CIA - The Slave Traders

by Joe Bob Newman

pregnant. Would he be willing to take Ted’s baby on as his own? She did not know what to think. Things were too good, and moving too fast. Maybe she should pay more attention to Tasha and less to Max. She was confused.

  The next morning Max was back with a big smile on his face. Lynda was standoffish. They were both confused. Max said, “What happened, Lynda? I thought we were getting along so well.”

  Lynda apologized. “Max, we are moving too fast. I can’t get into a relationship right now, maybe after the baby comes.”

  Max was stunned. “Who said anything about a relationship? I just want to be your friend.”

  Now Lynda was stunned. “You mean I read more into this than there really was? I am sorry, Max.”

  Max gritted his teeth. “No, I am the one who is sorry. I did not pick up on your feelings. I am sorry.”

  Lynda felt stupid now. “Max, please forget that I brought this up.”

  Max nodded his head and held his open arms out to her. Lynda ran into his arms and let him hug her.

  That afternoon, Max had to leave. After he left, Lynda cried.

  An old Mexican down the street was watching as the big man left.

  Lynda and Tasha went to the cemetery that afternoon, and put flowers on all three graves. They both got on their knees and cried at Ted’s grave.

  Two men were watching: the old Mexican, and her boss, Tom. He came out to the cemetery nearly every day. He was still having a severe guilt trip. He saw the old Mexican, so Tom kept his distance.

  Lynda did not see either man. She was too wrapped up in her own feelings.

  When she got home, her phone was ringing. She tried to run, but had to walk in to answer it. Tom said, “I saw you at the cemetery today! You were being watched by an old Mexican man.”

  She walked to the front door. She could see down the street. She saw a figure in a black car move. She called to Tasha, “Come here, now.” She said to Tom, “Tom, come get this man. He is watching my house.”

  Tom said, “Lynda, he hasn’t done anything. This could just be a coincidence.”

  That night, Lynda put Tasha to bed, and turned all the lights off. She put on dark clothes, painted her face black, hooked her gun to her belt and put the knife in her right boot. She slipped out the back door and walked down to the corner. She was now behind the man. She hid in the bushes at the end house and made it to the street. She completely hid from the man’s sight.

  Lynda crossed the street and slowly walked to the car. She had her gun in her hand. She caught her breath when he opened the door and got out. He stretched right in front of her. She aimed the gun at his back and said, “Why are you spying on me?”

  The old man slowly turned around. He said, “Miguel was my little brother. He told me that if anything ever happened to him, to come see you. I do not know why.”

  She eased up slightly. “Okay, but why are you spying on me?”

  He said, “I am here to protect you. Miguel fell in love with you. After his daughter was murdered, I decided that I had better find you, and make sure that you were safe. I found out that your husband was killed. But you had a man in the house. I was confused about what to do!”

  Lynda moved up to the man and stuck the gun in his chest. She said, “Before I kill you for lying to me, what did Miguel tell you to do to me?”

  The Mexican frowned. “Why would you kill me? I came to give you something.”

  Lynda was getting impatient. One of her neighbors might come outside and see her. She said, “Okay, what did he tell you to give to me?”

  The little Mexican reached into the car. Lynda pressed the gun harder into his chest. He pulled out a briefcase and handed it to her. He said, “Here!”

  Lynda took the briefcase from him. She walked backward to the rear of the car. She realized that it could be a bomb or a snake or a trap. She set the briefcase on the ground. She popped the two latches and gently opened the case. It was full of money. There was a letter on top of the money, but she could not read it in the dark.

  She looked at the Mexican. “You did your deed. Now get out of here and don’t come back.”

  She snuck back behind the houses and walked back to her own backyard. She entered the fence and walked to her back door. Her heart was pounding. She carried the case in and set it on the kitchen table. She turned on the light, and opened the case again. She took out the letter. She read it.

  “My dear Babs, Lynda; if something ever happens to me, I have instructed my brother to give this to you. I love you, and hope this brings some happiness to your life. Love, Miguel.”

  Lynda began to cry. Why had this taken so long to get here? Would it have made any difference in what she had done? She was not sure.

