So, story time. The place where I work in has a central distribution hub from where all the supplies are delivered to the various branches. The workers in that hub have been on strike for weeks (with a few days of work in between) but that wasn't enough to do all the work. So, they asked for volunteers from the various branches to go there and work for a few days. Since they offered a nice daily bonus, I was one of those that went.
Then, one day there, me and five other guys had to carry something really heavy. I was in the middle on one side and we managed to get this thing up. And for some unknown reason, the two other guys on my side decided to let go. The entire weight suddenly rested on my arms and I both felt and heard two almost simultaneous snapping sounds.
That was the sound of both my biceps tearing. What followed was a quick surgery and then two weeks of being unable to even move my arms much. For the first three days, I had to be fed and even had to get my ass wiped, which is very degrading when you're in your forties.
Luckily, I could do it myself after those three days and otherwise do things (except pick up pots and pans, so I had to get food delivered) and writing was out of the question since I couldn't really sit on my chair and reach my keyboard. After a few weeks, they removed the bandages and I could move again. And since I wanted to get a new chapter out before the end of the year, I hammered this down quickly.
But enough of that, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
"Any news?" Leonard asked as he exited the simulator.
"Maybe." Deirdre shrugged. "We got a call from the Canadians that a man matching the Spaniard's description has arrived in Vancouver under an assumed name."
"And the airport didn't scan his case?" Penny wondered.
"Actually, he arrived by ship and managed to leave the harbor area before his case could be checked." Deidre sighed. "He also arrived under an assumed identity."
"How did he leave?" Aaron asked when he joined the group.
"The Canadians checked their CCTV network and found him being driven into an underground parking garage of a hotel. He never checked in and he never left. Eighteen cars left during the day, but none had him inside it."
"So, either he hid in the trunk Pablo Escobar style, or he put on a mask." Ricardo mused.
"Pablo Escobar style?" Leonard looked confused at the latino.
"When Escorbar fled his prison, he had to hide while moving around to bring his old cartel together." Ricardo explained. "One of his men hired a taxi driver called Limón, who employed a female friend of his to act as a customer while Escobar was in the trunk. Law enforcement never suspected that because they couldn't fathom that one of the richest men in the world would hide in the trunk of a car."
"Never knew that." Leonard said, feeling kind of impressed by the ingenuity.
"When did the Spaniard arrive?" Penny asked, bringing the conversation back to topic.
"This morning." Deidre nodded at her. "Since we have no idea which car he was in, we need to assume he's moving towards the border. Given that he's a wanted man, we have to assume that he won't use the official crossings but cross the border by foot away from a crossing."
"The Canadian border isn't as surveilled as the southern one, is it?" Ricardo smirked.
"No." Deidre shook her head. "So the plan stays the same. We'll remain on the lookout for a group of cars traveling south."
"How do you make sure that those cars aren't just driving in the same direction?" Penny wanted to know.
"Because unless they're all driving to a festival or something, it's unlikely that four or five cars keep driving in the same direction without any car ever overtaking another." Leonard explained.
"Correct." Deidre confirmed. "However, to make sure, we probably won't be able to be definitive until they reach the Washington and Oregon state border."
"That will give us twelve hours to stop them." Aaron said. "Less if we want to do this as far away from the destination since it could otherwise mean that this group might send people to help the courier."
"Agreed." Leonard nodded. "We should relocate further north and wait for them."
"Road trip?" Penny asked.
"I'd rather avoid getting stopped by a highway cop who might find our trunks full of weapons." Leonard chuckled.
"We can provide a transport plane within two hours." Vincent said after hitting a few buttons on his ever-present tablet. "Where to?"
"Crescent city." Leonard told him. "If the target arrived in Vancouver and is traveling south, we can assume that they will drive down Interstate Five."
"That makes sense." Ricardo nodded. "We should still be on the ready if they decide to use other roads."
"Yes." Leonard agreed. "We might even be able to make them use some less traveled roads."
"Why?" Penny wondered.
"The last thing I want is getting into vehicular combat on a road that is heavily used."
