by Jack Ford
Cora looked at Maddie very seriously and wondered if her Mommy really did know about everything there was to know in the whole wide world, because if she did, then how come she didn’t know about this?
With a really long, puzzled sigh. The kind of sigh she often heard her Daddy do, Cora said,‘Yes, because how else are you going to hear them?’
‘Ok, well, Mr Worm, I’m Cora’s mom. And I’m just wondering, when she puts you in her pocket, do you get squashed?’
Cora’s face gleamed. Eyes shone bright. ‘What did they say?’
‘They said that they liked it in your pocket but they’d like it better in a box, outside near the stables.’
Cora quickly pulled the worms away from Maddie’s ear. Angry. Hurt. ‘They did not say that… Can we go now?’
Knowing she’d called it wrong, Maddie beat up on herself. ‘Sweetie, I’m sorry. Look, you’re right, I probably didn’t hear them properly. They probably said that your pocket was the perfect place.’
Cora gazed up from underneath her tumbling blonde curls. ‘You think?’
‘I know.’
‘You want to take one with you?’
‘No… I mean, I can’t take it to Turkey, can I?’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t think that’s such a good idea. It really might get squashed then… Cora, can I ask you, are you really alright about me going away again? Because I don’t have to go, you know. And now you’re getting older you might want me to stay at home like a regular Mommy. I could still work at Onyx, but just in the office. I’d help Granger, and oh what fun that would be… But my point is, honey, I can always stay here instead if you need me.’
Cora’s face answered the question before her words did. ‘No way! Grandpappy always lets me have double chocolate chip, and he lets me go riding way longer than you do, and even longer than Daddy.’
‘Is somebody ready?’
Maddie looked up at her father. It was stupid. Real stupid. But all of a sudden she felt like a little girl again. There was something about this tall, strong, Afro American man. Proud of his roots. Proud of his country – though she knew at times the two didn’t always make a perfect match – which made her feel inadequate. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t felt that way. And she was damned if she knew why. But she did know she’d spent most of her life proving to him she was capable of being her own woman.
‘Yes, we’re ready. All packed. Run out to the car, Cora, and I’ll come in a minute… Oh, Cora, aren’t you forgetting something?’
Cora grinned. Scooped up the worms and insects. Pushed them hard into her pocket. Skipped right out.
Maddie turned and spoke to her father. ‘Everything’s the same as usual. Granger or Levi can contact me if there’s a problem, or even if Cora just wants to speak to me and she can’t get through on my cell or by Skype. Like I say, it shouldn’t be more than a week. From what Granger says all we’re basically doing is going there and back. I really appreciate it. Thanks, Daddy.’
Marvin scowled. Cut his eye. Stared in the way only middle school teachers knew how to.
‘Don’t thank me, Maddie, we love having her. She’s my granddaughter. But I tell you something, I’m not happy.’
Lowering her tone, Maddie stared hard. ‘I know, Daddy. So you keep saying. Every time.’
‘I wouldn’t have to say it every time if you just came to your damn senses. What sort of job is it for a woman, let alone for a mother?’
‘Not this again… I enjoy my job. Just like I’ve enjoyed all the other jobs.’
‘No, you think you enjoy it. But the fact is, ever since you were little you’ve wanted to show me how much you don’t need me or your Momma, but home is where you belong.’
Maddie looked incredulous. ‘To Mississippi?’
‘Yes, to Mississippi. You could settle down, get yourself a nice job in town. Who knows, you might find yourself a good man. A proper father to Cora.’
‘Stop. I don’t want any of those things; the only thing I want is for you to accept me for who I am. I’m happy, Daddy.’
Marvin kissed his teeth. ‘I don’t know how you can be. Your Momma and I are so disappointed. Only yesterday we were asking ourselves, how did you go so wrong?’
Resigned, Maddie asked. ‘Have you finished, Daddy?’
‘Actually, I haven’t, because whilst the Good Lord is blessing me with the truth, let me tell you something else that’s been playing on our minds…’
‘Don’t let me stop you.’
