Stormy Seas

by Ali Vali

  “Shit what?”

  “Another fifteen guys are on their way, and more than half appear to be American. What are they doing here, and can I shoot them?” Wiley asked. “You don’t have a lot of time, guys. I need an answer. They’re moving double-time, which means your wounded butthead in there probably called for backup.”

  “Wiley, are they armed?” Baylor asked.

  “Loaded for bear.”

  “Start working, and my guys will do cleanup. Tito, once it’s clear, head to the buildings they came from and gather what you can. Wiley, you stay put,” Baylor said. The outside filled with screams when Baylor’s orders were carried out. “Who else did you call?” Baylor placed his knife back on the spot where Min didn’t want it. One of the other guys with them started documenting what was in the room and Min himself, in case their body cams that allowed Command to watch missed anything.

  “You are dead,” Min said, spitting in Baylor’s direction. “I tell you nothing.”

  “Then you really want to die a eunuch.” Baylor made a small slice, and it seemed to break something in the small man, who tried his best to slide away from Baylor. More screaming came from outside, and Berkley turned and glanced that way, but the back was clear.

  “Wiley?” she asked.

  “This place is full of hostiles. We’re under fire so pick up the pace in there.”

  Berkley started a perimeter check in the room and found the vault behind a gilded full-length mirror. “Open it, or I’ll personally carve your eyes out. I’ve had enough of your country and your sucky hospitality.”

  Baylor jerked Min up by the hair and dragged him to the combination. “You were right, Jin. That’s a long-ass combination. Open it, motherfucker, or I’ll stick your dick in your head when my friend finishes ripping your eyes out.”

  “That will kill me,” Min said, as if they didn’t understand the purpose of torture.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing, but think,” Baylor said with a genuine smile. “We’re going to make you an international star when we show the media how you like to spend your time. Bestiality porn—really?”

  “No,” Min said and started struggling again.

  “Yes, so at least smile for the camera. We can always blow the door, but shit like what you were doing is damn entertaining. If I think so, I’m sure plenty of others will too,” Baylor said, and one of his guys started wiring the vault. “Think about the rest of your family when all this comes out. Doesn’t your leader have a thing about punishing the whole bunch when really there’s only one pervert in the barrel?”

  Min lunged toward the safe and punched in the combination, surprising them all, from what Berkley could tell, when the door swung open a sliver. Harvey opened it the rest of the way, and they stared at the piles of external hard drives inside. Harvey unshouldered his pack and started clearing the shelves.

  “If they’re encrypted it’ll take months to crack them,” she said, and Jin nodded as Harvey finished and took Jin’s pack to transport the rest of the files. “We need to take Min with us.”

  “You’re right. We have the lock, so we might as well bring the key with us. I’ll finish in here, and you guys start back to the trees,” Baylor said, pointing to Min as one of his men started packing the desktop computer.

  “We have to sweep the rest of the house, and it’ll go faster if we help out,” Berkley said to Harvey.

  They left Baylor and his men, but Jin went with them as they cautiously walked the long hallway, checking each room. The only room with movement seemed to be the one they’d passed, which appeared to be the master bedroom. Everything else was quiet and empty as they headed for the last three doors, and she nodded when Harvey went first. She aimed her pistol against any bad surprises and took a deep breath. “Go ahead.”

  Harvey turned the knob and stumbled backward, falling on his ass and knocking her off balance when six large masked men ran out fast enough that Berkley couldn’t get a shot off. The jolt of the Taser leads hitting her leg caused her to drop next to Harvey, and Jin fell immediately on top of her.

  The thought that went through her mind was Aidan whispering how much she loved her right before they parted. She prayed more than anything she’d hear those words again.

  “Fuck,” she whispered when the guy who’d Tasered her raised his mask and she saw his blond hair and blue eyes. He was an American with a cruel smile, and he laughed as he squeezed the trigger again. She tensed and then there was nothing.

