Command Authority jr-10 Read online

Page 15


  * * *

  Jack Ryan, Jr., and Sandy Lamont walked up Redcliffe Street in Saint John’s, Antigua. There were still quite a few people about now at 10:30 p.m., and enough of them were white tourists so that Jack and Sandy didn’t stick out too badly, although Jack was worried about staying low-profile around here for long, especially with an untrained partner.

  They found the building with the shingle for Randolph Robinson; it was just an open ground-floor covered parking lot large enough for a dozen or so cars, and above it a single story of office suites. There was a gated fence around the property, but Jack quickly saw how he could easily scale the fence at a corner post.

  Ryan looked into the darkened empty lot and saw three large garbage containers sitting lined up against the stairwell. The lid was up on one of them, and he could see paper stacked on other trash.

  The two men turned a corner and found a food truck with a large group of people sitting around on milk cartons, eating salted fish and drinking coconut water. They each bought a drink, and then they kept walking so they could talk.

  Sandy said, “You can’t possibly filch all that garbage.”

  “We don’t have to.” Jack held up his phone.

  “I don’t follow you.”

  “I jump the fence, then I turn on my video camera. I grab a stack of papers and move through them as fast as I can. I just have to get a tenth-of-a-second look at each one. Then I send the video file to an archiving application I have. It will use optical character recognition to look at every frame of the video and archive every last number and word in a way I can search and reference it later.”

  “That’s bloody marvelous. How much time do we need?”

  Before Jack could answer, a black pickup truck drove by, and the driver and front-seat passenger eyed him slowly and carefully. Jack was certain it was the same vehicle he had seen earlier in the afternoon.

  Sandy hadn’t noticed, but Jack didn’t mention it, because the last thing he needed right now was a spooked partner. He could have canceled his plans for the evening, but instead he just told himself he’d keep a close watch on the road in case they came back.

  His eyes followed the truck till it disappeared around the corner, and then he answered Sandy’s question: “Depends on how much paper is in those cans. I’d say fifteen minutes, tops.”

  “What if somebody catches us?”

  Jack shrugged. “Can you run?”

  “Not really.”

  “Then let’s not let anyone catch us.”

  As they neared the building, Lamont asked, “How is it you know all this stuff?”

  Jack said, “I’m not an attorney, I’m not a CPA, and I don’t have a ton of experience like everyone else at Castor and Boyle.” He held up his phone. “Little tricks like this are force multipliers. They help me leverage my strength.”

  The actual collection of the data in the garbage cans went surprisingly smoothly. Jack climbed the fence when no one was in sight, then dropped down and raced to the cans. Two of the cans had no papers, but the other contained hundreds of documents, envelopes, and other relevant material. He reached deep into the can to hide his light from the street, then began quickly shuffling through the pages, keeping his phone pointed at them.

  Sandy walked the street out front. He was connected to Ryan through their phones, and other than his need to remind Ryan every couple of minutes that he should hurry up, he did a fine job as a lookout.

  Ryan made it back onto the street in ten minutes flat, and the two men walked west back toward their hotel.

  Sandy asked, “So are you covered in fish guts and other garbage?”

  “Randolph Robinson keeps a clean office. Some of his stuff was shredded, but like most people, he’s too lazy to shred it all. I got hundreds of documents, envelopes, pamphlets, and handwritten notes. Don’t know if any of it will do us any good, but it sure as hell won’t hurt.”

  They were halfway back to their hotel when Jack saw the trouble up ahead. The same black pickup truck—he could tell because it appeared to be about five years newer than the average vehicle on the street—sat parked just beyond the intersection. Inside were at least four men. Jack couldn’t be certain from this distance the exact number, but he could tell the guys he saw earlier had gone to pick up at least two more buddies.

  Jack was pretty sure that was bad news.

  Ryan knew better than to head back to the hotel. The last thing he wanted was for these guys to know where he was sleeping.

  There was a lively two-level bar between Ryan and the truck ahead. Jack said, “How ’bout a nightcap.”

  Sandy did not have to be persuaded.

