’s bodies were only found at the abandoned warehouse a short time ago, it will take Fernando time to decide about a follow-up check.”

“Do you think Jay called Carone about the foiled roller rink heist?”

“I doubt it, Cala. I’m sure Jay and his buddies figured just like we heard before they met the Unholy Trio – they planned to terrorize me and the kids on their own.”

“Okay, so we take turns having a few at Carbone’s,” Gus said. “What then?”

“We’ll have to take them at their motel or outside the bar. We’ll have to be discreet.”

“How will you know if we find them, Muerto? They won’t have nametags.”

“I’m surprised at you, Johnny. To think you don’t believe I’ll be able to pick them out in a crowd is very hurtful.”

“Are you going to the bar every night?”

“Nope. We’ll take turns with our cams. If it’s not my night, I’ll be here at home with my iPad handy for live streaming. I’ll do the first few nights to establish a presence.”

“This sounds awfully flaky for the number one assassin in the world,” Gus kidded him.

“You’ll eat those words, Payaso, when I find our pros.”

“Let me go tomorrow night with Tina. She and I haven’t been out on a Saturday night for quite a while. This Carbone’s sounds interesting. We’ll take a cab there and back.”

“If you find the pros, Payaso, just have the T-Rex eat them,” Johnny said to much amusement.

“When do you think we’ll get permission to start on the Pilot Hill mission,” Gus asked, ignoring Johnny.

“Paul authorized at least a week of satellite surveillance,” Nick answered. “We can’t attack on a quiet basis without complete plans of the house and all information we can see from the surveillance. I want this place more than I want to reduce it to ash. That will take patience.”

Johnny put a hand on Cala’s. “Have you kept track of Jay’s crew who they did put in jail? When they get free, they will be unpredictable.”

“Neil claimed they’ll be in custody awaiting trial. He’ll update us if they get free on bail,” Nick answered. “You can rest assured they will stay quiet for a time. We have their names and the addresses they’re staying at. Let me give that some thought. We don’t want to piss off Neil, but those guys in police custody could be in contact with Fernando on a daily basis depending on how scared they are. All calls are monitored so the pros won’t contact them unless they get out of jail.”

“So naturally we wouldn’t want to wait for those two to get out of jail, right?”

“Are you second guessing my sixth sense, Payaso?”

Gus smiled. “Yeah. I think you’ll need to wait until those guys get out of jail and reveal the pros when they make contact. Have you considered the lawyer aspect, Muerto?”

“Damn it!”

“Heh…heh… forgot all about lawyers passing notes, huh Muerto?”

“Cala! You’ve only had one sip. We need a driver. I’ll splice into the ‘bangers’ lawyer. We’ll go get them as the ‘Unholy Trio’. Gus is absolutely right. A lawyer bought by Carone will have passed the info to his boss and the pros. My bad – let’s hit the laptops and find out who represents these punks. We go tonight, take him in a safe zone, and bleed him dry. Thanks, Gus.”

Cala had pushed away her drink. “Yes! Cleaner to the rescue!”

Chapter Two

Mother Ship

Lance Botorf relaxed in his chair of omnipotence. The chair brought him good luck. It was a state of the art chair. It tilted, vibrated, and practically put him on his feet when he needed to stand. Maury told him just now how valuable his simple report had been, cementing in his huge payday on this case. It was a simple interaction. He reported to a guy comically named Biff, who acted as the intermediary to the guy Lance already accepted an envelope of money from. This was the way it was supposed to be. It had been a simple matter to get the boys out on bail. They would be released tomorrow morning. The men he had dealt with stayed locally at a motel in Pacific Grove. The only thing left in what he needed to do was get the charges reduced to petty theft with the DA’s acceptance. Done deal. He sipped his drink with the pleasurable feeling of success. He had bills to pay with a wife who couldn’t accept a simple office romance, and a couple of kids who looked at him when he took time to see them as if he arrived from off planet. One moment he watched the movie he had put in, and the next he had three black clad figures in front of him, one with a clown face. He was deathly afraid of clowns. The clown leaned in suddenly close to his face. Lance passed out.

* * *

“Oh for God’s sake,” Gus mumbled.

“Nice one, Payaso,” Nick said, while taking Botorf’s pulse, shaking his head mournfully. “He’s gone. Oh my, Payaso, that was just… disturbing.”

Having been around Nick long enough to know a prank, Gus began slapping Botorf into consciousness, ignoring the hoots and hollers from Nick and Johnny of outrage over his brutal treatment of the prisoner. “C’mon, Lance. Wake the hell up, you pussy!”

“I never thought to see the infamous Payaso in his natural state like this, Kabong. He is truly a vicious entity of brutality.”

“I must agree, Muerto,” Johnny carried on the banner of outrage.

“Fuck you two!” Gus managed to get a slow shivering ascendance into consciousness from Lance. “Wake up, Lance! If you fade on me one more time, I will cut your dick off and stick it down your throat!”

“I will save you from the bad clown, Lance.” Nick waved Gus away. “To make sure my partner Payaso doesn’t get his hands on you, we need to straighten a few things out. Why don’t you talk us through your defense of the two young gangbangers named Nano Calista and Doug Morgan? Did you get them a release date already?”

