by Dale Mayer
“Doesn’t matter now. He’s dead. His son might not even know the news yet.” She didn’t relish seeing him again. He’d lost his father and that had to hurt. She was grateful to have her father with her still. She’d come so close to losing him several times lately.
“He will soon enough. I’m being released. Got to go back to the store and see how much damage has been done while no one has been there.”
“The place has likely been cleaned out.”
“Maybe it should stay that way. It just might be time to sell it. Too bad the only one who wanted to buy it is now dead.”
She understood how he felt. Still he didn’t sound happy about his decision. And she wanted him to be happy. “You don’t have to make a decision now.” She shifted in the bed. “Wait until you get there and see how you feel.”
A cop came to her doorway and looked around. She had a room to herself for which she was grateful, and it was as nice as it was unexpected.
“Sorry, someone is here. I’ll call you back later.”
And she hung up her phone before calling to the young man. “Hi, were you looking for this?”
She held up the knife. “Hawk said he’d send someone to collect it.”
“That would be me.”
“Do you know Hawk well or are you part of the local force and just the errand boy?” she said with a smile.
“Hawk,” he said with a laugh. “Who’s he?”
“Oh just the SEAL bringing this whole operation down.” She handed it over. “Take good care of it. It belongs to one of the kidnappers. I stole it from them.” She yawned. “Sorry, the pain killers are really knocking me out. Good thing you came now. I’ll be asleep in a few minutes.”
He gave her a big wide mouthed smile. “Yeah, you will.”
*
Hawk stared down at the map in front of him. An old engineer’s map of the bridge and the footings as it had been originally built was fascinating reading. And left too many opportunities for massive damage from bombs laid at the right location.
It’s not something bridges were ever designed against. The span was too great. The traffic too heavy. No one wanted to make the call to shut down the main artery on rumors. No one wanted to take the fall if this was found to be a hoax.
He knew it wasn’t a hoax, but he wasn’t sure many people were listening. Except his team. Mason was pulling more magic to help keep them in the middle of things. None of it mattered to him. He was after the men before the bomb was placed in their location. In order to do that he had to figure out where the most likely place was to set off the bomb for maximum damage. From a single entry position because that was simpler and faster than multiple detonations. That meant it had to be big enough and he wasn’t sure what he’d caught a glimpse of was big enough. They had to consider multiple strike points.
And that meant more vehicles, more men…and more places where they’d be vulnerable.
While the men behind him argued, he and Shadow, with Swede running the computer searches on the terrorists, plotted the best route as if they were planning to take the bridge down themselves.
It was always easier to stop an op if you understood the way the enemy was planning to go.
“I don’t know. It would have to be too damn big. It’s not going to blow downward, it will blow upward. Some damage but minor in the scheme of things,” Shadow said. His finger stabbed the map at the far entrance. “The foundations here are massive. Again the number of bombs, the types, the size…I don’t know…” He shook his head. “I’m not liking this at all.”
“I know what I’d do,” Hawk announced. “Underwater and take out the supports. This would give them the advantage of working under the cover of the water.”
Swede stood up and walked over to the map. “That would be a hell of a plan.”
“Access off what, a ferry? Those are big vans and now with the type of cargo they are carrying – heavy.”
“How about a barge or better yet an older fishing vessel? The bay is full of those,” Hawk said, staring at the paper, but in his mind he could see the water churning in front of him. “A large fishing boat is a common site, big enough to handle the weight.”
“A barge is too unwieldy,” Shadow said. “And they don’t have power of their own. A fishing boat would work but would have a hard time coming into dock in this area.”
“True, but a tugboat would be able to go back and forth easily enough. They also anchor outside and have a powerboat for coming to shore. No one would consider either option odd.”
His phone rang. He pulled it out, read the number and smiled. “Hey Gordon, you home now, causing trou-ble?”
“Mia’s gone missing again. She was checked out, X-rayed and booked into a room and given pain meds for the beating she took. The nurse went back in to check on her and she’s gone. Not her clothes or her shoes, just her. Gone without a trace.”
His voice broke as he said the next words. “They’ve got her. They won’t let her live this time.”
Hawk spun to stare at his friends, then back at the task force behind them. He took a deep breath, then in as calm and controlled a voice as he could muster, he said, “Gordon, I’m going to call you right back.”
And he hung up. With his chest pounding and panic stirring his blood to action, he said tersely, “Mia’s gone. No sign of her. Hospital bed empty. Her clothes left behind.”
The men’s gazes narrowed to slits.
“They took her?” Shadow asked incredulously. “Why?”
The television blared an alert. “We’ve just been given a message. A terrorist group is claiming to have a captive that they are going to blow up along with the cargo terminals if their demands aren’t met.”
“Does that answer the question?” Swede asked as the newcaster droned on behind them.
There on the television, obviously drugged and still in her hospital gown, face bruised and bloody already, yet hanging from a post, was Mia.
