by Warren Ray
“Wonder if everyone left on their own or were forced out.”
After passing a middle school, they took a left on Woodland Drive and then headed back through town on Ann Arbor Street. They continued zigzagging the neighborhoods and found only a trash bag caught up in a tree, trapped from the flight.
They came down Ann Arbor where tall shrubs and evergreen trees bordered the road to their right, hiding any buildings. As they passed a break in the shrubs, something caught Murphy’s attention.
“Stop…stop.”
Burns hit the brakes and came to a full stop.
“Back it up just to that paved pathway.
Burns put the car in reverse and crept backward.
“Over there…see the cars?”
“I see em.”
The two waited for a few moments looking at cars and the buildings trying to figure out what the purpose of the buildings was.
“What do you think this is?” asked Murphy.
“Offices maybe.”
Burns pulled the gearshift into drive and let off the brake. The car idled slowly down the road until they came to the entrance.
“It’s a retirement home,” Murphy spoke up.
“Let’s check it out,” said Burns.”
Burns passed a couple of houses before pulling into one where the driveway wound around to the back. He pulled in and made sure they were out of sight of the road.
They both grabbed their side arms and hid them under their jackets. They got out and Burns trotted up to the front door to make sure no one was home. He knocked a couple times before he was satisfied there was no one around. He jogged back to the car and found Murphy across the back yard close up to the tree line. They moved slowly through the small area of trees to the back of one of the buildings.
“Let’s go to that white house over there and get to a second story window,” whispered Burns.
They retreated to the car and retrieved their binoculars and rifles. Better prepared for surveillance, they used the shrubbery as cover to work their way to the front of the white two-story house. Burns again knocked on the door before breaking a window and going in. They climbed the stairs and found a bedroom overlooking the backyard. They could see some more cars in a cul-de-sac but still didn’t see anybody.
“Something tells me we’re going to be here awhile.”
Murphy nodded.
Burns looked around the small bedroom. The bed had a white bedspread on but had a layer of dust, giving it a grayish appearance. He walked out of the room and found a couple of folding chairs.
Burns sat on the folding chair staring out the window and thought about yesterday’s events. As an Army veteran, he never had a problem with killing his enemy, it was something he had trained for and had used in the Gulf War. In all the action he had been involved in, either in the Middle East or even in the past few weeks, he had never witnessed the mass killing of innocent lives. He had seen death up close before, but never women and children. The experience was unsettling and shook him to his core. He couldn’t get it out of his mind and had nightmares about it last night. The only thing that saved his sanity was rescuing the girls in the other transport. The looks on their faces once they realized they had been saved, had a lasting impact on him. It was a shame it was short-lived after they found out their families got murdered. Still, he took satisfaction in knowing they would be able to live their lives.
Burns thoughts turned to Winters and all the men. He couldn’t have asked to be serving with better men. Each one of them was committed, loyal to each other and honorable. With everyone having a stake in the outcome, it made for a cooperation that was unusual, even by Army standards. There were no hidden agendas, no one shirked their duty, and there was an unwritten understanding on their goals. No money in the world could buy something like that.
“Got a couple,” said Murphy looking through the binoculars.
“National Cops?” asked Burns
“Yep.”
Murphy handed the glasses to Burns. He took them and observed the two standing outside. Two more cops, smoking cigarettes had also come on the scene.
“We’re gonna have to find out what’s in those buildings before we take off, but we’ll have to wait till it gets dark.”
Chapter 19
Manhattan NY
Reed, carrying a briefcase full of money, exited the Gulfstream G650 twin-engine jet at Teterboro airport in New Jersey. He ambled over to an awaiting limousine, where a chauffeur opened the door for him. Sliding into the car, he immediately grabbed a bottle of single malt scotch from the small, but fully stocked, bar and poured a drink. He swirled the caramel colored liquid for a moment allowing it to breathe. He inhaled the contents deeply before taking a sip. He eased back in his seat thinking about his meeting with Mordulfah, a Saudi Prince in the royal family, and a true believer in Jihad. Perozzi asked Reed to meet with him in New York before the man headed back to Michigan.
Reed didn’t necessarily like meeting with such men, but he knew the government required their services. Each side wanted something only the other could offer.
After a quick trip through the Lincoln Tunnel, the limo pulled up to The Plaza Hotel. Reed didn’t wait for the chauffeur and let himself out. The doorman recognized him from his many trips there and acknowledged him as Reed waddled toward the entrance. The hotel manager approached Reed and handed him the key to his room. Reed was accustomed to this service. He was too important to have to worry about trivial things, like checking in. The manager then escorted Reed to his meeting in the Royal Plaza Suite.
The private elevator door of the penthouse opened and a young man greeted Reed and led him to the living room. The man relieved Reed of the briefcase full of cash and offered him a drink. Another man came in and introduced himself as Wali. He wore a business suit and had the appearance of an educated man. He told Reed it would be a few minutes before the prince arrived.
