by Gunn, Autumn
Luckily they had one safari shirt that fit me. It’s hard to find clothes for men that are my size and made of muscle. They usually fit like tents when you get to XXL. As I was walking back to the hotel the phone rang.
“Jax, they’re interviewing bystanders on TV. Other channels are starting to report the gunfire and helicopter. Law enforcement probably already knows you didn’t jump. They’re going to be looking for you.”
“And when they find me, they’re going to find Kong so I’ll cut their work in half.”
“Always the optimist. I ran the info you gave me. There’s a registration of four motards and a Hyundai Tucson to a Seven Seas Import / Export.”
“Nice and bland.”
“Exactly.”
“Can you text me the address?”
“Already did. Text incoming.”
“You’re the best, Laura.”
“Jax.” She paused.
“Yes.”
“I can call in some backup.”
“This is personal.”
“I know, but you’re walking in with no intel. You have no idea what you’re facing.”
“I know exactly what I’m facing.”
“Please be careful.”
“When aren’t I?”
“I don’t know…maybe when you’re jumping from bridges.”
“Didn’t jump. Forcibly lost my grip.”
I knew Laura was smiling on the other end.
“Talk to you.”
“You better, buster.”
I hung up and checked the map. It would be getting dark soon. The location was just next to the Port of New Jersey. I had to get there fast. No telling what Kong might have in store, and with at least four motorcycles, vehicles, a helicopter, and access to a global port he could move fast.
Chapter 17
I exited the bus two stops before Seven Seas Import / Export. I expected tight security, but didn’t know how far out it started. I had changed clothes again. All black was the only way to go for this nighttime op. I found a hunting and fishing shop and was able to get a couple knives and the gear for some makeshift weapons. The binoculars they offered weren’t perfect, but they did have some cheap night options that would work in a pinch.
I was surprised how close I got before I saw Kong’s security. A big Korean guy who surely knew his way around the weight room and most likely had his local steroid dealer on speed dial patrolled the area. I never understood the appeal in that steroid look. Big, but bloated. I bet his chest was shaved along with who knows what else. I continued to circle the perimeter and spotted two more guys. So Kong had at least three guys, pretty much in the same thug uniform, on the corners of his perimeter. The fourth side being protected by water. At least that’s what he thought.
Surely by now he’d seen that I’d survived the fall. He knew the hospital wouldn’t be able to hold me so I was expecting that he was expecting me. I found a nearby building with a good vantage point and made my way up the fire escape. The rooftop was perfect. I focused the binos on the windows of Seven Seas…nothing. The blinds were thin, but they were closed. I could see movement, but couldn’t make out much. I needed a closer look…and preferred to acquire some weapons. Time to make that happen.
I descended the fire escape and positioned myself on the other side of the corner where I had found the first thug. During some of my missions in Islamic countries we passed the time practicing making noises of stray cats partaking in romantic endeavors. It was a strange game, but had practical application. A few guys got really good and we found it an excellent way to pull suspected terrorists out of bed in the middle of the night. Imagine a guy who was surrounded by heavily armed guards in bulletproof vehicles during the day, stepping outside his compound at night in nothing more than his pajamas in order to throw a shoe at what he thought was a cat. Easy picking.
I hadn’t practiced in months, but decided to give it a go. The first one was a little gravely, but not too bad. I kept my eyes on the shadows and nothing. I let out a more shrill sound and then I saw the shadow nearing. As it approached the corner I kept my eye pealed for the shoe. I knew he’d be looking at ground level expecting to see a small animal. The minute I saw his arm clear the corner I delivered a short chop to the jugular. The bigger they are the harder they fall. One down. I drug him aside and into a dark spot along the perimeter and stripped him of his pistols, knife, and wallet. No ID of course.
“Over here.”
I crouched down and prepared to do battle.
“Jax, it’s me. Over here.”
I looked into some bushes off in the distance. There was too much light between us. I put up my right index finger signaling to wait for one second. I made my way around some containers and to the bushes. The minute I arrived I was greeted with a hug tighter than I though a kid was capable of.
