The next morning Jack asked Anita if she could research Jason alias Morgan’s business and the area around his house. Jack told her he had done some fishing on Broad Creek bordering Tilghman Island, a closed community. Strangers, except day tourists, wandering around are suspect. They would have to get in and out fast. He doubted the two Morgans Anita and Kathy killed were the end of the cell.

As soon as Anita left to go to the library, Kathy grabbed Jack’s arm and said, “Let’s go. You need your own wheels. I love to buy cars. Just follow my lead and don’t say anything. I know the dealer.”

Twenty minutes later Kathy whipped her vintage Mustang into a BMW dealer on Route Seven just west of Tysons Corner. The dealer knew Kathy was coming and came out to meet them. He asked if she had made up her mind about what she wanted. Kathy told him it depended on the price.

After more than an hour’s discussion, Kathy winked at Jack and said, “Okay, honey, write the man a check for your gunmetal grey X54.8 Beamer Wagon with 25 thousand miles.”

Jack smiled and did as he was told. She grinned at Jack and said, “If it hadn’t been for Shadow, I would have picked something else, but that dog deserves the best. Now let’s drop my Mustang at my house and go get Shadow settled in the first class compartment in the back and bring him home.”

They drove over to the animal hospital to pick up Shadow. Shadow’s doctor met with Jack and told him Shadow was an ideal patient. His immense strength and ability to deal with pain were critical in his treatment. The danger now was in Shadow pushing himself too much, too soon. It would be several weeks before Shadow made a complete recovery. With Kathy’s help, Jack got Shadow into the back of the BMW. Shadow acted so full of himself, Jack thought he wanted to jump in by himself. Once in, he lay down carefully on his left side. Shadow wouldn’t be negotiating stairs for a few more days.

Jack pulled up in front of the apartment and went around to the back of the wagon to get Shadow who was already standing, waiting for the door to swing up. Shadow walked to the edge of the opening and looked down. Jack put his arm under Shadow to keep most of the weight off his wounded shoulder and eased him to the ground. Shadow tugged to go over to the house. Over in front of the burned house, Shadow stared, growled deep in his throat, moved between Jack and Kathy and sat down, leaning against his master’s leg. After a few minutes Jack said, “Come on, Shadow. We’ve a lot of work to do and some adjustments to make.”

After helping Jack get Shadow settled in the garage, Kathy went upstairs to continue analyzing Yuri’s DVD and notebook. Jack watched her climb the stairs and then went to the library to help Anita. Using local library sources and the internet, Anita found the Island Marina. It seemed to be in a rather secluded area of a small sheltered cove off the Chesapeake. A clapboard ranch-style house facing east and a small shack near the dock were the only structures on the property. The marina advertised 20 slips and several small fishing boats for renting to tourists.

Their target area was located south on Route 33 across the Choptank, a right turn to the east on Coppertown Road, to a sandy unpaved road marked by a hand-painted sign “Island Marina Boats for Rent.” They had commercial satellite photography several weeks old showing a marina with several occupied slips, a dockside boat house, and a two- or three-bedroom clapboard ranch house sited against a wooded tree line. A few commercial fishing boats, looking like small barges with a canvas-topped box forward on the bow, were anchored near a wooden pier 30 feet offshore. No other buildings were in the immediate area.

As they were gathering up their papers and maps from the library table, Jack said, “How about we go have ourselves a decent lunch?”

“I’m ready if you are going to pay.”

“Greek. 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. 

Early the next morning Jack borrowed Kathy’s car and left for an 8:30 a.m. appointment with Lee Jensen. Kathy and Anita were already working on the DVDs found in Yuri’s basement. After meeting with Lee, Jack drove over to see Shadow. Shadow was making wonderful progress. When Shadow saw him, he stood up and howled in recognition, almost as if saying, “Get me out of here, the food is terrible!”

Jack rubbed Shadow’s head and talked to him. The veterinarian on duty told Jack, Dr. Green had noted on Shadow’s chart he could go home tomorrow but needed to stay on his antibiotics for the next five days. Jack said goodbye to Shadow and told the staff he would pick up Shadow tomorrow morning.

His meeting with Lee Jensen dealt mostly with implementing his father’s will. Jack signed document after document, counting on Lee to be sure what he was signing was okay. Jack asked Lee to arrange to have his father’s body picked up and cremated.

After leaving Lee’s office, Jack went by the police station. The police had told him it may be better if he did not see his father’s body. But Jack knew he had to say goodbye to his father, and Lt. Gallagher took him to the morgue and left him alone with his father. Jack wept for the last time. He had a perfect place to scatter his father’s ashes after Yuri’s whole network and financiers were finished. It would be a very private service. Except for Lee Jensen and Frank, his father had no close social or business friends. He never attended a church nor joined any organizations.

While Jack was executing his father’s will and visiting Shadow, the off-duty firemen he had hired to recover the two safes were in the process of going through the ruins of the Brandon house. They showed up with a rented crane strong enough to pick up a gun safe and move it to the garage under the apartment. Jack drove directly from seeing his father to the burned house. When he arrived, the firemen had already located the two-drawer safe and were transporting it to the garage. Jack put on some coveralls and boots and went over to poke around the ruins of the house. It was chilly but no rain was falling. A 15 mph wind had come up, enough to stir up ashes. The space over the burned remains of the house was filled with drifting flakes of his father’s life.

Two hours of carefully searching in the ruins produced little of value. Jack hoped he would find some salvageable books from the library, but nothing was left. The fire, water, and the force of the collapse followed by hours of a smoldering burn had finished the Brandon library.

Jack found his father’s PC and carried the CPU out of the wreckage to make sure the hard drive was destroyed. In the end only some antique tools without handles were left. Jack gave those to one of the firemen who said he had a woodworking shop and could restore them. Jack paid off the firemen just before lunch and quiet descended over the home his father had loved. The flower beds were burned and trampled. His father’s prized rose bushes died with their keeper. The firemen gave him the name and phone number of a local salvage business to come in and haul away some of the appliances, brass hardware and other fixtures.

The space above a four-bay car garage made for a nice sized apartment of three bedrooms and two baths plus a large sitting room and Pullman-type kitchen. Since the garage itself was heated, Jack was planning to sleep down there with Shadow when he came home tomorrow. For some reason known only to the original builder, the garage was on a completely separate utilities system.

Kathy made lunch of tuna sandwiches and tomato soup. After a quick lunch they went down to the safes in the garage. The firemen had already sluiced them off. They opened the gun safe first. The dial mechanism was filled with ashes and particulate matter from the fire so the numbers were barely visible. Rather tentatively, Jack sprayed the mechanism with WD-40, spun the dial until it moved more freely, then dialed the combination. Moving the dial back to zero he turned the knob, heard the satisfying sound of the last tumbler falling, and tugged the door open.

