Clan and Conviction (Clan Beginnings) (13 page)

Wynhod’s shoulders were visibly shaking with suppressed laughter as Gelan pushed the enforcer ahead of him.  Damn it, he hoped Krijero didn’t notice.  The Imdiko’s happy expression felt etched in his mind.  That he was so delighted with the praise made Gelan wonder if  Krijero got little approval due to his outward ineptness.

It was too bad, if that was the case.  Krijero should have the opportunity to smile like that often.  He was incredibly cute when he did.

A few steps outside of the criminal psych department, Wynhod finally let loose with snickering.  His mood wasn’t purely humorous, however.  He turned to Gelan with a mix of disapproval and respect.

“You played him pretty sweet, didn’t you?” the Nobek asked. 

Gelan scowled, insulted.  “I wasn’t trying to play him.  He had some good ideas.”

“Sure he did, but did you see how goofy he got over your praise?  The poor guy ate it up.”

They continued on down the heavily trafficked corridor towards their own department, weaving around other officers and support staff.  “It’s like Dr. Krijero never gets any compliments.”

Wynhod nodded.  “I can’t decide whether I’ve got more pity or humor for him.  Don’t make me feel even worse because I had to laugh at his reaction.”

“Go ahead and feel bad.  You could use a conscience.”

“Jerk,” Wynhod said with no heat.

Gelan’s com went off and he drew it from his belt.  “Investigator Gelan.”

“Hey, asshole.”

Jerk and asshole.  He was getting all the compliments today.  “Hello, Nost.  Did you get a guy on Sko?”

The head of undercover ops sounded entirely too boastful.  “What, are you kidding me?  He already made a buy off the new dealer.”

Gelan jerked to a halt in the middle of the busy corridor.  A few passing enforcers growled when they had move quickly to avoid crashing into him.  Wynhod growled back.

Gelan ignored them all.  Into his com he said, “Damn, that was fast!”

Nost chuckled.  “Which one, me or the Delir gang getting a new man on the job?”

“Both.”  Gelan resumed walking.  Wynhod followed close behind so he wouldn’t miss any of the conversation.

Nost’s tone oozed pleasure with himself.  “Yeah well, you’ll love this.  New boy is already tagged and leaving a trail.  We even got a name:  Nobek Latwik.”

Gelan nearly stopped again.  Wynhod gave him an impatient shove, keeping his feet moving.  Again, the investigator paid no attention, his focus purely on the conversation.  “You got a tag on him?  Holy shit, you guys are wicked!”

“Come on over to my office so I can gloat properly and show you the trail.”

“On our way.”  Gelan clicked his com off and grinned at Wynhod.  “We’ll never hear the end of this from Nost.  He loves to beat his chest over his department’s skill.”

The corner of Wynhod’s mouth curled in amusement.  “You don’t look too upset.”

“To finally get my hands on one of the Delir shitheads?  Nost can brag my ears off if he wants.”

  They kept walking past Investigations, heading for Undercover Ops.

* * * *

Ten days after setting tracking nanites on Delir dealer Nobek Latwik, the precinct was ready to strike.  Gelan looked over the large force gathered in Undercover Ops’ command center.

It was an impressive group.  It consisted of himself and Wynhod, Nost and a small group of his men, four enforcer squads, and the same number of sniper squads.  Dr. Krijero from Criminal Psychology was there too, lurking in a back corner and looking intimidated by the armored and weapons-heavy men gathered.

At the front of the large room where the knots of men gathered, vids stretched in a line showing the rundown of today’s plan, a map schematic of Latwik’s trails and routes, a picture of the brutish and scarred Latwik himself, and breakdowns on security systems around their target areas.

Nost stood beneath the vids, giving them all a quick synopsis of the situation, pointing out areas of interest on the map.  “The man we’ve been following the past few days changes his patterns each day, but he’s not random about it.  Day One, we tracked him to this restaurant, where we believe he met two other men to exchange the funds from sales.  Hours later, he showed up at this food distribution center to drop off storage bins.  He then went to a warehouse that exports goods off-planet and picked up more bins.” 

An enforcer called out, “Was he picking up Delir, sir?”

Nost nodded.  “That’s what we believe.  For the next three days, he went to other places.  We’re operating under the belief he did the same exact thing, just at different locations.”

Wynhod scowled with reluctant admiration.  “Smart.  No wonder enforcement has never gotten a bead on them.”

A nearby undercover ops officer nodded.  “This is a big operation.  Really big.”

Gelan glanced at Krijero, hiding in his corner.  He thought about the Imdiko’s assertion that there was more to the case than a gang of thugs selling drugs.  Damned if it didn’t look like exactly that.  He frowned.

Nost continued his briefing.  “This member of the Delir gang has screwed up.  Our subject repeated the pattern, going to those specific places the next four days in the same order.  Yesterday, he retraced his original route, which means today he will transfer funds at the liquor dispensary, drop off his bins at this abandoned mine, and pick up his next supply at the private storage facility.  The storage facility is where we’ll take him down.  Investigator Gelan?”

Gelan stepped forward with Wynhod at his side.  He turned to the group of men.  “Our first priority is to get Nobek Latwik alive.  These guys suicide immediately when they know they’re going down.”

“Damn, what a waste,” someone snorted.  “Dead drug dealer.”

Gelan grinned and nodded his agreement.  “Latwik is slime, but he can’t tell me who the leaders of the gang are if he’s dead.  Snipers, you have the tranquilizer darts we supplied you with.  Take him down and put him in stasis as fast as possible.  That is all you have to do.”  He turned to his partner.  “Enforcer Wynhod, your turn.”