“Dear God,” Hawk whispered. “What have they done to her?”
Chapter 16
She was an idiot. That’s all there was to it. She was a stupid fool. Maybe the morphine was responsible for her loose tongue. She’d suffered through the asshole’s torture and finally she was safe – and blurted out the first thing that came to her head when she saw the young cop. Only he wasn’t a cop. But she hadn’t known until he’d picked up the knife and pocketed it with a “thanks for that. My daddy gave me that knife. I really didn’t want to lose it.”
He’d smirked and said, “Very naughty of you, but I do like spirit in a woman. Too bad there’s no time for us to get to know each other. But the guys have figured out a good use for you. Especially now.” His smile had made her blood run cold.
And she’d lost consciousness. She didn’t know if he’d hit her, drugged her, or something else, but that was the last thing she remembered.
Now she was cold, scared and hurting like she hadn’t hurt before. She really could use more painkillers. Why were they after her again? She’d done nothing, knew nothing. She had no money or prestige or power.
There was no reason to keep coming after her.
And she’d really like to go home now, please.
Then they’d shoved the camera in her face for the second time. She stared into it and hoped Hawk was watching. She was on an old fishing boat of some kind but she had no idea where. Likely under the damn bridge they were all talking about. She was apparently going to be attached to the bomb. Like really. When she decided to have a shitty day, she had a really shitty day.
Facing the camera, she moved her fingers slightly. She needed to get a message out, but how? She didn’t know any secret codes. And had no freedom of movement. She stared at the camera when told too and read the words they gave her to read. It was all lies. They weren’t going to let her go.
She stared into the camera and whispered, “Sorry Hawk.” As the cameras were shutting off, she mouthed, “Fishing boat.”
And unbelievably t
hey didn’t seem to notice. Or at least they didn’t show her if they had. She dropped her head. She was strapped against the wall, her hands in handcuffs with a small ledge where her feet rested so her arms weren’t taking all her weight. It could be worse, she knew that. But it was hard to remember such a small element.
There was nothing to do but wait. An old phrase of her father’s came rushing into her mind. When all else fails, remember who you love.
Tears clogged her eyes. She missed him.
Would she ever see him again? Would she see Hawk again? She understood they were both doing what they could. And she knew what her job was. To stay alive.
*
Mason walked into the task force and immediately felt the bristling of the other men. They could damn well get over it. He understood Hawk’s message even if Hawk hadn’t.
This woman was important to him. He’d even seen her apology to Hawk on her thirty-second spotlight and damn it that sounded like his own loving partner. She’d have done the same thing. Funny, the guys and him had been with more women than they could count, but it was a woman like his own and now Hawk’s that stopped them in their tracks.
And speaking of which, he saw Hawk pacing in front of a map and arguing logistics with Swede. Good. He’d brought Cooper with him too. He ignored the task force and walked to his men.
Hawk stopped in his tracks, and a look of relief washed over him. “Damn it’s good to see you.”
“Did you get her message?” Mason asked.
Hawk frowned. “Her damn apology? That girl would tell us to forget about her and to stop the bombing.”
“Smart girl,” Mason said calmly. “And you know we’d all say the same thing.”
The other men slowly straightened as they realized the truth of his words. “Damn. He’s right. She’s one of us.”
“Except she’s a captive.”
“And you know what that means – we aren’t leaving without her,” Mason said.
The others grinned. “Now we’re talking.”
Hawk ran his fingers through his hair. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
“She is and now she’s our something and we take care of our own.” He turned to study the map. “You guys saw her say ‘fishing boat’ at the very end, right?”
They bolted toward him. “No, we didn’t.”
He stared open-mouthed at them. “Really? The news cast I watched had the camera rolling as it moved away from her, she leaned her head to the side and mouthed ‘fishing boat.’”
The others all shook their heads. Hawk said, “The version we saw didn’t show her head leaning to the side at all. Damn.” Hawk spun and walked to the map. “I said a large fishing boat would be the best way to transport the bomb to the underwater footings.”
“So let’s get the equipment we need.” Mason smiled. “Looks like we’ll get a chance to go swimming after all.”
Getting the equipment took a little longer than they’d expected. Thankfully they didn’t have to rely on the task force for the supplies. The task force wasn’t on the same side of the shipping vessel that his team was, and Port Authority wasn’t interested in having the docks searched at all. Also shutting things down for a few hours was impossible apparently. The task force was taking the stance that the bombs would be delivered by vehicle so they wanted the authorities to focus on those access points and stay the hell away from the docks.
That worked for Hawk. While the task force was doing that, they wouldn’t be getting in the SEALs’ way.
SEALs preferred to work alone and do things the way they needed, to get them done. And right now they had to find Mia. They packed up their gear and left the task force to themselves.
Outside they split up into the vehicles and drove to the docks. They were going to need intel.
“Shadow, what about your one source? Any chance he’d be able to find out about Mia?”
