HARD CASE (A John Harding Novel - Special Ops, Cage Fighter, CIA Agent) (21 page)

“
Yes Sir. You think Ms. Connagher’s been taken hostage. I will do as you say. Do you think she’s okay?”

“
If she isn’t, a lot of other people won’t be either. Clear your head, Jafar. Don’t over think this.”

He nodded his understanding and we rode on in silence. I had my government issue phone on hoping Tess would call. It seemed every time I decided to have a shotsky some entity rained on my parade. I know reaction times drop with each shot of booze. A close encounter without gunfire would be best until I could figure out what the hell was going on. I’m sure Jafar thought this excursion to be an overreaction but we’d know soon enough.

Jafar turned down Tess’s street and parked three houses away from her place. A few minutes later I had checked out the front perimeter, noting no porch lights were on but a couple rooms inside were casting light through the drawn blinds. Tess’s car was in the driveway. Luckily, a chilly breeze blew steadily, rustling the multitude of leaves blown down from the many trees lining front yards in the neighborhood.

After making sure no one was sitting in a car near the house, I motioned Jafar into position while crouching down at the side of Tess’s porch steps. He parked, beeped three short horn blasts and peered out the open passenger side window expectantly. None of the neighbors looked out but Tess’s door opened. A huge figure looked out at Jafar. I peered up at him from the porch railing. When he opened the screen door my bad feeling churned up with all the bells and whistles. It was my sparring buddy from the other night. Viktor shuffled forward out of the doorway scowling at Jafar and motioning him away. Instead, Jafar beeped the horn again.

Nice touch. Viktor practically leaped off the porch with a menacing growl. I slipped behind him, employing a technique I had perfected with a life size dummy over many years of practice. Viktor’s neck snapped under my hands as I wrenched his head sickeningly around to an impossible angle. His body danced spasmodically for a moment before lurching to a dead cat bounce on the sidewalk. I opened the Chevy’s back door and for the second time in a few days installed Viktor Kenig in a vehicle. Jafar watched in horror as Viktor twitched on the seat in his final movements. I closed the backdoor.

“
Get moving, kid!” My teeth clenched snarl snapped Jafar out of his temporary trance. He straightened around and drove away. In the next instant I quietly leapfrogged up the porch steps. My butterfly knife clicked to its full length with a snap of my wrist.

Moving like I figured the now deceased Viktor would move, I tromped through the house to Tess’s living room. Alexi Fiialkov’s son-in-law glanced over at me from where he sat in front of Tess. She was tied up and gagged in a chair brought in from the kitchen. She seemed a little roughed up but from the bright look in her eyes when she saw me I figured Tess was okay. The son-in-law leaped up so fast the kitchen chair he sat opposite Tess in slammed to the floor. Luckily for him, he didn’t have a weapon in hand. His eyes stayed locked with mine so I had no doubt he was alone.

“
Pick the chair up and sit down, Tim. Move toward Tess and I start carving.”

Tolver’s eyes widened even more than they were before when he noticed my knife. He fumbles the chair up with shaky hands and sits down. I pick up the duct tape from Tess’s coffee table they used to bind her. Sure, I hear Tess making whiney sounds of indignation through the tape. I’m not stupid. I could beat Tolver into the carpet first or take a chance on him pulling off the unimaginable while I rush to Tess’s side like a lovesick puppy. I want some info so I decide on the third option – secure the prisoner first.

“
Put your hands behind your back, Timmy. Don’t make any sudden moves or you’ll force me to practice unlicensed surgery – not a good choice.”

“
You’ll kill me… I…” Tolver starts to stand up.

I drop the duct tape and motion him to keep coming. “Yeah, okay… come get some. You have a slight chance if you do what I say to survive this encounter intact. Stand up and I’m going to make you wish you were never born.”