"Point taken." Penny accepted.
"But we should accept that there might be civilian losses during this operation." Ricardo pointed out.
"I know but we should attempt to not have any." Leonard said. "The last thing we want is nosy law enforcement agencies in multiple states looking for us."
"Agreed." Aaron nodded.
The rest of the conversation boiled down to technicalities while they waited for the arranged transport. After ninety minutes, Vincent told them that it was ready and the four assassins got into the two cars with all their gear, driving behind Vincent in his sedan, who led them towards the Los Angeles air force base.
After having a talk with the gate guards, the gates were opened and they drove inside, nobody checking their IDs or trunks. Vincent kept driving until they reached the airfield, where he exited his car but waved them towards a waiting transport plane with its ramp down. Leonard simply drove on slowly, getting onto the ramp and driving into the plane's cavernous hold, Ricardo following suit.
As they exited, several crew members stepped forward and lashed the cars down, securing the tires to avoid the cars rolling or sliding during the flight. As soon as they were done, the ramp lifted and the plane began moving, taxing onto the tarmac and ten minutes later, they were in the air.
"How long will the flight be?" Penny asked.
"Less than two hours." Aaron replied, his eyes closed as he sat on one of the empty seats, his eyes closed.
"Wow, this is confusing." Penny chuckled.
"What is?" Ricardo wanted to know.
"There's a city called Vancouver directly north of Portland, where the Oregon and Washington border is." she told him.
"Huh, I never knew that." Ricardo admitted. "Vincent, are we sure that they arrived in Vancouver Canada, and not the one in Washington state?"
"Very sure." Vincent nodded. "We found them via satellite and our people have put drones into the air to follow their route."
"Are they taking the Interstate?" Penny asked.
"They do, your partner was correct." Vincent confirmed.
"Sweetie, you were..." she started but stopped when she saw him. "Oh, he's sleeping."
"Napping actually." Aaron corrected and laid down across two seats as well. "Which we should do as well, who knows how much sleep we're going to get once the mission begins."
"Agreed." Ricardo nodded and laid down as well, falling asleep almost immediately.
"Wow, I wish I could do that." Penny sighed.
"If you want to become good in this business, that's a skill you need to learn." Aaron smiled at her before closing his eyes. "Power naps are one of the most important things you need to be able to do."
"Great." Penny huffed when Aaron quickly fell asleep as well.
She did what Leonard was doing, lying down on two of the seats, her legs still dangling from them. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sound of the engines until she realized that by concentrating, she actually worked her brain too much to fall asleep. She changed her approach and simply let the noise of the plane and crew wash over her until it became a unified noise and a few minutes later, she was asleep.
"Wake up." a voice brought her back to awareness, and she opened her eyes to find Vincent standing over her. "We're almost there."
"Right." she nodded and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, sitting up and putting on the seat belt while Vincent woke Leonard and the other two.
The plane landed without problems at the Crescent city airport and they had to wait until Vincent cleared them for departure with the airport officials since they certainly didn't want their trunks to be checked. Once that was sorted out, the group got into the cars again and rolled down the ramp backwards, both pairs waiting for Vincent to come out and lead them to wherever they would wait.
The drive wasn't long, just two miles away from the landing strip and into one a nondescript building close to the airport that had been prepared by other agents to make room for them. Inside the building, Deanna Devers was already waiting, looking at a large screen showing what was apparently a real time satellite picture and another showing footage taken by a drone.
"Is that them?" Leonard asked, seeing five cars driving in a tight formation.
"Yes." Deanna nodded. "They just crossed the border into Oregon."
"Are they going to drive through the night?" Penny wondered.
"It's possible." Deanna shrugged. "If they do, we have to act quickly."
"No, they won't." a young man sitting at a bank of computers interjected.
"What makes you say that, Harry?" Deanna asked.
"I hacked into their car radios." Harry told them. "They were nice enough to get cars with voice control, so they have microphones."
"Nice!" Aaron laughed and joined Harry to look at his setup.
