CIA - The Slave Traders

by Joe Bob Newman

bombs. Two more devices had been found, one in Colorado, and one in California. The men at these two sites were given advice from all the other techs, and one device was disarmed. The second device blew up. It killed the three techs working on it. It was near Los Angeles, California.

  The local bomb squad showed up, and Lynda let them take over the scene. It was fairly simple now. She and the Ranger flew back to his car. Where he got out, he shook her hand and went to his car quickly. She flew on to Dallas and found her car. It had been a long day, but she went to the center for debriefing anyway.

  After hearing about the other bomb in Texas, Marcus undid the door to the large cylinder and took the sticks of dynamite out. He had disarmed the bomb with only seconds left. He was proud and scared. He had nearly let his team down.

  Lynda’s phone rang. She answered it. It was Marcus. He told her what he had done, then he asked, “How did your day go?”

  Lynda laughed, “Just another day in the office.”

  Lynda’s debriefing was, for the most part, just what she expected. The only thing new was that they had to find this group and stop them; she knew that meant “to kill them.”

  Marcus went through the same type of debriefing. The other eight Seals went back to Pensacola. Marcus went to Dallas. He got a motel room, and slept a few hours.

  The next morning he was up early and was at Lynda’s front door when she opened it to put Tasha on the school bus.

  He hugged Tasha, then went inside with Lynda. They sat on the sofa. She asked, “What are you doing here, Marcus?”

  Marcus smiled. “I want you to quit your job and move to Pensacola with me.”

  “You want, huh?”

  He snickered, “You know what I mean.”

  Lynda got up and hugged his neck. She said, “Yeah, and the answer is ‘no.’ I would rather that you quit the Seals and moved in with me.”

  Marcus had not expected this. He said, “Honey, I need to be the breadwinner.”

  Lynda huffed up. “Marcus, you knew what I did when you asked me to marry you; I can’t leave my job now.”

  He just puffed his chest out and said, “Lynda!”

  She said, “Tasha is doing so well in school, I can’t take her out now.” She had a little whine in her voice.

  Marcus said, “The schools in Florida are just as good as the schools in Texas.”

  Lynda stood up. She crossed her arms and said, “If you want me, Marcus, I am here. If you want to reconsider, now is the time to decide that.”

  Marcus was at a loss. Which did he want more, to be a Navy Seal, or married to Lynda? He got up and began to pace the floor. “Lynda, what would I do in Dallas? I don’t know a trade.” He was desperate.

  Lynda thought that Marcus might cry, but she had to stand her ground. She could not let him disrupt her life. Then she had a thought: was she being selfish? She didn’t think so. She decided that she would stand her ground.

  Lynda went to work. Marcus caught a plane back to Pensacola. He had never been so depressed. Partly, he wanted to beat somebody up; the other part of him wanted to sit down and cry. Had he just lost the love of his life? Maybe they could have a long distance relationship; maybe not. His depression turned into anger. He was just not sure who to be angry with. Lynda was an obvious target, but he knew not to do that. He would regret it later. He wondered, What is she thinking now?

  Lynda was equally depressed. Marcus was a man’s man, just like Ted had been. Was she asking too much? Was there middle ground somewhere? She did not know. She would call him later, after he had cooled off.

  That night she called him. He answered, “Hello?”

  She said, “Have you changed your mind?”

  Marcus took a deep breath. “Lynda, what are you trying to tell me?”

  Lynda replied, “Marcus, there are three of us. You can find a job or you can stay home and keep the kids, I don’t care which, but I am not moving to Florida. This is where I live.”

  Marcus was really stunned this time. The tone of her voice said it all. He asked, “Lynda, why can’t you bend a little bit?”

  She said, “Marcus, I love you, but I can only go so far, then I break.”

  He had no idea what she meant, but he longed to hear her say it again. He said, “Lynda, say it again!”

  She thought about what he meant. Then she said, “I love you, Marcus.”

  A long silence developed between them. Marcus said, “I love you too. We can work this out. Don’t give up on us.”

  Lynda thought about what he had said. “Honey, when you get some time off, we will discuss this some more, but for right now let’s not make any drastic decisions.”

  Marcus said, “Wait a minute, Lynda. What do you think about a long distance relationship?”

  She said, “Marcus, they almost never work. Please don’t back me into a corner.”

