Mika Anderson - Prologue

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Zero Hour minus 2 months

Every morning Mika woke up to the sounds trafic. Although his small rancher was not directly on Rockville Pike, the busy 4 lane artery that intersected Rockville along its axis, he could still hear the sounds of the morning rush hour.

He would stagger through the cramped room and then do his morning routine. Ice cold shower, followed by 15 minutes of fretting over his a sandwich and a sugarfree Red Bull to spruce up the still asleep senses while he commuted.

The morning was fresh, warmer then usual for october. He did not turn on the leader heating . In 10 more days he would be returning his 07 BMW 335i. He had leased the car 2 years ago, back in Baltimore, when he had a job that paid more then the current 750 a week plus commission. Although the car was nice, it had been a downright dead weight on his finances once he had lost his job. If it had not been for the fact that the rancher was paid for he would have drowned under the financial strain.

Unlike the consulting firm that he worked at, his finances had actually if not by mistake contained some emergency funds. He still remembered 3 months ago finding the place padlocked.

Sipping the last of his redbull he stepped out of his 3 minutes early to his appointment at Rockford Porsche Audi.

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"Good Morning Mr. Anderson" an older gentlemen said to him as he entered. He had not paid attention to him, but apperently the old man knew who he was.

"I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage." Mika said.

"Jones, Frederick. I am the Finance Manager here. Jack told me about you."

"Ah." Mika replied. Jack was his salesman.

"He said you would be in today." Frederick continued. " I hope you wont mind if I take care of you today."

Mika paused for a second but then nodded. " I don't see why not."

"Very good. Please have a seat." Frederick pointed towards a nice and shiney corner office.

Mike was certain that the whole thing had been pre arranged. Although this was both an Audi and Porsche dealership the tactics remained relatively the same. Whenever it failed with the salesmen, larger guns were brought in.

"So you are returning the 335" Jack said. "I hope it has served you well."

"It has, very much so." Mike said. "It's unfortunate we have part our ways."

"Can we do anything to help?" Frederick asked.

"I am afraid not." Mika said.

"I.." Frederick did not have the chance to finish.

"No, I am sorry." Mika's tone was now raised a bit too much.

"Very well, here's the lease paperwork." Frederick said in a very polite but beaten voice.


tbc....

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As he was exiting the building he saw Jack, the salesman that was initially dealing with Mika way back when he purchased the car from. "Hello Mika" Jack said and waved to him. Mika waved back and said nothing, he had to go.

He did not make it out of the dealership. At the door all of a sudden and with no warning he was showered with hot coffee across his last good suit.

Another customer, a stunningly looking woman who Mika would not have hesitated to ask out and procreate with, except she had just poured hey soy latte with extra whip cream down his only good suit. And that was far more important then where his pecker was inclined to go.

“Oh I am so Sorry,” the dark brunette stammered. “ I just…didn’t…”

Mika interrupted her. “It’s all right…”his accent thickened for a second there, as he was furious with himself and her.

“I am really sorry, “ she said here, “let me help you with that,” she fumbled through her purse finally finding a stack of napkins with the Burger King logo on it and continuing to further go about wiping his soaking shirt.

“Thanks” Mika said getting his annoyance under control. All of a sudden he was very uncomfortable and wanted to escape

“Look here’s my card.” She said. “ Send me a bill for the cleaners. That’s the least I can do.”
“will do” he said snatching the card and getting out of there as fast as possible.

[Linette Geraud]

Prologue

Mika Anderson and Linette Geraud

ON :


Mika was frustrated. He had decided to spend some of his last cash reserves on a used car and now he was on the side of the road. Granted back when he had bought this was supposed to be a car project however times had changed and with it his requirements of the car.

Apperently the Corrado had other plans for it. Produced back in the 1990s, it had a interesting design and decent perfomance however as it was then and now it was overpriced and unreliable, true to its history it was now buckling and hesitateing. As the sputtered he spotted a garage. The motion of the Volkwagen was feeble, he barely rolled in before it died with a mutter.

"I should have gotten a Saab" Mika cursed to himself. "Scheisse."


