arm. He spun around, spraying the room with bullets. He did not hit Lynda. But she hit him twice in the chest.
There was a strange silence, and she went and took his gun. It was a machine pistol, sort of a machine gun. She had never seen one before. She went over to the window and saw two men standing together in the front yard. They seemed to be arguing with each other. She sprayed them with the machine pistol. They both went to their knees and fell over. She looked in the front yard and could see no one else.
She heard glass crunching in the kitchen. Someone was inside.
She knelt in the hallway and waited. A head appeared at the kitchen door. She shot at it but missed; the figure ducked back into the kitchen. She eased to the kitchen door frame. The kitchen was empty. She began looking for Ted. He was curled up in a corner of the living room. He was unconscious.
She ran to find Tasha. Tasha was right where Lynda had left her. She was fine. Lynda pulled out her phone. She called 911, told them that she was a federal agent, and that she need an ambulance and the police. She was told that the police were a block away, waiting on the SWAT team.
Lynda went back to Ted. He had been shot in the arm, the chest and head. But he was not dead. She called Tom. He answered on the first ring. She told him about Ted, and he said that he would get someone there immediately.
She looked out the window at the car Bobby and Marilyn were in. She could see the passenger door open and a body lying beside the car. They both must be dead, she thought. She could see someone in the street. It was a group of men. They must be policemen. She began turning on the lights. Soon, she had every light that was working turned on.
The SWAT team made it to the house. They cleared all the rooms, and the yard. No one living was left outside.
The ambulance was allowed to pull up to the house. Ted was loaded into the ambulance and taken off.
Lynda pointed to the car and asked the SWAT team to check the two agents out. An officer came back to Lynda and told her that a man and a woman were both dead at the car.
Lynda tried to gather Tasha up and go to the hospital. The officers would not let her leave. She called Tom. She said, “Tom, they say Bobby and Marilyn are both dead. Ted has been shot three times. I need to get to the hospital, but they will not let me go. What do I do?”
Tom said, “Let me talk to the man in charge.”
She yelled out, “I need someone in charge here!”
A tall lanky man came over to her. He said, “Yes, that would be me. What do you want?”
Lynda handed the phone to the man. He listened for a long time. Then he said, “Ma’am, you can go with your child. I suggest you get treatment for your hands and legs.”
Lynda looked down. Her shirt and pants were covered in blood. She went out to her car, put Tasha in the passenger seat, and started off for the local hospital.
She arrived at the hospital and she got a wheelchair for Tasha. She pushed Tasha into the emergency area, and found Ted lying on a table with a sheet over his face. He was dead too. Lynda began to cry. Tasha came up and raised the sheet and looked at Ted. She said, “Wake up, Daddy!” This just made Lynda cry harder.
Lynda sat on a table and let them sew her knees and hands up. Tasha would not be still. She did not understand that Ted was dead yet. She just thought that he was asleep.
When Lynda’s wounds were bandaged, she took Tasha and went to her parents’ house. Her father got his pistol out and said that he would protect them. She had to tell them the whole story twice before they believed it.
Lynda took a sleeping pill from her mother and slept with Tasha.
Ben and Elaina had been stopped two streets from the shootout and held for interrogation. They both feigned innocence. The police had nothing to hold them on, so let them go.
The next day they heard on the news about the shootout and saw footage of the house that been shot up. The news said that the homeowner had been killed, and nine bodies had been recovered from the crime scene, including two federal agents. Names were not provided.
Lynda had to prepare for Ted’s funeral. Tom helped her as much as he could. But he had two other agents’ families to deal with. The team had been decimated.
The funeral was four days later. Even though an autopsy had been performed, Ted still looked good in the casket. Lynda cried nearly continuously.
The funeral was brief. Tom spoke an eulogy. Then Lynda had to go to Marilyn and Bobby’s funeral the next day. It was the saddest two days of Lynda’s life.
Lynda hired a contractor to come in, repair the windows and all the walls, as well as clean up the mess. She could not go see the house right now. She dealt with the contractor by telephone.
