Eyewitness News

by Aiden Vaughan

  “Thanks, Daniel. Hearing that from you always makes me feel good. Now let’s get after that low life drug dealer and find Jonathan!

  Chapter 26

  Searching for a Friend

  (Midday Friday)

  It was around noon. Jason and Daniel were over at the Whatever Foundation offices because it was easier to coordinate things there, especially when there were substantial costs involved that would be picked up by the foundation. The boys had stopped by their favorite sandwich shop on Santa Clarita Avenue and picked up some lunch. Jason had already called Joe Connor to get the frequency for the cross tracking device he had given to Jonathan. He had called Dr. Cartwright to alert him to the fact that he might have another patient needing his care. Jason explained that Jonathan’s family situation was very delicate right now, and that they were awaiting confirmation that Jonathan’s mother Madeline was going into treatment at the Hope Falls Clinic.

  “That was a good choice on your part, Jason. The Hope Falls Clinic is very good and they are quite discrete about whoever has enrolled in their rehabilitation programs. Now tell me why you think that young Jonathan will be needing around the clock medical care?”

  “I’m not sure of anything, yet, Dr. Cartwright,” Jason replied. “But I want Jonathan protected at all costs from the media and any public scrutiny when we are able to locate him. He could be hurt or be under the influence of drugs. The man who has taken him is a meth dealer and has a lab somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains where we believe he has taken Jonathan. He has already beaten up Jonathan at least once. I will tell you the whole story when we have more time, but suffice it to say that this kid has been through hell lately! One of our strategies to keep him away from the foster care system is to place him under your care. He will need extensive physical examinations, if you get my drift, Dr. Cartwright. There should be no ethical problem at all because I am sure that your prospective patient, Jonathan Kowalski, has not had proper basic medical care over the past few years. My foundation is more than happy to cover these costs, and have you give him the best possible treatment!”

  “This kid is extremely lucky to have you for a friend, Jason. Your foundation has been very generous to me in the past, and I want to continue to provide you and anyone that you feel needs my medical attention with the best possible care. Call me on my cell or call my clinic when you need our care. In the meantime, we will stay on 24 hour alert as you have requested.”

  Meanwhile, Daniel had been searching maps on the Internet for possible leads as to the location of Scott Brewster’s property or where “Black’s Hill” was supposed to be. “So far I haven’t been able to find a Black’s Hill, or a Black Hill, at least not in this area,” Daniel told Jason. “I even tried different variations of the word, like ‘blank’, ‘block’, even nonsense words like ‘bleck’ and ‘blick’. There is a Black Mountain, but it is way over to the east. I don’t think it is actually part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Maybe we could ask Stan about it. Maybe he has heard of it.”

  “Those are good suggestions, Daniel,” Jason replied, “but I think we must be overlooking something more basic. It’s possible that Mrs. Kowalski misunderstood what Scott was saying.”

  “Sure that’s possible, but Black Hill is pretty straightforward as a name. You would have to be pretty out of it to mix that up somehow.”

  “Let’s think about the source of the information, Scott Brewster,” Jason replied. “It’s something he said. It was a familiar term for him, so why would he use a name that doesn’t exist unless it was a code word or secret name for something? Captain Garcia said that meth dealers were very paranoid and secretive about things. They are very much into their own little world, which they have to keep hidden from the authorities. What else do we know about this guy?”

  “Well, according to what Tim and Jonathan have told us, Scott is a redneck, brute kind of guy, probably very uncouth and mean. A real low white trash type, if you get my drift,” Daniel said rolling his eyes. “Not the kind of person you or I would enjoy hanging out with.”

  “So maybe Black Hill is some sort of redneck slang word for something, or speaks to some prejudice or point of view that Scott would have,” Jason suggested. “Can you think of anything along those lines?”

  “I keep looking at this list of mountain names,” Daniel went on. “There is very little ‘redneck’ if that’s how you want to describe it, in these names. Most of them were named by the early Spanish settlers in the Bay Area.”