  21

  As Jack Ryan, Jr., and Sandy Lamont crossed the street toward the entrance, Ryan noticed a second truck pass through the intersection just next to the bar. Its taillights immediately lit up, and Jack looked in the glass of a gift shop across the street just in time to see the vehicle turn down the alleyway behind the bar.

  “Oh, shit,” Ryan said softly. Sandy was ahead of him and did not hear.

  Jack realized he and Sandy would be surrounded once they got inside the building. He thought it over, considered just continuing on back to the hotel and calling the police, but for all he knew, the men watching him were the police.

  Ultimately, he decided to rely on the cover of the crowd, and he hoped like hell these guys, whoever they were, wouldn’t do anything inside the bar with all the witnesses.

  The bar was just a dive. There was a DJ on a podium and a little dance floor and then a bar area, and to the left of the bar was a rear exit.

  Sandy led the way, and as soon as they made it to the bar in the back of the room, Jack told Sandy to go ahead and order for them both. He turned his back to the bar and kept his eyes on the front door, but he also checked the back entrance every few seconds.

  Jack began playing this through in his head. He figured the men were some sort of local heat, hired by the lawyers and corporate services companies generally, but not tied to his situation specifically.

  Of course, he had to entertain the possibility he was wrong about this, and these dudes were here because he was the son of the President of the United States, and they had something more dangerous in mind.

  But he decided the first scenario was more likely. He and Sandy had been a little lackadaisical in their surveillance. Ryan realized if he were operating with John Clark or Ding Chavez, he would have put all sorts of operational security measures in place that would have avoided just such an event. But he’d come down here thinking this was some dry and drab business intelligence exercise, and he had nothing more to worry about than getting the runaround from a secretary who wouldn’t let him take a business card off a desk.

  Two men entered and stood at the front door. One had dreads, the other short hair and big muscles. They talked to the bouncer for just a moment, then started looking around. They made eye contact with Ryan seconds later, and they stood their ground by the door.

  Jack looked to the back entrance now. There was no one there, but he felt sure that even a third-rate crew of hired Rasta stoners from some shanty island village would know enough to cover the back door to box their quarry in.

  Jack gave up on the hope the men wouldn’t confront him in the public setting, and he moved on to the hope that they were here only for intimidation. “Sandy, I need to tell you something, and I need you to stay very calm when I do.”

  Sandy passed Jack a beer, and he brought his piña colada up to his mouth and began drinking it through a straw. The Englishman’s mannerisms didn’t give Ryan much hope he’d have a hell of a lot of assistance in the next few minutes, since he wasn’t aware of many bar fights won by men who ordered piña coladas.

  Ryan had to look at Sandy’s eyes over the pineapple spear. He said, “There are a couple of guys at the door watching us. They’ve been following us for a while.”

  Sandy started to turn his head. Jack said, “No. Don’t do that. I just need you to be rea
dy to move toward that back door.”

  “You’re bloody serious?” He turned his head around slowly, a poor attempt to be covert while looking.

  “I’m guessing someone saw us in front of CCS’s office earlier in the day. Who knows, there might be some other below-board operation in that building who runs this outfit, hires them out to lean on anyone they don’t like the look of. I don’t expect any real trouble, but they are going to make a show, just to scare us.”

  Sandy saw them now. Two men at the front door. One had dreadlocks, his shirt was open to the waist, and he had a thick nest of necklaces around his neck. The other wore a soccer jersey; he had short hair and his black jersey barely constrained his thick muscles. “Yeah, well, they are already succeeding. What are we going to do?”

  He began sucking on his drink, as if the ounce of rum in it was going to calm his nerves.

  “We’re going to finish our drinks and head out the back. I think they will confront us, but let me do the talking. We’ll be fine.”

  “Why do you want to go into a bloody alley?”

  Jack had an answer to this. He didn’t want anyone seeing what he might have to do. He’d worked hard to have a low-profile life, and he was willing to risk an ass-kicking to maintain it.

  “We’ll be fine. Trust me.” As he said it, he realized he was pushing his luck with this, but he had the confidence in his physical abilities as well as his ability to talk his way out of whatever might arise.

