UNDERCOVER The Secret of Luck (29 page)

“I can see some folks, but I wish I could see a little more clearly, Diane. The night vision is helpful, but not exactly useful.” said John.

“John, do you see the third button at the bottom. Yeah, that one, yes. Press that button and that should enable heat signature features. That should help you get more out of the vision.” said Diane.

Now, John was able to see much more clearly. In total, there were four signatures that were registered in the binoculars. They were spread out at a distance of about hundred meters from each other. John could not see the weapons they were holding. Yet, based on the way they were holding their weapons, John figured that they were holding rifles. That did not sound good, he thought to himself.

“Looks like they are packing some serious hardware. Just four people guarding an entire island? Is that not nuts?” asked John.

“Not many people come to this place since it is private property. Jory Hunger is smart. From what I have heard about him, he has been doing this for a long time. He is pretty good, too. We should never underestimate the people who work for him. Here, take these. They are not guns, John. They are loaded with tranquilizer darts, six of them. You take out two of the guards, and I will take out the other two. The important thing to remember is that we need to get them quick, within a time-frame of a minute. Any delay will result in them alerting others, and we will probably get caught. We might escape, but that would be a huge setback.” said Diane, handing over one dart gun to John.

“How long will they be out for?” asked John, checking the gun in his hand.

“Eight to ten hours minimum. I fully expect Jory Hunger to be in that building. Todd Luck will probably be a high priority hostage, and Jory Hunger would not want to take any chances. The plan is simple John. Once you have taken down the two thugs and I have taken down mine, we make our way to the building. You should meet me at the back entrance of the bungalow. If you reach there first, wait for me to arrive. If I reach first, I will wait for you. Questions?” said Diane, pushing the dart gun into the holster and packing her backpack.

“No questions.” said John, following her and taking care of the dart gun and his own backpack.

“Okay, John. This is where we split up. See you in a few minutes.” said Diane, jumping off the branch into the branch of the next tree.

John watched her hop from one branch to another, without making any noise whatsoever. A few seconds later, she was gone. John climbed down the tree swiftly, trying to make as little noise as possible. John was on the ground soon enough, and then he started running toward his two targets. His first target was about two hundred meters from where he was. The second target was a little ahead of the first target at another two hundred meters. John was glad that Diane had the forethought of making him wear tennis shoes before they left to go there.

He snuck up as close as fifty meters to the person. John waited until his target’s face was away from him. The moment that happened, he pulled out the dart gun. John noticed that it was fixed with a built in laser sight. It was very convenient, and another point that made Diane such an amazing person to work with. John continued to be impressed with the agent with whom he had been working with. John aimed for his back, right shoulder. He flicked the trigger and there was a swish noise. The guy, a little away from him, gave a small scream of pain and dropped on the ground.

John noticed that the other guy had not noticed that his friend had gone down. John ran in that direction, quietly. He ran until he was fifty meters from the second target. He waited for him to turn away, and then did the same thing he did with the first guy. He dropped down with a soft thud. Normally, John would have dragged the unconscious body to the side and throw their weapons away. Diane had said that they would be out for eight hours at least. There was no point in doing that. With his part of the job done, John turned toward the back door of the bungalow. He was there in two minutes. Unsurprisingly, Diane was already there.

“Why am I not surprised that you reached here before me, Diane?” asked John, stopping to catch his breath.

“You are slow, detective.” said Diane, smiling.

“Thanks. That really makes me happy.” said John.

“Don’t worry about it, detective. If you had been trained like me, I am pretty sure you would have been faster than me. I have got the door open and I have already scanned the place with the heat vision. There is just one person on the top floor room. That must be Jory Hunger.” said Diane.

“Just one heat signature? Does that mean Todd is not here?” asked John, a little disappointed.

“I am sure that he is somewhere here. The hostage would probably be in some kind of an underground bunker, shielding off the body heat. Don’t lose faith yet, John. I have a gut feeling that we are almost at the end of this long, harrowing journey.” said Diane, almost sounding like a person who was much older that she looked.

