SAFE HAVENS: Shadow Masters (A Sean Havens Black Ops Novel Book 1) (34 page)

Havens remained concerned about the operation being compromised if preparations were not being properly made according to his strict guidelines. If the team accomplished its mission it would be with a lot of luck. This approach was using too little advanced work. Havens fretted over it at night. He was losing sleep and had a hard time concentrating on anything other than the plans. During the hours of tossing and turning, he started to think of Christina, Maggie, and the past. When his eyelids became heavy enough to drift into sleep, a detail would pop into his mind about the operational planning. Another hour of sleep lost.

He would have liked to have run the issues past Draeger just as Draeger had recently bounced a few ideas off his friend, but knew OPSEC was paramount to Havens even if both men were on the same side. Despite being compartmented to need to know, which could mean the program, the tasking, and target, to name a few, Havens didn’t like to take chances with disclosure. It was a line people just didn’t cross, unless of course, they were using hypotheticals as a workaround, but even that was done by only the closest of trusted agent relationships in the business.

Havens was always a proponent of advance operations that were less tactical and more a gauge of sociocultural considerations in order to better appreciate the holistic environment in which they would be engaging. Havens found Harrison’s approach to be sloppy and sloppy didn’t happen if operations were planned with the appropriate consideration to the ancillary effects and scenarios that could manifest themselves with little warning. He was being forced to cut corners, put his stamp on things, but not be involved.

Havens would have to recce the sites again on his own and just keep it to himself. Precision in planning required the utmost attention to details to ward off potential surprise. Or so he told himself. In truth, any time that he let up on the gas his thoughts would shift to Christina and Maggie.

Havens pushed himself to keep busy despite complete fatigue and self-induced sleep deprivation. Having a new dog in the house also kept thoughts of his loved ones tucked away. The dog, Cougar, named after his temporary pet octopus, had been leaving plenty of trails of waste and wreckage around the house, providing a perfect therapeutic distraction for Sean. The two quickly developed a love-hate relationship as they vied for dominance and space in the house now filling with off-limits rooms.

Chapter 44

L
ars had been out of pocket for the past twenty-four hours. He had explained to Sean that a lot of cases needed to be finished up and that he would be mostly away over the weekend and out of touch packing and what not. Havens paid little mind considering he would make a last run to some sites in the evening with a focus on the Middle Eastern shop owner.

On the surface the shop owner appeared to be fairly benign. He ran a business that had been established at the same location for eight years. The man sold second rate electronics, could provide prepaid stored value debit or credit cards, and likely also supported some informal monetary transfers, often termed as hawala.

While Havens didn’t have the luxury of time or a mandate to investigate, his distrust of the list troubled him. He would have to pay a visit to scratch this itch and decided to drive to the shop for an onsite inspection.
What to wear so I don’t look like a cop or a fed…How do I play this out? Why would I be stopping by this store in this neighborhood? Ah. Need that sport coat and glasses. Get the other wallet. Cash.

Lars pulled up to the storefront he had been directed to. He gave it a quick glance to confirm the address and went around the block again. He scanned the nearby parking lots, street parking, and restaurant parking to see where he could camp out this evening. His tasking tonight was rather out of the norm for him. He was to be called in to support an undercover government raid if any casualties occurred. An unfamiliar admin from a nearby precinct had left a message on his voicemail to give him the tip. His presence now could put the raid at risk if anyone grew suspicious, so he made sure he would only pass by the site once and remain at least a few blocks away in a manner that would not cause alarm.

Perfect. A burrito storefront with side building parking. Hmmm. Maybe a taco or two now just to see if it was worthy of a return. It may also provide a plausible reason to come back tonight. Big cop type with the munchies while working the area. Not absurd.

Havens rounded the corner and scanned the streets. It was a nice looking Latino area with a typical amount of gang tagging and graffiti to show who ran the area and who should stay out. If he stayed on the main drag at this time of day it would not rouse any suspicion. He had selected a white 1998 Toyota Corolla from the fleet with a University of Illinois-Chicago sticker on the back window. With a brown suede sport coat and some trendy but affordable spectacles, the getup was a bit overkill of the poor academic role.

Hello?

Havens spotted Lars stepping out of his car as he raised his head in time to momentarily lock eyes with the passing car’s driver.

Holy shit that guy could have passed for…

Lars walked out from the parking lot and into the street, his eyes following the passing car.

Havens looked in the rearview mirror without moving his head. He watched Lars step into the street.

Shit. What are the chances? I know his head is spinning now.

Havens pulled out his phone and dialed.

Chapter 45

“D
octor, we got the results back from the labs you ordered on the patient in 416.”

“Thanks, Brenda. Leave the charts up on the desk and I will take a look after lunch. Hey…who brought in pizza?”

“Some drug vendor. If you want deep dish, there is stuffed spinach in the second box. Can’t pass up Giordano’s. Plus, I wouldn’t mind getting your opinion on the labs while you’re here.”

The doctor grabbed a paper plate, reached for an end slice of the thin crust sausage pizza and stuffed it in his mouth while opening the second box.

“Mmmhmmm?” the doctor murmured as he pawed apart two deep dish pieces tethered by strands of cheese.

“Well the cell count was lower than you were thinking. I saw a trace of something else but it would need a toxicology test. I’d need your approval and then I’ll code it.”

The doctor had another mouthful, this time of the stuffed pizza. As he spoke the tomato and spinach on his teeth moved with his tongue like wiper blades cleaning bugs off a windshield.

“There’s no need for a tox,” he said dismissively before biting off another piece of pizza, cheeks still bulging with previous bites.

“Doctor,” the nurse said rising from her chair. “Look at these numbers.” She held her gaze and handed him the report.

The doctor rolled his eyes knowing she was not going to let this go unless he gave her a couple minutes of his time. He put his plate down on the makeshift buffet table and grabbed a napkin. He wiped his face and wadded the napkin in one hand as he began looking over the report. He stopped suddenly mid-chew and spit out the glob of dough and toppings in a nearby trash can.

“Just a sec.” He moved around the nurse station desk, eyes trained on Maggie Havens’ room. “I want to have a look at her.”

Chapter 46

“H
ey Lars, was that you?”

Lars’ suspicions were confirmed the moment he saw Sean’s name appear on the caller ID of his phone.

“Yes, and what, may I ask, are you doing… not being you? Whose car was that?”

“New job thing. A soldier’s wife is getting harassed while walking home from the high school down the street. Just checking the area out before I meet with her. I was just over at the school trolling a bit. How about you? Thought you had a mountain of paperwork?”

“Yeah, I had some follow-up questions in the neighborhood and stopped by for a bite. They have a fleet of cars for you guys to use? That seems like a lot of overhead for a non-profit.”

“Oh, I just asked to borrow one of the admin’s cars who was coming into the office late since she couldn’t find parking near the building. She thinks I had to run out for a minute and didn’t want to take my car out of its spot. I said I’d park it for her in my place afterwards since I had some more errands to run.”

“So why didn’t you just change it in the first place? Where is the office?”

I don’t trust you, Seany. You are a shady dude. What are you doing in this area?

“I was parked a couple blocks away and figured she could just pull up. Anyway, just wanted to say hello since I saw you and figured a good sleuth like you would be wondering if that was me or not since we appeared to have had a moment.”

“Well, I was wondering.”

Havens jumped back in, “Well I was wondering why you were looking so close into the eyes of another man. Have something to tell me Lars?”

Lars wasn’t in the mood to be teased.

“Sean, I gotta go. Talk to you later,” he replied shortly and hung up without another word.

You’re growing colder, Lars. What’s going on in your head?

Convinced that Lars would actually be eating for the next ten minutes or so, Havens made a few more turns and parked on a street behind his mark’s store. He quickly walked along the side of the building and then lingered out front, hoping to be spotted by the proprietor. After making brief eye contact through the front window with the man behind the counter, Havens opened the door to the sound of jingling bells and walked in. The merchant placed something under a stack of papers and moved his phone from the counter to a drawer underneath.

Chapter 47

H
arrison was briefing the team north of the city in a GSA-leased building that Draeger had found. It was paid and devoid of a tenant. A product of government waste perfectly suited to such activity.

Over time Harrison had made a number of adjustments to the team. A few became a bit frenzied after one particular job staging a Mexican drug cartel hit on a family. It was one of their first and Harrison thought it best to eliminate the entire team. Others had simply gotten too close to each other. Some needed to serve a higher purpose. Those men who were no longer needed were sent on a long journey in a COSCO container by sea while others found their way by rail. They would not require accommodations such as air holes.

Given the similarities of disposal, it could be easily construed as the M.O. of traffickers. In actuality, the men had done their jobs well, but a few slip-ups and a sharp detective almost blew their cover with the drug cartel crime scene. It was good to have that detective on the payroll now to avoid such inconveniences. When possible, the Activity put such astute individuals on the payroll, but in a couple of instances detectives had to be eliminated to ensure a less seasoned one would take over the case and produce less effective results. Even those added to the payroll were eventually eliminated once their usefulness expired. The jury was still out as to how long Lars would remain useful.

With a pause in the rundown, one of four Hispanic operators asked, “So who is this guy we are going after?”

“He is a known money launderer for Hezbollah. He is being monitored by OFAC but due to some jurisdiction issues, there is little evidence obtainable at this time without probable cause or something like that for Feds or law enforcement to enter his premises for a search. However, we know from our assets that he is involved in lethal aid logistical and financial support through his network. Our intent is that with our operation tonight law enforcement can come in and do site exploitation while investigating the crime and find some items that can link this man to other criminals and agents for Hezbollah.

“And what if they can’t?” another operator inquired.

“That’s not for you to worry about. At the very least it will open up some opportunities to expand investigations to some of the criminal elements in the area. If you look around, you can probably tell why you were selected, and it’s not just based on skills.”

“Hey, chief, my parents are Greek. I just look Mexican. I’m starting to feel discriminated against. Where is my HR rep?”

The room chuckled as the operator put his hands up in mock protest.

“With a flat nose like that you’re practically Mayan,” another operator retorted. “You must have gotten your ass kicked a lot growing up.”

Harrison raised a hand. “Gentlemen, please. Game face time. This mission is not to be carried out in military style. Precision, yes, but style has to be street. It can’t look like a robbery either; we need it to be a signature gang hit like this shop owner did something to cross someone.”

“Rico, you are locks and picks. I need you to put this collateral in any filing cabinet or moderately well hidden place in the store so it doesn’t look like it was left out, but not locked up either. CPD evidence will need to find it, but our orders are to leave room for proper chain of evidence collection to show the where and how of discovery to be realistic. I have a sheet for you to review from our J35 of Plans on how I want this to look. Copy that?”

“Roger, sir.”

“Then you’re all going to scatter as planned. Your vehicles should be left outside another designated shop a few blocks down from where you will be.”

Harrison showed the driver and team lead a map point signifying the location.

“Meet back here for a debriefing tomorrow morning and we’ll discuss the next leg.”

“We going to have to get our homies in more trouble?”

“Nope, we get to rattle someone else’s cage next time. Review the board and the plans for the next few hours and work out your roles. Make sure, Rico, to get the shop owner’s prints on the files. You also need target in position for execution style if possible. He has to be hit by 21:45.”

Harrison wondered who he was going to pick to beat the corpse with a bat or two by four to further stage the crime. This zombie crew was selected by their military files for their aptitude but also for the low psychological scores for remorse. They were less professional than other teams that consisted of men like Havens and Gunny Gonzalez who were driven by acts committed against their family. These goons were just driven.