Aruba Mad Günther

by T L Yeager

  Within the width of a single breath, Maddie had Koning pinned against the wall. Her fingers found the snap on his sidearm and she was able to pull it free and send it skittering down the hall.

  Then she took a step back and pulled the snub-nosed .38 out from behind her back. She gave herself a fell step worth of distance and squared up with both hands on the revolver.

  “We mean no harm. We’re not with the terrorists. We’re here to stop them.” Koning’s eyes widened as the outcome of the engagement became reality.

  Maddie stared deeply into the officer’s eyes.

  “Son of a bitch,” she growled under her breath. “We just needed a few more minutes… How many men do you have left here?”

  Koning tried to disguise his fear as anger. “Koning. Lieutenant Captain. 627—“

  Maddie cut him off. “Listen, this isn’t the time to pull the name, rank and serial number shit. We know who you are. We know you’re protecting this place with a skeleton crew. I came here for one thing. Weapons.” Maddie raised her jaw, signaling toward the armory with the back of her head.

  “Fifteen more minutes and we would’ve been out of here. No harm, no foul…” She thought for a handful of seconds then look back at Konig to make it clear she was still on point.

  “Listen, Captain. I already know I’m in a world of trouble. I’ve got nothing to lose. I also know you want to get back to your wife and that little girl of yours. You and I want the same thing. We need to work together. You understand me? You help me get what I need, and I’ll make sure it looks like you didn’t have any other choice. Just bear with me. I’ll explain.”

  Koning was in no position to negotiate. His sidearm was gone and he was paralyzed by the barrel of the revolver. Even still, he didn’t seem to know how to respond.

  “You’ve broken the law,” he said, scowling.

  “Let’s you and me go on into the armory and have us a chat,” Maddie said. “Geert. I’m going to need those bolt cutters. When you go out there take a few looks back at the door like you’re fixing to make a run for it. Then grab the cutters and come on back in.”

  Maddie made a spinning motion with the Colt.

  “Just to make this safer for both of us, I need to get your hands behind your back. You understand?” Koning nodded and rotated toward the wall. He offered the wrists behind his back without a struggle.

  Maddie pulled the phone from her pocket to ask PTang to buzz her back in. The message on the screen read, ‘someone’s coming’. PTang had seen Koning approach, but it had come too late.

  PTang answered before the first ring ended. “Is everything okay?”

  “Thanks for the heads up. You’re about to meet Captain Koning on the security cameras. He’s joining our team.”

  “I couldn’t see him coming until he was ten feet from the building. The coverage is not good.”

  “We’ll be alright. Buzz me back into the armory, please.”

  The door buzzed and Maddie pushed it open with her right hand. She signaled Koning through with the revolver, then held the door open until Geert returned from the truck.

  Koning had to be wondering about the person on the other end of the phone and their ability to open secure doors at will. But he said nothing.

  Geert offered to carry the cutters into the armory, but Maddie refused. She needed him in the hall to run cover for any other surprises. Besides that, she didn’t want the cameras inside the armory recording Geert seeming to help. Maddie now had two accomplices that needed to appear reluctant for the video recorders.

  Once they were inside, Maddie scanned the workbenches for anything she could use to restrain Koning. The best she could do was a roll of metal tag wire. The armorers used it to attach manila tags to the weapons. Labeling them with the serial number allowed an inventory to be run without pulling every weapon.

  It proved to be more than adequate filling in for handcuffs. Maddie wrapped Koning’s wrists six or seven times. She took care to ensure the wraps weren’t biting into the skin, but that they were tight enough to prevent him wiggling out.

  Maddie pulled a stool out from beneath one of the workbenches.

  “Have a seat.”

  After Koning sat, Maddie had him position his feet side-by-side and wrapped the ankles. With his arms secure behind his back and legs immobilized, Koning was officially hog-tied and ready to learn more.

  “You’ve got a pretty wife and a little daughter. I bet you think about ‘em all day.” Maddie stood in front of Koning with hands on hips. The captain was sitting tall, listening intently. “I’m an American. I was a Marine like you. Fifteen years. When I was deployed, my family was there in my mind every minute of every day. I couldn’t wait to get back home.” Maddie paused and Koning nodded.