"They're planning on driving all the way to Glendale and rest there." Harry said.
"Did you make a plan of action?" Deanna looked at the group.
"Yes." Leonard confirmed.
"So, what is it?"
"We plan on hitting them here." Leonard pointed to the map to an area on the California and Oregon border.
"Between O'Brien and Idlewild?" Deanna looked at where Leonard was pointing. "On Redwood Highway?"
"Yes." Leonard nodded. "It's comparatively empty, no side roads, trees on both sides and we can make it completely secure by you preempting traffic."
"How would we do that believably without them knowing?" Deanna wondered.
"Wait, you said you have access to their radios?" Penny interjected, looking at Harry.
"Yes, why?" Harry nodded.
"Do their cars have the breaking traffic news options?"
"Of course." Harry said.
"What are you thinking?" Leonard smiled at her.
"Well, before they reach Grants Pass, where the Interstate meets Route One-Nine-Nine, we can give them, and only them, a traffic news bulletin that there has been a pile-up or whatever on the Interstate and it's blocked and telling them to take One-Nine-Nine to avoid it." she described her idea. "And then we can give another traffic bulletin to everyone except them that there was an accident on the One-Nine-Nine in our target area and they should avoid it."
"That's... actually a great idea." Ricardo said, clearly impressed.
"Nice job." Leonard whispered to her, squeezing her side.
"Thanks." she giggled, feeling intensely proud.
"If we manage to do this, you guys have to move in fast to do the cleanup." Ricardo told Deanna.
"We will do that." Deanna nodded towards Vincent.
"I'll make sure a cleanup crew with flatbeds is ready to go." Vincent said. "Also, if someone drives by, us cleaning up what looks like an accident site makes it believable."
"Do you have everything?" Deanna asked the group.
"We got the cars and the weapons." Aaron nodded and handed out small devices to Ricardo, Leonard and Penny. "I have radios for us so we can stay in communication during the op."
"Those are radios?" Penny looked at the small item.
"I built them myself." Aaron told her. "When the op begins, push it deep into your ear."
"How do they work?" Leonard wanted to know while Penny pushed hers into her ear to test the feel.
"It's a bone conduction ear piece microphone." Aaron explained. "It works off the vibrations in your jaw."
"So, we don't have to talk loudly at all, just move our mouths?" Penny was impressed and said something by just moving her mouth.
"Oi!" Aaron yelled to get her attention. "I got mine in already as well."
"Shit!" Penny cursed but couldn't help but laugh.
"What did she say?" Ricardo asked his friend.
"Lets just say, it's something you always complain about me and your sister doing." Aaron winced. "Only a lot worse."
"Hey!" Penny complained. "It's not that bad."
"But thanks for the idea, I think I'll try that with Carmen." Aaron winked.
"Dude, you want to survive the mission?" Ricardo grumbled.
"Oh please, don't act as if you mean that." Aaron laughed. "Your sister would disembowel you."
"Alright, stop this." Leonard clapped his hands. "We should get some rest. I doubt these guys are long sleepers."
"Already?" Penny was confused. "They're not even close to Grants Pass yet."
"True, but we can't get up in the morning like they do." Leonard pointed out. "We'll need to get up at midnight so we can get into position and just in case they take a different route."
"Right." Penny accepted and followed Leonard to the small side area with the sleeping cots.
Using the same technique as before, she let the noises of the machinery lull her to sleep.
"Do you know what this woman looks like?" Connor asked as they waited at the airport.
"I don't." Mark shook his head. "The boss said we would know when we see her, though."
"Have you ever heard of this woman?"
"Can't say that I have." Mark shrugged and looked at the security station, looking at all the people that had exited the flight while holding the sign with the three letters that Patrick had given them.
"I think that might be her." Connor pointed to a woman who was wearing a business suit but seemed uncomfortable in it.
"We'll see." Mark shrugged and they waited until that woman came through security.
"I guess you two are the ones I was supposed to meet." the woman said after approaching them.
"I'm Mark, this is Connor." Mark held out his hand but was ignored.
