Jenny shook her hand. “I’m Jenny Atkins. Mr. Connor told me to say hi for him.”
“I heard a lot of what happened, but Mr. Connor did not have his com unit on until he had you on the road from Basrah. If you don’t want to talk about it, just say so Jenny, but I really would like to know how he got you out.”
“I don’t mind. I like Mr. Connor. He can change himself. Did you know that?”
“Yes honey, he can do a lot of strange things.”
“They kept me locked up in a room. I hated it. I was sleeping, because it was real late. I felt a hand on my face, and I opened my eyes, and Mr. Connor was sitting next to me. He whispered for me to be very quiet, because he was going to take me to my parents. He asked me if I had a favorite person I liked, and I told him I loved Tom Cruise. He got this real funny look on his face, and he sighed.”
Karen laughed, “I’ll bet he did.”
Jenny reached out, and put her hand on Karen’s. “But wait, then he just changed into Tom Cruise. He even sounded like him. I had a little lamp they let me have. I could see him real good. Then he told me to get dressed in the robes they made me wear all the time. After I got dressed, we went over by the locked door. Mr. Connor told me to close my eyes and wait for him. I closed my eyes, but then I peaked, and he was gone. At first I couldn’t hear anything; but then there were shots, and people screaming. I thought they caught Mr. Connor. After ten minutes, it got real quiet.
My door opened, and Mr. Connor was there. He was bleeding real bad. He didn’t look like Tom Cruise anymore. He knelt down next to me. Mr. Connor said he would have to disguise himself to look like Ahmed Hassam, the man who bought me, and not to be scared. I said okay, and then he changed to look exactly like him. I was scared at first, but when he smiled, I could see Mr. Connor. He picked me up like I did not weigh anything and carried me. Outside the room, there were bodies everywhere. Sirens were going off, and military cars were coming.
Mr. Connor met the soldiers, and spoke to them just like Ahmed Hassam. They even saluted him. Then they ran into the house. Mr. Connor put me in one of their cars after he walked right up to the driver, and did something to his head. He picked him right out of the jeep, and threw him in the air like a ball. We left then. He put something in his ear, and started talking to someone. I guess you know the rest.”
Karen had gripped the little girl’s hand in hers throughout the story. It took a moment to realize she had stopped talking. She looked at Ruiz, who had sat back in his seat. He nodded at her when Jenny finished.
“Mr. Connor came on line when he reached the road going to the Kuwait border. He told us to get ready, because he would have targets on his tail. He told us what he and Jenny were in, and to take out everything following. We set up three separate ambushes, which I imagine you were in on from there Dr. Blakely.”
“Yes,” Karen confirmed. “We monitored things pretty closely after he started communicating. Thomas had to leave Jenny with Johnny Loo after he reached the Kuwait border, and then he went back towards Basrah. We lost communication for a while at that time. In fact we did not regain it until the operation was over.”
Ruiz nodded his agreement. “Yea, they sprung the first ambush after Mr. Connor got by, and then the first team began retreating back to the border. He had a small army following him. They did not give up pursuit, even when they were hit at the second ambush site. I was on the third site, and we were to hold until everyone was out. Just as word came in to retreat back to the border, our communications went down. We hustled back, but I took a round in the shoulder. The rest of my team lost track of me, because we didn’t know we were no longer in contact. The bullet had just grazed the top of my shoulder, but I was bleeding heavily. I knew they wouldn’t leave me, so I hunched down to wait for the enemy. I lost consciousness, and the next thing I knew they were kicking me awake, and screaming at me. There had to be about ten of them. I felt pretty good, because I knew everyone else must have made it out. Someone kicked me in the side of the head here.” Ruiz pointed to a lacerated area above his right ear.