  * * *

  “Cletus, Baylor, take cover,” Wiley said as she spotted four trucks headed their way. “Backup is closing in, and we need to go.” She lined up her shot and took out the driver of the first vehicle, causing it to veer off the road, dumping out the soldiers in the back like they’d been shot from a cannon. “Let me know when you’re out.”

  “Roger that,” Baylor said, picking up the packs and pushing Min toward one of his men. “Cletus, time to boogie.” There was only silence. “Stop fucking around and respond.”

  “What’s wrong?” Wiley asked as she reloaded. “Cletus?”

  “We’ll check it out, but start moving toward the woods. We’re going to have to call for a ride much closer than where we decided on,” Baylor responded, and it sounded like he was running. “Fuck,” he said, his voice rising suddenly.

  “What?” Wiley asked as she saw the SEAL team headed for the back of the house. It was time to retreat while it was still their decision to do so.

  “One of our guns is on the ground, and she’s gone. Her, Jin, and Junior.” Wiley saw the front door open, and a group headed out. They were trained well enough to move and laid down cover fire that prevented her from getting off a shot without risking a bullet to the head. “We have to pull out.”

  Wiley saw Baylor and his guys run out of the back with two people over their shoulders, and she followed, thinking it was Berkley or one of the missing. Helicopters with spotlights appeared a few seconds later, but she ran along with the group as the SEALs aimed for the lights and the back rotors of each craft. Three of them had gone down before they reached the thickest part of the woods, and Baylor stopped to radio the Jefferson.

  “Zookeeper, this is Tiger One, over.”

  “Go ahead, Tiger One.”

  “We need a vet and a muzzle now. Sending coordinates, and we need a tracking party.”

  “Got it, and where do we need to send the bloodhounds?”

  “To our target location. They poached three of my cubs. We need to evac some, and we’ll follow our lost sheep. I’m not leaving them behind.”

  “Tiger One, we received your location, and we’ll be there.” The communications guy cut off the line after that, which didn’t surprise Wiley. Short spurts on the radio were harder to pinpoint and decipher.

  “We need a vehicle, and we need to go now,” she said after Baylor’s radio guy put the equipment away. “If we speed, we should catch these assholes.”

  “Wiley, you need to bring these guys back, and whoever this poor girl is,” Baylor said, placing the emaciated and bruised young woman on the ground gently. Her eyes were open, but she seemed incoherent.

  “Send a couple of your guys, but I’m not going back without Cletus. You can forget arguing with me, so save your breath.” Min started laughing when she finished, and Baylor seemed to have had enough. He cocked his fist and punched Min in the mouth so hard he knocked two teeth to the ground.

  “We’ve got some company,” one of his men said, and they heard voices getting closer.

  “Tito, grab the asshole and I’ll get the girl.” They double-timed it through the woods, following Goose’s lead, since he had the handheld GPS.

  It took an hour to put some distance between them and the North Korean forces, so it was unlikely they’d catch up with Berkley and the others on the road. “Let’s hope they bring more than one ride. If not, they’re going to make a detour,” Wiley said, sweeping the area with her scope. “How the hell did this happen?”

 
“When all hell broke loose outside, she went to clear the rest of the house, and I didn’t think it’d turn into this cluster fuck. We have to find her before Captain Sullivan rips my balls off and chokes me with them. Shit. I didn’t think anyone else was there. They should’ve come out when we broke in. This dumbass made enough noise for the whole countryside to hear him.”

  “Sounds like they were waiting for the right time to carve away some of our people,” Tito said.

  “I agree, but I don’t understand where they’d be taking them. Think about it. They waited, true, but this guy just has men piled in a room on the chance a bunch of people come by to steal all his important shit?” Wiley asked as they stayed under cover.

  “They were waiting on us, and if you saw Americans, then we all know who they were working for,” Baylor said. “We really need to find them.”

  A helicopter was close, but not one of theirs. She found a spot where she could brace her weapon and took a shot. The helicopter veered to the left in an awkward pitch, finally inverting before crashing. It caused such a fireball that it lit the countryside momentarily before flames consumed the rest. “We need to clear this area and give our birds a safe landing spot.”

