The Uvalde Raider

by Ben H. English

  It was evident that Wadley had not been spoken to like this before, or at least in a very long time. His narrow-featured face turned the tint of just beyond fitful anger, and he sprang to his feet fuming and sputtering. “Why you simple minded, country assed, backwoods bumpkin! I’ll have your badge for this! It and everything else you ever hoped to have,” the man raged. “No one talks to me like that, no one! I’ll…”

  “That’ll be enough!” roared the director, who had reached his own limit. “Trooper Templar, sit down.” Reluctantly, Micah did as his boss ordered.

  “Mister Wadley,” the colonel turned his attention to the apoplectic official. “You don’t do the hiring and firing around here, or any other place having to do with the Texas Department of Public Safety. I do. Furthermore, you don’t come into my office and threaten my men, nor do you attempt to belittle them in my presence.

  “You had a suggestion for Trooper Templar. Well, I have one for you. There is a door behind you that leads out of this office. My suggestion is for you to use that door and don’t let hit you in the butt on the way out.”

  Wadley remained on his feet, visibly stunned by the director’s words. Through the fog of his own blustering ego, he realized things had not gone according to his design. A man who sat in a prestigious office with some political sway within his own organization, the FBI bureaucrat was used to getting his way. But this had transpired into something unexpectedly different.

  In that he had badly misjudged both the trooper as well as the DPS Director, and the entire situation in general. He realized the damage done but it was far too late to do much about it. He also knew that anything else he said at this point would probably make matters even worse. His stomach twisted a bit more when he realized that heads were going to roll because of this, and the first one could be his.

  “Come on, Humboldt,” Wadley rasped and started for the door. The obese man in the ill-fitting suit remained seated, confused by the sudden turn of events and unsure of what he should do next. Wadley reached the door and looked back over his shoulder.

  “Humboldt!” repeated Wadley sharply, with some of the prior authority back in his voice. “I said, come on!” Humboldt sprang up quickly for such a heavy man and scurried for the doorway. Wadley then looked over at Eggers, still sitting comfortably to the rear of the office. “Well?” he demanded.

  “Well, what?” responded Eggers in an easy, devil-may-care manner. “I don’t work for you, Wadley.”

  Eggers shifted his attention and tone, respectfully addressing the man seated behind the large desk. “I would like to stay a few minutes more if it’s all right, sir.” The director looked at him carefully for a moment and nodded curtly in affirmation.

  Wadley stared at each of the three men remaining in the room, wanting so badly to say something as he exited but deciding against it. He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

  The colonel and Micah both looked at Eggers expectantly, who leaned further back in the chair, crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap. He began to speak quietly.

  “I felt that Wadley and Humboldt were going to screw this up, which was a good reason to tag along. Gentlemen, believe it or not, they were trying to do the right thing. However, they just don’t know how. One’s a bumbling career bureaucrat and the other a pompous, power loving, bully. Simply telling the truth and appealing to someone else’s better nature is beyond either of them.”

  “Then what exactly is the truth, Mr. Eggers?” asked the colonel, “and what’s this all about?”

  “It’s about American lives, sir,” responded Eggers earnestly. “It’s about fellow Americans being held as hostages a half world away.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  “You were right all along, Trooper,” Eggers continued. “So was your uncle. Right about the VX, about their operations plan and about those men being terrorists. They belonged to a fairly new Islamic extremist group calling themselves ‘Hezbollah.’ Literally, the word translates into ‘Party of Allah’ and they are about as fanatical and ruthless as they come.

  “The man who called himself Yahla al-Qassam was a highly placed operative in this organization, among some others. That was not his real name, by the way. We believe he was actually an Iranian, who was also somewhat of a legend within the Ayatollah’s Revolutionary Guard. If they had succeeded in their plan, it would have done indescribable damage to our nation’s infrastructure, not to mention leaving us with around a hundred thousand civilian casualties.

  “Hezbollah has become the driving force for Shi’a Muslim terrorist activities over the past few years. They have been responsible for numerous bombings and attacks on Israel and Lebanon as well as other places, including that truck bombing at the Marine Barracks in Beirut seven years ago.”

  Eggers halted briefly in his monologue, gauging if the other two men were comprehending all that he was saying. Seeing they were, he moved on.

  “They and their affiliated splinter groups have also conducted a massive wave of kidnappings in that region. Many of these hostages have been held for several years now, some of them our own people. Terry Anderson and Thomas Sutherland are both Americans, and have been held by Hezbollah since 1985. They also kidnapped two American military officers, Army Lieutenant Colonel Buckley in 1984 and Marine Lieutenant Colonel Higgins two years ago.

  “There were others. Terry Waite was an Anglican Church envoy we worked with for a time, in an attempt to get a few of our people released. He had some success but was kidnapped himself in January of 1987. He is a subject of the British crown, but he was trying to help us so I count him as one of ours, too.

