Primal fury the primal s.., p.13
PRIMAL Fury (The PRIMAL Series), page 13
“Appreciated, sir,” said Mirza.
High fives were exchanged between Pavel and Miklos. Kruger also looked happy.
“That leaves Bishop and Saneh…no rest for the wicked. You two are heading to Japan. You’ll hook up with Chua’s cop in Tokyo and see where this Mori-Kai angle leads.”
“Do we have anything more to go on?” Bishop asked.
“Negative, that’s why you’re heading over there. We’ve got jack shit on this so far. We need you guys in-country to start gathering info. Chua and his team will work around the clock to turn it into actionable intel. We’ll deploy additional assets when doors need kicking. Anyone else got questions? Nope? Now get out there and kick some ass.”
The video link dropped and the screen went blank.
Bishop stood up. “All right, team, let’s get the last of this gear loaded and get the hell out of here. Good luck with your missions.”
They split up and Mitch and the CAT went back to stripping the weapon modules off the Mi-17 and packing them onto cargo pallets. The weaponry would go back to the island on a Lascar Logistics flight and Yuri, their arms dealer, would arrange to return the leased helicopter.
Bishop strolled over to where Aleks and Kurtz were loading equipment into their new car, an Audi A6 sedan. Their original V8-powered Audi and its load of weapons had been destroyed, a remotely activated incendiary device covering their tracks.
“New car OK?” Bishop asked.
“Da,” Aleks replied. “Not as fast as the other one, but Yuri made sure it has everything we need.”
“You got time for a quick chat?” Bishop directed Kurtz across to an empty corner of the hangar. “I was wondering if there was anything you wanted to tell me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean is there something that happened in Hungary that you think I should know about?”
Kurtz stared at him for a few seconds. “You mean with the girl.”
Bishop nodded.
“What else could we do? We had to try and save her.”
“We’re talking about Aurelia, yeah? Your contact inside the kidnap gang?”
“Yes, they captured her. Aleks and I stormed the manor. We were too late; they killed her.” Kurtz could not hide the pained look on his face. “We found Kalista half-dead; we had to take her with us.”
“How did she end up at the castle?”
“I’m not sure. We left her in our safe house with instructions to stay put. But she must have wandered out onto the street and got picked up by the police.”
Bishop considered the information. “You could have compromised this entire operation.”
Kurtz remained silent.
“But I know why you did it and I probably would have done the same. Let’s just make sure it doesn’t happen again, OK?”
Kurtz nodded solemnly. “You’re not going to tell Vance?”
“No, I don’t think that’s necessary. But I do want to talk about the Jap in the helo.”
“There’s not much to say. I extracted the information we needed and then disposed of him.”
“We needed to bring that guy back here and run him through a full debriefing.”
“What more do you think he would have given us? He led us to this Mori-Kai. Then he ceased to be useful.”
“That’s not your decision to make!”
“This is true and for that I apologize. It won’t happen again.” Kurtz locked eyes with Bishop. “Now, if there’s nothing else, Aleks and I need to start our mission. The girls at the clinic are vulnerable.”
“Remember, we’re all a team here, Kurtz. We fight together, we support each other. That’s what we do.”
“Maybe something you should remember as well, Aden. Now I have to go.” With that Kurtz turned and left Bishop to contemplate his words.
Bishop wandered back over to where Saneh was packing communications equipment.
“What was that all about?” she asked as he sat down on a crate.
“Nothing, just the guy on the helo.”
“The jumper?”
“Yeah.”
“Go easy on Kurtz, Aden. He’s like you in more ways than one.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what it means; he wants to save everyone. He’s all heart and not enough brains.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Aleks will look after him, just like Mirza and I have to look after you.”
“That’s right, is it? You and Mirza draw straws to see who’s got to babysit me, hey?”
Saneh snapped shut the lid of a Pelican case. “Something like that. Now let’s move or we’re going to miss our flight.”
CHAPTER 33
CASTLE LORAN
“We think was Special Force raid, no marks of attackers, many bullets, many bodies.” The Hungarian police officer’s English was terrible. It was, however, markedly better than his French, and Interpol Capitaine Rémi Marcen did not speak Hungarian.
“Yes, very good, thank you.” He turned away from the man. “Fucking moron.” The local police were about as effective at reading a crime site as his twelve-year-old daughter.
Marcen had arrived just after midday after flying in directly from Lyon. He had left within an hour of receiving the call, then had hired a car in Budapest and driven three hours to get to the castle.
The local police had been kind enough to lay out the bodies of the dead inside the courtyard and he had positively identified András and a few of his men. There were a dozen other people in custody, mostly the hotel staff but also two of András’s clients. The clients had been handed over to one of Rémi’s men, who spirited them away in his car. By now they would be on their way to the airport and back to their homes.
His phone buzzed; he flipped it open, checked the screen, and dropped it back into his pocket.
