True to her word they crossed the bridge over the Inland Waterway to Amelia Island at 2:50 a.m. Another ten minutes, and they pulled up to the Amelia Island Plantation gate. Jack gave the guard his name and address and received a residence pass in return. He guided Kathy the short distance to the Brandon residence. Kathy followed the driveway around to the back and stopped in front of the three-car garage. All the outdoor lights were on, including the pool lights and the indoor sensor lights.

Kathy asked, “Are we alone?”

“No one’s here but us. The Vietnamese couple who make this place work don’t live here. I told them we were coming in late tonight, and they left the house ready for us.”

Kathy said, “I should have told you earlier during our true confessions period, one of my nearly uncontrollable passions is skinny dipping. Can you handle that?”

“Not only can I handle it, but I should have confessed the same thing. Hope you don’t mind Shadow joining us. He loves the pool and the swim would be good for him.”

They helped a wobbly Shadow out of the wagon. Shadow knew where he was and went directly to his favorite outdoor spot. Kathy didn’t bother to use the poolside dressing room. She was naked and in the pool before Jack had his shoes off. A few minutes later Jack joined her after dimming the outdoor and pool lights. Shadow was the last one in. Kathy swam toward Jack and Shadow, then did a clean surface dive, emerging right in front of Jack. She looked up at him, smiled, and put her arms around him. She thought, this guy even looks better with his clothes off.

His dark hair always managed to come partially down over his forehead. Kathy felt his green eyes looking deep into hers. She had watched him as he walked to the control box near the pool house to dim the lights. He moved with the power and grace of the big cat family.

Kathy quietly said, “I’m not ready to sleep with you yet, but I think your driver deserves a hug and a good kiss.”

Jack smiled and put his arms around her and pulled her gently against him. He felt her arms and legs go around his body. She ran her right hand over the bullet wound scar on the left side of his butt and said, “Where did you get that?”

As Jack started to answer, Kathy put her hand over his mouth and said, “Later,” and pulled his lips down to hers. The kiss grew. Kathy, feeling her desire growing out of control and noticing Jack’s arousal, gently pushed him away and said, “Whoa, big guy. I’ll come to you some night soon. For now I feel wonderful and very safe. And besides Shadow is watching us.”

Jack laughed and said, “He’s never seen anything like this before, and I hope he gets to many, many times.” Shadow had finished his dip and, despite his healing wound, was trying to shake off droplets of water.

Early the next morning, the United Airlines flight with Anita aboard landed at Jacksonville International Airport. Her rental, a white Cadillac CTS, awaited her. Forty minutes later she was approaching the Long Point gate on Amelia Plantation. Anita pressed the marked button on the remote Jack had given her, and the gate into the posh community swung open. The Brandon house was at the very end of Riverview Road.

Anita drove through the open gate and around the driveway. She was impressed with the privacy and setting provided by a high brick wall and perimeter plantings. The Brandon property was isolated on a spit of land projecting into the Amelia River. The house looked rather ostentatious from the outside. Anita thought, no matter, she could live here. Driving around back, the magnificent gardens, featuring low blooming azaleas around the swimming pool, came into view. She was lost in the magic of the setting until she heard Kathy yell, “Park your wheels and come on in. The water is great.”

***

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan. 

Kathy cocked her eye at Jack and said, “Okay. Remember you asked for it. I had a good upbringing. No traumas of any kind. No family drama. We weren’t rich, but I don’t remember ever wanting for much. I have two brothers, one just a year older than I am. We were very close. He’s the one who was killed visiting the Twin Towers on September 11. That’s the reason I hate the Muslim terrorists so much. It is a war and I am ready to fight it. The other brother is two years younger and is not much for keeping in touch with family.

“I was the tomboy of my crowd and maybe the pack leader. I was a good tennis player and won a couple of state tournaments in my early teens. I’ve always liked sports and need to keep active. I’m quite good in the water but not in Anita’s class. I won some events in high school which, by the way, was in Chapel Hill. When I graduated, I went to the University of North Carolina also in Chapel Hill, and majored in political science, languages, boys, pizza and beer. School work was easy. CIA contacted me through the head of my department my senior year and made me an offer. It sounded great and it was. Excellent training with a feeling of belonging to an organization that cared about me.

“If you were good and a bit lucky, good assignments and promotions came quickly. I was always good at languages, which helped me get posted to Russia and the Middle East. Work was everything and I loved it. Not much time or opportunity for long-term relationships.

“Romances were short and sweet. Not many people know this, but I was married once. It lasted six months and then I was out of there. I wasn’t about to have to fight the jerk I married every time he had a few drinks and wanted to prove his manhood. The last time I hurt him pretty badly. It was ugly. Anyway I got away. Not too much baggage and I still like to be around men rather than women.

