Wetwork Ch. 03

Chris woke up at around 11 and was surprised when he saw the time. He hadn't slept that late since... well he couldn't remember. He checked his phone and was again surprised by the number of messages left on his voicemail. He checked his missed calls list didn't recognize most of the numbers. Most of the messages were news outlets begging for an interview to tell his story. One was from his buddy Mike Williams, an younger ex Delta guy he had helped bring up and train. Mike had seen him on the news and called him to congratulate him on not getting his old ass shot up. Mike was only about five years younger than him, but once he had turned 30 he never let him forget it. Another message was from Agent Harris telling Chris he may have follow up questions. The last message was from a very clearly distressed Sarah. She sounded tired, and weary, she wanted Chris to call her back as soon as he could, Chris decided now was as good a time as any. He went to his living room and turned on the news. He watched for a moment watching the different aftermaths of the different locations from the previous day. The shooting in Chicago had been the worst, just 5 guys shooting at a football game, which honestly had pretty laxed security for the always sold out 65000 seats in the stadium. An amateur's cell phone video from the Mall of America was shown next. The video showed people running in one direction, and a glimpse of a gunman walking after them shooting into the crowd. Who ever had taken the video had probably made thousands of dollars for having the presence of mind to video tape the shooting. Chris muted the television and picked up his cell phone and picked out Sarah's name with a flick of his thumb he was calling her. The phone rang three times before she picked it up.

Across the country on LA's notoriously busy 405 Karim Barraick was dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt, and orange traffic vest. He stood behind a jackhammer breaking away pieces of concrete until a mid sized hole was dug out. He walked to his white van and lifted a metal tube out of the back and laid it carefully into the hole. He covered the hole with the rubble, got into the van and pulled away into the early morning traffic. By noon the roads would be jammed, by 12:30 several Americans would be dead.

Chris walked up the stairs to Sarah's apartment and knocked on the door. He waited a moment before the door was opened by Sarah who was wearing a bath robe. She motioned him to come in and he thought he could smell fruit in her hair as he walked by. She had sounded nervous on the phone, but now that he was here she seemed almost calm. He turned around to speak.

"Sarah-" he was cut off though by her lips pressing against his. They stayed like this for what seemed like forever. He took in her scent and wrapped his arms around her waist to bring her closer to him. She backed away from his and slowly undid her robe.

Chris took in the sight of her bare body and responded by moving again to kiss her. She pulled off his shirt and he could feel the heat from her body. Sarah could feel his reaction pressing against her leg and led him to the bedroom, where they stayed for the next couple of hours.

James Sturgis was sitting in his car listening to the traffic report telling him that the jam he was stuck in was the worst the 405 had seen in a while. He silently cursed himself for getting on instead of just taking the back roads he could have used. He looked back at his seven year old son who was looking at him in the mirror. At this rate they were never going to make to the game. He smiled at his son wearing they kid sized Kobe Bryant jersey. He looked back up to see the car in front of him pull forward and slightly to the right to avoid the rubble in the middle of the road. James looked to his right and saw he had no room so he just started to drive over the rubble. He never even saw the blast.

James' car was engulfed in the blast and went flying into the sky. The fireball expanded quickly covering 20 yards easily curling upwards as it collapsed back in on itself. Several other cars were thrown from the freeway sending them crashing down to the road below it. The worst part of the bomb was the shrapnel. Nails, glass, and shards of metal were sent flying over 50 yards away. In one car the hubcap of another car cut the neck of the driver badly and he bled out within minutes. Within seven yards of the blast any car was set ablaze people sat screaming stuck in their seats. On the ground people were using their arms to crawl on the ground when they realized their legs were missing. A mixture of gasoline, oil, and blood soon covered the ground.

Karim looked at the carnage threw his binoculars and smiled Allah uh Akbar he said to himself. His god was indeed great and the scene playing before him and the knowledge that across the country the same thing was happening was just proof of his greatness. Karim got back into his van and drove away towards the airport his job was done and he was heading home.

