Dead Six (44 page)

Jill Del Toro’s education was coming along. She’d been my shadow for the last few days. She no longer walked like an American in public, and I was pretty sure I’d gotten her to the point that she was street-smart enough to not just get randomly murdered on her own. Today she was playing a relatively convincing imported Filipina. I’d helped her with her makeup so she’d look more forgettable. She looked like a cleaning lady and I looked like I should be unclogging drains.

It turned out that both of us were fluent in Spanish. Jill’s paternal grandparents had been Mexican immigrants, and her dad had met and married her mom while stationed in Subic Bay. So we could converse freely here, as hardly anybody except for the occasional Filipino or European spoke Spanish in the Zoob and it didn’t stick out in public like English did.

She’d come along pretty well. If she had the inclination, I thought she could actually have a future as a criminal. She was certainly a good liar. “I’m not worried, either,” Jill said with confidence.

The last few days had been kind of awkward. Neither one of us talked about what had happened between us, which was good,
I think
, because that would have just needlessly complicated things. I had to keep my mind on business. “There’s something important I need to talk to you about.”

“Yes?” Jill responded quickly.

“It’s about tomorrow’s job,” I said.

“Oh.” She went back to her food, stabbing an olive with her fork.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. This could be something simple and I can just walk right in and grab the box, or it could be crazy. I just don’t know. We’re going to have to come up with a plan on the fly. So I might need your help, I might not.”

“I’m ready. Dead Six ruined my life, Lorenzo. I’ll do whatever I have to do. I already showed you I’m willing to shoot them. What more do you need me to prove?”

I smiled.
She was aggressive.
“That’s not what I meant. Tomorrow, we either succeed or fail. After that, it’s on to Phase Three, and that’s my problem, not yours.”

“When will you tell me what that even is?”

“You really don’t want to know. Let’s just say that it’s stupid and dangerous. But that’s not what I’m talking about. What I’m trying to say is that after tomorrow, you’re done.”

She looked up from her lunch. “What do you mean?”

“I told you that if you helped me, I’d help you. I’ve had Reaper working on fake papers for you. I’ve got contacts I can refer you through. Basically, after tomorrow, you can go back to the US if you want.” I would need to walk her through all the details of setting up a new life, but she didn’t belong here, in this disintegrating shit hole, not anymore.

“Home?” Jill seemed shocked. Not upset, just surprised. “I . . . I don’t know what to say.”

“We’ll worry about tomorrow first.” I noticed some blue uniforms coming down the street. The security forces were randomly rousting people off the streets for questioning. It would be best to avoid that. I pulled out my wallet and threw down some riyals. “We’ll talk about it later.”

VALENTINE

Fort Saradia National Historical Site

May 10

1400

Following Sarah, I stepped out into the harsh desert heat. We made our way down the stairs of the dorm, followed by everyone else who’d been inside. Sarah and Anita had gone around banging on doors, telling everyone to follow them to the chow hall. She’d come to my room last.

Everyone kept asking her what was going on. She would only tell them she didn’t know why, but Colonel Hunter had ordered an all-hands meeting. Something big had gone down. We hadn’t had a meeting like this since our first night in-country.

For my part, I could guess what was happening. Gordon had told me that Project Heartbreaker was winding down. I wondered if, hell,
hoped
that the Project had been canceled and that we’d all be going home.

We all filed into the chow hall, and people began to sit down. Several of Hunter’s security people were standing around, looking just as confused as the rest of us. My old buddy Conrad was there, too, looking as dickish as usual.

Aside from the support staff, only fifteen members of Dead Six were present. I knew another ten or so were still out at safe houses throughout the city. Even still, a lot of faces were missing, and almost a third of the guys present had been wounded.

Even our support staff hadn’t been untouched. Sarah, Anita King, and another controller whose name I couldn’t recall were there. But the fourth controller, a woman named Evelyn Majors, had been killed in action. She’d been sent in to a captured enemy safe house to help gather intelligence. The whole place had been wired. It blew up, killing her and all of Hansen’s chalk. A couple of the logistics guys had been killed by a suicide bomber downtown.