“My father died while I was in Moscow, and two years later my mother was in the beginning phase of Alzheimer’s. When she worsened, I moved her to a full care facility in Richmond, Virginia. CIA was good enough to assign me to Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, so I could visit her nearly every weekend. Her care was taking most of my paycheck and a Headquarters tour for me was not the same as being an overseas operative. Too much red tape, wringing of hands over legal issues and far too much management from the Congressional Oversight Committees. Those people don’t understand what a war on terrorism means or what it takes to fight it. I was getting restless when the wonderful man, who runs the Counter Terrorism Center at CIA, told me he knew of a great job with an organization on the outside with good pay and a need for people like me and asked was I interested? Yes! Yes! I was interested. And when I met you and we talked about the job, I thought these kinds of opportunities are rare in life. I’m glad to be working with you and Anita. And thanks to you I have more than enough money to pay my mother’s medical expenses.

“My mother is now pretty far gone. The doctors tell me she will not live out this year. Mom hasn’t recognized me for over a year. To me, in one sense, she died a while ago. We were very close.”

Jack could see a few tears running down Kathy’s face, handed her a Kleenex, and said, “I’m very sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

“Nonsense, Jack Brandon! Talking is good for me. I seldom do it. I must feel very safe revealing my innermost secrets to you. Anyway what you heard is my story. I am challenged and happy working with you and Anita, who is a wonderful piece of work. I probably wouldn’t have stayed at the CIA. I clashed several times with the process people. I want to believe that you will keep me as part of this wonderful group of people. Oh, and I like my name and don’t like shortcuts like Kat. Okay?”

“Hey! So Kathy it is. Anyway I like your work. I’m glad you are here. As my father taught me, change is inevitable, and good leadership knows when to make the changes. Just between us, I’m not sure what or where we will be in five years. I want the Yuri network finished, one way or the other. Then we can regroup for the future.”

“Thanks for being so candid with me. Promise you’ll give me a long notice, if you don’t need me or want me around anymore.”

“You got it. I had two reasons for asking you to make this trip with me. I wanted to talk to you and get to know you better, and I wanted to checkout your widespread reputation as a driver.”

The radar detector chirped and a female voice said, “KU band detected.” Kathy braked hard to get down to seventy mph. “The sneak must be just around the next curve. Yep, there he is,” pointing to a squad car hidden near the top of a grassy bank. “My fuzz buster just saved you a bunch of money.”

A short time later Jack said, “Traveling at warp speed is tiring me out. Is it okay if I take a little nap?”

Kathy nodded her head. Focused on the road and impatiently scanning for the squad’s possible companion, she didn’t even notice Jack dropping off. They were just passing Savannah after eight hours of driving when Jack blinked and noted the speedometer was holding steady at just over 100 mph.

Seeing he was awake, she said, “Okay, sleepy head, how about buying your driver something to eat? Shadow is also awake and hungry. A decent truck stop is at the next exit open 24/7. We should be on Amelia Island by 3:00 a.m. unless you want to drive again.”

“Sure, it’s okay – if you can slow down to 60 before we hit the parking lot.”

“Coward.”

***

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan. 

Two days later Jack and Kathy pulled out of the garage and headed south. Anita had some personal business to attend to and promised to fly down the next day. Some hours later as they were passing Rocky Mount, NC, on I-95 South, Kathy said, “ Pull into the next rest stop and let Shadow stretch and me use the ladies’ room.”

Jack said, “Good idea. You made a good choice. This little wagon moves along nicely.”

Kathy laughed and punched a button on the display unit showing Jack had averaged 52 miles an hour. She said, “At this rate it will take us two days.”

Partially to amuse herself but more to encourage Jack to pick up the speed, Kathy had read portions of the operating manual aloud. However, Jack wasn’t interested in making time, he’d been trying to find an opening to ask her if she had anyone in her life but couldn’t find the right moment. Maybe while they were walking Shadow.

Jack slowed and eased into a parking space at a North Carolina rest stop. Shadow was glad to get out. It was easier for him to get in and out of the lower BMW wagon than the old Cherokee.

When they were ready to leave, Kathy held out her hand for the keys and said, “My turn.” By the time they merged onto I-95, she was cruising at 80 and adjusting her fuzz buster. After getting a feel for the traffic, she upped the speed to 90. Grinning at Jack, she said, “I really love to drive fast cars. It relaxes me. Now tell me about Shadow.”

Jack laughed, “There is a short answer and a long one. If you bear with me, I’ll give you the long one.”

“Good. I’m really interested. Give me the full treatment.”

“Okay. You asked for it. Shadow is a Bouvier. The breed was developed in Belgium and France as herding dogs and to pull small one-man carts loaded with produce, such as milk cans. Bouviers were heavily involved in both world wars and very nearly exterminated by the Germans. The U.K. and later the U.S. played a big role in bringing back the breed.