  “Buckley and Higgins were tortured repeatedly by Hezbollah and later murdered.” Eggers paused, looking down at his intertwined fingers and speaking in a softer, more personal tone. “They were both good men. Buckley earned the Silver Star in Vietnam, and also received the Bronze Star with a combat ‘V’ and two Purple Hearts. Higgins had a Bronze Star with a combat ‘V’ and also a Purple Heart. They deserved a great deal more than what they got.”

  Eggers raised his head again and gazed steadily at the two other men. “In fact, they all do and that is why I am here asking for your help. Recently one of the other hostages was released, an Irishman by the name of Brian Keenan. This was less than two months ago, and it gives us hope that we might be able to get our other people back alive.

  “You see, Keenan was released within days of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Just about everybody in that part of the world is looking to Uncle Sam to kick Saddam Hussein out of there, and for the first time in decades we have some real leverage in the Middle East. There are several sitting governments and opposition groups who wouldn’t give us the time of day before this, but now are coming with their hats in their hands and wanting help with the Iraqis.

  “Our plan is to put that leverage to good use, and get our hostages freed and out of Lebanon. We’re certain that if we can get enough of these different groups to put enough pressure on Hezbollah, it can be done. Even the Syrians are wanting to form an alliance with us against Saddam, and they are major players as far as sponsors for these terrorists.”

  Eggers contemplated Micah with his hauntingly familiar eyes. “This is where you come in, Trooper, as well as your Department. As I said before, things are finally going our direction and it looks promising in regards to getting those hostages back.

  “But if we were forced to admit publicly that Hezbollah was involved in this kind of terror plot against a major city in our country, everything would fall to pieces. The final result could be much the same, as we’d likely get the rest of our people back in pieces. Not to mention how it would adversely affect this forming coalition against the Iraqis.”

  Eggers paused again, still studying them as he spoke. “Look, there are parts to this deal I don’t like any better than you do. If there’s anyone who has a grudge against Hezbollah, it’s me. One of these days they, or somebody very much like them, will do catastrophic damage to our nat
ion unless we stop them once and for all. And they’re already here, Qassam proved that.”

  He continued on urgently, passionately. “But right now we need just a little bit of breathing room to get our hostages back. We figure it won’t take more than about a year to get this done, then we can start taking the fight to Hezbollah and the Iranians in ways we never have before. On behalf of our country I am asking you, pleading with you, to go along with us for the time being. We will make it right for everyone involved, just give us some time. Please.”

  Eggers stopped talking and let his words filter into the heart and conscience of the other men seated in the room. Micah tried to put his own mind around what he had heard as well as what it meant. There was so much at stake in so many different ways and he was being asked to make a decision that would affect all of it. He found himself desperately wanting some more time to think the situation through, and more so about the possible consequences in how he chose to respond.

  It was the director who spoke next, and in his words were the echoes of the same questions and soul searching that his trooper was experiencing.

  “Mr. Eggers, you do realize the cover story that Wadley and Humboldt were peddling has huge holes, don’t you? What they were proposing would never stand up to any real scrutiny.”

  Eggers faced the head of the DPS and answered. “Yes sir, we do. But it will take months, maybe even years, for someone on the outside to thoroughly debunk this story and publicize what actually happened. By that time our hostages will be freed, with no remaining need of not making the whole truth known.

  “Besides, our media works mostly on a 24 hour news cycle these days, something different is always coming along. Today a mysterious midair collision in Central Texas but tomorrow who knows, other than it will likely be something different. Much of the curiosity in this should die down once the media turns their attention elsewhere.”

  Eggers hesitated and shifted his attention to Micah. “It could be especially so if we can get the man most closely involved, as well as his organization, to go along with this cover story for the time being.”

  Micah returned the man’s steady gaze, but said nothing. In his mind was a set of scales, one side labeled ‘right’ and the other ‘wrong.’ Both ends were having weight added to them rapidly as he tried to think this through. While he was doing so, the DPS colonel asked his next question.

  “What about the other people involved who have knowledge of what really happened? Are you going to allow federal officials like Wadley to intimidate and strong arm them like he tried to do Trooper Templar?”

  Eggers turned his attention back to the man behind the desk. “Director, we both know that those like Wadley will ultimately hang themselves if given enough rope. This has been coming for a while, and by the time I get through filing reports and placing phone calls, he’ll be doing good to keep a job passing out pencils at Quantico.

  “There will be no more such tactics used on anyone with knowledge of this. Personally, I was dead set against this method from the very beginning. Now I can go back to Washington and make my case, using what happened today to illustrate why we need to keep good faith and work together. I give you my word, or you can go to every media outlet in Texas with my blessings.”

  “I might still do that,” warned the director.

  “Yes sir, you might,” replied Eggers. “But I don’t think you will, not as long as I keep my word.” A quiet fell over the room again. Slowly the colonel’s head turned and his eyes fell upon his trooper, who remained deep in his own innermost thoughts.

  “Micah?” the colonel queried. It was only one word but it asked so very much.