‘Your Momma and I think the amount of guns you have isn’t normal. It isn’t healthy. Whenever I walk into that room where you keep them all, I’m looking for the saloon doors – think I’ve stepped into the Wild West.’
‘Don’t exaggerate.’
‘Cooper has a lot to answer for. I think he’s led you astray. He’s a mess, and won’t be happy until you are too.’
‘I wondered when we’d get onto him. And you know full well, we’re over.’
‘Until you decide to take him back… How you ever got together with a white man, I’ll never know.’
‘Stop right there. Have you heard yourself? And anyway, as I say every time you say this to me, I say, look at Momma. She’s white. So I’ll never understand the problem.’
‘Your momma is very different. She embraced who I was and didn’t try to change any of my views.’
‘You mean she had no choice, otherwise she’d find herself on the other side of your anger, Daddy.’
Marvin scowled. ‘I want you to take that back. That’s simply not true… You know, I don’t like this side of you, Maddison. You can get real mean. Spiteful. But however nasty you want to be, I won’t change my mind about that man. I warned you about him. White folk are different to us.’
‘Well that man – that white man – is Cora’s Daddy. Cora is her Daddy and Tom is Cora. So whether you like it or not, he’s here to stay. I don’t want to hear you say another word about him. You keep your opinions to yourself, and keep them away from Cora. I’m warning you, Daddy, don’t make me choose… Now, I’d appreciate if you could wait here so I can go and say goodbye to my daughter in peace.’
HATAY PROVINCE, TURKEY
NINETEEN MILES FROM THE SYRIAN BORDER
26
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Cooper wasn’t feeling any better than Maddie, who wasn’t feeling any better than Rosedale, who wasn’t feeling well at all and had been unusually quiet during the long, relentless eight hour drive which only served to fuel his ever-growing resentment of the administrative error made by a certain Levi Walker, who’d inadvertently caused their three hour stopover in Lisbon, to turn into three whole days.
But they were here. And at that moment here, to Thomas J Cooper, felt like sweet relief.
Stepping out of the large grey SUV, surrounded by the kaleidoscope of sights and smells of the pine forests and the olive and citrus groves, which sat peaceably in the dusty ground, Cooper stretched out his back and listened to the first words Rosedale had said in the last couple of hours.
‘Just wait till I see him.’
‘Who?’
‘Who do you think, Thomas? Levi, that’s who.’
‘Jesus, just drop it now, that’s all we’ve heard from you in the last three days.’
‘Well the damn fool never seems to get anything right. How hard is it to sort out connections? We’re supposed to be professional. Now if you’d done the bookings, Maddie, there wouldn’t have been a problem.’
‘Don’t be so hard on him. Mistakes happen,’ Maddie said.
In the balminess of the Mediterranean day, she smiled at Rosedale, who tipped his cowboy hat. ‘Yes, ma’am, they do. Maybe Rosedale Young needs to take a leaf out of your book and find the good grace of patience.’
Irritated by what he saw as a sickly display of newfound friendship, but more irritated by the fact that Rosedale had bizarrely begun to refer to himself in the third person, Cooper ground his back teeth, ruminating on the
fact that the three day delay meant the secret stash of pills tucked and hidden in the cut-out sole of his boots would be finished in exactly two days’ time. He scowled at his partners. ‘Look, when you guys have finished your Burns and Allen routine, can we focus? We need to be out of here in two days, max, okay? And Rosedale, is it too much to ask, on this assignment, that you don’t try to make us live in planet Rosedale? I mean, what is it with speaking about yourself in the third person all of a sudden?’
‘Illeism.’
‘What?’
‘Illeism. The art of speaking in third.’
‘I never asked you what it is… I just want you to quit it, okay? I’m not in the mood. Oh, and for your information, it’s not a Goddamn art.’
‘Rosedale thinks a certain person should lighten up, Thomas.’
Cooper threw down his blue jean jacket. ‘Are you kidding me, Rosedale? Are you seriously wanting to press all my buttons?’