“Since then the dogs have been used as police dogs, herding dogs, personal assistance dogs and just plain pets. The Bouvier has always been enthusiastic about working alongside his owner. So a lot of what you see Shadow doing, he just does.

“He’s been through watchdog training, but I’ve not made a concentrated effort to train him. I believe beyond a few basic commands, overtraining can take the sense of freedom and spontaneity from the dog and fundamentally change the relationship. Shadow seems to know what I want from him and tries to give just that. I try to be aware of what he is communicating to me and act accordingly. In a sense we own each other. Shadow is incredibly stoic. In fact, the breed is known for that.

“One day while charging through a brush pile in hot pursuit of a squirrel, he ran a sharp end of a broken branch from a downed pine tree deep into his chest. Beyond a yelp and a gathering of his strength, he walked home with me. When I examined him more closely at home, I saw the deep hole in his chest. The vet said another half-inch to the left and the branch would have penetrated his heart. That’s why I’m sure Shadow will recover from his gunshot wound. He’s one tough guy. That’s the long answer.”

While Jack had been talking, Kathy was reading between the lines. Kathy liked the character she saw emerging. From her standpoint, Jack was telling her as much about himself as he was about Shadow. Here was a guy who didn’t even want to dominate or micro-manage his dog. He communicates better with his dog than most people do with their families.

Kathy became aware Jack had stopped talking and was looking at her and waiting for a response. She looked over and said, “That was not such a long answer, but I understand you and Shadow a lot better. I’ve some other questions. Some personal, if that’s okay.”

“It’s okay, if I get equal time. You go first.”

“A woman wonders when she meets an attractive man in his early thirties who is not in some sort of relationship with a woman. Did you give up on us girls after your divorce? Or is there someone nobody knows about out there?”

“Hey, you cut right to the chase don’t you? But fair enough. I’ve been separated for more than a year now and divorced for several months. People talk about friendly divorces, but mine was not. It was a nasty process. As much as I tried to keep things civil, it didn’t work. I wasn’t happy in the marriage but was trying to make it work. Marsha was the one who wanted out. She had grown up in a family with money and was quite comfortable financially before she married me. She resented having to live on my salary as a police officer in a large city.

“I wanted kids and she didn’t. She couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel and decided to leave me for a richer man. She never suspected my father was very wealthy. Like the rest of our marriage, the bedroom was not a happy place. I never strayed, but it was getting increasingly hard not to. So I didn’t fight the divorce. I ended up with Shadow, who disliked Marsha from day one, my books, our very modest house and all the bills.

“I may have given you too much information, but that is the story in condensed form.”

Kathy’s last question was about Jack’s love life. She laughed when Jack replied, “Love life! What is that?”

“Now, it is my turn. Tell me the Kathy Grayson story.”

***

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan. 

Three days later, the Brandon letter about the New York bomb cell, mailed from a busy camera-free location in Baltimore, arrived at its destination, Maryland State Police Headquarters, ATTN: Deputy Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Terrell. LtCol Terrell, the officer-in-charge of the Maryland State Police Counter-Terrorist Task Force, sat at his desk drinking his first office coffee of the day, savoring what he hoped would be a routine day allowing him to attack his damn inbox. His hope shattered when Alicia walked in with his morning mail.

Rather than drop his mail on top of the overflowing inbox, as was her custom, Alicia handed him an envelope and said, “Colonel Terrell, I think you should look at this one.”

“And why should I do that? You screen my mail. Tell me about it.”

“No, you should read this one yourself. I think it may be too important for a simple ‘we will look into it’ note.”

“Okay. Okay. Give to me!” Terrell took the letter with the attached envelope and leaned back in his chair with his feet on the desk to read the letter his usually unflappable assistant thought he should see right away. Thirty seconds later he yelled out to Alicia to call the superintendent and tell him he was on his way to his office.

After reading the letter, the superintendent asked his deputy what he thought. Terrell said, “I can’t believe it! How could this guy know about the weapons we found, that a total of four shots had been fired from the weapons, identified the rifles, told us the positions of the bodies and that one was wearing glasses? No one outside of us and the Bureau knows all that. And how about the data on this so-called New York cell and their plan to explode two car bombs between the first and the fifteenth of May? He has given us the names, addresses and descriptions of the bombers. I know one thing. We cannot sit on this. It has got to go to the Bureau right now. Hell, it’s already the twenty-eighth of April.”

The superintendent said, “I agree. Call the head of the FBI task force and tell him we are coming right over, with a hot terrorist lead.”

So far no one had done anything to protect the letter or envelope for later forensic analysis, just as Kathy and Jack had hoped.

