Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (46 page)

Instead of relocating, Cal instructed Gaucho
to pull his troops back to the suite and secure it completely.
Barring a cruise missile, the suite would be untouchable.

On a whim, Cal decided to bring Briggs
along. The guy knew the city and the best way to navigate it. There
was a reason he was a “scout” sniper.

The two Marines set off for the meeting with
Waller. Rather than follow the outdoor walkways, Briggs cut a path
through the casinos. It was possible to travel through much of The
Strip without even stepping outside.

Cal casually swept his gaze as he’d learned
in Todd Dunn’s challenging counter-surveillance course. He couldn’t
detect any tails. Daniel pressed on.

The pair finally reached the small room that
Neil had just reserved at the Treasure Island Resort and Casino.
They wouldn’t need it for long, which was good. Waller had come
with minimal security and in a casual disguise. Luckily,
ex-Presidents weren’t highly important targets or his Secret
Service staff might have denied the last minute request.

Cal nodded to the large man in jeans
standing outside the door.

“Sorry, sir. I was instructed to only let
you in,” the agent said.

Cal looked at Daniel. “Do you mind waiting
out here?”

“Nope. See you in a minute.”

Cal opened the door and approached the next
agent, who quickly frisked him. He pointed to Cal’s wrist that had
his knife strapped to it. Just as the agent went to make a comment,
Waller came out of the bathroom.

“He’s fine, Jimmy. Why don’t you wait
outside?”

The agent looked like he was about to
object, but instead nodded and stepped out.

“So, what are we dealing with here,
Cal?”

Cal pulled his backpack off, extracted the
manila envelope, and handed it to Waller.

Sitting down at the coffee table, President
Waller took out the evidence and spread it out. His left eyebrow
arched as he quickly perused the collection.

“Somebody’s been doing their homework,
haven’t they?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you guys have any idea who might be
behind this?”

“I’m new at this whole thing, Mr. President.
I don’t know who you’ve had contact with in the past. My concern is
that some of your security detail could be the issue.”

Waller stared at Cal for a moment. “I really
hate to think about that, Cal. How realistic could it be?”

Cal had thought about it on the way over.
“The way I see it, Mr. President…”

“Come on, Cal, it’s Hank in here,
remember?”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, Hank. Anyway, it is
possible that someone could have taken these pictures and gotten
audio from a long way off. The problem is, how did someone know
where to look? I’m assuming whenever the Council meets, the number
of people that know the itinerary is minimal?”

Waller nodded.

“Well then, there has to be someone on the
inside.”

Waller stood up and walked to the window.
“You know how bad this pisses me off? It reminds me of all the
times Trav warned us about OpSec. He kept telling us that at some
point someone would figure things out. How bad do you think this
is?”

“I made a secure call to Trav before coming
over. They’re running some scenarios,” answered Cal, unsure of what
else the President wanted him to say.

“I want YOUR opinion, Cal. Does this kill
us?”

“You really want my opinion?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I figure we have two options: One,
pack up, head home, and let the Zimmers deal with their own
mess.”

“You know that’s not what…”

“Hold on, sir. Let me finish.”

“Sorry. Go ahead.”

“Second, we can find the leak and plug
it.”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

“It’ll be risky, but I think the rat is
about to surface. The other thing I wanted to tell you was that we
honestly believe there is going to be some kind of attack or
demonstration during the Democratic Convention.”

Waller’s eyes went wide. “What? How is that
even possible? I’ve been to these things for years. I’m sure the
Secret Service has buttoned up the city pretty tight.”

“A week ago, I would’ve agreed with you. But
after what I’ve seen here, I’m not so sure. Hell, these guys found
us and, more importantly, figured out about the most secretive
group outside of the U.S. government. They’ve got resources and
they aren’t afraid to use them.”

“So, what’s the next step? Should we alert
the Secret Service?”

Cal knew he was taking a risk, but he had
confidence in his team. “I think we should see how it plays out.
Let’s say we give the Secret Service an anonymous tip that’ll
hopefully get them even more attentive. Meanwhile, me and my team
find these fuckers and take them out.”

