Black Flagged Apex

Chapter 25





12:45 AM

New Brunswick, New Jersey



Aleem Fayed opened the basement door and stepped into the kitchen, closing it softly behind him. He tossed a small digital dictation machine on the kitchen counter and started to wash his blood-soaked hands in the sink.

"It's all there," he said, without looking up from his hands.

Once the red tendrils of blood had stopped flowing across the white ceramic basin, he switched the water to cold and took a handful to splash his face. He rubbed his eyes with watery hands, before placing them on the edges of the counter to brace himself for a few seconds of rest. He stared at the soap dispenser behind the sink, just to the left of the tap. He needed more than a few seconds of repose, but his day was far from finished. He turned his head toward the dining room and saw that everyone was staring at him.

"Did you find anything on his phone?" he asked the others, breaking the silence.

He knew why they were staring at him. Screams and crying from the basement had lasted for nearly an hour, as Aleem perpetrated his finest masterpiece of physical and psychological torture. By the time Estrada had finally expired, the True America militant had been so utterly confused and physically strained that he had rambled completely unrelated pieces of information in the hopes of unlocking the key to his survival. Even Aleem felt slightly sorry for the wrecked human being fastened to the metal basement support beam. The man had endured the most twisted hour of his life, dying unceremoniously in an anonymous basement on the outskirts of a New Jersey suburb. Breaking Miguel Estrada had required little physical torture, beyond a few well-placed kicks and punches. Most of the session had been a mental seesaw attack, designed to rip the psychological rug out from under Estrada, over and over again.

It started when he was shoved into the dimly lit unfinished basement and tied to the thick metal column several feet in front of the Imam. Aleem kept him faced away from Hamid Muhammad, until the Imam's muffled screams could no longer be ignored. Estrada was free to rotate around the column, restrained by handcuffs and a long U-shaped Kryptonite bicycle lock. When he finally shifted to face the muffled screams, Aleem ripped the duct tape off the Imam's face and watched as Estrada's face registered recognition and confusion. At this point, Aleem announced that Estrada's abduction had been part of an induction ceremony to bring him into the next level of True America's inner circle and that the raid on the market had been staged as his final test of loyalty and competence.

As the Imam screamed, Estrada was told that he would be given the honor of killing the Imam with his bare hands, but he would not be released until the Al Qaeda terrorist was dead. Aleem released Estrada from the handcuffs and pushed Hamid Muhammad's chair within striking distance of the militant. It took him nearly ten minutes to pummel the life out of the Imam. Aleem had pulled the chair back several times to keep Estrada from strangling him. He wanted Estrada physically exhausted and emotionally charged for the next turn of events.

When the Imam's pulse faded to nothing, Aleem unleashed a vicious attack on Estrada, dropping him to the floor. He recuffed his hands and thanked him for doing the Prophet's work. Sending the traitorous Imam straight to hell on behalf of Al Qaeda would ensure a quick, painless death, he had assured Estrada. He explained how the Imam had double-crossed everyone. He had stolen money from True America, while at the same time giving up the location of the hidden Al Qaeda cells. Estrada knew that part of this was untrue, but any effort to explain how they had tracked the Al Qaeda cells was met with Aleem's fists. He demanded to know where they had taken the stolen virus canisters, but Estrada held out, even after one of his fingers was bent backward to the point of breaking. At this point, tears started rolling down Estrada's cheeks, which told him it was time to change back to the first story.

Aleem completely freed Estrada and tossed a water bottle down for him to drink, congratulating him on passing the final test of loyalty. He would now be taken to meet Lee Harding and Jackson Greely for the final ceremony. Estrada grabbed the water bottle and accepted Aleem's hand, rising back to his feet. He could tell that Estrada wanted desperately to believe that he had passed some bizarre hazing ritual. This was when he slipped up for the first time. He asked if they still needed him for the job in Atlanta. Benjamin Young. Aleem immediately kicked him in the groin and pulled him by his hair back to the basement support column, reattaching the U-shaped lock.