After the story about the hillside killings a few days before, there hadn’t been anything new in the media. This morning, however, the spokesperson for the Maryland State Police said they had been told by someone working in the restaurant about a white Jeep station wagon parked at the bottom of the lot about the time the police believed the activity took place. The police spokesperson asked the public to come forward with any information regarding the station wagon reported to be a 200l or 02 model seen anywhere in the general area of the shooting about 6:00 p.m. on Monday the 15th of April.

After the morning news anchor had moved on to other news, Jack said, “That’s the advantage large official organizations have in solving a crime. They have the resources to pick any number of loose strands and start the unraveling process. The Jeep will be a dead end because we took steps to keep any of the cars from being traced back to us. To quote my Dad, ‘no detail is too small for attention. Do not overlook any parts of your execution plan.’ Authorities can recover from mistakes. We cannot.”

Jack asked Kathy and Anita if they saw any loose ends.

Anita said, “The honest answer is I don’t know. I’m satisfied with our precautions at the restaurant. The Tilghman Island operation has the potential for more loose ends. We had a boat, a marina docking and the chance of a bystander reporting some of the action at the Morgan Marina, but our precautions were pretty good. All bills were paid in cash. All IDs were in various aliases. No brass was left on the scene. By the time all the firemen and police and gawkers walked all over the area, it is unlikely any footprints could be cast. It has not yet been designated a crime scene. When the Maryland cops identify the two dead shooters as Morgans from Tilghman Island, the Marina will be gone over with a fine tooth comb. Every day that goes by without identification is in our favor. You and I came back to the Zodiac through the marsh grass at the marina on a dead run. Footprints in soft soil are always a possibility. The boots we wore are long gone. In this business it is always dangerous to believe you are home free. In this case, I feel we are okay.”

***

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan. 

The evening TV news carried more detailed media coverage of the hillside shooting. The story also played as a secondary story on the front page of several newspapers. The coverage noted the unsolved mystery of the killing near the Fisherman’s Inn in Maryland had a number of disturbing aspects. The dead men still had not been identified. A preliminary DNA analysis indicated two of the men were members of the same family. Most likely they were father and son. Although both rifles had been fired, the bullet from one of the bodies at the crime scene did not come from either weapon. The police had not released any information on the type of weapons carried by the men or what they were doing on the hillside behind the restaurant.

A source close to the investigation told the Sun the police had found a place where a vehicle had been parked off a little-used Great Falls Park fire road. Some casts of footprints had been collected from the site. The report of a vehicle hidden nearby led to speculation a third party may have been involved. The police have no idea regarding a possible motive for the bizarre shooting. Nevertheless, a beefed up Task Force has been formed to investigate a number of recent shootings in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area to see if any ties exist between the killings, starting with the shooting of Representative Cohen.

That same evening with everybody gathered in front of the late night news, the anchor said, “According to an AP wire flash San Francisco Mayor Carol Richland has just been killed by an unseen shooter as she was leaving a homeless shelter. We have no other information, except she was shot multiple times and died on her way to the hospital. Richland was well liked and had been expected to win a second term. A police spokeswoman promised a news conference at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Coast Time.”

Everyone looked surprised. Kathy looked at Jack and said, “That mission was not on Yuri’s DVD, but it has to be someplace in Yuri’s records.”

She went to get her notebook and to go through Yuri’s DVDs and hard drives again to see if they contained any more surprises. Kathy worked all night searching through Yuri’s records. It was almost morning when she discovered a hidden file on the C-drive containing Yuri’s recent instructions to his network. She also found a way into his email account and a history of postings to an obscure web page. She printed her new findings, making copies for Jack and Anita. She thought more secrets could be in Yuri’s material, but what she found today meant they had to change their priorities and timetable.

After a two-hour sleep, Kathy rolled out of bed and, after showering and washing her hair, joined Jack and Anita in the breakfast nook. Jack thought, this lady looks great in her blue warm-up suit. She enjoys living on the edge. The morning sun glinted when it struck her blonde streaked hair.

She noticed Jack looking at her, smiled and said, “Hey, how about some decent coffee? It’s too damn early for a gin and tonic. A couple of scrambled would hit the spot. I worked all night on the Yuri records.”

Kathy thought Jack’s smile was intoxicating. She had a “drunken attack” when Jack smiled at her. She thought, God, I hope it doesn’t show.

“Okay, you got it. But your news better be good.”

“Urgent it is. Good it’s not.” Jack put a steaming cup of Oren’s Columbia Roast in front of her and said, “Talk.”

“Thanks. Here goes. Late last night I had a couple of insights and found a way into Yuri’s email and a hidden file on his hard drive. I was looking for anything that might add to what we know about his mission planning and scheduling.

“According to what I found, nothing changed in the mission for the ‘Primus’ cell in New York.”

