Free Endangered Species: PART 1 by John Wayne Falbey Page A

version of Oliver! Her family in Sheffield had
been notified by local authorities and arrangements made to ship
her personal possessions.
    Caitlin made tea for her father, brother,
and herself. Whelan, Irish-born, but American-raised, opted for
black coffee. They settled around the table in the now-spotless
kitchen. The faint odor of bleach barely intruded on the
nostrils.
    “ As it’s been quite a busy
morning already, we should dispense with the small talk,” Tom said
in Gaelic. It was a language the four of them spoke, but any
outsiders who might be eavesdropping on the conversation wouldn’t
be able to follow it. He looked at Whelan. “Have you an idea why
those men were after you, and who might have sent them?”
    Whelan swallowed some of his coffee. “They
were Ukrainians. I was involved in some wet work in the States last
year. I believe this was related to it.”
    Tom nodded. “I remember. Somethin’ to do
with the American political scene; a takeover attempt by radical
leftists working in concert with those bastard Russians. An attempt
was made on the life of the president, but the shot took out the
attorney general instead. The reports also indicated that the death
of Chaim Laski, the billionaire, was a part o’ that.”
    He paused and glanced at Caitlin then back
to Whelan. “We knew from things you had shared with us previously
that you might have had a hand in that.”
    “ Not the assassination
attempt. That was the president’s own backers,” Whelan
said.
    “ How do the Ukrainians fit
into all of this?”
    “ Laski maintained a private
force for protection and whatever dirty work he deemed necessary
for the achievement of his one-world dreams. The force was made up
of Ukrainian hoodlums. My colleagues and I killed a few dozen of
them.”
    “ So these men were a part
of Laski’s organization?”
    “ No. Laski was just an
overpaid bagman for a much larger, more complex shadow
organization.”
    “ The Russians?”
    “ No. I’ve been told it’s a
domestic organization with international connections. Its power
structure uses the Russians and anyone else in an effort to
fundamentally change the United States political and economic
systems.”
    “ So, are you sayin’ they
sent the Ukrainians?”
    Whelan slowly shook his head. “I doubt they
give a damn about me.”
    “ Who then?”
    “ Laski had a very dangerous
man running his security force. He survived.”
    “ Another
Ukrainian?”
    “ No. He was raised in the
Ukraine, but he was born Irish.”
    The other three exchanged quick glances.
    “ The hell you say! An
Irishman?” Paddy said.
    Tom said, “And you think he may have sent
the killers after you for revenge?”
    “ I don’t think he did. I know he
did. The last one of the intruders to die admitted it.” Whelan
paused and looked at Caitlin. “It’s not just a matter of vengeance.
It’s more personal than that.”
    “ I don’t understand,”
Caitlin said. “Does this mean there will be more attempts like the
one last night?”
    Whelan nodded. “There will be unless I can
find him and kill him first.”
    “ Who is this bastard?”
Paddy said.
    “ His name is Maksym. But
that’s not his birth name.” He paused and looked at each of the
other three one at a time, with Caitlin last. “Remember I told you
a long time ago that I had an older brother?”
    “ Yes. He died when you were
still a toddler.”
    “ That’s what we always
thought. He disappeared when he was about six. I was two years old
at the time. The authorities and family members searched for
months, but eventually my parents accepted that he had been
kidnapped. Probably by a sexual deviate and likely murdered. But
there had been a tribe of gypsies—Welsh Kale—in the area at the
time he disappeared. So it seems he was abducted. Probably sold
somewhere on the Continent. Most likely the Ukraine.”
    “ It’s why your family
emigrated to the States, wasn’t it?” Caitlin said.
    “ Yes, a fresh start in