24. Merlin
24
MERLIN
Paul Bridges does not look happy to see me.
And honestly, I can’t blame him. If someone were to call me up out of the blue and tell me they suspect there’s a problem on my home turf, but then be all vague about exactly what the issue is, I wouldn’t be happy either.
“So, you want to tell me what all the secrecy’s about?” Straight to the point, no mincing words. Exactly my kind of guy.
“We appear to have a situation in your executive suite involving your CEO, his EA, and CFO. As I mentioned in our earlier phone conversation, I’m a personal friend of Ms. Asherton’s, and when I was in touch with her a short time ago, she indicated that there’s some kind of hostage situation going on up there.
“As I’m a Navy SEAL, she requested my assistance in raising the alarm and carrying out a rescue. I’m notifying you as a courtesy since this is your turf, and the last thing I want to do is step on toes. But, make no mistake, we will be executing a rescue in short order.”
“Hostage situations on home soil isn’t exactly within your jurisdiction though,” he replies.
“Under normal circumstances, no, but these aren’t normal circumstances. We have reason to believe that a known trafficker and launderer we’ve been tracking is involved, making it our jurisdiction,” I reply, hoping he’s not going to call my bluff or drag this out any longer.
“Since you’re aware of who that is, would you mind sharing your intel with me.” Not a question.
“Your current CFO isn’t who he pretends to be, I’m afraid,” I reply.
“Mason?” Bridges asks, clearly surprised at my comment.
“Yeah, turns out Edgar Mason is one Bruce Whitcomb — a British national known to us for his involvement in sex trafficking and money laundering. Which he’s currently using StanCorp to facilitate.”
“Yeah?” The man’s eyebrows are just about crawling into his hairline.
“’Fraid so.”
“Always thought he was a sketchy fucker.”
Agonizing seconds crawl by as the man gives me a thorough study. Just when I’m about to come out of my skin, he nods, as if he’s come to some decision I’m not privy to.
“What do you need from us?”
I barely manage to bite back a sigh of relief that Bridges isn’t going to make me jump through hoops for this. He calls for his team, and I call for mine. Once we’re all assembled, I fire up the tablet Ace had in his backpack.
“Here’s what we have in mind,” I say, before laying our plan out in full detail for him. By the time I’m done, he seems to be fully onboard and, once again, I suppress a sigh of relief.
“First order of business is to clear the building quietly, without alerting anyone in the executive suite to what’s going on around them. The last thing we want to do is alert the hostage taker we’re convinced is Edgar Mason, a.k.a. Bruce Whitcomb.
“We believe Mason is holding Mr. Stanton and Ms. Asherton hostage in Mr. Stanton’s office. So, the second order of business is to find some way to get Mason away from his hostages and on his own. It’s the best way to avoid collateral damage. Once he’s subdued, we’ll take the perp into custody and hand him over to the relevant Alphabet Agency. Any questions?” I ask.
When none are forthcoming, Bridges nods. “Right then, let’s get this done,” is all he says, barking out orders based on the plan we’ve just gone over.
The security team head out to begin the process of clearing the building while the guys and I go over our own plan one last time.
In less time than I had anticipated, Bridges’s second-in-command notifies him the top half of the building has been cleared. While we want everyone out, just to be safe, the fact that the area around the executive suite is clear gives us the green light to get in there and get the job done.
Sending one last prayer heavenward that this will end well, I follow my team out of the security offices and up to the floor just below the executive level. It’s eerie how quiet it is as Phantom, Hot Sauce, and I silently exit the stairwell. In the middle of a workday, when you expect to see people moving around talking, speaking on the phone, it’s deserted.
Stuff is scattered around, bearing witness to the fact that there were people here just a short while ago, as if they’ve stepped out for just a moment. Which, I suppose, is accurate. As soon as we give the all-clear, they’ll be able to return to their desks and continue on with their day.
For now, we need to get on with the task at hand.
We search the floor one last time to ensure that no one has returned for any reason or is hiding in any of the offices. When we establish it is indeed one hundred percent clear, we make our way up to the roof.
Clearing the roof area, we head over to the east side of the building, and I help Phantom into his repelling harness, while Hot Sauce anchors the rope.
“Once you’re over, I’ll head on down to join the rest of the guys,” I say. “Be careful, be safe, yeah?”
“You know it, Chief.” Phantom gives me a grin. “Now let me go get your girl.”