  Sandy said, “Jack, have you forgotten who you are? You can pull out your phone, dial some secret number that I know you have memorized and, Bob’s your uncle, an aircraft carrier will appear in the harbor and whisk us both off to safety.”

  Jack would have laughed at Lamont’s master plan, except he was getting his mind in gear for what was starting to look like an inevitable confrontation.

  “I’m not calling anybody,” he said, his voice taking on a grave tone. “You and I are going to walk out the back door, head up the alley, and then go to our hotel.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then I will come up with another awesome plan.”

  “Right. Of course.”

  * * *

  A minute later, Jack and Sandy entered the alley. It wasn’t as dark as he had feared it would be; there were a couple of light poles as well as a glow coming from a clapboard-wall casino building that ran the length of the block on the other side of the single-lane alley.

  They turned to walk back to the hotel, but had made it only a few feet when two men stepped out of the shadows in front of them.

  “Good Lord,” Sandy whispered.

  These guys were young and fit. Jack pegged them as part of some local gang. They had tattoos on their arms that were obvious because they wore tank tops.

  Jack smiled and continued walking toward them. He scanned their hands and their waistbands for weapons, but he saw nothing. “Evening. Something we can do for you gents?”

  The taller of the two spoke with a thick West Indies accent. “You want to be telling us just why the fuck you are so interested in the office building you were snapping pictures of earlier today?”

  “Don’t know what you are talking about. We’re tourists.”

  “Ya ain’t no tourists, man. You’re down here sticking your noses where they don’t belong, and we don’t like that.”

  Sandy spoke up; his voice was cracked with fear. “Look, mate. We aren’t here for any trouble.”

  Another West Indian–accented voice spoke up, this one from behind. “Trouble’s here for you.”

  Sandy spun around in near terror now. Ryan had heard the door open behind them from the bar, so he just turned calmly and checked to confirm it was the two men he’d seen with the bouncer. His mind was switching into a different gear, he was calm, resigned to the fact these men were going to need to be dealt with, but taking some comfort in the fact his opposition seemed to be supremely confident they had the situation well in hand.

  Jack knew he could use that confidence against them.

  The man with the dreadlocks spoke now: “We’re here to make sure you boys go back home to wherever you came from and never return.”

  “No problem at all,” said Sandy.

  Dreadlock smiled, his teeth bright white in the lights of the alleyway. “We’re not gonna take assurances, white boy. We’re gonna put you two in the hospital so you remember your mistake in comin’ here.”

  Dreadlocks was the leader of the group, that was plain to Ryan. He was just out of arm’s length now, and while he didn’t have any weapons, Jack knew he had to operate as if all four of them could produce some weapon quickly.

  Sandy’s hands were up in surrender now. “Completely unnecessary, gentlemen, I can assure you, your message has been received loud and—”

  Sandy broke into a run. All four men moved toward him reflexively, and this opened up Jack’s options. One of the tank-top men crossed right in front of him, so Jack fired out a right jab into the man’s jaw, knocking him unconscious and dropping him in the street. The other tank-top man recognized the threat; he was a few steps farther away, so he stopped his pursuit of the blond and spun toward the dark-haired and bearded American. While doing so he reached for a fixed-blade knife in a scabbard in the small of his back and punched out with his other hand.

  Jack closed the distance quickly, and he caught a glancing blow on the bridge of his nose. But before the Antiguan could draw his weapon, Jack was on him. He took him by his right forearm, put the man in a tight wristlock, and pushed his arm away at a forty-five-degree angle. As the man in the tank top screamed out, Jack stomped down on the inside of his knee, dropping the man onto his back in writhing agony next to his unconscious partner.

  The other two Antiguans turned away from Lamont to aid their colleagues. They approached Ryan with their own blades drawn; they shouted at him as they advanced up the alleyway.

  Jack softened his knees and lowered into a crouch. As the short-haired man in the soccer jersey neared and swung his knife, Jack ducked under his swing, spun around, slammed his back into the onrushing attacker, and grabbed the man’s downward-arcing arm. He twisted the arm, snapping it at the elbow, and the knife dropped to the ground.