The gun safe was found in a pool of water on the ground level. In fact, both safes were in the same room. The firemen told Jack the water had pooled in the low part of the ground floor with no way for it to drain out. Since the safe was watertight, they found the weapons, and aside from some heat damage to one fiberglass stock on a .22 caliber rifle and some apparent scorching of a few polished rifle stocks, the guns stored in the safe looked not too much the worse for wear. The small amount of ammunition kept in the house was consumed by the fire.

Anita said, “YES!” And gave Jack a high five when she saw the three nine-millimeter handguns. “Now we’re back in business. We’ll have to test fire all weapons just to be sure they’re okay.”

Jack said, “I hope we have the same luck for the contents of the two-drawer safe. I want to find some of my father’s personal papers.”

Jack pulled out his wallet and extracted a business card where he had jotted down the combination and began to work the combination on the small safe. Here the sequence of dialing the three-number combination was different: Turn counter-clockwise for the first number, spin past it twice, stop on the third time, spin past the third number once and stop on the second time, and then spin back to zero. After three tries, he turned to Kathy and asked for help.

She laughed and in ten seconds had the door open. There were brown crinkled edges to some of the files but most looked to be in readable condition. Inside was an old metal framed green glass box. The box had an intricate-appearing lock. The antique key was taped to the top of the box. Jack opened the box. He found more detailed notes on the management of the overseas accounts and a number of priceless old photographs. A few were of him at a very young age. In one he was held by his mother. The one he treasured most was of the whole family together when he was about three. There was also a gold necklace and a locket containing a small picture of Jack as an infant. A note on the bottom of the box said the box once belonged to his grandfather. The box also contained a safety deposit box key for a local bank. Jack put the key in his pocket, thinking he would check it out as soon as he could.

The lower drawer contained a water-tight aluminum attaché case. The case held a number of letter-sized brown envelopes, one bulging with diamonds of various sizes. Another larger brown envelope contained bundles of currency in large denominations and two passports, one in the name of Peter Brandon. The other one showed his father’s slightly altered image with the name Joseph L. Black. There were also a few file folders containing information on people.

Kathy and Anita left Jack with his papers and went upstairs, talking about diamonds. Before Jack finished with sorting out the contents of the safe, Anita called down and asked him to come up and look at the printout from Yuri’s DVD. When he got upstairs, Kathy handed him the printout. He was astounded by the detail. Every person in Yuri’s network was identified with a name, picture, address, contact arrangements and the mission they had been given.

Jack wondered if they could turn this all over to the FBI. Nothing they gave to the FBI could provide any chance of leading back to them. Could the FBI be convinced this astounding data was authentic? It could just as well end up in the nut basket file. He had seen plenty of clues called or sent in to help the police solve real and imagined crimes, end up in the dead file folder. If they just sat on the information and played it safe, more people would die. Doing nothing was not really an option. One point seemed certain, the people in Yuri’s network were isolated from each other, so each cell of the network could be treated in isolation. The cell on Tilghman Island had the mission of killing local mayors. Were the two shooters on the hillside part of the same group who killed the mayors of Richmond and Leesburg? Following this line of thought led Jack to the conclusion they had better deal with the Tilghman Island cell themselves.

There just wasn’t time to get their information to the Bureau. First, Jack had to call Frank at the CIA. After dark Jack left the apartment to take a long walk. In back of the McLean Library, he took out a throwaway cell and dialed Frank’s number. Frank picked up on the second ring. Jack identified himself as Nick and said he had some information to pass on. Frank said, “Let’s have it.”

“We killed Yuri and two of his shooters yesterday. The killing site was cleaned up but the bodies are still there. We recovered a DVD concealed in his house describing his entire network, communications, addresses, names, missions and payments. Two of the missions recorded in the DVD point to planned car bombings in New York and the further killing of mayors in Virginia and Maryland. When we can separate the data on the DVD, we will send it to the FBI in time for them to deal with the New York cell. We will have to take care of the cell killing mayors ourselves. I assume you saw the news of the attack on my dad’s house and his death, along with his Vietnamese friends. We’ve confirmed Yuri and his crew were responsible. That’s all I have for now. Your turn.”

“Good work, Nick! You’ve given me all I need for now. If you have any trouble getting the FBI to act, call me again. Remember, don’t hesitate to take action, if it looks like it’s the only way or the best way.”

After silence for a few seconds, the line went dead leaving Jack with the dial tone. Jack looked at the phone and thought, Frank doesn’t have much of a bedside manner. That’s okay. He had done what was required. Anyway he felt much less like a vigilante on the vengeance trail. Now they had to get on with a plan to take out the Tilghman Island cell.

Jack thought he had a good team. Anita was a very cool shooter, wasn’t bothered about killing in self-defense or killing bad guys in any situation. Kathy hadn’t had as much experience but handled herself well. In fact, she probably saved my life. All in all, the trap for Yuri had gone very well. Just like the plan they had developed, not very different from a homicide bust in his old job. He now knew Yuri had led the team that attacked his father’s house and Yuri personally had killed his father. The murderous bastard deserved to die. His death was too easy for the man who killed his mother, father and baby sister. From now on, it was war with these people.

Back at the Brandon garage, Jack parked the Cherokee outside. Yuri’s BMW was already in the garage, leaving plenty of space for the shooters’ vehicle Anita was bringing. After opening the middle garage door, Jack went upstairs to wait for Anita.

Jack found Kathy at the top of the steps. He gave her a hug and thanked her for doing her part so well. She said, “Those bastards deserved to die, and I’m glad they’re dead, but this is the first killing I’ve been a part of up close and personal. It has shaken me. I guess I’m not as tough as I thought.”

“It’s not a matter of being tough. You have to be convinced you have to kill in order to save your life or others. And I don’t mean in a theoretical sense. Yuri killed my father and a lot of other people. His shooters on the hillside were trying to kill me. You and Anita had no choice. I don’t enjoy killing, but I can do it when my survival or the lives of my friends or other innocent people are threatened. In this kind of work you have to believe when the time comes, you won’t let your comrades down. I know it won’t be a problem for you.”

A short time later, Jack heard Anita bring the shooters’ transport into the driveway. Jack and Kathy went down to meet her as she got out of the van. He grabbed Anita, gave her a big hug and said, “Thanks for being so damn good. I never thought there would be two snipers backing up Yuri. He must have arranged for his two-man team to take me out when he gave a signal. I saw him snatch off his hat. There was no reason I could think of for Yuri to pull off his hat. I believe it was the signal to shoot me. You two saved my life. You are my guardian angels from now on.”

Anita laughed and told Jack, “That’s our job. But I must admit we were scrambling to get the second shooter. They were very good. I think they may have been father and son. The son couldn’t have been more than seventeen or eighteen. They had pretty esoteric weapons for here. I left them with their weapons. I fired each of them two times. I left their brass where it fell but picked up ours and brushed out our tracks. I think it’ll take the cops awhile to put the scene together. If we’re lucky, those rifles were used in other shootings, and the cops will have them on record.”

