Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (55 page)

“Sure, but it’s not a given. I’ll have to
run in a special election. I’m so young that I don’t know if I’ll
win.”

“What’s the worst that could happen, you
still get to be a Congressman?” Cal joked.

Zimmer laughed. “Yeah, I know. But I’m just
not sure if I’m qualified.”

“I don’t mean to repeat myself, but how
again do you need my help?”

“I wanted to ask you, as a friend, whether
you think I should run for Senate.”

Cal was floored.
Why is he asking me? How am I qualified to give
that kind of advice?

“Look, Brandon, you know I stay way outside
the political stuff. I wouldn’t know the first thing about…”

“I guess I’m just asking if you think I have
a shot.”

Cal looked at his newest friend. They had
been through a lot. He wondered how else the universe could’ve
thrown the two men together.

“In my humble, dumb grunt opinion…I think
you should do it. I mean, you’re not half the asshole your dad
was.”

They both laughed at the macabre
reference.

“Okay. Thanks, Cal.”

“No problem. But, I’m sensing there’s
something else?”

“There is. I’ve been invited to a new
club.”

“What, like Army-Navy?”

“No. President Waller has asked me to be a
part of the Council of Patriots.”

Cal couldn’t conceal his surprise. “I don’t
understand.”

“Well, Waller figured that I already know
about it and now I’m in a better position to help. He’s even gonna
quietly put his political backers behind my run for Senate.”

“But, all the members are RETIRED
politicians. Isn’t that putting you in a precarious position?”

Zimmer was suddenly serious. “Two weeks ago,
I had a really different view of how the world works. Now I know
that groups like the Council exist for a reason. They’re part of
the solution not the problem.”

“And you’re okay with the way we go about
exploiting the intel we get?”

“You’re really asking ME that?” Zimmer asked
with a sad grin. “Have you already forgotten what I did in
Vegas?”

Cal would never forget Zimmer shooting his
own father in the face. He was still surprised that it had been the
Congressman who had killed the two masterminds of the
conspiracy.

“Alright, alright. I get it. So, that brings
us back to the original question: how can I help?”

“I’ve been tasked by the Council to bring
you this.” He handed over a single sheet of paper.

Cal skimmed the summary and looked up.

“Anything else I should know before we start
looking into this?”

“President Waller figured you’d want to do
some research first. How about we…”

The two turned as a loud ringing sounded in
Cal’s makeshift office. “Sorry, that’s my secure line. Let me go
grab that.”

Stokes trotted over to his small desk and
picked up.

“Stokes.”

Zimmer watched as Cal’s face went blank.

“Are you sure?” His face gave away his total
shock. “Okay, I’ll be right over.”

Cal hung up the phone and didn’t say a
word.

“Is everything alright, Cal?”

“No.” Stokes answered as he rhythmically
clenched and unclenched his fist.

“What happened?” Zimmer asked with concern.
He’d never seen the normally unflappable Marine in such a
state.

Cal turned to the Congressman with
dread-filled eyes.

“Neil’s disappeared.”

+++++

“
Prime
Asset
”

Book 3 of the Corps Justice Series

Copyright © 2013 Corps Justice. All Rights
Reserved

Author: C. G. Cooper

Editor: Karen Rought

Book Cover: Sherwin Soy

(
http://www.CorpsJustice.com
)

Chapter 1

Grand Teton
Mountain Range, Wyoming

5:49pm, September 28th

The shivering was gone. Adrenaline coursed
through his body, fueling survival. The huge grizzly bear took
another swipe as the young man retaliated with a short swing with
his torch. Sparks flew as the errant swing grazed the side of the
small alcove.

The bear didn’t flinch. Instead, it pushed
its head into the opening and unleashed a deafening roar. The
grizzly’s hot breath assaulted the trapped man as he tried to make
himself as small as possible against the back of the hole. There
was nowhere to go. He’d lost all his weapons except for the burning
torch that was now almost out. What he wouldn’t give for even a
small knife. The only thing saving him from instant death was the
fact that the bear couldn’t fit through the alcove’s entrance. But
its claws could, and they’d already torn a jagged cut into the
man’s winter parka. It wouldn’t be long until the bear figured out
how to get more.

