The Marine Bk. 02 Ch. 14

"I don't think we will. Thank you for your hospitality, sir."

"You are welcome, Captain Smith. Please handle this matter promptly."

"I intend to take care of business tomorrow."

"Good." Stepping out of the car, grabbing my case, he leaned across to meet my eyes. "Good luck, Captain Smith. Goodbye."

"Farewell, sir."

I watched the car disappear before turning towards the glass doors of the hotel. The receptionist was surprised I was staying only the one night, explaining I was only in town for business and flying out the next day. After dumping my bag in my room, I headed out into the city, walking towards a popular square to grab a drink and a bite to eat. Taking a seat at a café, I was joined by someone within a matter of ten minutes.

"He's paranoid as hell," I was informed, "But he hasn't noticed they're gone yet. He usually heads out of an evening, though. There's a pub not far from where he lives. He'll quickly be far too drunk to even recognise you if you want to do a little recon tonight."

"Is everything prepared for the route out?"

"Police agencies have been sent the number plate of the car you will be driving, informed you are not to be stopped. We are effectively rolling out the red carpet to ensure you leave. If you take him early enough, you'll make it to the Latvian border within the day."

"Has he really been that much of a pain in the arse?"

My companion laughed. "What's that English saying? The juice wasn't worth the squeeze? By the time he made it here, much of the information he had was out of date. But we couldn't fault his abilities with a computer, and I'm sure you're aware of our hacking prowess."

"More than aware but I'm not here for that. Once this situation is resolved, my days are done."

"Retiring?"

"From front-line assignments, at least. I've taken a lot of chances in this job. My luck was going to run out sooner or later."

I glanced at my companion to see him nodding. "There are not many old agents. Most of us stay in the game until we die, one way or the other." He turned to meet my eyes. "I'm assuming he told you not to return."

"He did."

"We normally don't co-operate in such a manner. There was something unseemly about what he organised though. This is our way of cleaning the slate with you personally. Hearing you are retiring will actually be a relief. You were a thorn in our side for quite a while. We just didn't know exactly who you were."

"Thanks for not dragging me off and shooting me."

Chuckling and shaking his head, he assured me that there was an element of respect. "Your role in getting Anna Petrova out of the country didn't anger us as much as your people probably though. And we can't shoot you as her leaving was entirely legal. This isn't the Soviet Union. Russians can come and go freely. And to be honest, most of the information she had, we assumed your people already knew." Finishing his coffee, he cleared his throat, offering his hand. "It was nice to finally meet you, Captain Smith."

Taking his hand, we squeezed lightly. It was a respectful handshake, a friendly meeting of people on opposite sides of the divide. "A pleasure to finally meet you too, Kapitan Semenov. Best wishes to you and your family."

"And to you and yours."

Watching him get up and walk away, I couldn't help smiling. We'd been each other's contacts in opposing spheres of influence for a number of years, passing on non-sensitive information with an air of mutual co-operation when it came to dealing with our shared enemies. Despite what people might think, most of us didn't see them as an enemy that needed to be destroyed. They had their own viewpoint of the world and worked to their own objectives. Granted, that opinion would probably change with any invasion of Ukraine. For the moment, though, peace remained.

Waiting until the evening, I enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant before donning a coat and hat, heading outside into the cool evening air of a Russian autumn. Riding the metro into the suburbs, I wasn't surprised my target wasn't being kept in luxury. He might have arrived hoping to be greeted as a messianic figure but I was aware of how Russians usually treated such people. Considering they were basically handing over state secrets of their own people, the Russians would always be suspicious of them in return.

The pub was the usual Russian type found in the suburbs of a large city. Walking inside, the place wasn't particularly busy, plenty of old men sitting around, nursing pints of beer or a bottle of vodka with a small glass. Ordering a beer, the target was sat in the corner of a bar, looking rather dishevelled. Wild hair. Unkempt beard. And from the looks of his eyes, half a dozen beers deep already.