Jack said, “The bodies could be there a day or a number of weeks depending on the weather and the foot traffic on the hillside. Okay! Now we need to clean up any loose ends. Check my thinking and add anything I miss. The Cherokee was exposed in the parking lot for about twenty minutes. We need to get rid of it. Any suggestions?”

Kathy said, “I’ll remove the plates and put on some untraceable temporary plates with quick releases. Park the Cherokee on the street with the keys in the ignition in Anacostia. The car will be gone in a few hours. It’ll become part of the underground ‘rental car’ business in southeast Washington, D.C.”

Anita said, “After we search Yuri’s car and the shooters’ van, we will have to get rid of them. The van we can also park on the street in Anacostia. It’ll be gone in ten minutes. Oh, and there’s a motorcycle in the back of the van. Everything we touched in the vehicles will have to be wiped down.”

Jack said, “Good. I think we should put Yuri’s BMW back in his garage when we go over to search his house. Kathy wore gloves so it wouldn’t need a wipe down. Wipe downs always alert the police forensic team. What about the other stuff we need to get rid of?”

Anita said, “Our clothes, boots and rifle barrels have to go. I noticed a decent tool supply and work bench in the back of the garage. I’ll damage the rifling and drop the barrels in the Potomac.”

“Okay, you and I will get rid of the van, rifles and clothing. Kathy, you have the most spook experience, so put Yuri’s car in his garage and start searching his house. Watch out for surprises. We need some leads to his network. He has to own a computer. Anita and I will join you as soon as we can. We’ll park Anita’s car down the block and walk to Yuri’s place. We’ll go around the back and knock three times on the door. No phones. Okay, let’s see what we have in these vehicles.”

Jack and Anita began their search of the van. After an hour of searching and wiping, it was clear the shooters were professional. They carried no ID on them. With the exception of the keys and camouflage face paint, nothing was in their pockets. Paper food wrappings from Hardee’s, gas receipts and bridge toll receipts were on the floor, with an operating cell phone in the glove compartment.

Both the van and the motorcycle had alternative license plates, probably stolen. Finally, they found a hidden compartment under the floor in the back of the van containing $25,000 cash, Maryland driver licenses, documents with phony names and addresses, and some bad sketches and time notations, probably casing data. The driver’s license and registration indicated both vehicles were owned by a Chester Allan Morgan, age 63, owner of The Island Marina on Coppertown Road, on Tilghman Island. The other shooter was William Harry Morgan at the same address, probably father and son.

With Anita following him in her car, Jack drove the shooter’s van with the motorcycle inside down to a side street in Anacostia and parked it with the keys in the ignition. They followed the same procedure with Jack’s Cherokee.

Kathy eased the BMW into the garage. She picked the lock on the door leading from the garage into the house and checked for traps but found none that would show someone had opened the door in his absence. She was still searching the house an hour later when Jack and Anita showed up. She looked for concealment places but didn’t find anything until she started tapping on the blocks in the basement. Yuri had removed a cement block from the wall in a dark corner and replaced it with a metal box of the same size with a fake cement front. Removing the fake front, she reached into the hidden recess in the wall and pulled out the metal box containing a bundle of cash in hundreds, fifties and twenties, three passports and two DVDs.

She hadn’t found a computer in the house, although she had seen him carry a notebook computer. It must be hidden either in the house or in the car.

Calling up to Jack she asked him to search Yuri’s car for a notebook computer. Jack went back to the garage and a short time later came back with a Dell notebook he had found under the BMW’s passenger seat. Keeping their gloves on, they once again searched the house and after finding nothing else of value, they left separately by the back door. Kathy used her tools to lock the door and joined Jack and Anita by her parked car in the next block.

Safely back in the apartment, Jack hosted a drink to his father and said, “Dad, we made a good start. I wish you were here to celebrate with us. Now we’ll get the rest of them.”

Just as Jack was finishing his drink and preparing to call it a night, a news flash appeared on the screen catching their attention. The anchor in a somber broadcast voice announced, “An hour ago, unidentified gunmen killed two people, one man in Richmond and a woman in Leesburg. Both appear to have been killed with a single shot fired from a distance. Not much else is known at this time, but both people were sitting mayors in Leesburg and Richmond.” The announcer promised further details soon.

Jack said, “I’ll bet the shooters are part of Yuri’s group.”

Kathy commented, “We can hope so. I hope the police get some good ballistic evidence, but for now we have to concentrate on Yuri’s records. I found no weapons, only a box of .38 hollow tip rounds. The Dell notebook Jack found in the BMW hasn’t been searched. The box contained three passports of different nationalities, $200,000 in cash, and best of all a couple of DVDs.”

Anita said she was bushed and needed a good sleep. Jack, too wired to sleep, was surfing the channels trying to find a classic western. Self-defense or not, killing another human was hard even when it was a monster like Yuri. Eventually Jack relaxed, gave up his search for the perfect western movie and went to bed.

After receiving the phone call, Yuri put in a panic call to Jason from his house. He talked for five minutes with Jason, who said he could be in the Washington area by 3:00 p.m. and in place at the meeting site by 4:00 p.m. They worked out their plan. Yuri had eaten at the restaurant several times and was able to give Jason a detailed description of the meeting site. Yuri told Jason he believed he could handle the problem himself, but if things got out of hand he would take off his hat as a signal for Jason to kill the man. Yuri would then put the body in the man’s car and walk to his car parked some twenty meters away and drive off. Jason would travel through the bush back to his hidden van and drive back to Tilghman’s Island on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay and wait for further instructions.

Jason switched off his cell phone, looked over at his son and said, “I don’t like this. No time to do a proper look around for escape routes, shooting lanes and sun angles. We don’t have a good cover story for being in the area, too much of a scramble. I also didn’t tell our control you were with me. I figured that’s my business and I could really use your help on this one. You shoot better than I do.”

“Dad, let me do the shooting, you cover me and our escape route.”

“Okay, Billy, let’s do it your way.”

By the time Jason and Billy went over as many details and options as they could without knowing the scene, they were within a few hundred yards of the restaurant.

It was now 3:45. Anita and Kathy had been in place for 25 minutes. Anita selected both shooting positions. There had been plenty of time to assemble the rifles they carried in black gym bags. Anita took a position higher on the hill with a clear view of the terrain below her down to the parking lot, but probably would not be able to cover Jack’s car from her position. Kathy’s lower position, much nearer the parking lot, allowed her to backup Jack in case he needed help with Yuri or a second Yuri backup car actually pulled into the parking lot. Jack had to be careful not to let his car or his body screen the line of fire to Yuri. Their camouflaged hunting gear and the high dead grass made Anita and Kathy almost invisible in their shooting positions. Only the camouflaged rifle barrels protruded slightly from the sniper nests. Anita thought, it is a real luxury to work with another trained sniper. Jack would set up the target for them. Using the micro communications system Frank had left them, Anita checked with Kathy to make sure they were both ready. Anita trusted the sight alignment of both rifles because she had tested them before she put them in the storage unit Frank set up. Their longest shot would be less than fifty meters.