Here Kathy took a long drink of her coffee and announced, “Here comes the scary news: it is not on the DVD but on the hidden file on the hard drive. The Yulee, Florida cell’s mission has changed from the version in the DVD. Apparently Yuri decided to move up the bombing mission time schedule for the bomber cell in Yulee, Florida, to match the bombing mission in New York City. He instructed “Crystal,” the leader of the cell, to carry out two large bombings in Florida between the first and fifteenth of May. Today is the 25th of April. Not a lot of time for us. I think he first recorded his operational information onto a hidden file on his C-drive and then transferred it to a DVD when he had the time. No matter how well you hide stuff on your hard drive, someone will find it with enough time. Yuri was too much of a pro to carry incriminating information around with him on his notebook.

“The killing of the San Francisco mayor was the work of his San Francisco cell. And here is the really bad part. He identified you and your father and sent the information, including your pictures, to what looks like an al-Qaeda web page asking for help in dealing with these dangerous people. He sent this information three weeks ago after raiding your father’s mailbox. I couldn’t get anything else out of the website.”

“Okay!” Jack said, looking across the table at Kathy. “We can’t stay here anymore. I believe we should immediately set up in our house on Amelia Island. If you and Anita agree, we can drive down with Shadow, and we can use the Florida house as our headquarters. I can handle any estate requirements by fax or messenger service.

“No way can Lee Jensen find us the proper place to live up here with enough security and space for us to run our activities in less than a couple of months. And we can’t stay in this apartment long term. It might be known to the terrorists and it’s too small. Also, I told Lee to find me a builder and an architect to build a house on the burned site of my dad’s old home. The noise and activity will drive us all crazy. You and Anita can move in with me. I don’t see any down side.”

Anita said, “Let’s do it. When do we move?”

Jack replied, “Very soon. We don’t need to take any weapons from here. Every house my dad owned has a cache of basic weapons. I’ve never seen them, but I do know how to find and open the hidden compartments. I think there’s enough in the Florida house for us. I’ll contact a moving company and put the safes and some of our stuff in storage. Florida, here we come.”

***

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan. 

After lunch, Anita and Kathy stayed in the kitchen talking. Jack came into the kitchen and said, “I checked the wire services and the eastern shore papers. They contained a news item about an exploding propane tank causing a fire. Three people died in the explosion and fire. Their identities are being withheld until positive identification can be made. I also checked on the progress of the Maryland State Police investigation of the three dead bodies at the Fisherman’s Inn. The latest bulletin said the men had been armed and apparently had fired their weapons. The weapons are now undergoing ballistics analysis. More information will be given to the media as the investigation moves along.”

Anita said, “Obviously, they must suspect something other than an ordinary case of three guys shooting each other. At least one of my shots was not a through and through, and they probably will find at least one of our slugs from the bodies and discover it was not fired by the weapons the men held. Then the investigation will move to a higher level. If, and I say if, those weapons are matched with any of the recent sniper hits, this investigation will be taken over by the Feds and splashed all over prime time TV and front pages.”

Jack said, “Well, we’ve done the best we can do with the Jason cell. Let’s move on to the New York Bomber cell. I’ve got some ideas I want you to hear.

“I’m worried we have so much going on requiring our 24/7 attention that we are going to get tired and make mistakes. Look at the problem in New York. We don’t have the resources to take down the cell in one quick strike, but we have a near perfect tip to give to the cops or FBI. The problem is we have no credibility, and tips like this one might be sat on for too long. We have nearly complete data on the New York cell. We know who they are and where they are. We even know what they plan to do and a time frame for their action. From my experience on the police force, our information seems to be a slam dunk for any law enforcement organization. We need to give them some hard information they can quickly and easily check.”

Kathy replied, “Yeah, okay. But data from unknown sources have about a 90 percent chance of being filed away until it is too late. We have to give them something not only solid but attention-getting. I think we should go over the data we have on Jason Inc. and see if we can give them anything without revealing our participation in the Fisherman’s Inn or Tilghman Island action.”

Jack added, “I think we have to include some information that will immediately get their attention. Believe me, they would just as soon investigate us as some vague unknown terrorist organization. Let’s review what we know that the FBI does not, or they know but haven’t released to the media. The more detail the better. The Feebies get off on detail.”

Anita replied, “Okay, we know the IDs of the two dead guys on the hillside. We know where they lived. We know what kind of weapons they carried, and both the Steyr-Mannlicher SSG-69 and the VAL Silent Sniper were fired twice. These are rather esoteric weapons for general use in the U.S. Both are sound suppression weapons ideal for urban sniping.”

Jack said, “Good, we can include information about the weapons as an attention getter. Nothing about these weapons was revealed in the media. I also suspect these weapons were used on other sniper kills. If the Feds make ballistics match with other murders, the proverbial shit will hit the fan. The media will be all over the story. I don’t see how putting the data about the weapons in our message to the FBI could possibly lead back to us.”