He climbs over the ledge, gives Hot Sauce a nod to feed him some rope, and lowers himself until he’s out of sight.
“You good?” I ask Hot Sauce.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“Then let’s get this done. I’ll see you on the other side.”
“See you on the other side,” he replies.
I make my way down to the executive offices and find the guys ready and waiting. Ace’s fed a borescope camera under the door and, as our breacher, Cougar’s standing by ready for my signal to breach.
I nod at Blade, and he gives me a thumbs-up. Stepping up to the door, he turns the knob silently then, finding it locked, he knocks.
“Mr. Stanton, sir, are you in there?” he calls out.
Long, tense moments drag by as we wait for any kind of response. My heart’s beating in my throat, and my hands are sweating under my gloves. When I think nothing’s going to happen and we’re going to have to go in blind, Ace gives me the signal he has eyes on Mason and he’s alone. Thank fuck.
I engage my comm and, in a toneless voice that doesn’t carry, I tell Phantom to stand by to breach on my mark.
“Three, two, one, go.”
Simultaneously, Cougar breaks the door down, and Phantom shatters the office window from the outside. Ace rolls a flash bang into the room, and we count to five before entering.
“Drop the weapon, Mason,” Ace says.
“Fuck you. You want it, come get it,” Mason replies, and a shot rings out. I hear Cougar curse.
“Cougar, you good?” I call out.
“Yeah, motherfucker got me on the arm, but it’s just a flesh wound.”
By this point, Phantom’s come up from behind and gets Mason in a headlock with one arm, while immobilizing the man’s gun arm with his other hand.
Cougar steps forward and takes possession of the gun. “Give me that, asshole,” he snaps.
Mason, still not ready to concede defeat, begins to struggle in Phantom’s grip.
“Oh hell, no you don’t,” I hear him growl through gritted teeth. He tightens the arm around Mason’s neck, and in seconds the man goes limp. “Yeah, that’s it. Nighty night.”
Phantom lowers him to the floor, and Ace secures his hands. Satisfied the situation is under control, I lower my own weapon and run to Stanton’s office. The sight that greets me has my gut clenching, and my heart beating a whole lot faster.
Stanton is lying unmoving on the floor, and Leila, still tied to the chair, is crying like her heart is breaking.
Dashing over to her, I pull out my Ka-Bar to cut her free. As I free her hands, she throws her arms around my neck, and I take a minute to soak her embrace in. “Let me get your feet untied, sweetness.”
I feel her nod, but she doesn’t relinquish the death grip she has ‘round my neck. Deciding it can wait, I wrap my arms around her and hold her close. We stay like that for a long minute. When I hear movement behind me, I turn my head to find Kansas going to his knees beside Stanton.
He reaches out to check for a pulse and, with a grim expression on his face, shakes his head. I watch as he rolls the man to his back to begin CPR. Wrapping my hand around the back of Leila’s head, I gently hold it to my neck, hugging her closer with the other arm. She’s been through enough — she doesn’t need to see what’s happening to her boss.
But this is Leila. I should have known better.
“Is Phillip going to be okay?” I feel her lips move against the skin of my neck as she speaks.
“I don’t know, baby. Let’s give Kansas a minute.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“In the meantime, shall we get your legs untied so we can get you out of here?”
Again, I feel her head move against me as she nods. “Yes, please. I can’t wait to get out of here. I just need to know if Phillip will be all right.”
“Eyes on me,” I say, as I lean away from Leila in readiness to release her from her bonds.
In no time at all, I have her free. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders and keeping my body between her and the sight of Kansas still working on Phillip Stanton, I escort Leila from the room. Entering her office, I’m pleased to see that the guys have restored the room to normal — other than the busted door — and have removed Edgar Mason, no doubt to question him before handing him over.
Only Ace remains in the room. Seeing us, he comes over to Leila and gently tugs her out of my embrace and into his own arms.
“Hey now, go get your own girl,” I say, joking.
“I will, just gonna borrow yours for a second or ten.” I see the relief in his eyes right before he squeezes them tight. “Doll, I’m thinking Merlin’s going to have to wrap you in bubble wrap and keep you locked up at home. Girl, you’re going to be the death of us. You’ve got to quit scaring us like that.”
Despite the situation she’s just been rescued from, Leila gives Ace a weak chuckle. “Yeah, I’m beginning to the think the same thing.”