Stepping in quickly and not wanting the atmosphere to turn into what occasionally, sometimes, did happen when they worked together, Maddie asked. ‘Why two days, Tom? I’m up for it, but just curious as to why.’
Cooper tried to keep the paranoia away. Tried to ignore the feeling of Maddie being able to read exactly what was on his mind and, leaning against the hot metal of the SUV and unable to hold Maddie’s gaze, he shrugged. ‘No reason. Should there be? I just think if all we’re doing is speaking to these shipping guys and then sorting out a seek and observe, how long can it really take? And besides, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Cora. It’d be neat to spend some time with her.’
He turned away, feeling guilty for using his daughter as an excuse. Then, needing to distract himself, he looked around at the private port which was tucked away, set below the Turkish mountains which swept down towards an irregular coastline of stony capes and hidden bays abutting the glistening, turquoise sea, where bouncing sunlight leapt and pirouetted off the lapping waves. A large white building stood next to a windowless brick construction on the empty harbor. The whole place seemed deserted.
Behind them a sudden fierce noise of tires and engines roared, dust and dirt whirling and clouding to the point of distorting their visibility, whilst cars raced round. Revving engines. Circling. Trapping them in like animals.
Rosedale bellowed over the voracious sound. ‘Maddie, get in the car! Maddie!’
He pulled at the vehicle’s door.
Shut.
Locked.
‘Where’s the key? The key! Maddie!’
Frantically, Maddie dug into her front right pocket.
Left pocket.
Back pocket.
‘I haven’t got them! Tom, the keys! Quick!’
Cooper backed towards where Rosedale and Maddie stood, eyes not shifting from the speeding vehicles, encircling them ever tighter. ‘They’re over there in my jacket… Shit…’
‘Just put up your hands. Go on. Put them up, Tom. Rosedale, go on. Whoever they are maybe if they see we’re not looking for trouble…’
Maddie trailed off as car doors were flung open. Heavy boots thudded on the ground, along with the unmistakable jangle of guns as dozens of men dressed in canvas camouflage stampeded towards them.
Hands in the air, Cooper shouted. ‘Barış için geldik! We come in peace! Barış için geldik!’
The gun smashed into Cooper’s face, staggering him backwards. Pain and blood poured from his nose.
‘Tom! Tom!’
Maddie’s voice was lost under the rage of the man’s scream as he bore down on Cooper.
‘Yere yat! Yere yat! Yere yat!’
With reddened anger, vicious fury, the man kneed Cooper hard in his groin, sending him twisting to the floor. Hitting the ground and writhing in pain. Coughing. Spluttering. Struggling under the weight of the man’s foot pressing his head into the ground.
‘Yere yat! Yere yat! Yere yat!’
He stayed groaning on the floor whilst the shouting continued and a well-aimed fist brutally punched Maddie in her stomach, before she was kicked to the ground to the sound of Rosedale shouting her name. Seconds later, Rosedale’s blood splattered over her from a fierce blow to the side of his head.
A few feet away, Cooper tried to shift position, but the pain and the weight of the man made it impossible. Then, without warning, a searing agony drove through his shoulders as his arms were violently pulled back behind him. Tape around hands. Tape around feet. Bound. Unable to move, whilst powerless, helpless anger flooded over him as he watched Maddie’s and Rosedale’s heads being lifted up by the hair, tight tape forced onto their mouths, before boots pushed both their faces back down, and their cheeks cut and ground into the stony earth, the metal muzzle of a rifle jabbing against each of their temples.
Moments later the three of them were dragged by their feet. And then with three cruel, hard blows, one to the back of each head, they blacked out. They were then unceremoniously thrown into the back of separate cars, which sped away in a new cloud of dust.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
USA
27
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‘Teddy, I need a word.’ Woods put his head round the northeast door of the Oval Office, where Teddy was in a heated discussion with his secretary. He added, ‘That’s if you can spare the time.’