  “What we need is to put some more distance between us and them,” Baylor said. “Let’s go before our ride gets any closer.” They started running again while trying to make their way without breaking a leg in the uneven terrain in the dark.

  Three more miles put them at a meadow ringed by trees, but the woods were thinner and quieter here. Every one of Baylor’s guys was in great shape, but they were all breathing hard by the time they could sit and call in their new coordinates.

  Wiley wiped her brow and figured they had only one more option if they were ever going to find the three people they’d lost.

  “Baylor,” she said, staring at Min for a second before turning her attention to Baylor. “We agreed to find them, but we need a hint as to where to start, and he can give us that.”

  “Tito,” Baylor said, and Tito took out his knife as Goose held Min down.

  * * *

  Berkley’s face was all Aidan could think about as she waited for the final drinks of the evening to be served, and the vision was making this dinner grow unbearable. Usually she didn’t mind the meet-and-greet before the pretend games that had no real consequences except bragging rights, but the game her people were playing had real potential for disaster.

  Devin nodded at one of the porters and glanced her way before he walked out of the room. He’d been gone only ten minutes when he reappeared and waved in her direction. “Ma’am, we need to get back now.”

  She nodded but took a few minutes to thank their host before almost sprinting back to the deck. “What’s going on?” Their ride was circling to land, but she already knew whatever came next wouldn’t be good in any way.

  “The team made it to the target and got what they were after with a few added bonuses,” Devin said into her ear. They were standing on an ally ship but saw no reason to take chances.

  “Get to the but part of that equation, Devin, because your expression is a neon sign that there is one.” She started for the helicopter as soon as it touched down and held the headphones but didn’t put them on. “Tell me,” she said, leaning close to him.

  “It was like they were waiting for them,” Devin said, and she inhaled deeply. Damn you, Berkley. I’m going to be pissed if something happened to you, she thought. “They breached the compound and got the information we wanted, but somehow a team was able to get away with Berkley, Harvey, and Jin. We can’t be sure if they targeted them specifically or if they were after any American who showed up.”

  “They were taken? Where exactly?” Her skin felt like it was on fire, and she closed her eyes momentarily to try to focus since her vision had dimmed. No way in hell could they be this unlucky again.

  “We don’t know, but Baylor and Wiley are staying on the ground. We just sent our birds to pick up the bonuses they walked away with.” Devin tried to control his tone, and she appreciated that he wasn’t screaming in her ear.

  “Okay.” She put on her headphones and glanced out to see how close they were to the Jefferson. “Save the rest until we land.” She had about five minutes to get her shit together and put all her upset over Berkley at the back of her mind. It was like slowly dying from a gaping hole in her chest, but she had a job to do and people who were waiting for orders.

  Once they were back, they headed to the bridge, and she held her finger up when Devin started to speak. “Okay, what bonuses?”

  “Baylor and Wiley are sending back a woman they couldn’t identify and Ji Woo Min.”

  “Who is?” she asked as she closed the door firmly behind them.

  “Considering where he was, he might be the new Chil. They said when you see the girl, they’re not off on that one. We’re preparing a room in sick bay, and the doc said they’d probably quarantine her just in case. Whoever she is, according to the guys, she’s in bad shape.”

  “Ma’am,” one of the men said after knocking. “The helicopter is five minutes out.”

  She went down and waited, ordering Devin to get the consultants ready, but it was something he’d obviously done since the small group of guys in civilian clothes was heading toward her. From what the crew of the Arlington said, these guys had barely left the brig, taking turns talking to their one prisoner, who she heard had clammed up for what he said was his own mental health. After a few days of questioning, Dale Whitner, according to the consultants, was an empty shell with a real chance of breaking from reality.

  “Whoever this guy is, I need him to tell you everything he knows about where they took our people. We don’t have time on our side,” she told the tall guy who seemed to be the most outgoing. “Do you understand me?”

