The Beginning: In the Families Footsteps (A Terri Walker Series Book 1)

by Robert Segulin

  A few minutes later another trooper vehicle pulled up along side of my car but across the road, going in the opposite direction. These guys either are bored or see a good-looking woman all by herself sitting in a car off the side of the road. Well we will see, one got out across from and just stood there, the other slowly walked up to my side of the car.

  The one by my window motioned for me to roll down the window, which was half way down as it was already. I obeyed his wishes and did what he wanted. I then asked him, “officer, what have I done wrong for you to pull behind me and another across the street?”

  He just gave me and my car a good look over, and I think he was more interested in the car and what might be in it.

  He than said, “license and registration please, and what brings you to Vermont?”

  I smiled as I took out my license and registration and handed them to him. Then said, “I am driving up to the Canadian border in order to pick up a friend that has just come home from up north on a wandering adventure.”

  Then he asked me to open my trunk. Well you know what he will find inside of my trunk, enough fire power to squelch a small revolution. So, with the smile I answered with a “no, I feel that I didn’t do anything wrong by sitting off the road and see no need to go through my belongings in the trunk.”

  Now the other one came over as he heard my answered to the one wanting to inspect my trunk. So, I didn’t want a problem from these two officers, I decided that I would open the trunk. As I did, they both stood back a bit and put their hand on the pistol in the holster that they had on their hip. When the trunk opened what they saw was a cover with a digital combination lock and nothing else. One said, “would you please open this container in your trunk.”

  I gave him a look and this time without the smile and just said, “no, I will not.”

  The two were now getting antsy so I told them if you will, call this number and tell the one that answerers the phone that you are holding an innocent person and asking her to do something that she refuses to do.”

  One shook his head with a no, but the other did make the call. Watching his face as he was connected to the person on the other end of the line was priceless. He stumbled with his words and hung up. Then said to the other trooper, let her go and we will not be bothering her any longer. The one gave a look and said, “why? Who is she and who were you talking to?”

  The trooper just said the Sheriff and the Governor were both on with some other guy named Charlie. So, we apologize for any inconvenience and you may go any time that you want to.”

  I thanked them both for there service to the community and harbor no ill feelings of what just took place. Then rolled my window back up a bit, but before I drove off, I heard the one trooper say, “she must be some type of secret agent or diplomat of some kind.”

  And with that I decided to leave before anymore questions are asked by these two. I smiled and gave a wave and pulled back onto the road and drove away.

  Chapter 12

  I finally arrived at the place for which I am to meet Ken. I was tired and a little hungry now but decided to sit in the car and wait for him to come across the border. I thought that if I did go somewhere to eat that I might miss him. After all he does not know who is here to pick him up yet. Just a code word when I see him.

  While waiting I got a little antsy and got out of the car and walked towards the border pathway. I really can’t remember Ken other than how he looked so many years ago. But what I was told that he was a backpacker walking through Canada. Which means that he will be unrecognizable. Thankfully he will have a peace symbol on his left leg just above his knee. And the colors will be red, white and blue, so hopefully I will catch that right away. I slowly walked towards the exit from the causeway that let those enter the USA from Canada.

  I watched closely for the symbol but when I did, I noticed something a bit odd about Ken’s actions and that he kept looking back at the exit. I then saw that a car was following him, and he did what he could to run ahead of it.

  I began to move quicker towards him and as I did, he noticed me and yelled out in a panic. Terri, run don’t stay here. Call your brother and tell him that I have been compromised.

  I hesitated for a second and as I was just about to run towards him, not caring of my own well being but only that of helping a fellow agent and friend. I then saw what he was running from, that car that was behind him slowed down but not after firing what seemed like a hundred shots at the border guards.

  Then four men with AK-47’s jumped out of the car and shot at everyone around but mainly directly at Ken. He was falling and looked up at me with sad eyes and fell to the ground riddled with bullets.

  They now took notice of who he was looking at and started to fire in my direction. I quickly raised my gun to meet their challenge. I unloaded my entire magazine in their direction, hitting two of the four that were shooting at me now. I knew that if the others get out and with the fire power that they seem to have I will not make it.

  I decided then that there was nothing that I could do for Ken now, so I turned and ran as fast as I could to my car, where with the armaments that I have in the trunk would make this a fair fight, even if I am outnumbered.

  With the remote in one hand and my 9mm in the other I opened the trunk lid and got behind the car. The men that killed Ken and were shooting at me seemed to switch their targets and were shooting at anyone and everyone. With the situation changing, I hit the four-digit code that would open the case in the trunk with enough fire power to hold off these guys until help arrives.

  I took a deep breath and calmly put on my bullet proof vest, then put on my belt with the holsters that will hold my other two 9mm pistols. I attached a bag of flash bag grenades and extra magazines for the 9mm’s and the AR-15 that I strung over my shoulder. Now feeling prepared I came around the back of my car and when I did, I almost bumped into a State Trooper that was running towards my direction and away from the shooting.