Teddy grinned, his black skin shining from an overenthusiastic application of cocoa butter and said, ‘Sorry, Mr President, I’m just trying to convince Joan the green tea she brings in for us is already too near healthy for me; but now, God forbid, she wants to introduce nettle tea to the office.’
‘I’m glad to see you got your priorities right, Teddy. Who needs to work on next Sunday’s weekly address on opioid addiction when our coffee could be under threat? But seriously, Joan, I hate to break it to you, but I’m with Teddy on this one. Now if you’ll excuse us…’
Woods walked back into the Oval Office, followed directly by Teddy.
‘What I’m going to say might sound strange but I can’t get it off my mind. You know we were going to go over the failing VA appeals process for veteran benefits this Saturday?’
Teddy nodded. Said nothing.
‘Well, I think you’ve been working too hard recently. I really think you could do with a vacation.’
‘A vacation? I’m completely lost here, Mr President.’
‘I think you should get out to the countryside. Go see a friend. In fact, why don’t you take a flight to see your police buddy across in Chatham? Go on Friday, you can be back by Saturday night.’
Teddy said, ‘No problem, Mr President, and whilst I’m there, who knows who else I might bump into.’
HATAY PROVINCE, TURKEY
28
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The large metal door, slightly rusting from the ocean salt, creaked open, letting in the dazzling sunlight, abruptly rousing Maddie, Cooper and Rosedale. Hunched together, still tied, still gagged, whilst the pain of burning muscles, caused by the abnormal position their bodies were secured in, ran through them like fire.
As quickly as the light had appeared it went, blocked by an unshapely silhouette. Broad and wide and six-foot tall, with a strong voice and a firm command. ‘Bring them outside.’
Two men scurried into the small, damp, room. Untying with resolved efficiency the Onyx team before roughly pushing them outside into the bright day, causing Maddie, Rosedale and Cooper to squint as they shuffled barefoot onto the hot, stony ground.
The man who’d appeared in silhouette now stood with his back to the sea, as the sunlight emphasized his weatherworn, dark olive skin, and the flecks of grey that sat like snowflakes in his coal black hair, whilst his stomach hung below his belt like a melting ice-cream..
He said, ‘Let me introduce myself, and apologies if my English isn’t as good as it should be. My name is Ismet. And you must be…’
He paused, looking at Rosedale then down at the American passports he held in his bulbous hands.
‘… Mr Austin Rosedale Young.’
>
Ismet stepped forward ripping the gag off Rosedale’s face. ‘It’s good to meet you, Mr Young.’
With the blow to his head still making him feel nauseous, and aware caution was needed and anger best put aside, Rosedale said, ‘Actually, people call me Rosedale, and now we’re finished with the formalities, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me what the hell you want from us.’
The man, ignoring Rosedale, looked down at the other two passports. Flipped them open. Glanced up and smiled. ‘Hello, Mr Cooper, it’s good to meet you, though your passport photo doesn’t do you justice.’
Cooper winced slightly as his gag was ripped off. ‘Like my friend here said, I want to know what this is about. You hear me?’
‘Oh I hear you, but one thing at a time.’
‘You bastard…’
‘You’re either brave or foolish, Mr Cooper. Look around you.’
Behind Cooper, five other men appeared, heavily armed, with expressions saying they were looking for trouble.
‘And you must be Maddison. Maddison Cooper… I take it somehow you two are related,’ Ismet said.
Through clenched teeth and anger, Cooper growled. ‘She’s my wife and I want to know what you’re playing at.’
Ignoring him, Ismet directed his conversation to Maddie. ‘Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mrs Cooper. And apologies for your unexpected welcome. Your husband is quite right to be annoyed.’
Ripping off her gag, Ismet looked at the trio. Gave a wide smile. ‘You must understand, we can’t be too careful.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Rosedale said.
‘I’m sure you’ve noticed that we’re situated not too far from neighbors who aren’t always particularly friendly towards us. The border of Syria is only a few miles away, and then further up we also have Iraq and Iran. So you see, when you arrived it was about precautions.’