by Lynn Story
I went in and selected a seat in the corner. A lady never sits at the bar alone and I wasn’t looking for company of any kind. I just wanted to try and forget that I felt like an orphan at twenty-eight years old. I paid the waitress one hundred dollars to bring me bourbon until the money ran out or until I passed out. Not that I had plans to get blind drunk. But, just as a precaution I gave her Eddie’s number and told her if it looked like I couldn’t make home on my own to call that number and someone would come and get me. I promised her a huge tip if it became necessary for her to call that number. Her eyes had widened at the sight of the one-hundred-dollar bill. She looked too young to have been waitressing long and I hoped that worked in my favor. I didn’t want to give her one hundred bucks and end up in the alley out back or worse.
Things were going as planned until some guy made his way to my table and asked if he could buy me a drink.
“No thank you, I prefer to drink alone.”
“You’re too pretty to drink alone, let me keep you company.”
He was insistent. “No thanks, I’m not looking for free drinks or company.”
“Why not?” He pressed harder.
I was getting annoyed. “Does it matter? Go hassle someone else.”
“You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.” That was the moment I lost what little patience I had. I stood up and sucker punched him. You don’t get imbedded with a Marine unit without learning a thing or two. He guy landed on his back. He looked pretty angry and I thought for sure my evening was over.
“Anything I can do to help?” I looked up to see a second man standing at my table. My first reaction was of annoyance until he smiled.
I made some comment about solid waste management and he smiled even more. I felt my heart flip and then start beating again. The guy on the floor got to his feet and the second man whispered something to him. I couldn’t hear what exactly, but Mr. Romance didn’t look twice at me and scurried off. I noticed a glint of gold from a badge hanging from the second man’s belt. So, whatever he said to Mr. Romance, apparently, he could back it up.
“May I join you?” the man with the badge asked.
I shrugged then nodded. He sat down cautiously and introduced himself. His name was Ethan. That name fit him perfectly. He seemed to sense I wasn’t looking for company and new drinks arrived. There was something about him. I couldn’t explain it, but it was everything. His crooked smile. The warmth of his touch. It was like an electric spark and pulsed through my body and gave my heart a jump start.
The remaining two days in Gates Point was spent with Ethan. We sat and talked for hours. In the end I learned that he was married. I told him I wouldn’t be the cause of any break of a marriage even one on the rocks. And told him if we were meant to be together, we would meet again. I wasn’t sure if I believed that at the time. What else could I do? He wasn’t looking to have a romantic relationship and cheat on his wife. He was lonely and in need of a friend.
As I sat on the plane headed back to the Middle East and my assignment for Beatty Images, I wondered how life seemed to be going on around me without a care. Didn’t the airline crew and other passengers realize, my life had just been turned completely upside down? Both of my parents were gone, I was the new CEO of a manufacturing company, and I had just met the man of my dreams only to find out he was married? My life is nothing if not complicated.
As I arrived back in Kabul I longed for the clean breezes off the bay while I was pelted by sand of the dessert.
“Hey Kay, I’m was sorry to hear about your mom.”
“Let us know if you need anything.” Chris, Dev, Micah, and Oliver stood staring at me all nodding.
“Thank you. I’ve got everything under control.” I smiled.
These four men were my team, at least my core team anyway. I was the only female here and these four guys were the only ones that didn’t give me shit on a daily basis. Most of the men here didn’t think I could hack it. I guess I don’t blame them. I got all sorts of comments about sleeping my way in and other crass jibes, and notes left on my bunk. I had thick skin and I let the comments slide. All these guys were high strung type A personality types and you needed that in this job. I wasn’t about to do anything to disrupt the status quo other than being a female.
I followed these guys around night and day trying to get the images that told the real story of this war. The costs on all sides. Most people didn’t appreciate my being here and considered me a liability. I was told under no uncertain terms that if I stepped out of bounds and got myself kidnapped; I was on my own. The commander wasn’t going to risk his men or their mission just because some photojournalist wanted to take a picture. It was fair enough. I knew the risks when I volunteered for this assignment. Actually, getting into this unit was nothing short of a miracle. These guys did what no one ever got to see. The real stories were here, these men all of them what they sacrificed, what they endured and what they did without thinking twice as incredible. The civilians we encountered their stories were both heartwarming and heart wrenching.
But my team, my guys as I thought of them, we all looked out for each other and they took care of me. I tried not to be in the way or complicate their missions. I wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize their safety.
Chapter Three
Ethan
“Morning, boss.”
“Morning.” I mumbled in return. I came to work carrying my second cup of coffee for the day and it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet. I hadn’t slept well and spent most of the night on the couch so that I wouldn’t wake Diane. The relationship was becoming more distant and I knew the inevitable was coming. She had made an appointment with a divorce attorney. It was only a matter of time.
“You see the notice from DC?” Jared checked in.
