Amy Lynn: Golden Angel

by Jack July

  “Madam President, the intelligence policy comes from the BND; I will see you get what you need. I would like the opportunity to discuss America’s military presence in greater detail. I think we can find ways to make the environment better and find ways to cut costs.”

  “I would love to have that conversation. Out of all the world leaders, you are one of my best friends. Maybe I’ll let it be known that sometimes friendship is more important than money.”

  “Thank you Liz, I appreciate that.”

  “No Helga, thank you. We’ll talk soon.”

  “Jesus Christ, do you play hardball!” exclaimed Tim Dotson, Director of the CIA, to the President.

  “Yeah, well, a woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do. Stand by for a phone call from the BND.”

  Captain Bastos stood on the bridge calling into his supervisor with an estimated time of arrival. As he hung up, Kristy looked at him and asked, “Is that a phone?”

  “Yes, yes it is.”

  “Can I call my mommy?”

  Bastos thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Then he replied, “YES! Of course, what is her number?”

  After Kristy gave it to him, Captain Bastos dialed the number and handed her the phone. Before she took it he requested, “Let me speak to her before you hang up.”

  “Now I will find out what is going on,” he thought.

  The phone rang in Connie Wilson’s house prompting quick glances between the two FBI agents at each other. One of them asked with a puzzled tone, “SAT phone?”

  Then they signaled Connie to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “Mommy?”

  “Kristy, OH MY GOD, KRISTY!” she screamed. Her volume hurt Kristy’s ear; the SAT phone receiver was loud.

  “Mommy, stop screaming,”

  “Kristy, Kristy, are you all right?” she cried, trying to control her panic.

  “Yes, I’m fine. I miss you.”

  “Oh honey we miss you too.” Meanwhile, the FBI agents were trying to get Connie’s attention so she would ask the right questions.

  “Where are you?”

  “On a ship.”

  “Where at, honey; tell me where.”

  “On the ocean.”

  “Who are you with?” Connie asked, finally obeying the FBI’s orders.

  “The captain.”

  “Let me talk to him,” Connie ordered.

  “Okay Mommy, I love…” the phone went dead.

  “What happened, WHAT HAPPENED?!”

  “SAT phone lost contact. They may call back, are you sure it was her?”

  “I KNOW WHAT MY OWN GOD DAMN CHILD SOUNDS LIKE! GET HER BACK, GET HER BACK NOW,” Connie screamed, breaking down.

  The agents looked at each other in shock. Then one spoke up, “Good news ma’am, she’s alive.”

  Kristy took the phone away from her ear, looked at the captain and declared, “It stopped working.”

  “Oh, it happens, we will try again later.”

  Sanjay watched the whole thing out of the corner of his eye. “Captain, request permission to leave the bridge?”

  “Granted,” the captain replied.

  Sanjay had his own phone call to make.

  November 25th 11:00 A.M. Germany

  The taxi stopped in front of the abandoned storefront. Molyneux got out and scanned the German slum. The door opened and Bogus called out in French, “Monty! Great to see you. Please, come in.”

  “Certainly not one of your normal hangouts,” Monty replied with noticeable disgust.

  “Yes, well, sorry. Anyway, these people,” he motioned to the crew, “are concerned you may be part of a child abduction and murder scheme. I assured them that it was ridiculous but they needed to hear it from you. Have a seat, please.”

  Monty stepped toward the table in the center and looked down when he heard the crunch of the disposable tarp underfoot that was spread beneath the table. He sat across from Bogus.

  “Do you remember when we spoke earlier and I told you I was looking for a child? It’s bigger than that, much bigger. So I’m going to ask you a few questions. Answer them, then you can leave and I will see you next week for dinner.”

  “Of course,” Monty agreed, his voice and mannerisms displaying a trace of nervousness.

  Bogus laid a few pictures out on the table. They were still shots taken from the videos. Monty stared at them in shock.

  “Now Monty, did you have anything to do with harming these children?”