Wynhod looked over the enforcer squads, his gaze sharp.  “Enforcers, you will be taking down all the other locations Latwik has visited for drop offs and pickups.  Go in fast and place everyone you find in custody.  The exception is the storage area, where we’ll let the snipers do their job catching Latwik first.  Once he’s been secured, we’ll go in.  There has been no evidence of others around when Latwik makes his pickups from that location, but assume the worst.  There may be gang members who will not only shoot at you, but they could try to kill Latwik before we can question him.”

Raised eyebrows greeted that bit of information.  It was Krijero who had come up with that interesting potential twist.  Wynhod had taken the psych’s concerns seriously.

The Nobek continued.  “All locations, bring everyone you find here and isolate them from each other so they can’t talk.  Dr. Krijero, I believe you had a word of warning for my men?”

As heads turned to look at the Imdiko in the corner, Gelan saw him shrink for an instant, as if trying to hide from being the center of attention.  Krijero straightened again however, and even shook some of the hair out of his eyes.

He told everyone, “Just be aware that there’s a very good reason no headway has been made in this case.  The Delir gang gives nothing up, and they fight like they have nothing to lose.  They’ll not only suicide, they’ll take as many as you with them as possible.  Be ready.”

Wynhod kept watching Krijero as he spoke to the enforcers.  “You heard the man.  We’re talking desperate men who won’t feel a thing when it comes to killing you.”

Krijero nodded and leaned back into his corner.  He offered Wynhod a grateful smile.

Nost looked to those under his command.  “My men, as soon as the enforcers clear those buildings, you’ll go in and confiscate every computer and file you can find.  I don’t care how insignificant anything looks; get it all.  If there’s evidence, we’ve got to have it.

Gelan looked over every officer.  “All right.  If he holds to his usual pattern, Latwik will start his rounds in about an hour.  Everyone’s geared up and ready.  Let’s get these bastards.”

There were affirmative shouts from the predominantly Nobek group, a collection of snarls and howls that made it sound like wild animals filled the room.  They assembled in their various teams and headed out.

Gelan and Wynhod brought up the rear of the exodus.  Their destination was the storage unit complex where, if the ancestors were kind, Latwik would be taken. 

Just as the Dramok was about to walk out the door, a quiet voice spoke.  “Good luck, Investigator Gelan.”

Gelan saw that Krijero stood nearby.  He grinned at the Imdiko.  “Thanks.  We’ll see you soon.”

He trotted at Wynhod’s side, heading for the shuttle bay.

Chapter 8

The storage warehouse where Gelan hoped to capture Nobek Latwik was located on the lowest level of the industrial Tus Mountain Complex.  No housing existed within this particular mountain; most of it was dedicated to manufacturing.  Storage and warehousing took up the lowest levels, the actual work in those places mostly automated.  One didn’t see a notable number of workers until Level Four.  That level and the two above it were leased to a metalworks company.  At the top perched Benor Pharmaceuticals, part of the giant corporation Benor Industries.  It held almost half the mountain as its production headquarters.

The lowest level of the complex featured a stretch of landing pad in the center of the covered warehouse bays.  The group of law enforcement officers surrounding the area had landed in bays farther up the mountain.  Stealthy enforcers and snipers slipped to their assigned places through utility and maintenance shafts.  Even in this barely populated area, they’d taken care to keep from being seen by any civilians or potential spies.

While the floor of the level was smoothed over for easy landing and walking, much of the rest of the area had been left as the raw rock of the mountain.  That gave Gelan’s attack force plenty of hiding places from which to watch the warehouse area undetected.  Gelan’s own spot was behind an outcropping of stone, which shielded both himself and Wynhod from view.

Nost’s quiet voice sounded in Gelan’s earpiece.  “I’ve got body heat signatures in key places where they could be keeping an eye on Latwik’s pickup.  We’ve definitely got company.  Putting on tactical.”

Gelan and Wynhod already had their helmets’ visors down.  Information scrolled down in front of Gelan’s left eye.  It showed nearly a dozen men in strategic areas around the specific warehouse that Latwik had been seen frequenting.  They were not law enforcement.

Gelan whispered, “It looks like our brain trust was dead on about the gang being just as ready to kill Latwik as anyone who targets him.”  He made a quick decision.  “Take them out, Wynhod.  Latwik is the one we want alive.”

The Nobek’s pulse rifle was already out and sighted on his first target.  “Acknowledged.  Enforcement squad, shoot to kill all targets except Latwik.  Repeat, the order on the unidentified men surrounding the warehouse is shoot to kill as soon as primary object is down.  I am sending you your specific targets now.” 

On the heels of that came another voice that Gelan didn’t know the owner of.  “We have the primary target sighted.  He is entering the area now.”

It was one of Nost’s men, giving the signal Latwik was on his way.  Gelan tensed in anticipation and heard the growing hum of an approaching shuttle.

Wynhod said, “Stand by, all enforcers.”

Nost:  “The moment primary target comes out with the candy, sniper takes him.”

Then the sniper commander:  “Acknowledged.  In the event first sniper misses, second sniper shoots.  All other snipers, stand by to back up enforcers.”

The shuttle drifted down almost lazily to the landing pad.  Gelan and Wynhod watched as Latwik left it.  He snagged a nearby hover cart among the half dozen waiting by the warehouse’s opening and went inside.  Long seconds ticked by, then even longer minutes.