About the time Jason and Billy, taking advantage of some deep gullies, were slowly making their way from the high ground to the north down the ridge behind Fisherman’s Inn, Jack left for the meeting. With a 4:30 meeting time, Jack and Anita knew any backup for Yuri would have to be in place at least 30 minutes early or come with Yuri in a separate car and box Jack in between their cars. Both Jack and Anita agreed the most likely backup would take a shooting position on the high ground overlooking the parking lot. The other scenario had too many downsides to take place in daylight in a public place, even one as remote as this one.

Kathy told Anita she was settled into her shooting position. The distance, light and wind factors for several shooting lanes had all been fed into her mental shooting solution. The natural noises of the woods had begun after being disturbed by her arrival. The clucking of squirrels and the sound of passing cars were the only sounds apparent to her heightened senses. Behind her and higher on the ridge she heard and then saw a flock of woodland doves take to the air. At the same time she saw and heard Jack’s car pull into the parking lot below her.

Kathy hit her squelch button to get Jack’s and Anita’s attention and then whispered, “I have movement approximately forty meters to the northwest of my position!”

“Copy. Take no chances. Take the shot as soon as you have one.”

Higher on the ridge Anita was so focused on the possibility of danger behind her, she almost missed the slight counter wind movement in the branches of a small pine tree in front and left of her. A ten mph wind was moving steadily up the hillside. Slowly sighting in on the suspected area, she saw more movement in the pine grove. A closer look revealed part of a boot.

Anita pressed her push-to-talk button and whispered, “I have a possible shooter in my sights 30 meters directly in front of me. Can’t see any weapon. I think there may be more than one shooter. These people are good. Very good. I’m going to take him now. I’ll wait until the traffic noise can mask the shot.”

Anita waited until a truck passed by on the two-lane road below her, and tracing the shooter’s leg up to his body mass, she fired twice. The truck’s engine noise covered the coughing sound of her weapon. The leg twitched and was still. She knew the target was finished but made sure before moving on. She immediately blocked the kill from her mind and began to search the hillside below her. Anita reasoned if there was another shooter, he or she had to be lower on the hill. She began moving fast but quietly toward a dry stream bed with shallow banks she had marked on her way in. Once in the dry stream bed she made good time. Reaching the half way point, and judging the second shooter would be below her and facing downhill, Anita paused for a moment, then moved slowly toward the area where she believed the sniper was hidden. The wind helped cover her movement.

Kathy, alerted by Anita, began checking the ground behind her. Searching foot by foot she noted a dark shadow in a stand of low scrub pines and then saw a wrapped rifle barrel. She whispered to Anita the location of the second shooter. Anita said she was coming and to take the shot as soon as Kathy had a good target.

Jack’s was the only car in the area. A few cars, probably belonging to the restaurant staff, were parked on the upper level near the restaurant. He heard the muted sound of Anita’s rifle and thought they would now be searching for a possible second shooter. Jack adjusted his mirrors so he could cover the lot. He saw himself in the mirror. The image made him catch his breath. The shadows around his eyes from the makeup, the graying of his hair and the rimless glasses had aged him thirty years.

Again he agonized over leaving the house to interview Kathy. His father would have had a chance to live and so would the Nguyens if he had been there.

Yuri hadn’t heard from Jason since his call hours ago. He could only assume Jason was in position to protect him. As Yuri approached the meeting place, he slowed and pulled into a Great Falls Park parking area just below and across the road from the entrance to the restaurant. Locking his car and adjusting the snub nose .38 in the small of his back, Yuri walked up the driveway. The hillside behind the parking lot was covered with scattered clumps of pines, high dead grass and dormant winter scrub. As he approached the driveway entrance to the Park, he could see a white Cherokee across the road in the restaurant’s lower lot. It looked as if a single male was sitting behind the wheel.

Anita and Kathy heard Yuri’s car arrive and knew they had to hurry. Jack was a sitting duck for a hillside sniper.

Checking his mirrors, Jack saw Yuri walking up the parking lot driveway. He walked like a man well into his sixties but very smartly dressed, including a snap brim fedora. When he was about 20 feet away, Jack opened his door and swung his cane out to support himself as he got out. Jack straightened up and noticed Yuri had stopped.

Jack walked a few steps forward and said, “Hello, Yuri.”

Yuri walked another step and stopped dead. His face had turned white. He put his hand to his face and said, “Is that you, Kalin? No, you’re dead! It can’t be! I killed you! You’re the only one who could have recognized me and figured out what I was doing!”

While Jack was moving toward Yuri, he heard a popping noise. Yuri took his hat off in a quick snatching movement. Instead of watching his opponent go down after Jason shot him, nothing happened. Looking more closely he could see movement in the dense thicket on the hillside. Sensing something had gone wrong, he realized he had underestimated his opponent. Yuri turned and, for a man his age, moved quickly down the parking lot. Jack caught up with him in three steps. As Jack was reaching for him, Yuri turned and pulled a .38 revolver from under his coat. Jack knocked the gun out of his hand with a swing of his cane. Before the gun hit the ground, Jack struck Yuri on the right side of his neck with his cane, and trapping his neck with the cane and his left arm, pivoted quickly breaking Yuri’s neck.

Anita came running up and told Jack there were two shooters. Kathy had just killed the second one. She helped Jack drag Yuri deep into the hillside brush. Jack checked Yuri’s pockets and took his keys, glasses, money, watch and wallet. While he was searching Yuri, Anita ran back to help Kathy clean up the killing ground and pack their camouflaged suits and rifles. Anita radioed Jack to say she was sure the shooters’ transportation had to be nearby. She was going to look for it. She had the shooters’ keys. If she failed to find it, she would call for Jack or Kathy to pick her up.

He told her to fire the shooters’ weapons and leave them with the bodies. Jack told Kathy to pick up Yuri’s BMW and drive it back to the apartment. He would leave the keys to the BMW on the ground near where his car was now parked. Jack was not surprised no one had shown up to check out the parking lot. No one was close enough to see anything or recognize the popping or coughing of a sound-suppressed weapon. He thought the press will have a field day with this against the backdrop of the sniper spree in the area several years ago. So be it. Nothing here could be traced back to them. The parking lot had no video monitors. The rifles, blood spotted clothes and boots would be destroyed before morning. Their brass was picked up. Their commo gear was low-powered and too sophisticated to worry about anyone intercepting and decrypting their transmissions. Now the question is how long the bodies will remain undiscovered.

