Border Alert- Terrorist Penetration

by Glenn Ball

  He hit the number for his messages, then jammed the phone to his ear as he listened to them.

  “Men are in my house that want to kill me! I am hiding in the attic. Hurry!” A whimper, almost inaudible, escaped him as he listened to Susanna’s message again.

  Next message: “Sky, I need to talk to you. It’s urgent!” Adam was ready to erupt, but his steady tone belied his anxiety. Van Horn read the explosive signs under the cool exterior.

  “Adam again. Men broke into our house, and Perle is missing!” There it was. The explosive news confirmed. Sky let the messages role.

  “I hope you got my message. It seems Susanna escaped, but these men are dangerous, and they’re after her! Please call when you get this.” Sky scrunched his forehead, intent, with his ear plastered to the receiver.

  “Susanna’s still missing. But good news…I have a whole squadron at my command and scavenging the woods for her.” His face relaxed. For the first time there was hope as he moved to the next message.

  “Perle has been taken. She’s been kidnapped! We couldn’t get to her in time!” Adam’s voice trembled.

  Sky jumped out of bed, nearly ripping his arm from the I.V. His fingers were shaking as they stumbled over the keys dialing Adam. There was no answer.

  CHAPTER 40

  Naked and Afraid

  The only sound was her breathing. Her skin was prickly, chilled by fear and the damp cool air. A drop of sweat crept down her creased forehead. She jumped, startled by its movement across her flesh.

  In the silence, she could hear a drop of water splash somewhere in the cavernous abyss. The echo of it magnified the emptiness of her new prison. She was desolate.

  Something moved. The movement caused moist air to flow over her taut skin. It felt like insects crawling over her tense body.

  ********

  He talked. The naked man.

  Then she remembered. Pedro. He was the naked man. She was not alone.

  “Stinks! No like this place!”

  His familiar voice penetrated her bubble, her shock-induced dream-state. It felt like her flesh was being peeled off, leaving her bones exposed to the chilled air. They ached. Her bones ached.

  Visions of the rack inundated her mind’s eye. Her joints were being wrenched apart, her tendons and ligaments ripped. The sensation was so real she involuntarily folded her arms, making the false sensation dissipate as she held herself tightly, frigid.

  “Susanna, you here?” His voice was thin, a helpless plea, loneliness.

  She was at the bottom of the ocean, “47 Meters Down”. It was a movie she’d seen, about two women being trapped at the bottom of the ocean with a frenzy of sharks prowling above them. The only way out of the abyss was up through the jaws of the ravenous predators. Like the two women she had been cut off from the outside world by monsters. How would she escape this pitch-black abyss?

  “Susanna?” The voice was fainter still.

  She snapped out of it. They would find a way. They had to.

  ********

  “You are trembling.”

  She could feel Pedro’s hand gently grasping her arm. It was somewhat comforting, reassurance that she was not facing this nightmare alone.

  She recoiled, remembering that she was naked. And so was he. She was vulnerable.

  Suddenly repulsed, she remembered the hands grasping her private parts before thrusting her into this dungeon. She felt violated. Evil men had made her undress before them, and they had handled her body like a piece of meat.

  Pedro could hear her sniffling. “What’s wrong?”

  “Those disgusting men grabbed me!”

  “They like rape womans. I see many times.” She could hear the sadness in his voice. “We need get out. Fast!” His voice echoed, as if they were in a cave.

  “You are right. I am sorry. I am not handling our predicament well.” He was silent, maybe trying to understand what she had said. “Let’s explore this place. Maybe we can find a way out.”

  “Okay. We explore. But we stay together. No want separate.” She felt his hand bump into her back. She grabbed it.

  “We will explore it together.” Holding hands, they inched forward.

  After taking a couple of steps the floor dropped away. They discovered that they had been on a landing, with stairs leading down further into the abyss. It was discomfiting stretching their feet outwards, into the absolute darkness. They could not even discover a rail to hold onto to steady themselves. Every step downwards was like stepping off a cliff.

