Capture Tomorrow

by Ann Heathman

  Zach took her by the arms and shook her. “Stop it! Arianna, look at me.” He turned her face away from all the bodies strewn about and forced her to look at him. “This is not your fault. No one’s to blame for this but the men who came here bent on doing great bodily harm.” He wiped the tears that continued to splash down her cheeks. Pulling her into his arms and holding her tight, he said, “You’ve done nothing wrong, so stop blaming yourself for the bad deeds of these sick bastards. This is not your fault.”

  How to make her understand that this was the same evil he fought every day. He took the battle to their doorstep, trying to keep them from bringing it to his. This is what pulled him away from home and out of the comfort of her arms into the fight against such evil in the world. He wasn’t immune to scenes like this, but it was obvious she was completely overwhelmed by the carnage that lay in front of her.

  The ambulance arrived, and it wasn’t long before the EMTs were bringing Pilar out on a stretcher. Lisa followed close behind.

  Pushing herself out of Zach’s arms, she said, “Please, let me go to the hospital with her.”

  “You’re not going any place by yourself, but yes, that’s a good idea.” He whistled to Raul and signaled him over. “Take Arianna to the hospital. I’ll be there as soon as I get things settled here.”

  “My phone,” Arianna said. “I need my phone. It’s in my room. I need my phone.”

  “Okay, go wait in the car. I’ll send Raul to get it.”

  Tony came out of the house as Arianna was leaving. Walking up to Zach, he asked, “How’s she doing?”

  “She’s a wreck. Blames herself for this,” Zach said, pointing around. “Adding to everything, she shot one of the perps. Gonna’ have some bad nightmares over that. I remember my first kill.”

  “Oww! Got that right, but you can’t help but be proud of her,” Tony said. “That took a lot of guts and a cool head as well.”

  Zach nodded. “Probably saved her life. José and Duke’s as well.”

  “But hey, listen to this,” Tony said. “I need to talk to you before the local authorities arrive.”

  Zach frowned, curious as to what he was going to hear. “What’s up?”

  One of the intruders was still alive when I got to him. Took some persuading, but I was able to get some information out of him. You ready for this?”

  “This? What is this?”

  “It seems these men weren’t here to kill Arianna.”

  Zach took a hard gulp. “What?” he exclaimed, shocked to learn the hitmen hadn’t come to kill Arianna. “What then?”

  “They were after us.”

  Zach looked at him in disbelief.

  “Yeah, us. These guys were SVR RF, Russian Federation, our counterparts in Russia. He said they saw Arianna’s interview and connected us to the assassination of Fasi in Kervistan.”

  “You have to be shittin’ me.”

  “I’m not, but none of them will be talking. Afraid all the bad guys have met their maker.” He paused and shook his head. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s either them or us. We do what we have to do.”

  “Roger that.” Zach started walking to the house. “You’re right. In a few minutes, this place is going to be crawling with local law enforcement. We have to let them think this is about these radicals coming after Arianna. We can’t give them a reason to start down a path that connects them to us and our work. I’ll call Veritas and have him intercede in the investigation.”

  “Copy that,” Tony said.

  This was a complicated mess, Zach thought as the first of the local police approached him for a statement. Arianna was eaten alive with blame for this incident when really it all happened because of him and his men. No way to explain that to her however without divulging too much information, which he couldn’t do. But how could he let her continue to suffer, thinking this was all her fault?

  He didn’t know how he could ever make this right.

  “I WAS really worried about you,” Lisa said as they sat in the hospital waiting room. “I’ve never been so afraid in my entire life.”

  “I ran to the stables,” Arianna said, “but I saw three men go into the house. I prayed you were some place safe. I’m really going to have nightmares over this.”

  “What’s that on your clothes?” Lisa pointed to a few spots on her shorts and t-shirt. “Is that blood?”

  “Oh,” Arianna looked down at the top she was wearing. “I’m not sure. One of the gunmen shot Duke and was going to shoot me, too, but I shot him first. This could be that guy’s blood or Duke’s. I helped move Duke. I’m really not sure.”

  “Whoa! You shot someone? Good for you. I wish I’d had a gun, but I didn’t, so I hid under a bed. They never saw me, but poor Pilar… she was right out in the open.” Lisa paused, remembering the awful scene. “I saw her fall. She came to save me and put herself in danger. I feel like it’s all my fault she’s injured.”

  Arianna put her hand up and stopped her. “No. Don’t think that. If anything, it’s mine. I’m the one who’s on the Jihad hit list. I think I’m to blame for this disaster.”

  She got up and went in search of a restroom. She had to wash the newly noticed blood spots off her arms. When she returned, Zach and Tony were waiting along with Lisa. She took a seat next to Zach and slumped back into his arms. The adrenaline rush from the shooting had dissipated, and now she felt herself crashing. Weariness overtook her. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep.

  Zach’s phone buzzed, and he pressed the answer button. After listening for a few minutes, he ended the call and turned to the group. “That was the vet. It looks like Duke’s going to make it. He’s pretty messed up though. One shot shattered his femur and the other bullet caused severe nerve damage to his front paw. I’m afraid his days as a service dog are over.”

