Heatblast #99

Atlanta…

Two black Towne cars pulled into the remote warehouse on the outskirts of Atlanta.
Inside…Terry Bryant, the ATF investigator, who had been appointed to the special task force, to assist the investigation of The Network.
He got out of the car.
DT greeted him without words, as he led him to the safe.
Bryant followed him.
The safe was an incinerator room.
The floor was an iron grate…like a barbeque grill.
The walls were stainless steel.
Below the room…was a series of several hundred gas pilots. When ignited…the heat was hot enough to disintegrate an animal the size of a horse. Leaving no traces that it was ever there…a tool…The Network put to good use, every now and then.
Summer Johnson was bound and gagged. She had not been fed in more than twenty-four hours. Her body was laid out on the floor of the incinerator room.
Bryant walked up to the one-way glass. When he looked in…his heart began to pound. He was angry…seeing her being treated like this.
Of course, he had long ago pledged allegiance to The Network, but he was bred a lawman.
To see a fellow comrade in this situation was…disturbing, to say the least.
No one knew who Shelia really was, other than Bryant.
The powers that be…did know she had been in Atlanta with Jason before his arrest(See HeatBlast#29). Then she showed up in New Orleans with Denise. When Diego discovered she was the same person who was with Jason…that coincidence put her in this position.
The call had already come down from Chicago to get rid of her. They would find out what was going on later.
But, Bryant got a copy of the query from Diego to do a background check on Shelia with a photo. Then he received the Task Force briefing ten hours ago telling him, Summer Johnson had failed to report to Houston. He knew The Network had already moved. The moment he realized it, he was on a private jet to stop The Network from making a real bad mistake.
“You can’t kill her,” he said to DT. He walked away from the window. He had seen enough.
DT was still standing there. “What do you suppose we do?”
Bryant was moving with a brisk pace away from the incinerator. “Get her out of there. Clean her up and feed her. Put her in a decent secure location until we tell you different,” Bryant said, as he made his way back to the car.
DT could not believe what he was hearing…after all the trouble they went thru to get her there.
The phone call was placed to a secure line.
“Sondesta Enterprise,” Alexia answered.
“I need to be connected to Mr. Sondesta on a hard line, please” Bryant said.
“Okay, I’ll just need your security clearance.”
“Certainly…7-1-8-2-3-6.”
“Can you hold, please?” she said, as she verified the code and located Victor.
Bryant’s communication with Victor was very limited. When it was necessary…they both knew it had to be very important, because of the risk involved in them communicating.
After a series of clicks, Victor picked up the secure line on his boat, docked in the Caribbean Sea. The screen posted Bryant’s code, which made the use of names unnecessary.
“My friend…how’s the weather?” Victor asked.
“It has to be hot, if I’m bothering you while you’re on vacation,” Bryant said.
Victor waited for confirmation that the line was cleared on Bryant’s end.
“Tell me about it.”
“Things have taken an unexpected turn. The mystery girl…is Task Force, undercover.”
Victor was silent even though the line was secure.
“I don’t know how much has been compromised, but if they move forward, to tie that loose end…a fire may be started that cannot be extinguished.”
“So…what do you suggest?” Victor asked.
Bryant’s driver was taking him on a route through Georgia’s country side that would be difficult to have their conversation intercepted.
“She’s already in the pan…we got to spin the blame.” Bryant looked out the window at the countryside. “Move her to a secure
location. Make it look like kidnap-ransom…and have DT assign an independent team to work the ransom deal, as if she was picked up to fish a few million from Johnny.”
Victor was listening to Bryant, as he stood on the yacht’s top deck…lining up his driver with the ball resting on the tee.
“They place a call asking for a ransom, today. Allow the Agency to come in and work it…then the balls in their court. The outside team’s only incentive is to secure the ransom. They get it…let em have it…they don’t…let them be responsible for her blood, not you.”
Victor liked it. He swung the driver. It was a perfect swing.
“Regardless…it’ll put a little confusion into the investigation…buying us a little time to figure out what’s been compromised.”
“That all sounds good…but, I can’t allow her to go free after infiltrating New Orleans, so whatever goes down…make sure the end result is…the loose end being tied…permanently.”
Victor ended the call.
Bryant held the phone…hoping he would’ve been able to save Summer’s life.