The Devil's Litter: A Sleeping Dogs Thriller by John Falbey

Author:John Falbey [Falbey, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780998611761
Google: va_XzQEACAAJ
Publisher: John Wayne Falbey
Published: 2020-09-01T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 15

A TEST OF SKILLS

At the one-year mark in their training, Levell and McCoy called Whelan and another member of the Sleeping Dogs paramilitary unit to meet with them in a small cabin about one mile from the Camp. The other man was Egon Krajcovic nicknamed Ghostbuster after Egon Spengler, a fictional character from the Ghostbusters movie franchise. Krajcovic's parents had immigrated to America from Slovakia before he was born. He and Whelan were almost clones of each other—same height, build, musculature, and glacial blue eyes. The only real differences were hair color—Whelan's was light brown while Krajcovic's was almost white blond—and Whelan was raised as an only child, while Krajcovic was the youngest of six.

Whelan noticed the area in front of the cabin was cleared, leaving enough space for a helicopter to land and takeoff; easy ingress and egress for visitors to the Camp such as Levell and McCoy. There was a tiny building behind the cabin that he recognized as an outhouse or latrine. The cabin's interior was a single room furnished in classic government functional style with two small metal desks and matching uncomfortable-looking chairs. A couple of two-seater sofas and four plain-looking thinly upholstered chairs sat around a long, low wooden coffee table. As the two young men entered, they saw Levell and McCoy occupying two of the chairs. What appeared to be maps, charts, and aerials were scattered on the coffee table in front of them.

Levell waved them over. "Have a seat, men."

As Whelan and Krajcovic sat, they looked around as if expecting others to be present.

McCoy, in a half-growl, said, "The two of you are the only ones privy to this meeting."

"You should take that as a compliment," Levell said with his familiar rasp.

"Because?" Whelan said warily.

"It's time for your final training operation," McCoy said. "From the original nineteen prospects, we have winnowed the group down to fifteen. The four who left the program couldn't handle it. We have chosen you two as team leaders of the two squads involved in this operation."

Whelan and Krajcovic glanced at each other. "Then shouldn't the others be here too?" Krajcovic said.

"No, we'll brief you, then you'll brief them," Levell said.

Whelan glanced at the pile of maps, charts, and aerials on the table.

"Consider this training operation to be the final exam for you and your men," Levell said.

Whelan said, "We were led to believe the resistance to interrogation module that we just finished was the final step in the program."

"That was the final drill," Levell said. "This will be your final test. It's strictly pass or fail. It will combine all the elements of your training. Only this time the dangers involved are real. The possibility of failure to qualify exists, as does the prospect of serious injury even loss of life. In other words, you're being sent into a hot zone."

Whelan and Krajcovic digested Levell's words, then Krajcovic said, "Isn't that overkill for what amounts to a final exam? I mean, serious injury? Loss of life?"

Levell shook his head.

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