Kathy came walking up the driveway just as Jack got back to the Cherokee. Jack gave her Yuri’s keys and told her to take Yuri’s car back to the apartment and wait for him and Anita there.

Over Kung Po chicken, hot and sour soup, steamed rice and green tea, Jack, Kathy and Anita reviewed their plan to deal with Yuri. During the discussion Jack asked Kathy what she knew about Yuri. Kathy closed her eyes for a minute and said, “Yuri’s BMW is registered to his address on Westmoreland Boulevard. A Google search did not turn up anything. He has no Social Security number recorded. No one visited his house in the limited time I watched Yuri. He has no hangouts. He is very careful about anyone following him and drives always within the speed limit. I have no doubts this man is an experienced professional.”

Anita said, “This guy is not coming to this meeting alone. He’ll bring a shooter to cover him with instructions to kill whoever he is meeting. There will probably be an ‘okay shoot’ signal. Kathy and I will be able to handle the hidden shooter. I’ll take the high position on the hillside with Kathy lower on the slope and closer to you. And Kathy, remember if in doubt, shoot.”

Kathy said, “Thanks Anita. I know this is my first time shooting from ambush but with radio contact between us, I’ll be okay.”

Kathy showed Jack the note she had drafted to lure Yuri to a meeting. Jack read the note aloud:

Hello Yuri,

I know who you are and what you are doing. I haven’t told anyone yet. I just want some of the money. I’ll be calling you in a few days to tell you where to meet me. Come alone. No second chances.

An old friend.

Anita said, “Good note. I don’t see how he can ignore it.”

Jack said, “Nice job, Kathy. Put it in his mailbox.”

The next morning Yuri left his house at 9:30. Kathy, dressed in casual winter clothes, began delivering made up flyers on global warming to houses along the street. At Yuri’s house the envelope was put in the mail box along with the flyer. Kathy continued delivering the flyers along the street. If Yuri asked his neighbors if anyone had been seen delivering anything to his mailbox, they might say nobody except the young woman delivering the Global Warming notice. In fact, the consensus was Yuri would not ask any of his neighbors about how the note got into his box.

From her position a full block down the street, Kathy saw Yuri pull into his driveway. Fifteen minutes later, she saw Yuri’s car coming out of his driveway. She thought, he’s seen the note and is now going for help.

As he drove down M Street, Yuri’s heart was pounding. Who possibly could write that note? He had killed the only person who seemed to be interested in him. He was sure the man was his Kalin, the renegade KGB terrorist specialist. No one from his past knew his name or address. Not even the key members of his network knew how to get in touch with him. To contact him they had to place a personal ad in the New York Times. No way could it be traced to him. No, it had to be Kalin’s people. Could they be part of a Russian or American counter-intelligence group?

It didn’t seem as though the American authorities were involved. They would have simply arrested him and searched his house. Was he being followed? He didn’t think so. But he was long retired from street work, and some kinds of surveillance were very difficult to spot. Yes, it pained him to admit it, but he could have been followed by someone who was quite good. This had to be a singleton operation. Nothing about it smacked of organizations. He began to refocus. First, concentrate on making sure no one is following him. Then, get Jason here immediately. He had to eliminate this threat. There wasn’t enough money to share with anyone. One more year and he was done with these high-risk operations.

Forget it, focus on the present. His old operational training directed him to place calls from different public call boxes. They were getting harder and harder to find. He had to break the rules and use the same phone more than once. He liked the phone booths in the Four Seasons Hotel. They were downstairs from the lobby and virtually out of sight.

Turning his car over to valet parking, Yuri headed for the downstairs phone booths. He dialed Jason’s cell and held his breath while the phone rang. On the fifth ring Jason picked up. Yuri identified himself by a code name, he changed with the month. He had to make the call short. Yuri told Jason, “Drop everything and come immediately to Tysons Corner. Check into the Holiday Inn at Tysons Corner under the same name you used at the last hotel meeting. Bring your tools, put your motorcycle in the van and park in the hotel garage.”

Yuri hung up with a sense of relief. Jason was a very resourceful asset. He seldom made mistakes and was totally loyal. Now to go back to his house and get ready for the promised telephone call.

At 2:15 Jack picked up a pay phone in Tysons Mall and dialed Yuri’s AKA William Armstead’s number. Kathy was listening beside him. Yuri picked up the phone on the second ring. Jack said, “Mr. Armstead?”

Yuri said, “Yes. Who is calling?”

Jack said, “Yuri, you got my note. Listen carefully. Be in the parking lot of the Fisherman’s Inn on MacArthur Boulevard today at 4:30. Come alone. I will only wait for five minutes. I will be in a white Jeep Cherokee.”

Yuri broke in and Jack heard him saying, “Wait, who are you?” as he hung up.

Kathy said, “He bought the scam. Nicely done. Let’s go!”

Jack dropped Anita and Kathy in a wooded area near the restaurant’s parking lot. As they got out of the Cherokee, Anita said, “I’ll contact you when I see you arrive in the parking lot. We’ll be in position long before you get here. Good luck!”

Jack’s plan had several options, depending on how the meeting with Yuri played out. If any of Yuri’s shooters turned up to cover the site, Anita and Kathy would kill them. No one expected they could capture Yuri. Even if they could, they could not hold him. Yuri and any of his people who showed up would be dead a few minutes after 4:30. They would be left with their weapons on the brush covered hillside. If anyone saw the action, they would have to adjust to the circumstances.

Jack returned to the apartment where Kathy had laid out the materials he needed to age himself. He grayed his hair, put shadows under his eyes and donned rimless glasses. His father’s one remaining suit that had survived the fire by being in the cleaners and one of Jack’s fighting canes completed his disguise. He was sure Yuri would be thrown off balance by seeing his father back from the dead. With Yuri, he could use every edge.

Kathy arrived at the garage apartment shortly after Jack returned with armloads of clothing from a shopping trip to Nordstrom’s in Tysons Corner Mall. She also had a load of groceries. He liked the way Kathy moved, self-assured and confident. Her casual dress hinted at a great figure. Sunlight from the east windows accented the highlights in her blond shoulder-length hair. She had to be around his age. He liked her direct gaze. While Kathy was getting settled in one of the three bedrooms, he heard another knock on the door. Jack opened the door, and Anita Marino walked in carrying two blue canvas suitcases.

Jack thought Kathy had not accurately described her. She was more than pretty with a fantastic body, moving so gracefully it seemed she was floating. Because of her warrior background, Jack half-expected Anita to arrive wearing field boots and khakis. Instead she looked as if she were going to a tea party. For all her military skills she was still quite the lady. Everything about Anita said here is a woman of class and taste. Kathy introduced her to Jack and showed her into the third bedroom. Anita came out and said, “Hey, this place will do! Not exactly what I’d expected for an apartment over a garage. Kathy told me about your father and the fire last night. I’m very sorry. We’ll get whoever killed your father.”