The sound of a spluttering dying car, got Linette's attention right away. It was right before lunch and the others had gone on break. Linette was outside in a flash. Wiping her hands off with a rag.

"Sounds like you've got some car trouble." she says looking at the type of vehicle and the man who owned the car, taking in the caliber of the man.

"Sounds and smells like it" Mika said as he got out of the car and a burning rubber smell was wrinkling his nose with the accidity of things gone horribly wrong. His accent was neutral, frankly it seemed there was no accent at all, which probably meant that he was somewhere from the midwest. However apperances were decieving here in DC, where the majority of the folks were transplants from somewhere else.

Linette had wrinkled her nose up as well catching the scent of things gone wrong, her eyes take in the type of clothing the man before her has on. The car looked like it needed repair badly. She popped the hood to take a look inside, once she was done looking the man over. The scent of the car was even stronger. Yes may need extensive work and she didn't know if the man could afford it.

He had 3 day beard, frameless glasses, average build, demeanor of a man in quiet frustration. Desperation is what Linette observed.

He didn't say much and seemingly was taking in the sight of the acrid smells of the corrado's underbelly.

Thinking over her observations on the man who brought in the car, the demeanor and his body language indicated a man really hit on hard times.. Linette closed the hood of the car.

"I can fix it for you, will take a bit of work but its do-able" she said. "My name's Linette Geraud, I'm co owner of this garage. What's your name?"

"I am Mika, Mika Anderson. " he said extending his right hand.

Linette wiped off her hands on the towel she had tucked in her back pocket, before taking his hand, her hand firm, warm and strong but she doesn't crush his hand, its just a good handshake.

"Mind if I ask what happened to your car?" she asked."It does look like it has been sitting around for a little bit. And the gas smells just a bit old." she added.

"It's an old project car that never got under the knife. " Mika said. " I was hoping it would do as my daily." He smiled at the last part. "Obviously it ll take some time. "

Linette nodded, "Well I've got my personal shop behind the garage, I tend to work on long term projects there." She looked at the car once more then at Mika,"what type of work do you do?" Linette asked.

Mika reddened. " I am currently...consulting." Well he did he thought to himself though the fact that he was unemployed officially was quiet unsettling to him.

"But dont worry." he said somewhat quickly. " I am good for the money."

Linette smiled slightly. "I'm not worried about the money, Mr. Anderson. My main concern is getting your car up and running in tip-top condition and making certain it lasts for a long while." she said." I tend to do a trade-off with my customers for those who, can't pay much. that's why I asked what you did for a living. what type of consultation do you do?"

"Analytics" Mika said . " I am gooding at hidden treasures. Databases have a way of talking to me."

"Analytics and good at finding hidden treasures. That's actually not bad. Now the analysis you are into, finances? Aquisitions?" she asked. She pulled out some keys and going through them found the one she wanted. It was to the tow truck to take Mika's car to the shop behind the garage.

"Yes, Finacial analytics" Mika said. " I was very good at finding other peoples dirty laundry, the sort of things that got Enron in trouble, you know special invespment vehicles that hide debt and the like."

He looked at her and then laughed."Sorry, that's probably rather boring stuff."

" I wouldn't call it boring sounds like detective work to me." Linette said smiling "Let me get the truck and we can get your car to where it can be worked on." she said. "Matter of fact, come on, you can sit next to me and we can talk while I get the car settled."

Mika smiled and wondered about the mechanic, this gal seemed like she was a very sharp woman. "Aren't they all" he chuckled thinking about the better half of the species.

The tow truck gotten, the car hooked up and Linette took Mika's car to her shop around back. "Now do you want me to keep calling you, Mr. Anderson or would you prefer I call you, Mika" Linette said with a teasing grin. "Mr. Anderson makes you seem older than what you are. And you can call me, Linette."

He smiled and looked around. besided the shop, there were several fruit trees and a fenced in garden. A small table is set up with an umbrella, plus a hammock near by. Quiet idylic considering Rockville was a bustling suburb of Washington DC.