  Dreadlocks tried to stab Ryan, but Ryan had put the man in the soccer jersey between himself and this final attacker. He controlled the wounded man by holding his arms high and pushing into him with his back, and this stifled the last armed man’s attempts to deliver a blow. Once the man with dreadlocks lowered his knife to switch hands, Jack pulled down on his prisoner’s arms, dislocating one of the man’s shoulders, and then he thrust backward, sending the man in the jersey into the air and crashing into his leader. This took Dreadlocks even more out of the offense and onto the defense. By the time he got his underling out of his way, the tall American was on top of him, swatting the knife away and blasting him with a three-punch combination to his face.

  The Antiguan fell onto his back on the concrete alley, and Jack kept up the attack, kneeling over him and raining several more blows.

  When it was clear Dreadlocks was unconscious, Jack looked around. The man in the black jersey was running off into the night, clutching his arm. A third man rolled around, holding his knee and cursing incomprehensible profanities, and the fourth man was facedown and out cold.

  Jack looked in the other direction. Sandy Lamont stood there, just twenty-five feet away, staring at the carnage and the man on his knees in the center of it.

  Jack stood and began moving up the alley. “Let’s get out of here.”

  * * *

  They were back in their hotel twenty minutes later. Sandy had pulled a few airplane bottles of rum out of the minibar with a shaking hand, and he poured them into a glass. Jack sat with him in his room. He had a beer in his hand, but he hadn’t even taken a sip yet.

  Sandy Lamont just stared at Ryan. “Who the hell are you?”

  Jack touched his fingers to the bridge of his nose. It was just scraped a littl
e; no blood flowed. His knuckles were scraped and bruised as well.

  He’d come up with an answer to Sandy’s question on the quiet and uncomfortable walk back to the hotel. He said, “The Secret Service put me through a hell of a lot of training. Been doing it for years, but when I refused their protection, they really stepped it up…” Jack shrugged and smiled. “Hell, I guess I’m half a ninja by now.”

  Sandy said, “That’s bloody marvelous. Those bastards were going to kill us.”

  “No. They were going to knock our heads together, but don’t make this bigger than it was. They are used to intimidating people down here. They probably work for any drug dealer, shady money launderer, or pimp who pays them. They aren’t assassins. Just assholes.”

  Sandy downed the rum. His hands still shook.

  Jack was worried about the next part. “Any chance we can keep this between you and me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I’d rather Hugh Castor didn’t know about this.”

  Sandy just looked out the window at the ocean for a moment. “Yeah. That’s probably a good idea. He’d blame me for the entire thing.”

  “Why?”

  Sandy shrugged. “He’s pressuring me about you already.”

  “Pressuring you? What do you mean?”

  “Oh. Bloody Gazprom. He makes a right ruckus every time he hears you are digging into them.”

  Jack thought back to Sandy warning him away from the giant Russian corporation. “So that was Castor talking, not you.”

  “Sorry, mate. Orders from the boss. I do see his point. We can do good business without going toe-to-toe against the real seat of Russian power.”

  “Aren’t you overstating it a bit? I would think the Kremlin would be the seat of Russian power.”

  Now that the subject had turned to business, Sandy was back on level ground. He recovered quickly. “Think about it, Jack. Gazprom not only is owned by the Kremlin, but it also is directly tied to the bank accounts of the siloviki in the Kremlin. Castor has always been against us doing anything to provoke the Kremlin, and I’d say fucking with their meal ticket applies.”

 