  When he saw me, he stopped and said, “looks as if you are ready for them? Who are you, and what do you think you alone can do to those men back there?”

  I shook my head and said, “my duty sir.” Then he asked me an unusual question especially since he was running away from the fight. “Do you have anymore toys? I can’t hold off those guys with just a pistol, but with what you have and if you have a little something for me, I think that we may just save the day today.”

  I opened the case and his eyes popped when he saw what was left after I was completely armed to the hilt. I pointed in the case and he immediately took out the shot gun, along with the grenade launcher. He took a few of my 15 round magazines for his 9mm and stuffed them in his belt. He then motioned that we go.

  I told him, “I am crossing the street and you stay on this side, when we get closer the men, I will position myself on a car or something to steady my aim. I am an excellent shot with the rifle, so I will signal you to open fire with the shot gun, that way hopefully they will turn their attention to you and that will give me time and a great opportunity to pick them off one at a time.”

  He nodded with an ok and we started to walk towards them. As I was walking my phone rang and when I looked down it was Charlie calling. He must have heard already of what is happening here now.

  I was hitting the ear receiver to answer the call when the trooper opened fire early. I didn’t talk but left the line open for Charlie to hear what was going on. The trooper now started to cross the street towards the men shooting at him. He had his pistol out and the shot gun, so I think he felt pretty sure of himself.

  Charlie was talking in my ear and asked me, “what is going on Terri? An analyst just came into my office and said to me that he has heard of a gun battle near the Canadian border in upper Vermont.” He then asked me, “is agent Walker up there?”

  I could only say, “these men followed Ken across the border and shot him dead, right in front of me. Right now, a trooper is playing hero and taking the fire so that I
can get a good shot at the men shooting.”

  Then Charlie said, “Terri please do not take any chances. I have already ordered a rapid deployment unit from the Burlington Guard Station, they should be by you soon.”

  I then said, “sorry but by the time they arrive this town will be flowing in blood, and I can’t let that happen.”

  A grunt came from Charlie at what I said to him, but I know that he agrees with me and that it is my fight for now.

  While the trooper was taking fire, I steadied my rifle, not using any object to put it on, but stand and aim.

  I saw the opportunity to take a shot at two men on my side of the street and took one shot then the other. I smiled to myself and under my breath said, “got you two, now the others.”

  Charlie heard that and said, good shooting. I then gave a grunt because a bullet hit me in the vest. Even though it stopped it, it still took the wind out of me. Charlie heard that to and asked, “are you ok Terri? I thought I heard you just get hit.”

  I answered with, “yes in the vest and now that just made me even madder at these guys. All hell is about to be unleashed on them now.”

  I was taking out a flash bang when I saw the trooper go down. I now know that it is me and only me. So, I pulled the pin on one flash bang and threw it as far as I could in the direction of the shooters. It landed about 10 feet from them and when it went off, you could see them grab their ears and then have that blind stare in their eyes. Now this was my chance to get closer and hopefully end this situation.

  Charlie heard the bang and asked, “what was that?”

  I responded with I just used one of Uncle Bob’s favorite toys.”

  Charlie gave a chuckle and kept silent, for he knows that I was about to go on the offensive and needed all my concentration right now.

  I moved quickly along the line of parked cars until an opening between a few, that is when I stepped out into the open and with a 9mm in one hand and the AR-15 in the other, I attacked. I was firing as I walked, and they did not return any fire for they were hiding behind a car.

  I felt that they would start firing again when I must reload. But what they didn’t know was that I already pulled out my other pistol and dropped the one that I was using since it was empty.

  With that I paused a second to have it seem that I was reloading, when they stood up to fire back at me, they will receive their just reward.

  I was close enough to be accurate with the 9mm, so I dropped the AR-15 to the ground and aimed at the area around the car waiting for the first to raise their head to check out the situation. And when the first one did, I waited, for others hopefully to get up. With one that would not work, because then the others could wait me out or take turns shooting from different angles. When the one got up, I made it look as if I was trying to reload. He said something to the others and the other four got up.

  Now it is fair I thought, not realizing that Charlie was hearing everything said and being done right now, I raised my pistol and with great care to aim correctly, I shot three of the five that were left. The other two dropped back down to the ground and this time I really had to reload.

  The two stood and with a smile on both of their faces raised their rifles to shoot me. But then I heard a sound, a sound coming from a grenade launcher. Looking in the direction of the trooper that was shot and went down, he was propped up against a car and took the shot. With a blast of the grenade the car exploded, and the remaining guys went up in smoke. I gave thumb up to the trooper and he just nodded.

  Charlie said, “is it over?”

  I said, “yes brother, all is well, and by the way was this another one of your easy missions?” I laughed, and he did to.

  I told him, “I will wait for the unit, but in the mean time I am going over by Ken. I want to check and see if he has any information on him that I should get before any others come. Then I will disappear from here and go back to D.C. for a briefing. Then if I may, take a real few days off. But thanks to my training, the trooper, and the arsenal that I carry, things turned out pretty good. All except for Ken.”

