The Wolves of Freydis

by J C Ryan

  “Yes, it could’ve been that long, maybe a bit more. I don’t know.”

  James didn’t say anything; he didn’t want to tell Carter what was going through his mind yet.

  “Can you give me some water please?” Carter asked.

  They fell silent for a little while, each lost in thoughts that were his alone. Then Carter asked, “Have you told Ahote and Bly?”

  James winced, “Yes I did, just a few minutes before I came over here today. I’m sorry it took so long to let them know.”

  Carter waved his hand as if to say, “Don’t worry about that.”

  “They are waiting for me to let them know how you are doing. They want to come over to be with you.”

  Carter took a few breaths. “Let’s give it a day or two. Maybe I will be able to talk to them on the phone and then we can decide if they should come now or later.”

  “Okay, I’ll let them know.”

  James stood up and placed his hand on Carter’s shoulder and said, “Carter, Winston Churchill once said, ‘If you're going through hell, keep going.’”

  Carter listened, nodded his head slightly, and whispered, “Thank you, Jim. I will try to remember that.”

  Carter watched as his friend left the room and the door closed quietly behind him.

  ***

  After seeing James leave, the nurse entered to check up on Carter and see if he was hungry, “A little bit of soup maybe?” She enticed him.

  He agreed soup might be nice with a bit of bread and butter. She left him to organize this, wanting him to have some space between visitors and also to get some sustenance.

  An hour later, when she was satisfied he was well enough, she rang the Andersons.

  The relief that showed on Steven, Mary, and Ray’s faces as they entered the room gave Carter some idea of what they’d been through. Mary had flowers for him. She put them on the bed and came over and kissed him.

  “Carter, we’re so thankful that you are back with us dear.”

  He put his free arm around her and held her close, “Mary I’m so sorry, so terribly sorry. Oh my God, this is so horrific.”

  “Hey, Carter, my son,” Steven stepped forward and held his shoulder, “This is not your fault. Don’t blame yourself for it.”

  Ray took Carter’s hand in his and said through a tight throat, “I love ya, bro.”

  Carter nodded, reduced to silence. What do you say to such wonderful people who’d raise the most wonderful woman in his life? “Thanks,” He whispered, “how are you bearing up?”

  Half an hour later he was showing signs of tiring, and they left him to sleep, promising to return in the morning. They knew how much rest he needed and understood their presence for too long at a time would only hinder his recovery.

  Outside the doctor caught up with them and gave his assurances that Carter was doing well but did need time and peace to get past this stage of his recovery. He was satisfied with his progress so far, but he was not about to rush anything.

  “In about a month’s time Carter will be more mobile and you can begin to consider how to get him home.”

  Chapter 8 -

  Tying up the loose ends

  Youssef Bin-Bandar’s instructions were clear; get the entire Devereux family, alive, and deliver them to the underground facility in the Jabal Thawr Mountains south of Mecca. But now Carter Devereux was dead, and Algosaibi was furious.

  When they’d planned the Devereux’s abduction in collaboration with Hassan Al-Suleiman’s Special Forces it all seemed perfect. And in fact, everything worked out exactly as it was expected to, except for Carter Devereux’s trip to the restroom.

  Professor Carter Devereux was the primary target of the mission. He was the man who Algosaibi most wanted, the man who would lead Algosaibi to the ancient nuclear weapons that would give Algosaibi the power to destroy the House of Saud and unite Islam into one mighty force that would control the world.

  Two days ago, when Youssef Bin-Bandar walked out of the meeting with Xavier Algosaibi, he had an intense feeling of doom. If he could make sure the loose ends of the Devereux mission were tied up, maybe he would win back the trust of Algosaibi. Although he doubted that would be enough to appease Algosaibi’s rage, he was going to try.

  He was given 48 hours to make it all happen, and he did exactly that. The two men who were working in the restaurant, reporting to the mission leader about the Devereux’s movements were both dead. One was involved in a terrible single car accident, and the other unfortunate man hanged himself.