We sat around talking for a few minutes. The dull roar of conversation quickly dropped away when Colonel Hunter came purposefully striding into the room. He stopped at the front of the chow hall, near the carts where the food was served.

“Listen up, everyone,” he said, his raspy voice echoing through the now-quiet cafeteria. “Two hours ago there was an explosion at the Royal Palace. The emir is dead. It’s been confirmed. General Al Sabah has declared martial law and has effected a nationwide curfew. He’s deploying half the Zubaran Army throughout the city in order to lock everything down.

“Not all of the Army is on his side. According to our information, one of the emir’s sons is still alive and is trying to rally support. General Al Sabah claims that the emir’s son assassinated his father in a coup attempt. We have every reason to believe that General Al Sabah was the one behind the bombing. Either way, a civil war is about to break out in this country, and our support network is gone.”

“What does this mean, sir?” someone asked.

Hunter looked thoughtful for a second. “Without Zubaran support, we can’t function. We can’t get supplies in and out of the country, and half of our best intelligence came from the emir’s secret police. This is a crippling blow to our operations. Project Heartbreaker has failed.” Hunter let that sink in for a moment before continuing. “I’ve been in contact with higher authority. I spoke with Gordon Willis half an hour ago. Project Heartbreaker has been terminated. Dead Six is being disbanded. We’re all going home.”

The chow hall erupted in clapping and cheers before Hunter could even finish saying it. Sarah leaned over and hugged me tightly in my seat. I could scarcely believe it, even though I’d sort of known this was going to happen. I was going to have to call Ling and tell her we wouldn’t be needing her assistance after all. A big smile formed across my face.

“Okay, okay, listen up!” Hunter shouted. “Getting home is going to be a long and painful process, folks. There’s going to be out-processing, nondisclosure agreements, and more paperwork than you can imagine. We’re still working on getting all your pay problems straightened out, too. Worse, you’re not leaving Zubara on a plane.”

“How are we leaving then, Colonel?”

“The situation in the Zoob has deteriorated enough that they’re not willing to risk our jet. Tomorrow night, around midnight, a boat will be coming for us. It’ll moor at the dock on the north side of the fort. You’re all going to board that vessel, and you’ll be on your way. Before ten people ask, I have no idea where that boat is going. I won’t be on it.”

I barely listened to the rest of Hunter’s briefing. He went on about how we needed to pack our stuff and start breaking down everything in the fort as quickly as possible. Instead my attention was focused on Sarah. She was beaming at me, a bright smile on her face. We were going to have to have a long talk about the future, about
us
. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, either. But after everything we’d been through already, I knew we could make it.

As it would turn out, I didn’t know
anything
.

LORENZO

May 11

My phone sat in the middle of kitchen table, and I just watched it . . . waiting. The others had joined me, and the four of us were in a circle, kind of quietly looking at that phone like it was a magic oracle that was going to spit out the answers in a rhyming riddle or something. We had spent the last week preparing for today. Our equipment had been checked and rechecked. My crew was ready for anything. I didn’t know what the Fat Man’s message would bring, but I knew with dead certainty that he would call. Big Eddie’s people were extremely reliable.

And punctual.
The phone buzzed. I pushed the button for speaker phone.

The Fat Man spoke. “Dead Six is supposed to leave Zubara tonight. They will be told to gather in the old Fort Saradia compound to await evacuation. A boat is supposed to pick them up at midnight.”

Reaper was already pulling up a map of the area and getting details on the old British fort. “How many men?” I asked.

“Approximately twenty-five remaining combat personnel and a dozen or more support staff. They will have all their equipment, and they will be alert. The last of them have been recalled already. Fort Saradia was their base of operations. All of their personnel will be on-site before sundown. They will need to be inside before the curfew to avoid suspicion.”

Reaper turned his laptop so I could see the fort. It was a big square of tall mud-brick walls on the coast just west of the Ash Shamal peninsula. A single road led to it, weaving through encroaching housing and terminating right at the front gate. The fort itself was big enough to fit a football field inside and had several interior buildings. That was a lot of area to cover. “Do you know where the box is being kept?”