  Jason thought for a moment, and then an idea flashed into his head. “Wait a minute, Daniel. Maybe that is the key! A redneck white guy might resent the fact that all of the names came from Spaniards and Mexicans and not ‘good old boy’ Americans. Let’s try looking up Black Hill in Spanish! Maybe that will reveal something.”

  Daniel got back on his laptop and typed in ‘black hill’ into a translation program. The answer came out “cerro negro”. “I sure don’t see anything like that on the map, Jason.”

  “Just like English, Spanish is probably full of idioms and words with multiple meanings,” Jason answered. “Let’s try things the other way. Why don’t you take some of the mountain names that you know exist and translate them from Spanish to English, using a dictionary instead of a translator program.”

  “Okay,” Daniel replied. “I’ll give it a shot.” Daniel started typing in names from his listing of mountains in the area. Within three minutes he had a result. “Damn it, Jason, I keep having to tell you that you are genius. I know it’s going to go to your head! Look here!” Daniel had typed in the words loma and prieta. The answers came out ‘hill’ and ‘blackish or dark’.

  “Loma prieta!” Jason exclaimed. “Definitely a very common name in the Santa Cruz Mountains. And Loma Prieta Mountain is definitely a part of the mountain range! Now we have something solid to go on. I am going to call Stan Henderson right now! We have no time to lose. At least we have a general location to search. I sure hope that transmitter is working!”

  Jason called Stan Henderson’s company on his cell phone, and soon was talking to Stan. “We are ready to start our search. We now have a specific area to search, and hopefully we will be able to track down the transmitter I gave to our friend Jonathan.”

  The boys quickly packed up and Daniel drove them over to Stan’s business location and heliport. After they arrived, they met with Stan and explained to him what they had found out and what they would be looking for.

  “If this transmitter has a true range of a couple of miles, that is a good thing,” Stan said. “I’ve been a helicopter pilot for many years now, including service in war. One thing I know is that drug dealers do not like the sound of a helicopter approaching their property. It’s been a long time since I have been in combat, and I don’t relish the thought of some drug dealer taking potshots at my rotors!”

  “As soon as we get a definite fix on Jonathan’s location,” Jason replied, “we can call Captain Garcia and he will send in a SWAT team. He also said that the DEA would want to help take out a meth lab. But there is another issue, Stan. We don’t want the authorities to take Jonathan into custody because they will probably want to put him in the foster care system once they discover Jonathan’s mother, his legal guardian, is a meth addict. Right now she is in the process of admitting herself to drug rehabilitation and turning over temporary custody of Jonathan to Mr. Wilkinson, Tim’s father. We want Jonathan in the care of Dr. Cartwright for some extensive, and I do mean extensive, medical treatment until the attorney has everything resolved!”

  “Flying with you boys is never dull, I must say,” Stan replied with a chuckle. “You certainly know how to manipulate the system! Maybe I could borrow your accountant to do my taxes!”

  “Stan, you know we have good intentions,” Jason answered smiling at Stan’s joke. “But being teenagers, let’s just say we don’t always know how to follow the correct legal procedures in a given situation. But we do know right from wrong. And we do know how to help a friend
in need!”

  “That’s all I need to hear, my young friends. Let’s get in the air and start searching! Besides your foundation pays promptly in cash. That’s one legal procedure that I can appreciate!”

  Daniel, Jason, and Stan then walked over to where a helicopter was warming up. Stan introduced the boys to his other crewman, Jack O’Reilly. After they boarded the helicopter, Stan and Jack completed their pre-flight checks. Jason gave Stan the frequency of Jonathan’s tracking device to program into his radio monitor. Stan then explained how the search procedure would work. Once they reached the Loma Prieta Mountain area, they would systematically fly over sectors on the map. After they got a signal on their monitor from the tracking device, they would add video cameras to the search. They would also divide their visual searches four ways, Jack at the rear and the boys on the right and left sides.