Tolver sat down and put his hands behind his back. I taped them together before doing a few duct tape loops around his chest and chair. With a quick binding of each ankle to the respective chair leg, my prisoner was secure. Duct tape is so handy. The hostage takers had luckily only bound Tess’s wrists behind the chair back, finishing with one strip over her mouth. I sliced her wrists free.

“
I’ll let you work the tape off your mouth, Tess.”

She quickly pulled free of the tape on her wrists. With tentative fingers, she groaned while pulling the duct tape from over her mouth. Duct tape seals a mouth really well but removing it’s a bitch. Tess glared at me the whole time like I took her hostage. Funny about victims - when they think they’re safe, suddenly nitpicking the method of their rescue leaps to the forefront in their minds. Before Tess can launch into the Harding rescue critique I give her the wave off.

“
Did Timmy here or his partner, the now deceased Viktor, hurt you?”

“
What do you care? You didn’t even-”

“
Because if they hurt you,” I cut her off patiently, “I will break a few things on Timmy just so he knows there are consequences for everything.”

Tess eyeballed her very subdued hostage taker with an appraising glare I liked. Tolver looked at her with pleading eyes which I guess tilted Tess toward mercy. I’ll have the final say on that one though. She took a deep breath while standing and stretching out her cramped limbs.

“
The big one Tasered me when I answered the door. They duct taped me without roughing me up any. Why didn’t you free me first… you dispassionate ape?”

“
Let me check for you.” I gave Tolver a very rough inspection turning up a Taurus 9mil under his shirt in the back and 9 inch stiletto knife from his right front pocket. Tess was duly impressed.

“
Sorry, John.”

“
Forget it.” I smiled at Tolver with new respect. “You’re not as dumb as I thought, Timmy. If you’d have reached for either of these we wouldn’t be having this nice conversation.”

“
I…I watched the YouTube video with Alexi, Viktor and Mikhail. You moved faster than my wife’s father could think. I am not even as fast as he is.”

“
It saved you a hurtin’. Alexi doesn’t know about this, does he?”

Tolver shook his head no, eyes on the floor. Tess went into the kitchen and came back with a glass full of ice filled with a brown liquid I knew wasn’t Dr. Pepper. She sat down on the sofa and began sipping it.

I waited until she was comfortable before continuing. “Let me see if I have this scenario figured out, Timmy. You and Viktor compared notes about respective grievances with me. Viktor thought up a way to scare the crap out of Tess while using her to lure me here. What then - Taser me walking through the door and take us both for a cement shoe swim in the ocean? Everyone wins – you somehow feel better over that elementary school bullshit, Viktor gets payback for his beat-down, and Alexi is none the wiser. That about it?”

Tolver glanced up at me in surprise halfway through my supposition. He nodded, staring forlornly at the floor again. I scanned the room again. Tolver wasn’t out of the woods yet. “Tess, where’s Midnight?”

“
Locked in my bedroom. He started using my sofa as a scratching pad.”

I chuckled. Okay, all house inhabitants were alive and well. I turned back to Tolver. “I sure hope Alexi’s daughter loves the shit out of you, Timmy. The old man ain’t going to take kindly to you and Viktor doing improvisation behind his back.”

Tolver’s head bobbed up in terror. Ah oh, I think Timmy may not be sure how much Maria cares for him. “Please… please don’t call him. I have money. I can-”

My laughter cut him off. Even Tess smiled. I shook my head with what I thought was an endearing smile of compassion. “What the hell makes you think I’m going to let you write this script with the old man? A couple other geniuses wanted me to cross your father-in-law. Not going to happen. Give me his private number. You’re the Father of his Granddaughter. Hopefully for you, that will mean something if Maria decides you’re expendable.”

Tolver mumbles out Fiialkov’s number while I get my phone out. A few seconds later I hear the old man’s gruff voice. “This is John Harding. We have a situation.”

“
We have a situation?” Fiialkov sounds less than convinced of the we part.

I fill him in on the facts which he listens to without interruption.

“
You left Tim alive. Did you think to bargain with me for him, Mr. Harding? I might have bargained for Viktor.”