"Mr. Anderson was my father." Mika said laughingly. " Either that or I was in the principals office, either way. I do prefer Mika, Linette."

Linette had gotten inside of her truck, and had towed the Corrado into the shop. Mika noticed that she was very good and handy with the tools.. This was hard work and for a woman of her size she was remarkably well cordinated with this rather heavy labor. Linette turned around after unhitching the car.

"Okay, Mika it is. Since its lunchtime, I"m starving, don't know about you but I'm gonna stop for lunch. Care to join me for lunch in my private dining room?" she said with a laugh. "Its a nice day, got a table out in back and we can talk about what you want to do with the car. Hope you like roast beef sandwiches with provolone cheese and all the fixings. Ice Tea work for you as well, or lemonade?"

He had relaxed around the mechanic, seemingly forgetting his troubles. He hesited for a second at her offer but then nodded. "You are making it difficult to say no to." he said with a smile.

Oh good, I'm glad you won't refuse my charming invitation." Linette laughed.

Once out of the truck, Linette linked her arm with Mika's and walked him over to the table then went up to her home above the garage. There she quickly got the food ready and brought things down to the table on a tray. Setting it down she looked at Mika.

"This is Okie style of hospitality. If you go hungry its your own darn fault." she said with a laugh. "And hope you're in the mood for berry pie, I like mine ala mode. You get a choice on that."

He seemed not to get the reference, "Okie eh, so you are from Oklahoma?" he inquired.
Linette smiled, "No its just an old custom, atleast from my family's point of view, we have friends in Oklahoma, and they don't like people going hungry when at the dinner table.And it has been stated in the old time movies. Its kinda like the statement 'mi casa es su casa' My house is your house. Just to help a person feel at ease and welcome."

"Well then lets not let the food get cold." Mika said. " Frankly I am starving."

OFF

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"Hell Mika" A dark woman said as she aproached him, sitting down on the same bench as before. The night was begining to set, with the sun now almost underneath the horizon.

"What do you want Stella" Mika asked. " I dont have all night."

"Taking the bus again?" Stella asked. " I could give you a lift home." She crossed her legs, showing of the tight nylons that only emphasized her good figure and seemingly never ending tighs.

Mika looked at her. " Drop it Stella. We are not an item anymore."

This time it was her turn to look sourly if only for a moment. The woman did not like rejection or for that matter reminders of past failures.

"Fine..." she said. " Standard rate."

Mika took the envelope she extended and looked over a few documents.

"I ll think about it." Mika said.

"I need an asnwer now." Stella said. "There is no time to waste."

"Delivery date?"

"3 days from now." She said with an angelic smile.

"You know thats next to impossible. " Mika said " I can only rush so much.

She sighed and handed him a much smaller but a lot thicker envelope.

"Spare me the excuses Mika" she said while looking at him. "You were never good at bluffing.

He shot her an angry gaze but said nothing as he inspected the smaller envelope.

"Fine" he said. " I ll see you tomorow,."

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The next morning Mika had gotten up early. He was now on a job and the timeline was difficult if not downright impossible. However such things rarely kept him from accomplishing his goal.

There was some basic scouting work to be done. The target was a recently renovated loft in Fells Point, not far from the Baltimore inner harbor.

Contrary to what people suggested most of the spy work was done during the day a target had Scouted, escape routes verified. Most of that was easier done during the day.

The action part of the mission afterwards was simply a matter of putting all the pieces together that were gained from intel.

He double checked his dufflelbag. He would be attending a ravens game that day. The stadion was a stone trow away from the tatget area.

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The next night Mika was in Baltimore once again. However tonight the streets were mostly deserted. He walked quietly. He had parked the stolen Harley a few blocks away. He would dispose of it afterwards.

The building had a decent alarm system but a few well placed incisions in the cable box disabled the alarm call to the monitoring station. A broken basement windown and a frozen lock later he was inside the premises.

[Separ]

It didnt take long for him to take care of what was needed. The safe was fairly primitive and in the end he made a quick job of it.

The safe was empty with the exception of a small memory disk. He grabbed it and proceeded town to the basement.

A larger more elaborate safe was below. This one took time.