  A few minutes later, the helicopter was off the ground. It quickly gained altitude and began heading toward the Santa Cruz Mountains. After another five minutes of flight time, the helicopter reached the foothills.

  “Loma Prieta Mountain is about five minutes away, boys,” Stan stated. “First we will make our general sweeps of the area in the hopes that we make contact with the tracking device. Jack, turn the monitor on and get the video cameras ready.”

  In a few more minutes the helicopter had arrived at the vicinity of the Loma Prieta summit. Stan decided to start searching in the sector of the mountain that had the more visible signs of being inhabited. With the monitor on, they began making their systematic sweeps of the area.

  For the first ten minutes or so, they flew over some smaller areas of development and forest type properties. There were a few properties that had Christmas tree farms, but little else in the way of agriculture, other than some isolated greenhouse buildings. Nothing was coming through on the frequency of Jonathan’s transmitter.

  Then Stan steered the helicopter to the opposite side of the mountain. There was a lot less development in this area, which was more secluded, with less in the way of trails, roads, or driveways. As Stan was making his sweeps, suddenly there was noise on the radio that was monitoring the frequency of the tracking device.

  “We have a signal!” Jack said with a little excitement in his voice.

  With positive contact, Jack began to work to get a location for the signal. Stan was careful to keep their distance away, so as not to alert people on the ground as to their location. Once they had a pretty good fix on where the signal was coming from, Stan said, “I am now going to make some direct sweeps right over where the signal is coming from. We will have all of the cameras going, and each of you will visually observe a different direction. Look closely for any type of building or shack. If your friend is being held prisoner, most likely he would be kept inside somewhere.”

  Stan guided the helicopter around to begin systematic and close passes of the area where the signal was coming from. “If you see anything at all that looks suspicious or like someone with a weapon, holler out loud!” Stan then bore down on a thickly wooded area which appeared to have at least a few inhabitants. “Here we go! Keep your eyes peeled!”

  The sound of a helicopter approaching caused two different reactions inside Scott’s cabin. Scott had been tinkering in the lab room when he heard the sound of the whirling rotors. “Damn it!” he swore with anger in his voice. “Your meddlers need to stay away from my property and my business!” In his mind, Scott saw himself as a lone entrepreneur who was persecuted by the authorities so they could steal away his livelihood. Over in a corner of the lab was a shotgun. He went over, grabbed the shotgun, and loaded in some ammunition.

  In the other part of the cabin, Jonathan reacted with guarded optimism. Hearing how angry the sound of the helicopter made Scott, Jonathan thought that maybe the helicopter represented some sort of intervention by the authorities or a chance for him to be rescued. With sudden renewed energy, Jonathan quickly got up from the bed where he had been lying down and ran to the door. He ran outside as far as he could with the limits of the chain and looked toward the sound of the helicopter. It was circling around the vicinity and making passes. Jonathan raised his arms up above his head and waved. He had no idea what the helicopter was searching for, but it represented the first outside contact since he was kidnapped and brought up here.

  Suddenly Jonathan was grabbed from behind and roughly dragged back inside the cabin. “You little prick!” Scott yelled as he shoved Jonathan down onto the bed. “What do you think you are doing!”

  “Why are you hurting me? I was just waving at the helicopter. What’s wrong with that?” Jonathan answered fearing that Scott was going to beat him up again.

  “The last thing I want is some prying government authority spying on me and my property!” Scott replied, continuing his rant.

  “Maybe if you weren’t making illegal drugs you wouldn’t have anything to worry about!” Jonathan replied with some bravado.

  “The only reason a helicopter would be flying around here is to make trouble. Clearly someone is snooping around here and clearly you can’t be trusted running free around here!”

  Scott went and retrieved the ropes which were lying on the floor where they were left last night. He went over to Jonathan, twisted him over so he was lying on the mattress face down, and tied his wrists behind his back. He then tied ropes around Jonathan’s ankles and torso so that he could no longer move around.

