although his agency had no official name, it was known to those in its employ, and those who from time to time required its services, as Plan B.
North had been sent in to pinpoint the source of a steady trickle of weapons from Boston to Belfast, in rthem Ireland. What he had stumbled on instead was drugs-a shipment and sale of heroin that looked to be as big as any he had encountered on his several assignments with the Drug Enforcement Agency.
And to boot, from what he could pull from the conversation below, one of the two men doing the selling was almost certainly a cop.
Frustrated by his lack of progress on the weapons shipments, and with no time to set up trustworthy backup, North had opted to video the drug sale himself..of all the filth, all the shit his work for Plan B required him to wade through, drug dealers were the most repugnant to, him, and the most rewarding to bring down. At least, he reasoned, if he was pulled off his weapons assignment, the months in Boston wouldn't have been a total loss. On the down side, if something went wrong, if by working on his own like this he blew the weapons operation, his boss at Plan B would have his nuts.
But nothing would-go wrong. He had checked the rafters from every angle and had picked a spot that was absolutely hidden from view. He had taken the sort of comprehensive and imaginative precautions that had made himyen among the highly skilled operatives at His agency-something of a legend. Now, all he had to do was keep filming, and wait.
Far below him the deal was essentially complete.
The cop and his partner had taken two suitcases of money and left. The buyer, who had arrived in a van with a chemist and three bodyguards, was supervising the transfer of his purchase from shipping containers to the van. He was small and wiry and nattily dressed, and he issued orders to his men with the crispness of one who was used to power.
One of the Gambone brothers, North ventured, trying to recall what he had once memorized about the powerful New England family.
Possibly Ricky, the youngest. North shifted his weight a fraction to get a better look at the man, and felt something move beneath his thigh.
Instinctively he reached down, but it was too late. A bolt, probably wedged on the beam since the construction of the roof, rolled off the edge and clattered to the cement floor below.
In seconds North was at the intersection of two powerful flashlight beams. Following the shouted orders of one of the men below, he dangled his revolver in two fingers and flipped it down.
Then, cursing himself, he inched across the rafter and down the narrow access ladder.
It was going to be one hell of a long night.
Over God-only-knew how many dicey assignments, North had been taken just twice before tonight One of those times, in Buenos Aires, he had intentionally allowed his own capture in order to free two political prisoners The other time, in Uganda, he had endured two hours of torture before his backup arrived. Now, he silently vowed to keep the physical punishment he had to absorb to a minimum. He would have to be easy, but not too easy; frightened, but not so much that hurting him would become sport.
One of the goons took his camera, and another punched him viciously in the gut. He dropped to his knees, whimpering, They pulled him up by his jacket and threw him into a chair.
Then, as he responded haltingly to their questions, Sandy North began, one by one, to take the measure of the five men who held him.
'. — Myself. J-just myself. There's no one else, I've been w-working undercover, looking for weapons… ' The chemist-frail, past middle agean be discounted.
'… It was just an accident I… I stumbled on this. I swear I did. I heard two guys talking and thought I'd see if something was up.
There's rewards for this kind of thing, you know…
Gambone, if in fact that's who he is, clearly likes letting others get dirty. He can be separated from his men in any number of ways.
'. — Look, seriously. I don't want to get hurt for this, and I don't want to die. I work for Tobacco and Firearms- I don't even know anyone with D.E.A…
Two of the three goons are young and not all that experienced.
One, Mickey, actually crossed too close with his gun drawn. If the moment had been right for a mole, Mickey would have been truly astounded at how quickly he and his automatic could be permanently separated.
'. ' ' This here video transmitter's powerful, but not powerful enough to reach a satellite. I've got a receiver hidden out there. That's where the tape is…
The third goon, Donny, is the real problem. A beast. Six four or five … two-fifty… careful… moms uell.
'… Look, I don't care who you are or who you were dealing with. I … I just want to get out of this with my skin. There's got to be some kind of deal we can make… ' It took most of half an hour, and several more almost gratuitous punches to his face and belly, but finally North got the promise of a deal in exchange for turning over the receiver and tape. He knew that the only deal he could realistically hope for was a painless death, but he had precious few cards to play, and what he needed most was to trim down the odds against him.
'Okay… okay,' he said as Donny wound up for what would have been another backhand across his face. 'I'm beat. The receiver's in an empty oil drum.
I'll take you there.'
Donny looked over at the natty buyer, who nodded.
'Fuck with us and you're dead,' Donny said, jerking North to his feet.
'After you get the tape, bring him back here,' the buyer ordered.
He backed away from the cold as Donny opened the warehouse door.
Satisfied, North led the three bodyguards out into the raw morning.
'This better not be shit,' Donny said as they passed first one warehouse, then another, cause I'm getting cold and impatient.'
They turned onto a broad, cluttered pier.
'The receiver's in there,' North said, pointing to an oil drum, one of fifty or so stacked lengthways in a huge pyramid. The thin wire of an antenna, barely visible, protruded from a hole drilled in the top.
'Open it.'
The three men moved back a step as North took a wloden mallet from between two of the drums and gingerly tapped off the cover.
'It's packed in an oilskin sack,' he said, reaching inside. 'It's in a-'
'Stop right there,' Donny ordered. 'Now, back away. That's it.
You really are stupid if you think I'd let you put your hand on the weapon you have in there.
Mickey, get it out.
With the third man's gun still leveled at him, North stepped away.
Mickey pocketed his own revolver and reached into the drum. Almost instantly there was a loud metallic snap, followed by hideous screaming.
Mickey reeled backward, pawing futilely at the jaws of a huge bear trap embedded to the hilt in his wrist.
The third bodyguard's reaction was only a momentary drift of his revolver, but for North that was enough. He kicked him sharply in the groin, and in virtually the same moment drove the heel of his hand upward into the man's nose. An expulsion of air, the snap of bone, and the man was down, not two feet from where his cohort lay screaming.
Instinctively North spun and dived away from Donny. The maneuver kept the huge man from crushing North's skull with a six-foot length of two-by-four.
The blow caught North on the temple. Dazed, he stumbled to his feet just as Donny swung at him again. The board slammed him squarely in the back, dropping him to one knee. In the next instant, the giant was on him, his powerful hands working their way around North's neck, his thumbs gaining purchase against North's windpipe.
Using leverage and every bit of his remaining strength, North rolled the man over and tried clawing at his face. Donny's grip did not weaken.
North felt a swirling nausea taking hold. He needed air.
Again he rolled. This time his effort sent the two of them toppling over the side of the pier. Donny's death-