Jack continued, “I see the transmission of information to the Bureau being more of a problem than the actual information itself. There are two aspects to the problem. The data itself could not be traced back to us, but the physical aspects of how we get the information to the Bureau could be. A mistake and a fingerprint, a drop of sweat or saliva recovered from the message and the trail to us begins. A phone message can be traced to the site of the call, taped and be gone over by a forensics team including voice print analysis. Accent, education level and sometimes even ethnic groups can be distinguished.”

Anita said, “Jack, you just scared the hell out of me. You are the law enforcement here. Can we send some information to the FBI without getting caught?”

“Yes. We should be able to rough out something in a couple of hours.”

Anita said talking about the FBI made her head hurt, and she was going out for a run.

The next morning Jack and Kathy sat over a breakfast of Belgian waffles and melon. Anita was out walking Shadow before going to a local gym.

Thinking over the FBI problem, Kathy said, “We agreed to tell the police about the weapons. That’s the least threatening to us and would be a powerful statement of credibility for our other information on the New York cell. Now we have to figure out how to send the information to the FBI.”

Jack said, “Agreed, but the real problem is how to get it to the FBI without their crack forensic labs finding something to start them backwards on the trail to us. How about this, instead? We do not send it directly to the FBI. We send it instead to the Maryland State Police, a much smaller and less paranoid organization. A letter mailed to a high ranking state police officer would have a high probability of actually getting to him. By sending it to an office or home, the letter will be handled by more people, and by the time it is subjected to top forensic lab techs, the letter will be so contaminated it will be hard to even start a work back investigation targeted at finding the sender. The information will be so startling, the state police will almost immediately push it up the chain to Homeland Security or more likely take it directly to the FBI.

“The preparation of the letter and the purchase of the paper, envelope and stamp have to be done as you would work a project in a laboratory white room. No fingerprints, no DNA, mailed from outside this area, and dropped in a busy mail collection box in a large metropolitan area with no camera coverage. Everything is handled with gloves and printed on a printer we’ll destroy as soon as the letter is mailed.”

Kathy nodded and said, “Go for it.”

***

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan. 

The next morning Kathy heard a breaking news story and called in the others. The big screen TV was tuned to the Fox News Channel. The Maryland State Police were investigating the deaths of three men found in a wooded area near the Fisherman’s Inn. The restaurant was across the road from a popular entrance to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Park. According to the police briefing, the three unidentified men had been dead for more than a week. Two firearms had been recovered. More information would be forthcoming as the investigation progressed. The TV coverage then switched to a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

Jack said, “The ballistics work on those rifles will almost certainly match a weapon used in some of the recent sniper killings. Their fingerprints and DNA will probably not be on file. The van and motorcycle are long gone, stolen off the street in Anacostia. Cars stolen down there are stolen for good and may become part of an illegal car rental business owning nothing and with no overhead.

“But if the Feds find out those weapons were used in cross-state border killings, they will leave no stones unturned. A task force will be turned loose. If any weapons in the Tilghman Island house survived the fire, they will be sent to ballistics. If they find a match, a top forensic team will rework the house, visitor lists from the hotels, visiting boats in marinas, and all the police and fire reports associated with the fire.”

Anita said, “If the Feds get hot on this terrorist network, it may make it easier to give them leads and watch what happens. While I want Yuri’s entire network, I don’t mind some help from the Feds. After all, they do have a license for this sort of action. The Tilghman Island cell could have killed many more people before they were caught, if ever. While we’re on a roll, what’s next?”

Kathy said, “I’ve something to add from studying Yuri’s list of assets and assigned missions. Five cells, located in Tilghman Island, Maryland, Yulee, Florida, San Francisco, Charleston and New York. I believe the Tilghman cell is responsible for the deaths of Representative Cohen and the mayors of Leesburg and Richmond.”

Kathy went on to say, “Yuri’s mission assignments were at times very specific, as with Representative Cohen and the Secretary of Commerce. Mostly his assignments were generic, leaving a lot of initiative to the doers. He instructed Jason to kill four mayors in a 30-day period, preferably with only a five-day gap between kills. With the death of Jason and his cell, I don’t believe we have to worry about the local mayors. I think the New York City cell is now the biggest danger. Yuri tasked them to set two car bombs anywhere in the downtown metropolitan area between May first and the 15th.”

Jack asked what she knew about the capabilities of the New York cell. Kathy thought for a moment and said, “According to Yuri’s records four people belong in this cell. One is a trained bomber, according to the DVD. This same man is also Yuri’s primary contact, code named Primus. His real name or, more accurately, his permanent alias, is Joseph David Olsen. He is 64 years old.