My phone had started buzzing the moment I took it off the charger this morning. “Yeah, we need to get started on that, what do we know locally?”
I set the coffee down on my desk and looked around the room. Agents Logan Watson, Jared Walker and Stephanie Fisher were already hard at work.
“Rough night?” Stephanie asked.
“No rougher than usual.” I sat down at my desk and logged into my email. “What do we know so far?” I pressed.
“DC has picked up on chatter that something is being planned locally, they don’t know who yet. We don’t know the target or the players.” Jared reported.
I looked to the three agents. “Where’s the chatter coming from?”
“Other groups advising their people to stay out of the area this week.” Logan replied.
“We have nothing,” I sighed, “Well, let’s get to work.” The office was a concert of keyboards.
An hour later Logan spoke up. “I might have something.”
“Let’s hear it.” I said, hoping for something useful.
“There was a warehouse theft two nights ago of demolition equipment and supplies.” Logan continued.
“From where?” I stood up eager or details.
“A construction company warehouse.” Logan’s eyes scanned the screen as he read out the details.
“The report say what was taken?” I pressed.
“Some tools, small equipment,” Logan looked up from the screen, “and the interesting part, explosives.”
“Logan, you and Stephanie go interview the owner of that warehouse.” I instructed.
“On it.” Logan pounced.
“Jared, see if you can get a copy of the police report on the break-in.”
“You got it, boss.”
I continued searching our database of known terrorist groups that might be operating in the area. We needed to find a way to determine the target. The question was, what to search for first? The potential target or the potential bad guy, one could lead to the other. It was a catch twenty-two. But we had to look at every angle until we came up with something. It wasn’t glamorous, it wasn’t like all the excitement you see on television. It was hours of digging through f
iles, listening to chatter, interviewing people, searching more files.
“Boss, there is a report of some weapons reported missing at Camp Allen.” Jared had found something.
“How many weapons?” I asked.
“About ten automatic rifles and a case of grenades.”
“Better give NCIS a call. Maybe they will be willing to share intel.” I instructed. I blew out a sigh. This was going to be one of those long drawn out cases and I was feeling antsy. I needed something more to occupy my mind. It was a product of too little sleep and too much caffeine.
“You look tired.” Jared added.
“Comes with the job.”
He nodded and went back to work.
I didn’t want to talk about it. Besides it really wasn’t anything I could put into words even if I wanted to. Jared wouldn’t understand regardless. Life hadn’t kicked him in the teeth enough yet. Maybe in about ten years, he might get it. I got up and walked to kitchen. I really didn’t want any more coffee. I went to the fridge for a bottle of water instead. I imagined my body protesting at something that wasn’t coffee or alcohol.
Back at my desk I tried a different approach. I found where a tip had been called in that someone bought a lot of farm grade fertilizer recently from a feed and seed store.
“Jared I’m going to go talk to Saunders Feed and Seed, I’ll be back later.”
Jared nodded and I left him alone to handle the research. I couldn’t sit at a desk today; I need to be outside in the fresh air and moving otherwise my mind was going to dwell on my personal problems when I needed to be focused on this case.
I got back around six and we sat comparing our notes from the day.
“Something doesn’t sound right.” Stephanie said
“What do you mean?” I asked, appreciating her ability to see the larger picture.
“Well grenades, from a military base, explosives from a construction warehouse and fertilizer from a feed store?” She was thinking out loud. “That feels like two completely different MO’s. Grenades are more personal, suicide bomber style.”
“Okay.” I was interested to see where she was going with this line of thinking.
“Fertilizer is a broader more widespread impact. Less personal.”
“Unless you pack the grenades together, create a big boom that way.” I offered. “So, you’re thinking the two aren’t connected?”
“Not sure I’m willing to go that far yet, it isn’t very straight forward.”
“Is it ever?”
“Guess you have a point.” She nodded.
It was getting late and so far, we had a bunch of different pieces of a puzzle and nothing was fitting yet. It felt like we were chasing our tails. “People we really need to figure out the target.”
“It would help if we knew who was doing it. No luck on the credit card from the feed and seed?” Stephanie asked.
“Stolen card. The card holder is a college student whose wallet was stolen.” Jared said.
“Great.” My eyes were tired. “Why don’t you guys call it a day, we can look at this fresh tomorrow.”
“You sure?” Logan asked.
“Yeah, it’s late, you guys get out of here.” I waved in the direction of the door.
“What about you?” Stephanie asked.
“I’m going to call it a night too.” At least I was thinking about it.
They all gathered up their things and went home.
I made sure the office was secure then I went and made a fresh pot of coffee. I wasn’t fooling myself. I wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight anyway. So, I might as well try looking at this from a different angle. The office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The silence was ringing in my ears. It was almost worse than too much noise. I paced back and forth trying to get a handle on this case.