  “You and I are very similar, Captain. I have two daughters and a husband and they’re the best thing in the world as far as I can tell.” She paused again and waited for agreement to hit Koning’s face. “Yeah, see, you know what I mean. You’d do anything for them, wouldn’t you?”

  Koning again nodded agreement.

  Maddie squatted down in front of the man. She rubbed her forehead, massaging the skin above her left eye.

  “So imagine this, Captain Koning… Imagine you went on vacation to Aruba… except, instead of going all together, your husband and oldest daughter went first. Why, you ask. Why do we not all arrive here on the island at the same time? Because you forgot a fucking passport for the baby. Imagine that for a minute.” Maddie looked up from the floor. Koning’s gaze was locked on her. His fear and anger had softened.

  “Trust me... One kid is roses and butterflies. Having two is a battle to keep your head on straight.” Maddie smiled at the man. She was connecting.

  “So the husband and daughter go ahead… to the Surfside resort.” Maddie said it slow. Koning looked like a boy in the midst of a damn good campfire story. His posture straightened and eyes grew wider.

  “Then a group of fucking terrorists take over the hotel. Imagine that… They take it over the morning you arrive. Worst goddamn timing you can imagine, Captain. So bad, you couldn’t make this shit up.”

  Maddie spat a piece of something off her tongue toward the floor. She stood and pulled her phone from her pocket. She typed a message into it, hit send and then bent, placing the phone on one knee and the open hand on the other.

  “You seen those videos of the people they’re gonna murder tonight if they don’t get paid?”

  Koning shook his head.

  “The Americans… that dad and his daughter... They’re mine.”

  The phone chimed. She turned it over and tapped on the photo PTang had sent. She turned it and held it up for Koning.

  “Imagine if it were them, Captain. Imagine that was your wife and daughter. Your wife’s head swollen and bruised. Your daughter’s face blank with fear.” Maddie bit her lip. “Imagine that.”

  54

  Surfside Resort, Aruba

  “What the hell does he mean? Is he saying there’s a SWAT team at the marina?” Fazul had read the emails from Adnan four times.

  5:32am: Both jets on ground. Taxiing to military hangar on west end.

  6:12am: Something strange here. One jet pushed into hangar and doors closed. Marines exit outside jet and go to buses. No one come from hangar. Cannot see hangar entrance from outside of airport. Only from where I am on this side. Suspicious.

  6:21am: Buses departing airport. Two trucks still being loaded with supplies from outside jet. Still nothing from hangar. No people or supplies from jet inside hangar.

  6:33am: Trucks departing. Nothing from jet inside hangar.

  6:37am: Hiding. 4 vans drove into the marina. SWAT team!

  “Can you call him?” Fazul asked.

  “We knocked out the cell service,” Anas responded.

  “I know that, you fucking idiot. I meant through the computer. Call his phone through the computer.”

  “It’s unsecure.” Anas was quick with his response. “Eve
n the email communication presents a risk.”

  Fazul imagined slamming the butt of his rifle into his brother’s temple. “How many times do I have to ask? Can you not explain yourself? Do you think the emails compromised his position?”

  Anas shrugged. He shook his head, clearly agitated by the angry tone.

  “We’re giving this ten more minutes, Anas. Ten. Minutes. Then someone needs to die.”

  “You’re over reacting again, Fazul.” It took every ounce of Fazul’s remaining willpower to not grab his brother by the throat. “What does it matter?” Anas continued. “We need to get on with releasing the hostages. They’ll make for a human shield if we let them go in a trickle throughout the day.”

  “You and your soft defense will get us nowhere. I’m through talking to you about this. It’s my call.”

  “It’s OUR call!” Anas yelled as he jumped up from his chair. Fazul was surprised his brother had the nerve to go eye-to-eye. “I say we send notice! We tell them we know they’re hiding something in the hangar. We let them know we’re watching. Even if they took Adnan. Still! We watch.”

