Sting of the Scorpion Ch. 01

"Good." Wargrave said under his breath. "But... I thought they were coming from the other direction..." He heard a slight shuffle behind him, and realized that something wasn't right. A familiar tingle of action induced by fear and excitement coursed through him as he said "Austin... fasten your seatbelt. It's a bumpy ride at night."


The words were code, and Austin responded. Whipping out the semi-auto .22 WMR pistol from his belt, he whirled and fired at the two local men... who were just raising their weapons at him and Wargrave! The bullets struck the men solidly in their chests, knocking them back. Two quick shots to their heads finished them off.

"Let's get the fuck out of here." said Wargrave as he got into the passenger seat of the jeep. "Drive the other way from this oncoming truck. They're not our contacts." Murphy sprang up into the driver seat and engaged the engine. They sped off down the road, not turning on their headlights. About a mile later, Wargrave had Murphy pull off to the side, behind a dune.

They parked out of sight of the road, behind the dune, and got out of the jeep. They climbed the dune, watching the vehicle come up to the rendezvous point they just left. At least twelve heavily armed men poured out of the truck.

"Shit, they were coming to kill us." said Murphy, watching the men looking around, examining their dead buddies at that scene.

"Yes, they were--- hey, get down!" Wargrave ordered. Both men hit the dirt of the dune. Another truck was coming up the road from the opposite direction. It whizzed by the two men. Wargrave could see that this truck was also chock-full of heavily armed men.

"Let's get the fuck out of here." Wargrave said.

"You don't have to ask twice." said Murphy. They got in the jeep and headed out on the road, away from the truck that had just passed them and was coming to the rendezvous point. They did not know that the first truck was driving fast back in the direction it had come, to avoid the second truck.

As they drove along, Wargrave scanned ahead of them with his night-vision binoculars, but fortunately for them no other vehicles came along the road. He said "Just before you get to this next town, there will be a road crossing this one. Turn right on it. We're going to have to evacuate via 'Plan B'. By the way, those weren't just mercenaries... the men in the truck that passed by us were dressed uniformly and too neatly."

"What does that mean?" Murphy asked, the first pangs of fear beginning to tug at the pit of his stomach.

"They were sent by the Government... and I don't mean the local governments around here." Wargrave replied. "They were CIA... not very good agents, but CIA nonetheless. And that means that we may have a helicopter or two searching for us within minutes."

Murphy took the bypass road. They drove along at their top speed for several miles. Wargrave was watching behind them with his binoculars, and he spotted the helicopter in the distance, following the road they'd left behind. The helicopter kept going along that road instead of the turnoff they took.

What, no thermal imaging devices on that helicopter? They didn't see us? Wargrave thought to himself. That had to be wrong.

"Okay, up here is the airstrip." Wargrave said. "Our backup plane should be here." Sure enough, there was a small building ahead, and behind it was a strip of hard-packed earth. A small propeller plane was at the end of the runway. As the jeep came in, the plane started its engine.

"Howdy, boys." said the blonde, young, muscular man standing next to the plane. The pilot was seated in the plane. "Change of plans?"

"You might say that." Wargrave said. He extended his arm, the silencer-equipped .22 WMR a duplicate of Murphy's in his hand. He pointed at the man and fired. The man had been bringing out his pistol, a .357 Magnum revolver, but Wargrave had been faster and the blonde man was dead before his body even crumpled to the brown dirt.

Wargrave grabbed the revolver as the pilot was pulling his gun out. But there were two of them and only one pilot, and Murphy blew the man's brains out of his head with a fast, well placed shot.

Wargrave knew that the helicopter they had seen should've seen them, and probably did. So why were they not pursued? Because, of course, this was where the trap was laid, right here at the airport. Even the Iron Crowbar would've seen through that, he thought to himself.

What he didn't realize was that a Twist of Fate had just saved his and Murphy's asses.

"Okay, Austin," Wargrave said with a joviality he did not feel, "please board Wargrave Airlines and get ready for takeoff. I'll be your pilot today, and our destination is anywhere but here."