    Changing of the Guard Read onlineChanging of the GuardClear and Present Danger Read onlineClear and Present DangerHounds of Rome Read onlineHounds of RomeBreaking Point Read onlineBreaking PointTom Clancy's Jack Ryan Books 7-12 Read onlineTom Clancy's Jack Ryan Books 7-12Full Force and Effect Read onlineFull Force and EffectThe Archimedes Effect Read onlineThe Archimedes EffectCombat Ops Read onlineCombat OpsInto the Storm: On the Ground in Iraq Read onlineInto the Storm: On the Ground in IraqUnder Fire Read onlineUnder FirePoint of Impact Read onlinePoint of ImpactRed Rabbit Read onlineRed RabbitRainbow Six Read onlineRainbow SixThe Hunt for Red October Read onlineThe Hunt for Red OctoberThe Teeth of the Tiger Read onlineThe Teeth of the TigerConviction (2009) Read onlineConviction (2009)Battle Ready Read onlineBattle ReadyPatriot Games Read onlinePatriot GamesThe Sum of All Fears Read onlineThe Sum of All FearsFallout (2007) Read onlineFallout (2007)Red Storm Rising Read onlineRed Storm RisingThe Cardinal of the Kremlin Read onlineThe Cardinal of the KremlinExecutive Orders Read onlineExecutive OrdersLincoln, the unknown Read onlineLincoln, the unknownThreat Vector Read onlineThreat VectorThe Hunted Read onlineThe HuntedShadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces Read onlineShadow Warriors: Inside the Special ForcesEnd Game Read onlineEnd GameSpecial Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces Read onlineSpecial Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special ForcesLocked On Read onlineLocked OnLine of Sight Read onlineLine of SightTom Clancy Enemy Contact - Mike Maden Read onlineTom Clancy Enemy Contact - Mike MadenFighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing Read onlineFighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat WingSpringboard Read onlineSpringboardLine of Sight - Mike Maden Read onlineLine of Sight - Mike MadenEndWar Read onlineEndWarDead or Alive Read onlineDead or AliveTom Clancy Support and Defend Read onlineTom Clancy Support and DefendCheckmate Read onlineCheckmateCommand Authority Read onlineCommand AuthorityCarrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier Read onlineCarrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft CarrierBlacklist Aftermath Read onlineBlacklist AftermathMarine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit Read onlineMarine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary UnitCommander-In-Chief Read onlineCommander-In-ChiefArmored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment Read onlineArmored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry RegimentTom Clancy's Jack Ryan Books 1-6 Read onlineTom Clancy's Jack Ryan Books 1-6The Ultimate Escape Read onlineThe Ultimate EscapeAirborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force Read onlineAirborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task ForceDebt of Honor Read onlineDebt of HonorCyberspy Read onlineCyberspyPoint of Contact Read onlinePoint of ContactOperation Barracuda (2005) Read onlineOperation Barracuda (2005)Choke Point Read onlineChoke PointPower and Empire Read onlinePower and EmpireEvery Man a Tiger: The Gulf War Air Campaign Read onlineEvery Man a Tiger: The Gulf War Air CampaignEndgame (1998) Read onlineEndgame (1998)EndWar: The Missing Read onlineEndWar: The MissingSplinter Cell (2004) Read onlineSplinter Cell (2004)The Great Race Read onlineThe Great RaceTrue Faith and Allegiance Read onlineTrue Faith and AllegianceDeathworld Read onlineDeathworldGhost Recon (2008) Read onlineGhost Recon (2008)Duel Identity Read onlineDuel IdentityLine of Control o-8 Read onlineLine of Control o-8The Hunt for Red October jr-3 Read onlineThe Hunt for Red October jr-3Hidden Agendas nf-2 Read onlineHidden Agendas nf-2Acts of War oc-4 Read onlineActs of War oc-4Ruthless.Com pp-2 Read onlineRuthless.Com pp-2Night Moves Read onlineNight MovesThe Hounds of Rome - Mystery of