Chapter 1
On Sunday at 5:30 a.m. CST but 12:30 p.m. per WAT, Brandon cleared security and walked across the tarmac toward the next, much smaller plane. Harrison was at his side. Neither had said a word since arriving in Africa. Brandon had slept on the plane. If he could sleep on those US military cargo carriers, he could sleep anywhere. He presumed Harrison caught some Zs as well. Both knew what needed to be done, and they realized how important the job was. It was even worse that Bullard was the one in trouble. It was always harder when a friend or family member went missing.
With Merk and Stone already over here, Brandon and Harrison knew they’d be met and debriefed as soon as they landed. But, in the meantime, traveling was a bitch.
Before boarding the transatlantic flight, Harrison had brought out his laptop and said, “We’ll need to download some information first.” He quickly copied files onto a USB key and handed it to Brandon. “Just a little light reading. Make sure you’ve got it all down before we land.”
Once the pilot finally gave the go-ahead to move about the cabin and to use the tray tables, Brandon pulled out his laptop, popped in the USB and opened the files. It was intense reading—a full character workup of all of Bullard’s men and Kasha. He learned a lot of the history about Bullard’s group. He read Kasha’s background info with interest. She’d been with Bullard for five years and had started in an administrative capacity that had quickly morphed to being Bullard’s right-hand man—or woman in this case. Her hobbies were listed as swimming and guns acquisition. As a former SEAL, Brandon had to smile. Yet more they had in common.
At the end was a brief on the issues they currently faced. Brandon had been a part of the initial conference call, so he knew the basics. Outside of some minor details, not much was new. “Bullard had been at the new holding for five days, so are we thinking it’s most likely a local job?” Brandon asked.
Harrison shook his head. “It’s hard to say. Bullard has connections in the military too, both US and African, so it could be someone who wanted retaliation because Bullard helped take them down or could be some freelancer looking for an opportunity to get control of this area, seeing Bullard as an up-and-coming threat. Also remember Kasha’s comment that Bullard had put out the call for new hires at the holding. That was tantamount to broadcasting where he was at that moment to any local mercs.”
“Great. He could be in big trouble and with way too many factions possibly looking to take him out.”
“Exactly. This trip is all about helping Bullard. He’s assisted Ice and Levi many times. He’s also the one who helped set up security on the compound. He and Ice go way back. If either puts out a call for help, the other comes running.”
“But nobody’s heard from Bullard or Kasha since the first transmission?”
“Correct. However, Merk already checked in at both holdings with the help of a helicopter pilot who Ice knew was temporarily in the area. Still no sign of Bullard.”
A fact Merk confirmed when Harrison and Brandon arrived at the local airport. Merk talked and walked outside, nodding to the two of them to toss their gear in the back of the jeep before they all climbed in. He didn’t say much else, just, “It’s about a twenty-five-minute drive. Sit tight. I want to make it in fifteen.”
He took off like a race car on a practice run. There was a careless skill in the way he handled the jeep. The roads were rough once they got past the town limits. Then Merk really put his foot to the gas pedal and let the engine rip. He was just past his ETA when they pulled into an estate. It was bigger than Levi’s and fancier. Like some ornate European mansion had been transported deep within Africa.
Brandon gave a silent whistle as he hopped out. “Wow, this is something.”
Merk nodded. “Bullard has offered to do the same at our place. He says the compound is too ugly for his taste.”
Brandon was starting to like Bullard even more. They walked in to find Dave, Bullard’s manservant, with his hands clenched tightly together.
Again Merk asked, “No sign of him?”
Dave shook his head.
Merk made the introductions. “Nothing new at all?”
“He was setting up another headquarters,” Dave said. “It should have been a simple trip. The property is on the Benin border.”
“Are we flying or driving?”
“Flying,” Dave said firmly. “No expense will be spared to make sure we find Bullard as expediently as possible.”
Just then a woman’s voice called out, “Dave, who’s here?”
Merk stepped up so the woman could see him. “Hello, Kasha. These are two more of my men. Now we can go.”
*
Kasha Lowry studied the two new arrivals. She recognized both from the conference call the day before, but neither were men she knew personally. That bothered her. She understood that Levi had thoroughly vetted these men, but had Bullard? Her responsibility was to her missing employer. After working for him for five years, she also considered him a good friend. Her gaze went from Merk to Brandon. At the sight of Brandon, she frowned. “You’re late.”
Brandon held out his hand. “I’m Brandon. We came as soon as we could. I’m sure we’ll find Bullard.”
She shook his hand, fear gnawing at her insides. She’d been waiting for these men to show up, Merk and Stone having arrived five hours earlier. “I hope so. It’s very unlike Bullard to be silent. We don’t have any time to spare.” Without waiting for a response, she spun on her heels and walked down a hallway.
