“Pilot Hill’s over three hours away though,” Gus pointed out. “We’d still be stuck flying out of Regional to get there. You have over ten acres where John lives.”
“Can’t do it there, Payaso. The locals’ heads would explode if I built a hangar on my land in the Valley,” Nick replied. “The first time a helicopter or anything else left my place, I’d have everyone from the PD to the National Guard going over our interrogation and storage facility. You’re right about the connecting part. We’ll have to puzzle that part out, depending on the mission. I love the idea of owning that place though in Pilot Hill. It doesn’t get a lot of snowfall because it’s a couple of hours down from Lake Tahoe. I like it for another safe house we can use as an armory too, along with doubling as a launch site.”
“You really have embraced John Harding’s Monster Squad, Muerto,” Cala stated. “Gus has said you hated working with anyone. Now, we are becoming an army.”
“John started out with only Lucas and Casey in the North under Strobert. They have a network now with Alexi Fiialkov watching the ports and streets, police on the pad for quick reports or cover, and a much larger force of killers. We’ve seen them in action. They can be counted on. This underground terrorist war keeps expanding, thanks to the idiots in government importing the bastards, or leaving the borders wide open for them to stroll in. For the first time ever, I’m not sure we can avoid a serious war on our soil. Like I told Gus once – I don’t like being hunted, and definitely not in my own land.”
The four sipped from their drinks quietly for a moment before Johnny broke the silence. “Have you considered anything else with the Channel Islands’ Mother Ship near San Luis Obispo? You mentioned Fernando Carone after our interrogation where we initially extracted Al-Kadi’s Pilot Hill location. When do you think we should move on him?”
“Before he recruits another bunch of ‘bangers to pick up where the crew Jay ran left off. He’s aware of the huge gang fight leaving his ‘banger explorers dead by now. Fernando may or may not believe there’s a more organized crime syndicate here establishing a presence. When a guy like Carone believes he may be getting challenged, he might send a few pros here to soften up the situation. We may have to do some detective work before we move on the ‘Mother Ship’. If he sends pros, they’ll be thinking to look for other ‘banger types. They’ll be leaning on local punks and frequenting seedier hotspots in the area, hoping to get leads on non-existent threats.”
“Where would you go for that, Muerto?”
“If I was an out of town thug, I’d check in Salinas first, but then I’d have a drink at Carbone’s on Lighthouse in Monterey,” Nick answered. “They wouldn’t expect to find anything there, but they’ll probably stay in Monterey, even though they’ll be looking for connections in Pacific Grove. Carbone’s is one of the top rated ‘Dive’ bars in the area. It’s a great bar. Chasing unknown thugs would be a waste of time. We’ll take turns checking the place for the next week. Believe me. When the pros don’t find any leads, they’ll hit Carbone’s some night soon if they haven’t already. I’m hoping since Jay’s crew’s bodies were only found at the abandoned warehouse a short time ago, it will take Fernando time to decide about a follow-up check.”
“Do you think Jay called Carone about the foiled roller rink heist?”
“I doubt it, Cala. I’m sure Jay and his buddies figured just like we heard before they met the Unholy Trio – they planned to terrorize me and the kids on their own.”
“Okay, so we take turns having a few at Carbone’s,” Gus said. “What then?”
“We’ll have to take them at their motel or outside the bar. We’ll have to be discreet.”
“How will you know if we find them, Muerto? They won’t have nametags.”
“I’m surprised at you, Johnny. To think you don’t believe I’ll be able to pick them out in a crowd is very hurtful.”
“Are you going to the bar every night?”
“Nope. We’ll take turns with our cams. If it’s not my night, I’ll be here at home with my iPad handy for live streaming. I’ll do the first few nights to establish a presence.”
“This sounds awfully flaky for the number one assassin in the world,” Gus kidded him.
“You’ll eat those words, Payaso, when I find our pros.”
“Let me go tomorrow night with Tina. She and I haven’t been out on a Saturday night for quite a while. This Carbone’s sounds interesting. We’ll take a cab there and back.”
“If you find the pros, Payaso, just have the T-Rex eat them,” Johnny said to much amusement.
“When do you think we’ll get permission to start on the Pilot Hill mission,” Gus asked, ignoring Johnny.