“Yuri’s files indicate he co-opted original KGB sleeper agents who recruited others over the years. According to Yuri’s files, all of these original sleeper or illegal KGB agents still believe they are working for the Russian intelligence service. We have Olsen’s description, personality traits, family status and address. As long as Yuri’s files are up to date, we should be able to set up this cell for an FBI bust.”

Focusing on Kathy’s response, Jack had to wonder why this very attractive woman was without a significant other. She was never moody or defensive in the give and take during operational discussions. When he looked into her eyes, he could tell someone very bright and full of sparkle lives in there. Kathy could jump from one subject to the next and never miss a beat. Her dress code seemed to favor the fewer garments, the better. Left to her own devices, Jack was sure she would be on some warm beach in a bikini, sporting a stunning tan and holding a gin and tonic in a frosted glass. Jack knew from Frank she needed money. She had a sick mother in a very expensive care facility. Jack’s musing was brought to an end when Kathy told him she wanted to keep digging through Yuri’s DVDs and computer for any more information on the New York cell.

***

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan. 

By mid-afternoon the next day they had worked out a plan to destroy Yuri’s eastern shore cell, the cell instructed to kill mayors of local cities in the Virginia/Maryland area. They decided to go after the cell on Saturday.

According to the contact instructions in Yuri’s file for the Jason cell, a note could be sent through the mail to Jason’s common law wife. Jack told Kathy the note should tell her to have all the cell members in the marina house on Saturday afternoon. She probably wouldn’t be familiar with the exact procedures but would surely open any letter addressed to her. The text could say a messenger was being sent to give her information about Chester and her son Billy. Kathy suggested the note include a thousand dollars in large denomination bills with the promise of more coming with the messenger.

Jack added the tourist traffic on an early spring weekend would provide cover for nonresident movement around the waterfront. It was a bit early for the Morgan’s marina to be very active. Anita suggested late afternoon was the best time to hit the Morgan cell. The parking lot and house were clearly visible from several hundred yards out in the bay.

On Saturday at 11:00 a.m., they picked up their rented thirty-foot cabin cruiser from the Galesville marina on the western shore of the Chesapeake. The cruiser was hired in the name of one of Brandon’s notional paper corporations. After crossing the Bay in intermittent rain squalls, the cabin cruiser dropped anchor just south of the Morgan’s marina, 200 yards offshore. At 4:30 p.m. three cars were sighted in the parking lot.

Leaving Kathy on board, Jack and Anita shoved off in the inflatable Zodiac dingy. A cold, offshore wind was blowing, causing a chop in the water. Even at low speeds, windborne spray soon soaked them.

With the light fading fast, Jack guided the Zodiac north of the marina. When he was a hundred yards north of the marina, he slowed to five knots and with the outboard burbling quietly, giving no hint of its top speed, moved slowly south, cut the engine, tilted the outboard up and gently nudged the shoreline 30 yards north of the Morgan’s house. Anita stepped ashore and moved into cover, giving her an angled view of the front, north side and back of the house. Jack dragged the Zodiac into the marsh grass. Anita moved into position through the high dead marsh grass to the front northeast corner of the rundown ranch house, while Jack circled to the north and settled in a pine grove behind the house. He was carrying a nine millimeter browning handgun and an M79 grenade launcher with high explosive rounds. The launcher looked like a large caliber sawed-off shotgun. Anita was armed with an assault rifle, as well as a silenced .22 caliber Hi Tower pistol. Jack hadn’t been in position for more than ten minutes, when Anita whispered into her throat mike that a man carrying what looked to be a rifle or shotgun was moving into the tree line immediately behind the house.

Jack answered, “I heard his movement. Do not yet have a visual. Be moving up in five.”

Anita replied, “No chances. Play it safe.”

Inside the house at the marina, Maria Stanton, Jason’s common law wife, and Earl Stanton, her older brother, were sitting at a table with a bottle of Jim Beam. Joshua, the younger brother, had been encouraged to go outside with his old 12-gauge Remington pump gun to watch the house, but mostly to get rid of his constant fidgeting. All he wanted to talk about was the great shot he had made on the mayor of Leesburg.

Maria Stanton had called them together to discuss Jason and Billy’s long absence. She also told them if they needed money she could advance some. The promise of money made Joshua come, but he wasn’t going to stay in the house. Joshua was much more comfortable by himself in the stand of pines behind the house. From there he could see the one narrow sandy lane leading to the marina, as well as part of the house.

Joshua was proud of his school dropout status. He had been smart enough to quit before going to the eighth grade. They weren’t teaching him nothing that made any sense anyhow. He knew the tides, shoals and wetlands as well as anyone, and he wasn’t afraid to work. He could shoot, too. His sister’s man Chester had taught him how to shoot using those fancy rifles with the telescopes and wind adjustment knobs. He could hit a man-like target at 700 yards. He had proved his skill by his shot in Leesburg. His uncle Earl had taken the easy shot on the Richmond mayor. Anyone could hit a person from a hundred yards. But Joshua’s real artistry was with his old pump gun.

