CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

 

 

 

Payne’s jet landed in Helsinki in the early afternoon, then it taxied to a private hangar. Jarkko had made all of the arrangements in advance and directed the pilot where to go.

Both Payne and Jones sensed this wasn’t the first time that Jarkko had used these facilities, a fact that Jarkko confirmed when he let it slip that it normally housed his plane.

Jones blinked a few times. “You have a plane?”

Jarkko nodded. “Of course Jarkko have plane. How else would Jarkko fly to yacht?”

“By buying a ticket.”

Jarkko grimaced at the thought of all the restrictions on commercial flights. “That is no good for Jarkko. Jarkko hates tiny bottles. Jarkko prefers big ones filled with vodka, so Jarkko buys plane instead. In long run, Jarkko saves money.”

Payne followed his logic. “The man has a point.”

Jones thought back to when they had first met Jarkko. At the time, they had assumed he was a humble fisherman, who would help them get into Russia for a few thousand dollars. Little did they know that Kaiser had entrusted their safety to one of his most important smugglers in Eastern Europe. “Dammit, Jon. Why did I waste so much time as a detective? I could have been making the big bucks with Jarkko all along.”

Jarkko shook his head. “Jarkko does not need partner. Jarkko needs assistant. Does David remember how Jarkko likes his coffee?”

Jones grinned, recalling the nasty concoction that Jarkko had nicknamed Kafka and had forced them to drink during their first introduction. “No water, just vodka.”

Jarkko laughed and put Jones in a friendly headlock. “David remembers! If David keeps this up, he won’t be homeless for long!”

As the pilot parked the plane and activated the automatic door, Payne smiled at the scene. He knew things would get more serious as their battle approached, but for now, they were just good friends horsing around for possibly the last time. “I hope that means what I think it means: you want to adopt DJ! You can’t believe how long I’ve waited for this day to come! And with me out of work, the timing is perfect!”

Jones reached out for Payne and pretended to wail. “No Mommy! Don’t let Uncle Jarkko take me! Bad touch! Bad touch!”

Jarkko laughed and rubbed the top of Jones’s head. “Jarkko has always wanted bambino. Jarkko will name him Työtön. That is Finnish word for ‘unemployed’.”

Payne was about to follow Jarkko’s joke with one of his own when an outsider entered the plane through the open hatch. Payne instinctively reached for his holstered gun and was ready to shoot the interloper if necessary, until he realized who the visitor was.

Dressed in his usual attire, Kaiser was wearing dark blue jeans, a faded T-shirt, and a brown leather jacket. In his late-fifties with a medium build and slicked-back gray hair, he wasn’t the type of man who would stand out in a crowd, except for two noticeable things: he wore a black patch over his left eye and walked with a severe limp.

The injuries had occurred in the woods near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, while helping Payne and Jones on one of their adventures. An enemy combatant had tried to kill Kaiser with a Remington 750, a heavy-duty rifle frequently used for large game like hogs and bears. Although the gunman had missed Kaiser’s head by a few inches, the bullet had struck the boulder that Kaiser had been hiding behind. The resulting shards had erupted into Kaiser’s face, tearing through the soft flesh of his cheek and causing significant damage to his left eye.

Forced to flee the gunman on foot, Kaiser had sprinted through the woods toward an underground bunker that they had been protecting. Under heavy fire, he had leapt through the open hole in order to escape his pursuer, but Kaiser had landed awkwardly, rupturing his patellar tendon and tearing every major ligament in his left knee with a sickening snap.

And yet, his “snap” had paled in comparison to the one that followed. When the gunman made it to the bunker, he had peered through the open hole and spotted an unconscious Kaiser. He had raised his rifle to finish the job, but before he could, Payne had grabbed him from behind. Needing to kill the man in silence, Payne had twisted the man’s head with so much force that the vertebrae in his neck had popped like corn in a microwave. After that, Payne had tended to Kaiser’s multiple wounds until they were able to get him off the mountain.

“I see nothing has changed,” Kaiser announced with a smile. “Jarkko and DJ are still acting like assholes.”

Jarkko heard Kaiser’s voice and turned to greet his friend. Unfortunately for Jones, Jarkko forgot to release him from the headlock before he made the turn, and the resulting torque slammed Jones into one of the plane’s reclining chairs.

Jarkko quickly let go. “Sorry, Työtön. Daddy didn’t mean it.”

Jones rubbed his side. “Tell that to my broken ribs.”

Kaiser chimed in. “Trust me, it could’ve been worse.”

Jones winced, oblivious. “Oh, yeah. How do you figure?”

Kaiser held up his cane and pointed to his eye patch.

Jarkko laughed. “Kaiser is right! Next time Jarkko aim for face!”

The four of them quickly exchanged pleasantries inside the plane, briefly catching up on old times before focusing on the matter at hand. Kaiser filled them in on the advanced reconnaissance that his team had done and let them know what equipment he had brought to help them achieve their goals, including a few special items from Payne Industries. He also let them know that every surveillance camera in the facility had been disconnected to prevent Volkov’s hackers from getting a sneak peak at their strategy.

Payne and Jones were quite appreciative of his groundwork, but they also realized that he had limited experience in the field. For this to work as smoothly as possible, they knew they were going to have to take the lead.

They just hoped that Kaiser agreed.

Payne spoke up. “I know that we just rolled into town, and you’ve been here scouting things for a while. But if it’s okay with you, we had a few ideas on how this should go down.”

Kaiser said nothing at first. He just stared at him with his one good eye.

Like an angry Cyclops, who was capable of violence at any time.

A few seconds passed before a smile appeared on Kaiser’s face. “Well, thank God for that! I was a fucking supply sergeant, not a decorated war hero. My job was to get equipment to the right place, then I sat back and watched you bullet catchers do the dirty work. You saw what happened the last time I was in the muck. You killed the bad guys, and I left on a stretcher.”

Payne laughed, relieved. “I wasn’t sure you remembered that. You were unconscious and leaking oil at the time.”

“Trust me,” Kaiser assured him. “I remember my debts, and I owe you big time for saving my life. That’s why I was so excited to get your call. It’s finally my chance to save yours.”

Jones smiled. “And eliminate one of your biggest competitors.”

Kaiser grinned. “That’s just an added bonus.”