  The three men who had followed and reported on the Devereuxs from the airport right up to the Triangle were also dead. They’d safely extracted the operations team back to their base in Syria. Everything that could lead investigators back to him and Algosaibi had been wiped out. No more loose ends, he had tied them up; in 48 hours.

  Nevertheless, Bin-Bandar still had an uneasy feeling it was not going to be enough for Algosaibi. He feared the meeting he was scheduled to have with the man during early morning prayers the next day. But then Allah smiled upon him. He was looking at the classified report on his desk; it was the list of the missing and the survivors of the bomb explosion.

  Carter Devereux was one of the survivors! How the man escaped that explosion was a mystery, but it didn’t matter. He had escaped with injuries but was alive, and that was all that mattered to Bin-Bandar.

  He went to work immediately, and within two hours he had verification from his agents in Israel. Carter Devereux was indeed alive and receiving treatment at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem.

  As long as Carter Devereux is alive I have a chance to escape death as well.

  The meeting with Algosaibi went well, better in fact than Bin-Bandar would have expected. Algosaibi praised him for tying up the loose ends and was elated to hear the news that his most wanted archeologist was still alive. What he’d considered a major fiasco before, was now seen only as a setback. Bin-Bandar sat back and relaxed as he took a sip of his coffee. Preparation, information gathering, and planning for Carter Devereux’s abduction had to start immediately. Bin-Bandar gave his friend the assurance that he would not fail him again; ever.

  Algosaibi knew Carter was heavily guarded by the police and could not be abducted from the hospital, nor, most likely while he was still in Israel. He kept his thoughts to himself and didn’t mention this to Bin-Bandar; in fact, he didn’t pay much attention to Bin-Bandar’s babbling at all. There were many other sources from which he could gain the required information; he had never relied on Bin-Bandar alone. He was, however, 100% sure that Bin-Bandar would never fail him again; ever.

  Carter was still alive, but not at his facility in the Jabal Thawr Mountains; this had become a major issue. Algosaibi knew that, given time, the opportunity for an abduction operation would present itself again. The problem was, at some point Carter could discover that his wife and child were not dead. The chances of him making that discovery on his own were remote, but with the former CIA man, James Rhodes, around it was a different ballgame altogether.

  When Bin-Bandar walked out onto the street outside the mosque where his meeting with Algosaibi had been in a secret underground room, he looked up and let the sun shine warm on his face, as he thanked Allah. He stood there for a minute with his head raised to the sky, his bodyguards around him, and then he collapsed. He was dead before his body hit the ground. According to the coroner’s report issued a few days later, he’d suffered a massive heart attack.

  ***

  In Jerusalem, 850 miles away, at about the time Bin-Bandar’s dead body hit the pavement outside the mosque in Riyadh, James was in his hotel room studying the first reports of the explosion.

  Ben had called the night before, to arrange for the delivery of a flash drive. Shortly after James left Carter’s bedside and was walking out the main doors of the hospital, a stranger bumped into him.

  “Pardon me, sir,” the man said, “I’m very sorry. Are you alright?”

  “I’m fin
e,” James replied. “No harm done.”

  They both continued their separate ways. As James entered the lobby of the hotel where he was staying, reached into his pocket for his room key and felt a small rectangular box in his pocket. He had received the flash drive containing the first information about the explosion.

  James had a lot of compassion for Carter and Carter’s in-laws; this was a tragedy of immeasurable proportions. He had lost friends and close family during his life but nothing as traumatic as this.

  Trying to comprehend Carter’s emotional suffering was beyond him. However, when he left Carter’s room, it was with a conviction that his friend was capable of getting through this hell. He knew that Carter would have many nightmares in the months and years to come, but over time, he would be able to move away from them. He had learned a lot about Carter’s psyche during his orientation course, and he knew the man was unbreakable and had the strength to conquer.