  “What about the sheriff’s offices and other elected peace officers involved?” Micah questioned. “How are you going to make things right for them? They did their duty and risked their necks to keep their citizens safe, but now they are being asked questions. Questions they don’t have any answers for because you guys ignore them, and their own sworn responsibilities.”

  “That will change, too.” Eggers responded. “Starting immediately, we will begin providing information and enough assistance to those officials and their counties to make a lot of those questions go away. Again, we need your agency to help coordinate in this. You know so much more about the personalities involved than we could ever hope to.”

  “There are some who were in on this from the beginning,” Micah suggested warily. “They are good men, and women, and deserve to know the truth.”

  “Then you tell us who they are and if need be, we’ll go and visit with them together,” responded Eggers. “You say they are good people. That tells me they can be trusted once they realize what the stakes really are. Perhaps they can help head off a good amount of the speculation.”

  “Mr. Eggers”, interjected the director. “You are making several promises in several different directions at once. No offense intended but beyond you trying to keep your personal word, what guarantees do we have that you can make any of this happen?”

  Eggers never hesitated. “Well sir, how about a phone call from a fellow Texan in the White House, along with a couple from certain ranking members on Capitol Hill?”

  The sitting head of the Department of Public Safety raised one eyebrow ever so slightly, betraying the slightest sign of being impressed. He nodded his head in affirmation and commented. “That would be a good start, Mr. Eggers.”

  Both men looked to Micah who stared quietly at the carpeted floor, still adding weight to the opposite ends of that imaginary scale. Whatever he decided would affect a lot of lives, not least of all his own. His sense of honor and integrity were his most important personal possessions, and Micah realized that only he could ever really do harm to either. Beyond that Tio Zeke and Max were no longer around to defend theirs, and he felt the overwhelming need to do right by them, too.

  Yet everything that Eggers said made sense. Those Americans being held would be in far greater peril once what happened at the Bar JA became common knowledge. It would be natural and completely understandable for the American public to be outraged, and to demand immediate action against Hezbollah and their Iranian confederates.

  Micah Templar remembered all too well the hatred and cruelty shown by the terrorists at the Albright Ranch, and what they had done and attempted to do. There would be no sense of conscience, no mitigating circumstance, no concept of any sort of mercy that would spare those hostages…

  He raised his scrutiny and met the same of Eggers, and found himself looking again into the depths of those piercing eyes that tugged disturbingly at a distant memory. ‘I can’t remember who you are, Eggers,’ Micah thought, ‘but for some reason I know I can trust you. Why is that?’

  The trooper kept his eyes locked with the other man, and watched as Eggers smiled at him again ever so slightly. ‘He knows that I am trying to place him,’ Micah thought, ‘and that I know I can trust him.’ With that, Micah came to his decision.

  “Okay, I’m with you,” the highway patrolman said. “Or at least until you give me reason to be otherwise.”

  Eggers stood and walked over, clasping hands with the colonel who rose from behind his desk. He turned and gave Micah another firm handshake, a genuine gratefulness emanating from within.

  “I need to get going to put all this in motion.” Eggers looked over at the director. “Expect those phone calls within the next forty-eight hours, sir. You might also pass along that some congressmen will be visiting the area in the next week or so. That should help take the pressure off those local officials.”

  Eggers faced Micah again. “Trooper Templar, thank you. Your country owes you and your uncle, as well as Mr. Grephardt, a great deal. As for myself, it looks like I owe you another one. I’ll see you around.” With that, the man turned quickly and made his way out of the room. Micah watched as the door closed behind Eggers, his mind still going through fits in trying to place where he knew him from. ‘He owes me another one? What was that supposed to mean?’


  “Micah, would you sit down again?” asked the director. “If you don’t mind me asking, do you know him? Because he sure acted like he knew you.”

  “Sir, I do think I know him. But I just can’t remember where or when.” Micah replied.

  “Well, it will probably come to you soon enough” reasoned Micah’s boss. “I don’t believe either of us have seen the last of Mr. Eggers.”

  The colonel seated himself again behind the desk. He brought out a sheath of papers and examined them for a minute or so before speaking.

  “Micah, I meant what I said about your report and what the ranger investigation determined. Your actions will bring nothing but pride to every man who ever pinned on a Texas Highway Patrolman’s badge, as well as the DPS as a whole. But I am afraid there will be even more asked of you in the near future, and that your life is about to change in some fairly significant ways. I also think you already realize that, especially after what we just agreed to.”

  “Thank you, sir, for saying so. And yes, I has a strong suspicion about the other part.”

  The head of the DPS went on. “You have nearly twenty years with the Highway Patrol, and a good record and reputation. Yet you never tried to promote or even move to another substation. Is there any compelling reason why?”

  “No sir,” responded Micah. “Other than I like working the road and felt I owed it to my family to stay in one place. After a while, that one place became home. There are some who might not like me because of this uniform or how I do my job, but they always treated my family like their own. I don’t think any peace officer could ever ask for anything more.”