Suspicion At Sea

by Nichols, Amie

  Out of the corner of my eye I see Cody struggling in a chair.

  “You love her so much you had her knocked out and tied up,” Cody yells, frustration in his voice.

  “Oh, the guy who did this is dead. Not a hair on her head was to be harmed,” Fausto breathes, and I feel him come closer. His hand brushing down my head, he takes strands of my hair in his fingertips. I sense him getting closer and want to kick with all my might, push him away. Without knowing the whole situation, I don't think making a move right now is a good idea.

  “Don't agonize, she will be well taken care of. So much better than either of you could,” Fausto says, so close I can feel his breath. Just then there is a loud bang in the distance. I sense Fausto moving away and hear his footsteps as he starts yelling at someone.

  “Ellie, wake up please,” I hear Justin's voice pleading with me, his voice a loud whisper.

  “I'm awake.” I lift my head slightly to see Cody and Justin in the chairs next to me. Suzy next to him, passed out, and a man next to her who I don't recognize.

  “Oh, thank God.” Justin stretches his neck around so he can see me around Cody.

  “What are we going to do?” Cody asks, still desperately struggling with his restraints. My arms are aching, and my shoulders feel weak from being tied behind my back.

  “I'm free, what about you?” Justin says, his arms still behind his back so they don't know.

  “Not yet,” Cody grits his teeth. His shoulders go up and down as he battles to free himself. Mine are so tight I can't even move my wrists.

  “Ellie, if it comes to it, go with him. He won't hurt you. If you fight it will make him angry,” Justin instructs. “He is very unstable right now, and not much could set him off.”

  Justin turns his head to see if anyone is around. There is a group of men on the far end and all have guns. This is bad. How are we going to get out of this? I try to calm my breathing so I can think. Even if I go with Fausto quietly, he will kill the rest of them.

  “I'm not going with him,” I breathe, now struggling with the rough ropes that I feel cutting into my skin.

  Justin turns his head back toward me, his eyes pleading with me.

  “No, Justin, I will fight. I'm not leaving everything I care about in the world to die. I have to try, baby.” I fight the tears that are welling in my eyes. He knows that he is probably going to die today and he just wants me safe. The sadness and the realization on his face is too much.

  “Ellie, he's right. We will find you,” Cody says. “If he gets you on that plane, don't fight him. I don't think he will hurt you or even force himself on you.”

  I can't even believe I am hearing this. They both want me to go with a homicidal maniac and not put up a fight.

  “Okay, chica time to go.” A large Hispanic man appears and leans down behind me to untie my wrists. I gaze over at Justin who still has his hands behind his back.

  I stand and flip around, my fist making contact with the man. His hand goes up to his cheek and he spits out blood.

  “You fucking puta.” He grabs my hair at the nape of my neck, forcing me to walk with him. Before I have time to react, a loud deafening bang echoes through the building. Hot, thick liquid sprays my entire body, and the grip on my hair loosens as the man beside me falls to the ground. The back of his head has a large bullet hole. I turn and see Fausto there, his gun still pointed in my direction.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Justin crouch behind Cody, untying him.

  “So sorry, my love, to get you dirty. These men just can't seem to follow orders.” Fausto walks to me. He takes my now trembling hand. I'm in shock and feel helpless at the moment, and scared to death that Fausto is going to turn around and shoot Justin and Cody next.

  He brings my hand up to his lips. “My beauty, I have waited so long for this.” He kisses my knuckles as I start to play out scenarios in my head. The other men have gone outside. Justin has freed Cody and they are sneaking their way toward us. I keep myself positioned so that Fausto doesn't see them. He goes to turn around and I grab his upper arm. It shocks him that I'm making contact. A smile grows on his face as he looks down at my hand on him.

  “We must go now, love, they are coming to take you away again,” he says in a calm voice.