I laughed and could hear him chortling a little too. “Nope. This is just a courtesy call. Timmy is yours free of charge but I’d rather not have to dispose of Viktor. If you’re not interested in Timmy, I’ll dispose of them both.”

“
I will come with two of my men. How shall I approach?”

“
Straight on. I’ll be watching for you.”

“
I apologize for what I know must have been a terrifying experience for Ms. Connagher. You have my word nothing like this will ever happen again. I am not comfortable with owing favors but if I can be of service to you in the future perhaps you will allow me to repay your kindness. I have it on good authority you will be watching out for a high profile visitor. If you’ll allow me, I may be able to add some intelligence not available through regular channels.”

Damn it! Is there anything this Russian ‘Godfather’ doesn’t have his fingers into? Done is done. I might as well get what I can out of it. “Thank you, Alexii. That would be more than enough to repay me for this incident. See you soon.”

I cut Tolver free. “C’mon Timmy, we’re going outside to wait for Alexii. Relax in here Tess. I’ll send my young protégé in from the car.

“
You had Jafar help you?”

“
He was never in danger.” I called my helper and told him to park in front of the house. I took Tolver outside and gestured Jafar out of my Chevy. “Wait inside with Tess, J. Some people are coming over to collect our two visitors. Say nothing to the redhead. ‘I don’t know, Ms. Connagher’ is always a good response.”

“
Okay, John. Is everything over now?”

“
I think so but tomorrow’s a new day, right Timmy?”

“
Alexi will maim me for this,” Timmy replied as I shooed Jafar along. “Putting him in debt to you is the same as stabbing him in the back.”

“
I doubt he’ll rearrange much on you. Your daughter would notice. For the record, you’re lucky you didn’t mess with Tess. You better steer clear of the family business genius. Stick with your day job. What do you do for a living anyway?”

“
I work as a plumber for one of the old man’s construction businesses.”

“
Good. Offer to work this off for any price Alexi wants if he’ll consider it.”

Tolver grimaced. “He’ll work me like a slave. Maria will never let me off the hook.”

“
Sounds like it’s time for a lifestyle change. Be the best you can be – best plumber, best husband, and most of all, best Dad. They say those that can’t do should teach, so teach your Daughter how to be respectful of others. Take comfort in being alive with all your major organs intact. Final piece of advice – don’t ever cross my path again.”

Five minutes later a familiar black Expedition parked behind my Chevy. Two men jumped out. One was another old buddy, Mikhail Rowan. He and his companion kept their hands where I could see them.

“
Viktor’s in the backseat.” I opened the door for them. They eased the room temperature Russian out of the Chevy and into the Expedition, following him without comment. Fiialkov got out and walked over. He pointed a finger in Tolver’s direction.

“
You owe me much. Thank God little Mishy loves you and Maria doesn’t wish to start over.” He waves Tolver to silence when Timmy starts to speak. “Where are you parked?”

“
Around the corner.”

“
Drive to my place. We’ll follow. Go sit in your car until we leave.”

Tolver jogged toward his car. Fiialkov smiled at me and shrugged. “Family. You are much more than what you appear, John. I checked with some of my sources and found out you have traveled extensively. The people who tell me things say rumors exist of a man knowledgeable with languages who fits your description being in the general area overseas where a target of opportunity has ceased to exist. You have many skills other than fighting in the street.”

Boy, Denny’s really going to like this news. Fiialkov’s not getting his info off the Internet. “What can I say, Alexi? I get bored. I don’t suppose you’d like to share who these sources are, would you?”

“
I don’t think so, John. We can come to an agreement though. I don’t want terrorists blowing up stuff here either. It might be my stuff. I admit I am guessing somewhat. You are watching a young woman famous for anti-terrorist leanings and speaking out. Also, I have heard a very dangerous entity might be in the area who wishes everyone harm.”

I’m making a few guesses myself now. “You have friends at Interpol.”