by Margaret Kay
After several quiet moments, Garcia spoke again. “Are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here,” she said. “Sorry, I was just thinking.” Then she heard voices get louder near her door, two men. “There're voices outside my door,” she said in a panicked, hushed tone.
“Take it easy and breathe. Stay still and quiet.”
She waited several agonizing seconds, not even daring to breathe. She heard the voices grow more distant and then she heard the door next to hers open and then close. “They went into the room next door. I heard them open it and close it,” she whispered.
“Okay, good. See, I told you it was too early for anyone to be coming after you.”
She chuckled nervously. “I’ll admit, that freaked me out, hearing someone so close.”
“You’re doing great. The Ranger Team is thirty minutes out.”
Another half hour. She mentally told herself she’d be safe till they got there.
Garcia made small talk with her for the next half hour. He had her tell him about the beluga whales and what were the things that she loved most about her work. He kept her talking in an attempt to keep her calm.
“Okay, Annaka, the Ranger team is at your door. I want you to get up and go to the door now,” Garcia said.
Annaka heard his words, but she couldn’t move.
“It’s okay to open the door, Annaka,” Garcia’s voice said.
She still hadn’t moved
“Annaka, are you still there?”
“I’m afraid to get up,” she confessed.
“Listen to me. I used to be a Ranger. I trust the men outside your door. I know how highly trained they are. They are there to protect you.” He waited a few seconds. “Right now! Get up and move your ass to the door!”
This startled Annaka. “Okay,” she agreed. She pulled herself to her feet, still clutching the phone to her ear. She grabbed her purse, her backpack, and her coat and crossed the room. She moved the chair and unlocked the door. Cracking it open, she wasn’t sure what she expected, but it wasn’t the four men in camo fatigues and full tactical gear, including assault rifles, who stood at the door.
“Dr. Sanchez, come with us please,” the young man said. “We’ve made contact with the subject and are escorting her to the chopper.”
“Okay, you’re with them. I’m going to disconnect now,” Garcia’s voice said through her phone. She’d forgotten she was still on the call. She opened the door wider as the phone went dead. She didn’t even get the chance to thank him.
The men huddled in close to her. Two more men stood against the building. They led her around the back of the building, where two more men stood, rifles in hand. She suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter. It quickly got louder. Within seconds, it landed right there in the parking lot. Its rotors spun, kicking up a ferocious breeze that blew her hair wildly around, even this far back.
They ushered her up to the helicopter where two more men now stood. They helped her in. One of them climbed in beside her and motioned her to the back of the aircraft beyond the two back-to-back rows of mesh material seats that were immediately within the aircraft. The lighting inside was green. It was eerie. He took her backpack from her, setting it to the floor. He helped her put her coat on. He had a kind face and sympathetic eyes. He was young, in his early twenties.
“I’m O’Neil,” he said loudly above the noise of the rotors. “I’ll remain with you. You’re safe now, Dr. Sanchez.” He pointed to the seat. “You’re going to want to belt in now.”
As she sat, the helicopter lifted off. O’Neil helped her put the seat belt on, straps that came over her shoulders. He stood, towering over her. He held onto the fuselage. In front of him, she saw the nine other men seated in the mesh seats. She saw the lights of the town flicker past the windows.
O’Neil took a seat beside her in one of the three remaining seats. “We’re going after your friend and her family now.”
All Annaka could do was nod. She didn’t know what to say. She glanced again at the men in the middle seats. They clutched their weapons in their hands. A few minutes later, two of them stood and affixed two sets of ropes to each side of the aircraft by the doors.
A few minutes later, the two men who still stood, opened the two side doors. A cold breeze immediately swept through the helicopter. Through the open doorway, she saw treetops flash by. The second the craft slowed, the other men stood and moved to the doors. Two at a time out each of the doors, the men grabbed the ropes and dropped down out of sight. It only took a few seconds for eight men to leave the helicopter.
Annaka kept her eyes trained on the outside, out the still open door. The helicopter circled. It was higher over the treetops now, but the doors remained open. She shivered against the cold. After a few minutes, the chopper set down. She recognized the bottom of Remi’s driveway and lawn. O’Neil stood and took up a position in front of her. The other man jumped out of the helicopter. She saw him stand near the doorway.
A few minutes later, peeking around O’Neil, she saw Annie, Remi’s daughter, get lifted into the helicopter. Her son, Benji, was lifted in next, both of them from the right. One of the Rangers climbed in and closed the door on the left. Then he pointed the kids towards Annaka. She hugged them when they reached her. They had to be frightened. She knew that she was. Remi climbed in next, followed by her husband, big Ben. O’Neil got Annie seated and her belt in place. And then Benji’s.
“Annaka, thank God!” Remi said, sitting down quickly in the seat beside her. “Was this your doing?”