He had almost passed the test, Aleem stated. He'd given up mission details under uncertain circumstances, possibly jeopardizing True America's inner core. Estrada apologized profusely and took a drink of water, squeezing the rest of the water over his head. The results of the habanero-infused water were immediate. Estrada's sweat pores and eyes absorbed the habanero oil, causing his face to feel like it had caught fire. The pain in his mouth had probably been beyond comprehension for several minutes. Aleem waited for the screaming to die down before informing him that Jackson Greely had once told him something at the training compound that could save his life. Something important that only Estrada could know.

Aleem spent the next twenty minutes using a flaming aerosol can to keep Estrada talking. He gave up everything in hopes of hitting the one thing that might save his life. He had crossed the line of rational thought, which would have never allowed him to disclose some of the intimate details of his association with True America. He'd confirmed several things they had suspected, but never provided details about the bigger plot. Tommy Brown and he had masterminded the simultaneous hit against Al Qaeda, having tracked and observed the cells for over a year. Brown was the tactical arm of the True America militants.

Beyond shepherding one of the cells to the Mount Arlington pump station, Estrada didn't have any further details. His next mission after killing the Imam involved killing a man named Benjamin Young in Atlanta. He didn't have many details about the man. He'd planned to take two other operatives down to Atlanta. He apologized profusely for not knowing more, but assured Aleem that Brown usually gave him future tasking upon completion of each mission. Based on the sheer terror in Estrada's eyes, he had little reason to doubt the man's sincerity.

When he informed Estrada that he worked for an "off the books" government agency tasked to stop True America's plot, the man alternated between rage and self-pity, screaming one moment and suddenly crying the next. Aleem ended his misery with a front kick to the man's neck, crushing his neck against the metal pole.

"Hello? Earth to f*cking techno-geeks. Did you pull anything off the phone?"

His comment jarred them out of their trance, prompting Graves to respond.

"He had several text messages containing addresses in Atlanta. Listed separately as 'family home, apartment, escort apartment, escort bar, and hotel gym.'"

"Makes sense. His next mission was a hit in Atlanta. A man named Benjamin Young. Start working up a profile on this guy and download the information on this recorder. Is there anything on the phone related to Hacker Valley, West Virginia?"

"Hacker?" Anish Gupta said.

"Coincidence. Hacker Valley is the location of their training compound. You'll find detailed directions on the digital recording," Aleem said.

"I'll start cleaning things up downstairs," Tariq said.

Graves and Gupta watched Tariq get up from the dining room table and walk into the living room.

"Are they dead?" Gupta asked.

"No. I'm planning on taking them to get a Big Mac and fries after they clean up," Aleem replied sarcastically.

"F*ck, man. This is getting out of control," Gupta said.

"What the f*ck are you complaining about? Nobody's asking you to clean up the mess. You think I enjoy this shit? Trust me, I don't. You do your job, and I'll do mine. That's how it works, unless you want out. I'll make the call to Sanderson myself. If you can't do your jobs, I need to find a crew that can. Do you want me to make the call?" Aleem asked.

"I'd rather not be taken by one of you to get a Happy Meal at McDonald’s, so I'll stick around," Graves said.

"I don't even like McDonald’s," Gupta said.

"The comedy duo of Gupta and Graves." Aleem laughed quietly, shaking his head. "Let's get a data package put together for General Sanderson. We'll clean up the mess and sanitize the house. I'd like to be out of here in less than two hours."

"Sounds good to me," Graves said, standing up to grab the digital recorder from the kitchen counter.

Aleem returned to the sink and ran the water across the entire surface of the basin, washing any trace of red down the drain. He'd use Comet later to remove any remaining traces of biological evidence. Before that, they would remove the bodies, placing them in the trunk of the stolen Honda Accord that sat parked in the garage. Tariq appeared in the dining room doorway and held up two black plastic body bags.

"Ready when you are," he said, grimacing.

"Let's get this over with. I'll grab the cleaning supplies," Aleem replied, turning off the faucet.

Graves and Gupta focused on their computer screens, avoiding eye contact.