A Blued Steel Wolfe (12 page)

***** ***** *****

By the next morning, the Wolfe Family finished preparations to evacuate all non-essential personnel and their families. Jared elected to stay, since he had extensive combat experience as a US Army Infantryman in Vietnam. He’d kept in shape over the years, but he convinced his wife to evacuate with the rest of the civilians. “Better safe than sorry,” he told her.

Dino Marcello was a bit surprised when Jared showed up to get a pistol and holster from the armory. He was even more surprised when Jared requested an M-1911A1 as his sidearm.

“For stopping power at close range, you won’t find much better, son,” Jared explained with a crooked smile. It had been years since he fired a weapon, but he knew it would come back to him quickly.
Some things you never forget.
He thought grimly.

Once he finished outfitting himself, he went into the adjacent indoor firing range and burned through a box of ammo. By the end, he had a tight shot group, and he smiled as he hit the lever to bring the target in closer.
Yes indeed. Some things you just never forget.

***** ***** *****

Justin sent ten of his security force personnel to guard the ad hoc convoy to Santa Barbara. The security team rode in three SUVs. One at the head of the line, one near the middle, and one at the rear. The team would stay on at the resort to guard the civilians and their families, so that left Justin ten men short at the compound. Even with Jared and Ray now carrying sidearms, Justin didn’t feel good about being so many men down.

He would be down even more when he sent out surveillance teams to look for possible locations where Salvatore and his men might be hiding. However, he had Ray working on narrowing down the possible sites for a Bratva HQ. He fished his phone out of pocket and looked through his Contacts list.

***** ***** *****

Rick Gonzales sighed as he looked at the fax he’d received from the Red River top brass. As the Operations Officer at the Los Angeles Ops Center for Red River Private Security, he had a cushy job. It was a damn sight better than humping through the Afghan mountains, with a fifty pound ruck on his back and fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Just over forty now, he decided to take his retirement from the US Army. It was a hard decision, but with the Ell Tee promoted to Captain, Wolfe’s Hunters weren’t Wolfe’s Hunters anymore. The platoon that was his family just didn’t feel the same with the new Butterbar in charge.

He looked at the fax again and snorted. He was to take Operations Squad Leader Shepard’s I.D. card and sidearm, subject to termination for dereliction of duty and disobeying orders.

“This is bullshit,” Gonzales whispered to himself. Then he sighed. He’d heard rumors about Red River being into some shady stuff here and there.
Deck will give me the straight shit, at least.

His phone buzzed with an incoming call, so he fished it out of his pocket. He smiled when he saw the number and name of Justin Wolfe.

“Hey, sir! What’s going on?” Gonzales said with a smile.

“Can the ‘sir’ crap, Gonzo,” Justin laughed on the other end. “I’m Justin now. Listen, I need to hire a Red River Ops Team. Well, my father does. I’m facilitating the hiring of new temporary security personnel.

“One sec, s… Justin.” Gonzales brought up the list on his computer, of all Ops Teams under his command. Every one of them was out on assignment. After being relieved of his command by the Africa Ops Officer, Shepard was the only one coming back, and he was essentially fired already. He thought quickly and nodded.

“Ok, Ell Tee,” he continued. “I don’t have a team on site right now. They’re all on assignment in various hot spots. I tell you what, though. I have a man coming in. We know him from Kandahar. The assholes in charge of this outfit fired him, but he can definitely help.”

“Who is it, Gonzo?” Justin asked. He couldn’t afford to be choosy right now. Well, not
too
choosy, anyway.

“Declan Shepard, former Green Beret and specialist in close combat and infiltration,” Gonzales said. “Sound familiar?”

Justin chuckled. “Hell yes, Gonzo! Send him my way.”

“Hooah, Ell Tee,” Gonzales chuckled too. “I’ll let him know you got a job for him. What’s the pay on it?”

“I’m authorized to pay twenty five thousand for this job to each operator,” Justin replied gravely. “This is likely to be a one way trip for some of us.”

