Chapter 70

  The night had turned noticeably cooler, with a strong breeze coming off the ocean from the west. Ivan could hear the rumble of thunder from a rapidly approaching rainstorm. What little light the crescent moon provided was quickly evaporating as the storm clouds moved in. The strong breeze suddenly turned into a strong gale as the front reached the mainland, and the sky above him turned very dark and ominous. As planned, if things went south, they would head for the peninsula's north side to a remote stretch of beach where they would be picked up by boat. Ivan was fairly sure that the man that killed Smith would come after him. He just didn't know how many men would be with him. The one thing that he didn't know was who these men were and how they found them. Perhaps the kid at the security gate had spotted them and called it in when he got out of the cellphone jammers range, but he didn't think so. Ivan was positive they weren't the local police because the Thi police simply didn't have big black men.

  Moving down the hill, Ivan slipped and fell several times on the dark, unstable ground. Lightning started to flash all around him, and he had a strong feeling of Déjà vu come over him. The last time he was chased in a thunderstorm, it hadn’t turned out well for him. He tried to pick up the pace and put some distance between himself and his pursuers, but the footing was too treacherous. Ivan fell again, and this time, he landed on his tailbone against a large, sharp rock. The impact sent a wave of pain through his whole body. He pitched sideways, and his right knee struck another rock, ripping open his pant leg and inflecting a large gash on the side of his knee. Ivan cried out in pain, but he quickly caught himself and sucked it up through clenched teeth. He stopped to rest and jumped as a lightning bolt struck with a terrifying crack just up the hill from where he was sitting. Just when he thought that things couldn’t get worse, the sky opened up, and it started to pour, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

  *****

  The two men separated and Shawn asked, “How in the hell did you find me? And don’t tell me that you just happen to be in the neighborhood dressed in full battle gear and ready for a fight.”

  “I’m afraid that will take much too long to answer right now. First we need to take care of the man in your living room. He’s going to need medical attention. If I’m not mistaken, I believe he’s one of you house quests. It looks like he killed one of the intruders and was shot in the process. One of my men informed me that a bullet just grazed his head. It looks like he lost some blood and I’m sure that he has a concussion but at least he’s alive.” Shawn was taken aback by this news and he had no idea if it was Choi or Kasem. He wanted to find out immediately.

  Upon hearing this news, Kim rushed to the living room followed closely by Shawn and Jesse.

  Kim entered the living room and found Choi sitting up with his back to the wall. Shawn turned on a table lamp that had miraculously been missed by all the gunfire then bent down to check on his condition. The left side of his head and neck were covered in blood and Shawn asked Kim to get some warm water, towels and bandages. Jesse’s phone vibrated again and he stepped aside to take the call.

  “How are you, Tim? Shawn asked. He was deeply concerned for his friend.

  “I have a killer headache. What happened?”

  “It looks like you traded shots with one of the bad guys, and you come out on top.”

  “He’s dead?”

  “If he isn’t, that large hole in his forehead will give him a bigger headache than what you’ve got.”

  “What happened to the rest of them?”

  “One got away. The rest are all dead.”

  “Did you take them out?”

  “Not all of them; we had some unexpected help.”

  Tim looked at the man dressed in black and asked. “Who’s the guy talking on the phone?”

  “He’s one of the good guys….I’ll explain that later. Right now, I just want you to rest. We’re going to clean you up and get you to the hospital. Do you know what happened to Kasem?”

  “The last time I saw him was when I helped him over the deck….and I don’t need to go to the hospital. I’ll be all right; I just need something for my headache.”

  Shawn had seen enough head trauma in Vietnam to know that Choi needed to be in the hospital, but he wasn’t going to press the issue at the moment.

  Jesse finished his short call and overheard Shawn asking about Kasem. He informed Shawn that he was safe and only slightly injured. When Shawn asked about his man at the gate, Jesse told him they saw him leave on a motorbike just before the bad guys arrived. Shawn pondered this for a minute, and then let it go. He had much bigger fish to fry.

  Kim arrived with the supplies, and they moved Choi to the sofa, where they cleaned and bandaged his head. A few minutes later, Chuah entered the living room with Kasem, who was still favoring his good leg, and soon they were all gathered around Choi.

  Kasem leaned over and whispered in Shawn’s ear, “I was waiting in the guard shack like those men told me when Charlie pulled up on his motorbike. He told me that he left his post for just a few minutes to get something to eat. He said he tried to call, but no one answered the intercom, and he had no cell phone service. He feels terrible about what happened.”

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  Shawn nodded and rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Thanks, Kasem; I’ll have a talk with him later. By the way, where is he now?”

  “We left him to watch the gate.”

  “Good.”

  “I found their jammer and disabled it. Our cell phones should work now if the approaching storm doesn’t take it down again.” Chuah said to Jesse.

  Shawn overheard this and said, “Jammer?” in a questioning tone.

  Jesse explained, and Shawn nodded and said, “Well, that explains some things.”

  Ken entered the room. He approached Jesse and said softly, “Rakov is the one that got away. Are we going to track him down?”

  Jesse didn’t answer him immediately; first, he wanted to get these people medical attention.

  “Shawn, I’m going to have one of my men drive all of you to the hospital. We have your home secured and will stay and clean up until you return. I have a team of men coming to care for the bodies.”

  Shawn looked at Jesse skeptically and asked, “I overheard your man. What are you going to do about the Russian?”