"Lets not let Patrick wait, shall we?" the woman smiled and started walking, Mark and Connor hurrying after her.
"I'm sorry but you have to wear this." Mark held out a black hood after they had gotten into the car, Mark joining the woman on the backseat. "The boss' location needs to remain a secret."
"Mark, normally I would at least ask you to buy me dinner before we engage in bondage." the woman chuckled but put the hood on nonetheless.
Connor shook his head and began driving. He kept to the speed limit, cognizant of the fact that they had a woman with a hood over her head sitting on the backseat and the last thing he wanted was a cop stopping them. The drive took three hours, during which they passed two police cars but the tinted windows in the back prevented them from seeing the hooded woman.
Finally, they pulled up at the cabin, Mark getting out to open the gate and close it again once Connor was on the property. They helped the woman out of the car and as Mark opened the door, Connor held her arm to lead her inside, where they finally took the hood off. She looked around, seeing the apparently empty cabin until Patrick came out of the bedroom.
"Ah, Patrick, so nice to see you again." the woman smiled and sat down on one of the chairs.
"I wish I could say the same, Sie." Patrick chuckled and sat down at the opposite side of the table. "Sorry about the secrecy, but for reasons I can't divulge, I need to keep my location confidential."
"We are in Aberdeen, South Dakota." Sie said.
"We didn't tell her anything." Mark gasped, looking at his boss.
"They didn't need to." Sie chuckled. "We traveled for one hundred and eighty-seven miles. One hundred and fifteen of those was in the southern direction, another seventy-two in the western direction."
"I forgot that you had this crazy sense of direction." Patrick chuckled.
"This isn't just direction." Connor mentioned.
"I'm jokingly called a human GPS by my men." Sie grinned. "And another educated guess is that the reasons for this secrecy is what Kenta has been up to recently?"
"How is Conrad doing?" Patrick asked, not answering her question except with a pained expression.
"He's alive and well." Sie told him. "He enjoys Rome."
"Oh, what is he doing there?"
"You don't seriously expect me to answer that question, do you?" Sie looked poignantly at him.
"Not really." Patrick chuckled.
"And now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, what services do you require of me?" Sie asked.
"This man." Patrick said, pushing the picture of Alfred towards her as well as a note with the address.
"You hired me because you want an old man dead?" Sie was visibly confused. "Any thug on the street you do that job."
"This man is special." Patrick told her. "He was a highly skilled operative for the CIA and given certain events in the recent past, he has lost little of his skills. Also, I don't want you to kill him, I want him apprehended for questioning."
"Patrick, darling, are you saying that you will spend the millions of dollars it will cost to hire my company to go to Vermont and grab an old man?" Sie smiled.
"I am." Patrick nodded, not smiling. "How many men can you get on short notice?"
"Define short, please?" Sie went back to business.
"Within a week, at most." Patrick said. "How many do you have available?"
"Within a week, I can bring fifteen of my guys into the country but they would be without their weapons." Sie told him. "Smuggling our gear into the country is a lot more difficult."
"I can provide you with weapons and some basic gear." Patrick said. "Nothing too fancy you might be used to though."
"For this mission, basic gear should be enough." Sie shrugged. "It's an old man after all."
"I warn you again, don't underestimate him." Patrick cautioned.
"Patrick, darling, you worry too much." Sie grinned as she stood up. "I'll make the arrangements and then I will do the mission. How do you want to handle him?"
"What do you mean?" Patrick asked.
"When we capture him, do you want to come to Vermont or should we bring him to you?" Sie wanted to know.
"First capture him, then you can call me." Patrick replied, throwing her one of the burner phones. "Number is saved in it."
"Anything else?"
"I want you to wear cameras during the mission." Patrick said. "The gear we will provide will include bodycams."
"Why?" Sie asked.
"I want to see if it goes well because if not, I need to relocate." Patrick pointed out.
"As you wish." Sie shrugged. "You know the deal conditions?"
"A third of the fee now, the rest on fulfillment of the mission." Patrick nodded.