O’Neil helped to secure Remi’s belt as her husband sat in one of the center row seats nearest the door. The remainder of the men climbed in, and the door was quickly shut. One of the other soldiers helped him with his belt as the chopper lifted off.
The aircraft banked sharply and then gained altitude. Remi fussed over her two kids. “Those men were bad. Do you understand me? These men are like the police. They did what they had to, to stop them and free us.” She turned her head to Annaka. “They came in from nowhere. Shot the two men that were holding us. The kids just saw two men get killed.”
“I’m sorry,” Annaka said.
“Don’t be, they would have killed us. I’m sure. How did you get the military to help us?”
“It was Danny’s team. They arranged this. Remi, my house blew up today. If I hadn’t left my phone in my car and remembered it, I would have been inside. I didn’t see your note till after I checked into the lodge. I called Danny.”
“Oh my God! I can’t believe this seismic survey is worth them killing us all over,” Remi said shaking her head.
“It’s worth a lot of money to them,” Annaka said.
“Where are we going? We have to rescind the report I sent. I gave them the green light, said there were no ecological or seismological issues to stop the project. I had to. They were watching everything at the office through the cameras on our computers. I couldn’t say anything,” Remi rambled.
O’Neil stood nearby. Annaka got his attention. He came in closer. “Where are you taking us?”
“Back to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, ma’am,” he said. “We will be given orders when we reach the base.”
“What’s going on, Annaka?” Remi asked. “Why a military base, how?”
“I don’t know. Danny’s group has some kind of ties with the military, I think.” The truth was, she didn’t know. She was just as confused as Remi was.
She tried to relax into her seat for the duration of the flight. It was dark except for the green light in the interior of the helicopter. And it was cold. O’Neil provided camouflage blankets to Remi, Ben, and their children, none of whom had coats. The children didn’t even have shoes on their feet. He handed another blanket to Annaka. She wrapped it around herself the best she could.
When they landed, O’Neil helped them unbuckle their belts. He pointed them to the two other soldiers who waited just outside the open door. Annaka made her way forward and followe
d Remi’s husband out the door, assisted by the soldiers. They pointed her to follow the other men who walked the short distance to the door to a hangar in front of her. The night air was cold, and a chill instantly gripped her as she followed them. Looking back, she saw the soldiers carried Remi’s children.
Inside the hangar, an officer pointed them into a van. “This transport will bring you to lodging. We have rooms set up for you and a medic standing by in case anyone needs medical assistance.”
“I’m fine,” Annaka said. “Just cold.” She climbed into the van.
She heard Ben tell him that his family was fine too. No one needed medical assistance. Ben waited for Remi and his children. He took his son, the oldest, from one of the soldiers and then climbed into the van. Remi took their daughter and climbed in as well. The door was closed from the outside, and then the driver got in. The van pulled out of the hangar and drove through the base. Annaka watched out the windows, mentally taking it all in.
The van pulled up in front of a building and parked. The driver jumped out and came to the side door, swinging it open. He helped them down and led them into the building. A woman in uniform sat at the desk just inside.
“Hi,” she greeted with a small smile. “I’m Airman Harding. I’ll be on duty all night if you need anything.” She rose and stepped from behind her desk. “I’ll show you to your quarters. Please follow me.”
“Wait, I need to make some phone calls,” Remi said.
“I was instructed that you are to be issued rooms and made comfortable. And I will show you the lounge. There are machines with food in them as well, if you’re hungry. A special detachment will arrive by morning. They will provide you with phones or any other needs you have.”
“A special detachment?” Annaka asked.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t been provided with any more information than that.”
“I have my phone,” Annaka whispered to Remi. “No problem,” Annaka said to the woman. “Yes, please show us to the lounge and our rooms.”
They followed her through the hall. Doors lined the hallway. They could hear televisions and voices coming from inside the closed doors as they passed them. The hallway ended at a room at the far end. There was a half-dozen uniformed service members within, and a few in sweats that read ‘U.S. Air Force’.
“This is the lounge,” the Airman said. She pointed to the four large vending machines. “There is no cost for the food and drink items. That machine has full meals and there is a microwave there to warm them up.” She pointed out the microwave. There was a television, couches, and a few tables and chairs in the room. Then she led them back to the hallway. She opened a door immediately beside the lounge. Inside were two twin beds. “I have these three rooms assigned to you.” She pointed at that room and the two beside it.
Remi made eye contact with her husband. “Annie and I will take this room. I guess you and Benji are taking another.”
“There is a private bathroom with clean towels inside each room,” the Airman said. “Help yourself to anything in the lounge. You are restricted to it and your rooms, but I will be at the check-in desk all night. Let me know if you need anything by dialing zero on the room phone.”