“I knew you’d come!”
“Not too loud, buddy. What are you doing here?”
“They got my mom. She’s inside. They had a guy on us this afternoon, but I was able to slide out the window. I told my mom I’d go for help, but I couldn’t get far. There were too many guys here all day. I’ve been waiting for darkness to move.”
“Wise decision.”
“Thanks. Should we go? Call someone?”
“We don’t have time, and I’m not sure who we can trust right now.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to get your mom and get out of here. How does that sound?”
“Great. Can we do that now?”
I had been looking off into the distance. Keeping an eye out for the thugs. I broke my line of sight and looked down at Jerry. He didn’t look scared at all. His eyes were matter of fact. I liked what I saw. This kid had intestinal fortitude.
“Yes. Yes, we can. You’ve been learning a lot from Cole at the gym, right?”
“Yes.”
“Ready to put it into action.”
“Yes.”
I obviously couldn’t endanger Jerry, but he could prove to be very helpful. Instrumental actually. He could make this process a lot quicker and efficient.
“Jerry, listen very carefully, buddy.”
“Yes, sir.”
“There are two guys over there. Two bad guys. They’re dressed the same.”
“Yes, sir. I saw them earlier.”
“OK. Here’s what we’re going to do. You know how to make any bird noises?”
“I can do a pigeon and an owl.”
“OK. The owl is good. I’m going go down to the building. I’ll be on the corner just behind those guys. They won’t be able to see me. Hold on one second.” I scanned the area looking for a rock. Nothing. “Keep your eyes on that corner and back about 10 feet. See this wallet?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to throw it in the air. It will go about five feet above the top of the building. When you see it in the air. Count to 30 and then make the owl sound. If no one looks in your direction wait 30 seconds and do it again, just a bit louder. Just keep doing it every 30 seconds until someone looks in your direction. It’s important they’re exactly 30 seconds apart. When someone looks you do it twice quickly. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Any questions?”
“No. OK. If anything happens you take this cell phone and you dial the last number and tell the lady on the other end what’s happening, OK?”
“Is everything going to be OK?”
“Yes, but I want you to have this phone anyways.”
“OK.”
I made my way around the side of the building. I pulled out the dead man’s gun in my left hand and placed the wallet in my right. I used an underhand motion and lofted the wallet into the air. The strange shape of the wallet took a weird trajectory and the wind caught it just a bit. It went to the desired height, but hit the side of the building on the way back down. Not good. I stood tall and readied for shadows.
The shadows approached slowly. I could see they had their weapons drawn.
Then I heard the owl sound. The shadows stopped. I could see their military hand and arm signals. They were going to divide and conquer. I knew I had about five seconds until the man changing direction looked towards Jerry and the two quick owl sound would delivered. This would only alert the first man coming in my direction more. It would also put Jerry in an unintended, and possibly inescapable, predicament. Time to act.
I dropped to the prone position and counted, 2…1…the second owl sound was right on time. I slid my head and arms out around the side of the building. Barely 11 inches of the ground. I delivered a head shot to the first thug. The second thug spun around. A square chest shot that knocked him down and back. He was stunned but started to roll for cover. Kevlar. I got up and ran in a zig-zag pattern towards him. I saw his pistol hand rise and I delivered a second shot. High risk, high reward. Miss and he’s got me dead in his sights. Not going to happen. Square between the eyes. Two more down. Three total. I ran forward into the darkness and lied down waiting for their backup to arrive. Nothing. I didn’t move for over 10 minutes. No shadows, no noises. The initial surveillance had proven right. Only three guys. Somehow Jerry was the only one I missed. Go figure.
I retraced my steps back to Jerry’s position.
“Great job, buddy.”
“Thanks. I thought you were going to be in trouble.”