“I’m going now,” he told the senior Hungarian policeman.
“So soon?” The man grinned, not bothering to hide his contempt for the Frenchman.
Rémi turned, climbed into his rental car, and drove off down the gravel driveway. He passed the bullet-riddled remains of a four-wheel drive that had crashed into the ditch that ringed the castle, then continued across the open field and down into the forest that surrounded it. He drove slowly with the windows down until he spotted a thin black tie in a tree. He stopped the car and beeped the horn twice. There was a rustling in the bushes and a disheveled-looking Masateru appeared.
“So, we finally meet,” the Yakuza lieutenant said once he was in the car.
“I wish it were on better terms.” Rémi shook his hand, then continued driving down the road.
“Did you go up to the castle?”
“Yes.”
“Is anyone alive?”
“Only two of your clients; they’re with my men now. András and his thugs are all dead.”
“What about the girls?”
“They’re gone, just like you said. The local cops have no idea what happened, thick as shit.”
They slowed as they drove through the mangled gates at the estate guardhouse. The car shuddered as it drove over the pockmarked asphalt. A pair of local policemen waved them through.
“The men who did this are professionals, not a rival gang. It had to be state-sponsored,” said Masateru when they were out on the highway and heading back toward Budapest.
“I concur. András and his men were directly targeted by a well-trained and highly effective force.”
“They wore all black, with helmets,” added the Japanese gangster. “Like Navy SEALs.”
“It wouldn’t be American. I would know about it.”
“Even if it was the CIA?”
“Since when has the CIA been interested in the sex trade? Why would they target András?”
“Perhaps András had other business, something he’d hidden from us.”
“Then why would they take the girls? Was there anything at the castle that could link András to you?”
“No, but they took one of my men.”
“Shit, will he talk?”
“No, never. He’d die rather than betray us.”
“Let’s hope you’re right, otherwise these people could be coming after you.”
“Not if we find them first.”
“You’ve got a plan.”
Masateru nodded. “I’ve arranged for more of my men to arrive in Budapest. You will provide them with weapons and have your people find the girls. The oyabun still wants the blonde, and I have a feeling that Mr. Nigel Martin will not be far away.”
“I’ll put a call out. It won’t take my people long to find the girls.”
CHAPTER 34
SVALYAVA, UKRAINE
“I think I see a trend developing with us,” Kurtz said over his radio. He was sitting in their new car, watching the street.
“What are you talking about?” asked Aleks from the apartment they had rented as a safe house.
“A trend, you know when something happens over and over.”
“Ah, like when the target uses the same route to work every morning.”
“Ja, just like that. Except the trend I’m talking about is related to us always getting picked for surveillance jobs. Always watching and waiting.”
“We didn’t just watch when we went after Aurelia. We killed bad guys.”
“Yes, but we weren’t supposed to.”
“What about the castle, then?”
“Again, watching and waiting. The only reason it went hot is because Bishop messed up. It’s as if Vance says, ‘Hey, we’ve got a job that needs two people to sit around watching something for weeks. I know, let’s give it to Aleks and Kurtz.’”
“Comrade, the mission is in Eastern Europe.”
“So?”
“So, we speak five local languages between us.”
“Good point.”
Aleks laughed. Kurtz always complained about the surveillance jobs. “You’re just nervous about seeing the girls again. Pull yourself together. I’ll meet you in the hospital.”
“I’m not nervous,” Kurtz mumbled under his breath as he completed a check of his zones. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he opened the car door and stepped out onto the street.
They were on the outskirts of Svalyava, a reasonable-size Ukrainian town not far from the airbase PRIMAL had used to launch operations into Hungary. Its only hospital was small, run by the local branch of the Red Cross. A charitable facility, it had welcomed the rescued girls, conducting medical checks and providing second-hand clothing. Kalista had required significant medical treatment and had to stay, watched over by her sister Karla. The rest of the girls had been bused to a Red Cross center in Kiev for identification and return to their families.
Kurtz strolled toward the hospital, stopping at a newsstand to purchase an English paper and a selection of women’s magazines. He tucked them under his arm as he crossed the street, narrowly avoiding being crushed by a school bus packed with children. Safely on the other side he entered the foyer of the hospital and took a seat in the waiting area.
A minute later, Aleks entered, walked through the foyer, and turned left into one of the wards. Kurtz got up and followed him.
The floors were spotless linoleum and squeaked under Kurtz’s boots as he walked. He caught up as Aleks stopped next to one of the patient rooms.
“You OK?” Aleks asked.
“Yes, I’m good. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“No reason.” Aleks knocked gently on the door and pushed it open. “Ladies first.”
Kurtz gave him a friendly punch as he stepped into the room.
Karla smiled warmly from where she was sitting next to the hospital bed. She wore a tracksuit, her long blonde hair up in a ponytail. “Please, take a seat.” She stood and directed him to a chair.
