Monster (36 page)

“If you don’t,” Rutledge added on cue, “Colonel McDaniels will question you under less than comfortable conditions with Major Rasheed, formerly of the Iraqi secret police.”

“You…you’re bluffing,” Tomashevsky replied hesitantly.

“I don’t think you understand your circumstances here,” Barrington continued. “Your men we captured in the raids and the Russian Embassy think you’re dead. In other words, you don’t exist.”

Rutledge leaned forward. “Our men have been given orders to find out everything you know. There aren’t any limits on how they can extract the information.”

Tomashevsky stared at Rutledge for a moment and then at Barrington, who grinned at him. “I…I don’t understand. Are you people some kind of…of rogue operation?”

Rutledge pointed at the notepad. “First off, what we are doesn’t concern you. We’ve given you the facts in regard to your situation. You know what we want. Give it to us or we’ll extract it. The first thing I want you to do is write down every name you have had contact with. We have your computer hard drives along with the men who were at your real estate holdings when we raided them.”

“We want every name, every country, every address,” Barrington expanded. “Don’t guess about who we have. Write down everyone. We’ll let you know how you do.”

McDaniels bent down next to the Russian, talking in a hushed voice. “Remember, you cannot afford to be wrong, comrade.”

His hand shaking slightly, Tomashevsky began listing names on the notepad. After a few moments he stopped and looked up at Rutledge questioningly. “If you find I have been truthful, what treatment can I expect?”

Rasheed grabbed the Russian’s hair, pulling back on it harshly, evoking a cry of pain as Tomashevsky’s head struck the back of the oak chair. Leaning down as McDaniels did without releasing the Russian’s hair, Rasheed whispered fiercely in the man’s ear. When Rasheed released him, Tomashevsky immediately began writing again, his hand barely able to keep the pen steady. Pausing every few moments the Russian tapped the pen on the table, nervously trying to remember. He went back over the list to make sure he had not repeated any names. Twenty minutes later, Tomashevsky set his pen down and tore off the two pages of writing from the notepad. He pushed them toward Rutledge.

“Everyone is on that list,” Tomashevsky said quietly.

Rutledge and Barrington stood up with the papers and folders.

“We’ll be back after we check on how well you’ve done. Our men will see you back to your cell.”

“Wait!” Tomashevsky screamed out, his hands reaching over the table in supplication. “At least… tell these men to wait until you have checked the information.”

Rutledge smiled. “Don’t worry. They’ll be very considerate of you for the time being. They just want to see where your cell is. Check you later, Stevie.”

McDaniels retrieved the manacles, handing them to Rasheed. In moments, Tomashevsky was restrained without comment. When he had finished, Rasheed pulled the Russian to his feet. Guiding the shuffling man along, McDaniels and Rasheed left the room using the door Tomashevsky had come in through. The Special Ops guard was waiting outside the door. The guard looked at McDaniels questioningly.

“All done, Sir?”

“My partner and I wish to see our friend here back to his cell. Would you show us where it is?”

“Of course, Sir, follow me.”

After depositing Tomashevsky in his cell without speaking to him, McDaniels and Rasheed walked out the way they had come in, noting the number of surveillance cameras.

“Any night time visit we pay our Russian friend will have to have some form of approval,” Rasheed told McDaniels.

“Yeah, I figured as much. If they had put him in a safe-house we would have had to watch him twenty-four hours a day. These are all Special Ops guys down here. I’ll talk to Diane. We may be able to have a window of time without being monitored. That is, if Stevie doesn’t cooperate. What did you say to him anyway?”

“I told him I was trained in the Russian style of interrogation as one of Saddam’s secret police,” Rasheed answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “Then I told him once we had what we wanted he would be fed into my fictitional wood chipper ever so slowly.”

“You are not a very nice man, Kay.”

“I know. I have been corrupted since meeting up with you, Cold Mountain. I promise to turn myself in if I ever approach your level of brutality.”

McDaniels laughed. The two men exited the guarded wing of the sector where they had interrogated Tomashevsky. Rutledge and Barrington joined them from where they had been waiting across the hall.

