Reign of Evil

CHAPTER 4

Ian clocked Walker the moment he left the plane. He had an unmistakable military gait. He was a man on a mission and for the most part kept his gaze focused on each step in the process. Deplane. Get baggage. Head through customs. Find rental car counter. Get car. Inspect car. Drive car.

Ian understood. He’d had to act that way enough times in the past, especially with the recent loss of four Section 9 contractors. They were down to three members and needed their numbers increased badly. But with all the budget cuts and the new culture of austerity circulating England like a fiscal plague the likelihood that their hidden line on the defense budget would be filled was slim. But, until then, he’d have to make do. Losing men who were committed to the defense of a nation in battle was one thing. Losing a wife or fiancée was completely different. He couldn’t imagine the emptiness he’d feel, which was why when Holmes had called him Ian had dropped everything to see what he could do to assist.

Ian pulled two car lengths behind Walker as he maneuvered his rental onto the M3 toward Southampton. Unless he’d been here before, he must be using a GPS, because he was going in the right direction.

What had Holmes said? “Do what you can to help him, Ian. He’s impetuous and in his current state, there’s no telling what he’ll do.” Not only had Ian been asked to babysit a U.S. Navy SEAL but also to keep the man from doing something irrational. Ian owed Holmes for pulling his ass out of a tight spot in Somalia. Perhaps this would make them square. Regardless, he rode a wave of compassion as well as a little guilt for the poor man’s fiancée dying at what should have been a safe event.

He envied Holmes and his SEAL Team 666. They had resources and military backing. When they identified targets, they went after them. For the most part, there weren’t too many organizations who opposed them and their country. The problem with being a much older nation like Britain was that those who opposed her were frequent and many. Opus Dei, the Nine Unknown Men (three of whom they knew), the Priory of Sion, the Followers, Dee’s Men, the Golden Dawn, Ordo Templi Orientis, the Rosicrucians, the Hellfire Club, the Fenians, and any number of druidic orders were constantly stirring Her Majesty’s pot. The men of Section 9 had been a sad lot. That they’d had success was more a matter of the occult groups getting in one another’s way, rather than anything Section 9 had done.

Founded in 1569 by Sir Francis Walsingham, Section 9 had defended Britain for centuries under many different names. Their current nom de guerre had come from the organization’s name in World War II. MI9, or Section 9, as it was called, had reported directly to the War Office and was overtly responsible for aiding resistance fighters. While there were those in Section 9 who did this, the majority of personnel and resources were allocated to stopping Hitler’s Thule Society, who had been intent on helping the Reich reach her pinnacle through magic and artifice.

No. SEAL Team 666 had it easy.

Walker entered a roundabout. He missed his turn onto A303 and had to go around again. Ian had no choice but to follow him. If Walker was actively detecting surveillance, then he was as good as made.

They continued for another ten minutes then pulled into the parking lot north of Stonehenge.

Walker got out of his car. As he passed Ian sitting in his own car, Walker turned and gave him a steady look. Ian had no doubt that the double roundabout had been a provocative move and part of the SEAL’s surveillance detection. Not that Ian had been trying to hide. Walker approached the policeman at the barricade. Although the crime scene had been released, until the blood was cleared the place was closed for tourism.

Ian watched as Walker tried to talk his way past the guard but got stopped. When Walker began to yell and gesticulate, Ian decided it was time for him to get involved. It would be neither right nor proper for a SEAL to kill one of their bobbies.

Ian made his way up the path to where Walker was about to attack the policeman.

“Walker,” he called.

The response was immediate. Walker ceased his engagement with the bobby and strode purposefully toward Ian. Fire blazed in the man’s eyes. It would do no good to talk to him now. Instead, Ian sidestepped him, saying, “Wait here a moment.”