  “No, I would never hurt a child.”

  “I believe you, very good. Now, have you sold or dealt in the transaction of any of these videos?”

  Monty paused a little too long, then answered, “No, no I have not.”

  Bogus’ internal lie detector went off, but he reasoned it could just be a case of nerves.

  “Good. Now the American government has hacked your Caymans’ account and found hundreds of five-thousand dollar deposits. Would you please tell us what those deposits are from?”

  “You hacked my accounts?”

  “Monty, where are those deposits from?”

  He froze.

  “Dammit, tell us!”

  Monty sat quietly for a moment, then confessed, “I’m sorry Bogus.”

  “Sorry about what?”

  “I was broke, I was losing everything, and it was easy money. I hurt no one.”

  “Oh no! Oh God no! Please, say this is not true.”

  “I didn’t make them, I just sold them.”

  “Why didn’t you come to me? I would have given you anything.”

  “I was too proud, I... I just couldn’t,” he explained shamefully.

  Elle watched Bogus from across the room, with his head bowed down. The flamboyant wunderkind was heartbroken and deflated. She had never seen him like that. There was a real man in there after all.

  Bogus looked up and said, “Proud?” Then he lost control, stood up and yelled, “PROUD, REALLY? PROUD? YOU SOLD VIDEOS OF CHILDREN BEING MURDERED! GOOD CHRIST, PROUD?”

  “I’m sorry Bogus, I am so sorry.”

  “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SORRY IS!” Bogus roared as he glanced over at T. “But you will find out. Who is making these?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Monty, who is making these?”

  “It’s all blind drops, I have never met anyone.”

  “Do you have a phone number, anything?”

  “I had one. I used it after you called me. I tried to call again but it was disconnected.”

  “You told them about me?”

  “I told them you were asking questions, that’s all, I swear.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” T muttered under her breath.

  “What?” Elle whispered.

  “I only thought we were being hunted. Now I know for sure,”

  Bogus stood up and said, “I only have one prayer for you. That is that your children never find out what you have done,” Then he turned and walked toward the door.

  “Bogus, BOGUS!” Monty called out in a panic.

  “Bogus, take him with you,” Tatiana ordered, pointing toward Brandon.

  Brandon got up, looked at T, and knowing what was going to happen next, slowly shook his head before following Bogus out of the door.

  “What now?” asked Elle.

  “I have a couple of hours to kill, and I will use it all.”

  Monty started to stand when Cody’s large hands on his shoulders forced him back into the chair. Then the sound of zip ties quickly securing him to the chair was followed by T’s cold voice, “The people of the United States of America wish to show you their displeasure with the murder of their children. Welcome to hell, Mr. Molyneux.”

  T unzipped her black bag, felt a microsecond of a rumble, then BOOM!
A massive blast sounded from up the street. It was so violent that the remaining crew was blown to the ground and the boarded windows of the storefront blasted inward, covering everyone with broken wood and dust.

  “WHAT WAS THAT?!” Elle exclaimed.

  “Oh no, no, no, oh no,” T repeated under her breath with a look of shock on her face. Elle started to rise when T dove and grabbed her, pulling her to the floor yelling, “Keep your head down before someone blows it off! They play for the second move too.”

  “Where are Bogus and Brandon?” Elle inquired, still in disbelief over what had just happened.

  “Gone,” answered Tatiana. “CODY!”

  “On it,” he replied as he moved through the back door to retrieve the second car.

  “But, Bogus and Brandon,” Elle protested.

  “They’re gone, it was their car. Get your head on straight and maybe we’ll get out of here alive.”

  “Oh my God, oh my God!” Elle repeatedly exclaimed.

  “HEY! THIS IS COVERT OPERATIONS, NOT THE FUCKING GIRLSCOUTS. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND LET’S GO!”

  They crawled through the rubble gathering their things, then headed for the back door. As they approached it, Molyneux asked, “Wait! What about me?”