  “Perfectly, and you got it, ma’am.”

  The helicopter landed, and only one SEAL got out, with a guy whose naked chest was smeared with blood. Aidan was about to ask why when she noticed he was holding his left hand tightly against him, and a few of his fingers were gone. “What happened?”

  “He tripped a few times, ma’am, and landed on one of our knives,” the man who brought him back said.

  If she thought about getting upset, the woman Devin had told her about changed her mind. She was so skinny Aidan doubted she could stand by herself. That was the first noticeable thing about her, but the bruises, scars, and healing cuts covering her abdomen and back were hard to miss. “Rush her down to the doctor and find her something to wear,” Aidan said. “Then get the translator to see who she is.”

  “Ma’am, I need to talk to you,” the SEAL said.

  “What’s your name?” she asked.

  “Robert Jones, ma’am, but everyone calls me Bubba. If you don’t mind, the faster we talk, the sooner I can get back to my brothers.”

  “Come on.” She decided on her office since it was closer, and Devin walked by her side.

  “Wiley wanted me to tell you we had a talk with that guy Min while we were waiting for our ride, and he told us he had an idea where they were taking Cletus and the other two,” Bubba said, accepting some coffee from Devin and guzzling it like it was a beer. “Baylor and Wiley were pissed we were ambushed, and they wanted to know where to start looking since they ain’t about to leave Cletus out there to rot.”

  “Did they find out anything useful?” she asked, exchanging some of the blinding pain in her heart for hope.

  “According to him, Chandler the dick is here,” Bubba said, then shook his head. “Sorry about the language, ma’am.”

  “I totally agree with the description, but did he narrow down a location?” This wasn’t going to be like finding a large militia in Washington DC—North Korea was vast. If they had to start guessing, they’d never make it in time.

  “All he knew was off the coast of someplace called Monggumpó,” Bubba said, pouring himself some more coffee when she waved him toward the urn. “I don’t know if I’m pronouncing
it right, but it’s not that far north from South Korea on the West Coast. It’s where the guys are headed, but I’d keep talking to the total perv we found with the girl if I were you. Once you review the footage we got, you’ll see what his biggest weakness is aside from weird porn.”

  “Believe me, we’re sending backup with you, but before you go, I need you to repeat what you told us.” She put in a call for Carl and whoever else was at Command. A few of her commanding officers and her father, plus Drew, who was now vice president, Rooster, and Carl were in the Situation Room.

  Bubba repeated his story, and they put up a map of North Korea. There was a place called Monggumpó, and it was where Bubba had said. “We need an hour to reposition the satellite to see what we can pick up. We’ll probably have to wait until the sun rises to spot anything, but we’ll start as soon as we can get this thing aimed in that direction,” Carl said.

  “We need to prepare to keep looking in case this guy was lying,” she said, not willing to accept that Berkley, Harvey, and Jin were expendable.

  “Trust me, ma’am,” Bubba said. “That guy was too uncomfortable to lie, and Baylor kept reminding him how many more parts he had.”

  “There’s that, and the evolving investigation into General Lapry,” Drew said.

  “Congratulations, sir,” Aidan said, and Devin nodded.

  “Thank you. We’ll have time enough for that later,” Drew said and pointed to the map. “Retired Homer Lapry visited South Korea just recently but was able to cross the border by sea into the north. If that’s true, the spot he left from puts him damn close to this place.” He told them what they had so far, and the town they were looking for, which gave credibility to what the FBI had reported.

  “The SEAL team and Wiley stayed behind and are following. Is that going to be a problem?” she asked and stood when President Michaels walked in.

  “Thank you. Everyone, please sit,” Olivia said, taking the chair at the head of the table. “Neil filled me in, and I heard your question, Aidan. If the intel is correct and Chandler is there, we need to finish this. We all know that if he had us in this position, he would deliver the killing blow. Let’s try our best to make sure our people are clear first.”