  The only words that Charlie said was, ‘Terri take your time coming back, stop at a motel and rest. Don’t try and get here tomorrow, but maybe a few days alone may help the pain of loosing a friend and fellow agent.”

  I just gave a grunt along with, “roger that sir, will see you in a few days” Then we both ended the call.

  Chapter 13

  Two weeks later after a long rest and the memorial for Ken, I decide that it was time to get back to work. I called headquarters and asked for my brother, but I heard an unbelievable thing, he was on vacation. I almost fell off my chair when his aide told me. I asked her, “so where did Charlie go, and how long will he be off?”

  She then told me, “your brother is with Jenny in St Louis visiting your mother. He told me that you have nothing going on right now so if you want to come out and visit, your mom would love it, and so would Jen and him.”

  I thanked her for the information and hung up. I sat still for a minute trying to decide to go or not. I was just at home not long ago and I think that Charlie and Jen need to have all the fuss over them without me, interfering in it. My mother may miss me but with her son and daughter in law there and with a new grand baby coming, I bet she doesn’t even mention my name the whole time those two are there. And if Charlie and Jen get a place not far away from mom, even better.

  I gave it some thought of what I could do, or where I can go until another assignment comes in. Visit Samantha, Bob and Sienna’s daughter up in New Jersey. Maybe Bob in Ohio, no not a good idea especially after having his daughter’s mother Sienna involved in a gun battle not long ago. Do what, where, who or just get a cat and stay home. Now that made me laugh.

  I may just go and visit my old roommate Laurie, from college, who also is an agent but does not work close by, I haven’t seen her since we both graduated from special ops secret agent school. That is what we called it anyways. We did have fun, and she also knew Ken, and I didn’t hear a word from her about his death, or maybe they kept it that secret.

  I took out my phone and looked up Laurie Smith’s number to call her. I figured that I should call before I make the trip to her place, after all she may be on assignment somewhere and I would be going for no reason than.

  I dialed her number from my contact list and waited for it to go through. A few seconds later a recording came on and it said, “you have reached Laurie and Tom, sorry that we missed your call, but we are not available at this time, please leave a message so I can return the call, thanks and have a great day, bye.”

  I was stunned to hear that she is with a man named Tom. In this business you have no idea of what the others life is like, we know nothing but that of they are agents and nothing else. I guess I will wait for her call back, but I think I should try another person or just go buy that cat. So sad my life is, great ideas and aspirations of what my life was to be, then the team and all that disappeared. But I would never change a thing.

  I decided to look for another person to call, or some place that I could go to, while I waited for her call back. It would still be great to at least talk to her if not even go for a visit and meet this new man of hers.

  Approximately 15 minutes later a call came in with no number showing in my caller ID. That was odd because my phone will pick up any number that calls me, government issued spy type stuff.

  I answered it and then heard, “who is this?”

  I said back with, “you first, after all you called me.”

  Then the person on the phone said, “no, you called a number and I want to know why?”

  I answered with, “I called an old friend not you, so how did you get my number?”

  Then the light bulb lit above my head and I said, “are you an agent or affiliated with one?”

  The caller said, “what is your unit ID?”

  I responded with, “Omaha.”

  Then the caller said, “so you are one of my bud’s girls
?”

  “No” I said, “I am agent Terri Walker, what is your ID and name?”

  He laughed a second then said, “ID is Ron’s Rangers, and my name is Jeffrey Jones, Miss Walker. Sorry for the slang about Charlie, but he and I go way back.”

  He paused then said, “just about as long as you were still in high school before you went to college to become a teacher. And now you are the acclaimed Terri Walker Secret Agent.”

  I laughed first and said, “acclaimed who? I am just another agent, not acclaimed at all. And Ron, is that my mother’s husband?”

  He answered, “yes, even though he is retired, we kept his ID.”

  Then he was just about to say something when I interrupted him and asked, “I called Laurie, so why do you call back?”

  He responded with, “she is on an extended assignment and when someone calls that is not a normal a caller we get involved, but since it is Charlie’s baby sister, I guess it is ok to let you know what is going on.”

  I am Terri Walker and not Charlie’s baby anything.”

  “Sorry, but you don’t remember me, when you graduated high school, I was with your brother in Europe, that is why he wasn’t at the graduation ceremony. Sorry but I think you now know it’s the job.” He said shyly.

  I responded with, “well Jeff, I am sorry also, but can you tell me where she is or when she may come back to town?”

  He said, “nope, total secret, even from me. But I am available if you want to talk. Sorry, that was out of order.”

  “That is ok, but who is Tom?” I asked.

  “Just a name we put on her phone to make it look as if she is a regular person.” He said to me.

  Then I said to Jeff, “if I don’t buy a cat, I just may call you back to meet. If that would be ok with you?”

  He said, “that would be great, if you want to, we can meet half way, or I can just come to D.C. and see you.”