“He’s already out there looking. I’ve got a couple more looking too. But I want to go down myself. Not at the same spot but up on the north side of the bridge.”
Hawk nodded. “Any particular reason?”
“Yeah, it’s where I’d go in.”
That was good enough for him. Mason drove to the area in question and parked.
The sky was quiet. At peace. At the break of a new day. He’d taken several power naps to keep up his focus strength. As he walked around the truck and stared at the water, he had to wonder what this new day was going to bring.
Shadow pointed out the ships already working the water. There were tankers waiting to load and others waiting to unload. Dozens of sailboats bobbed in the small crests brought on by the cool wind drifting across the water.
It would be cold for Mia if she was out there. On camera she hadn’t been wearing enough to keep the icy wind at bay, just a hospital gown and not much else. If she was outside, cold was going to be a major factor.
Shadow pointed out to the bay. There were several ships anchored at the mouth. Smaller watercraft bobbed around them. He studied the footings above the water and the access points from where they stood. Only two major supports, so that was where the bombs would need to be.
Easy. No guess work there.
Too easy in fact.
There were no vehicles, ships or people that they could see at the closest pylon. It looked calm and tranquil. But the water seethed around the base from the wind.
His phone beeped. “Dane has several longshoremen friends. There’re rumors of some unusual cargo at the Oakland cargo facilities.”
“Where?” Shadow asked. “We need more. That area is huge. Which pier for a start. And what ships are docked on that pier. Then we need the call number of the ship, so we can find it and track its movement. Might be nothing but we’ll have to check them all.”
“Dane also says,” Hawk paused as he read the incoming text, “no woman was seen, but a body was possibly sighted.” His heart dropped. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“Easy. She’s been unconscious since they hauled her out of the hospital – no way she’d have gone if she wasn’t – that means a body to most people. They’d have seen her being brought in to wherever they took the video.”
“Right.” It had better be. She didn’t deserve this shit. She’d been involved earlier because of her father, but now…now she was there because of him.
“We’ll get her. Hold tight to that thought. We. Will. Get. Her.” Shadow’s voice was both reassuringly hard and equally pissed. That was how Hawk felt.
“Let’s get down to where ‘the body’ was sighted. We don’t want her out on the water if we can save her before that happens.”
“Does she swim?” Swede asked.
“No idea.”
“Well, I hope she understands water rescues because chances are good we’re going to be doing one,” Shadow said.
They returned to the truck as word came she’d been seen at the Seventh Street Terminal at the Port of Oakland container handling facility. And nothing clearer than that. But men were looking everywhere there for her.
Only it was massive, damn near a city in itself. Full of places she could be stashed until needed for further media frenzy moments.
Not good enough.
Hawk wanted to make sure that after all the rescues she’d participated in – someone would be there to rescue her.
Chapter 17
Now where was she? Mia could feel the rocking motion that said water. So likely she was still on the same fishing boat. Where? And why? She didn’t want to be a damn prisoner again, but that was exactly what she was.
There were two men with her that she could see. They’d loaded her into a van earlier, but she’d succumbed to the cold and the rest of the drugs still coursing through her system and passed out. Now awake again, she was numb from the lack of clothing. Why couldn’t they have given her a blanket at least? She knew they planned to kill her but still…
“Can I have a blanket please?” she politely asked the first man.
He igno
red her.
She asked again, he ignored her again.
Great.
She turned to the second man and asked him. He looked up, saw her speaking and responded in a spate of something she didn’t understand. The meaning was clear though. No, she couldn’t have a blanket. She curled up into a ball and tried to hold her fears back. She refused to be a milksop. Not now.
But damn that cold was sapping her strength, both physically and mentally.
Her father had played games with her when she was younger and bored. Now she tried to keep her mind active by replaying the same games. Something about finding a country starting with the last letter in a country name. She quickly ran through as many as she could to keep her mind off the problems. Yet at the same time she had to keep considering what choices she had. Surely there was something she could do. Stay quiet and low key, don’t do anything to bring up their ire and wait it out. Take the opportunity and run if she could. She was a strong swimmer. Although the bay, tired and injured as she was, might be more than she could do. But then again, her choices were limited.
She had to be ready when opportunity knocked.
And in whatever form it arrived.
If that meant going for a dunk in the bay then she’d better be ready. Besides, she’d take that over being blown to shit by a bomb any day.
Especially if it was going to be done publicly. She’d had enough nightmares. She didn’t want to be the cause of more for someone else.
Besides, public executions were icky.
She grinned. At least she still had her sense of humor.
If nothing else, she could keep her head up. And stay alive.
She needed to give Hawk time to rescue her.
*
The docks teemed with life. But they had to consider not just commercial shipping but private boats that could be big enough to do the job. It was going to be impossible to track everyone.
Swede came up behind them and walked past as if not seeing them. He walked ahead a few yards then slowly cut to the left.