“Holy shit, man!” the former NCO exclaimed. “What the fuck’s going on over there?”

“Bad things are going to happen, Gonzo,” Justin said. “I can’t go into too much detail, but the Russian mob is involved.”

“Ok, man. I’ll let Deck know and see if I can find anyone else who wants in. That twenty-five K a pop sounds real good,” Gonzales replied. “We can deal with these Russians, Ell Tee. Don’t worry about that.”

“Worrying about it is my job, Rick,” Justin said grimly. Gonzo knew that when Justin used his first name instead of his nickname, shit was getting real, and real fast too.

“Ok, Justin. I’ll let you know what I can do,” Gonzo said and sighed in frustration. He had some thinking to do.

“Thanks in advance, Gonzo,” Justin responded. “Call me as soon as you have something.”

“Will do, man,” Gonzo replied. They said their goodbyes and ended the call. He sat and thought about what kind of Russians could scare Justin Wolfe. The man was a rock in combat. He didn’t crack, even when his friends fell. He remembered how Justin took it when Juan died. Yeah, the man grieved, but he kept his head and did what needed to be done.

He was still thinking when Grapelli, AKA Grape Ape ushered Deck Shepard into his office. Gonzo knew that there was no love lost between these two, and Ape looked like he was enjoying the situation. The big man had a smirk of satisfaction on his face.

“Thanks, Ape. I need to speak to ex-Ops squad leader Shepard in private,” Gonzo said, scowling at Deck.

“No prob, boss,” Grape Ape replied with a shrug. “I’ll be outside to escort him off the premises when you’re done with him.”

With that, the massive man left the room and closed the door behind him.

“Lock it, Deck,” Gonzo said quietly as he motioned to the door with his chin. Deck complied and then took a seat in front of Gonzales’ desk.

“Good,” Gonzo continued, still in a hushed tone. “First of all, what the fuck happened over there?”

Deck took a deep breath and blew it out before replying. “Well, you know that I’ll do damn near anything to get the job done, but not this time. I kind of draw the line at flooding a village full of innocent civvies in order to frame the rebels and keep a crooked government in power.”

Gonzo closed his eyes and shook his head with a sigh. “I was afraid it was something like that. I think this job just got a bit too crooked for me too.”

“So, what now?” Deck asked nonchalantly.

“Now, I accept your resignation, give you a personal recommendation, and a job offer,” Gonzo responded with a shrug and a smirk. “You remember Lieutenant Wolfe?”

“Hell yeah. Good dude. Does he need a hand with anything?” Deck asked with a genuine smile.

“Yes he does,” Gonzo nodded. “Temp security work. Twenty five K single payday. Not sure how long for the job, though. You in?”

“Twenty-five K,” Deck said, letting out a low whistle. “Must be something heavy.”

“Russian mob,” the ex-platoon sergeant confirmed.

“Is that all?” Deck smirked wryly. Then he shrugged. “Fuck it, boss man. I’m in.”

“I hoped you’d say that, brother. Gives me an excuse to get the fuck out of here too.” Gonzo stood up from his desk and accepted Deck’s I.D. badge and gun. He set them in the safe and locked it.

“Ok, get out of here. I’m going to type a couple things up right quick, and I’ll meet you at the Shamrock,” Gonzo said.

“Ok, sounds good,” Deck said and nodded. “See you in a few.”

As Deck opened the door to leave, Gonzo started typing up his resignation.

***** ***** *****

Deck felt Grape Ape grab his arm as they got into the elevator down to the ground floor. The big man was enjoying the situation way too much.

“Dude, you don’t need to do that,” Deck said calmly. “I already have another job lined up. No hard feelings, man.”

“Whatever, Shepard,” Grapelli rumbled. “It’s SOP when taking out the trash.”

Deck sighed as he shook his head and rolled his eyes.
Some guys just don’t like anyone.

He decided not to cause any problems, since it wouldn’t do much except send the gorilla to the hospital and get Deck arrested. It might be satisfying to knock the big asshole down a few pegs, but it wasn’t worth it in the end.