“I hope you are right, Diane. I consider myself a very patient person, but I really want to get to the end of this. I am this close to closing this case, but each time I get close, something else happens. I really want to bring a big smile on Ms. Luck’s face.” said John.

“It will be fine, detective. You have been at this for three to four days? I have been at this for weeks. The delay is killing me from within, too. We are on the same boat here. Let’s keep moving.” said Diane.

Diane unlocked the door, and they were inside the bungalow. The place was almost dark, and most of the lights were turned off. John noticed that the whole bungalow was filled with all sorts of expensive items. The furniture in the room alone must have cost a fortune. The walls had paintings that looked extremely expensive. If John was a thief, he would walk out a very rich person tonight. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t a thief. Neither was Diane, and she hardly stopped to look at any of the stuff. She went straight up the stairs with John running right behind. They were both wearing tennis shoes, and neither made any noise.

They ran till they were at a huge door, and there was light coming from beyond it. Diane stopped to hear what was going on inside. John could hear nothing. Diane continued to keep her eyes on the door. John did not know what she was doing, but he did not wish to interrupt her. He waited for her to finish whatever it was that she was doing. While he was waiting, John could not help but turn around and admire the living room. He thought that this Jory Hunger guy must make a lot of money doing whatever he does. He must have been appreciating it for a few minutes, when Diane tugged at him.

John turned back and she was pulling out her real gun, not the dart gun. John followed her lead and pulled out his own gun, unlocking the safety lock. Diane raised her gun above her shoulder, put her hand on the door lock and stood to the right of the door. John stood to the left of the door. He waited for her signal. Diane waited for a few seconds, and then, she quickly unlocked the door and stepped in. John followed her quickly. The moment they stepped inside, John saw a man in a white robe, staring at them in shock.

He was dressed in a bathrobe and had a glass of wine in his hand. The moment he saw them, he stopped talking to someone. John looked at the direction his head was tilted before he stopped talking. A door that led to the bathroom was half open. A second later, they heard a female voice from within. A woman walked out not wearing anything except a towel on her head. Without wasting a second, Diane pulled out the dart gun with her free hand and shot her in her thigh. The naked woman dropped to the ground.

“Who the hell are you people?” shouted the guy in the bathrobe.

“You Jory Hunger?” asked John, his gun still pointed at him. Diane turned back to face Jory Hunger and pointed her gun as well.

“Who is asking?” asked the bath robe person, still very angry. He looked at the unconscious woman on the ground and then turned back to look at the two intruders.

“Is this some kind of a movie? Start talking, bathrobe guy. We know you are Jory Hunger. Now…” John stopped talking. A phone started ringing, and it was on the table.

John picked it up and the name on that was Mr. Dragon. He showed the phone to Diane, who nodded in agreement. They both recognized the name. John figured that Mr. Dragon was probably calling to check if everything was okay. This only confirmed their suspicions. A person of extreme importance must be at the house. They only needed to get that information out of this Jory fellow. John held the phone next to the bathrobe guy’s ears.

“Tell him everything is fine. Otherwise, I will blow your brains out.” said John, in a tone that was more than just a threat.

Jory Hunger knew that John was serious. He could see that John was very angry. Jory Hunger did not know that John was frustrated. He did not know that John was severely beaten a couple of days ago and that he still had a lot of pain in his body. He did not know that John had to spend time in a private clinic as a result of the beatings. John was also angry because his assistant was kidnapped and her life was under serious threat. John wanted this to end, and he wanted it to end soon. He wanted to close this case and then show his client that her brother was alive. He then wanted to travel to Townley and spend a long weekend with Nancy. The thought of spending time with Nancy made him feel a little better. Returning to the present time, John pressed the answer button and held it next to Jory Hunger’s mouth.

