by Eric Meyer
The driver stared at him. “What the fuck happened here?”
“Here? Nothing.”
“Nothing! It was like a fucking war. I thought I was back in Vietnam.”
So he’s a vet. That’s useful.
“What unit were you in?”
“Seventh Cavalry, Master Sergeant. And I flew in enough Hueys to know what a helicopter looks like.”
“So you were at la Drang?”
The man nodded. “Yeah, that was a wild one.”
“Okay, Master Sergeant. I’m Navy, not Army, but we all answer to the same rules. Nothing happened here, you here? Nothing.”
The man looked skeptical. But he recognized Nolan and Bravo Platoon as kindred spirits.
“Did you win?”
Nolan stared at him. “How could we win? Nothing happened.” Then he grinned. “But if something had happened, which it didn’t, yeah, we won.”
The man nodded, satisfied. “Arabs?”
“Something like that?”
He grinned. “Good luck to you on your next mission that doesn’t happen. Don’t worry. I saw nothing. I must have fallen asleep.”
Nolan watched him drive away, then ran back to the waiting Blackhawk and jumped aboard. They flew south into the night, heading for Coronado. And if they were as good as their word, the beginning of the end for these Colombians.
And maybe for John and Violet too, unless I can do something about that.
One thing he did know, these people were well resourced, and their compound would be heavily defended; which meant the Robsons could both get a bullet in the head as soon as an attack began.
I have to head that one off, but how?
When they touched down, Talley had forewarned the medics, and they rushed him off the helo and into the sickbay for emergency treatment on his wound. The duty physician grimaced when he pulled off the bandage.
“It’s a bad one, Chief. It’ll need a lot of stitches, I’m afraid. I’ll give you an anesthetic.”
“No anesthetic, I’ve got work to do.”
“Hey, look, you need a few days rest. Otherwise, you could do yourself a lot of damage.”
“No anesthetic,” Nolan repeated. “Just stitch me up, Doc. I’ve got business to deal with.”
The man shrugged. “It’s your funeral.”
But his work was as professional as any man could do, and he did feel better when his leg was cleaned and stitched, and the doc even tidied up his arm.
“I’ve put a new set of splints on you, some of the ones you had in there were displaced. You know you’re supposed to stay away from strenuous activity with those things.”
“I do, yeah.”
He finally got away, entering the briefing room in time for the start of the main event. Rear Admiral Drew Jacks stood on the rostrum, pointing at an enlarged map projected onto the screen. He used a laser pointer to indicate an area below Lake Tahoe.
“Gentlemen, this is where the Salazar compound is situated. At least, that’s what NSA tells us.”
Talley shot up his hand. “How sure are they of this intel, Sir?”
Jacks looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable. “Pretty sure, Lieutenant. We’ve downloaded satellite imagery, and sure enough there’s a large, unexplained compound in that exact area. Our people estimate there are upwards of fifty personnel coming and going. At the very least, it could be a storage and distribution center for their imports from Colombia.”
“So why haven’t the local law taken this place down?”
“That’s a good question, Lieutenant. The answer is simple. These guys are pretty clever, and they’ve never given the Sheriff’s Office any kind of probable cause to swear out a warrant. Even now, we can only legally go in under the Patriot Act. Our job is straightforward. Rescue the hostages being held there, if they’re still alive. That’s Roscoe Bremmer and the Robsons. After that, we’re to destroy the place, and put it beyond use for anything other than growing trees. We leave tomorrow, timed to arrive two hours before dawn.”
“RoEs, Sir?” Talley continued.
“Yeah, Rules of Engagement, that’s an easy one. Do everything within your power to keep the hostages alive. And when they’re secure, I’d prefer that these bastards don’t leave that place alive.”
“Is that an official order, Sir?”
Jacks looked at him sharply. “It’s my order, Lieutenant. These people are our enemies, and they’re fighting a war on the US in the guise of civilians. That means they have no rights under the rules of war.” He looked around the assembled Seals. “If you want me to lay it out any clearer, I want them dead. Is that understood?”