Chris and Sarah lay in bed together both going over what had just happened in their heads. It was some of the most passionate sex Chris had ever had in his life. The way he held her as she moved under his power, the way she spurred him on with whispers from her lips, the way her fingers dug into his back as he had pushed even further into her. He looked at her and smiled as she looked at him with a blank face.

"So when do you go back to work?" Sarah asked him with a voice riddled concern.

"What do you mean?" Not sure he knew what she was talking about.

"That Franks guy you told me about. He offered you a job. I know you want to accept it. And with what happened yesterday its only a matter of time." He knew she was right as she spoke the words.

"I don't know, I was kind of enjoying retirement." He smiled to himself knowing it was a lie. Yesterday had reminded him how much he missed the excitement, but today had made him realize that he had also missed the connection that comes with having a relationship.

"Ya right" Sarah muttered.

"Get out of my head." Chris laughed as he kissed her on the forehead. "Even if I take the job I wont be gone as much as I was when I was in the Army, couple weeks at a time at the most."

"I can handle that." Sarah said.

Chris' phone rang on the nightstand beside her bed. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID.

"Speak of the devil." She said.

Chris took it and saw it was Franks calling. He answered and listened as Franks sputtered off than hung up. Chris put the phone down and picked up the TV remote switching on the TV.

"Oh my god." Sarah gasped as the fiery wreck on the 405 was shown on the TV.

Chris knew what had happened already. IED he thought. The carnage on the screen was unlike the ones he had experienced in Afghanistan though. Heavily armored humvees could take the blast a lot better than the compact cars of America. Several cars had been burned through, and even from the helicopters height and angle of the camera he could see what he knew were body parts laying on the ground. He turned off the TV and climbed out of bed.

"I guess Ill go talk to Franks about that job now." He said as he walked out of the room without another word. He was shut off now, in a mode that left no room for emotions. Chris thought about the message he had received from Mike Williams earlier that day. Maybe he'd have to give him a call later on depending on how the meeting with Franks went. Chris stepped outside and walked to his car. On his way he noticed a black Buick sitting across the street from him. The driver was a middle aged man who appeared uninterested in what Chris was doing. But when he saw the buick swing around and begin to follow him he knew that was not the case.

Chris drove his car toward the downtown area he was supposed to meet Franks at a diner on the outskirts of the metro area. He looked back in his rear view mirror and noticed the Buick was tailing him not even at a three car distance but right behind him. Either this guy was terrible at his job or just didn't care that Chris could see him. Chris lit a cigarette and turned on the radio to check on the bombings across the country. In all nine bombs had gone off with a total 22 dead and 12 wounded. All of them reminded him of the IED that gave him that three inch scar on his right arm and extended onto the top of his hand. He blew out smoke as he looked at the scar and remembered how his driver had not been so lucky. PFC Guerra had lost his head from the blast and it had bounced around in the cab of the truck as it rolled over until it came to rest in the back seat. It was an image he would never be able to get out of his head. Once he had tried using alcohol to try and escape from the remained sound of the blast, the smell of the cordite and blood. The sight of a young man slumped over the wheel of the truck without a head. The liquor helped at first, but then it just added to the nightmares. One night he had dreamt of the incident he had looked in the back seat of the truck and Guerra's head started talking to him. Chris had stopped drinking heavily after that one and used his advanced training as a stress reliever, but he still drank sometimes and after this was done he would have to have a drink he told himself.

Chris pulled into the diner and shut the door glancing back to see the Buick parked across the street just watching him.

"Don't worry that's my guy." Chris turned to see Franks walking out of the diner extending his arm. Chris took it and shook it firmly.

"Don't trust me?" Chris flicked his cigarette onto the pavement below him, his fingers trembling slightly from the trip down memory lane just minutes prior.

"Just watchin your back. Your face has been plastered all over the news, and I'm sure whoever is behind all this isn't a big fan of yours right now. Hungry?" Franks asked as he motioned to the door.

The two men sat down at a table and looked at the menus in silence for a moment before ordering. Chris sat looking over Franks shoulder staring at the door, he had been on edge ever since the shooting the day prior.