“Thank you. My dad was a warrior. I’m sorry he died before we could get Yuri and his whole damn nest of snakes.”

Before Anita could respond, Jack noticed CNN was covering the fire. McLean was not used to terrorist attacks on its homes. Pictures of Shadow in his recovery crate were shown along with a story about the Bouvier breed and how Shadow had almost died trying to protect his family. Pictures of the burned house were shown and a few details about Peter Brandon, mentioning he was survived by one son, John Daniel Brandon, who was not available for an interview.

Jack swore and bristled at the pictures of Shadow in the hospital and said, “I wonder if these people are crazy enough to try to kill Shadow in the hospital.”

Kathy said, “Let’s hire a fulltime vet or assistant and move Shadow where no one can find him and we can protect him. From what little we know about Yuri and his network, I feel we have to err on the conservative side. This guy is a bad one, and it is now time for some action.”

Kathy noticed Jack had smiled at her and thought, God, that guy has a wonderful smile. Could all those bright white teeth be real? His smile makes my knees weak. Watch yourself, girl.

Anita asked, “Jack, what do you think?”

“I agree with Kathy. This guy Yuri is a professional involved in terrorism. His guys have just killed my father, my good friends, the Nguyens, and shot my dog. I don’t need any more evidence. I want to get this guy and all his people. A time comes in an investigation when it’s clear you have to make something happen. This is the time to get started.

“Here is my plan. It’s open for discussion, so don’t hold back. We need the best thinking we can do. We need to get Yuri on our terms. Kathy, I want you to write a note to Yuri he can’t ignore. We need to lure him to our killing ground. We will shorten the time frame, so Yuri has very little time to react. I want you to deliver the note the day after tomorrow.

“Anita, do you know a place in our general area we can use as a killing ground? It has to be a place that won’t spook Yuri. I think I’ll meet him out in the open with you covering me from a nearby shooting position.”

“Yes. I know of a couple of places. Let me get a map out. I’ll show you as soon as we are done here.”

“We need to get some weapons. Frank gave me the location of a storage lot and a key to one of the units. I’m planning on picking up a couple of silenced sniper rifles, three handguns, and some short-range radio gear. If you need anything else, speak now.”

Both Kathy and Anita told him that was all they needed for now. Jack knew they would have to move all the gear Frank left for them to another place soon, but a few days wouldn’t make a difference.

The place Anita picked was a natural. Jack looked at Anita’s map, agreed it was a good place to start and called for Kathy to join them for a road trip. He decided to use his Cherokee because with its shabby condition and Pennsylvania license plates it was their most expendable car. After Yuri was taken care of, the Cherokee could disappear. Two drive-bys with some images from Kathy’s digital camera and Jack felt they were ready to add details to their plan.

Back at the apartment they sketched out a basic plan. Object to keep it simple. To help Yuri feel at ease, Jack decided to hold the meeting on the lower level of the parking lot. There should not be much activity in the parking lot at 4:00 p.m. The actual meeting site would not be in view of passing motorists focused on the sharp curve at the bottom of the driveway. Jack believed Yuri would park across the road where there is additional parking for people using the recreational park along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Anita said if Jack could drop Kathy and her along the road at a blind curve, they would make their way to a shooting position overlooking the parking lot and be in position at least 45 minutes before Yuri’s arrival.

Jack said, “If both of you are satisfied we have the basics of a plan, I’m going to see Shadow. Please put some meat on the bones of our basic plan. I’ll be back in an hour or so with lunch. Hope you both like Chinese.”

Jack asked the receptionist at the animal hospital if any of Shadow’s doctors were present. The pretty young woman smiled and told him Shadow’s surgeon was just getting ready to leave for the day, but the report on Shadow is he is doing better than expected. If Jack hurried he could catch Dr. Green on the top floor where Shadow was in a private room. He was, after all, a celebrity.

Jack met Dr. Green on the staircase where the doctor told him Shadow is a good patient. There was no infection and all Shadow’s vital signs were good. He was still drugged and sleeping most of the time. Dr. Green took Jack back to see Shadow. He was lying in a large padded crate with the IV and drain tube still in place. Shadow saw Jack and raised his massive head and wagged his docked tail. Jack rubbed his head and talked to him. Jack thanked the doctor for taking such good care of Shadow and then asked when he could move Shadow.

The doctor said, “He could be moved in three or four days if he continues to improve.”

“No, I meant could he be moved to another hospital today?”

“Yes, but why would you do that?”

“Because you put Shadow’s picture and location on TV. The people who killed my father and his Vietnamese friends, shot Shadow and burned the house, do they seem to you to be rational people? Because if they don’t, broadcasting his location after he killed one of them was not the wisest thing to do.”

Dr. Green, looking a little flustered said, “We never thought of that. Do you really believe they could come here looking for Shadow?”

“If I thought the chances were very remote, I wouldn’t be asking about moving him tomorrow. Now, can you recommend another hospital and can you keep his whereabouts to yourself?”

“Yes, Mr. Brandon, I can do that, but you have to realize Shadow is a celebrity, and I don’t think moving him elsewhere is the answer. We have been inundated with requests to see him or provide information about him.”

“Okay, another approach. Can you move him into a more secure place in your hospital and put out the word Shadow is no longer here?”

“We can do that. I’ll see to moving him now and tell all the attendants to tell anyone, no matter their story or reason, Shadow is no longer here. Will that do?”

“Thank you, Dr. Green. I’m sure you know I’ll pay any extra costs involved. Now I have to go. You can reach me on my cell in an emergency. Call me at any time if there is any change for the worse in Shadow. I’ll be here again tomorrow.”

Four days later Norma was strolling with Stanley along the Marina in Biscayne Bay. Her plan was to have Stanley, under the guise of looking for a boat to buy and moor in the marina, sketch the layout of the slips and the boats tied up in them. Norma was confident with her counterfeit media credentials she could find out about the secretary’s planned deep sea fishing excursion. Once she knew the name of the boat and its mooring, slipping a little four-ounce package of semtex aboard would be all she needed for mission accomplished.

That night in scanning all the local papers and with the local TV station on constantly, she learned the Secretary of Commerce was ending his official talks with Florida and Central American business people on Friday and was going to indulge in his hobby of salt water fishing. She had one more day to put her little package in the right place. The next morning she dragged Stanley out of their hotel room for breakfast in a place overlooking the marina. After breakfast she told Stanley to wait for her on the terrace. Norma dressed in her official business suit with a red wig and glasses, walked to the marina and went in to find the manager. A young girl in cutoffs and a tee pointed to a man out on the dock watching boat traffic.

Norma approached him, gave him her media card and said she was assigned to cover the secretary’s fishing trip and could he help her. She understood the secretary’s staff assistant had made the arrangements for a two-day trip departing here early tomorrow morning. The manager, looking like he had a hangover, said he was busy but she could come back tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. and watch the departure. Norma, who could pass for someone fifteen years younger, said she was a print reporter and not a video jockey. She needed some background and was willing to pay for some help and, with that, passed the man she now knew as Joe another business card with a fifty dollar bill.

