Don Pendleton: Zero Option

Bolan rested a gentle hand on Grimaldi’s shoulder. “Let me worry about that. One way or the other, I’ll find out.”

Grimaldi nodded, satisfied. He knew Mack Bolan well enough to accept those few words as a promise.

“You rest easy.”

Bolan turned to leave. At the door he paused as he heard Grimaldi’s whispered thanks. When he turned to look back, the Stony Man pilot had drifted into a tranquilized sleep.

Back in the corridor Bolan thanked the doctor and made his way outside. He stood in the warm afternoon sun, considering his next move. There was, he realized, only a single option open to him. Bolan walked to the street and picked up a cab. He told the driver his destination, then settled back and watched the tourists going about their business, a wry smile tugging at his lips. Taking time out to be a tourist had been the reason Bolan had come to Nassau. He had finally accepted Grimaldi’s invitation to join him and Jess on the island for a few days, and had been looking forward to the brief R&R. A break from the battlegrounds that dominated his life. Bolan might have dedicated himself to a life of struggle against the forces of evil, but he wasn’t so immersed that he failed to realize the need for a moment of respite. Endless missions took their toll. Time out had been called—but even that looked as if it was about to be canceled.

THE CAB DROPPED Bolan at the entrance to the charter airstrip next to Nassau International Airport. He paid the driver and crossed to the security hut. The soldier had spoken to the uniformed man earlier when he had arrived. Earl was in his late fifties, quiet spoken.

“How’s Jack?” he asked.

“He’ll pull through,” Bolan said. “That beating he took is going to keep him in hospital for a while.”

“Damned shame. I like Jack. Him and Miss Jess made a nice couple. I know he couldn’t get over here to see her as often as he wanted, but when he did they always had a good time. Miss Jess got real excited every time he called to say he was coming in.”

The Stony Man flier had that effect on people. His outgoing personality reached out to embrace anyone he met. Bolan didn’t fail to notice the way the security man talked about him. Jack—not Mr. Grimaldi.

“After it happened were the police told?”

Earl nodded. “They sent an officer after I called. He took my statement and had a look around. Thing was, the place was pretty quiet when it happened. Hardly anyone around. The cop who came, well, he didn’t put much effort into things. Problem is, the police are down on manpower. They didn’t even send down an experienced officer. He looked like he just got out of training school. He was a kid. Hardly knew the right questions to ask. Listen, Mr. Belasko, I know you’re a friend of Jack and all. I just wonder what’s going to happen to Miss Jess. Where is she? What did those people want with her?”

“I don’t know. But I want to find out. Earl, you mind if I go in and take a look around?”

“You take all the time you need. I got a phone in my booth. Anybody shows up I’ll make a call to Miss Jess’s office.”

Bolan made his way along the strip, crossing the concrete apron that took him by other charter companies until he was able to spot Jess Buchanan’s place.

He walked through the open hangar, making his way to Jess’s office. He hadn’t expected to find anything visible to offer any information. Bolan went directly to the telephone and checked the number. He took out his cell phone and speed-dialed Stony Man. The call was bounced off the satellite link and rerouted through a series of cutouts to the Farm. Bolan’s call was answered by Barbara Price herself. Bolan identified himself and told her what he wanted.

“I’ll get Aaron on it. How’s Jack?”

“Not at his best right now. He’s going to need some time to recover.”

“Listen, Mack, we’ll make sure he’s looked after. What do you need?”

“For now that check on all recent incoming calls to Jess Buchanan’s number. The only connection with her disappearance seems to be this out-of-the-blue call from her uncle. Doug Buchanan didn’t want Jess to say anything about his contacting her. Sounds like he was expecting problems.”

“You think maybe he’s in trouble with the Air Force?”

“Right now I don’t have any idea. Look into his background. See what you can find. If he was in trouble with his own people, I can’t see them handling it the way it happened. You going to have any problems getting information from the Air Force?”

“Let me worry about that. I’ll call the minute we have anything.” Price paused. “You take care.”

“You worrying about me?”

“Nothing in the manual that says I can’t.”

“Then I’ll be fine.”

He broke the connection and put the cell phone away.

Bolan spent a few more minutes going over the office. As before, he didn’t expect to find anything, but it never did any harm to check things out thoroughly.

When he stepped outside again, he took a slow look around the immediate area. He almost missed the security camera set on a corner of one of the adjacent buildings. Bolan took a walk across the concrete apron until he was standing under the camera. Turning to look back, he saw that as it panned from left to right and back again it would scan the frontage of Jess Buchanan’s building.

Bolan made his way back to the security hut.

“Earl, when the cop was here, did he ask about the security camera that overlooks Jess’s building?”

Earl thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“Matter of fact he didn’t. Like I told you before, he was nothing but a damned rookie. To be honest, Mr. Belasko, I didn’t give it much thought myself. This whole thing got me so I’m forgetting things myself. I’m getting too old for this kind of work. They should have a younger man here, but they won’t pay the money.”

Earl beckoned for Bolan to step inside. At the far end of the hut was a monitoring setup that contained a master and four smaller TV screens. They showed black-and-white images from the cameras located along the charter strip. To one side were four VCR machines in a stacked bank, each machine numbered to correspond with one of the cameras. Bolan studied the setup until he located the camera he had seen near Jess Buchanan’s building. He watched the camera pan slowly back and forth. At one point it covered the frontage of the Buchanan outfit.

“Earl, tell me you still have the tape that was in the machine when Jack and Jess were attacked.”

The security man cleared his throat.

“Should have if the night man hasn’t reused it,” he said lamely. “I’m going to feel bad if it’s been wiped.”

He moved to a shelving unit fastened to the wall and began to sort through the cassettes stacked there. Bolan could hear him muttering to himself, his guilt over his lack of foresight obviously bothering him. In his nervous state he fumbled with the tapes, knocking a couple onto the floor.

“Earl, take it easy,” Bolan said.

Earl took a deep breath, then started to look again. He gave a grunt of excitement when he finally found what he was looking for. He turned back to Bolan, holding up a cassette.

“I got it.”

He crossed to the monitoring desk and sat. There was a fifth VCR unit under the large monitor. Earl slid the tape in and punched the play button. When the image came on-screen there were date and time indicators in the bottom right of the screen.

“Give me a minute,” Earl said, pushing the fast-forward key. The on-screen image sped by, Earl watching closely. He stopped the tape and pointed a finger at the monitor. “There’s Jack arriving.”

Bolan watched as Grimaldi’s lean figure walked across to the entrance of the Buchanan hangar. He pushed open the door and went inside.