  She pulled out all the money and counted it. Most of it was wrapped up. It came to $550,000, a lot of money. She burned the letter in the sink.

  The next morning after Tasha went to school, she carried the money to the bank and put it in a safe deposit box. She kept twenty thousand out and put in her savings account.

  She went home and called Tom. She told him, “I confronted the man. He is no threat. I took care of it.”

  Tom wanted to know more, but Lynda refused to tell him anything else.

  The next month and a half went by. Tom and Wayne both made trips to see Lynda.

  It was finally time for the baby to come. She did know that it was a boy. She and Tasha had picked out the name together. She would name the baby after both Ted and her father; the baby’s name would be Theodore Edward Pointer. She would call the baby “Ted.”

  Her mother would come and be with Tasha when Lynda had the baby.

  One night, she called her mother. “It’s time; my water broke.”

  Her mother and dad both drove to her house. An ambulance was waiting to leave. Lynda was already in the back. Tasha was standing in the front yard. Lynda’s mother herded Tasha back into the house. Her dad followed the ambulance in his old station wagon. Lynda could see him behind the ambulance, and she smiled at him.

  Ted was born about four hours later. He was a healthy baby. The pain was rough, but Lynda delivered the baby without drugs. When they handed her the baby, she held him up and said, “Here, Ted, here is your son.”

  Her dad took the baby and held his new grandson. He smiled at his beautiful daughter. He said, “Honey, he is beautiful, just like his daddy was.”

  For the first time that day, Lynda cried. She missed Ted so very much. She knew that no one would ever take his place. She had not considered how her heart would glow with this baby boy.

  Both Tom and Wayne came by the hospital that night. They both were all smiles. They called themselves Uncle Tom and Uncle Wayne. Tom did not tell Lynda that he had assembled a new team. He was counting on her coming back.

  Lynda went home two days later. She had a high tolerance for pain.

  The second day that she was home, Max showed up. Her father was not happy to see a man visiting his daughter. However, he got to like Max as a man. He would never be happy with his daughter with an older man.

  Max held the baby often and helped Lynda around the house. He even helped Tasha with her homework. He was at the house for three days. Then he had to go back to work. Everyone but Lynda was glad to see him go.

  Lynda took the baby and went by the office. Everyone made a very big deal about the baby. She met the new team. There was another Army Ranger in the group. His name was Tony Keller. He was another handsome young man who looked like Ted. He had short brown hair and intense green eyes. Lynda was not sure if she could work with Tony. He had a brilliant smile, and Lynda was attracted to him. She met Gilbert, or Gil, and Sarah, both experienced agents but new to the team.

  Tom introduced Lynda as a “legendary agent in every aspect.”

  She left the office exhausted. She was afraid that someone might drop the baby.

  The baby was three months old when s
he went back to work. She had been given another raise and could now afford a live-in maid. The lady she hired was named Wanda, and was part American-Indian. Wanda took care of the baby and Tasha when she came home from school.

  Lynda had been in the office three weeks when her first job came up. An American sailboat had been captured by Somalian pirates. Four adults and six children had been captured. The President was adamant that the best people be put on it.

  Gil, Sara, Tony, Wayne and Lynda were flown out into the Atlantic. They landed on an American carrier, the USS Enterprise. They met up with a team of sixteen Navy Seals. The plan was to get close enough to the sailboat that they could board it and retake the ten Americans home, alive.

  The team of twenty-one Americans flew by helicopter to a landing ship. It would get about twenty miles from the coast. Then the CIA members and the Seals would split up into two rafts, and motor in under cover of darkness and attempt to retake the sailboat.

  All members were dressed alike. All had on vests and black ops fatigues. Lynda had her handgun, her back-up, and the knife in her boot.

  She was ribbed by one of the Seals for being a woman in man’s world. Tony came to her aid; he told the Seal to shut up. The Seal sat down and shut up.

  At the briefing everyone was introduced, Lynda was again called “legendary.” All the Seals looked her over. She was not intimidated.

  Satellite pictures of the Gulf of Aden showed the boat with the prisoners still on board. The boat was in the harbor of Bosaso. The