“Hooyah!”
“Chief Nolan, I want a quiet word with you afterwards. That’s all, dismissed.”
Nolan waited patiently as the Admiral finished talking to his men. Then he turned to Nolan.
“Chief, I’m sorry, but Lieutenant Talley tells me he asked you to go as an advisor. I have to say no. It’s not on. I want you to stay here and recover.”
“But, Sir, they’re my family in there. I have to go in and do everything I can to protect them.”
“We’ll do everything necessary to protect them, and Roscoe Bremmer as well. He’s our family too, you know.”
“Yes, I know that Sir, but…”
“Forget the arguments. I’ve made my decision. You’ve been hit too hard, so you stay out of this one. Dismissed.”
Nolan walked out of the briefing room and out into the cool, San Diego morning. He was tired, totally exhausted. Yet above all, he was in despair. How the hell could he tell Daniel and Mary that their grandparents had been killed, only months after their mother had been shot dead? The shock would do terrible damage to their young minds, to their emotions, still growing and developing in the violent world they lived in. He had to protect them, by protecting their grandparents. It was as necessary as protecting them from the Colombian vendetta. Yet how? He walked back into the briefing room. A young rating was clearing up the paperwork and photographs shot by the passing satellite. Nolan helped himself to a heap of stuff, and when the sailor approached, he merely brushed off the man’s inquiry.
“Sorry, Sailor, I left these behind. I’ll take them out of your way now.”
“Yes, Chief. Thanks for that. I was about to bundle them with the other stuff.”
“That’s okay, it’s all sorted now.”
As he walked out of the door, with the documents stuffed awkwardly under his one good arm, Will Bryce intercepted him.
“Chief, I’m sorry to hear you won’t be with us in the morning.”
“Yeah, me too, but those are the orders. I just have to live with it.”
He glanced at the bundle of charts and photographs underneath Nolan’s arm but made no comment.
“How’re you getting home?”
Nolan shrugged. “I’ll call a cab, I guess.”
“Nah, let me give you a ride. I’m going your way.”
They climbed into Will’s big Dodge and drove the short distance. He thanked the big PO1, but as he climbed out, he got a surprise. Will leaned over and handed him a canvas holdall.
“It’s a spare set off NVS goggles and personal commo equipment. I figured you might want to check them over, and make sure they’re working okay. If you’re on sick leave, you want to keep up with everything.”
He took Nolan’s sheaf of documents off him and tucked them into the bag, then handed it back to him with a grin. “That’ll make it easier to carry your personal correspondence.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“That’s okay. Just tell me you’ll keep your head down. The boys need you, and even if you decide that you have to be there tomorrow,” he looked sharply at Nolan, “which I know you won’t, you’re not so stupid as to disobey an order to remain on sick leave. Then make sure they don’t blow your damn fool head off.”
“Thanks, Will.”
“Yeah. Take it easy.”
Chapter Fourteen
He was back at Carol’s. The house seemed lonely and deserted, and with that odd echo empty houses seem to possess. He longed for company, any company, to take the edge off the loss of first Grace, and then Gracia. But he had things to do. First off, he called Carol.
“How are the kids?”
“They’re good, Kyle. You survived the exchange with Rivera.”
“Yeah, I did. It was a setup. Good thing you got the Platoon involved.”
“Kyle, I’m so glad. I thought I’d done the wrong thing. I was so worried.”
“You did okay. How are the kids?”
“They don’t know that anything was ever wrong. They’re fine. Missing you and their grandparents. I’m so worried that something bad had happened to them. Kyle, do you think they could be…?
He knew what she wanted to ask him. And was terrified to hear a truthful answer. Yeah, they could be dead. The people that took them, they treated death as casually as a beer in the local bar. But if they’d killed them, they’d suffer. Christ, he’d make them suffer. In the meantime, Carol had the kids to protect, and she didn’t need negatives to add to their burdens. And there was something more. He needed her, here.