  T pulled her SIG and shot him in the head. Then she and Elle snuck through the back door into the alley and climbed into the waiting car driven by Cody. As they turned the corner at the end of the alley, they could see car parts scattered around the intersection. The car had been almost a block away. T’s head was down and she was hitting the front seat with her fist. For the first time reality hit Elle hard. This was neither a game, nor an adventure and she had to accept the realization that the bad guys weren’t the only ones who died.

  CHAPTER 36

  November 25th 6:00 P.M.

  Sanjay knocked on the door to the captain’s quarters, “Oh good Sanjay, thank you,” said Captain Bastos, reaching for the back-up SAT phone.

  “Sir, there is a call for you,” Said Sanjay.

  The captain took the phone and leaned back in his desk chair. “Hello?”

  The captain’s expression quickly changed as the maritime director of the consortium proceeded to scream at him for risking the cargo and bringing unwanted attention to the freighter over a child. He ended with the words, “You’re fired. Turn control of the ship over to Sanjay immediately.”

  The captain sat up quickly in his chair and boomed “I WILL NOT!” I am responsible for this ship and its cargo. I will resign when we make port.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone until the man said, “Fine captain, have it your way. Return the phone to Sanjay.”

  The captain handed the phone back to Sanjay who just listened. Then he finished with, “Yes, sir.”

  Sanjay transferred the phone to his left hand, staring at the floor. He liked and respected the captain who had always been good to him as well as fair. He had also learned much from him about piloting an ocean going vessel. None of that mattered, Sanjay had his orders. He reached to the small of his back, drew a .45 and shot the surprised captain in the chest three times. It was now Sanjay’s vessel.

  Sanjay covered the captain’s body with a sheet and tried to roll the big man up in it. He decided he would need help when a sudden scream made him jump. Kristy saw the captain’s lifeless bloody body lying on the floor. “CAPTAIN, CAPTAIN,” she shrieked.

  Sanjay picked her up and tried to comfort her but Kristy was having none of it. He carried the screaming child back to her room and handed her to Aida. Aida too tried to comfort her, but finally she’d had enough and slapped Kristy hard on the side of the face. The child dropped to the floor, a small trickle of blood running out the side of her mouth. “Silence!” screamed Aida. Kristy lay on the floor sobbing as her feeling of safety ebbed away, replaced by her old constant companion, fear.

  Tatiana, Elle and Cody walked into the communications center looking bedraggled. Danny and Edie watched them enter and plop down on chairs. Danny said, “You guys look like shit.”

  Edie nodded in agreement and Danny said, “The boss wants to talk to us. I’ll put him on.”

  Danny hit a few buttons, spoke into his receiver and voice that seemed to come out of the walls said, “Stand by for the director.”

  Director Dotson appeared on the screen and gave them an appreciative smile then he spoke, “Things are going well, you are on schedule to successfully complete the mission. Things are happening fast around here. I will have Adele brief you on the latest developments. T, anything I need to know?”

  “No Sir.”

  “Elle, you appear to be the unit punching bag,” He said with a slight but respectful smile then he continued, “We have a doctor waiting for you at the base hospital, I want you to go get checked out.”

  “Oh, ah, no sir, I’m fine,” Said Elle.

  The director shot back with a stern, “I wasn’t asking.”

  “Yes, sir,” replied Elle.

  “Cody, good to see you again. Welcome back.”

  “Thank you, Director.”

  Director Dotson sighed and said, “Okay, if you need anything, I’m here. Stand by for Adele. Good hunting.” The screen went blank.

  Tatiana looked over at Elle and said, “When the director makes a suggestion the standard answer is, ‘Yes, sir.’”

  “Yeah, thanks,” said Elle with a ‘no kidding’ kind of look.