Stephanie was right; grenades and fertilizer implied two different styles of attack. I could almost take the fertilizer as a coincidence if a stolen credit card hadn’t been used. Jared had left his computer running the facial recognition program on the images we got from the video camera above the register at the feed and seed.
My cell phone rang.
“Craddock.”
“Ethan, it’s John, I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”
“No, I’m still at the office, What’s up?”
“I am hearing rumors of a possible attack on the city.” John’s voice conveyed his concern.
“I imagine it was part of your security brief this week, yes.” Frankly, I was surprised I hadn’t gotten a call before now.
“I know the FBI is working very hard to uncover if the threat is real or not so please know if there is any resources the city can offer you, let me know.”
“You know, I’ll keep you in the loop once I have anything to share.”
“I know you will Ethan.”
“Good night, John.”
I clicked off. Vice Mayor John St. Clair and I had known each other a long time. Our kids went to the same school, our wives were in the same clubs. He never used his position or our friendship to curry professional favor, so this phone call was interesting. There had to be more to it and if John didn’t tell me over the phone, I trusted that it was because he couldn’t.
I got up and check Jared’s computer. Still nothing. I had a bad feeling about this case. I felt like we were missing a big piece. I scanned the headlines, for any stories of anyone important visiting the city this week that could be a potential target or any recent court cases that might have caught the interest of any local radical groups. Other than local dinners and functions I didn’t see anything that would garner the attention of someone with enough juice to steal from the Camp Allen armory and a feed and seed brazenly as they had. Maybe they just got lucky.
I sat down at my desk and stared up at the ceiling. I was starting to get past the idea of a divorce as Diane had filed the paperwork with the court and had moved to North Carolina as part of our one-year separation. I kept the house since it seemed like I wasn’t the only thing she was tired of around here.
It was an amicable split and I could see Madelyn whenever I wanted. There were no restrictions and Madelyn was too wrapped up in her own teenage life to care too much about what me and her mother were doing or not doing. Things really could be a lot worse. Diane had her own career and she wasn’t looking for support from me. I, of course, provided support to Madelyn and that was more from a requirement than anything Diane pushed for. She made more money than I did as a corporate tax attorney working down in Charlotte. So why was I so miserable? I have a soon to be ex-wife that wasn’t demanding. I could see my daughter whenever I wanted, I had a good career going with the FBI and I drank too much and slept too little. I could try and blame in on the cases, but that wasn’t it. Sure, I lost a bit of sleep due to the more stressful ongoing cases, but I rarely let them bother me after it was over. There was always a new one to take its place so there was no point in getting hung up on one case or another.
If I was honest with myself what had been keeping me up at night was the thought of Kay. I don’t know why. I had thought of her over the years and wondered if I would ever see her again. I hoped I would. I had filed that weekend under the category of two ships passing in the night. It was a great memory, but realistically I doubted I’d ever see her again. But, lately my thoughts of Kay were different. I felt like it was less a memory and more of a sense that she was in danger or something. I scanned the newspapers for anything that might mention her. I had no idea if she was still in the Middle East. I thought about doing an internet search or even a database search. I sat staring at the computer for several long minutes. Then I shook it off and decided the most important thing right now was to focus on the case but that wasn’t going to happen tonight. I admitted defeat and went home.
The next morning, I came to the office with a renewed sense of purpose. I floated my idea to the team about any large local events happening that would be an easy target for someone.
“Maybe it isn’t anything as high profile as all of that.” Jared offered.
“That doesn’t help.” I was frustrated that we were getting nowhere. “Anything more on the chatter?
“Nothing yet.” Stephanie shook her head.
“Okay, so who are our main players around here for mayhem?” I started pacing. “Who do we know that has access to the base and the port and who is behind most of the big problems around here?”
“I like where you’re going, boss.” Logan said. “So, we have the gangs, the drug runners and the Dixie Mafia.”
“So, let’s start with a drug angle. Focus in on our typical players involved in moving a lot of weight.”
“So, you think they need explosives to do what?” Jared asked.
“Maybe it’s a turf thing. Maybe someone is planning on taking out a rival in a big away.”
“Okay, I’ll check with the local PD for recent conflicts and see if there is anything to indicate a big move by the rivals. Maybe, somebody smoked another gang member or something.” Stephanie frowned at her screen in concentration.
“Okay, that or someone is stepping on someone else’s drug turf.” I offered.
“On it.” Jared said as he ducked his head behind his computer monitor.
“And think of any of our informants that might know what is going on. Maybe, someone who is part of the chatter telling people to stay away? See if there is anything we can get from that angle.” I suggested. With everyone tapping away on their computers. I decided my time would be better spent elsewhere. “I’m going to go over and talk to Chief Corey.” I grabbed my keys and headed out the door. It only took me about ten minutes this time of day to drive over the police headquarters. I had called his office once I was in the car to let them know I was on my way.