  “I think that I had better shut your big mouth up, too!” Scott went back to where he had found the ropes. On the floor were the bandanas from last night which he used again to gag the boy. “That should hold you until I find out what is going on around here!” Scott took his shotgun and went outside, slamming the front door shut.

  Inside, Jonathan lay on the bed, not that he had much choice. Depression set in, as he struggled against the ropes and gag to no avail. Will this hell ever end? he thought fighting off tears of frustration. What did I ever do to deserve this?

  Chapter 27

  A Daring Rescue

  (Friday Afternoon)

  Inside the helicopter, Jason, Daniel, and Jack all were at their posts searching at the same time, looking for anything unusual, or for any sign of Scott or Jonathan. The tracking device signal was coming in strong and steady now, so they knew that they had to be close. But so far, there were no signs of any human inhabitants, or for that matter any building. The trees were very thick in this area, and although they had spotted a few clearings, there weren’t any buildings that they could see.

  Stan began guiding the helicopter in a systematic series of passes, while Jason looked toward the right, Daniel to the left, and Jack out the rear. Stan was running surveillance cameras also, in case they missed anything, or so they could review things later if necessary.

  After their third sweep of the area Jack said, “I’m not sure but I think I saw something. It could have been my imagination, but I thought I saw an arm waving.”

  “I am going to pull the helicopter up past the range of any rifle,” Stan said. “Take a few minutes to review the tapes in the cameras.”

  Jason and Daniel went over to where there was a monitor. Jack rewound the tape inside his camera. He then replayed it in slow motion through the monitor. After about five minutes, he said, “Look! Did you see that? Wasn’t that someone waving?”

  Jack rewound the tape a little, and replayed it again. “There!” he exclaimed. “That sure looks like a human arm waving.”

  “Yeah, I see it waving,” Daniel said. “But what happens there at the end? The waving stops, but in a funny, unnatural way!”

  “I see what you are saying, Daniel,” Jason replied. “Rewind that tape again, Jack!”

  Jack rewound the tape and played it back in extra slow motion.

  “There!” Daniel pointed. “See how the waving arm is pulled back from behind! Then it disappears entirely. I wonder if that wasn’t Jonathan!”

  “The signal was strong during that pass,” Jason said. “Let’s look
at that again!”

  On further review, it seemed apparent that someone had been waving at the helicopter. But all they could see was the arm because the thick foliage blocked their view of anything else.

  “Is there a road or trail near there that we can see from the video?” Jason asked.

  Now that they knew what they were looking for, they soon located a narrow dirt driveway and what appeared to be a small building nearby.

  “That’s got to be where Jonathan is being held!” Daniel exclaimed. “Stan, is it possible to locate this property or nearby road on your GPS unit?”

  “I’ll give it shot, but I doubt that a narrow private driveway would be programmed into the system.” After a few minutes of fiddling with the system, Stan replied, “No, the closest location I can get on the GPS is the access road about a half mile down.”

  “We’ve got to get onto that driveway and check it out!” Jason said. “Is there a way we can be dropped off near there?”

  “Are you crazy?” Stan said. “Now that we have a pretty good probable fix on the boy’s location, let’s bring in the police SWAT team. They will eventually be able to surround this location and take the boy out.”

  “Right now we have the element of surprise on our side,” Jason said. “And I really don’t want Jonathan taken in by the authorities right now if we can avoid it. Besides it will take them a couple of hours to get here!”

  “If the man who kidnapped Jonathan could easily take him, what makes you think that he won’t do the same to you!” Jack added.

  “Two big things,” Jason replied. “First of all we know his evil intentions, and we will be ready for him. Jonathan was not expecting what happened to him, and he had no way to defend himself. I do. If he gets close to me at all I am going to spray him with pepper spray.”

  “What if he has a gun and starts shooting at you?” Stan asked.