  Moments later the screen lit up with Adele’s smiling face. “Well now, don’t you all look like hell,” she said with a knowing grin. “I like that, it means you’ve been working hard. Good news, your efforts are beginning to pay off. Let’s start at the beginning.” She rifled around on her desk looking for a list then picked one up, put on her reading glasses and said, “Kidnappers dead, check. DVD producer dead and they found two more unsold movies in his office safe, check. DVD purchasers? Well, wouldn’t you know. Molyneux worked very hard to hide his account, however, those that purchased the DVDs left a trail right into their bank accounts. Interpol is making a list and checking it twice before they bring down a world of hurt on what will be some of the biggest names in entertainment, politics and business. They’re gonna wait till Kristy is found to round them up so they don’t spook the killer.”

  The crew all smiled and nodded at that.

  “And now the biggest news of all, Kristy Wilson called her mother from a SAT phone aboard a ship.”

  The crew drew a deep excited breath and sat up in their chairs. Tatiana said skeptically, “Are you sure it was her?”

  “Yep, FBI voice prints taken from home movies say it is her. Now for the bad news, she’s not on the Ava Maria and the call was cut off before we could get a good position on her. The satellite she used says Atlantic not far from the western coast of Africa, maybe. It’s not an exact science. Fifteen teenage girls were taken out of a container on the Ava Maria, destined for who knows what kind of malevolence, but no Kristy Wilson. The cartel owns ten ships and has controlling interest in several others. Lists are being made and the hunt is on.”

  “What about the killer?” asked Elle.

  “Still a mystery, but we do have a few leads that we are investigating. What I want you three to do is eat, shower and sleep. If anything happens we’ll let you know. By the way, Elle, you’re doin’ a good job.”

  “Thank you ma’am.”

  “Now for the shit part of my job. Boguslaw Zielinsky’s sister has been contacted and told what happened. She knew who he was and what he was. She was not surprised but still devastated. Brandon Bolin had no relatives that we could contact. Still, his name will be entered into the archives of the CIA, and he will go down in history as a patriot. The BND cleaned up the mess. For that I am grateful. We will meet back in eight hours. I will have a direction for you then. Any questions?”

  The team collectively shook their heads no.
“Okay, goodnight,” and Adele signed off.

  Edie stood up and said to Elle, “Come with me, I will take you to the doctor.”

  Fifteen minutes later they were walking through the front door of the base medical building. There were lines and people, Edie would look in a certain direction and nod her head, then doors would open, all the way to an isolated room in the back of the facility. Elle looked at Edie and said, “You’re BND aren’t you?”

  Edie smiled and said, “That’s classified Petty Officer Braxton.”

  “Touché,” said Elle. “You get that from Danny?”

  “Well you know, touch here, and tickle there, men spill their guts. But no, it didn’t come from Danny”

  “So you are like me?” asked Elle.

  “Oh no, I am far from you. I saw the battle of Khawak pass.”

  Elle gave her a slight smile as the old gray haired doctor walked in, “I’ll be outside when you are finished,” Said Edie.

  “Strip,” said the doctor.

  Elle balked a moment and the doctor said, “Look, I’m seventy-two. I’ve seen plenty of naked asses, yours isn’t special.”

  That made Elle chuckle. She stripped down and he saw the stitched up wound on her back, “What’s that from?’ he asked.

  “Classified,” replied Elle.

  “I’m Doctor Kennedy, the spook doctor. I know who you are, what you are and that you are part of Golden Angel. Now, again, what’s that from?”

  “Shrapnel, Afghanistan.”

  “Any problems with it?”

  “No, Sir.”

  “Okay then.” He started with her coccyx. “That’s a pretty bad bruise, could be fractured. We’ll X-ray that.” He gently turned her around and examined her sternum. His brows arched then he said, “You must have taken a hell of a shot. We’ll X-ray that. Anything else?”

  Elle held out her hand, “And that looks like a boxer’s fracture. We’ll X-ray that too.” He picked up a chart with handwritten notes and he said, “Stitches?”

  Elle turned around and raised the back of her hair to reveal five stitches in the back of her head. “Hmm,” the Doc nodded and said, “Nice work. Who did it?”