State Of War

“I need it by tonight.”

Salami nearly strangled on his wine. “And what are you going to do with all this shit?”

“I’m going to give El Hombre something that will haunt his dreams, even if he survives it.”

“And how are you going to find him again?”

“There’s something in the paint I tagged his car with. Something that satellites can see and people can’t.”

Salami stared at the rotting killer on his couch. “You have a satellite watching El Hombre?”

Delilah smiled and spoke for the first time.

“No, but someone else who wants him dead does.”

West Miami

T HE KEY WAS UNDER the gnome.

Special Agent Savacool could cook. Kaino happily held out his plate for a second chicken-fried steak. “You know, I really like breakfast for dinner.”

“Most men do,” Savacool agreed. She seemed to appreciate men with hearty appetites. Her great-aunt’s abode was a solid, brick house of Shaker-style built in the housing boom after World War II. Savacool had kept with the clean simple lines of the builder but added all modern appurtenances. The river was close by. A pleasing breeze blew off it and Savacool had opened up the house to receive it. The houses on the winding lane were few and far apart, and none had fences. The streetlights were few, ancient and dim. Spanish moss hung from the huge live oaks in swaths of Southern Gothic glory.

Savacool smiled as Bolan finished his meal. “You like fried steak?”

“Haven’t had one since the last time I was in Argentina.”

Savacool cocked her head. “How do they do it?”

“Well, there’s no gravy or biscuits. They fry it in oil and squeeze lemons on it. Usually have French fries on the side.”

Savacool made a noise. “Savages.”

“They’ll put fried eggs on top if you ask.”

“Well, at least that’s progress.”

Kaino suddenly snapped his head up. “You smell that?”

Bolan snuffed the air. “What?”

Savacool’s face contracted in disgust. “Oh, yeah, I was in New York in 2010 for the blooming of the corpse flower. It just about knocked me off my feet. Nice nose, Kaino.”

“I’m a gourmet and a gourmand, man. My nose takes me where I need to go.” Kaino pulled one of his .357s.

Bolan caught the sent of rotting mammal on the breeze and what lay beneath it. He rose and pulled his Beretta. “Iodine. Cocosino is here.”

Kaino took out his second .357. “Go for the head. Nothing else will stop him.”

“No.” It sickened Bolan to say it, but Cocosino was one of their few active leads. “Take his legs off if you can. I want him alive, and if he really is a krokodil addict, twenty-four hours without a fix will leave him willing to tell us anything we want to know.”

Savacool pulled her .40-caliber FBI-issue Glock and checked the load by reflex. “Hardcore, Cooper.”

Bolan took in the architecture. “Fuse box in the basement?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s kill the lights before he does and call 9-1-1.” Bolan sniffed the air again. The stench was becoming more powerful. It was unfortunate that all the windows and doors were open. “Be careful coming back up. If he’s close enough to smell, he’ll be in the house in moments.”

Savacool ran at a crouch to kill the lights. Bolan and Kaino stayed low and reached into their gear bags.

Kaino sniffed the air and nearly gagged. “Jesus, it smells like a dead wildebeest rotting on the savannah!”

“Didn’t know you were a poet, Kaino.”

“Yeah, well, you know.” Kaino pulled his NVG on top of his head and nearly gagged again.

Bolan had been exposed to dead bodies that ranged from fresh to mummified and every shade in between. It had long ago lost any power over his nose or his stomach. But Kaino was right. The stench was so strong it was almost anomalous.

The lights cut out. Bolan and Kaino pulled down their NVGs. A second later the agent’s voice spoke softly at the top of the stairs. “Savacool.”

“Clear.”

Savacool crouched beside the kitchen island cradling an M-4 carbine.

Bolan tapped an icon on his phone. “Bear, I need satellite on my position, stat.”

“I thought you’d gone dark on the Savacool family estate?”

“Stat, Bear.”

“One second. Checking available satellites. Have one with window. Nonessential shore surveillance. Assuming priority...now.” Kurtzman’s voice rose in instant alarm. “Striker! Be advised! You are surrounded!”

“Show me.” Bolan’s screen filled with an overhead thermal image of Great-Aunt Savacool’s manse. It was surrounded by what looked like between thirty and forty individuals. They formed an arc, cutting off the house from the road. The river behind blocked any escape out the back.

Bolan’s eyes narrowed. “Show me my car.”

The satellite zoomed on the hood of the Town Car. Cocosino’s crocodile graffito glowed like a neon sign. Kaino glowered beneath his goggles. “Jesus, when Cocosino tagged your car, Coop, he really tagged your car.”

Savacool risked a peek over the kitchen island and out the window. She didn’t have any NVGs, but it was a clear night. The ancient and poorly dispersed streetlights threw small islands of yellow light. The huge, spreading live oaks threw pools of blackness. She popped down grimacing in the dark of the kitchen. “It’s like Night of the Living Dead out there.”

Bolan rose and took a quick look. In his NVGs the world was lit in green and gray. Savacool wasn’t far off the mark. Dozens of figures were literally shambling toward the house. However, the walking dead didn’t usually carry bats, knives and other improvised hand weapons. They also didn’t usually have a universal uniform of a black hoodie.

Even for Bolan the smell was starting to become overpowering.

Savacool clicked off the safety on her carbine.

Bolan shook his head. “No.”