Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (28 page)

CAL
(to
himself):
BINGO!

Dante moved back to the dolly and pressed
his pistol to Cal’s temple.

DANTE
: Now
I’m going to unstrap you and take you over to the bedspring. You
try anything, I’ll shoot you. You got me?

CAL
:
Yeah.

He released Cal slowly, never removing the
gun from Cal’s head. When finished, he ushered his prisoner over to
the bedspring that was now connected to the two car batteries. West
methodically strapped Cal to the metal frame with zip ties on his
ankles and wrists. Cal was spread-eagle, glaring at West and
prepared for pain.

DANTE
: I’ll
start with a low setting. I just want you to get a little
taste.

West switched the machine on and Cal heard
the buzz of electricity. Next, Dante grabbed the power knob and
turned it to the first setting.

Cal’s body seized and his eyes shut
involuntarily. This wasn’t going to be fun.

+ + +

TRAVIS
: All
the teams just checked in. Nothing from the guys scouring the farm.
Neil, are you finding anything in those property
records?

NEIL
:
Nothing. Obviously no plans were ever submitted to the local
commissions for the building. Looks like he really did it on the
sly.

TRAVIS
:
What about the police records? Any complaints for noise or
blasting?

NEIL
:
Already checked that and no. Besides, this property is just shy of
a thousand acres. They could get away with a lot without ever being
seen or heard.

BRIAN
: What
about the topography?

TRAVIS
:
What do you mean?

BRIAN
: I
know there’s a lot of land in the hundred year flood plain around
here. I would assume that if West wanted a long-term facility he
would’ve factored that in. Maybe we can find out which way the
tunnel leads by taking away certain portions of the
topography.

TRAVIS
:
Good idea. Neil, pull up all the topo maps with elevation and flood
plain data. It’s the only lead we’ve got right now.

+ + +

West had just shocked Cal for the third
time. He had yet to ask a single question. It was obvious he was
just enjoying seeing the pain register on the former Marine’s
face.

Cal, although in extreme pain during each
shock, was starting to finalize his plan. It was a strange talent
he’d uncovered while on the battlefield in Afghanistan. He’d found
that in times of extreme pain and duress, his mind became
hyper-focused instead of losing its edge and wandering into the
fog. It was what had allowed him to keep going even after being
wounded multiple times.

Within this clarity, he remembered hearing
stories from former POWs from the Vietnam War and World War II.
They’d survived by only divulging snippets of the truth. They’d
survived by effectively weaving lies within the truth. Cal was
about to try the same tactic.

CAL
(panting): Are you gonna ask me any questions or just get your
rocks off watching me shake?

DANTE
: Man,
you must really have a death wish. You ready to die
already?

CAL
: No.
I’m just ready to be done with your bullshit.

DANTE
:
Still hoping your buddies are coming to save your ass,
huh?

CAL
: That’s
right. And when they do I’m gonna strap you to this fucking thing
and let you go a couple rounds.

DANTE
: Hate
to tell you this, boy, but that ain’t gonna happen. How about we
just get down to the questions. This time we’re gonna play a new
game. If I think you’re not telling the truth, I turn on the
machine again. If I REALLY think you’re bullshitting me, I’m only
gonna beat on you a little bit.

Dante picked up a steel baseball bat from the corner
and demonstrated practice swings. His grin returned.

CAL
: What,
no knives yet?

DANTE
: Oh
those will come soon enough. So, let’s get to the
questions.

+ + +

MSgt Trent pulled at the heavy steel door
with all his strength. They’d finally cut around the locking
mechanism. Sweat beaded on his brow as the door finally separated
from the last bit of steel holding it to the lock.

The door swooshed open and the assault team
quickly jumped into the space, guns at the ready, panning for
targets.

ASSAULT TEAM
LEADER
: All clear!

MSGT TRENT
:
Does it look like the same kind of door as the first
one?

ASSAULT TEAM
LEADER
: It does, Top. You want us to start
cutting again.

MSGT TRENT
:
Do it.

The team leader nodded to his demolitions expert and
the man moved quickly to the next door his cutting tools already in
hand.

MSGT TRENT
(into his mic): Six, this is Big Dog.

TRAVIS
: Go
ahead, Big Dog.

MSGT TRENT
:
First door breached. Moving to breach door number two,
over.

TRAVIS
:
Roger. Let me know as soon as you have an idea of what’s on the
other side.

MSGT TRENT
:
Roger, out.

Trent was praying that there wouldn’t a
third door.

+ + +

West had begun the interrogation with some
basic questions: date of birth, home address, sexual preference,
etc… It was obvious that West was building some kind of rudimentary
baseline to see if he was lying; sort of a voodoo version of a lie
detector test.

DANTE
: Time
for some real questions. How did you find out about me?

CAL
: My
company.

DANTE
: What
do you mean your company?

CAL
: I own
a company.