  Susanna in particular had trouble keeping her balance. She had suffered from dizziness ever since she had awakened on the helicopter. Perhaps it was from lack of food, or water, or the rapid changes in altitude. Maybe it was merely her utter exhaustion, or the shock. Whatever the reason, she could feel his hand steadying her with each step. And when she stumbled a number of times his arm caught her to keep her from falling. His hands on her naked body was troubling to her, but she said nothing. How could she? She was the one that fell. He was only trying to help. He probably saved her grave injury.

  They both sighed with relief when their feet settled on a solid, level surface. “Let’s feel along the wall, so we do not get lost.” She recommended.

  He followed her lead. Putting their hands on the moist rock, they began the slow and steady process of reconnoitering their surroundings. The walls were covered with beads of water. There were patches of moss in some places. The edges of the stones were smoothed, with deep crevices between them.

  They had gone ten feet when Susanna’s hands landed on manacles that were attached to the wall with thick iron chains. She put one of the manacles in Pedro’s hand.

  “I hear rumors this place. Rumors true I think.” The dread and awe of his tone did nothing to comfort Susanna.

  “Like what?” She hesitated to ask.

  “No good tell you. Rumors awful.”

  She had been unsure that she would want to hear them. But now she had to know. “What rumors? Tell me!” ‘Curiosity killed the cat’, but maybe she would have nine lives as well. It would be nice to die and wake up elsewhere.

  “This ‘The Castle’, and here is dungeon, where many peoples tortured, killed. Many peoples disappear here; never come back.”

  An involuntary shiver struck through her like lightning. The cold had crept to the marrow of her bones. It was hard to be brave when she was shivering.

  “Maybe we will be the first.” She tried to sound confident, but her words fell flat.

  They continued to place their hands along the wall. The large stones felt like huge blocks of ice, hard, wet and unforgiving. It was not long before they came across another pair of manacles. They held them in their hands for a few moments, then dropped them and moved on.

  For what seemed an interminable amount of time they felt their way along the wall, encountering iron chains with their fetters at regular intervals. As they moved along, the stench grew stronger and fouler. Susanna began to feel faint from the fumes, of what she could only imagine.

  At the next interval, reaching for the shackles she was sure she was going to find, her hand grasped something mushy. The stifling stench rolled over her like a crashing wave. She was noxious. Something was coming apart in her hand; something slick, with a hard, solid core like an iron pipe. Maybe she had come across some of the plumbing. Perhaps they could use it to their advantage.

  Sliding her hand upwards along the ‘pipe’ she abruptly spun away as the dry heaves overtook her. The flesh had come off the bone of the corpse at the moment her hand had reached its shackle. The juice from the corpse was dripping off her hand.

  Pedro was baffled, unable to see what was causing her to freak out. “What is it?” he demanded.

  She could not answer as she choked on the acid from her stomach. He almost tripped over her body as he attempted to reach over her. To make it worse, his part was pressing into her, even if by accident. Using her rump, she shoved him backwards. “You do not want to touch there
.”

  He got the message and pulled back from her. “Permit me pass please.”

  “You don’t understand. You don’t want to touch there! It is a corpse, and it is rotting.” She convulsed as she spoke.

  “Oh.” Pedro fell silent, waiting for Susanna to regain her composure. The vast emptiness absorbed his silence like a tomb. After some time, he heard a drip some distance away echoing off the walls. The deathly silence resumed for what seemed like a lifetime. Another drip, like a moribund clock. Time had slowed. Maybe they were already dead!

  “Okay. I guess I am ready. Let’s move on.”

  There, she had finally broken the morbid silence. Pedro smiled to himself, relieved.

  “Just one thing… I think we should move away from the wall. I don’t want to encounter any more corpses in chains.”

  Pedro’s momentary relief now turned to gripping fear. The idea of moving away from the wall terrified him. It was their only fixed position, the only secure guide and assurance of returning to the doorway. To lose their bearings in this hellhole could mean being lost in the darkness till death took them.