As Earl always said, “When Joshua throws his old pump gun up, something comes down.”

Joshua loved to run those words of man praise through his mind. Wasn’t nothing going on out here, but he wasn’t ready to go back inside and listen to his sister bitch. Once she got started, there weren’t no stopping her. Joshua shifted the pump gun under his arm as he lit up a Camel. No filter shit for him. He liked a man’s smoke.

Maria Stanton was tired of Earl asking her the same questions over and over, as if she in some magical way could come up with answers. No, she hadn’t heard a damn word from either Chester or Billy since they set off for Virginia. She wished Chester hadn’t taken Billy with him. And no, she had never met the man who gave Jason orders. If someone showed up with word about Jason, they could handle that. Anyway it would just be one man. If they didn’t trust him, they could have Joshua kill him. Joshua liked to kill things. Heavied up with some old anchors and dropped way out in the Bay would take care of him. Wouldn’t be the first time. Of course, they would keep any money he brought. Don’t forget, over the years the man had given Chester a lot of money and Earl had gotten his share, too.

Anita crawled in closer to the house, taking advantage of the high marsh grass to conceal her movement. The ground was soggy, and the wind was picking up. She was cold and wet. Anita thought, give me the desert anytime. They were now in position to take care of anyone leaving the house. Anita worked her way up to the one window on the north side and reported she could see two people inside, one man and a woman. It was nearly time to go. The setting sun was behind them. Anita moved back to her original position.

Jack was moving slowly and cautiously through the low brush and pine tree stand behind the house. He hadn’t seen or heard anything since the first noise of someone moving through the brush 10 minutes ago. Then he picked up the smell of cigarette smoke in the gusting wind. A non-smoker, he possessed a keen sense of smell. Pausing to check the wind again, he moved upwind toward the source of the smoke. Five minutes later he saw the shape of a man leaning against a large pine tree and saw a puff of smoke drifting upward through the pine needles.

Jack had no doubt he could quietly take care of the smoking sentry. Keeping the tree trunk between him and the smoker, Jack moved over the damp pine needles to a point behind the smoker. The noise of the wind blowing through the pine boughs would cover any noise he might make. The man was holding a shotgun under his arm pointing down, a gun safety posture but not one allowing a quick shooting response. With both arms free, Jack put his left hand around the smoker’s face covering his mouth and firmly cupping his chin. Jack pulled hard with his left hand as he spun Joshua’s head in the same direction with his right hand. Joshua heard nothing until this terrible force twisted his neck. The last sound he heard was the crunching snap of his neck.

Only one window was in the back of the house. Moving low and fast, Jack dragged Joshua’s body with the Remington pump gun up under the elevated propane tank and then hurried back to the wood line. Anita was waiting for Jack to start the action with his M79 grenade launcher. Jack radioed he was going to aim for the propane tank snug against the house. He planned to fire high explosive rounds close to the tank to rupture it without leaving any holes in the tank for a forensic investigator to discover. Anita would take care of anyone running from the house. Shooting was the last resort. Shooting left too much evidence behind. The M79 grenade explosion was the signal to get ready to cover the front door.

Checking his watch, Jack saw it was 5:35 p.m. Show time! The first high explosive M79 round hit the cement rockers holding the tank and exploded. One end of the tank torn from its cradle slid to the ground, breaking the connecting lines carrying the gas into the house. Jack heard the escaping gas and fired a second round, igniting the gathering gas and causing a huge roaring fireball singeing the pines in front of him.

Anita heard the first M79 grenade explode and was up on one knee getting set to cover the front of the house. The fireball from the second grenade blew out the windows and front door. The blast knocked her backward. As she was recovering, Jack came running around the house. They headed back to the Zodiac at a full run. With hardly a pause, they scrambled into the inflatable and headed back to the anchored cabin cruiser.

It was after 2:00 a.m. when they pulled up at the Brandon garage under the apartment. With Yuri dead, they didn’t think much danger faced them anymore. No one felt they had left any forensic evidence behind. Even the boat had been wiped down. Jack had picked up his one brass casing from the M79. The other was still in the weapon. Anita hadn’t fired a single shot. Any tracks they had left would be wiped out by the collection of firemen and onlookers wandering around. No one could have lived through the inferno sweeping instantaneously though the house. Anita thought placing the sentry’s body under the propane tank was a stroke of genius. The fire inspectors would probably think the burned body with the shotgun under the tank had somehow caused the blast. The terror caused by the Tilghman Island cell was over.

***

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan.