Render - a Shadowboxer file chapter six

RENDER – CHAPTER SIX

The large building was a simple rectangle mounted on top of blocks. There were four wooden steps leading up to a wooden porch that ran the front of the building and the length along one side.

There was one door painted red in the center of the front with a bulb mounted exactly in the middle of the frame above the door.

Two windows dotted each side, with four more along the edge with the porch.

Bulldog pulled to the front of the building. Tires crunched the pea gravel drive as he slowed to a stop. The red door opened and a tall women stepped in to the sun.

“This is where you get off,” said Bulldog.

He lifted the pistol and aimed with one hand while he unfastened the seatbelt with the other.

“Get out.”

Brill used his bound hands to open the door.

“Be seeing you,” he said over his shoulder as he slid off the seat.

He heard the safety click as his feet crunched on the ground

“I better not man,” said Bulldog.  “The two of us in a room, I don’t like the odds of both of us getting out alive.”

Brill snorted and hip checked the door closed.

Bulldog pulled away toward a motor pool on the far side of the compound as he turned to examine the woman.

She was just over five eight, muscular and solid looking, with a face that brooked no nonsense.

Her prim suit was tailored and a muted grey. Brill could see the bulge of a weapon under her left shoulder. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, no strand loose, as if they feared the consequences of leaving the bun at the base of her skull.

“Step inside,” she said by way of introduction.

Brill admired that she didn’t pull her weapon to make the invite. He stepped past her into a large open space.

The ceilings soared to the tip of the arched roof, white walls, white tiles, white floor.

There was a brick fireplace at the far end of the room with a grouping of two sofas that faced each other in front of it, and two wing chairs with their backs to him.

He could see legs in the chairs, moving, wiggling.

Six men in black suits lined the walls on both sides of the chairs. They wore dark sunglasses and wire ear pieces, and their heads were on a swivel, from Brill to the chairs and back again.

A soldier stood next to each of the men in black.

They had their rifles raised to shoulder, and Brill watched as six red dots centered on his chest as he stepped across the floor.

No wonder the woman didn’t need a weapon.

The dots traced him as he walked toward the chairs.

A small fire crackled in the hearth. Brill spied a back door next to the edge of the rear wall when it opened to admit a bespectacled Corporal.

He carried a tray with three glasses of dark liquid to the chairs and bent over to serve.

Brill watched a hand reach from either chair to take a glass and the Corporal stood back with the third next to a sofa.

The woman escorted him around the back of one of the sofa’s by way of the fireplace.

Brill could feel the welcome heat radiating across the brick hearth, the crackle of wood as it was consumed and transformed into ash.

He almost stopped when he saw the two men in the chair.

The one on the left noticed the hesitation and smiled.

“I think we can do without the restraints,” Shelby Johnson held up a glass. “How long has it been since you’ve had a glass of home made sweet tea?”

The woman tugged his sleeve to arrange his wrists, and flipped open a folding knife to sever the ties.

“Seven years,” said Brill.

“Six,” Shelby corrected. “Have a seat close to the fire.”

Brill took the last glass from the tray and sat on the sofa. The Corporal disappeared through the rear door, and the woman moved to the opposite sofa closest to Shelby.

Two of the red dots settled on his chest. He caught the dazzle of one as it centered on his forehead, and assumed the other three targeted his back.

They weren’t taking any chances. He didn’t know if he should be flattered or offended.

“Hello Brill,” the other man said in a velvet voice.

“Governor.”

“It’s President now,” Shelby corrected. “Don’t guess you keep up with matters back home all the way over there in the jungle.”

Brill took a sip of tea instead of answering.

“You had us worried,” the President said. “Our intelligence suggested you died a few years ago.”

“Almost had you a gold star on the wall,” Shelby added. “We were going to do something about it, and make it official, but our hands were tied in the matter.”

“Turns out the accolade was unnecessary,” said the President.

Brill felt them watch him, felt the eyes of everyone in the room on him.

“You’re wondering why you’re here?” Shelby said.

He was long and thin, a fringe of hair cut short around his polished pate.  He wore round glasses on the middle of his nose so he could peer over the top and Brill wondered if it was an act designed to throw off anyone sitting across from him.

“I was snatched off a beach before breakfast, Senator,” said Brill.

“Did you eat?” the President smiled.

It came out in the southern drawl, all the words connected and smacking of home. Didjaeet.

“No Sir.”

The President moved his eyes to one of the men in the corner.

That was all it took, a sign of power that was impressive. A look to  a guard.

The man raised a radio on his wrist cuff to his lips and muttered into it.

“That whole mess in Africa worked out all right,” Shelby said.

Brill drained the rest of his sweet tea and gripped the glass.  The woman stood from the sofa and took it from him.

Smart, he thought. Keep weapons away from him. Any potential weapons.

“Mess,” said Brill.

“Damn sorry about all that,” said Shelby. “Course, like I said. We thought you were dead and gone. By the time you popped up on our radar again, the CIA was building a god damn file on you as thick as a history book.”

They had a file on him.

“Executive Offerings.”

“Damn right. That son of a bitch running things over there is one slick bastard.”

Simon Oliver. Mercenary turned CEO. One of the men responsible for making Brill who he was today.

Of course, the converse was true too.

When they met, Brill was just out of being a kid.

Simone was leading forays into the Angolan jungle for the highest bidder, securing mining sites for gold and diamonds, fighting rebels or sometimes fighting the government.

Brill’s work helped move the man from the bush into an office at the top of a skyscraper.

Quid. Pro. Quo.

“He is a smart man,” Brill agreed.

“He recognizes talent when he sees it,” said the President. “Like we did.”

“How many scrapes were you in over there, son?” Shelby asked.

Brill shrugged.

“I didn’t count.”

“He remembers,” Shelby laughed and slapped the arm of the chair of the man next to him. “Photographic memory. Don’t let him fool you.”

Eidetic, Brill almost corrected. There was a difference.

Not much. He didn’t have to read anything to remember and recall it, though that was part of it.

The back door opened and the Corporal came in with another tray. He was followed by two privates carrying a long folding table and chairs. A third trailed after them with a bundle in his arms.

They set up the table and place settings in less than thirty seconds, moving with practiced precision that was impressive.

The Corporal plated four steaming cheeseburgers, golden fries and two pitchers of tea from the tray.

“Excellent,” the President clapped as he stood up and moved to the head of the table by the fire. “Join me.”

He motioned for the woman to sit on one side, Shelby moved to his right and Brill sat in the open chair at the far end of the table.

“I know it’s not much,” said the President as he waved for them to tuck in. “But the wife won’t let me eat hamburgers at the White House. Trying to cut back my cholesterol.”

They ate in silence for a few moments. The woman took small delicate bites that were precise and deliberate. She chewed each bite nineteen times and washed it down with a sip of tea.

Brill noted she grimaced a little after each sip.

She didn’t like sweet tea.

Shelby didn’t eat the burger at all. He sliced it in half, then picked up a French fry and worked his way down to the end.

The President scarfed his burger with big appreciative bites, chewing with gusto and wiping the juices from his chin after each.

Brill ate like a soldier. He tore the burger into pieces and moved fast. It disappeared before the others were half done.

“Practically starving. Ate nothing but fish for three months,” Shelby told the President.

The Senator took one half of the hamburger and put it on Brill’s plate.

“My wife would love you to get me to do that,” the President said between bites.

They had been watching him for months, Brill thought. When had she sent that picture.

“Let’s just get down to it,” said Shelby as he passed the other half of his sandwich to the President. “We’ve got to get you back before anyone knows you’re missing.”

Shelby pushed his plate away, the rest of his fries untouched.

“That EO business is done,” he told Brill. “Your boss is about to get some indictments that are going to curtail his activities on the dark continent.”

Brill wiped his fingers on the linen napkin and leaned back in his chair.

The burger was good.

Better than good. And since he hadn’t eaten in a day or so, it made it even better.

“Did you have something to do with the ambush?”

Shelby waved it off.

“That Bulldog fella is Special Activities Division, you would have been better off asking him. But I can assure you, the President didn’t sign off on that. Did you Sir?”

The President swiped the grease off his lips and popped a fry in his mouth as he shook his head.

“We want you back working for us again,” said Shelby. “Now I’m not going to appeal to your patriotic side and that rah rah bullshit that got you spying for us before. That shit is for kids, and after all the hell you’ve been through, you sure as hell ain’t a kid anymore.”

Brill finished his second glass of tea and reached for the pitcher. He noticed the dots followed him, and the tension in the room ratcheted at his sudden movement.

“Every one is very jumpy,” said Brill as he eased back into his seat slow and easy. “You can tell them I’m not going to hurt either of you.”

Shelby flicked a glance at the woman.

“You didn’t mention her.”

“I don’t know her,” said Brill. “She’s got a .45 strapped under her shoulder, and a back up piece in the small of her back. I assume she can take care of herself.”

Shelby laughed and slapped the table.

“Told you he was a god damn lethal weapon,” he turned to Brill. “How many of these soldier boy fuckers could you kill before they got you?”

“Three.”

“Just like that,” Shelby turned to the President. “I told you he would know.”

“There are twelve men in here,” the President said as he watched Brill.

“That one. That one. And him,” Brill pointed to three men on the wall. “You agents wouldn’t fire when I moved because it would put you in line of fire.”

He motioned to the three men in black on the President’s side of the table.

“Those three would cover you, and the fourth guy would move you,” his fingers moved to show the men he was indicating. “The soldiers were told to shoot with precision, but those are automatic weapons. If they shoot, they might get her and the Senator. Maybe you too. They’re thinking about that. It would affect their aim.”

“Why three then? Why not all?”

“That guy,” said Brill as he pointed out the Secret Service agent on his left. “He’s your best. My bet is he would keep his head when it all started and end it as fast as he could.”

“Why not take him first,” Shelby couldn’t stop smiling.

“There’s a sofa between us. The obstacle would add too much time for him to draw his weapon.”

The President shared a look with Shelby.

“You were right.”

“I was.”

“You want me here for the next part?”

Shelby shook his head.

“Unless you have any questions.”

The President shook his head and turned to Brill.

“I want you to know how sorry I am for what happened. We didn’t anticipate it, and if I had known, I would never have asked you to go to South Africa. I’m sorry for the loss of your friend’s life, for the havoc it created for her family. And I wanted to apologize with you in person,” his blue eyes drilled into Brill and made him feel as if they were the only two people in the room.

“It’s made you who you are today, and I want you back on our team.”

He stood from the table. Shelby and the woman stood with him, and Brill took his feet.

“I’d come shake your hand,” the President said. “But I think they won’t allow it.”

The men in black moved to surround him and escorted him toward the front door.

“This is only going to take ten,” Shelby called after the man as they disappeared him through the door.

He turned to Brill and sat back down.

“Five if you see reason.”

Brill sat and tilted his chair toward Shelby.

“Everybody’s said they’re sorry. We’ve had lunch. Now it’s time to talk politics. He wants you on our side. I want you on our side.”

“You couldn’t just ask me on the beach?”

“Yeah, maybe I didn’t know the details of how it was going to happen. Technically, you are an enemy combatant working for a mercenary force in a foreign country. That’s all by the book shit. This,” he waved at the walls. “This is off the books shit.”

“Who is she?” Brill asked about the woman who hadn’t spoken since they entered the room.

“This is Zelda. She’s in charge of this training camp. If you agree, she’s going to get you trained up to our specs.”

Brill didn’t need to ask what would happen if he said no. They wouldn’t just let him go back to being a surf bum living out of a van beachside.

“This feels like a Godfather proposition.”

Shelby nodded.

“Your file said you’re too good for the outfit you were with. Come across the fence son, and work for us. Come home.”

Brill nodded.

He didn’t have much choice.

“Thought you’d say that,” said Shelby. “Told the Guvner I could get you signed up in five.”

He glanced at his watch.

“That took three. You got this?”

Zelda nodded.

“Damn glad you’re back son. Everybody round here works on fucking call signs. I can’t wait to hear which one they give you. It’s probably going to be Merc or Bushwhacker or some African shit.”

He didn’t offer to shake Brill’s hand either.

“Keep me posted,” he said to Zelda.

They watched him go through the front door and the back door popped open at the same time.

This time the Corporal was joined by a giant man in a red track suit.

“It’s time to get started,” Zelda said and she motioned Brill to follow as the soldiers cleaned up the remnants of the meal.

SHADOWBOXER SERIES

ASSET – a Brill Winger Thriller

OPERATIVE – a Brill Winger Thriller

SIDEWAYS – a Brill Winger Thriller

CHOKEPOINT – a Brill Winger Thriller

DECREED - a Brill Winger Thriller

IN THE DARK – a Brill Winger Thriller

TRUE NATURE

NOMINEE

ELECT

DEEP STATE

DISAVOWED

CREDIBLE THREAT