“When I came to, Mr. Connor was picking me up like I was a baby, and all of the soldiers were dead.” Ruiz stopped for a moment, smiling grimly. “He had literally torn them apart. It looked like he had blown them up. I tried to get him to let me walk, but he just shook his head, and headed back for the border at a dead run. I am six feet two inches tall, and weigh two hundred pounds. Our way back was over mostly sand. We could hear the sound of some heavy armor moving up the road. Mr. Connor got me back to the border, where Mr. Loo had everyone dug in. They started patching me up, and Mr. Connor took Jenny. Mr. Loo told him to take off, because the pursuit was not going over the border. Mr. Connor laughed, and headed out in one of our vehicles with Jenny. Just as the armored carriers showed up on the road, racing towards us, two helicopter gunships came from inside Kuwait. They rocketed the carriers, and that was the end of it.
We all hooked up later in Kuwait City. They had my little wound patched up. Mr. Connor arrived with Jenny once we got settled in at the safe house. He didn’t look like Tom Cruise by then. He looked like hell; but he joked around with us, and introduced Jenny. He took me aside, and asked me if I would make sure Jenny reached the States safely. I told him I would be honored to. He smiled at me, and told me exactly what I told you back at customs. Me and Jenny have been together ever since.”
Karen sat enthralled, as the story had progressed. They had not regained contact until after the incident at the border. Nate and Derek had worked damage control, explaining the circumstances to the Kuwaiti officials about the rescue mission. The President had been informed of the rescue after its successful conclusion, and the need for complete secrecy. He had two daughters himself. He in effect told the Iraqi representatives, who came to protest at the White House, to make sure they did not kidnap any other little American girls out of their homes, or a border incident would be their least concern. He seemed to relish the opportunity. She filled Ruiz in on some of the details.
“Thank you for filling me in on all of this Jenny. It will help us later. We can stop at the hospital if you want Lieutenant,” Karen told him.
“I want to be on hand when Jenny gets to meet back up with her parents,” Ruiz replied. “I promised her I would be there.”
Karen smiled in agreement. “I think that will be just fine. Nate flew them out here, and put them up at the New York Palace hotel. We have a room for you there too Lieutenant.”
“Will I ever see Mr. Connor again?” Jenny asked.
“I hope so Jenny,” Karen replied. “I hope so.”
Nate walked into the living room of the small house in East Germany. Johnny Loo stood up from within the group of men resting in the main room. He shook hands with his old friend, and motioned for Nate to follow him out into the kitchen. Johnny opened each of them a soda from the refrigerator, and sat down at the small table. Nate pulled up a chair opposite of him.
“Thanks for coming Nate, I know you must be frazzled.”
“After all you guys have done over the last three weeks, you think I’m frazzled?” Nate gestured towards the room. “How are your guys holding up?”
“Fantastic,” Johnny stated without hesitation. “Thirteen missions in just over three weeks with only five guys wounded. I would not have thought it possible, at least until I met up with Thomas again.”
“The replacements I sent worked out okay then?”
“They fit like a glove. With you and Ruiz training them, they came prepared to do what we needed. I don’t know how you have been keeping all of this quiet, but we came this far only because you did.”
“I must admit we were doing pretty well with the President being on board one hundred percent. I am tapped out on favors for exclusives to the media once this shit ends. We cannot keep a lid on this much longer, especially with what the mutant menace did in the Sudan.”
Nate watched Johnny Loo get a far away look on his face for a moment, and then he stood up agai
n, and went to the cupboard. He came back with two shot glasses and a bottle of Wild Turkey. After pouring two shots, he held his out. Nate touched his into Johnny’s. Johnny and Nate threw down their shots, and Johnny poured another for both of them to sip.
“You would have had to have seen what Thomas saw there Nate, to know why he did what he did. This Abdul Badri, who had purchased Carolyn Mowry from Pierre, had his own slaves for sale. They were black slaves of all ages. Carolyn had been mutilated as you have heard goes on with women in these areas.”