The man had no idea how the animal had
followed him onto the narrow ledge. He’d underestimated the bear’s
tenacity and hunger. The park ranger had warned about the bears
being hungrier than usual this year. Something about a shortage of
berries. Shaking the thought from his head, the man reviewed his
options. There were none. The best he could do was to wait and see
if his attacker would leave. But that was unlikely given his
current position.

The early fall blizzard continued to blow in
as the bear tried to widen the opening. Suddenly, and without
warning, the bear pulled its head out and turned around.

What’s he doing?
thought the man.

He chanced a peek out of the man-sized hole
and watched the bear as it sniffed the air, almost looking like a
dog as it searched.

The young man wouldn’t have another chance.
Squeezing out of the hole, the loud wind mercifully masking any
sound, he stood not three feet from the distracted grizzly. He’d
never make it if he took the path. The bear would win. Making up
his mind, Cal Stokes sprinted the four feet to the ravine’s ledge
and jumped.

Chapter 2

Teton Village, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Two Days
Earlier
, 4:24pm, September 26th

Days earlier, Cal Stokes and Daniel Briggs
landed in the small Jackson Hole airport. If asked, they were in
the area for a two week hunting trip.

Cal was in his early thirties, good-looking
and just under six feet tall. He was dressed in jeans, boots and a
distressed t-shirt. His brown hair was covered in a trucker’s ball
cap. After getting his bearings, he left his companion and
proceeded to the Enterprise counter.

Briggs, a couple inches taller and a former
Marine sniper, stayed behind and waited for their luggage. He shook
out his shoulder length blonde hair and tied it back in a ponytail.
Out of habit, he glanced around casually while bending down to
retie his hiking boots. No obvious surveillance other than the
airport security cameras. Five minutes later, Briggs hauled their
four bags and two weapons cases out the sliding doors.

The temperature was still in the upper
sixties as Briggs took a deep breath. He loved the outdoors. He’d
never been to Wyoming. Now was his chance. As the newest employee
of Stokes Security International, Daniel was also his employer’s
unofficial bodyguard. On SSI’s official ledger he was listed as
‘Security Contractor 3982.’ The company did a lot of personal
protection and surveillance overseas and had a legion of former
military contractors around the globe. To any prying eyes, Daniel
was one of them. To the majority owner of SSI, Calvin Stokes, Jr.,
he was a trusted advisor and friend.

Cal pulled up in a black Ford Excursion.
After loading all their gear into the back, the two Marines got in.
Briggs keyed the hotel’s address into their GPS as Cal made a phone
call.

“Trav, we’re on our way to Teton Village.”
Travis Haden was CEO of SSI, a former Navy SEAL and Cal’s
cousin.

“Good. Trent, Dunn and Gaucho’s boys are
spread out on the next couple flights. They should all be there by
noon tomorrow.”

“Thanks again for setting that up. Any
updates on Neil?” Neil Patel, one of Cal’s best friends and SSI’s
head of Research and Development, had disappeared two days earlier.
He’d been in Jackson Hole for a small conference with some of the
world’s top technology firms. It was an annual invite-only-event
and Patel’s third year attending. Haden had received a call from a
friend attending the conference. The guy told Travis that Neil
hadn’t shown up for his lecture; something about the importance of
battlefield innovation on civilian product development. The man was
frantic because the entire group of enrollees was waiting anxiously
for Patel’s popular talk.

It wasn’t like Neil to miss anything. After
calling Patel’s cell and hotel room repeatedly, they couldn’t track
him down. Finally, Travis placed a call to the hotel security staff
and convinced them to search Neil’s room. The head of security
conducted the search personally. Neil’s room was empty. Despite an
unmade bed and used hotel toiletries in the bathroom, all of
Patel’s personal belongings were gone.