Kalista lay in the bed, her face heavily bandaged. Her eyes were closed and she looked to be deep in sleep.
Kurtz moved to sit down, then thought better of it. “I bought you these.” He passed Karla the magazines he had bought. “I thought you might like something to read.”
“Thank you very much.” Karla placed the magazines on a side table. “It’s Kurtz, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right, and Aleks.”
Aleks gave her a nod from the doorway.
“You are police, yes? Kalista told me how you saved her. Thank you so much. She would have died if it wasn’t for you.”
“How is she doing?”
“They just gave her more of the pain medicine. She should be sleeping for a few hours.”
“Do you want us to go?”
“No, she won’t wake up.”
“She going to be OK?”
“Yes.” Karla nodded. “She will have scars but she’ll be OK.”
“That’s good.” He looked down at his boots. “We won’t stay long. We just wanted to let you know we’re in the area.”
“Thank you.” She looked up at him with crystal-blue eyes. “After what Kalista told me about the police taking her to the castle, it is hard to know who we can trust.”
Kurtz gave her a phone. “If anything happens, you can call. My number is programmed into the phone already.”
Karla took the phone.
“You see anything suspicious and you call us right away, da?” Aleks added from the doorway.
“Do you think people are still after us?”
“I think we got them all but we don’t want to take any chances.”
Aleks nodded in support. “We just wanted you to know that help is close by if you need it. Now I think we should be going. You look like you need some rest as well.” He smiled and then left the room.
As Kurtz made to leave, Karla spoke up. “Kurtz,” she came after him. “Kalista told me everything. How you rescued her from the manor, how you stayed up all night.” She wrapped her arms around his tall frame. “Thank you so much.” She looked up with tears in her eyes. “I nearly got her killed, and you’re the only reason she’s alive.”
Kurtz stood awkwardly as she hugged him. After a moment he wrapped his arms around her. “It’s OK. It’s my job.” He smiled. “Now we need to get her well and back to your family.”
Aleks stuck his head back around the door and gave a nod. Kurtz broke the hug. “If there is anything you need, just call, OK?”
Karla wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded.
As Kurtz strode out of the room, he wiped a tear from his eye. “Shut up, Aleks, I don’t want to hear it.”
Behind him his partner smiled.
They left separately. Kurtz headed back down the road to the car, while Aleks crossed the street, heading back to the apartment.
Both of them missed the nondescript sedan parked across the road from the hospital. The single occupant waited until the two PRIMAL operatives were out of view, then made a phone call.
CHAPTER 35
LYON, FRANCE
Rémi was breathing hard as he leaned into the Fourvière hill. His morning run was a ritual he performed every day. It cleared his head and helped hold back the inevitable belly that came with middle age.
By the time he reached the top of the steep rise his legs were burning almost as much as his lungs. He stood in front of the ancient cathedral fighting for breath as he looked out over the city. Lyon’s landscape was a sea of terra-cotta roofs and quaint white-faced buildings. Despite the encroachment of modern development, it still felt like part of the Roman Empire. This was one of Rémi’s favorite spots in the city, a bit of serenity in his otherwise hectic life.
The phone in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and checked the text message on the screen. It was good news. Rémi dialed a number and lifted the phone to his ear.
“It’s me. They’ve located the blonde girl. The others have already been returned to their homes.”
Masateru paused for a moment on the other end of the line. “Good, as long as I get the blonde the oyabun will be happy. The sooner I get back to Japan the better.”
“She’s at a clinic in the Ukraine, small town called Svalyava across the border.”
“Well done.”
“Have your extra men arrived?”
“Yes, they’re ready. Your people delivered the weapons last night.”
“You should know, there are two men with the girls. A tall blond and a big brute with a beard.”
“Let me guess, they’re claiming to be Interpol officers?”
“That’s what they told the clinic.”
“And naturally your people still have no idea who they really are…”
“Not yet, but we’re working on it. All the more reason for you to get back to Japan as soon as possible. Once you get the blonde you should leave this to me. I’ll find out who they are. It may take a week or so.”
“You forget yourself, Rémi. If I wanted your advice I would ask for it.”
“My apologies, Masateru. It’s just—”
“Enough. Your role is to find me a replacement source of women. Every day that passes is lost revenue. Demand still exists; you will find the supply.”
“I’m looking at a number of organizations—”
“I don’t want excuses, I want results. Stop providing results and you will be replaced.” The Yakuza lieutenant hung up.
Rémi jammed the phone back in his pocket. All the stress his run had melted away came flooding back. Masateru was becoming too demanding. Rémi’s biggest challenge now was finding a way to extricate himself from their business relationship. Unlike regular criminals, the Yakuza could not be intimidated. Nor did Rémi’s reach extend to Japan. Wearily, he turned and started jogging down the hill, wishing he had never agreed to work for Masateru.