The big day came and the house was totally repaired and cleaned up.
Lynda and Tasha pulled up into the driveway. There was another car out front. Two men were in it, Tom and Wayne. Lynda sat in the car a long time before she could get out.
Tom came over to the car. He asked, “Are you okay, Lynda?”
She smiled and nodded at him.
He said, “Come on, I do have some good news. I have gotten you an extended leave. You can have off up to a year, if you need it.”
She looked up at Tom and said, “Thank you, Tom, I appreciate it.” She got out of the car and walked slowly up to the house. Wayne was helping Tasha. The little girl got out. She was very solemn now. She understood that her Daddy was never coming home again.
Lynda went into the house and sat down with Tom and Wayne. She asked, “Okay, guys, tell me what you have found out.”
Tom looked at the floor. He said, “Lynda, one of the guys that we identified was the nephew of Miguel Donovan, the man killed in Guatemala. We suspect his daughter is out for revenge, and this was all set up by her. She is married now, and her husband’s name is Benito Romero. We thought you might find that interesting.”
Lynda looked at the ceiling. She would have to go into hiding. Miguel’s daughter was after her.
She told Tom this, and he agreed.
Tom offered her a CIA safe house that was available. Lynda decided to move at once. They helped her load up clothes and items that they would need in the trunk of the car.
The safe house was in the mid-cities area. She felt safe now. That is, as safe as she could possibly feel. She enrolled Tasha in home-schooling, and she began to teach her at home. It kept them both busy.
After a week of searching, Ben convinced Elaina that the woman and child were in hiding and that they should go home. They left and went back to Guatemala.
Lynda began doing her own searches and found Elaina Donovan’s records. She was even able to find that the couple had rebuilt Miguel’s house in Guatemala. Now she would be the hunter, not the hunted.
She had a plan, but didn’t know what to do with Tasha. She did not trust her being safe at Lynda’s mother’s house. She convinced her mother to come stay with Tasha at the safe house. Her dad came too. He was armed, he told her. He had his pistol fastened to his belt.
Lynda could not tell anyone about her plan. She made a flight to Guatemala and added a rental car to her itinerary. The flight was for Thursday week. Her mother and dad would come stay with Tasha starting Wednesday.
On Wednesday, her mother and dad showed up right on time. Lynda reviewed everything with her parents. Tasha was completely healed now, and played in the backyard of the safe house.
The next morning, Lynda left and drove to the airport. She took her pistol with her in her baggage. She knew that it was illegal, but she did it anyway. The flight was long and had two stops on the way. She was worn out when she reached Guatemala. She picked up her bags and got the rental car. She drove to the hotel and unloaded everything. She went straight to sleep.
Lynda woke up with a terrible dream about Ted. She looked around for him. She still had a hard time believing that he was dead. She was now five months preg
nant, and was having to wear maternity tops and pants. She wanted this thing done before the baby came.
She got up, took a shower and put clean clothes on. No one would suspect a pregnant lady.
She drove out to the ranch and studied the gate. The only thing new was the locks. She went back to town and bought a twenty-four-inch bolt cutter. She went back to her hotel room and tried to sleep some more. Ted just would not leave her alone. She kept dreaming about him. She thought he was warning her.
It was nearly dark when she got up. She put on her sturdy pants, a heavy shirt and her hiking boots. Her knife fit snugly in the right boot. She walked down to the car and got in. She already had her gun and the clips in the trunk. She drove to the ranch and stopped at the gate. She got out with her flashlight and could see no new tire tracks since she had been there earlier.
The bolt cutter cut right through the chain. She swung the gate open and got in the car and drove through. She left the gate open and drove to the second gate. She tried the old password. It did not work and the gate would not open. She got out and got her gun and the clips out of the trunk. The gun fit nicely on her belt, and the clips fit in her pockets. She was all set.
Lynda was able to climb the fence at the second gate easy enough. She did have to cut a few strands of barbed wire though. As she walked down the dusty road, she could see lights ahead. She knew that no one was expecting her, and that she had the edge on
CIA - The Slave Traders Page 28