“Typical of royalty, making someone wait,” thought Reed. “Who the hell did this guy think he was, keeping him waiting? He may be a prince in his country, but he was in America, or what was left of it,” snickered Reed to himself.
A minute later, Mordulfah, the Saudi Prince, entered the room. He was not a tall man, five foot eight, slight build, typical beard, but well maintained, it looked striking against his dark skin. His robes flowed around him as he entered the room. He walked up to Reed and shook his hand. Reed noticed the firm shake but saw that his eyes spoke volumes. They were dark, and probed you like an MRI, missing nothing. Reed felt like the man was looking into his soul. The man had not smiled or changed his facial expression. Reed let go of his hand and moved a step back.
“Sit down, Mr. Reed,” said Mordulfah. “Do you need your drink refreshed?”
Mordulfah’s servant, the man who showed him in, came and grabbed Reed’s glass before he had a chance to refuse him.
Mordulfah waited until Reed had his drink back in his hand before he continued. Reed noticed the prince didn’t have a drink in front of him.
“Mr. Reed, I hope you had a comfortable flight. I sent you my best jet.”
“Yes. It was quite nice.”
“Good, good. Well, let us get down to business then.”
Reed didn’t respond.
“I trust you’ll give me all the updates to the operation in the Midwest.”
“Of course. We’ll give them to you as they come in.”
“I was looking through the file before you arrived. It seems to be lacking some crucial information.”
Reed got annoyed. “Lacking?”
“Yes, it doesn’t say anything about the ambush our forces suffered yesterday.”
Our forces? thought Reed. More like my men and some of yours. Reed set his glass down. “We’ve not done a full investigation of the matter, but as soon as we do, it’ll be forwarded to you.”
“That’s very kind of you Mr. Reed, however, I already know what happened.”
Reed was starting to lose his tolerance
of this guy’s demeanor. Pompous jackass came to mind. If Perozzi didn’t need his services so badly, he’d tell him to go to hell.
Mordulfah continued. “It would appear your band of rebels are the responsible ones. What do they call themselves?”
Wali took a document out of a file and handed it to Mordulfah.
“Ah yes, the Shadow Patriots. Why have you not dealt with them?”
Reed decided he needed to put things in perspective for the prince.
“They are nothing but a small band of old men. Can your forces not deal with such a nuisance? Surely, with what you’re getting out of this deal, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Mordulfah stared at Reed and didn’t respond.
Reed didn’t want to be the first to break eye contact or to say anything. However, the longer it went on the more nervous he felt. After a few more moments, he reached for his drink and picked it up, he noticed his hand shaking a little. He quickly took a drink and set the drink back down. “We’ll give you an update in the next day or two.”
Mordulfah didn’t respond.
“Will you be here still?”
“No. I’m leaving to go back to Michigan in the morning. I have much to do before then, as I’m sure you do as well,” said Mordulfah as his servant came in.
The servant nodded to Mordulfah.
Reed knew they finished counting the funds he had brought with him. He got up, “I see you’ve found everything in order. You’ll find all the supplies and armor you requested will be waiting for you in Detroit.”
Mordulfah didn’t get up as Reed left the room. He turned to Wali, “Such arrogance for a fat little man. He needs to be careful how he treats people. One day he may find he cannot hide behind Perozzi.”
Wali nodded his head in agreement.
Reed was glad to be done with the meeting. Though it hadn’t been much of a meeting, hand him some cash, pretend you respected him, and act like you liked him. He hadn’t felt so nervous around anyone since he was a kid getting beat up by bullies. Reed now understood why Perozzi had partnered with the man. Beneath Mordulfah’s slight stature was a man who was as evil as they came. No doubt, he would fulfill his side of the bargain. The man had a commanding personality. He would be able to gather more forces in the Detroit area and make a Jihadist army out of them.
Reed headed to the lobby and then to his limousine for his next meeting with various diplomats from the UN. He needed to assure them everything was going as planned, and everybody would get what was coming to them.
Chapter 20
South Bend Indiana
Winters noticed more men filtering in, some he knew, and others he did not. He wondered if they knew who he was. Since the battle at Detroit Lakes, their numbers had started to dwindle. Everyone thinking they had accomplished their mission. No one had any idea the Patriot Centers was just the beginning.
Winters certainly hadn’t expected trouble like this. Even his friends in Canada, Colonel Brocket and General Standish, had no knowledge of anything like this. He needed to send word about what was happening so they could look into it further.
Winters thought about his wife and the lies the media was reporting about him. No doubt, Cara had heard it on the news. He held out hope she wouldn’t believe what they were saying. However, it wouldn’t surprise him if she did. She was a stubborn teenager and at an age where you naturally rebelled against your parents. However, some of the things she had learned in school were what seemed to push the rebellion further than normal. The country had been going through changes in the last decade and attitudes had been shifting as to what America stood for. There had always been a “Blame America” element in the school system, but recently it seemed to be more radicalized than ever.