"I hope the stewardess is better looking that you are." joked Murphy. He brought the briefcase full of money on board as Wargrave threw the pilot's body to the ground and took his place at the controls. Within seconds they were speeding down the airstrip, then the ground dropped away from them. They were airborne! And as they flew off into the distance, they didn't see the truck of men pulling into the airstrip and towards the jeep they had left behind...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Carole Diana," I said to my daughter as the Troy family sat at the dinner table, "you're supposed to eat that food, not throw it at your brother." Carole giggled and tried to throw another morsel at little Jim, but I intercepted her. "Okay," I said, "I'll feed you." Strained peas were introduced into Carole's mouth, and I wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Fortunately, she settled down and ate the food. Laura had an easier time with Jim.

"So how was work today?" I asked Laura as we tried to eat our own food in between baby feedings.

"Not bad." Laura said. "The first phase of Operation Gravestone went into effect. I also talked to Jack about Michael Burke, and there has been some cellphone activity in the past week, possibly with Wargrave."

"Hoo boy." I said. "I know you don't want to take pre-emptive action unless we absolutely have to, but my 'spidey-sense' is all over the place on that one."

As dinner finished, we heard a car pull up into the driveway. "That's Todd and Jeanine." I said. As I admitted them and their two babies into the house, my mother Phyllis also came up from her downstairs MIL apartment.

"Hi Uncle Don," said Todd in his usual voice that gave one the sense he was about to play a practical joke on somebody, "we really appreciate you taking care of our kids."

"No problem." I said. Everyone came into the den and was seated, Carole being extremely happy to see two new babies... and Bowser looking a lot more wary of the bunch. Still, he let Todd pet him before coming over to me... as I was holding Carole.

"So, you guys are going to Japan for a couple of weeks?" I asked.

"Yes." Jeanine said. "Todd has business between his company and some company over there... Ichimoku Industries, or something like that?" Todd nodded as Jeanine continued: "My business has slowed down after tax season, so this is my chance to get in a vacation."

"Good!" I said. "I'm sure you'll have a good time..." Just then, Laura's cellphone rang. She left the room to take the call.

"Uncle Don, can I talk to you for a second?" Todd asked.

"Sure, we'll go onto the back patio." I replied. I excused myself, handing Carole to my mother, and led Todd out back. I scooped up Bowser along the way. He didn't exactly appreciate being taken away from Carole, but he didn't get skittish.

For some reason the memory of Todd's conversation with me on that very patio right after I'd been shot by Ned came to mind. Todd and I sat down in chairs, looking over the twinkling lights of the Town in the sunset. I skritched and petted Bowser as Todd came to his point.

"Uncle Donny," Todd said, "my father has been acting kind of weird lately."

"Ah, so desu ka?" I replied. Todd grinned, understanding the Japanese.

"Hai!" he replied. "Dad wanted me to go to this small town..." He named the town, then continued "...and try to find someone for him. A married couple. He said if I found them, he didn't want me to contact them, but wanted me to call him immediately and he'd come out there. When I asked him what it was about, he just said it was some friends from his and Eleanor's past that he hadn't seen in years, and he wanted to pay them a surprise visit."

I daresay, I thought to myself, but to Todd I only asked "When was this? And what did you say to him?"

"It was yesterday," Todd replied, "and I told him I was leaving for Japan tonight so I couldn't. I still felt weird about it, so I wanted to tell you."

"And I appreciate you doing so." I said. "How's your father been in the last few months, since the murder of Nicole Stanton?"

"Okay, I guess." Todd said. "We haven't seen much of him. Jeanine got very busy with taxes... her law firm branched out into that for their women clients... and I've been preparing BOW Enterprises to absorb Dynacorp. You know that's a done deal, right?"

"Yes, yes I do." I said. "By the way, are you and your father doing any work together with the company, or has he tried to get you to work with him on any other ventures? I only ask because of this strange request you're telling me about."

"No sir." Todd said. "I call him every once in a while to get advice on some business thing, but other than that... nothing, really."

"Cool beans." I said. "Todd, there is one thing I need to say, and I hope you'll understand, not take offense, and act on it. There is no way your father can take back any part of his old company or BOW Enterprises, is there?"

"Uh, no sir." Todd said. "As we've taken over Dynacorp, we changed the overall structure of BOW Enterprises. Dad has all but been bought out of his shares, and what little he has in trust for the kids is non-voting shares."


"Who is doing the legal paperwork?" I asked. "Jeanine?"

