Free Halon-Seven by Xander Weaver

trail of bodies in his wake.
    Dargo did know a little about Professor Meade’s death. Apparently the old man had been drugged in an abduction attempt several years prior. The team trying to snatch the old man had botched the dosage of a sedative that resulted permanent damage to Meade’s heart. Had it not been for his bad heart, Meade would likely be locked in a hole somewhere with Bayer’s interrogators working on him right now. Dargo found such an approach barbaric. The results of interrogation by torture were unreliable and dangerous. This had been proven when Professor Meade had expired.
    The consummate professional, Dargo would get the information his employer required but he would limit the number of casualties at the same time. Unfortunately, the situation left him stuck running a series of surveillance operations across the globe, all the while watching his back since he didn’t have any faith in Bayer.
    Finally Bayer relented. “Arrange surveillance on the lawyer. Contact me as soon as you have new information. You are dismissed.”
    Feeling the phone in his breast pocket vibrating even on his way out of the room, Dargo didn’t bother to retrieve the device until he reached the hallway. His employer had a penchant for micromanagement, and it was a situation that would prove unacceptable.
    Dargo tapped the screen. “Da?”
    “The hardware has been secured,” the voice on the end explained, without elaboration.
    “There were no complications?”
    “No,” the voice confirmed. “Yuri said that your Miami contact was most accommodating. But, sir—do you have any idea how much Yuri paid for this hardware?”
    Dargo smiled and considered Bayer’s condescending tone and the smug set of his shifty eyes. “Not to worry,” he said with a genuine smile. “The client can afford it.”
    Tapping the phone’s touch screen, Dargo terminated the call and continued down the hall. The fact that he had just spent a vast sum of Bayer’s money on what would likely prove a fool’s errand somehow struck him as satisfying. It was unprofessional, but amusing just the same. Besides, whether it was on this job or the next, Dargo knew that he would make good use of his new high tech toys.

Chapter 5

    Berton Springs, Colorado
    Tuesday, 2:12 pm

    It was early afternoon when Cyrus pulled into Berton, Colorado. A small town nestled in the arms of the Colorado Mountains, it boasted a population of nearly three hundred, according to the sign he passed at the city limits. Berton offered absolutely no claim to fame as far as Cyrus could find. He had Googled his destination prior to leaving Chicago and was shocked to find virtually no information about the town or its history. The place was literally a tiny dot on a map, nothing more. There were no historic annotations, no population statistics, and no Street View images. So much for the information age. Berton appeared to be a virtual black hole in cyberspace.
    This held tremendous appeal to Cyrus.
    The full extent of the city spanned almost a dozen interconnected streets. He quickly understood what the town lacked in population it more than made up for in rustic appeal. A small but modern looking schoolhouse marked the border at one end of town. Main Street was lined with customary businesses such as a diner, a gas station, a general store, and the like. Dead center of town was home to an old but well maintained municipal building that must have been a hundred and fifty years old. According to the signs, the building functioned as the town government center as well as the post office and a very small police station.
    All of this was taken in as Cyrus drove slowly in one end of town and out the other. It didn’t take long. His phone’s GPS app guided him east, up a winding road that stretched further up the mountain. Before long the road resorted to a series of switchbacks as it traversed a steep vertical climb, all the while surrounded on all sides by a dense pine