  Fazul considered the idea. “The first proactive suggestion you’ve made. Do that now. Can you take the drone all the way to Adnan?” asked Fazul.

  “We’ve got the range. With the antenna on top of the buildings we’ve got enough range to cover the whole island.”

  “Then get on it. See if he’s there. See if these vans are still there. Post videos of it all. Show the hangar and tell the world these doors need to be opened. We want to see inside.” Fazul turned and pushed his way out of the security suite and into the lobby. He hated compromising with his brother.

  If Adnan did not check in and the drone found nothing, then Americans would die. The father and the daughter in the office would go first. Anas was too close to them.

  “Where’s Hassan?” Fazul asked one of the guards.

  The soldier pointed toward the back of the lobby. “Just left.”

  Fazul ran out the back entrance. “Hassan!” he called.

  Hassan was second in command to Fazul. He was walking the corridor along the edge of building two. He stopped and turned back.

  “Yes, Fazul.”

  “Get me more Americans. Eight or ten. Men, women and children. Bring them to the game room.”

  “Is everything okay?” Hassan asked.

  “No. Adnan reported suspicious activity at the airport. A military plane being hidden in a hangar. He said something about a SWAT team and we haven’t heard from him since. If he doesn’t check in, we’re going to kill the father and the girl.”

  “What of the eight or ten you request then?”

  “We’ll line them up behind and make them watch. They’ll be in the video. If they don’t show us the inside of the hangar, then we’ll kill the rest.”

  55

  Dutch Marine Base, Aruba

  The first of four gray buses pulled through the gate as Maddie and Geert approached. 6:37 glowed on the dash. Maddie leaned down low as it passed and could see it was filled with Dutch Marines.

  “Cutting it close,” Geert said. “Now we’re a pair of lunatics.”

  A rumpled blanket was spread across the rear cab of the pickup. Koning was seated on the floor, beneath the blanket, with his back against the passenger side door. After explaining her predicament to the captain, Maddie had made a show of ordering him around at gunpoint. Koning had secured the keys to the weapons lockers.

  Maddie had gone in looking for a weapon she could use to kill a few men at a distance. She left with enough firepower to start a war. She’d decided on one of each—a Glock 17 to replace the snub-nosed 38, a Canadian made AR-15 carbine, and perhaps the cream of the crop when it came to sniper rifles, an Accuracy International chambered in 338 Lapua Magnum. It was a haul that had her giddy with excitement. If she was going to do the unthinkable, what better way to go than armed to the teeth.

  The footprint of the magazine room was nearly identical to the arsenal. Military establishments almost always stored weapons and ammunition separately. They were usually accessible to different soldiers and managed by different MOS’s. The separation prevented hot headed privates from easily taking revenge with lethal force.

  Ammunition was stored in movable lockers that matched the ones where she’d taken the weapons. Again, Koning used a digital code to open a safe containing the keys to tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.

  The Glock fired the 9x19mm Parabellum round. The carbine, 5.56x45. Both types were stored in the traditional green ammo boxes. A box of 9mm included 1000 rounds. A box of 5.56, 900. Maddie took one of each.

  The ammunition for the Accuracy International was harder to find. Like the rifles, Maddie found it in the last locker, almost hidden in the corner. It was in limited supply compared to the rest. Just twenty flip top cases sat on the shelves. Each blue plastic case contained fifty rounds. Maddie took three.

  Before they left, Maddie re-bound Koning’s wrists. She tied them behind the captain’s back in plain view of the camera, watching and recording from above. Maddie had even added a gag. She’d done it as much for the camera as to prevent him from calling out as they passed by the guard shack. Maddie sensed that the two of them had reached an unspoken agreement, but she couldn’t be certain or take any chances.

  Maddie smiled and waved as they drove by the gatehouse. They cleared the base without incident and navigated the streets of Savaneta back to the neighboring town of San Nicolas.

  “Is this walk-in you have in mind going to be strong enough to hold him?” Maddie asked.

  “There’s a heavy door. Giant latch. We can prop a chair as well.”