“I know the first part went smoothly,” Nate acknowledged. “He came on line as soon as he located her. Thomas really outdid himself, meeting up with the local military official, and then borrowing his identity. Badri took him right in to see Carolyn. It should have been an in and out mission. You had the encampment set up beautifully. All Thomas had to do was grab Carolyn, get in the vehicle he came in, and leave. You had the door open. The screaming began shortly after, and then all hell broke loose.”
“Badri had Carolyn suspended in a four foot square cage,” Johnny explained. “She was covered with open sores, and her feet were lacerated. We do not know exactly what he did in there. We know six men went in to the place where they kept the girl, and when the screaming ended, only Thomas and Carolyn came out.”
“So when you and your team heard what was going down, you all decided to join in.”
“I could have ordered my team back, but they literally live and die with Thomas after these past weeks with him,” Johnny said. “I lead the team in so far as support goes, but they know what he wants, and they let nothing get in the way of it. The ambush we almost walked into in Damascus cemented it. They all believe, and rightfully so, they would be dead if not for him. Thomas has brought out every little girl, and never lost or left any of the rest of us behind on the way.”
Nate nodded his understanding, and finished off his shot. He signaled for another, and Johnny refilled both of their shot glasses. “So things went a bit wild there at Mr. Badri’s house, huh?”
“Before I knew it, my men were up and moving. Badri’s lackeys were on their way to see what was happening. They never had a chance. The team took them down before they could get off a shot. Thomas came out from the building. He had covered the girl in robes. We could not tell it was him for a moment. I doubt there was a single spot on him without blood, and his eyes were like the ones you expect to see in an animal, black and without reflection. Carolyn clung to him as he came out looking around wildly, but there was no one left there alive for him to protect the girl from. He just looked around for a moment, and then he smiled. With the girl in his arms, he got in the passenger side of the vehicle. The rest of us just gathered around where he sat in the open jeep. He touched her face, and said something in her ear. She nodded at him and let go of him.”
“He asked one of your men, Tim I think, to take her back to the next check point,” Nate added from what he knew. “He sounded okay, but I was asking him for a report, and getting nothing in return. The screaming inside had freaked Karen, and she does not frighten easily.”
“Yea, well Thomas bathed himself a bit with a bucket of water, which gave him a more human look. He told our team, who were just following him around, to search the entire area, and release anyone they find. He started dragging the bodies from outside into the small building Carolyn had been held in. Some of the guys tried to give him a hand, but he stopped them, and told them to continue their recon.
I tried talking to him after he got all the bodies in the building,” Johnny shrugged, “but he told me he needed to just keep going for a while. I told him the blood running down his back looked fresh. He said not to worry, he took a couple of hits, but he was okay. Connor grabbed some flares after he threw around some fuel, he had found, all over the inside of the building. He torched it with the flares. When the rest of the team returned, Thomas was still standing there watching it. I guess he took into consideration the building was in the middle of this compound, and the fire would not spread, because it really went up fast.”
“You found about forty others there,” Nate added. “Did you get them all on their way? I left the States as soon as you asked me too, so I never heard how you made out with the others.”
Johnny Loo nodded. “We returned them all back to the villages they were taken from. They had not been treated like Carolyn. The problem came when we all returned to our checkpoint. Thomas checked on Carolyn, who was already with our medical team, then he came back out, and shook hands with everyone like always. He told me he would be back just after nightfall. We tried to get him to tell us what was up, but he said he just had to take care of something. Before we could say anymore, he hopped into the vehicle he had gone on the mission with and took off.
I asked Carolyn if she knew why Connor may have taken off like he did. She was pretty groggy from the pain killers, but she said when he took her from the cage, he cried out like she had hurt him.”
Nate shook his head. “He saw something when he came into contact with Carolyn.”
“Yep, and he went to set things right,” Loo added. “Badri had a place where his drug operation ran out of. The guy he had in charge there had been the one who tortured Carolyn. God only knows what that boy went through before he died. Our guys were getting anxious about Thomas, and they were ready to go out and get him, even though I told them we had no idea where he was.