  Marcus snorted, “I don’t think anyone could back you anywhere!”

  Lynda took a deep breath. “Marcus, you are impossible. I need to go!”

  He laughed. “I love you. Goodnight!”

  Who had won tonight? She said, “I love you too. Be careful.”

  They hung up and both went to bed smiling, thinking they each had the upper hand.

  The next day, Lynda went to work and immediately Tom called a conference.

  The bomb terrorist had sent out a note on the internet. It read, “The seven bombs were just to show you that we could do it. Next time will be the real thing.”

  Tom said, “We have to find these guys. Try your contacts and see if anyone knows anything!”

  Lynda went to her desk and had no contacts to contact. So she called Marcus. She asked him if he had any ideas. He said that he would check around and get back to her.

  Marcus called back a few hours later. “Nobody I deal with knows anything, other than it probably is the Iranians doing it themselves.”

  Lynda held her hands up and said, “Oh my God, I bet that is it. They are making us think someone is stealing from them, when they are doing it themselves. Brilliant.”

  Everyone that heard her shook their heads. They thought the “legend” had lost her marbles.

  At two in the afternoon, Tom called everyone together again. He said, “Insiders seem to believe that the Iranians did this themselves. They are looking for a way to deliver nuclear weapons.” Lynda held up her hands in the air again. She was right! Tom went on, “Come up with a plan to defeat these guys.”

  Lynda said, “I think we have to go in and destroy their atomic stockpile, and their nuclear center.”

  Tom said, “Not bad. How do we do that without starting a war?”

  Lynda had no idea. She made a face and shrugged.

  Gil raised his hand. “There are two possibilities. One is an air strike by NATO; the other is us sending in teams like the Seals and have them blow the place up.”

  Lynda raised her hand. “That would be a suicide mission.”

  Tom said, “Okay, work on the first plan, an air strike. How do we get NATO to go along with us?”

  Gil said, “How about if Lynda and I work on the second choice and see what we can come up with?”

  Lynda’s eyes flashed at Gil. Her opinion of him was turning. But she smiled.

  Tom said, “Okay, Gil, I can live with that.” He knew that Lynda would straighten Gil out if necessary.

  The meeting adjourned, and Gil went to Lynda. “I know your fiancé is a Seal; that is why I asked you to look at this with me. Maybe he would have some inputs, or we could have him assigned here and tap into his brain.”

  Lynda said, “When he finds out your idea, he may tap into your brain.” However, she liked Gil’s plan so far.

  Just before quitting time, Lynda approached Tom. “Gil and I would like to have Marcus shipped to us for two weeks while we study a plan!”

  Tom looked down his nose at Lynda. “Do you really think that is a good idea?”

  “Using our options
seems smart. I don’t think the first plan will succeed.”

  Tom’s eyes did not waver. “I don’t either. See how soon you can get Marcus here.”

  Lynda went back to her desk and called Marcus. “I need to know your commanding officer’s name and phone number.” She did not tell him why.

  She punched the number into her cell phone. He answered, “Commander Gunn!”

  She said, “Hello, Commander, this is CIA operative Lynda Pointer. The CIA requests that a specific Seal be transitioned to our site to help us in a classified matter. The Seal is Marcus Handley.” She took a deep breath.

  The Commander did not respond right away. He asked, “Does your Director know that you are calling me?”

  She said, “Yes, sir, he told me to call you!”

  He said, “Very well. When do you need Handley?”

  Lynda held her breath. “Tomorrow.”

  Gunn was silent, then said, “Very well, I will have him transferred effective tomorrow. We always do our best to support the company.”

  About twenty minutes later, Marcus called Lynda. “Can I stay with you?”

  “Sure, but you cannot sleep with me.”

  She went home that night and had to move Ted into the room with herself. She fixed up the nursery so that it was a spare bedroom. She did not tell Tasha yet; she wanted it to be a surprise.

  At about noon Marcus entered the center. He had on his dress uniform. He looked awesome. Lynda watched as some of the secretaries swooned. Maybe she should be nicer to him, she wondered.

  Gil and Marcus shook hands and stared at each other. They were both big powerful men. Marcus seemed to win the handshake. Tom came out and shook Marcus’s hand. Marcus seemed to concede to Tom’s authority.