  “He won’t suffocate in there?”

  “The cooling unit was removed. There’s a hole that lets air in and out. It doesn’t get very hot. The insulation keeps the temperature from going too high. I was in there on a pisser of a hot one before we opened the restaurant. I’ll never forget how cool it was. Like a basement back home.”

  They pulled up to the critical intersection leading to Baby Beach. To the left, up the hill a bit, was the old restaurant. To the right, the new building and the big sign that would forever reassure worried tourists that they were on the right track.

  Geert turned right. “Kavita’s putting together some supplies for you. We’ll need some for Koning there as well... Now that you’ve kidnapped the poor guy.” He pulled into the parking lot. “I’ll be back in a jiff,” Geert said.

  Maddie checked on her prisoner. She pulled the blanket from off his head. “You doing okay?”

  Koning nodded and grunted.

  The gag was overkill by then. She got out and went to the back, untied it and stuffed it in her pocket.

  “Thanks. That thing was drying out my mouth.”

  “Geert’s going to get some food and water. The place we’re going to leave you is nearby.”

  “You really think you can get in there?” Koning asked.

  “I have no idea, Captain. What I do know, is if I sat by and didn’t do anything… I couldn’t live with myself.”

  Koning nodded.

  “Yeah, you get it. It’s a giant suck of a situation.”

  Before long, Geert returned. He had a cloth bag filled with foil-wrapped Roti and another stacked with bottles of water. A sweating coke-cola sat on top. It was hard to tell from his toothpick frame but the sugary indulgence was Geert’s vice.

  He shifted into gear and turned a circle in the parking lot. “After I drop you off, we’re taking Charlotte and the girls to a friend’s house. They’ve plenty of space. Live mid-island. We’ll hold up there until things are over.”

  The mention of Charlotte’s name changed the feeling in Maddie’s gut. A nervous anticipation had been lurking there all morning. She’d felt like a girl in the midst of an adventure she knew would get her in trouble. Hearing Charlotte’s name sent that excitement into a teeter. The unanswerable questions returned. Was it better to stay back and protect one? Was the deci
sion to go down range a suicide mission? Maybe, but the decision had been made. She wanted them all back, and she had no doubts.

  “Alright, Geert. Thanks, my friend.” Maddie had left a list of numbers for him and Kavita to call. Her sister would take Charlotte. She had two of her own, but she was a fine mother. Charlotte was young enough to forget. She would take well to a new family.

  Maddie shook away the thought. “Unless you hear otherwise from me or PTang… come back in the morning and let Koning out.”

  “Got it, chief,” Geert responded.

  As they pulled passed the old restaurant, Maddie could see that the integrity of the structure was flagging. The eaves sagged in the center and the bright colors were worn away by the blowing sand. The backyard was littered with forgotten restaurant remnants. A broken wire fence marked the spot where Kavita kept the chickens. Health inspectors had forced her to remove them from the property.

  Geert parked and they guided Koning to the cooler. A quarter inch of dust had accumulated on the floor but Geert was right, the temperature was cooler than outside. It wasn’t the beach, but it wasn’t the worst way to spend a day either.

  Maddie unwound the wire around Koning’s wrists. Geert went to the truck and brought his battery-powered radio. They set him up with a chair to sit on and a bucket for his business. Maddie took two of the foil packets and left the rest for Koning. There was more than enough roti to carry him a day. Geert sat the bag of waters on the ground and then pulled a pair of oranges from his pockets.

  “Gonna bar the door, Captain,” Maddie said. “I hate to do it… You’ve been such a good sport, but I can’t let the cat out of the bag too early. You’ve been a big help, though. I really appreciate it.” She paused. “The video will make it obvious you didn’t have a choice. Geert here will back you up. He was forced into it as well.” Maddie nudged him.

  “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” he replied. “That’s a Yank song, isn’t it?”

  Maddie laughed.

  “Alright, then. Geert’ll be back to let you out. No more than twenty-four hours.” Maddie brought her posture to attention. She dropped her arms to her sides then snapped the right hand up into a crisp salute. Geert did the same.