Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (23 page)

HAINES
:
What do you mean by lucrative trade?

DR. HIGGINS
: It appears that West setup more of a business than other
typical gangs. He essentially uses the gang to protect his assets:
drugs, prostitutes, protection, etcetera. In another life, Dante
West might well have been a very successful businessman.

CAL
(getting angry): Well that’s not how he ended up, Doc, so I’d
appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk about him with such
reverence.

TRAVIS
(calmingly): He didn’t mean anything by it, Cal. You know how
Doc is. He looks at all these targets like an author treats a new
novel.

CAL
(apologetically): I’m sorry, Dr. Higgins. I didn’t mean any
disrespect.

DR. HIGGINS
: It’s okay, Calvin. We’ll do our best to make sure we find
Mr. West.

After the visible tension left the room,
Higgins continued.

DR. HIGGINS
: So now the question is ‘What will Dante West do
next?’

CAL
: Any
ideas, Doc?

DR.
HIGGINS
: West is a very capable leader
and strategist. Looking back on his record, he’s never made the
same mistake twice. I think he’s trying to figure out how to stay
out of the hands of the local authorities while at the same time
trying to hold his organization together. It’s my professional
opinion that Dante West is trapped and needs to do something
audacious to break out or just sit back and wait. The problem with
waiting is that he’ll risk losing his associates and possibly lose
a lot of his street business. No. I think he’ll try to make a
move.

TRAVIS
:
What kind of a move will he make?

DR. HIGGINS
: Something that will solve his problems, get the police off
his track, and get his business back. Maybe an assault on a rival
gang? I just can’t say for certain. What I can say is that Mr. West
is not one to sit back and wait. He is a man of action. He is a man
who’s built his own destiny. He will not wait to see what happens.
I think we need to monitor the police scanners and look into any
turf wars or gang violence we might hear about.

CAL
: So
more waiting around.

DR. HIGGINS
: Yes, more waiting. I suggest you all read his dossier and
digest what you can. I am good at what I do, but you may find
something I didn’t. It’s all I can think to do for now.

Cal nodded and moved to shake Dr. Higgins’
hand.

CAL
: Thanks
for your help, Doc. I appreciate your insight.

DR. HIGGINS
: Not at all, Calvin. I’ll continue my analysis and let you
all know if I find anything new.

With that, Higgins waved farewell and left
the room. Cal and the others had no doubt that SSI’s resident mind
specialist would spend many sleepless nights analyzing and
reanalyzing West’s file. Once on the trail, Dr. Higgins was a true
bloodhound. He wouldn’t stop until his quarry was found.

Cal turned back to the others.

CAL
: Any
other thoughts?

TODD
: I’ll
do some digging too. Maybe my contacts within the police department
and FBI can help. Couldn’t hurt.

HAINES
:
I’ll run some checks through my court contacts. See if we can’t run
down some of his associates and squeeze some intel out of
them.

TRAVIS
:
I’ll reach out to some of my contacts too. Let’s all remember to be
discreet about this. The last thing we need is that reporter
catching wind of this.

The small group dispersed and Travis
followed Cal out.

TRAVIS
:
Hey, Cal. Got a minute?

Cal nodded and led the way to his father’s
office two doors down. Even though it’d been years since his
parents’ deaths, the office was still in the same state that Cal
Sr. had left it in 2001. The office was cleaned daily by a crusty
old Marine who’d served with Cal Sr. in the early 1970’s. Although
now technically retired, the old Marine came in every weekday to
reverently dust and vacuum “The Colonel’s Office.”

C
al
remembered first meeting the man years ago. He’d left the Marine
Corps after serving in Vietnam. Totally coincidentally, he’d been a
machine gunner in (then) Capt. Stokes’s company. Back in those
days, the military wasn’t given the same place of honor as in the
post-9/11 days. The proud Marine returned home to find protesters
spitting at him and calling him names. Worst of all upon returning
to his family he found that his twin sister (the two had been
inseparable from birth) now dressed in hippy garb and spewing the
same propaganda he’d heard debarking the airplane ride home. Even
after repeated attempts to make peace with his sister, he finally
gave up.

Unable to reacclimatize or even find a job,
he learned to cope through drugs and alcohol. Instead of dealing
with the pain and emotional grief, he internalized his pain and
went into a quick downward spiral. Within a year, the poor man was
living on the streets begging for money so he could buy a hit or
swig. He spent the rest of the 1970’s and 1980’s bouncing from
shelter to shelter and bottle to bottle.

In the mid-90’s the man had somehow wandered
to the Nashville area. By that time, the Stokes family was back in
Nashville and Cal Sr. was reestablishing his roots and expanding
his business. One weekend as father and son were volunteering at a
local shelter handing out food, Cal Sr. spied the man in the line.
Now hunched, his body ravaged and aged by years of abuse, he
shuffled forward in his oversized winter coat. On his left arm he’d
sewn on an old tattered Marine Corps emblem. Cal Sr. liked to chat
with the people they volunteered to help and used the patch as his
introduction.

CALVIN SR
:
Nice patch you got there. Were you in the Corps?

CRUSTY
MARINE
(suspiciously): Yeah. So
what?

CALVIN
SR
(smiling): I was in the Marine
Corps too.

The man paused and tried to concentrate his gaze on
his fellow Marine. Without thinking he blurted:

CRUSTY
MARINE
: I was in Vietnam.