“I’m sure they’re fine. They’re just being held against something these people want. You know how it works. But we’ve discovered their compound.”
Her voice was shaky. “That’s progress. I know how it works, yes. Sometimes it works. Sometimes, it doesn’t, but I’m praying for the best. The kids’ grandparents are so elderly, so vulnerable. They could be badly hurt. When does the operation begin?”
“They’re going in tonight. It’s an officially sanctioned operation to finish the Colombian operation, once and for all.”
“And you’re sure that John and Violet are being held in this compound?”
“We have to assume so, yes. They’ve got one of our people too, Roscoe Bremmer. Look, I’m worried about them too. In this kind of operation, things can sometimes go wrong. That’s why I intend to make sure that nothing bad happens to John and Violet, but I need your help, Carol.”
Her reply was instant. “Anything. What can I do?”
“Is there someone who can take care of the kids tonight? Someone reliable, someone from school maybe, a sleepover?”
“I can arrange that, yes.”
“Okay, do it. I’m going to get some sleep. I need to be fresh for tonight.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“If you’ll help me, I intend to drive out there and get John and Violet out before the Platoon goes in. It’d be good to get Roscoe out too, if possible.”
He didn’t add ‘If any of them are still alive’. He didn’t have to, she was a cop, and she knew the score.
“Of course I’ll help. You’re in no condition with that arm to go up against these people. Christ, Kyle, if anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Thanks, it’s appreciated. Carol, you’re some girl, you know that?”
“It’s what I’m here for.”
“I don’t know what to say. Believe me, words are not enough. I…” He choked off what he was about to say and then went on with the briefing. “I’ll hire a car to get back to you, then we can take the Camaro.”
She’d heard the catch in his voice. “Kyle, it’s okay, we’ll pull this off. We’ll need weapons. I have my Glock, but it won’t be enough.”
“The trunk of the Camaro, there’s a hidden compartment at the base. There’s plenty of stuff in there. We’ll be fine. Thanks, Carol, I’ll see you later.”
He went to put down the receiver.
“Kyle!”
“Yeah?”
“You know.”
“Yeah, I know. I feel the same way. See you later.”
He lay on the couch, he felt too hyper to go up to bed and sleep properly. All he could do was doze and try to keep the turbulent thoughts out of his head.
Should I have involved Carol, a woman I’m falling in love with? No, that’s not true. I’ve already fallen in love with her. Another person who got close to me and the kids, and now I’m putting her in harm’s way. She could be killed. Yet I have to try, for the sake of John and Violet. Or should I? What do I do? I know I can’t do it with one good arm. Damn! What the hell else can I do?
He finally fell into a fitful sleep and woke up feeling like little more than a corpse. He slowly took a cold shower, dressed and ate some breakfast, or was it lunch? He checked the time and discovered it was past midday. He had to hurry. Nolan called a local car hire office and booked a car to take him to San Francisco, then called for a cab to take him to the depot to collect it. The car was waiting for him, a big, dark red Dodge Charger, just the thing to eat up the miles between San Diego and San Francisco. The clerk eyed his broken arm doubtfully.
“You sure you’re going to be able to control this vehicle with that arm, Sir?”
“No sweat, I’ve been doing it all my life.”
“Oh, I see. Certainly, Sir, no problem.”
The specter of dealing with a disabled client was enough to head off any argument. He handed Nolan the keys.
“Enjoy the drive, Sir. Any problems, give us a call. Have a nice day.”
“Thanks, I intend to.”
The Dodge was big, comfortable, powerful and fast. The journey up to San Francisco was fast and almost effortless. By 2000 that evening, he was pulling up outside the Robson house. Carol came out to greet him and flung her arms around him.
“I was so worried last night. I thought they were going to kill you.”