I didn't have to watch him too long, figuring I'd hit him early in the morning and I'd be at the Latvian border by the early evening the next day. Finishing my beer, I returned to my hotel room, made sure my alarm would wake me early, and after a shower, read a couple of reports that had been sent to me before going to sleep.

Checking out early the next morning, I rode the metro to the area of Moscow where the car was waiting for me. Another Mercedes, one of the newest models that came with a boot large enough to hold a body. In the boot waiting for me was something that would help me knock out the target for the duration.

Parking up outside the apartment building, somewhat modern compared to many of those around it, getting inside was quite easy. Walking up the stairs, making sure my footsteps were near silent, I made it to his door and managed to unlock that rather easily. Heading inside, even in the darkness, I could see the place was a pigsty.

I could hear the snoring immediately, finding the lone bedroom, thankful he was still wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Flicking on the lamp by the bed, he didn't wake up. So I slapped him hard. That woke him up, his eyes struggling to focus before he met my eyes.

"Oh fuck..."

Hitting him hard in the face, it didn't quite knock him out but gave me time to put the needle into his neck. That put him out and I knew he'd be asleep for a few hours. If needed, I had other doses ready to ensure he wouldn't cause too much of a fuss. Thankfully, though a slob, he hadn't put on too much weight so I could easily drag him downstairs, thankful that it was still dark outside though the first lights of morning were starting to appear.

Once I had him in the boot, I covered him in a blanket, shut the boot, got behind the wheel, and headed west. Once I was on the main road leading out of Moscow and on the way to Latvia, I allowed myself a couple of deep calming breaths, feeling a little more confident with each passing kilometre. I knew passing through the border wouldn't be a problem. I had people on the other side of it waiting for me.

It was early evening by the time I pulled up at the border post, only having to stop once to ensure my companion remained dead to the world in the boot. The border guard barely glanced at my passport, meeting my eyes for a moment before handing it back.

"We've been informed," he said in broken English, "Do not return."

"I won't. Spasibo."

Pulling up on the Latvian side, it was the same thing. They took one look at my passport, glanced at other paperwork on their desk, handing the passport back immediately. "We have a message. Your contacts are waiting in Daugavpils. They have asked you call them while you are driving there."

"I'll do so once I'm through."

He smiled. "Welcome to Latvia. Enjoy your brief stay, Captain."

Making the call a few minutes later, I was given an address to drive to, keying that into the cars sat-nav. I then made another call to keep my word about sending the other man back to Russia. One good turn deserves another and all that.

Another couple of hours behind the wheel wasn't a problem, and I'd been in Latvia more than once, during the times I was sent to the Baltics to assess the situation on the ground. I knew my way around well enough. It was well after midnight by the time I arrived.

The meeting point was a car park on the edge of the city, dark and deserted by the time I arrived. There was a van with four people waiting around it, switching off my headlights as I pulled up beside it. Stepping out of the car, we all shook hands.

"How'd it go?" one of them asked.

Opening the boot, I pulled back the blanket and showed them the body. Still fast asleep. It took another needle to wake him up, dragging him out and dumping him on the ground. Giving him a couple of minutes for his eyes to focus, when he realised who he was staring up at, I swear he almost started to piss himself.

Crouching in front of him, I could see his body starting to shake. The years of training meant nothing now. He only had his fear as his life wasn't going to be pleasant from now on. "My friends here will have numerous questions for you," I explained, "Now I'm not a fan of rendition. I think a scared shitless suspect is just going to tell an interrogator whatever they want to hear. But I know the people who will be asking you questions are experienced enough to know when you're lying. And we already know what you know. I just wanted to see you face to face this one time to see who the man who tried to kill me and my family. I'm actually a little disappointed that it's someone like you." Taking a breath, I continued. "I'm sure you're sitting there hoping I'm going to ask why and numerous other questions. I already know why. We've figured it all out. The thing you don't realise is that you had a good thing going in Russia. They tolerated some of your excesses because they believed it was worth the price. The one thing you forgot is that while they see me as an opponent, even an enemy, in this field, there is still respect for those across the divide. And there are rules. Most of them are unwritten but they are understood. And you embarrassed them. To them, that is just unforgivable. That is why you are here now."