Cara had always been vocal about her beliefs and was quite stubborn. She believed everything her teachers taught her, despite the counter arguments he and his wife Ellie had presented. Ellie had been more forgiving of her and said it was just a phase. Winters wasn’t so sure, and never stopped trying to convince her that not everything she learned was correct. This only led to intense arguments and hurt feelings on both sides. Winters had become frustrated, not so much at her, but being powerless in making her recognize the truth. If she believed the news reports, it would be devastating to him. However, with no way of defending himself and the fact she left on less than ideal terms, he had to wonder.
Winters walked to the storage room where they kept their supplies. He checked their current supply of ammo and found they had more than enough. The Brits and Canadians had been such a blessing in that regard. Because of them, he didn’t need to worry so much about supplies, although fuel was still a concern. Winters couldn’t be thankful enough and wanted to pay them back for all their help. The only thing they requested was to help get America back as their number one ally. The world, they had said, needed her to be stronger than ever. Winters wasn’t so sure it could come back from the grip of evil.
Winters walked into the commons area where Sadie was talking with some of the new arrivals from yesterday. She moved among the rescued girls, trying to comfort them. Sadie looked over at Winters, smiled and waved. He returned the wave and headed over to Nate and Elliott.
Winters sat down at the long table and turned to Nate. “How’s our transport situation?”
“Good and bad. We got plenty of vehicles, but we don’t have enough fuel for all of them.”
“How many can go?”
“I’d say only four SUV’s or five cars.”
Winters jerked his head back. They needed more than that, much more than that.
“I’ve got guys out right now, siphoning gas wherever they can, so maybe in a day or so we could have more ready to go,” Nate finished.
“Okay, well there it is then.”
Elliott jumped in. “We should go pay Mr. Peterson a visit.”
Winters thoughts went back to the time when he first met Mr. Peterson. The Shadow Patriots had been on the run from the National Police and they had ended up on his farm. He was twenty years older than Winters, but despite losing some weight over the past couple of months, the older man was still in much better shape. He had been more than gracious in helping them, and after the cops discovered them, Winters had paid him back by losing the man’s farm and everything he owned. They had all made their escape into Canada, where Mr. Peterson had stayed behind.
“Think those girls will want to go to Canada?” asked Nate.
“Haven’t asked them yet, figured I’d wait a bit. I know Amber wants to stay and help us.”
“Can she cook?” asked Nate.
“That’s not what she was thinking. She wants to pick up a gun.”
Nate raised an eyebrow. “I’m impressed.”
“She used to target shoot with her Dad.”
“Okay, okay. Nothing more exciting than seeing a girl with a gun.”
Winters rolled his eyes. He got up from the table and started to walk outside when Sadie ran up and grabbed his hand.
“Where are you going?”
“Get some air.”
“Can I come?”
Winters looked down at her. “Of course you can.”
The two headed for the exit and stepped outside. The warmth of the morning sun felt good as they walked out onto the grass.
“How are your new friends doing?”
“They’re still pretty sad. They want to go and bury their families.”
Winters took in a deep breath.
“Don’t you want to help them?” she asked earnestly.
“I do, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”
Winters stopped and sat down on the grass. Sadie dropped down beside him. He looked into her blue eyes. She had been through a lot, losing her mom and her home, but she didn’t seem jaded. He envied what innocence remained. He didn’t want to tell her it was too dangerous to go on a funeral detail. The enemy might be watching, but how could he turn her down. She was making the request for them wanting to help in any w
ay she could.
“Let me think about it.”
Her face beamed. “That will help them not be so sad anymore.”
“What about you, Sadie? How are you holding up?”
She glanced out into the distance and then back to Winters. “I’m sad too, but I pray every night that I’ll find my mom.”
“We won’t stop looking, I promise.”
She held up her pinkie.
Winters held his up and grabbed on.
Chapter 21
Saline Michigan
Burns and Murphy had left early in the morning to scout Detroit. Keeping off the Interstate, they traveled on Highway 12, which went right through the small town of Saline. While checking out the town, they discovered some cops holed up in a retirement home, which was a curious thing. They needed to find out what was going on in there before they went on.
They had waited the rest of the day in the two-story white house, taking advantage of the beds. One stood by while the other caught some shut eye. The house had no power or running water, but it was better than waiting in their car.
Darkness couldn’t have come slower as they both were growing restless. They were anxious to find out what the attraction inside was. As the evening came, more and more people started filtering in.
Finally, as it got dark, they stepped outside and crept across the backyard. A cool breeze wafted through the trees and the rising moon beamed through the cloudless sky.
They moved behind the first building and saw no lights on inside. They then went toward the parking lot.
“Hear that?” Murphy asked Burns.
In the distance, they could hear the whirl of an engine.
Burns strained to hear it before shrugging his shoulders.
They padded across the lawn to the trees that bordered the whole complex. Keeping to the cover of the woods, they kept going until they rounded another building where the parking lot was full of vehicles. The sound of the whirling engine got louder as they moved closer.
“It’s got to be a generator, how else do they have any lights on,” said Murphy.