"Oh no, neither she nor her firm has touched this one." Todd said, to my immense relief. "Our internal lawyers drew up the paperwork, and then Lowe, Ball & Lynch were brought in to double check. It's all iron-clad."

"Do-on?" called out a voice. It was Laura.

"Over here, honey!" I said in the gathering darkness. Laura came over.

"I'll be back inside." Todd said, knowing Laura wanted to talk to me alone. I handed him Bowser, who was happy to be taken back inside where Carole was. And once Laura and I were alone, she spoke, very quietly:

"Darling, something has come up with Operation Gravestone." she said. "I'm going to have to go over to the Federal Building."

"Now?" I asked. My wife nodded.

"Okay, you go ahead." I said. "I'm going to make one quick phone call, then I'll come inside and keep the guests entertained." Laura returned to the house as I got out my cellphone and called Jack Muscone.

"Jack," I said, "I need a favor. I know you're monitoring Michael Burke already, but can you prioritize that, especially to monitor if he buys airline tickets or rents a car?..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Why are you taking us down?" Austin Murphy called out over the noise of the small plane's engine.

"There was almost no fuel in the plane." Wargrave said. "They were planning on killing us, not flying us anywhere. But it's okay, I just radioed my emergency contact... one nobody knows about."

Moments later, Wargrave saw the lights on the ground. The lights had been buried several inches into the ground, and could not be seen at ground level, only from above. This technique was also employed by U.S. Army Pathfinders for Airborne combat jumps.

Wargrave aimed for the path the lights made, which was a very thin strip of hard-packed earth. Just as he landed, the engine began to sputter. They had just made it as the fuel ran out.

"Let's go." said Wargrave. "Hand me the briefcase." Murphy did so, and Wargrave put it in his knapsack. The pair headed out over the desert, Wargrave unerringly leading the way. About half a mile later, Murphy saw Wargrave's destination... a pickup truck.

"Hi, Bugs!" Wargrave called out to the seeming emptiness. To Murphy's shock, a man appeared out of nowhere. He could see that the man was wearing fatigues, but in the darkness could not tell they were brown like the dirt.

"Hi Hank!" said the man. "It's been way too long!" The men shook hands and then man-hugged.

"Bugs, this is my friend, Mr. Austin." said Wargrave. "Austin, this is my friend Nelson, a.k.a. 'Bugs Meany'. He and I have been working the arms trade here in the Middle East for several years, and he also leads mercenary teams. Bugs, Austin is my right-hand man, and I'd appreciate it if you can help him out if he ever contacts you."

"Sure." said Bugs. "Nice to meet you, Austin. If Hank Wargrave says you're good with him, then you're good with me." He shook Murphy's hand firmly, then said to the darkness: "Okay, boys, let's go!" Suddenly, the three men were surrounded by eight more men, heavily armed, dressed as desert Bedouins.

"Okay, into the truck!" ordered Bugs. "Let's go!"

Once they were underway, Nelson said "We'll get you to the airport at Point Charlie, Hank." Bugs was driving, with Wargrave and Murphy crowded into the seat in the cab, and the mercenaries in the open-air bed of the truck behind them. "There's a plane there, and you can fly out of here. Be careful, though... someone really wanted to get you tonight. I heard the chatter and had the boys ready even before you called..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Federal Building on the north side of Courthouse Square in Town housed the Post Office, the Passport Office, the Bankruptcy Courts and the Federal Court for the region. On the third floor, the top floor, there were a couple of small rooms not adjacent to the outer walls, and could only be accessed through three sets of guarded and key-coded doors. The guards were not in the outer hallway but inside the first door, monitoring the outside, and they had authorization to use deadly force if need be.

In the inner sanctum was the Communications Room. It was the only place anywhere in the area that Laura could truly safely communicate with CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. She and Jack Muscone and the two equipment operators were the only four people in the County, and really the entire region, that had access to this room, and they were in there now.

"Langley says that Wargrave and someone with him killed the two local guides, who were in our employ, and left the rendezvous point before our people got there. They leader of our group thinks another truck, which would not have been ours, may have come up from the opposite direction before they got there." Laura said to Jack.

"That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" said Muscone. "They were going to make the deal, right?"