Waller looked at the young man. If he felt
any doubt, he didn’t show it. “Travis was right.”

“What do you mean?”

“We need more Marines in this world.”

+++

Cal and Waller ironed out a few more
details. The ex-President would alert the rest of the Council and
have them start thinking about potential leaks. Even though he
wasn’t close to the current President, Waller still had duties to
perform for his Party. Over the next couple days, he would be
called upon to attend to the Convention. It would keep him busy,
but they agreed to stay in close contact.

Daniel and Cal left the meeting room and
headed back. Thinking to himself, Cal barely noticed the passing
landscape. He grabbed his phone and dialed Neil.

“Yeah.”

“Tell me you’ve got something, Neil.”

“You’re not gonna believe this shit. They’ve
got…”

“Hold on. Don’t say anything on this line.
We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Okay. I’ll have a brief waiting for
you.”

Looking down to replace his phone in his
pocket, Cal almost ran right into Briggs. Daniel had casually
stopped at a slot machine and placed a quarter in the slot.

“What are you…?”

“Don’t look up,” Daniel interrupted.

Cal did as told and glanced down at the
game. “What’s going on?” he whispered.

“Looks like those goons found us again.
Three o’clock. I saw at least two of ‘em. I’ll bet there’s more,”
Daniel answered casually.

“How the hell did they find us?”

Briggs answered with a shrug. If he was
concerned, he sure as hell didn’t show it.

“What’s our next move?” Cal asked.

“I’ve got a Marine buddy that works on the
security team here at Treasure Island. Let me call his cell phone
and see if he can get those fuckers off our tail.”

Daniel continued to feed quarters into the
slot machine as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Hey, Rick. I’ve got a favor to ask. You
working right now?”

“Yeah, man. What’s up?”

“You know those Russian goons that work over
at Zeitaku?”

“Ivan Drago lookin’ motherfuckers?”

“Yeah. They’re in your casino right now and
they want to put their hands on me and my friend. Anything you can
do to help?”

Daniel could hear Rick already moving
through the casino. “I’m on it, brother. Where are they?”

Briggs told him where they were and hung
up.

“So who was that guy?” Cal asked.

“Rick was a grunt in my first battalion.
Helluva squad leader. Saved his ass a couple times.”

Cal’s respect for the sniper kept growing.
He might be a good friend to keep around.

Two minutes later, Cal heard a commotion. He
turned to see a group of ten security guards surrounding the
hulking Russians.

“I don’t know why you bother me. I here to
spend money!” the Russian leader bellowed.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we’ve received
complaints that you’ve been harassing some of our customers,” the
head guard informed respectfully. “I’ll need you to leave at once,
sir.”

“I no bother no one, jarhead!” the giant
snarled. “Maybe I bother you, instead.”

Rick, the former Marine, looked around at
his nine guards near the three Russians. “You’re more than welcome
to try, sir, but I’m not so sure about your odds.”

The huge man looked around and weighed his
options. His instructions were clear: find Cal Stokes and kill him.
It had been one of Ichiban’s hookers that had spotted Stokes one
casino back and alerted the team. The fact that the man was within
earshot only angered the thug further.

“You hear from me again soon, jarhead. We go
now.”

Rick nodded and motioned for the other
guards to escort the trio out. As they moved to the exit, he turned
around and headed over to Daniel and Cal.

“Hey, brother. How goes it?” he asked, as he
shook Daniel’s hand.

“Good, man. Hey, I want you to meet a buddy
of mine. Rick, this is Cal.”

The two men sized each other up, as only
Marines can do, and shook hands.

“Thanks for your help,” Cal offered.

“Not a problem. I owe Snake Eyes a couple of
favors.”

“Snake Eyes?” Cal asked curiously.

“It was my call-sign on patrol,” Briggs
explained. “While I was in Afghanistan, my mom sent me the whole
G.I. Joe DVD cartoon collection. Snake Eyes was always my favorite
character and some of the other Marines found out about it and the
nickname stuck.”