Joe took the money and said, “There’s not much to say. The VIP guy is going out on Miss Money in slip 32. Captain Billy will find ’em some good fishing holes in the Gulf Stream ’bout 10 miles out. There’s some good marlin fishing and maybe grouper out there. They’ve ordered lunch for five.”

Norma thanked him and asked if she could go on board the Miss Money. Joe told her to go ahead, just take her heels off before going on board. He didn’t think anyone was on board yet. Norma found slip 32 without any trouble. She slipped off her heels and quietly went on board the 40-foot cabin cruiser, featuring two game fishing chairs on the aft deck. She called quietly to see if anyone was on board. After listening for several seconds, she went below deck and made her way forward to a position under the anchored fishing chairs. There Norma concealed her semtex package behind the overhead ventilator vent. After double checking everything, she set the timing device for twenty-four hours, giving the fishing boat time to get at least a few miles offshore.

Twenty minutes later she joined Stanley on the veranda and told him what she had done. Stanley was astounded that placing the bomb had been so easy. He was planning a late night journey out to the fishing boat, if Norma had been able to identify the boat and slip. This was so easy they should go celebrate, even if it was only 10:30 a.m. Norma told him first they had to change hotels away from Biscayne Bay. There was no way Joe, the marina manager, would be able to give the police a description of her, but it was just safer to move out of the immediate area. They would hang around until some news program told them about the death of the Secretary of Commerce in a boating accident.

The next day just before noon the local TV station broadcast a breaking news event that Secretary Waterford was missing after a boating accident ten miles offshore. An explosion aboard the boat, Miss Money, was seen by two other fishing boats. Witnesses reported the boat sank quickly and no survivors were found. Two as yet unidentified bodies were recovered. The Coast Guard was investigating the accident. Norma decided they should stay a few more days before heading back to Yulee in northern Florida. She hoped her Russian controller would be happy and would pass on a bonus. He was really very generous with his payments for jobs well done.

As soon as he returned from meeting Crystal in Florida, Yuri called Jason for a face-to-face meeting in Annapolis. Jason was instructed to be outside Starbucks at 1:30 in the afternoon. Yuri planned to pick him up in a rental car and conduct their meeting while driving around in the car. This method gave Yuri control of all aspects of the meeting. At precisely 1:29 Yuri pulled over to the curb very near where Jason was standing. A cold wind was coming off the bay, and Jason was bundled up in a faded red plaid woolen mackinaw, black watch cap and wearing laced-up worn Herman Survivor boots. Jason looked up at the car, recognized the man he knew as his control in his customary black fedora and climbed into the Ford Taurus.

No names were used or needed. Jason had been taking orders for two decades, and recognized and respected his control as a higher ranking fellow professional who could do action jobs if needed. He had always taken care of Jason and took great care to ensure the plans allowed for the operative to escape. For the last two decades under his control’s guidance, Jason had been developing his own network. Since then he had recruited and trained three men and one woman to follow his orders. One of these was his son. The others were relatives of his common law wife. He trusted them to carry out his orders. Up until now none of them had ever killed, but he was going to have them help with the next mission, whatever it was. He would plan, pick the shooting positions, and lay out the escape route for them.

All they would have to do is the actual shooting. Yuri passed $10,000 bonus money to Jason and said, “I have a difficult mission for you. Our terror program against this country is picking up. We have been instructed by the Center to spread fear by attacking unprotected local government officials. Pick three mayors for the first mission.

“If the authorities believe it is the same organization or people doing the killing, so much the better. The media will pick up the story and give it extensive publicity. The timing is a little flexible but we would like the mission completed in 30 days. Try to leave no more than five days between kills. Pick targets well away from your base, otherwise you have freedom to conduct your own operation. Just make sure you have a very reliable escape route and leave no evidence of any kind behind. Use any member of your network you think is ready, but absolutely no failures.

“I want you personally to guard the escape route if any of your network acts as the shooter. No prisoners. Anyone close to being arrested must be liquidated. As usual no one carries any identification. Jason, you know all this. I am just being extra careful. There will be a sizable bonus for success. You can divide it any way you want among the team. Any questions or resources you need from me?”

Jason responded in his usual harsh voice, “I understand. It is clear.”

“Good, then. I will see you on the 15th of next month.”

Yuri handed Jason a book of paper matches. Jason took the matchbook to identify the next meeting site, waved goodbye and got out of the car. He took a taxi to within three blocks of his parked car, and in an hour he was back in his marina. Jason thought this was the most dangerous assignment he had ever been given. It was clear he had to go over his own escape plan, in case he had to get away from everybody, including his control. With a few more bonuses he would have plenty of money to start over. He would make plans to sell the marina. You could never be too careful or too suspicious. In this business you had to take care of yourself.

Yuri drove his rental car to Dulles Airport, turned the car in and boarded a flight to San Francisco. He had another contact to make tomorrow with Sidney Oliver, his cell leader in San Francisco. One of the original KGB illegals, Sidney had been living under cover for the last three decades. Yuri had given him very little to do in the last year.

Sidney loved Chinese food. Chinatown in San Francisco had a number of places he frequented. Today, with his control paying the bill, he selected the most expensive. When his control called from the airport, Sidney told him to go to the Golden Palace in Chinatown. He would be waiting for him in one of the small private dining rooms.

Driving back to his office from Chinatown after the meeting, Sidney Oliver thought killing three mayors in less than a month was pushing too hard. Thank God, he had talked the man into doing the mayor of San Francisco first and delaying on the others until they met again. He disliked his control. The man had no sense of humor or appreciation for culture. He treated Sidney like a marginal employee.

It was dangerous work. He was not an action hero and was always frightened. But the money was very good and Sidney needed it. Keeping a young wife happy was draining his reserves. He would have to play sick to get the time off from his accounting firm to plan and execute the kill. He only had two other people in his cell, and he would have to do the wet work himself. No one else had the experience. Training without experience wasn’t good enough. To be truthful he wasn’t much of a sniper. He would have to get close, somewhere inside 70 meters, but a couple of hours at the rifle range would sharpen his skill and confidence.

Then, too, Carol Richland, the mayor, was an easy target. She was always out of the office, putting in appearances at a variety of community events. The local paper always published her schedule. She loved to have crowds on hand for her photo ops. He would need a few days to case her next event and he would be ready. The modified .270 Remington with the hunting scope couldn’t be traced to him. He would wear gloves and make sure it was well wiped, including the ammo, before he set up to shoot. Leaving it behind seemed to him to be the best tactic. No doubt he would shoot from inside a building or a roof top. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all.

