Gus joined him with the curious Deke, who sniffed Nick as if he was contaminated. “That was a long conversation. You didn’t kill him, so you either figure on doing it later, or he didn’t bring bad news.”
“It was a mixed bag. The minion’s name is Ty Brody. Carol did put him on to me. He had enough savvy to know I made him following me. He admitted it to Carol, so as not to take a chance of being erased from existence. Carol told him to do a meet and greet with extras. It seems our paths are intersecting once again in the covert world of screw each other over until death do us part.”
The two men headed in the direction of Nick’s home once again. Gus waited for Nick to speak, allowing him to decide whether he needed to know anything that was going on behind the scenes.
“Carol has a Saudi name tied into the honor killings, and a bunch of other stuff, Brody didn’t specify, other than letting me know he ordered the death of Shane Corso in Dubai a month ago. He had Shane tortured to death, so the Company is scrambling to protect assets.”
“I get that. You’ve taught me unless the torturers lack imagination or the victim has one of those maladies where no pain registers, they will get the information they seek.”
“Shane and I were in the same Delta outfit. I always made sure when I took a job from Frank at that damn rogue NSA outfit that we didn’t cross paths with the Company. Shane stayed with them after I left. When the shit hit the fan over my adopting Rachel, Jean, and the Dekester, I prayed Frank wouldn’t be able to send Shane after me. I like to think he would have refused the assignment, but I sure as hell never wanted him dead by my hand. I lost a few as it was during the cross country jaunt from the old days with my adopted family.”
“Do you think they’re on the level with you?”
“I told Brody to make the info drop on me, and I’d have a look. Shane had a wife and kids back in DC. If Brody produces the evidence that this Fahid Al Mady was responsible, I’m going to do a bit of wealth transfer, so that Shane’s family never wants for anything. How I get the wealth transfer will not be a pleasant one for Al Mady.”
“Killing Saudi nationals in the USA gets real tricky with the way our government fawns over them like they didn’t have sixteen passengers involved in the 911 act of war,” Gus said.
Nick grinned over at Gus. “That’s where Brody hinted at a much better incursion. It seems Al Mady is planning a cruise from San Francisco to Los Angeles aboard the yacht named Shalimar. I need you on this one, brother.”
Gus stopped dead in his tracks. Nick brought Deke to heel while waiting for his friend’s thoughts with a knowing smile. Gus pointed at Nick. “I love my damn boat more than I care for you. I admit it. If Lucky Lady II is in danger of being nuked from orbit, I want to know right now, because we’re through if she is.”
“Not happening, Gus, although I’m hurt you chose your boat over me.” Nick let his shoulders slump while he stared at his shoes in morbid contemplation.
Gus smacked Nick in the back of his head. “Okay. I know you were playing me. How do you want to work this new at sea assignment then?”
Nick started pacing with Deke again for home. “I have to go north and tag the Shalimar. That way, we won’t depend on information gathered from untrustworthy sources. We’ll know right where The Shalimar is every moment. It will be a bit trickier than other at sea incursions we’ve done, but I have a neat idea so that I don’t have to kill everyone on board.”
Gus sighed. “Lay it on me, brother.”
“I figure they’ll party down come night time not too much further south than we are. They’ll have a spot picked out to drop anchor for a night of watching the stars, and debauchery. I’m figuring once they end their party time, we’ll move in. I’ll board her, and pluck our buddy, Al Mady for an unfortunate and very cold trip over to the Lucky Lady II. We move away quietly, and we have all the time in the world to question Fahid. The others will think he was so drunk, he went overboard. We steam off with our little visitor, and transport him to the crypt of horrors.”
“That’s damn good, but what if they check his financials? Fahid disappearing off a ship in the night, and then transactions transferring a large sum of money might red flag your whole operation.”
“I don’t think so, Gus. It will take days for them to start diving into his hidden finances. First off, everyone on his boat will be a suspect if what you’re worrying about comes into play. We don’t have any residual fallout at all. Fahid is simply going to disappear off their boat, never to be seen again.”
“Damn. I’ve said this before, Nick… you are a very bad man.”