  He looked at the list of dead again and then at the aerial photo of the site showing the exact location where each body had been found. According to the report, 24 of the 25 bodies were found inside the building or just a few yards away on the outside. Only one body was found on the road where the fight took place. Many people on that side of the street received minor wounds from the flying debris, but only one of them died.

  James looked at the number of the lone body on the photo and pulled up the person’s name and details from the files. He drew a sudden deep breath when he saw the cause of death – a single gunshot wound to the head. The ballistic report showed it was a subsonic .45 hollow point bullet, fired at very close range, probably with a silenced gun, which blew half of the man’s head away. The dead man had been identified as one of those involved in the fight. According to one of the witness statements, he was the one who started the fight.

  Assassinated. This street fight was part of the plan. It was to cause a distraction, and the terrorists were leaving no loose ends. The first rule of assassination is; kill the assassins. These killers were professionals.

  James looked at the numbers again; 25 dead, 16 bodies had been identified, and nine remained missing. The forensics team had collected almost 3,000 pieces of human tissue and was busy matching that to the DNA samples they had. So far no matches for Mackenzie and Liam had been identified.

  Of the 60 people who were wounded, 50 had already been questioned. The others were in conditions that still needed to stabilize before they could be questioned.

  Reading through the statements James slowly got a better picture of what had transpired. Many eyewitness reports confirmed that an old gray van with dark windows was seen driving up the road at high speed just before it suddenly swerved to the left crashing into the restaurant. The explosion followed one to two seconds later. A few witnesses recalled seeing a few vehicles drive past the restaurant before the gray van arrived. One witness said she saw a white van coming up the street towards the restaurant just as the fight broke out. After that, the fight and the people gathering distracted her, and she didn’t see where the white van had gone.

  James poured his second cup of coffee while he was going over the information in his head again.

  Ben had reassured him the night before, that there were no Israeli intelligence assets in the restaurant that evening, no politicians, and no other targets of potential value to terrorists. Ben admitted they were still scratching their heads as none of the more than 50 terrorist groups in the Middle East had claimed responsibility for the attack. Usually, terrorist groups were quick to trumpet their barbaric victories, especially when they were able to penetrate an area as secure as the Triangle and cause as much death, destruction and commercial damage as this explosion did.

  James took a sip of his coffee and strolled over to the window overlooking the street in front of the hotel. He immediately took a step back and to the left, hiding in the shadow behind the curtains when he noticed a dark blue Toyota Camry with two men sitting in the front. That car was parked there last night. He had noticed it but hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, but now he was on alert.

  He watched them carefully and soon he had confirmation. When the man in the passenger seat scanned the hotel with small binoculars, he knew they were on a stakeout, no doubt about that. But who was their target? This was a big hotel. Their target could be any one of the more than 200 guests.

  He stood for a few minutes watching them. Then he walked over, turned out the bedside light he’d been using and retrieved a small flashlight from his travel bag. He unzipped one of the side pockets and withdrew a small but powerful high-resolution camera with a hyper-zoom lens. Then he carefully returned to the window but remained hidden.

  Zooming in on the car and its occupants he spotted both men’s earpieces. Were the earpieces for them to listen to sounds from hidden microphones in someone’s room or were they to communicate with someone else?

  Since the day he arrived, he had been using the scanning feature built into his satellite phone to scan his hotel room for hidden microphones every time he returned. He was fairly certain his room was secure. But he had been in the covert business far too long to know not to make any assumptions, and that words such as ‘coincidence,’ ‘maybe,’ and ‘probably’ didn’t exist in the vocabulary of a field agent who wanted to stay alive.

  He studied and photographed the car and the two men very carefully. Later he’d ask Ben to have a look at the photos and try to ID the men.

  Chapter 9 -

  First day on the new job

  Mackenzie’s day started early when Seema unchained her from her bed. After yesterday’s meeting, Nasser had given instructions that Mackenzie be kept in the clinic room and chained to the bed for one more night to reinforce his message to her. He wanted her to understand that he was in charge, and she was going to do exactly as he ordered.