  But before he could object, he heard her call out, “Follow me.” Her voice came up from the floor. She was crawling. “Grab my ankle,” she said. He did and they were on their way.

  The stones on the floor felt much like those on the wall, cold, hard and wet. It was very uncomfortable pressing bare knees against such hard rock.

  “How we find way back?” It was a fair question, yet his voice sounded feeble, even to himself, as if his argument was weak.

  “I’m not even sure I want to. At any rate I am going straight, at a right angle from the wall. All we have to do is turn around and go back till we come against the wall. It’s not like the wall will go anywhere.”

  Her retort sounded so simple and logical. He wondered why he even questioned her decision. Nevertheless, deep down there was a nagging doubt, screaming up at him as if from the depths of a bottomless pit.

  As they moved away from the wall the air became a little less rancid. They were thankfully leaving the corpse behind them. Pedro tried to hush his doubts.

  The progress was less comfortable than feeling along the wall. Pedro’s knees were beginning to bruise, and the ring finger on his right hand had begun to ache where he’d banged it against the edge of one of the stones in the floor.

  After they had moved some distance the air became foul, worse than he remembered it being near the corpse on the wall. He wondered if they had accidentally doubled back without realizing it. He jerked on Susanna’s ankle to get her attention.

  Pulling up next to her he brought up his concern. “I think maybe we go in big circle. Smell like where started.”

  “It does stink, doesn’t it?” she conceded. “But we have been going straight, I am sure of it.”

  “Me go your side now. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Pedro moved alongside her, and they continued on, a tad more slowly. Pedro was feeling out in front of them as they inched forward.

  All of the sudden there was a grunt. Susanna felt a hand on her breast. Pedro had stuck his arm out to stop her, and accidentally caught her in movement. With her arm back he’d caught her across the chest instead of the arm as intended. His hand remained, pressing against her chest for emphasis.

  “Don’t move!” he commanded.

  Bringing her arm forward she shoved his arm off of her, unsure of his true intentions.

  “Wait!” he said, his voice intense.

  They had gotten along so well Susanna was afraid the dreaded moment had finally come. She would have to fight him or allow him to rape her. Her hopes and respect for him had been continually growing as he had proven himself trustworthy, even to the point of roaming naked with her through the darkness. It had finally proven too much.

  He was stronger than she had anticipated, grabbing her hand and forcing it to the floor. He was pushing her hand forward, away from her body. It must be an attempt to get her off balance so he could roll on top of her.

  She felt utter repulsion. The stench of feces, urine and rotting flesh was smothering her. Flesh to flesh contact was the last thing she wanted. The last flesh she had touched was still sticky on her hand where it had dripped off.

  “Wait!” he exclaimed.

  She was in no mood to allow him to take advantage of her. Fortunately, both her father and Adam had taught her martial arts. She knew she could handle a man twice her weight. Pedro appeared to weigh less than her.

  She resisted as he pushed her hand forward but was taken aback at how strong he was. Before she knew it, she was losing her balance. Her body was slowly rolling forward, crumbling to the floor as he continued pressing her hand forward.

  “There, you feel?” He stopped her arm, pushing her fingers down. The rock in the floor had a particularly large edge.

  “What was his next move?” she speculated.

  “Big drop.” He continued pushing her fingers over the edge of the rock.

  Then he let go.

  Big drop…big drop. She pushed her own fingers down, exploring. Finally, she was understanding. There was some kind of big drop-off.

  She would have fallen over the edge if he hadn’t stopped her. Feeling like a big jerk for misunderstanding his intentions she felt along the edge of the drop-off, thanking him for protecting her.

  “Where does this go?” she thought out loud.

  Placing hand over hand along the edge she slowly moved sideways. She was gasping, the stench overpowering her. A knee bumped into something underneath her as she crept. It seemed to roll slightly, startling her. Shielding herself with her hands she thrust them downwards.