"Good." Sie smiled and handed him a note with the banking information before pointing to Mark and putting the hood back on. "Come on cutie, drive me back to the airport."
"Go." Patrick nodded and Mark left with her.
"Seriously uncle, who is she?" Connor asked after they were gone.
"I don't know her real name, her call sign is Sie." Patrick shrugged.
"What does that mean?"
"It's the German word for she." Patrick told him. "Don't ask me what it means though, I don't know myself."
"She owns a mercenary company?"
"Yes, one of the best but most obscure." Patrick said. "Her company is called the VCI, or veteran combat initiative. Consists only of former professional soldiers that have fought in active war zones. Founded by her father who I worked with in the past."
"She has a German accent." Connor pointed out.
"Because she's German." Patrick clarified. "Her father worked for the West German intelligence service during the cold war. Doesn't change the fact that she's a phenomenal soldier and her unit is one of the best."
"If that's the case, why are you so concerned that she will only take a dozen men with her?" Connor wondered.
"Because I know what Alfred Hofstadter can do." Patrick sighed. "Even if he's old now, I never underestimate my enemies."
"Why would have to relocate if that mission goes south?" Connor asked.
"Because if it does, Albert will find a way to question one of them. And while anyone but Sie wouldn't know where I am, if Alfred Hofstadter gets his hands on her for interrogation, she will spill the beans."
"I doubt torture would make her talk." Connor presumed.
"There's no need for torture." Patrick said. "He has access to certain... concoctions that will make anyone sing."
"You think so?"
"I know so." Patrick looked at his nephew. "I've seen it. Me, him and a few other agents interrogated a Russian officer once and I wanted to just beat everything out of the guy. Alfred stopped me, injected him with something and the officer told us everything he could tell us. And the best thing was, the guy didn't even remember anything. We doused him with alcohol and put him into an alley and when he woke up, he had nothing but a blinding headache, which everyone assumed was a hangover."
"Jesus!" Connor hissed.
"So yes, I will not underestimate Alfred Hofstadter, not a bit." Patrick sighed and pointed to the picture in front of him. "Especially since we have no idea who the other man and the woman is."
"You think they are a threat?" Connor asked.
"Of course they're a threat!" Patrick yelled. "One of them has most likely killed my son! But Hofstadter knows them. And apparently, so does Kenta."
"Does this Alfred Hofstadter have family?" Connor wondered. "Maybe that's his son or that's his daughter?"
"Last I heard, his family got killed over twenty years ago."
"Protege?"
"Maybe." Patrick sighed. "Even so, fifteen mercenaries plus Sie should be enough to deal with them. Your job, by the way."
"What is?" Connor was confused.
"When Sie brings her men into the country, it'll be your job to give them the equipment they need."
"I guess you want me to to use the stash we have in upstate New York?" Connor asked.
"It's the closest one, so yes." Patrick nodded. "Guns, vests and body cams."
"Right." Connor said and wrote it down. "What if they ask for something else?"
"If we have it, give it to them." Patrick shrugged. "This is not the time for stinginess."
"By the way, what will it cost to hire them?" Connor wanted to know.
"Fifteen million dollars." Patrick said. "Five million when they arrive, the other ten after they finished the contract."
"Holy fuck!" Connor cursed. "I hope they're worth the money."
"They are." Patrick nodded. "The VCI is seen as the absolute best mercenary company out there."
"And what if it doesn't work?" Connor wondered.
"Then we will be in real trouble." Patrick sighed. "Alfred Hofstadter might not be a young man anymore but he remains dangerous and he most likely has a lot of contacts in the business."
"Like these two?" Connor looked at the picture again.
"And Kenta." Patrick confirmed. "Now sit down, we need to talk about the security measures of our remaining operations."
"Yes, uncle." Connor sat down across his uncle and grabbed a few documents that showed the disposition of their available men as well as some further possible mercenary units they could hire.
Okay, I most likely won't be updating the story before the end of the year again so I wish everyone a Merry Christmas (or happy Hanukkah or whatever) and a Happy New Year.
But before that, review please :)