  Tony looked over at Zach. “Sorry, man. I know how much he meant to you.”

  Arianna nodded and scrunched closer to Zach. “I’m so sorry. Duke saved my life. I’d be dead if he hadn’t attacked that shooter. He’s my hero.”

  Zach pulled her close. “He did what he was trained to do, and he almost paid the ultimate price.”

  They sat quietly, no one speaking. Like unrelenting body blows, the bad news of the day kept coming.

  Several cups of coffee later, the surgeon finally came into the waiting room, a grim look on his face. “I’m looking for the family of Pilar Alvarez,” he said, looking around at the people.

  Zach stood and addressed the doctor. “She has no known family. She’s been our employee for over thirty years. We consider her part of our family.”

  “Very well, then.” The doctor moved over to where the group was sitting. “Here’s the situation. I have to tell you, Ms. Alvarez is lucky to be alive. People shot in vital organs usually don’t make it due to the significant blood loss. However, if a gunshot victim’s heart is still beating when they get to the hospital, there is a ninety-five percent survival rate. That’s the lucky part.”

  Everyone hugged each other and mumbled quick words of relief.

  “Now, for the rest. She required several pints of blood before we got the bleeding stopped. This under control, we looked at her internal injuries. A bullet missed her spine by a millimeter. She lost part of her liver and one kidney. She has damage to her hip and will likely have a permanent limp. In all, if everything heals well, she should be fine. The next twenty-four hours are critical. We wait and watch, hoping for no complications.”

  Everyone again hugged each other and exclaimed how relieved they were.

  “Can we see her?” Zach asked.

  “She’s in the ICU, slowly waking up. She may not know you, but yes, visitors are allowed for fifteen minutes every hour, two at a time.”

  “Thank you, Doctor,” Zach said.

  They made their way to the intensive care unit, and the head nurse admitted them right away. Arianna stepped up to Pilar’s bedside.

  “Pilar, it’s Arianna.” She bent d
own and kissed her forehead. “We’re here for you.”

  Pilar’s groggy eyes fluttered open, and she attempted a weak smile. “You’re safe…” Her voice trailed off. “You’re safe,” she repeated.

  Zach gently raised Pilar’s hand to his lips and kissed it. Leaning down, he whispered, “Thank you. You saved her. Rest now, and get better.”

  Pilar again whispered, “She’s safe.”

  “Yes,” Zach said. “The doctor says you’re going to be fine. I’m going to make sure you get the best care in the world.”

  A tiny tear rolled down her cheek, and she squeezed Zach’s hand before slipping into a medically-induced sleep.

  They left the ICU and met up with Lisa and Tony who were waiting their turn to go in. “She’s pretty out of it, so you may want to wait until the anesthesia completely wears off before you visit,” Zach said. They walked toward the hospital exit.

  As he waited for Raul to bring the car around, he said to Arianna, “I have to tie up some loose ends at the estate. In the meantime, Raul will take you to a safe house where we’ll stay until I’m sure there are no more assailants around and until order is restored at the house.”

  He knew the local authorities would have everything roped off as a crime scene, pending an investigation—one that would be short-lived, however. Within hours, Veritas would have agents on scene, sending the local police packing under the guise of this being a federal investigation.

  There would also be someone asking questions at the hospital and the veterinary clinic. Gunshot wounds, by law, needed to be reported. Federal agents would see that those reports disappeared. This incident would quickly be swept under the rug.

  He turned to Arianna and gave her his credit card. “You can’t go back to the house for any of your things, so stop and get a change of clothes or whatever else you need for a couple of days until I can get some of your things from the house.”

  “Is this event going to be all over the news?” she asked.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Not if I can help it.”

  “If the network hears about this, they may not want me as their reporter… too risky. They might consider me a liability and drop me. I should quit anyway.”

  On one hand that was music to his ears, but he knew she’d never be happy if she couldn’t follow her dream.

  “Listen, babe.” He pulled her close. “You’re a damn good journalist, and this is your passion. We pursue our passions, yet sometimes in life, these passions carry a risk… a personal risk as well as a risk to others. You hate it, but you continue on because you can’t not do it. You have a calling, and you answer that calling regardless of the risk.”

  Arianna studied his face. Is he talking about me or himself?

  “This will pass,” he continued. “We’ll be sure to take even more precautions in the future, but we can’t let the terrorists win which is what they will do if you quit.”

  A car pulled up in front of the hospital with Raul sitting in the passenger seat. Zach opened the door and invited her inside. Lisa entered on the other side..

  “Go back to the safe house and relax,” Zach said to Arianna. “Stay with Raul and don’t go anywhere without him. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  After the incident at the house, Arianna was able to push the start date for her new job back a few weeks. She needed time to settle back into a daily routine and get organized. The executives at the network weren’t overly happy about this delay, but understood her situation.

  The day finally arrived when everyone was allowed to return to Zach’s estate. As they drove through the newly reinforced gate, Arianna looked around and could not see a single remnant of the carnage which had beset this place. Workman had completely restored the house and its surroundings to their prior pristine condition.