CALVIN
SR
: Me too. Those were different
times, weren’t they?

Finally, the man’s smile cracked. Cal could see his
filthy teeth inside but also noticed the sudden gleam of
remembrance in the man’s eyes.

CRUSTY
MARINE
: They sure were. Different
times.

Over subsequent visits, Cal Sr. made it a
point to find the man and checkup on him. Cal remembered asking his
father why.

CALVIN
SR
: Because he will always be a
Marine. That makes us family. If he wants help, I’ll give it to
him.

The two Marines had quickly made the
miraculous discovery that the homeless man had once served under
Cal Sr.’s command. Not surprisingly, Cal’s father put great effort
into helping “his Marine.” Over time, the man agreed to enter a
rehabilitation program paid for by the charitable arm of Stokes
Security International.

After getting cleaned up and reunited with
his family, he was offered a position in the newly built SSI
complex just south of Nashville. After years of substance abuse,
the man’s mental capacity was now vastly diminished. He was,
however, extremely grateful for the chance to help maintain the
grounds for SSI. Over the next few years, the man became one of the
company’s most loyal employees. Refusing, even after numerous
offers from Cal’s father, to call Cal Sr. anything but Colonel, the
man was once again home among his fellow warriors. He ate in the
chow hall and shopped in the small PX. He was home.

Upon Cal Sr.’s death, the man wept openly as
he demanded from Travis that he be allowed to maintain the
Colonel’s office as a sort of shrine. Travis had quickly relented
and, even after officially retiring, the man was given a
comfortable living space in one of the campus’ small homes.

+ + +

Needless to say, the office was spotless as
Cal and Travis walked in. Cal often came to the office to sit and
stare at the countless photographs all around the office. There
were pictures of the family and of his time in the Corps. Anyone
visiting the office could see that Cal Sr. had somehow found a way
to merge his two families into one through the birth of SSI It was
his legacy and would serve as a home for warriors for years to
come.

Cal still remembered what the place had
looked like during construction. His father always enjoyed nature
and had his office designed so that it appeared to be part of the
outdoors. The office itself actually jutted outside the main
structure of the building and close to the surrounding woods. It
afforded the office a 180 degree view of the surrounding area. You
could sit in the office early in the morning and watch the deer and
turkey grazing below.

Cal walked around the large desk and sat in
the cushy swivel chair. Travis took the seat in front of the desk.
He always deferred to his younger cousin when visiting the office
together.

TRAVIS
: So
what do you think, Cal?

CAL
: I’m
thinking that I’m about tired of waiting. We got all geared up for
that trip north only to have it fizzle out on us. It’s just a
little frustrating.

Cal answered while mindlessly opening
drawers and peering in just as he had done as a teenager. He’d
always been curious about what his father kept close at hand.

TRAVIS
: I
understand how you feel, but you’ve got to realize that this is the
real world. Middle America. We can’t just go around guns blazing
shooting up the bad guys.

CAL
: I’m
not an idiot, Trav. I’m just disappointed.

TRAVIS
: I
know, man. But listen, if nothing else, this is good experience for
you for later on. If you decide to be an active part of SSI you
need to learn about the rules. You might as well learn them
now.

CAL
:
Alright I’m game. Hit me with the high points.

TRAVIS
: OK.
Like I told you before, these types of operations started a few
years ago. We saw the need and we attacked it. Also, we were
approached by certain entities that needed work done on the sly.
We’ve always been really careful with whom we work with. We are not
vigilantes for hire. We are also not a tool for corrupt politicians
or criminals. The work we do here in the states beneath the law is
strictly regulated and kept under the radar for obvious
reasons.

CAL
: So who
approves these missions?

TRAVIS
:
Right now, me. Back in the day, it was your dad. There are only
five of us within SSI that are actually involved in decision making
for these ops. Todd Dunn and The Hammer are two of the five. Dr.
Higgins is obviously in the loop. Last, but not least, is Neil.
Between the five of us, we make the call whether to use company
assets or not.

CAL
: What
about the teams you send out to do the dirty work?

TRAVIS
:
They are never, and I repeat never, in contact with any individual
or group that initiates the mission. That’s my job. I think I
mentioned before that some of the people that tip us off are highly
placed government officials. It is absolutely necessary that they
maintain their anonymity.

CAL
: Trav,
I hate to say this, but you’re starting to sound like you’re
running some kind of secret society. Do I have to learn the secret
handshake too?

TRAVIS
(suddenly serious): I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt
because of who you are, but this shit is serious. Now do you want
to hear this or not?

Cal threw up his hands in surrender.

CAL
: Sorry.
Sorry. Go ahead, Grand Master.

A small grin spread on Travis’s face. He was
a man that rarely displayed anger, but Cal’s comment had obviously
hit a nerve. It was hard not to give his cousin a little ribbing
every once in a while. Tough habit to break.

TRAVIS
:
Like I was saying, our sources are really funny about their
involvement. We’ve obviously vetted everyone but we’ve always gotta
be careful. That’s why each mission is always reviewed by the five
of us before we decide to make a move. Every angle has to be
explored and the good and bad always have to be weighed. As a
result, we don’t green-light every mission. Sometimes we decide not
to act and our sources understand that. We can’t be everything for
everyone.