MAC WALKER'S BENGHAZI: The Complete Collection (13 page)

Now if only I could figure out what the hell that means.

“I’d love to be able to follow those vehicles and see where they’re going.”

Mac’s mind struggled momentarily to refocus on Benny’s words.

“What?”

Benny tipped his head in the direction of the departing transport trucks and black sedans.

“It would be nice to know where they are coming from. My guess would be the airport since they had those U.N. markings, but then again, who knows?”

Benny’s reference to the Benghazi airport snapped a name back into Mac’s head.

Louis Danton – the name Angelo Moretti had given me in case something went wrong with the assignment and we needed to get out of Benghazi fast. Moretti had described Danton as the ranking U.N. humanitarian official at the Benina Airport.

Given Danton’s name came from Moretti, who had tried to have Mac’s team killed after they left the airport, meant he couldn’t be trusted of course, but knowing more about who he was and what his true purpose in Benghazi could be would go a long way toward giving Mac and his team some much needed answers and improve their chances of getting out of this assignment alive.

Mac decided that at that point, he and his team needed two things. First, was a mode of transportation, and second, was a person who they could trust for information who had on the ground experience here in Benghazi. Mac could think of only one person to possibly meet that need – Ella Lerner.

Mac walked back into the bedroom and folded his arms across his chest.

“Listen up gentlemen. We have some work to do tonight. We need a vehicle, and then we need to reach out to Ella again. I’m pretty sure she has some answers for us.”

Jack grinned. It was nice to see the big man eager to do something.

“A little recon Mac?”

Mac nodded.

“Something like that. You wanna help me to secure the vehicle Jack?”

Jack’s grin grew wider.

“Hell yeah – better than sitting around here. What do you have in mind?”

Mac’s eyes wandered back toward the balcony outside.

“This neighborhood has a lot of upscale homes. Some of them are sure to be vacant, with cars parked inside garages. We find one those, and bring the car back here. Simple plan for simple minds, right?’

Jack’s eyes openly communicated his approval.

“Simple-simple-simple is how I like it Mac.”

Mac looked to Benny and Minnick.

“You two will stay back here. I want one set of eyes on the compound, and the other guy providing security for our position. We have night vision capability, so no excuses - no surprises. Densmore made it clear he knows we’re here, and what exactly that means isn’t clear, so until then, we are seriously watching each other’s backs.”

Mac glanced down at his watch.

“A few more hours till nightfall, then you and me are on the move Jack.”

XVI.

Tilley watched the form of a man slowly moving toward the driver’s side of his BMW. Whoever it was, he didn’t appear too concerned about concealing his approach, so Tilley assumed the man posed no real immediate threat to him. Glancing out his right rearview mirror, Tilley was able to spot the man’s vehicle parked behind his own, but farther off to the right side of the road. It was a newer, black Mercedes sedan.

A hand rapped lightly on the BMW’s driver side window. Tilley lowered the window halfway, his eyes looking up at an unsmiling and very familiar face. It was Nigel, head of security for Dasha Al Marri, the woman responsible for funding Mac Walker’s assignment in Benghazi.

“Hello Mr. Tilley. Dasha would very much like you to join her for a brief conversation in her car. Please do not bring any weapons with you.”

Tilley tried hard to appear casual, but he could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he responded to Nigel’s request.

“I’m not armed, but I am a bit busy. Will this take long?”

Nigel’s face remained unreadable, his eyes looking back down at Tilley without emotion.

“It will take however long Dasha wishes it to take Mr. Tilley. Please…let me escort you to the car.”

Something in the tone of Nigel’s voice convinced Tilley he had no choice but to comply. Turning the BMW’s engine off, Tilley opened the door and stepped outside as D.C. traffic continued to drive past.

“Right this way Mr. Tilley.”

Nigel, though shorter than Tilley, gave off the aura of a man quite capable and more than willing, to kill. Tilley knew the type well – he considered Mac and his team to be cut from a very similar cloth. Nigel opened the left rear passenger door and motioned for Tilley to step inside.

Dasha sat resplendent in a silver designer jacket and matching pants, her dark hair again tied neatly behind her head in a tight bun. As Tilley looked at her and attempted a smile, Dasha’s eyes indicated she was in no mood for a friendly chat.

“This morning I was in my apartment in New York Mr. Tilley, very much enjoying NOT being in this pig shit hole of a city. Do you know why I am here now, sitting with you having this ridiculous conversation Mr. Tilley?”

Ray Tilley shook his head.

“No Ms…uh…Dasha. No I don’t. I assume it’s related to the Benghazi assignment.”

Dasha’s lips curled into a sneer as she leaned toward Tilley, her dark eyes smoldering with just-under-the-surface rage.

“Yes Mr. Tilley – it most certainly is related to the Benghazi assignment, as you call it. I was told to return here to speak with you personally, so that I can communicate to you in no uncertain terms, how very much my organization is expecting your team to complete their assignment per our agreement. I don’t appreciate having to be bothered with such things Mr. Tilley. Not one bit.”

Ray Tilley found his own anger now emerging.

Who the hell does this woman think she is?

“Maybe you could let me know exactly what it is we are supposed to be doing in Benghazi so my team has a better chance of meeting that obligation. It seems clear now that it intends to go beyond a simple surveillance operation.”

Dasha leaned back into her seat, her perfectly manicured hands folding gracefully over her crossed legs.

“Yes Mr. Tilley, it quite possibly will involve more than surveillance. You knew that to be a possibility from the beginning. Why then are you now bothering Mr. Mardian with questions and threats of bringing your team home prior to completion of the assignment?”

