behind the ear. Believe me when I say I don’t give a damn one way or another. It’s your choice. Your buddies took the hard way. That can be arranged for you.”
“What about protection? I’ve cooperated. You can get me protection.”
Bolan took out his cell phone.
“I can make the call from right here if you give me what I need.”
“I did hear van Ryden has a database on his computer. It’s supposed to have details on everyone who works for Venturer. Means they can keep tabs on us all. Hold on to all our unsavory little secrets. Keeps it at his home outside the city. Place is watched over by armed security. Only other thing I can tell you about is the farm they use to house people while trade is done. I can give you a location for both places.”
Bolan made his call minutes later. When Brognola came on Bolan briefed him on the status of the mission.
“If the task force wasn’t wrapped up in protocols and red tape, maybe they could have gotten further,” Brognola grumbled. “So tell me again about these people you found.”
“Women and children. One I spoke to said she was snatched in Pristina so I’m guessing this group came from that area. Off-loaded from a container ship. I arrived in time to prevent them being moved off the dock and sent to God knows where. Hal, do you still have people on the ground hereabouts?”
“Part of the task force is cooling their heels in Amsterdam. You need their help?”
“The women and kids need looking after. Somewhere they’ll be secure until a decision can be made about them. I also have a survivor from the crew who were going to ship them out. He’s wounded. Needs medical assistance and protection. Your task force might be able to get more info out of him.”
“I expect you’ve already got what you need?”
“We exchanged mutual considerations.”
“I’m sure. Striker, let me talk to our people out there. I’ll come back to you ASAP.”
Bolan spent time collecting weapons from the dead crewmen. He placed his small arsenal just inside the open container. He kept one of the MP-5s and extra magazines for his own use. He checked out the cab of the big tractor-trailer unit and located a first-aid box under the passenger seat. Using the contents he bound up the Brit’s legs, applying pressure pads to slow any further blood loss.
“First you shoot me, now you bandage me up. What next? A mug of hot sweet tea?”
“What do you think?”
“Sounds like I’m a dead man either way.”
“Redemption can go a long way to keeping you alive.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
“You gave me what I needed. So I’ll keep my word. You’ll be taken into protective custody.”
“Don’t I have a say about all this?”
The hardness that etched itself across the big American’s face told the man he had said the wrong thing. The blue eyes were suddenly like chips of ice. He could almost feel the chill emanating from them.
“I’d be justified to shoot you right now after what I’ve seen tonight. You people are crawling in the gutter. You sleep well at night? Seeing those young kids and knowing the life you’re sending them to? Have you looked at pictures showing how those perverts treat them?”
“Look, I just work on this part of the business. Collection and distribution. Never seen where they go.”
“That clear your conscience?”
“Mate, I’ve been struggling for years to do that. Probably too late for me. I’m just trying to earn a living. Bloody hell, aren’t we all?”
Bolan didn’t answer. He had all too often heard the excuses, the self-justification, the criminal element came up with to whitewash their activities. He didn’t believe a word of it. He dismissed it as he always did, because if he digested it and analyzed the pathetic reasons he might have turned his gun on them out of sheer disgust.
Reasoning platitudes were the get-out clauses from the mouths of criminals through the decades. From mass murderers to raving dictators who slaughtered thousands, there was always an excuse. A smiling word that was supposed to wash away the bloodlust and the wanton elimination of entire cultures. The perpetrators never considered they had done anything wrong. It was always the rest of the world that was out of step. That did not understand why a particular horror had been committed. Some odd quirk lodged deep in the homicidal, deranged minds of the despots allowed them to excuse away what they had done. If they explained it they self-purged their conscience. They became heroes instead of maniacal villains. And in many instances they often convinced others to see the justification.
In Mack Bolan’s eyes a bloody-handed butcher was just that. There was no redemption. No vainglorious explanation that wiped away the needless deaths of men, women and children. Evil was evil. It would never be reconciled as far as he was concerned. It was why the Executioner existed. Why he stood against the monsters.
Someone had to.
Because if he didn’t, who would?
5
Hugo Canfield was having lunch at his London club when the maître d’brought him the telephone. He plugged it into one of the sockets, then placed the instrument on the table for Canfield.
“The caller said it was quite urgent, Mr. Canfield.”
Canfield nodded. “Thank you, Enright.” He waited until the man had withdrawn before picking up the receiver.
“Canfield.”
“This is van Ryden. Is it convenient?”
Canfield allowed himself a slight smile. The club dining room was exceptionally quiet. Only two other diners were seated together on the far side of the opulent room. All Canfield could hear was the low murmur of their voices and the click of knives and forks as they ate.
“It will cease to be if my roast beef gets cold.”
“There has been a problem with the latest cargo due for delivery. I thought you should know.”
“Explain ‘problem,’ Ludwig.”
There was a slight pause before van Ryden spoke. “The problem occurred at the delivery location and the cargo was lost.”
“I’ll be going back to my office after lunch. Use the jet. I want you in London before the end of the day.”
“Of course, Hugo.”
Canfield ended the call. He beckoned for Enright to remove the phone, then returned to his meal. He found his appetite a little soured at the news. Hugo Canfield did not enjoy being told that one of his shipments had been lost. He knew the details of the particular cargo that had been expected in Rotterdam. He had invested time and money, as he always did, and if it had been lost, then that meant he was going to be down a considerable sum. Not only that but he was going to have to disappoint