Not surprisingly, his control knew Sidney’s weakness. He didn’t have the same confidence in Sidney he had in Jason, but he had no choice but to use this part of his aging network to extract the maximum amount of money from the al-Qaeda bankers. They should be impressed with the killing of mayors in Virginia and San Francisco, if his frightened cell leader could manage it. Within two months, he would receive one million dollars from al-Qaeda. He was sure Kazar, the middle man in New Delhi, was undoubtedly skimming a sizeable piece of each payment. He would have to deal with the bastard later. Anyway it was now out of his hands. Yuri turned in his rental car and headed for the United terminal for his flight back to Dulles.

Yuri, or William Armstead, as he was known at his residence on MacArthur Blvd., was still shaking from the action and close call at Kalin’s aka Brandon’s. He had lost three good men from his Charleston cell. They couldn’t be replaced. All of them had trained in the Soviet Union and infiltrated into the U.S. decades ago. That damn dog. He didn’t even know there was a dog in the house let alone a monster bear-like animal. There were more things he didn’t figure in his plan. The Asian servants fought like trained soldiers. He should have known Kalin wouldn’t be easy. Too bad Kalin wasn’t home 25 years ago when his team had killed Kalin’s wife and baby. Well, it was now a closed chapter. He had to get on with his plan.

His network was aging fast. Most of them had been living illegally in the United States for three decades and still thought he was an active duty Russian Intelligence Officer. Before he was forced out of the KGB, all of them had worked for him. In all the chaos following the breakup of the Soviet Empire, he had the perfect opportunity to relocate his former agents. The new Russian Intelligence Service would never find them without him.

A week ago he had given new missions to three of his cells. Yuri’s network was well trained. Professionals, they knew their leader was insistent upon attention to detail and adherence to schedules. The woman who runs the cell in Yulee, Florida is an expert in the use of explosives. Whenever she met Yuri, which was no more than an annual event and sometimes less frequently, she lobbied for a chance to use her skills. This time the woman, code named Crystal, was pleased. He had given her a chance to show off her skill in the innovative use of explosives. She still believed if she excelled maybe someone at the Center in Moscow would notice her. But long ago she knew she was never going back.

Crystal had grown used to the soft life in Florida and had no desire to go back to the bitter cold winters of Leningrad. She would never call her home city St. Petersburg. How bourgeois was that? In her late twenties Crystal had been a very attractive woman. She was now a senior citizen and the mirror was still kind to her. She had made enough money from her shop to afford decent medical and dental care and the frequent use of local spas. She thought, all in all, she was still a looker and attractive to older men. No! Whatever happened she was not going back to Russia.

After Yuri left for the airport, she called her live-in lover, the only person she had ever recruited for her cell, to tell him she would be home in an hour with some exciting news. Hell, this had been less than a part-time job for the last twenty years. She worked harder at her little antique shop than at her spy job. In Yulee she was known as Norma Carlson. Norma had a reputation for her fair prices and willingness to search for a have-to-have piece for a regular client. Norma hated to cook, and her lover Stanley Jones certainly was no connoisseur. As long as it was fried, he could care less. But tonight they would eat at her favorite restaurant in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, just across the bridge from Yulee.

She needed Stanley’s help for this assignment, and they could make it a vacation. She would close up the shop the day after tomorrow and drive down to Miami. It had been at least five years since she had been there. Norma had learned after the stress of the first five years of living in the United States as an undercover KGB agent, you had to take romance and perks at every opportunity, and even at her age she still enjoyed a romantic interlude with Stanley. She might be the KGB trained agent, but it was Stanley who understood killing. The highlight of his life was his time in the Vietnam War.

After they left Lieutenant Gallagar, Kathy said, “I’m taking you to my apartment. You can bunk in the guest bedroom. I just got a new boss, and I don’t want to lose him the first day.”

“What, you don’t think I’ll be okay by myself?”

“That’s right! First, no one who just lost his father should be alone. I know enough about you to know you have no friends in this area. Second, at least some of the gunmen got away. They could come back, and I bet you don’t even have a weapon. You see, I also know more about this Yuri character than you do.”

“You’re right. I don’t have a weapon and all my friends are back in Pittsburgh. But what do you mean, you know about Yuri?”

“When your father told Frank about seeing Yuri at the Seasons Hotel and following him to his house, Frank assigned me to keep a very discreet eye on Yuri. I followed him on two occasions from a very safe distance and also spent some hours watching his house from a room I rented with an angled view of his driveway and front door. From watching him, I know this guy is a pro. The odds are good he saw your father following him or watching his house. What we just saw was the result of that. No question that Yuri and his people killed your father. I’ll bet Yuri set the fire and escaped. He is a survivor.”

“My father’s house has a detached garage with a large apartment over the four bays. Tomorrow we can set up shop in the apartment over the detached garage.”

“Okay, that sounds like a plan.”

Kathy lived in a small house in Vienna, a short distance west of McLean and not as pricey a neighborhood. She pulled her Mustang into her driveway, opened the garage door with a remote and drove inside. Ten minutes later she had a fire going and asked Jack to make a couple of drinks, a scotch on the rocks for her. Jack splashed some Dewars over three ice cubes, poured a neat scotch for himself, and sat in one of the stuffed chairs near the fireplace.

Jack said, “I’m having trouble keeping myself from going right now and taking Yuri out. My father was the most important person in my life. I’m going to miss him terribly and to think the scumbag killed him and our good friend, the Nguyens, is just too much for me.”

“That’s the main reason I wanted you to come here with me. I remember how I felt when my brother was killed. It’s not a good time to be alone. Yuri is very smart, and it will take a good plan to get him. Remember you are no longer a cop. We need to take Yuri and get away, leaving no evidence behind.”

“Frank gave me another name besides yours.”

“Yes, he told me he had also recommended Anita.”

“Since you know her, let me ask you if I should bring her into this group now.”

“Anita is very good. She is no stranger to violence. Probably one of the best shooters in CTC. I like her a lot. We have been friends for the past five years. She has far more experience with weapons than I have. She is about ten years older than I am. I would have to really push to keep her in sight on a distance run. If she had a politically correct bone in her body, she could be running CTC. Yes, call her and get her involved as soon as you can. My suggestion is we all move into your garage apartment. Safety in numbers and we are facing a number of long days and nights before Yuri and his network are finished. Living in the same place gives us a good place to plan and saves time in travelling around. It also keeps us off the phones.”

“Do it! Call her and tell her what I told you. Same salary. Tell her to bring enough stuff for a week. Will she accept?”

“Anita loves to live on the edge. She’d come right now if I called her. But better tomorrow. You will need to do some early shopping. I guess all your stuff burned.”

“It did. Tomorrow up early, get breakfast at the Deli, drop me at the apartment. Get Anita as soon as you can. I said goodbye to my father days ago. He was slipping fast. I think he preferred to die like a warrior rather than the insidious creeping weakness of congestive heart failure.”