Just then Stone called from the other end of it. “Down here, guys.”
Kasha led the way to the huge office that was the central hub of Bullard’s operation. The medical clinic was attached on the left with its own entrance.
Inside the room Stone greeted the men at Kasha’s side while working at the electronics table, building a camera system for the newest holding Bullard had purchased.
“This is Bullard’s main office,” Kasha explained as she walked over to a computer screen and clicked on several keys, and a big monitor popped to life on the wall. A map filled the screen with a red circle in the center. “This is his last known location.”
“Does he have a tracker on?” Brandon asked.
She nodded. “He does. However, it is no longer responding.”
“Is it subcutaneous?”
“No, it’s hidden in his belt.”
The men exchanged glances. Stone’s face locked down. “It could be worse. There are many reasons for it to have stopped working.”
After that the questions came fast and furious. She answered what she could, but there was damn little anybody on Bullard’s team knew. His men, who had accompanied Bullard there, had all gone to look at his new acquisition. They’d been there for five days, making extensive notes of what Bullard wanted done. They had two vehicles delivered and a mess of other deliveries, including food and electronics. Bullard had been busy making plans to develop the property in terms of security. He’d chosen the spot because it was private, and he could build more of the fortress he wanted with less government interference. The property was already halfway there, making it perfect for his needs.
“He wanted a second headquarters, as big as this one,” Kasha said. “This will always be his home base because a full medical clinic’s here. But he wanted to move some of his military operations away from home into a new location and run the business aspect from over there.”
“That’s understandable. I’d do the same,” Brandon said. “Although I’m not sure I’d want one so far away.”
“But the farther away from home meant added safety for those here.”
“Makes sense.”
Kasha looked around the room. “We have water and a small meal for you to shift gears. We’ll be leaving soon, so help yourself.”
The others cheered as Dave walked in, pushing a big rolling triple-tiered metal tray full of wraps, sandwiches and what looked like hand-size meat pies.
Brandon asked, “Bathroom?”
She pointed to a small door off to the side. “Down there.”
He headed for it as she watched with her peripheral vision until he closed the door. Then she turned to Merk who was eyeing the meat pies. “Help yourself. We’ll be flying out in twenty minutes.”
“Everything packed and ready?”
She nodded. “We’ve just been waiting for your team’s arrival.”
He couldn’t seem to decide what to choose and ended up taking two meat pies. The first one went down in just a couple bites. The second he savored, even as he picked up a third.
She laughed. “Good, aren’t they?”
“Delicious,” he muttered with a full mouth.
Stone had no trouble picking and choosing, taking his plate back to the work bench.
“Where is the airport?” Harrison asked from behind her.
She turned slightly to speak to both men, pointing to another monitor trained on this holding.
Brandon stepped out of the bathroom in time to catch her response. He snagged a meat pie as he listened.
“I have a helicopter warming up. There’s no time to waste. We’d have used the helicopter to bring you back to the house, but your arrival times differed every time I checked the airport’s ETAs.”
Brandon looked at her in surprise and then whispered to Merk, “Too bad Ice isn’t here.”
“Or the guy who heloed me about earlier before he had to leave. It took longer but got the job done,” Merk added. “Bullard is a hell of a pilot himself.” Merk shook his head. “Bullard always had more money than we did. Knowing him, this helo will be one of the latest and the best. Ice would love to be flying one of those.”
“So true,” Kasha said with a wry smile. “I love that about her. Ice was always the first to jump in and fly to the rescue.” She’d heard lots of stories from Bullard about Ice. Plus she and Levi had been to Africa both to visit and for business meetings several times, so Kasha had met them personally. Bullard called them family. Kasha wasn’t as close to them as he was, but it was a nice concept.
They needed to get moving. She had everyone outside and loaded up within minutes. With everyone in place, they lifted off. She loved to fly in the helicopter. Bullard spared no expense in his working life.
They had barely been airborne when they landed at the airport where they transferred to a small plane. Brandon leaned forward to Merk and asked, “Is this his private airstrip?”
Merk nodded. “It is indeed.”
“We gotta get us one of these.”
Merk just chuckled.
The transfer was made very quickly. Their pilot got out of the helicopter and moved into the plane, taking the pilot’s seat. Flying the two involved very different skill sets, but it seemed that, in this world, everybody had multiple talents. And they were damn good at each of them.
The plane ride was just over an hour. When they landed, nobody came to greet them. Also no vehicle waited for them at the secondary holding.
The pilot hopped out with them and said, “I’ll be back tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. Gives you twenty-four hours.” He glared at them all. “Be here with Bullard.”