“Mr. Dragon. Sir…This is Jory.” said Jory Hunger.

“Jory. Are all systems okay? Is the prisoner still intact?” asked a voice that was very recognizable to Diane and John.

“Yes, Mr. Dragon. It is perfect.” said Jory Hunger.

Without even a response, the phone clicked, and the call ended.

“By what time will he call again to check, Jory?” John asked.

“Six hours.” answered Jory.

“Good. Diane, you know that thing where you smack on some part of the neck and the person goes unconscious?” asked John.

“I know how to do that.” said Diane, her gun still pointing at the guy in his bathroom robe.

“Good. Mr. Hunger. Listen to me very carefully. We know your profession is to hold onto things and keep them occupied. I need you to tell me two things. The first thing is the name of the person you are holding for Mr. Dragon. Then, I need to know where this person is kept. You do this, and no harm will come to you. I need to warn you that, as part of my professional training to become a private detective, I have been taught some pretty serious torture techniques. It is true that we cannot kill you because we need you to tell the location and name. Still, I know things that will make you beg me to kill you. Is that clear?” John asked, in a tone that was as serious as before.

“I don’t believe you, detective. I think you are bluffing. You know no torture techniques. I am not falling for that.” said Hunger.

“Looks like he does not believe you, John, what do we do now?” Diane asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Looks like he doesn’t, perhaps I should give him a demonstration of what I am capable of doing.” said John, both their guns still pointing at their target.

“You want to try the double thread torture technique on him? I think he can take it.” said Diane.

“He does not look tough enough, Diane. I think he is just a small baby. We should go with the ugly dog torture technique. We use that for softy guys. He seems like a softy guy.” said John, observing his facial expressions out of the corner of his eye.

John was waiting for the guy to change his expression, perhaps become a little worse for the wear. What Mr. Hunger did not realize was that both John and Diane were playing a game of bluffs. They were simply rattling off random names as torture techniques. They were hoping to scare Jory into thinking that he would be tortured by these crazy torture people. That was the effect that they were hoping to have. They needed Mr. Hunger to start speaking.

They were not exactly short on time, but they only had six hours before Mr. Dragon would call again. The guys they dropped unconscious outside will probably be awake by then. All that they had done till now, would be for nothing. John could not let that happen, and neither could Diane. They had come too far to go home empty handed. They decided to continue their charade.

“I agree with you, John. He does look like a baby. Look at the bathrobe is wearing. It’s pink. What kind of a guy wears a pink bathrobe? Look at his hair cut, and that phone with all the bling. He is a baby, John. I don’t think he has enough guts to even take on the ugly dog. We should try something simpler on him, maybe the sea turtle. We use that on trainees back at the Academy.” said Diane, going along with the play.

“I am not a baby!” said Hunger, changing his facial expression for the first time.

John and Diane knew that they were getting somewhere. They just had to push his buttons a little further.

“Look at you, man. You are a baby, and nothing you say or do can change that. In fact, I think I would feel guilty if I tried any of the torture techniques on you. It would be an insult of my skills and knowledge if I did them.” said John, continuing to push this bathrobe wearing guy’s buttons.

“I am not a baby, and whatever you try, I am not going to tell you squat. You can kill me, but in a few hours they will come checking up on me. Then, your game is up, you morons. I don’t know who you are, detective. I don’t know who your lady friend is. I will find out though. Once this day comes to an end, I will find both of you and take care you. I have resources, and I have the contacts that will make this happen. You have been warned. Both of you!” said Hunger.

Clearly he was getting upset, and that was good news. John knew that calm people didn’t make mistakes. It was people who were not under complete control of their emotions who made mistakes. John was happy that their little trick was working. Hunger was now convinced that John and Diane were not kidding about being torture experts. Now that the doubt had been removed, John and Diane needed to make good on their promise. John did a face nod at Diane. She took that as a signal and moved quickly and found herself behind Hunger’s back. She smacked him on the neck and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.