  Mackenzie didn’t get much sleep. She lost all sense of time and had no idea if it was morning or night. Once the full reality of the hopelessness of her situation became apparent, she wasn’t even sure what day it was. She spent most of the night, or what she thought must have been night, thinking about Liam, Carter, and her situation. She finally drifted into a troubled sleep, and when she opened her eyes, Seema was sitting next to the bed. The woman had become her ever-present shadow.

  She had been assessing her situation and found it discouraging. She knew escape was not an option; there was no escape without Liam.

  She knew Seema was there watching her and now understood that her highest priority was to cooperate in hopes that Liam would be allowed to stay with her. Once that was accomplished, then there would be time to think about her situation again. Another decision she made was that she was not going to lie to Liam. She was going to tell him that they were being held captive.

  Seema led her to the quarters where she was told she would be staying while working at the Institute. It was barely more than a cell with a bed, a cupboard holding three sets of black jilbabs – long, black garments to hide the shape of her body, as well as two niqabs, a small table, and a chair. There was a door leading to a shower and toilet.

  Seema told her the jilbabs and niqabs had to be worn at all times when she was outside her room. There were a few basic toiletries provided: soap, shampoo, and towels. The door leading into the room was made of steel and had a lock on the outside. A prison cell, Mackenzie thought, not even a window with bars through which I can look outside.

  Once Seema had shown her everything, she turned to Mackenzie and said, “Dr. Devereux, I know you are upset and troubled by the events of the past few days. And I know you might not believe me, but I would like to help you make your stay as tolerable as possible for you. We have a few other people here at the Institute in the same position as you. In other words, they also are not here of their own free will. Over the past few years, I have seen many of them. The ones who are still alive are those who accepted their situation and cooperated. The choice is yours; you can make it hell, or you can make it beara
ble. I trust that for the sake of your son you will choose the latter.”

  Mackenzie was listening very carefully and nodded but didn’t say a word. Psychology: Lesson one: to get captives to cooperate, break their spirit.

  When Seema left, and Mackenzie heard the lock clicking from the outside, she slowly sat down on the bed. How long is this nightmare going to last?

  She leaned back against the wall for a while and studied the grim little room. Two surveillance cameras and a few microphones were clearly visible. No attempt to hide them; obviously they want to let me know I’m being watched. She got up and inspected the bathroom and toilet. They too had surveillance cameras and microphones. It was humiliating to the nth degree. She would have to cover the cameras up when she wanted to take a shower or use the toilet.

  She sat down on the bed again and made a promise to herself, her son, and her husband. Mackenzie Devereux’s spirit will not be broken. I’m going to keep my mind and body healthy and sound. When the time comes, I will be ready. Her thoughts turned to her son and her husband, her parents, Jeha, Liam’s little dog and his pony. Freydis. She also thought of her wolves, Keeva and Loki loping free through the forest they called home. That is when she realized that although her body was incarcerated in this unknown place and country, her spirit would always be free and that she would be able to visit Freydis with her family, Ahote and Bly, and her wolves whenever she wanted.

  After what felt to her like hours, she heard the lock on the door click again, and Seema appeared carrying a tray with food and a cup of coffee. These she placed on the table and told Mackenzie to eat. After that, she would show Mackenzie the workplace and let her meet her new colleagues. She didn’t feel hungry. In fact, she had been feeling a bit nauseous since she woke up, but it was important to get food into her body to keep her going and her mind working properly.

  As she and Seema were walking down the brightly light hallways, Mackenzie tried to get an idea of the size of the place and the activities going on. But that was limited to what she could see while passing closed doors with small windows. She had glimpses of people in small offices and some in laboratories but she was not allowed to stop to see more. Seema refused to answer any questions. By the time they reached a big steel sliding door, she was sure she was underground. Nowhere had there been a glimpse of the outside world, and the place was huge.