  Gun shots ring outside the building; millions of them it seems, like there is an all-out war. This causes Fausto to turn just as Cody and Justin are about to reach us. Grabbing me, he slams my back into his front, his forearm around my neck. He points the gun at my head, stopping Cody and Justin in their tracks.

  The commotion has woken Suzy and the other man. Suzy's screams echo throughout the building. Loud, terrifying screams of a girl who just woke up tied to a chair amidst gun shots so loud it sounds like we are in the middle of a combat zone.

  The gun fire stops, but not Suzy's screams. We are at a standoff. Justin and Cody have no weapons, and I have one pointed at my head.

  “Shut up,” Fausto yells at the top of his lungs at Suzy.

  “She's scared. Please, let Cody go to her.” I turn my head toward him hoping that my asking will appeal to his softer side. His eyes make contact with mine and he nods, letting Cody know he can go to her.

  Cody rushes over to her, untying her hands and whispering in her ear. She calms down instantly, and after she is free jumps into Cody's arms.

  “Fausto, you are not getting out here. You heard it out there. All your men are dead.” Justin takes a slow step toward us causing the gun that is pointed at my head to be pushed a little harder against me. Justin retreats his step.

  “You are so wrong. Dead or alive, Ellie and I are leaving this place together.” Fausto's breath is heavier now against my ear. He is starting to panic, which means he's going to be even more irrational. We start to walk backward toward the plane.

  Cody has untied the man now and is escorting them out of the building while Fausto is distracted with me and Justin. At least they're safe. Just when I'm relieved that Cody is out of the building, he returns. But now he has a gun, and I just pray that Fausto is not paying attention to him.

  Chapter 48

  Justin

  All my training, all my years in combat, and I'm frozen seeing the love of my life with a gun to her head by the hand of mad man. Any move I make could set him off, but I can't let him get on that plane.

  “Back up,” Fausto yells, his eyes focused behind me.

  “You're surrounded,” I hear Cody behind me. Fuck, why did he say that? He already feels trapped. He knows by now he is going to die today or be taken into custody.

  “We are getting on this plane now. Unless you want her dead, I suggest you tell them to let us leave.” Fausto is sweating as he backs up, forcing Ellie with him.

  He stumbles, making him lose his grip. Like slow motion, Ellie ducks out of the way. The shot rings out, deafening me as the bullet goes into Fausto's right shoulder. As he falls back, all I can focus on is Ellie running toward me, crouched. The gun in his hand goes off, and Ellie falls to the hard cement floor.

  “No...” My heart is racing as I run to her. It feels like my whole world is lying on the floor. Once I reach her, she looks up at me. Her hands flat on the cement as she gets up. I grab her upper arms to get her on her feet.

  “I'm not hit,” she breathes. I scan her body just to make sure before I pull her to me. One arm around her waist with my hand firmly on the back of her head, I hold her to me, pressing her face to my chest. Cody races by me to Fausto. Standing over him, he kicks his gun away. He is still alive, I can see him moving.

  “Kill me,” he moans in pain.

  Cody could have killed him, and right now I wish he would have.

  “Death is too good for you, you sniveling coward,” Cody spits.

  Men rush in the doors dressed in FBI bullet-proof vests and coats that say DEA. As the men start searching the building and going to the various dead men scattered about, I walk with my girl outside. It must be mid-afternoon, the bright sun in the sky make
s me flinch. There are hundreds of law enforcement officers and dozens of black SUVs and vans.

  Fausto's men lie dead at different points around the lot. I scan the crowd and see Suzy standing next to Dad and an agent talking to her. I reach down, putting my finger under Ellie's chin, lifting her face. Leaning down, my lips touch hers. Small tender kisses on her soft, sweet lips make everything disappear.

  “You’re bleeding. Fuck, Justin, you're bleeding a lot,” she notices the cuts from the rope. I fought hard to free myself, I didn't know I was slashing my wrists. My arm and hand are caked in blood.

