One Rough Man - Brad Taylor [118]
Lucas made eye contact with each member of the team. “Does anyone have any qualms about terminating the wife and kids? No judgments here, not everyone can do this kind of work. If that’s you, say so now, before we launch.”
Once again, nobody said anything.
“Okay. Spend ten minutes figuring out how you want to tackle this problem. No more than that. It’s pretty straightforward and the trail’s getting colder every second we sit here. For all we know, Pike and the girl are already driving to another city. I expect you guys to be on the road in fifteen minutes.”
72
I rolled over, groggy and unsure of what had awakened me, the noise blending in to my semiconscious dream. I realized my cell phone was ringing and snatched it up before whoever was calling could hang up, knowing it was either a wrong number or Kurt.
“Hello?”
“Pike, is that you?”
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“It’s Kurt. We need to meet. You went to Ethan Merriweather’s house last night?”
“Yes, sir, I did, but it was simply to get all the facts before I talked to you today. I didn’t do anything—”
“Ethan’s dead,” Kurt said, “I need to talk to you right now.”
I was wide-awake now. “What? What the fuck are you talking about? I just saw him.”
“I’m not going to talk on a cell phone. Let’s do this face-to-face.”
I stopped my questions. “When and where?”
“It’s now about nine forty-five.”
I fumbled for my watch, thinking that surely couldn’t be right, but it was. Jennifer and I had decided just to sleep in until we woke up, but I never figured we’d both be out until this late in the morning. I must have been more tired than I thought.
Kurt continued talking. “I have to clean up a few things and make sure efforts are tracking over here. Meet me at eleven at Four Courts.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Don’t be late. I won’t have a lot of time and I need to figure out what the hell’s going on.”
“I won’t be late. I’m staying a hundred feet from a Metro stop.”
I hung up the phone, my head spinning over what I had just heard. Haji dead? He was healthy as a horse. Did he have a heart attack or something? Get hit by a car? Surely this had nothing to do with our visit. Did it?
There wasn’t any sense in trying to figure it out without any facts. I could sort it out with Kurt in an hour.
As I began putting on my clothes, the ramification of what Kurt had said finally hit home. Haji was dead. Having had multiple friends die in combat since 9/11, I understood the grieving process at the graduate level, but it didn’t make it any easier. I had a hollow feeling inside, something I knew would bounce around for a long time, slowly diminishing until it only appeared when something triggered a memory of Ethan.
I remembered Kathy and the kids, wishing I had seen them last night. They would need support right now. I was sure the Taskforce was on that. They were very, very good about taking care of the families of fallen soldiers. Even so, I wanted to help, and wished the first time I was to see Kathy would not have been in the wake of Ethan’s death.
IN CRYSTALCITY, Lucas’s team was gearing up for another run at Pike and Jennifer. Even though last night hadn’t paid off immediately, it looked like it had worked in the end.
Lucas’s research assistant was furiously working the computer to gather all data on “Four Courts” and hotels near Metro stops in the D.C. area.
Lucas was giving instructions while the men got their kit on and equipment organized.
“We know they’re taking the Metro, which means they’ll be walking to the linkup. We’ll need a trigger position outside. We’ll set up two shooters at Four Courts”—Lucas paused, staring at his research assistant—“wherever the hell that is—hurry the fuck up, Jerry.”
“I got it, I got it. It’s an Irish pub in Clarendon, right across from the Arlington Courthouse. I’m doing a quick scan of the surrounding area.”
Lucas continued. “The two shooters there will be the primary killers. They’ll be located at the nearest cover and concealment from the pub. Two others will be mounted in a vehicle. On the trigger