“So did they, but they were wrong. This one is much bigger, and if we can pull this off, the threat from Salazar’s operation will be ended for good. But it won’t be easy.”
She put her finger to his lips. “Not now, Kyle. Let’s share a few minutes before we get down to business.”
He knew what she meant. A few minutes that could be their last. He relaxed and felt the soft warmth of her body close to him. For a few moments, the worries and agonies drifted away. He heard her murmur softly.
“When you called me, what I said…”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“I think I’m falling in love with you, Chief Nolan. Is that wise?”
He pulled away and looked at her pretty, serious expression. “I reckon so.” He softened his words with a grin. “After we free John and Violet, we should talk some more.”
“At least you didn’t say ‘if’ we free them.”
“That’s not a word in the Seals’ vocabulary. If we go for a goal, we achieve it, always.”
“Unless…”
“Yeah, okay, unless. But there’s not gonna be any unless tonight. They’re coming home. I can bring the kids home, and we can see about some kind of normality, without those Colombians running around pursuing come crazy vendetta. We’ll be home free.”
“It sounds great, Kyle. Wonderful.”
“You’d better believe it. We have to make a start.”
She disengaged herself from his arms. “I know.”
He pulled out the maps and aerial photos from the holdall, and she helped him lay them out in the living room. Closer study of the photos showed the compound to be more formidable than the maps had suggested during the briefing. A low level shot, taken from about a mile away, showed a high wooden wall, constructed from logs, that surrounded the entire area.
“It looks like a Wild West cavalry fort,” Carol smiled. “It must be about twenty feet high.”
“Yeah, it does. They’ve used the local timber to construct it. That’s very clever. And those logs will take a lot of punishment. They’ll have to go in over the top. I’d guess a HALO drop straight into the center.”
“Is that dangerous?”
“It is if they’re waiting for us, yes. When a parachutist is in the air, he’s at his most vulnerable.”
“But why would they be waiting for them? They don’t even know their compound has been discovered.”
“They’re not stupid.
They’ll anticipate the possibility. And so far, they’ve kept one step ahead of us. It would be best to hit the compound with a preemptive air strike, but with hostages inside that’s impossible. The other way is to blast an entrance with explosives, but they don’t know where the hostages are being held, so it’s a tough call. But if things go well, we’ll be able to get them out before they go in.”
“How can the two of us manage that? It seems impossible. The moment they see us coming, they’ll let loose with everything they have.”
Nolan grinned. “Then we won’t let them see us coming. By the time they realize we’re around, we’ll be on the way home.”
* * *
They were quiet on the journey, and Nolan drove the Camaro fast and hard. They skirted Sacramento and headed east on Route 50 into the Eldorado National Forest. By the time they parked the car two miles from the compound, it was past midnight. Nolan checked his wristwatch and set the countdown timer.
“We’ve got two hours before the action starts. If we move fast, we’ll be at the compound by 0100. We have to be out of there by 0145 to us give enough time to get clear.”
She grimaced. “Can we do it in forty-five minutes?”
“Provided nothing goes wrong. If we’re not out of there in forty-five minutes, we’ll be staying there.”
“Do these things ever go wrong?”
She waited for him to answer, and Nolan cursed. He hadn’t meant to alarm her, but in his business, they dealt in realities. He knew it was possible, and he had a plan for infiltration and exfiltration with the hostages. But plans could go wrong.
He remembered Operation Eagle Claw, ordered by President Carter to put an end to the Iran hostage crisis with the rescue of the Americans held captive at the US Embassy in Tehran. The plan called for six helicopters, and in the event, eight were sent in. Two helicopters could not navigate through a very fine sand cloud, and one was forced to crash land, the other returned to the USS Nimitz. Six helicopters reached the rendezvous point, but one of them had damaged its hydraulic systems. Sadly, the spare parts were on one of the two helicopters that had aborted. With insufficient helicopters to complete the mission, local commanders requested President Carter to abort the mission.