  “Agent Marks.” We are interrupted by a tall man wearing one of the FBI vests. “I need you to come with me,” he instructs, putting his hand on her shoulder. While I have a hold on her, he is trying to pull her away from me. This isn't a friendly let's-have-a-chat, this man is serious and the knot in my stomach forms instantly.

  “Why, what is going on?” Ellie asks, moving away from me and shrugging the man's hand off her shoulder. “He needs medical attention.” She fights to return to me pointing to my wrist.

  “Debriefing, ma'am, we will get a paramedic to him,” he says, avoiding eye contact with me.

  “Right now? I think it can wait.” Ellie is distracted when she sees Cody walking by being escorted by an agent. He turns to us and he has the same confused expression on his face. They get in a van with blacked out windows and drive off.

  “Justin Bennett, we need you to come with us.” Two more agents walk up, bigger ones that look like they are expecting a struggle.

  “This is all routine, ma'am,” the first agent says as he takes Ellie's arm in his hand and starts to escort her toward another van.

  She turns back watching me, and I can see she is worried also.

  “Where are you taking us,” I ask firmly, as I'm being taken to another black van.

  “Debriefing, sir,” the agent says. He's being smart not laying a hand on me, and the agent with Ellie has dropped his. Ellie gets in the van as instructed, and the knot in my stomach gets even larger. She turns, her eyes just meeting mine when the van door shuts.

  “This way, sir,” the agent to my left says as I take a step toward Ellie's van. That gut feeling, the one that tells me something is wrong, is screaming at me.

  I take off in a sprint towards Ellie's van, reaching it just as it drives away at a rapid speed.

  “Mr. Bennett, please don't make us cuff you. I assure you this is routine,” the agent says again. As I turn to him standing next to me, I see that I'm a good half foot taller than him. I examine my situation. FBI and DEA agents litter the lot. Something tells me I'm getting in that van one way or another.

  “Where are we going?” I ask again once I am seated. The door shuts and we take off. A paramedic with a medical bag sits next to me to work on my cut.

  The agent doesn't answer me, no one talks. By the looks on their faces, I can tell no one will be talking.

  Chapter 49

  Ellie

  After about an hour of driving I have no idea where we are or, for that matter, where we were in the first place. The agents in the van with me are anything but chatty. Every question I ask is met with silence. I start to remember what happened before we were taken. Who was the man that was tied up with us?

  The van pulls to a stop. Getting out, we are in some sort of underground garage. I'm escorted inside the building and left alone in an interrogation room.

  “Where are we?” I ask the agent before he leaves the room.

  “Would you like anything to drink?” is his response.

  “Water.” I roll my eyes. Rubbing my hand on the back of my neck, I wonder if Cody and Justin are in the same building, and where the hell this building is. I try to remember any landmarks outside the airplane hangar when we stepped outside. All I remember seeing is a sea of agents and black vehicles.

  I pace back and forth, my mind racing with even more with questions when the door finally opens.

  “Denny, what the fuck is going on? Where are Cody and Justin? Where are we?” I bombard the redhead with questions as he walks in, setting a bottle of water on the table in front of the chair I'm supposed to be sitting in.

  “Have a seat,” he answers.

  I stop and watch him as he sits in the opposite chair. He has a file folder in his hand that he sets down on the table. He gestures with his hand for me to have a seat.

  “First, we are in Augusta,” he answers after I sit. “Second, Cody and Justin are also here, and third, we are trying to get to the bottom of what is going on.”

  I'm instantly confused as to why Denny would be doing the debriefing, this isn't his job.

  “I'm sure you are wondering why I'm here,” he answers my unasked question.

  “Yes.”

  “I'm not an FBI agent. I actually work for the DOJ,” he says and waits for my response.

  “The DOJ, the emails?” I remember the horrifying emails I read.

  “Victor Allen. Yes, we did not know just how deep he was,” Denny says, confusing me more.

  “Deep into what?”

  “The string of government officials that spans almost all branches that have been profiting off the sales of high grade, black market weapons being sold to our enemies, to the highest bidder,” he answers.

  “Did you know he was spying on me?”

  “No, not until we got to the B&B shortly after you were taken.”

  “I'm here and you are telling me all this, why?” I watch his expression change.

  “Honestly, we thought you were in on it,” Denny flat out says.

  “Because?”

  “First your work with LDR. Taking them down, we thought was a stroke of genius. Eliminating the middle man.” I stare at him and twist off the lid of the water and take a long drink.

  “You thought that what I did to take down Chico Alverez was all part of a plan?” I can't even believe what I'm hearing.

  “Then you were shot. There was no evidence to support you were working with Fausto until you came to Bailey Island. That is when the suspicions were intensified,” Denny explains.

  “I’d never heard of Bailey Island until Carl told me about it...” I remember the emails again.

  “Yes, I'm afraid you have been bait since the beginning.” Denny sees all the light bulbs come on. “We had also been watching your boyfriend for some time.”

  “Justin didn't have anything to do with it,” I defend him instantly.

  “We had suspected him ever since he was the only survivor on the attack of Alejandro's boat. Then it seemed like just too much happenstance that his brother-in-law was also working for Fausto.”

  “You can't be serious.” I don't even know what to say, all the lines are so blurred right now. “I don't know what happened that night, but I do know that Justin was not working with Fausto. No fucking way.” This I can say and stand by one hundred percent.

  “We have new evidence supporting that he was not, but the other members of his team might have been,” Denny reveals.

  “Wait, you said I was bait since the beginning. My parents...” I stop, remembering the pictures of my parents’ crime scene on Victor Allen’s computer. My breaths become heavy as I realize my parents were murdered as motivation. The words in the email, ‘lacks motivation’ flash in front of me. I'm hyperventilating, and the look in Denny's eyes confirms just what I'm thinking.

  “Why?” The tears flow as my whole world closes in on me.

  “From what we have learned, Fausto wanted his brother out of the way. He hated the way he did business. The best way he could think of to get rid of Chico and his loyal members was to have the FBI shut him down. They couldn't do that without hard intel. That's when Carl Parson had your parents murdered, and another couple, with the same MO just for good measure. Chico hated blacks and interracial marriages, so it was perfect to pin this on LDR.”

  “They were murdered brutally, my mother was raped repeatedly,” I shout through tears.

  “I'm sorry,
Ellie, but that was all part of the motivation part. You were exactly Chico's type and Carl knew you would stop at nothing to bring him down."

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I scream, I'm so fucking angry.

  “Sebastian was a double agent who worked for us and the FBI. He played dangerous, telling Fausto he was an agent. And when Sebastian found out that Fausto had many high ranking officials on his payroll, he decided to join the money train. He fed us incorrect information to keep us from getting suspicious about Carl and Victor.”

  “You said you thought I was in on it,” I choke the words out and wipe at the uncontrollably tears running down my face.

  “Until we found the file at the B&B,” Denny admits, looking at me with remorse. This makes my heart sink even more. All this time God knows who thought I was part of this sick game.

  “Fuck.” I lay my arm down on the table, my face drooping from how heartbreaking this all is.

  “I am very sorry, Ellie, but we are close to getting the bad guys. We have Carl and Victor, we just need to find out who else was involved,” Denny says, reaching out to touch my arm in a gesture of the shame he must feel.

  The door opens and Justin walks in. Denny retracts his hand from my arm as fast as lightning, making me laugh. So at the moment, I am laughing and crying at the same time.

  Chapter 50

  Justin

  When we arrived in Augusta, I was greeted by the Head of Naval Operations. The night that has haunted my life all came back. Since I've learned that Alajandro was still alive, my mind hasn't had time to think too much about it with everything that has happened in the past three days. But standing in front of General Thomas, it all comes to a head.

  I've been under investigation for that night, been accused of many things. No evidence to support what they thought happened led to my discharge. The gut feeling that something was not right that night saved my life.