Tilley didn’t back down, now turning himself toward Dasha, his voice, though not shouting, increasing in volume.

“Because if you expect us to kill Americans Dasha, you better damn well let us know who and more importantly, why. So far, you haven’t told us shit, and I’ve got four men sitting in that hellhole of Benghazi wondering what the hell is going on! I want answers – and they deserve answers!”

Dasha managed to make her responding smile to Tilley appear almost warm, though her eyes remained near furious.

“It is as I told you before Mr. Tilley. We are to be monitoring a possible arms dealing operation. A very significant operation I might add, one that my group at the New United Nations has taken a particular interest in.”

Tilley cocked his head to the side, his eyes squinting slightly.

“You mean the United Nations, right? You said New United Nations.”

Dasha smiled, and this time even her eyes appeared to fill with warmth.

“Yes, I did. The assignment is simple Mr. Tilley - monitor the activity at the compound which your men are to now be residing across the road from. They report to you, and you in turn report that information directly back to Mr. Mardian. I am having a terrible time comprehending what is so difficult to understand about such an assignment.”

“Because it’s bullshit. That’s not the assignment. We left Mac and his men weapons that are tools for assassinations. It’s a kill order you plan to give us, and I think you always planned to do so. Problem is, everything is pointing to my team being ordered to kill other Americans, and I need to know why before I relay that kind of order. I’m having a terrible time comprehending what is so difficult to understand about THAT.”

Dasha looked out her own passenger window, her voice coming back toward Tilley like very dark, deep, and slow moving water.

“If you value the lives of your men Mr. Tilley, you will do as I ask. They are to complete the assignment as ordered, and if those orders evolve into more, shall we say, direct action against others in Benghazi, then so be it. That is why they are there. Failure to do so at any time will result in their own termination, as well as others involved. Do you understand what I’m saying to Mr. Tilley?”

Ray Tilley looked over at Dasha Al Marri and actually contemplated if he could manage to choke her to death before Virgil came to her aid. It was a foolish thought, and he quickly pushed it out of his mind.

“I understand the threat Dasha. Mardian already gave me a similar one.”

Dasha placed her left hand on top of Tilley’s right knee and lightly squeezed it.

“Good then Mr. Tilley. We understand each other perfectly now.”

Tilley paused, his mind uncertain if he should finish the conversation with a question that now floated around his mind.

“I’m wondering something Dasha. After the night you spent with Mac, would you really kill him and his men off that easy? That time together doesn’t mean anything to you?”

Dasha put a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter.

“Oh my Mr. Tilley, it appears you are some kind of silly, hopeless romantic! I actually don’t particularly care for men – but am more than happy to fuck them, your Mr. Walker included.”

XVII.

Mac and Jack had been walking in the dark for nearly three miles, each of them carrying one of the fifty caliber sniper rifles on their backs. What little traffic that came down the dirt and gravel road was avoided by the two men jumping down into the shallow drainage ditches that ran along each side of the road and pressing their bodies flat against the ground. Mac, knowing Jack had a fear of snakes, couldn’t help but take the opportunity to have a little fun.

“Hey Alabama, if you land on top of one those dessert vipers they say are crawling all over this place, just remain calm, ok?”

Jack jumped so quickly out of the ditch he appeared to be momentarily flying.

“Goddammit Mac, why’d you have to go and say that?”

Mac was trying very hard not to laugh, while he moved back onto the road and stood next to Jack.

“Hey, just letting you know there are a few creepy crawlies out here. It’s nighttime though, they’re probably all slow and sleepy by now. No worries big guy. Except the scorpions, those little bastards love hunting at night.”

Jack glared back at Mac, shaking his head.

“Asshole.”

Mac was about to respond when the glow of headlights began to illuminate the road again, forcing him and Jack back down into the ditch, something Jack was far less eager to do after Mac’s earlier warning of snakes.

The first vehicle was another United Nations food relief transport truck. Three more identical trucks followed, driving slowly down the road back toward the compound Mac and his men had been ordered to conduct surveillance on.

“You see those drivers Mac? They sure looked Libyan to me. The serious business kind. Those weren’t some save the world United Nations types.”

Mac nodded at Jack’s description while his eyes followed the path of the departing trucks, their taillights glowing like an increasingly distant, red eyed demon.

“Look at that – they’re turning off the main road. That’s well before our position across the road from the compound. Now where do you suppose they’re going now?”

Both Mac and Jack raised their night vision binoculars to follow the path of the U.N. food relief trucks as they continued down a secondary road before finally disappearing from view.

“Once we obtain some transportation, we’re going back to see where those trucks ended up.”

Jack simply nodded at Mac’s plan as they both continued walking down the road.

It was nearly a mile later before Mac finally stopped and pointed to a large residential property that had just a few exterior lights on, and no indication of anyone occupying the home’s interior. The entrance was a paved road that ended in a circular drive at the front of the home’s entrance. What had caught Mac’s attention was the smaller building just adjacent to the main house. His instincts told him that other building might contain a vehicle.

The two men made their way slowly down the property’s driveway, keeping to the shadows as they did so. Upon arriving at the smaller building, Mac paused, looking for any signs of a security system. Jack was already doing the same.

“Looks clear Mac – nothing.”

Mac was pleased to see three large commercial style exterior doors at the front of the stucco building.

“Sure as hell looks like a place to store some vehicles.”

Jack stood in front of what appeared to be the structure’s entrance door and found it locked with a single, large deadbolt. Holding the sniper rifle in his hands, Jack looked to Mac and then pointed the end of the rifle at the deadbolt.