"What happens now?" he asked, fear dripping from his tone.

"Well, for me, I go home to my family and get on with my life. As for you, you're going to be asked a lot of questions over the next few days and weeks. Then you will face court to be charged with treason amongst various other crimes. I've requested you not be given the death penalty. It gives me comfort to know that, once you're found guilty, you'll be given a lovely little cell to spend the rest of your days in."

Standing up, I made a simple gesture. A hood was placed over his head. His hands were zip-tied behind his back. With a final grunt and cry, he was dragged back to the van, picked up and thrown inside, two men getting into the back with him, the other two getting in the front. Starting up the van, it pulled way without another word being shared.

Making what I hoped was a final call, I was told to head straight Riga Airport as a plane was waiting for me to take me home.

Flying by private plane meant I could go directly back to Montpellier. I landed later that same afternoon, half-asleep. Walking into the terminal, my girls were waiting for me. Before I realised, one woman in particular screamed my name and ran towards me, dropping my bag in time to take her in my arms. Holding her tight little body against mine, not surprised she was sobbing as I hadn't seen her in a few months, the rest of my girls gathered around me.

"Thought this might be a nice surprise," Julia told me as I placed Adriana down though kept hugging her, "And she was desperate to see you."

Adriana met my eyes, smiling shyly, before I finally kissed her. She whimpered quickly as her body pressed into mine, feeling her smiling again as she'd never failed to excite me. "So what's the plan?" I had to asked, "And I mean for today, tomorrow and maybe the rest of our lives?"

"I have three months of studies left," she replied, "Then I'm coming here to live with you."

"So you've met my family. Have you been told... about other things?"

"Yes," she replied quietly, leaning up to my ear, "I want to see you fuck your sisters."

"Really? A good little Catholic girl like you?"

She giggled, playfully slapping my shoulder. "I think you should be more than aware that I'm hardly a good Catholic, with all the pre-marital sex, use of birth control and eating a lot of pussy while we enjoyed some hot group sex." She paused and looked around. "And the anal. We eventually enjoyed a lot of anal sex. I had no idea having a big cock like his being slid inside my little arse could feel so good."

"Nathan!" Amy exclaimed, "Are you telling me you stuck your big cock up the arse of this beautiful young woman?"

"She's the one that asked about it. I wasn't going to say no. Have you seen her arse?"

Hannah stepped closer and kissed my cheek. "Well, if anal is on the menu for when we get home..." Moving her lips up to my ear, she added, "And Julia waxed lyrical about how hard she loved it when you fucked her arse too."

Clearing my throat, the six women in my life stood in front of me, looping arms around each other's waist, all of them smiling at me. "You think this will actually work?" I had to ask.

"You had three of us before," Amy replied, "Now you have six of us. We're all a little older and a little wiser, Nate. We'll figure this out going forward. What matters is that you're home with your family and we now have the rest of our lives together. Is that what you want too?"

"It's exactly what I wanted, Amy."

She let the others go and kissed me, hearing the other five sigh happily as it was one hell of an intense kiss, full of all the love and passion a brother and sister could feel for each other. When she broke apart, placing her hands on my chest, she met my eyes and smiled. "Now, little brother, what you're going to do is take us home, you're going to fuck your very horny older sister, then we're all going to lie on the bed as you give this gorgeous young woman beside us all your attention as, to be honest, she's absolutely gagging for it."

"And after that," Julia added, the other five joining our hug, "We're going to have many discussions about the past, the present and the future. The most important question will be... When are you ready to be a father?"

"I'm ready right now."

Amy took my hand and practically dragged me to the exit. "Then we best get started properly on it then."

It would be the first day of the rest of my life.

*****

The next and last chapter will be in Incest/Taboo.