  “I’ve got that under control,” was Jesse’s short answer.

  Shawn looked at him skeptically and said, “So as soon as we’re gone, you and your friends are going to track the bastard down without me. Is that it?”

  Jesse let out a deep breath. “I think that you’ve been through enough tonight, Shawn. Let me handle this.”

  Shawn looked Jesse in the eye and said, “Hell, I’m just getting warmed up, and you’re not chasing him down without me. I’ll tell you that right now!”

  Jesse didn’t like it, but he knew Shawn wouldn’t take no for an answer. After a long silence, he finally said, “Okay, have it your way, you stubborn old bastard?”

  Upon hearing these words, Shawn’s hard, unbending stare slowly turned into a smile and said, “Look who’s talking, old man.”

  *****

  Ivan cursed the rain. The treacherous footing made it impossible to keep his feet planted securely on the ground. He had fallen so many times that he finally just stopped, found a large rock to sit on, and waited for the rain to let up. He could taste blood in his mouth from a blow he sustained when his head hit the side of a tree. He had tried to grab it after he slipped and fell. The strong wind was whipping the trees, and the rain was coming at him sideways, striking him squarely in the face. He turned his back and raised his collar against the torrent of wind and rain, but it did little to protect him from the elements. Like a small stream overflowing its banks, the deluge washed everything down the hillside, and at one point, a surge almost washed him off his perch. Water, leaves, twigs, and mud flowed over his legs and feet. He was completely soaked, and despite the relatively warm temperature, he felt chilled to the bone. Another loud crack of thunder made him jump as another lightning bolt struck nearby. He had no way of knowing how far he had traveled, or how far the shore was that he had to reach. The only good thing was that the rain also hindered his pursuers.

  *****

  Shawn took four ibuprofen and washed them down with two cans of beer. He then helped Kim load Kasem and Choi into Kasem’s Toyota sedan. When the two men were seated and buckled up, Kim approached Shawn, reached up, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him tenderly.

  When she pulled away, she said, “You be careful. I want you back in one piece. You got that, mister?”

  Shawn smiled and said, “I got my old wingman back. He won’t let anything happen to me. I promise.”

  Kim returned his smile and squeezed his hand.

  Jesse said nothing as he watched the car drive away. When it was out of sight, he turned to Shawn.

  “Are you positive you’re up for this?”

  “Absolutely, if we find him…I won’t be on the receiving end this time.”

  “All right, but I have to warn you, this man is a very dangerous killer. His name is Ivan R—“

  Shawn cut him off, “No need to warn me; I know all about Ivan Rakov. One of Choi’s friends at the police department filled us in on him after he attacked Choi at his office a few days ago.”

  “Then you know you shouldn’t take him lightly.”

  “Let’s just go and find the asshole first. Do you know where he headed?”

  “I’ve got a pretty good idea. He was headed down the hill on the north side of your property before we lost contact with him.” Jesse said.

  Jesse pulled out his iPad, got the screen up, and handed it to Shawn. It showed Ivan’s last position before the storm rolled in. He stared at the unmoving image on the screen, but he had no idea what he was looking at until suddenly, it dawned on him.

  “Is this what I think it is?” Shawn asked.

  “You’re looking at a thermal image of Ivan Rakov, and it looks like he’s about a third of the way down the hill from your home.”

  Shawn didn’t know what to say; he just stared at the image on the screen. Rakov appeared as an orangish-red glow, while the rest of the image was cast in shades of yellow and green. Finally, he looked at Jesse and said, “So is this live?”

  Jesse slowly shook his head. “No, it’s his last position before the storm moved in. The satellite can’t see through the storm clouds.”

  “Boy, you must have some serious clout to pull off something like this. I can’t even imagine what this will cost.”

  “I do have some connections, but this came from someone much higher up the food chain. As far as cost….let’s just say that it’s the price we pay for keeping us free.”

  “Well, I’m impressed, and I hope I don’t get a bill.”

  Jesse chuckled and said, “I don’t think you have to worry about that. What’s the terrain like on the North side of your property?”

  “It’s not easy to walk even in the best of conditions. I assume it would be nearly impossible in this rain.”

  “Good; I hope that will give us time to get into position.”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  Jesse reached out and motioned for Shawn to hand the iPad back to him. He switched to a military version of Google Earth. The image was much more detailed, and he could zoom in and read the pages of a book if one was lying open on a table. But at the moment, he was only concerned with one thing. Jesse pointed to the house below his property, just above the beach.

  “Is there a quick way to get to that house and stretch of beach?” Jesse asked.

  “Unfortunately, there is no quick way. We’ll have to loop back to a road that crosses the hill further down. But I think I can get us there before he reaches that house, that is if the rain doesn’t let up.”

  “Then let’s head out; our vehicle is parked out front.”

  “If I’m going to dive, I want to drive something that I know. We’ll take my Range Rover.”

  “That’s fine by me,” Jesse answered.

  Then Jesse turned to Ken and Chuah, who had just returned and said, “Chuah, I want you to drive your SUV to the front gate and guard the home against any further unwanted visitors. Ken, I want you to come with us.”

  Both men acknowledged his commands, and soon, they were all on their way.

  The rain was coming down harder as all three men got into the Range Rover. After everyone was buckled up, Shawn backed out of the garage stall and into the dark, windswept rain.