They exited the elevator and Grape Ape guided Deck toward the front doors. The ex-Green Beret went without comment or resistance until they were outside on the sidewalk. When Grapelli released him, Deck turned to face the large man.

“Seriously, Ape. I have to know one thing. What is your problem with me?” Deck asked as he crossed his arms.

Grapelli sighed. “You really don’t know, do you? It’s your attitude, Shepard. You never take anything seriously, and you think you’re better than everyone else.”

“Um, yes I do, and no I don’t,” Deck shrugged nonchalantly as he ticked off the two points on his fingers. “I always take my job seriously, but I refuse to kill innocent civilians. Also, I don’t
think
I’m better than anyone.”

“Yeah?” Grapelli asked with a sneer. “Well, I still think I should teach you a lesson and show you that someone
is
better than you are.”

With that pronouncement, Grapelli swung his fist with deceptive speed for such a large man. But Deck wasn’t there anymore. The next thing Grape Ape knew he was on his knees with his arm twisted straight and Deck standing behind him with a death grip on his hand. Then he felt a shattering pain as Deck’s knee hit his elbow. The hyperextension quickly became a dislocation, and Deck released him.

“I don’t
think
I’m better than anyone, Grape Ape,” Deck said levelly. “I
know
I’m better than you, though.”

“You better watch your back, Shepard,” Grapelli gritted out. “This ain’t over!”

“It’s over if you want to keep breathing, Ape,” Deck said, dropping his easy manner as his dropped below freezing. “I’ve faced demons and monsters, asshole, and slaughtered them. You don’t even rate against that. Don’t come after me. This is your only warning.”

Then the calm man with the easy smile returned. He turned and walked away, leaving a stunned and hurting Grapelli holding his broken arm. The big man grimaced as he looked up and watched Shepard walk away. He shuddered at the memory of that voice, normally so easy going, turn into something from the coldest pits of Hell.

***** ***** *****

“Justin, there are two men here to see you,” said Trina as she entered his office with Ray beside her.

“That and I tracked down the license plate on that Maserati, boss man,” Ray supplied. “Fake registration of course. The good news is that the FBI now knows that Salvatore Lupo is alive.”

“Thanks, Ray,” Justin said with an appreciative nod. Then he looked at Trina. “Trina, please show in Mr. Shepard and Mr. Gonzales.”

“Right away, sir,” she replied professionally and walked back into the hall. She returned quickly with the two former soldiers.

“Gonzo!” Justin grinned as he got up from his chair and came around the desk. He gave his former platoon sergeant a back pounding hug, and then shook a grinning Deck Shepard’s hand. “Thank you both for coming on such short notice. I wasn’t expecting you though, Gonzo. What happened?”

“After what Deck told me about the op he was running in Africa and why they fired him, I decided that Red River wasn’t a good fit anymore,” Gonzo shrugged.

“Good to see you again, Mr. Wolfe,” Deck said. “And thanks for the job opportunity, even if it’s temp work.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re both here,” Justin said. Then he got down to business. “This is what we’re dealing with, at the moment.”

He handed Gonzo the dossier that Ray had compiled on Salvatore Lupo and his Russian Bratva. Deck read over his shoulder as they studied the Intel in the folder.

“Not every day you see an Italian leading a company of Russians,” Deck said with a whistle. “He would have to be one ruthless motherfucker.”

“He is. Turn to page two and you’ll see why I say that,” Justin said gravely.

The next page had pictures from the police investigation into the massacre of the rival Marconi family.

“Holy shit, they killed a children and even a baby,” Deck whispered as his eyes took on a hard edge. Then he looked at Justin. “Sir, whatever you need from me, I’m there. If I didn’t just get fired, I’d do this job for free.”

“Thank you, Deck,” Justin nodded. “We are going to war, and we need to prepare properly. That means scouting out the probable hiding places for Salvatore and his crew. That’s where you come in, Deck. You’re going to find them for us. Then we can send in a team to wipe them out.”