Robert Waggoner - John - The Senior Killer

Steve had never met Sujin’s sister and upon looking at the two of them they looked like twins. Sujin introduced Earie to Steve and Steve standing up gave her a little bow while Earie gave him a deep bow and in almost perfect English said “Nice to meet you.” Brad said hello in Korean and the girls headed for the kitchen. Brad explained to Steve that Sujin’s sister stays here when they are gone. Like her sister she can take care of herself very well. We always leave one dog with her and she is happy to stay here for as long as we are gone. She is well versed in computers and we tie into her while in the field. Works well.”

Steve never knew he had a sister in law and later he found out they were indeed twins, but not identical. She lived in a town where her American husband, a former military man turned policeman; and was the local chief of police. Steve got the impression Brad didn’t socialize with anyone from town and his brother in law thought it wise not to know what he did for a living. A situation that worked out well for the two of them; him being the chief of police kept the busy bodies in town from talking too much. Steve asked, “What is your thinking about this case?”

Brad understood his boss didn’t want a full blown detail rendition, but a brief overview would suffice. Looking his boss in the eye he said, “The disguise is too good for an amateur so we must look at a professional and most likely we will find our killer either working in the film industry or was working in the make-up department somewhere.”

Sujin brought the men their breakfast and all were quiet while they ate. Steve heard the girls talking in Korean and understood a word or two, but not enough to understand what they were talking about. The guys had just finished when the phone rang and Sujin answered it from a cordless on the counter. Without a word she handed it to Brad who listened and said, “Four o’clock in front of the state capitol in Sacramento. Tell Billy to not be late,” as he hung up the phone.

Steve looked at his watch and said he would call the pilot in the North bend and tell him to be ready for a ten am departure time. Brad nodded his agreement and left to go down to the basement. A few minutes later he returned with a garment bag, a lap top and the files had read the night before. Sujin had followed him down as her sister cleaned up the dishes. Rocky knew they were going somewhere and sat at attention waiting for his call to arms. Sujin returned dressed nicely in what looked like a pair of light wool gray slacks, a white blouse with a sweater over the top. A light coat contrary to the weather outside, but she knew it would be much warmer in Sacramento and down into Southern California. What Steve didn’t know was strapped to just above her ankle a small handgun couldn’t be seen from her loose fitting slacks. Steve did know that Brad was packing his favorite hand gun in the small of his back. Steve had witnessed Brad at the target range and god help the person who drew down on him. A cool guy under pressure would be hard to find, much less match him under any circumstances be it guns or hand to hand combat. Killing the bad guys came easy for him and the only thing he said one time after a covert raid deep in the jungle of South America was he was not sad he killed the leader, but rather he had the utmost respect for his leadership.

Sandy gave them a bark as they loaded into Steve’s car. Rocky sat in the front with Steve and Brad and Sujin in the back. Brad made Rocky wear his seat belt and he sat facing Steve on the drive to the airport. Steve thought about reaching out and petting him, but when took his hand off the wheel, Rocky raised his head up and looked him in the eye saying put your hands back on the wheel with his eyes.

At the airport gale force winds were blowing from the southwest. The pilot was a little nervous as was the co-pilot. Mike Henshaw, a key member of the team, was talking to the pilot telling him this was a normal fall day and not to worry as the wind would make the takeoff shorter. Brad caught the tail end of the conversation walking into the flight center. The pilot gave off a feeble forced laugh and turned back to the guy behind the counter for the latest weather report to Sacramento, as if he didn’t already know. Mike moved towards Brad and with his usual big grin turned towards Steve and shook his hand. Greetings out of the way the pilot said to board and they would take off in a few minutes.

Umbrellas were not much use in the winds so they hurried to the hanger where the Gulf Stream waited. It was the latest model loaned to them by NASA. The president and congress had approved an increase in NASA’s budget for space and this special branch of the government took advantage whenever they could.

Everyone buckled in, including Rocky, waiting for a bumpy ride to California. Brad realized if the pilot hadn’t been a little nervous, he wasn’t a good pilot. Brad was sitting with Mike and they were quietly discussing the case. Mike was a carefree kind of guy, but when it came to business he was totally focused. Mike lived down in Port Orford tucked in a valley east of town. Steve was aware of where he lived but had never been there. He wasn’t married, but had a longtime girlfriend with a couple of kids acting like old hippies back in the sixties living off the land. Today, however, he was dressed much like Brad and clean cut looking. Steve knew he was close to forty five, but looked years younger and moved like a cat. He was one of the lucky ones escaping on the helicopter from the bungled Afghanistan job. Brad used him for digging out information where cops or other guys like the FBI failed to elicit facts. Walking up to a total stranger he had them going in two seconds and after a few minutes they were spilling their guts to him about whatever he wanted to know. Brad called it uncanny and why or how it worked was Mike’s secret personality. Some might say he could sell ice to an Eskimo. Mike said it was his honest eyes and a long nose that made the difference.

Meanwhile Sujin sat with Rocky studying her laptop. She had brought up a long list of cosmetic suppliers. Start at the source and work from there to the buyers of quantity. She would provide Mike the list and he would follow the trail. Next she researched suppliers of disguise and prop companies. She knew many film companies had their own props and clothing, but in today’s world it was easy to order from an outlet except in special make up characters. Also she would have Mike check the film companies for inventory loss or items missing lately. She had no idea if they even kept track of what went out and what came back from a take on a particular days shooting.

She would take on the film companies employment records. As a female and a Korea with passable English she was more likely to enjoy cooperation than a male. It had worked in the past and would work in the future. All of the team members were United States Marshals. In most cases that ID opened the door where even the FBI had trouble without a warrant. Most cases as with the others demanded leg work. Brad always supplied her with a driver so she didn’t have to worry about finding an address. Most of the time the drivers dug for information, but after a few attempts, they gave up when they thought she was either stuck up or didn’t understand English. She liked it that way so her mind was always clear and focused no matter even if it was a mundane chore.

At the two hours flight time she had what she needed and would print it out when they landed. Now it was time to meditate and be ready for the meeting with the governor of California.

The buckle up lights came on and Brad and Mike put away their papers and prepared for landing. The sun was shining Brad noticed and looked forward to the warmth of the sun after the cooling of the coast. It had been about four months since their last case.