Chapter Twenty-Four

Hit And Run

When a player leaves the table shortly after scooping a big pot.

o

Somewhere in the desert, Lebanon
Late September 2002

Eroica stood at the entrance of the empty aircraft hangar, his eyes taking in every crate, every box. To his right just inside the entrance was a scaffolding that rose up to the windows. It had tarps draped over it and cleaning equipment stacked at the far end. Apparently, someone had decided at one time that they could fight the losing battle against the dust coating the windows. It was all too clear, or perhaps unclear judging by the grime, that the dirt had won. Eroica glanced upward as he passed the unreliable looking metal structure before turning his full attention to the other end of the building. A group of three men was getting out of a black limousine that was parked at the opposite end. A rotund individual stood back as a metal case was removed from the trunk of the car by the smaller of two men who accompanied him. This could only be Mohammad. Codename or real? he suddenly found himself wondering. The others fell in behind the man as he entered the hangar.

The disguised Eroica adjusted his dark glasses and drew a deep breath to steady himself before tightening his grip on the large suitcase in his own hand. Then he slowly walked to the center of the hangar—alone.

"You're very prompt, Major Eberbach," Mohammad said as he came forward to meet him, stopping several feet away. He laced his fingers together, his eyes going to the large case. "You have the amount agreed upon?"

"Thirty million U.S. dollars," Eroica replied tersely as he set the heavy case on the ground.

"If you would be so good as to show me…"

Eroica slid his dark glasses down the bridge of his nose and looked at Mohammad before pointedly turning his gaze to the case in the possession of the man behind him. So that's why they call it a suitcase nuke. "Let me see what I'm paying for first," he said sternly.

Mohammad continued to grin inanely. He waved a hand and the case was opened, revealing a tangle of wires connected to a canister covered in Russian script and radiation warning labels. Eroica wondered if the terrorist knew that the Major could read Russian. He could not himself, but had been given a crash course so he would be able to recognize the correct markings from forgeries. The case was brought closer, allowing him to examine the contents. It was then that he realized the canister was open—and empty.

He looked up sharply. "We agreed on a fully functional pocket nuke," he said in his best imitation of the Major's disapproving growl.

"And that's what I'm supplying," Mohammad replied amiably.

"How the hell am I supposed to use this without any fissionable material?"

"Ah. That would be another transaction. I promised a functional pocket nuke, not the material that it takes to make it function."

"You bloody bastard!"

"Come, come," Mohammad tut-tutted. "Surely you buy your bullets separate from your gun?"

Eroica ground his teeth and silently counted to ten. The logic was inescapable. "Fine. We'll conclude this business first." He placed the large case flat on the ground and opened it, revealing the cash within. "You wanna count it?"

"No, I trust you to be intelligent enough not to cheat me," Mohammad replied.

Look who's talking about cheating. Eroica did not reply. He was also inwardly grateful the man had declined. Only the top bills were genuine. The rest of the bundles were just blank paper. He held out a hand for the pocket nuke. Instead, he found a gun being pointed at him. He felt his heart in his mouth upon seeing this and found himself grateful that the Major had insisted he wear a bulletproof vest. He took a step back, crossed his arms, and glared at the man. "You won't win a negotiation like that," he said coolly.

The grin on Mohammad's face turned into a sneer. "You think I don't know all about you, Mr.Eberbach? There's a considerable price on your head."

Eroica had to fight to keep his face neutral and gave a disinterested shrug. "So?"

"So, I think I'll take the thirty million and turn you in for the reward. What do you say to that?"

"I say you should take the thirty million and clear off, you al-Qaida son-of-a-bitch," came the real Major's clear voice from the top of the scaffolding.

Mohammad looked up sharply as Klaus rose from behind a tarp that was draped over part of the metal frame and had blocked him from view the whole time. He was holding a Magnum in one hand, which he promptly held straight arm in front of him.

"This bugger's mine," Klaus announced.

Mohammad looked from the man above to his apparent twin in front of him and back. "What the hell is this?"

"Allow me to introduce Agent John Marshall of the CIA," Klaus replied venomously.

"What?" Mohammad took an alarmed step back.

Eroica pulled off his sunglasses, looking up at the man at the top of the scaffold. "God dammit!"

Mohammad blinked. Then he scowled. "You want him, you can have him," he said mildly.

"I'd planned on taking him anyway," Klaus rejoined.

"Will you stop stalking me, you fucking Nazi!" Eroica spat.

Klaus's reply was the Magnum exploding in his hand.

The Earl was lifted off his feet by the impact of the bullet. The dark wig flew from his head as he landed in a sprawled heap on the ground, a pool of blood instantly forming around his head, saturating his blond curls in red.

The man who had been holding a gun on the Earl tried to raise his weapon, but was much too slow. A second shot sounded and he, too, was thrown to the ground, a hole in the center of his chest.

"Well, fat man?" Klaus asked coldly.

Mohammad grabbed the unfortunate man still holding the now closed pocket nuke and pulled him in from of himself to use as a shield. He was so busy trying to protect his own ass that it did not occur to him that the sound of the second shot had been different from the first. Keeping a firm grip on his human shield, he started to back toward the opposite end of the building.