Just when I had thought he had cashed in, he came on line. Luckily, we were still monitoring. Thomas said he was about twenty minutes away, and he had three young girls with him, but he had some warlord guy on his tail. He said he needed an ambush set up, and where the best place would be to do it. We were in position when he came by with what looked like a small army behind him.
Sonny jumped out, and rocketed the first truck after Thomas passed by. The rest never knew what hit them. We knew we had to get the hell out of there, so after we made sure his trailers were taken care of, we beat it back to the checkpoint. I had already sent Tim with Carolyn, and the medical team, back for transport out.
We found Connor passed out over the steering wheel of the Jeep, with three girls crying and holding each other in the back. Two were French, and one was Dutch. I speak French, so I calmed them down, while some of the guys eased Connor out of the jeep. He came to while we were on our way out. He said we were in trouble, and to warn you guys to get the spin machine going.”
“The French and Dutch governments helped considerably when the little girls were returned. We hardly needed any help quieting things down after they took a hand,” Nate said. “It got a little dicey at first. They found twenty-three bodies at the drug lab. You guys accounted for eighteen more.”
“We didn’t know too many of the specifics, because we had to get out so fast, and Thomas was in no condition to talk.”
“Where is Thomas?” Nate asked.
“He’s in one of the bedrooms. We got some food in him when we returned, and he cleaned up okay. He wouldn’t let the medical team we have with us look at him.” Johnny paused to sip his shot. “I called you, because he ain’t healing like he did the other times. I think he’s about at the end of whatever rope he was using.”
Nate stood up. “Let’s go see him. I promised Karen, if she stayed in the States, I would contact her the moment I saw Thomas. She heard you, and tried to pull a Forest Gump like when he found out his Mom in the movie was sick. I was afraid she would go jump in the nearest ocean, and start swimming here.”
Johnny laughed for the first time in a long while as he also stood up from the table. “She really likes him, huh?”
“She’s pregnant with the Mutant’s baby.”
Johnny stopped dead in his tracks, and spun around to face Nate. “You have got to be kidding. Did she tell you herself?”
“Yea,” Nate replied. “After she started throwing up, and the little caffeine addict could not even smell coffee without getting nauseous. Women always think men are dumber than a pile of rocks. I co
nfronted her, and she admitted it. She made me promise not to tell Thomas.”
“Why the hell not? The guy could use a little good news,” Johnny objected.
“She just doesn’t want to add anymore to the load he insists on carrying around by himself,” Nate answered. “She may be right. Lead on, and let me see how Captain America looks.”
Johnny led him back through the living room area to the first bedroom. Inside the room, Nate saw Connor lying on his back under the covers of the bed. He stopped and looked at Johnny in shock.
“He looks like a fucking corpse,” Nate whispered.
“He lost a lot of blood Nate, and he.”
“Hello,” Connor mumbled without opening his eyes, “I can hear you two meatballs.”
Nate walked over, and put a hand on Connor’s shoulder. “Hey Mutie, how the hell you doin’?”
Connor opened his eyes, then focused on Nate with some difficulty. He smiled crookedly. “Great, until I heard I looked like a fucking corpse. Glad to see you Nate. Did you get things handled, or will the United Nations be launching an attack on us soon?”
Nate lifted the blanket, “Christ Thomas, you ain’t looking too good boy. Why don’t we get you to a hospital.”
Connor slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. Blood had soaked through his tee-shirt in a couple of spots in the front. There were bandages, but they were red under the shirt. “Johnny patched me up, and I’m healing. I just need to focus a little more. You boys have been drinking. Needed some liquid courage to come in and face the evil mutant, did we?”
“Hell, I needed a shooter before coming in and having to look at that ugly body of yours. They shoot horses that look better than you do.” Nate paused. “Look Mutie, we can probably get this next girl out without you. Why not go.”
Connor held up his hand to stop his friend. “You and I both know better than that. The whole team would be dead by the time you got a glimpse of her, and we would have an incident no amount of blackmail would cover.”
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