  Pilar had also been released from the hospital. She had several weeks of convalescing ahead of her, so Zach had hired a private nurse to attend to her every need while she healed. Another maid had been hired to help with the physical running of the house in Pilar’s stead.

  “I am not able to walk yet, but I can still supervise the tasks to be done,” Pilar said to Arianna as she sat on the veranda, enjoying the sun and cool breeze off the ocean. “I feel well enough to at least oversee the duties of the house, but Zach has forbidden it.”

  Arianna adjusted the afghan that covered Pilar’s legs. “I know you hate being idle, Pilar, but I agree with Zach. You should sit back, rest, and get better.”

  As for Arianna, during her long, boring stay at the safe house, she had plenty of time to mull things over. The more she thought about the attack, the madder she got, and the more determined she became to not let these radicals deter her from reporting the news as she saw it. She wasn’t going to sit down, and she wasn’t going to shut up. She would do her job despite any risk to herself or others.

  In fact, she had used this downtime to prepare a positon statement which she planned to give during one of her first broadcasts. More like a rant, she planned to rail against the terrorist’s movement which seemed to be so prevalent here and abroad. It did occur to her that taking such an adamant position may get her fired, but she no longer cared. She would stake her claim as a ‘take no prisoners’ journalist and if she got fired over that, so be it.

  THE FIRST night back in her own bed had been wonderful. Snuggled up next to Zach, she had slept like a baby especially after an exquisite night of love making. She didn’t think she could ever get enough of this man. He played her body like a finely tuned instrument…at times delicate, requiring great care. At other times in a powerful manner with meticulous control aimed at bringing about the highest level of performance and effectiveness. He knew exactly how to make her body sing.

  She was still lounging in bed, sipping her morning coffee, when Zach left for his daily run. If she played her cards right, she hoped to entice him back into bed with her when he returned from his work-out.

  Looking over at her desk, she saw a stack of mail that had collected during her absence from the house. One particular UPS package caught her eye. She opened it and found a DVD along with a note that read,

  Found some film you shot in Afghanistan. Burned it to a disc. Thought you might want to see it. Enjoy!

  Kevin

  She popped the disc into her computer, poured herself a fresh cup of coffee from the carafe on her bedside table, and then slipped back into bed. She pressed play and the video appeared on the large screen monitor.

  This film had come out of the digital camera she had taken to Afghanistan for her own personal use. The little video vignettes she shot weren’t slated to be part of her documentary, but more of a way to memorialize her visit to this strange new country.

  First on the screen were goofy pictures of them departing for Pakistan and then arriving at the airport in Pakistan. There was Kevin, disheveled, but beaming as he got off the plane. In contrast, the next piece of footage was of a ‘not so happy’ Kevin, when he realized their luggage had been lost. It was funny—at least now—to see Kevin using made-up sign language and strange sounding words as he tried to tell the airline agent about their missing luggage and camera equipment. Neither one of them knew the first word in Arabic or Farsi or whatever language the people spoke. She could look back and laugh now, but at the time, the lost luggage was a source of great consternation.

  Next, there was the scene where they first met Tarique, their guide, along with the dilapidated Land Rover they had rented for the trip. The vehicle was in sad shape, and she wondered how they had ever made it to their destination in such a piece of junk.

  She had even let Kevin use the camera to take a few shots of her trying on the burqa she was forced to wear when they crossed the border into Afghanistan. During her dress rehearsal, she had tried to ham it up and show a little leg, making fun of the outfit… an outfit she came to hate with a vengeance.

  Zach came back from his workout, and she paused the CD to greet him. He pulled his t-shirt off and headed tow
ard the bathroom. “I’m all salty from swimming in the ocean. I’m going to get a shower,” he said with a gleam in his eye. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  She smiled. “I’ll be right here, babe.” Her body tingled with great anticipation, hoping they both had the same thing in mind.

  He made his way into the shower, and she resumed watching the disc. Not all of the footage was comical, however. In fact, she wished she had thought to use some of this film in her documentary. As they drove deep into Afghanistan, the landscape was dotted with poppy fields. She had always understood Afghanistan to be the world’s main heroin supplier, and by the huge number of poppy fields she saw, she believed that was true.

  Finally, she had recorded the marketplace in the city of Nabolis. Eww! Once again she saw the scene of the oxen taking a dump right in the middle of the square, just as gross as the first time she saw it. The camera panned in on the two men who helped them get their car started and had hitched a ride to town with them. She studied the images on the screen and suddenly sat straight up in bed.

  Was she really seeing what she thought she was seeing? She paused the film and stared at the images on the screen. She pushed play, then pause again. Rewound the disc and pushed play once more. Jumping out of bed, she stood gaping at the monitor, unable to believe her eyes. Despite dressed in Afghan garb. Despite the full beards and turbans, she recognized these men. Standing there in the marketplace were Zach and Tony.

  “How about hitting the target range later today?” Zach asked, coming into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked over and noticed her standing and staring at the computer screen.

  She glanced at him and then looked back at the screen, her mouth agape.