DANTE
: What
kind of a company?

CAL
: A
consulting company.

DANTE
: This
is your one and only warning. Stop trying to drag this out. You
answer me or I’ll make you answer it. You got me.

CAL
: I
thought I was doing damn well, asshole.

Without warning, West picked up the baseball
bat and took a quick swing square into Cal’s gut. Cal tried to
dodge and somehow absorb the blow. His head sagged as the wind was
knocked out of him.

DANTE
:
You’ve got thirty seconds to catch your breath and then you start
answering.

Cal could feel his recent
gunshot wounds throbbing and threatening to bleed again. He had to
stay focused and buy more time. The only problem was: how much more
could he take?
Hurry up, Trav.

+ + +

ANDY
: The
best I can see is that the tunnel has to run this way under this
ridge line. Any other way, they risk going into or at least
skirting the flood plain.

TRAVIS
: I’m
still not totally sold on the idea.

ANDY
: I
think West would’ve thought about this. The guy went through
Hurricane Katrina and probably the flood of 2010 here in Nashville.
He doesn’t strike me as a guy that would take any
chances.

TRAVIS
: OK.
So where does the tunnel dump out?

ANDY
: I say
we start right over here by the Harpeth River. We might…

NEIL
: I
just had another idea!

TRAVIS
:
What?

NEIL
: Let’s
assume that West is using this place as some kind of drug
manufacturing center. Even if he’s able to mask the heat of his
power source, he’ll still need to have some kind of
exhaust.

TRAVIS
:
Explain that.

NEIL
: It’s
like a car engine. All that heat has to go somewhere. The intake
and exhaust help keep the engine cooled. If West is using heat
lamps, for example, that hot air has to go somewhere. It would be
crazy expensive to have a self contained system like they have in a
nuclear sub. I’m betting they had to build vents to get the hot air
out.

TRAVIS
:
Then shouldn’t we see them with our heat vision?

NEIL
: Not
necessarily. The scopes we use are calibrated to see obvious
variances, like the difference between a person’s body temperature
and the ambient air temperature.

ANDY
: But
then how do we see people at night when we use the same scopes in
the desert?

NEIL
:
There’s still a difference between your body temp and the air
temperature. It’s just that the air’s warmer.

TRAVIS
: So
how do we find these vents?

NEIL
: Let
me see if I can patch into the helo’s infrared system and
recalibrate it for much smaller variances.

TRAVIS
:
Alright, but do it fast. The longer we take, the less I like Cal’s
chances.

+ + +

West was getting more and more excited as
the interrogation went on. He’d already found out about SSI and
Cal’s stake as owner. Cal, through extreme willpower, had skirted
questions about SSI’s covert wing. Who would’ve thought he’d catch
the heir to a billion dollar company? The options started to whirl
in Dante’s head.

Maybe he could ransom Cal.

Maybe he could exchange his prisoner for
money and weapons.

The possibilities were endless.

DANTE
:
You’re in luck, rich boy. I’m thinking that you might just make it
out alive today.

Cal looked up through puffy eyes and spit
more blood onto the floor. His insides were on fire and his tongue
felt like a puffed up marshmallow. Every time he got shocked, he
swore he’d bit off another piece of his tongue.

DANTE
:
What’s wrong? No more smartass comments?

CAL
(thickly): What do you want me to say?

DANTE
: How
about you give me the number to someone I need to call at your
company? Maybe I can talk to someone sane there.

CAL
(thickly): I don’t know the number. It’s on my cell
phone.

Dante glanced down at his pant pocket as if
he’d forgotten the missing cell phone. He pulled the cell phone and
battery out.

DANTE
: How
do I know they won’t track me as soon as I put this battery
in?

CAL
: Aren’t
you the one that told me cell phones don’t work down
here?

DANTE
:
True.

CAL
: So how
the hell would they track it?

DANTE
: OK.
So what’s the phone number?

CAL
: Call my cousin Travis. It’s under T. Or wait, you can read
can’t you?

West shook his head and looked back down at
the phone. He replaced the battery and turned the phone on. Cal
watched expressionless, waiting for the perfect moment to reveal
his surprise. He wondered if he’d even be able to reach the trigger
Neil attached to his right molar with his tongue.

Neil had instructed him to tap the molar
three times and the miniature flash bang he’d installed within
Cal’s cell phone would detonate. The problem now was getting his
swollen tongue to react at the right moment.

Cal moved his numb tongue around in his
mouth and spat another gob of blood and phlegm onto the floor. He
looked back to Dante.

DANTE
: This
thing is asking for a password. What is it?

Cal gave Dante the access code and
instructed him on how to retrieve the correct phone number.

CAL
: You
may want to try making the call from the phone. It’s got enhanced
signal strength and could work.

DANTE
: I
thought you said it wouldn’t work down here.

CAL
: It’s
worth a shot. Might get you through faster, unless you have a
better idea.