The Major's eyes flashed down to Agent Z, who was lying prone on the scaffold beside him, his eye glued to the scope of a rifle, the barrel of which was peeking out through an opening in the tarp. "Can you take him out?"

"Yes, sir."

Klaus saw Mohammad reaching behind his human shield, and his every instinct told him he was going for a weapon. "Take him."

A shot rang out, and Mohammad was thrown to the ground, a gun dropping beside him. The terrified man who had been in front of him stood rooted to the spot, his eyes riveted on the man with the gun at the top of the scaffold.

"Well…?" Klaus asked in a voice that turned the man's blood to ice.

The unfortunate individual did not take his eyes from the enormous gun pointed unwaveringly at him. He very carefully put the case on the ground, took a single step back, and held up his hands. Then he promptly fainted.

oOoOoOo

Agents had come out of nowhere the instant the confrontation ended. Craig went to the downed Eroica and quickly checked him over.

"How is he?" Klaus asked as he crossed from the scaffolding.

"Out cold," Craig replied without looking up. He was in the process of removing the packet of fake blood that had caused the pool of red liquid beneath Eroica's head. Then he snatched up the dark wig that had been blown off by a small explosive pack that had caused the blood pack to open. It had also triggered a small spray of Eroica's signature knockout gas, which was the reason the Earl was unconscious.

Klaus looked at the prone form and grunted before turning his attention to the bodies of the terrorists. His men were in the process of dragging the man who had fainted to the linoleum that was parked at the far end of the building.

"What should we do with these two, Major?" Z asked, indicated the dead men.

Klaus's first thoughts were to leave them to the jackals. It would be appropriate. Then he reconsidered. "We'll take them with us. Tie up all the loose ends at once."

"Sir?"

Klaus looked up, nodding toward the man being dragged away. "I think he'll be more than willing to cooperate if he thinks he'll get out of this with his skin, don't you?"

As it turned out, the man was more than willing to cooperate. He even gave his real name, Haytham, which amused Klaus. He went on to give the exact location of Mohammad's base of operation, the number of people who would be there, any weapons they might have, and most importantly, he verified that the other two pocket nukes were there.

oOoOoOo

Eroica opened his eyes to find himself in the back of a moving vehicle, Jones at the wheel and Craig beside him, a concerned look creasing the latter's face. He caught his breath, a hand going to his chest.

"You're quite unscathed, m'lord," Craig said mildly.

Eroica sat up slowly, a hand going to his spinning head. It came away with sticky red goo on it. He wrinkled his nose in disgust before asking, "What hit me?" He rubbed his chest adding, "Other than a bullet."

Craig somewhat guiltily explained that the bulletproof vest the Earl had thought to be protecting him from the terrorists was actually to protect him from the Major. Rather then firing a blank, as the Major had said he would do, he had fired a live round in order to believably knock the Earl to the ground. The Major had also arranged for Craig to conceal the knock out gas in the wig with the explosive charges. This way, when the officer triggered the device himself, he would not have to rely on Eroica's reflexes to convince the terrorists that he had been shot.

Eroica stared at the other man in a stunned silence. Then he felt himself getting very angry. God damn that German! It's his way of getting back at me. I'm gonna kill him when I see him again! I swear to God, I'll kill him.

Craig saw a dark cloud pass over the Earl's face and drew a deep breath. This was really going to get ugly. At the rate they were going the men actually would kill one another.

oOoOoOo

While Eroica's car sped back to the hotel, Klaus and his Alphabet sped toward the terrorists' base. They were counting on the fact that it would be dark by the time they arrived, as well as the fact that the men in the camp would be expecting their leader to be returning.

Haytham, the unfortunate from the buy, led the group in, calling out to the sentry that all had gone well. He never quite learned what took place after this. As soon as he heard the first shot fired, he fainted dead away.

The Major's men found themselves wishing that they did not know exactly what took place in the camp. After the first shot, it seemed as though all hell broke loose. The men in the camp firing wildly, and foolishly leaving the lights burning. Within a few minutes, all was quiet.

The Major ordered the bodies of Mohammad and all his men placed within one tent while the camp was searched. The other two suitcase nukes were located in short order, being exactly where Haytham had said. All the weapons present were also collected and removed.

Klaus watched as the cases were being loaded into the terrorists' own vehicles. Three working nuclear devices, he reflected. All it would take was the smallest amount of radioactive material and one would have a very nasty, dirty bomb. If these had gotten into the wrong hands...

"Sir, what do we do with him?" someone asked, indicating the still unconscious Haythem, and returning the Major to reality.

Klaus looked at the man whose name meant Lion and grunted. They should've called you mouse. "Leave him," he said at last, turning to watch as the camp was set ablaze. "Someone needs to tell the others what I think of terrorists."

The next day, one message flew through the terrorist network. "If you try to buy or sell it, I'll kill you." They had been waiting for Iron Klaus to make his move, prove he had truly gone rogue. Now it was all too clear that he had not just gone rogue, he had gone completely insane.

oOoOoOo

NEXT: Chapter Twenty-Five - Bust