“I do not have that information.”

Of course.
“Anything else you can give me?”

“I would strongly suggest that you accomplish your mission before midnight. You do not want to be there after midnight.”

“What happens then?”

“I cannot tell you, but Dead Six will be dead by dawn. Do you understand me, Mr. Lorenzo?”

I hope you choke on a pancake and die.
“Tell your boss I’ll get the box.” I hung up. The group was quiet as I studied the satellite photo of the fort. Something was going down, something huge.

Tonight I would bring the fight to Dead Six.

VALENTINE

Fort Saradia National Historical Site

May 11

1500

I found myself alone in my room, packing my belongings. Almost all of my clothes were stuffed into my duffel bag. In the short time I’d been in the Zoob, I’d somehow managed to acquire a second duffel bag’s worth of crap, and I was busy sorting through it all.

All of the gear I’d been issued was on my bed, laid out for sorting. We were told to just throw away the various fatigues and other clothing we’d used. Colonel Hunter told us to keep our body armor and weapons with us until we were on the boat and out of Zubaran waters. The situation downtown had rapidly deteriorated, and there’d been sporadic fighting throughout the tiny country. Rumors were flying about the emir’s son planning a last-ditch attempt to retake the Royal Palace. We all figured Zubara would be a war zone before the night was out, and we wanted to be ready in case anything spilled over onto our doorstep.

So the Mk 17 SCAR-H carbine I’d claimed back in February was lying on my bed, complete with grenade launcher, weapon light, and ACOG scope. I hadn’t yet reassembled it after giving it a thorough cleaning. That rifle and I had been through a lot together, and it hadn’t let me down. I wished I could keep it.

My body armor and load-bearing vest were on the bed as well. The armor still had Rafael Montalban’s .357 slug buried in it. My vest was stocked with ammunition and even a couple of grenades. The colonel had been adamant about us being ready to fight in case something bad happened, and none of us argued with him. There was no sense getting killed on your last night in-country.

I’d lined my various souvenirs up on the metal shelf that sat against the wall of my room until I figured out where I was going to pack them. The strange wooden puzzle box that I’d found in Adar’s safe was there, and I’d managed to sort of put it back together. Next to it was Rafael Montalban’s elaborate Korth revolver. I’d found my harmonica, too, which I was happy about. I hadn’t played it once since I’d been in the Zoob and had actually forgotten I’d brought it.

On the floor next to the shelf was a backpack full of money. It was my share of the loot we’d stolen from the man named Lorenzo. We’d split it four ways between Tailor, Hudson, Wheeler, and myself. Hudson was taking Wheeler’s share. He said he’d make sure Wheeler’s parents got the money. I had no doubt in my mind that he’d honor that promise.

I’d planned to use that money to pay Exodus for safe passage out of Zubara. Happily, I wasn’t going to need their services now, which meant I could keep the money. My share amounted to about a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars’ worth of British pounds. I also had, stashed somewhere else, a smaller pouch with my half of the money from Adar’s safe.
The spoils of war . . .

I called Ling on the phone she’d given me and told her the good news. She congratulated me but said that if the situation changed I could still call her. We’d made a deal and she’d honor it, she said. She told me that her people would be in Zubara for a few more days, though they were still leaving earlier than planned because of the looming civil war.

There were two quick knocks on my bathroom door, and Sarah came into my room. I smiled as soon as I saw her, and her eyes lit up. We embraced and kissed.

“Hey, you,” she said, looking up into my eyes. “Getting all packed up?”

“You know it,” I said. “I can’t believe how much crap I’ve accumulated since I’ve been here. I hope they don’t charge us for luggage.” I laughed.

“I wonder how long it’ll take us to get home?” Sarah said. “I mean, this boat could be going anywhere.”

“It could be weeks,” I suggested. “Or longer. Who knows? Hell, who
cares?
The important thing is we’re getting out of here.”

“I can’t believe it,” Sarah said, looking down. “After everything we’ve been through, all the people we’ve lost, we’re just leaving. It was all for nothing.”