  Pedro was close behind her when she let out an ear-piercing scream. She was immediately on her feet, dancing and jittering. He was afraid she was going to carelessly fall over the edge of the drop-off.

  “Cuidado!” he yelled, trying to get her attention.

  He too was on his feet, attempting to block her path to destruction. As he moved between her and the drop-off his foot stepped on something that threw him slightly off-balance. It felt slithery and hard.

  Bending over to find out what it was he picked it up. It stunk horribly. One end was knobby. He checked the other end of it and discovered what felt like fingers jiggling as he wiggled the arm.

  “It’s a severed head!” she said, her voice shaky.

  “And I find arm.” He exclaimed.

  They were both creeped out and struggling to calm down. Perle desperately wanted a shower to cleanse the gunk off of her and something to get the awful odor out of her nostrils. Pedro also was putting his hands out, hopelessly longing for a way to wipe them down. But there was nothing. The stench of death was permanently clinging to their naked, helpless bodies. They were naked and afraid.

  CHAPTER 41

  An Accounting

  Nicolas stood outside the hanger at the Lackland Airforce Base thinking back on his “interrogation” of Alicia the day before.

  Alicia had not recognized Nicolas. He on the other hand had recognized her even when he saw the police copy of the video of her on Facebook. She had striking facial features and the sort of figure a man never forgets. He had seen her more than once while working undercover investigating Antonio’s operation, and she had made an impression on him. He noted that Antonio Ochoa liked to keep her at arms-reach.

  When he learned that she had been accused of murder in Lieutenant Jorge Sandoval’s territory, and that he had initiated a dragnet, Agent Aguilar had put two and two together. She was on the run from Ochoa. He knew he had to get her in his custody and find out everything he could on Antonio. She could be the witness to break the case wide open. With her capture in Baton Rouge he had wasted no time getting to her to snatch her away from the clutches of Sandoval’s henchmen.

  In the distance the lights of a pair of fire engines caught his eye. Where they were parked on the runway there was a cloud rising where two other trucks were busy cleaning
F.O.D. off of the runway. It was a windy day here in San Antonio, and dust kept getting in Nicolas’ eyes. With his eyes swollen from lack of sleep the dust was particularly irritating.

  Nicolas had been in his motel room in Baton Rouge when the three am call came from General Hague. Word of the terrorist threat that Alicia had unveiled to him had quickly moved through the ranks to General Hague’s ears. He was adamant that Nicolas meet with Adam and himself immediately. His brain was in a swirl making flight arrangements at that hour while still trying to process the bombshell of intelligence that Alicia unloaded.

  As the roar of fighter jets passing overhead drowned out the din of jeeps, trucks and tractors that were in constant movement nearby, he pulled out the sheets of information describing the men he was about to meet. When he did the wind gusted, tugging at the papers in his hands and nearly blowing them away.

  He was edgy, and for some reason these little annoyances were getting to him. Maybe from the stress; maybe from the lack of sleep; maybe because his world had been turned upside down since he’d learned of the terrorist threat.

  Or perhaps the reason was something more subtle. After all this time he had finally met Alicia face to face, and now he had to entrust someone else to protect her. He wasn’t ready to admit his feelings for her to himself just yet, but knowing the danger posed by Antonio and his men he was uncomfortable having anyone else in charge of her protection. They might underestimate the danger she was in.

  The wind whistled through the disposable earplugs in his ears. They were necessary he was told, due to the noise levels of the planes and some of the equipment. Necessary or not he was ready to toss one of them as it popped out for the thirteenth time. Just then a jeep pulled up.

  “Agent Martinez, step on in and we’ll take you to the meeting room we have arranged.” A distinguished looking gentleman with a plethora of medals on the breast of his uniform was waving him in from the back seat as the chauffeur held the door open. As he was seated the gentleman shook his hand. “I’m General Hague, and this young officer in the front is Captain Adam Valencia Dominguez,” indicating the man in the front passenger seat. “He is the man I mentioned that is heading up the task force so desperately in need of your intel.”