Rick laughed. “Yeah. Dude would come back
from an op and sit there and watch those fucking cartoons over and
over.”

Cal joined in the laughter. “I remember
those. I guess the name fits for a sniper.”

Briggs nodded. “Thanks again for the help,
but we’ve gotta go.”

“No problem, man. Stay in touch, okay? By
the way, I like the new look!” He pointed at Daniel’s ponytail and
hairless chin. Briggs smiled and they all said their goodbyes.

“How close are we?” Cal asked his partner as
they descended another set of escalators.

“Not far. About five minutes.”

They walked out a back service exit and into
an alleyway. Neither Marine saw the small Japanese man, requisite
tourist camera slung around his neck, casually looking their
way.

+++

“He found them, Father,” Ishi informed.

“Good.”

“What are his orders?”

“Tell him to kill them, quietly.”

Ishi texted the command into
his phone:
TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE,
QUIETLY

+++

The Japanese assassin read the text and
smiled inwardly. It had been too long since he’d used his skills.
Kenji Matsura looked completely harmless. Dressed in a pair of old
pleated pants, checkered shirt, and thick glasses, Matsura looked
like one of a thousand Japanese tourists wandering the streets of
Las Vegas.

His deadly abilities were hidden by his
almost feminine. Born into a family of warriors, Kenji Matsura was
what some might call a modern day ninja. An expert in four types of
martial arts, he was also a veteran of the Japanese Defense Force.
Most people didn’t know much about the Japanese military. This was
mainly due to the fact that after World War II part of the peace
treaty declared that the Japanese people could no longer field an
army. In recent years, the treaty’s provisions had relaxed and
Japan had even sent troops to help in the Middle East.

Matsura was part of the first unit sent.
Unbeknownst to the public, a group of Japanese military officers
had formed an ultra-secretive commando unit within the Defense
Force: Unit 47. Through his amazing ability and family connections
within the military (certain military officers were privy to
portions of the plot orchestrated by Nakamura), Kenji Matsura was
assigned to Unit 47.

It was in Iraq where Matsura finally
utilized his skills. He was given free reign to track down and kill
insurgents and suspected terrorists. His results overshadowed his
ruthless tactics. Matsura often worked alone and slaughtered whole
families. He’d finally been reined in and sent home.

No
matter
, Matsura thought. He’d been trained
by the Army and battle tested in the desert, but it was Kazuo
Nakamura who’d become his true master. Like a brilliant general,
Nakamura had recognized Matsura’s abilities and put them to
frequent use. Many former rivals now called the cemetery their
home, thanks to Nakamura’s scheming and Matsura’s death
dealing.

He’d been warned about the prowess of Cal
Stokes. It didn’t bother Matsura one bit. Other great warriors had
tried to kill him before. He’d slaughtered them all. It was time to
put another notch on his sword.

+++

Daniel sensed the approaching danger a split
second before it happened. They’d just entered the rear entrance to
the pool deck of the Bellagio, music blaring and bumping from the
poolside DJ booth, when he grabbed Cal and threw him into the
bushes.

The suppressed pistol round grazed Daniel’s
chest as he spun around for cover. He reached for his concealed
pistol as he fell.

+++

Matsura couldn’t believe he’d missed. He’d
had Stokes in his sights, been completely quiet and concealed, yet
the man with the blonde ponytail had sensed his presence. The
assassin wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

+++

Cal glanced at Briggs from behind a short
wall. Daniel pointed to where the shot came from and he nodded. Why
had he not brought his pistol? As if reading his mind, Briggs
showed Cal a second pistol. The Marines were about twenty feet
apart, but at least they might have a chance of each sporting a
weapon. Cal peaked out cautiously and heard a shot fired in
response. He quickly whipped back and the bullet hit exactly where
his head had just been.

This guy was good. What to
do now? Cal texted the team:
ONE MAN SHOTS
FIRED BY THE HOTEL POOL SEND HELP