a Fugitive Priest Read onlineThe Hounds of Rome - Mystery of a Fugitive PriestInto the Storm: On the Ground in Iraq sic-1 Read onlineInto the Storm: On the Ground in Iraq sic-1Threat Vector jrj-4 Read onlineThreat Vector jrj-4Combat Ops gr-2 Read onlineCombat Ops gr-2Virtual Vandals nfe-1 Read onlineVirtual Vandals nfe-1Runaways nfe-16 Read onlineRunaways nfe-16Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit tcml-4 Read onlineMarine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit tcml-4Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces sic-3 Read onlineShadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces sic-3Jack Ryan Books 1-6 Read onlineJack Ryan Books 1-6Cold Case nfe-15 Read onlineCold Case nfe-15Changing of the Guard nf-8 Read onlineChanging of the Guard nf-8Splinter Cell sc-1 Read onlineSplinter Cell sc-1Battle Ready sic-4 Read onlineBattle Ready sic-4The Bear and the Dragon jrao-11 Read onlineThe Bear and the Dragon jrao-11Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing tcml-3 Read onlineFighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing tcml-3Patriot Games jr-1 Read onlinePatriot Games jr-1Jack Ryan Books 7-12 Read onlineJack Ryan Books 7-12Mission of Honor o-9 Read onlineMission of Honor o-9Private Lives nfe-9 Read onlinePrivate Lives nfe-9Operation Barracuda sc-2 Read onlineOperation Barracuda sc-2Cold War pp-5 Read onlineCold War pp-5Point of Impact nf-5 Read onlinePoint of Impact nf-5Red Rabbit jr-9 Read onlineRed Rabbit jr-9The Deadliest Game nfe-2 Read onlineThe Deadliest Game nfe-2Springboard nf-9 Read onlineSpringboard nf-9Safe House nfe-10 Read onlineSafe House nfe-10EndWar e-1 Read onlineEndWar e-1Duel Identity nfe-12 Read onlineDuel Identity nfe-12Deathworld nfe-13 Read onlineDeathworld nfe-13Politika pp-1 Read onlinePolitika pp-1Rainbow Six jr-9 Read onlineRainbow Six jr-9Tom Clancy's Power Plays 1 - 4 Read onlineTom Clancy's Power Plays 1 - 4Endgame sc-6 Read onlineEndgame sc-6Executive Orders jr-7 Read onlineExecutive Orders jr-7Net Force nf-1 Read onlineNet Force nf-1Call to Treason o-11 Read onlineCall to Treason o-11Locked On jrj-3 Read onlineLocked On jrj-3Against All Enemies Read onlineAgainst All EnemiesThe Sum of All Fears jr-7 Read onlineThe Sum of All Fears jr-7Sea of Fire o-10 Read onlineSea of Fire o-10Fallout sc-4 Read onlineFallout sc-4Balance of Power o-5 Read onlineBalance of Power o-5Shadow Watch pp-3 Read onlineShadow Watch pp-3State of War nf-7 Read onlineState of War nf-7Wild Card pp-8 Read onlineWild Card pp-8Games of State o-3 Read onlineGames of State o-3Death Match nfe-18 Read onlineDeath Match nfe-18Against All Enemies mm-1 Read onlineAgainst All Enemies mm-1Every Man a Tiger: The Gulf War Air Campaign sic-2 Read onlineEvery Man a Tiger: The Gulf War Air Campaign sic-2Cybernation nf-6 Read onlineCybernation nf-6Support and Defend Read onlineSupport and DefendNight Moves nf-3 Read onlineNight Moves nf-3SSN Read onlineSSNCutting Edge pp-6 Read onlineCutting Edge pp-6The Cardinal of the Kremlin jrao-5 Read onlineThe Cardinal of the Kremlin jrao-5War of Eagles o-12 Read onlineWar of Eagles o-12Op-Center o-1 Read onlineOp-Center o-1Mirror Image o-2 Read onlineMirror Image o-2The Archimedes Effect nf-10 Read onlineThe Archimedes Effect nf-10Teeth of the Tiger jrj-1 Read onlineTeeth of the Tiger jrj-1Bio-Strike pp-4 Read onlineBio-Strike pp-4State of Siege o-6 Read onlineState of Siege o-6Debt of Honor jr-6 Read onlineDebt of Honor jr-6Zero Hour pp-7 Read onlineZero Hour pp-7Ghost Recon gr-1 Read onlineGhost Recon gr-1Command Authority jr-10 Read onlineCommand Authority jr-10Tom Clancy's Power Plays 5 - 8 Read onlineTom Clancy's Power Plays 5 - 8Checkmate sc-3 Read onlineCheckmate sc-3Breaking Point nf-4 Read onlineBreaking Point nf-4Gameprey nfe-11 Read onlineGameprey nfe-11The Hunted e-2 Read onlineThe Hunted e-2Hidden Agendas Read onlineHidden AgendasDivide and Conquer o-7 Read onlineDivide and Conquer o-7