“You guys were really good in there,” Rutledge complimented them.

“That’s for damn sure!” Barrington agreed. “I was surprised when the Russian didn’t even want you guys walking him back to his cell. What did you say to Stevie before we ended the interrogation, Kay?”

“Nothing you should have knowledge of, Tom,” Rasheed replied apologetically.

“You’re probably right.” Barrington put his arm around Rasheed. “Jen and I think we really hit the jackpot. Stevie listed all the men we have in custody, plus seven others. He also added one more place we didn’t hit the first time. It’s a warehouse way out in the boondocks. Anyone want to guess at what he has stashed in there?”

“He’ll have some men watching that place,” McDaniels warned. “I know our Special Ops guys are good, but God only knows what kind of shit he has there.”

“Tom and I didn’t want to go too far today without checking on his bullshit level. I called Diane and faxed over the names and locations. She just returned from her meeting with those pompous…”

“Hey, we have a couple of good guys on the committee. I like Senator Hokanson.”

“Easy, big guy.” Rutledge grinned over at McDaniels as they walked. “I was just kidding a little. Anyway, Diane’s back at the office. She said she would call AD Dreyer. He’ll be able to issue the order for the Ops guys to get moving. With luck, we’ll have all the leads Stevie gave us today checked out by the time we go back to see him tomorrow.”

“I’d like to help those guys with that warehouse. I could do the recon for them. It would be very bad if they have the whole place wired to go up in a mushroom cloud.”

“Chill out a little, Cold. Let’s keep a happy face on this until something tragic happens. One thing I know about those Special Ops guys - they don’t like outsiders in on their missions.”

“You’re probably right. What do we do now?”

“Diane wants us back at the office for a debriefing with Dreyer. I guess we call it a day afterwards. We’ll be at it long and hard tomorrow. We’ll need some sleep.”

“I never anticipated how exciting the American work week would be,” Rasheed joked. “Perhaps I will make it home in time for dinner. Luckily, we still have a few days to work this week. My Christmas light decorating will possibly proceed as planned on Saturday.”

“I was thinking, Kay.” Rutledge smiled mischievously over at Rasheed. “What do you plan to put on top of your Christmas tree? It’s a custom to put an angel up there.”

“Perhaps I will put an Osama bin Laden doll up on top, you…”

“Don’t get mad, Kay,” Rutledge protested as McDaniels and Barrington laughed. “I was just going to suggest…”

“Do not persist with this, infidel,” Rasheed warned. “Just make sure you are at my house to help early Saturday morning in case Mr. Reskova… ah…. flakes out on me.”

“Flakes out?” McDaniels questioned, glaring at Rutledge and Barrington as they shared a laugh over Kay’s insertion of yet another popular nickname. “Your English is getting a little too good, Kay.”

“Will there be breakfast, Kay?” Rutledge asked.

“Of course. You and your infidel partner can stop at the Golden Arches on the way over to pick up breakfast for all.”

“Oh, nice go, Jen.” Barrington shook his head as if in frustration. “Now, not only do we have to get out of bed early on a Saturday but we…uh oh.”

Rutledge slowed, taking in a sharp intake of breath. Both McDaniels and Rasheed immediately stopped in their tracks as if running into a wall. Barrington gestured frantically.

“No, no, no,” Barrington interjected firmly as he saw a resigned look of annoyance flash over Rutledge’s face. “I meant… if… ah…”

“Yes, Tom,” Rasheed folded his arms, leaning forward expectantly. He glanced from Barrington to Rutledge with exaggerated interest. “Please, go on. You were saying?”

Barrington stared into Rasheed’s and McDaniels’ amused faces, his own mouth beginning to form several sentences, but voicing not a word. After a few moments of futility, he simply walked around Rasheed and continued toward their office. Rutledge followed Barrington without another word. She walked with her eyes on the hallway floor. Rasheed looked at McDaniels with an almost ecstatic look.

“Oh, my friend,” Rasheed stated happily, “God Bless America.”