"That's right. Our guys were supposed to do that." said Laura. "And it gets worse. We knew of several possible airstrips Wargrave might take if anything happened. We had our people at all of them in case of any contingencies. Wargrave and his companion apparently went to one of those airstrips, killed the pilot and our other asset, then took off in the plane. They were supposed to just capture Wargrave and not kill him, so we don't know what happened there."

"So he knew what was going on?" Muscone asked.

"Or got wind of it." said Laura. "The good news is that we told all of the people at the airstrips to make sure all the planes had no fuel in them, so he isn't going very far. Our people are working with the locals, and we should find them soon... hopefully in the wreckage of a downed plane."

"My boss would be pissed if that happened." said Muscone. "He wants Wargrave alive and arrested."

Laura didn't respond. She was trying to understand what had happened. There was only supposed to be one truck, not two. And how did Wargrave know those were our guys at the airstrip?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The blue and white plane was at the end of the runway. It was full of fuel and ready to go. Murphy shook hands with 'Bugs' Nelson and his mercenaries, and boarded. Henry Wargrave stayed behind a second.

"Bugs," he said, "this is probably the last time I'll ever see you. Thanks for everything, and we had some great times, didn't we?"

"We sure did, brother." said Bugs. "We sure did. I hope you're wrong and I'll see you again, but if you're not... I'll avenge you."

"Thanks." said Wargrave. The two men shook hands, realized that was not enough, and gave each other a hug that only brothers-in-arms could give. Wargrave then shook hands with the mercenary team. Finally, he climbed into the cockpit and took the controls of the aircraft. Moments later, 'Bugs' Nelson and his team watched as the billionaire took off...

Part 5 - Media Stings

"Good morning, Captain Ross. Happy Cinco de Mayo." I said enthusiastically as Cindy came into my office at 7:15am on Tuesday, May 5th. We'd just listened to Bettina's report as we drank coffee in MCD, and the lovely redheaded reporterette had not had much to talk about. That was good thing, as far as I'm concerned.

"Good morning, Commander." she replied. She then said "I really liked that paycheck I just got. How did that happen?"

"Oh, the Council approved your promotion on April 14th... effective April 15th. You've been a Captain for three weeks, but we had to wait until the May 1st ceremony to make it public and official. But enjoy the extra pay, even though it doesn't totally make up for all that time you were brevetted a Lieutenant while on Supervisor pay."

"Speaking of that," Cindy said, "I think Myron needs a better office, one deserving of the Supervisor he is now."

"Yes, that's something to think about, but he's got the biggest cubicle downstairs already." I replied. "I'm going to talk to the Chief about it, but for the most part we might want to keep those guys down in the secure areas. We're also thinking of bringing them up to the MCD or Vice Rooms, and giving Myron a glassed-off cubicle in the MCD far corner, and Mary the same in Vice."

"I can see that." Cindy said. "But we have some other spaces up here since Precincts were created. By the way, Gor-don is back to using that office next to Jenna's, and she bristled when I said something about it."

"He just wants to be near his butt-buddy Brownlee." I replied. The wall on the other side of the office next to Jenna's was shared with Robert Brownlee's office suite. Brownlee had not one but two assistants in the anteroom to his office, which actually was a converted classroom, could've been made into two offices but was only one, and was therefore bigger than mine. And it was next to the restroom... the room where I'd beaten the shit out of Steven Ikea many moons before. I still preferred my own office; it was home.

"At least Tanya's not complaining anymore." Cindy said. "Her office and Teresa's are now large enough she can turn around... or bring in some patrolman to have sex with him. She still does that on occasion, you know."

"Sex in an office around this place?" I asked, my voice very sarcastic. "You would never do such a thing, would you?" I of course knew that Cindy had done some things with the porn starlet Callie Carrington in my office, and with Jenna in her office and in Jenna's.

"No more than you would." Cindy retorted with a grin, with knowledge of some of my sexual exploits in my office, including with my assistant Helena French. Just then there was a knock on the door, and Lt. Scott Peterson poked his head in. I waved him on inside, knowing this was unusual, and therefore big.

"Commander, Captain," he said, addressing us both, "I've just gotten a 'red alert' that KSTD is going to run something at 8:00am. I don't know what it is, but I was told it's going to be bad for us."