"So how ya feelin?" asked Franks.

"I'm fine, Sarah's a bit shook up though." Chris noticed Franks eyebrow lift up. "The girl I was with yesterday."

"Well imagine her surprise when not only did people start shooting, but you ran after them and managed to kill all but one by yourself." Franks stopped talking as the waitress brought their burgers to them and waited until she left to start in again. "We were all impressed Chris even the Feds. I know Harris gave you the third degree, but the FBI is lookin pretty inept right now, along with homeland, the CIA and ourselves as well. We all got embarrassed yesterday."

"And you want me to do something about it?" Chris asked.

"Well not just you we have other people in the field right now; Iraq, Afghanistan, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia just to name a few. We drawin blanks though, who ever pulled this off is either very good at staying off our radar, or this is the first attack of a brand new group. 9/11 was one thing, a coordinated attack using international flights is one thing, but when you have attacks being carried out by people who have been here for what were assuming has been a while well that's unsettling." Franks stirred his coffee pausing a moment to let Chris absorb what he was hearing. "No we can do fine without you, but we'd rather have you with us. You are certainly a valuable asset to us, and we have the added benefit of being able to trust you completely."

"You think there's a mole?" Chris asked with arched eyebrows.

"I don't think so, but..." Franks looked disturbed by what he was about to say. "About a week ago one of our agents went incommunicado. We haven't been able to reach him, and his dead drops with his handler stopped completely."

"Where was he?"

"Chicago. He was posing as an extremist sympathizer at a large mosque we've been monitoring. About a year ago he was approached by a man who had noticed his rhetoric. The agent began going to prayer groups with him, and as time went on the meetings got more extreme. Up until a few months ago it was all talk, but then they started bringing in weapons, a lot of weapons. He was able to get us the serial numbers of these weapons. Chris the weapons used in all the shootings yesterday originated out of Chicago."

"Fuck Franks how long was he under?"

"Evidently too long, we told him to let the weapons go in hopes of him getting even further into the cell, but a week ago he went dark." Franks downed the last of his coffee.

"Do you think he flipped?" Chris asked hesitantly not wanting to insult Franks'' man.

"Hell no... he was a true Muslim. He hated the extremists, he always went on these rants about how they pervert the religion."

"So you want me to find him or what?" Chris asked.

"In short yes, but once you've found him we want you to take out anyone responsible for these attacks."

"Taken out?" asked Chris.

"Dead. Quietly though we don't need martyrs." Franks said.

"Who would I work with." Chris asked.

"Your choice. Anybody doesn't have to be with an Agency, just someone you trust." Franks slid an brown envelope across the table. "There's cash in there, about 15 g's." Chris' eyes widened. "Not for smoke or drink though. Get your guy, get your gear, and get your ass to Chicago. Also there's bios on all the players our agent was working with, pictures, names, addresses the usual. When you get to Chicago we have a car and an apartment set up for you. The place your staying is only a couple blocks from the mosque, if we need to get in touch with you well put info in your mailbox. If you need us do the same, but mark it somehow doesn't matter how you do it, our guy will get it."

"What's your guy go by?" Chris asked.

"Salim, his codename is Infidel." Franks said as Chris smiled at the irony of the name. "He's not without his sense of humor... hopefully he still has it."

"Ill find him." Chris said as he stood up. "Call of your dog though, have him watch Sarah while I'm gone I don't need him watching my back."

Franks nodded as he stood up and shook Chris' hand. With that Chris walked out of the diner and lit another cigarette before reaching for his phone. He flipped through his contacts when he came to his former Delta partner Mike Williams. The phone rang twice before he picked up.

"Mike its Chris." He paused as Mike congratulated him again. "Thanks Mike, how would you like to get out of retirement?" Mike sounded excited as he answered. "Good get a plane ticket to O'Hare Ill be there later tonight." Chris hung up and got back in his car. He had to break the news to Sarah, and he wasn't sure how she would take it.