“Thank you,” Annaka said. She pointed to the room in front of them. Her eyes swept between Remi and her husband. “Let’s talk.”
They all went inside. Remi and Ben sat their children down on the beds. They both laid down. It was late, and they were exhausted.
Annaka pulled her phone from her purse. “I’m going to call Danny and find out what is going on.” She hit dial.
It rang twice, and the call was answered. “Hi Annaka, this is Garcia.”
“What are you doing with Danny’s phone?”
“I’ve been monitoring it, figured you’d call when you got to the base. Mother is still busy, but we didn’t want your call to go unanswered. I know the mission to get Dr. Ipsen and her family was successful, and we were notified that the chopper returned to JBER. Is everyone okay?”
“Yes, we’re all fine,” she answered. “We were just brought to rooms. They said a special detachment would arrive tomorrow?”
She could hear Garcia’s chuckle. “That would be Mother and the team.”
Annaka’s eyes went to Remi and Ben, who stood nearby, close enough to hear the conversation through her phone. “Danny is coming here?”
“Yes, as soon as they wrap up the operation they are on, they will fly to the base and come to your location. Until then, you are safe. Try to get a good night’s sleep.”
“I haven’t called my insurance company yet about my house and car. And Remi needs to make a few calls as well.”
“Annaka, that can all wait until morning.”
“We need to rescind that report on the seismic survey and provide the correct one to the appropriate government agency. Garcia, these people were willing to kill to get a clean report. The Department of Natural Resources needs to know.”
“Annaka, relax. My team is on it. The head of the commission was already notified, at home this evening. Mother and the team will have up-to-date info and orders from our boss when they arrive. This is all being coordinated at the highest levels of the government. It’s late and you all have to be tired. Try to get some sleep.”
“Okay, thank you.” She disconnected the call and just stared, dumbstruck at Remi.
“Who the hell are these people?” Remi asked the question that Annaka was thinking too.
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Little did she know that Garcia had taken control of her phone while they spoke. He disabled her ability to dial out and he would be notified of any outgoing text messages. He’d have the ability to approve or block any messages she’d try to send. The room phones too were locked down. They could only call the airman at the front desk. But they didn’t know any of that, didn’t try to call anyone else.
Annaka decided to do as Garcia suggested. It was late, and she wanted a shower. She left Remi and Ben, choosing her room. Ben carried Benji into the third room. She took a nice hot shower and then changed her clothes, putting on a sweatshirt and a pair of flannel pants that were in her backpack. Then she settled into the bed, truly relaxing for the first time since Danny had left. She was safe and he would be there in the morning.
Oscar
In Las Vegas, Mother and the Birdman rode the bikes, following Prince Bandile’s pimped out powder blue 1970 Cadillac Coupe Deville with a white rag top. He brought them to an auto wrecking yard at the back of a deserted industrial park. Posing as the two buyers, they hoped to be brought to a secondary location so Shepherd had gotten a satellite deployed to watch over the area. And they knew their team would follow and had the ability to sneak up on any location undetected.
Junked cars were piled up to the top of the twelve-foot high chain-link fence that ran all the way around the wrecking yard’s perimeter, creating a wall. The gate rolled open as they approached it. It closed after they were through it. “Fuck, are you seeing this HQ?”
“Roger that, Mother,” Yvette’s voice came through his comms. “Satellite shows a second gate on the backside of the yard, a mirror image. There’s about thirty heat signatures, ten in the building, five guarding the outside of it, and another fifteen scattered around the yard, looks like patrols.” She zoomed in on the night vision feed. “Affirmative, armed patrols.”
“We’re going to need their locations,” Lambchop’s voice came through. “We’re just arriving on site now. We’ll neutralize those patrols and the guards outside that building.”
Mother and the Birdman parked their bikes just inside the large garage beside Bandile’s Cadillac, where at least twenty cars were being stripped. He’d brought them to a fucking chop shop. Mother looked around, taking it in. The ten Tangos in the room were all armed. Several had guns shoved into the front of their pants, snuggling against their cocks, idiots. “Ten armed,” he whispered, as though he was just talking to the Birdman. It broadcast to
the rest of the team.
A man approached them from the side of one of the cars. He was Hispanic, middle-aged, mean looking, with a solid body. He wore his gun in a holster slung low on his hip. Must have thought he was an old west gunslinger. He smacked Bandile upside his head. “You brought them here? You dumb asshole.” He spoke with a heavy Mexican accent.
“We don’t care about your other business interests,” Mother said. “Just looking for a volume of chiva he can’t provide.”
“I’ve got better shit than chiva,” he said.
“I can unload chiva faster than any other shit,” Mother said.
“Pills, amigo, I got enough pills to fill a dump truck.”
“And I have enough cash to fill one,” Mother said. “Let’s start with chiva. We’ll see about more next time.”