McDaniels nudged Rasheed as they again followed Barrington and Rutledge toward their part of the complex. Rasheed nodded with a smile when he saw Rutledge catch up to Barrington. Barrington paused for a moment while Rutledge said something. She simply slipped her arm under his. Barrington continued on with Rutledge leaning in close to him.

Chapter 26

Casualties

“Oh, Cold, that feels so good,” Reskova whispered as McDaniels kneaded warm baby oil onto Reskova’s body.

She lay face down, naked on top of a large beach towel across her bed.
Andrea Bocelli’s
voice singing from his
Toscano
CD played in the background. Dino lay at the foot of the bed, poking his head up over the mattress every few minutes. McDaniels wore only a pair of boxer shorts. He massaged her neck, shoulders, and upper back as he straddled across her. Working slowly, listening to Reskova groan with delight, McDaniels worked his way down over her entire body, ending at her feet. He took extra time there, using his thumbs to massage the balls of her feet and heel area before returning again to her neck and shoulders. McDaniels lightened his touch after returning his hands to her upper body once again. Reskova moaned loudly. She then twisted strongly, turning over to face McDaniels. An hour later, she lay wrapped in his arms as they leaned against pillows on her headboard.

“I…I love you so much,” Reskova said softly.

“I love you too, Red,” McDaniels replied, kissing the side of her neck. “How’s the tension aches?”

“What tension aches? I had trouble even thinking until you fixed me. God, I was seeing stars by the time we made it home, from the pain. I let those Senate assholes get to me. If not for Hokanson, I would have beat the snot out of that bulbous nosed…”

“Shhhhhhhhh…” McDaniels whispered. “Forget today. You’ll just get all wound up again.”

Reskova leaned against McDaniels’ bare chest, softly running a hand over his recently scarred skin. “How does the chest feel since they unwrapped you?”

“Great. There’s no pain. I guess I’ll have to give up on any future modeling career, huh?”

“You can model for me anytime, big boy. Hey, I know what I was going to ask you. What’s going on with Tom and Jen? Did something happen during the interrogation to freak them out? They were sure quiet. Every time Kay tried to talk, Jen cut him off. I…,” Reskova paused because McDaniels had begun laughing, his chest heaving as he tried to suppress it. “What?!”

After a few more moments to regain control of his mirth, McDaniels related the gaff Barrington had made while they were all returning to the office, repeating all of Rasheed’s involvement verbatim. Reskova pushed up, turning and straddling McDaniels, her mouth open in shocked enjoyment.

“Oh my God! Tom and Jen? I… hey… no, come on, Cold, I want to hear… no… oh hell…”

Much later, McDaniels pulled on his jeans as Reskova lay sleeping on the bed. When he stood up she opened her eyes sleepily. She reached out over the bed, grasping his hand.

“Where’re you going? It’s almost eleven o’clock.”

“I know. We didn’t have time to take Dino out tonight because of having to fix up that tension problem of yours first. Then you went and did that little twister in my lap after I told you about the dynamic duo, setting back Dino’s outing once again.”

Reskova chuckled, stroking the back of his hand. “Okay, okay, but how did I know simply sitting on your lap was…”

“Never mind,” McDaniels interrupted, pulling away reluctantly as Reskova laughed, pointing at the front of McDaniels’ jeans.

“Got you again.”

“Hold that thought until I come back to tuck you in, Red.” McDaniels warded off a nearly foaming at the mouth Dino. “Rest while you can.”

At two thirty in the morning Reskova’s phone rang. It took only a few seconds for McDaniels to reach across the fumbling Reskova and grab the phone off its cradle on the nightstand. He kissed her shoulder as she groggily accepted the receiver from him.

“Reskova here.”

“Diane, our Special Ops team’s in trouble,” Dreyer’s voice said. “I need to reach McDaniels immediately. He’s not at home because I already sent a car for him. He’s not picking up on either of the two phone numbers I have for him. I…”

“Hold on, Jim,” Reskova cut in, giving the receiver to McDaniels. He looked at her questioningly. “It’s important, Cold, take it.”