“Tomorrow… at 10 am. How did you get into my house? It has-”

“Shut up,” Gus told him. “Who paid you to represent those two turds? Remember this, Lance: you hate clowns. I hate lawyers. If you don’t want me to play with you, we need answers.”

“I…I can’t disclose anything about the case or who pays me.”

“Yes, you can, Lance,” Nick said, “or we’re going to torture you until you do. We need a demo, Payaso. Lance needs to do the dance electric.”

Gus stun-gunned Botorf for a short but pain filled moment in his groin area. He jackknifed off his chair into a fetal position on the hardwood floor. Gus kicked him in the side, leaning again into the gasping Lance’s face, while pulling the man’s shirt to get him closer.

“I will light you up for ten seconds next time! Your dick will retreat all the way into your chest.”

“Biff… Cantor… and Ray Genaro! Oh God… I’m dyin’!”

“Not yet, Lance,” Nick told him, patting his face. “Where can we find Biff and Ray?”

“At… the Sea Breeze motel. Who…who are you people? How can you be doing these things? I’m just a lawyer hired to represent two defendants. I have to do my job.”

Nick grabbed Lance’s chin in his previously gloved hands. “We know what you are and what you’ve been doing. We checked. You’re a good lawyer, but your moral compass sucks. Here’s what will happen. You’re out of it. You got those two punks off. Stay the hell away from this now. If you call anyone to warn them or you have anything to do with mob business, we’ll be back. They won’t get us, but we will get you.”

Gus jammed a sleepy-time shot into Lance’s neck. “Did I tell you guys I hate lawyers?”

“Yeah. I think you’ve mentioned it a few dozen times, Payaso,” Nick replied. “So much so, Johnny and I are outlawing you from mentioning lawyers. You got burned one time in conjunction with the legal system and you’ve been raw for a decade. Make the sign of the cross and move on, brother.”

Even Gus chuckled at Nick’s reprimand. He shrugged. “I admit it. Lance will be out for a while. Should we tie and gag him too?”

“I’ll fix him for waking up in a weird place. You guys pick up everything and get the Cleaner into position in ten minutes. Don’t leave as a couple. Split up on returning to the Ford. Keep Cleaner moving around the block. I’ll be along shortly and meet you all out front.”

Gus and Johnny moved to do Nick’s bidding. Nick shouldered Lance and took him into his bedroom. Nick stripped him of everything but his underwear. He positioned Lance in a relaxed position on his bed, covers over him. He then gave Lance an eternity shot in between his left foot ‘this little piggy went to market and this little piggy stayed home’ toes. Nick checked over every moment the ‘Unholy Trio’ had been in the house. When satisfied, Nick watched for headlights from Gus’s Ford SUV to move slowly down the street in front of Lance’s house. He ran out and slipped inside the rear passenger compartment, holding the door closed until they were out of hearing from anyone on the street. Nick closed the door quietly then.

“Shit!”

Gus’s exclamation from the front seat drew an inquisitive glance from Cala. “What’s wrong, Gus.”

Gus did a thumb gesture backward at Nick with his left hand, never looking into the backseat. “Muerto killed the lawyer.”

Silence, multiplied by Nick’s neglect to refute Gus’s claim, confirmed it. At the first red light, Cala turned toward Nick. “Did you kill the lawyer, Muerto?”

“Drive, Cala,” Nick ordered. When the SUV was moving again, Nick spoke,” I couldn’t leave an unknown at our backs. He made his choice. I made mine. Sure… we could have all done barbeques and birthdays together but this is reality, kids. We leave no one at our backs to cause problems.”

“Did you at least give him last rites, Muerto,” Johnny asked.

It was many moments before any of them could speak, including Cala, who parked alongside of the road. She pointed at her husband accusingly between gasps of air. “You…you got that from Jess and Dev. I…I remember when they told us John Harding wanted to make the fighter called ‘Dragon Hands’ see Spongebob with a squeezing death grip in their match. Jess told Dev to give the Dark Lord an exorcism, and Dev complained because he had only recently memorized ‘Last Rites’. Very humorous, my husband.”

“That…that was good, Kabong,” Gus stuttered out.

“In answer to that,” Nick replied finally, “no, I didn’t. Like Dev… I don’t know last rites. I will learn it and the exorcism ritual for no other reason than pronouncing it over the Dark Lord when he goes astray.”

“I’ll learn it for you, Muerto,” Gus promised.

“May I remind you that I didn’t make a joke of lawyer Lance expiring? The moment I admitted to killing him… all there’s been is laughter. Cowboy up. We need to collect Biff and Ray. We need a decoy, Cala.”

Cala pumped her fist without looking away from the road. They were already headed toward the Sea Breeze motel. “Yes! Cala the Cleaner strikes again! I don’t have a uniform. Hey… I could approach like a hooker with bored expression. When they claim they didn’t ask for a hooker, I’ll pretend interest, claiming I’ll do anything not to make it a wasted trip.”

“Damn… that’s good, kid,” Nick said. “Chances are they won’t be around on a Saturday night. If they are, that ploy would work. We have your back but I will let Johnny have last word.”

Johnny sighed. “I see your heart’s into it. I cannot oppose what my love wants to do. I will be backing her. I doubt there will be very little protestation once they see her prostitute actions. The only problem will arise when they ask about her connection to the motel or who could have sent her. What if they’re gay?”