Due to the sensitive information Neil stored
in his genius-level brain, Travis initiated a complete lockdown of
SSI’s systems. In spite of Patel’s insistence to the contrary, Todd
Dunn, SSI’s head of internal security, had warned against allowing
one of SSI’s key assets to travel alone. Always planning for the
worst, Dunn came up with a backstop: Neil was required to have a
micro transmitter (of Neil’s own design) surgically implanted in
his ankle. It would lie dormant until needed. The transmitter
allowed SSI to turn on the tracking feature and find Patel anywhere
in the world.

The first thing Dunn did after getting the
news from his boss was to turn on the tracking device. Nothing
happened. That meant one of three things. One, the device
malfunctioned. Two, Neil disabled the device. Three, someone had
kidnapped Neil, extracted the transmitter, and destroyed it.

They had to plan for the worst. First, it
wasn’t natural for one of Neil’s gadgets not to work. He’d tested
it on multiple subjects, and it had always performed above
expectations. Second, Neil had no reason to take the thing out.
Third, Patel was a big target. If someone wanted to find a goldmine
of technological knowledge, Neil was a human treasure trove. With
his near photographic memory and world-class hacking skills (he
regularly trolled the vaunted systems of organizations like the
CIA, MI6 and FBI just for fun), he was an invaluable asset.

On the surface, things remained calm. Travis
thanked the hotel security team and apologized for the
inconvenience and had given them the excuse that he’d just found
out that Neil left early due to a death in the family. He gave the
same story to the colleague who’d called to ask about Patel.

Behind the scenes, SSI worked overtime. Not
only was Patel a vital part of ongoing SSI operations and R&D,
but, like a seasoned CIA station chief, Neil knew everything. His
capture and the exposure of SSI’s covert operations would mean
disaster not just for the company, but for various players within
the American government. There were implications all the way up to
the President. It wasn’t a scenario Travis wanted to have play
out.

“Did you have Neil’s guys go over the list
of people attending the conference?” Cal asked.

“For the third time, yes, cuz. We’re doing
everything we can on this end. We haven’t even had a whiff from any
of our sources.”

Cal huffed in frustration. He knew the
headquarters team was doing everything they could, but Cal wasn’t a
patient man. Travis had even placed a secure call to the President
to give him a heads-up. Because of Cal’s recent rescue of the
American President, the politician promised to help however he
could.

“Sorry. I’m just worried.”

“You and me both. I’ve been wracking my
brain trying to figure this thing out. Have any wild ideas on your
flight out?” asked Travis.

“I had too many ideas. Name one group of bad
guys that wouldn’t want their hands on Neil. It’s like having the
ultimate cyberweapon.”

The two men were silent for a moment as they
both tried to envision the possible fallout. It wouldn’t be good.
They had to get Neil back.

Cal switched gears. “How many people knew
Neil was coming out for this conference?”

“Obviously everyone attending. That’s just
under fifty people. Then, of course, there’s his staff here and our
leadership team. Seventy-five people tops?”

Seventy-five people. It could be worse. “I
assume you’ve already got our people doing background checks on all
of them, right?”

“Yeah. Nothing yet. There are some
competitors we need to take a closer look at, but I think the guy
that organizes the conference has already done a pretty good job
vetting attendees.”

Cal figured that was the case. These were
high-profile executives. Most of them probably had the equivalent
of Top Secret clearances in the tech world. Still, at this point,
everyone was a suspect.

“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,
Trav. Please let me know if you find out anything new. Me and the
boys will hit the pavement here.”

“No problem. Let’s stay in touch.”

Cal ended the call and put his phone in the
cup holder. He’d hoped to have something to go on before starting
the search. Best case, they’d find Neil soon. Worst case, someone
had already shipped him off to another country.

+++

Neil sat shivering in his small cell. He was
wrapped in an old olive drab wool blanket. It wasn’t much, but it
warded off some of the chill.

The only light in the room came from a tiny
window the size of a brick. He’d already tried banging on it but
the damn thing felt like it was a foot thick. One of the guards
paid him a visit after checking the window and gifted him with a
hard jab in the sternum. The spot still hurt.