“You did the right thing. You stuck to the plan. I knew you would and I used that to my advantage. You saved us.” I reached around with my right arm and wrapped him in a hug. He smiled. For a kid interested in the SEAL lifestyle he was getting one heck of an introduction. Not even fair to call it an introduction. He was a functioning member of this op. Not what I had planned or wanted, but I had to improvise and overcome.
“Where’s your mom?”
“She’s inside. Right in the front. They have her in a chair. She’s tied up.”
“Did you see anything else when they took you in?”
“No. They had us blindfolded. I figured out where she was when I went out through the bathroom. The took off the blindfolds when we got inside and they got us tied up. The bathroom’s on the left side. Where you first were, opposite side the guys were on.”
“OK. Great job on gathering intel. Now it’s time to use that information to rescue your mom. Ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
“OK, here’s the plan.” I told Jerry exactly how it was going to work out. My speech was slow, clear, and very matter of fact. I wanted him to be able to visualize it as I said it. It would be easier to execute that way. Now, time to see if reality lined up to the vision.
Chapter 18
I raised my right hand high and then thrust it quickly downward, just like the starter at the Indy 500. I saw Jerry put his weight behind the branch and the 84 Chevette began rolling down the hill. He was fascinated how easy it was to break into the car. He was even more excited to know he would get to push the branch that would put the car from second into neutral. I remembered how one of the guys had that car at my first duty station. He was always complaining how loose the gearbox was. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw one that looked nearly abandoned sitting up at the top of a small incline.
The car picked up speed on the descent. It wasn’t lightning fast by any stretch, but impact at 15 miles an hour or more would be plenty for a building constructed of sheet metal.
The moment of impact was priceless. A car that could likely fetch little more than $150 at an auction sliding right into the sheet metal just next to the door. The Chevette was just tall enough and hit just hard enough to break out the window with the one-way tint. Tint ensuring no one could see inside. I had a clear line on two men through the window. Single taps and they were done. I stormed towards the door. That was my first mistake.
If you’re going to take on the Korean mafia the first thing to remember is they know Korean martial arts. Well. Really well. I hadn’t even breached the door and I felt a chop right to the side of my head. I was down and not coming up anytime soon.
I felt water splash on my face.
“Nice of you to join us.”
I shook my head to each side a few times. Kate was to my left. Kong facing me. One thug on either side. I was gagged with what seemed like was a t-shirt that was in bad need of a wash.
Kong squeezed Kate’s face hard. His thumb on one side of her mouth and his four fingers on the other.
“Pretty white lady like this going to make us a lot of money. I think they pay more for American. Russians are a dime a dozen. American going to bring big money. Her boy going to make us even more.”
I could see the tears in Kate’s eyes.
“You’re never going to find him. The cops are going to be here any minute.”
Kong laughed. “The cops? The cops are my best customers.”
“You’re lying.”
“They say when a man has no money you can see his true character. Not true, when a man has all the money, or all the power, then his true character is revealed.”
“You’re sick.”
“You will learn what sick is soon enough.”
Kong turned to me. “Justice, you surprise me. I am not only one who can survive big fall. News say you are first survivor in six years. Congratulations. You survive fall, but you’re not going to survive what I have planned for you.”
He laughed.
“You know what it was like falling on those rocks in Korea. I must hold my breath when I have no breath to hold. I come up and hide behind some rocks. You Americans don’t even respect me enough to make sure I dead. You underestimate me. You never make that mistake again. Maybe you find out today what it’s like to survive in water for a few minutes. Now let’s see if you can survive in water for a few weeks.”
He came closer and slapped me right in the mouth with his backhand. He stared at me directly in the eyes. “Jax Justice. Where you get funny name? You think you superman? I show you justice. I show you what it’s like to die at sea.” He turned to his two thugs. “Put him in a hard top to Odessa. Two centimeter air hole, three gallons of water and 20 banana.” He turned back to me and laughed. “We don’t want you dying on us on too quickly superman.”
His head rolled back and he laughed a deep belly laugh. He clapped his hands and continued laughing. I had seen a lot of movies during our downtime in the SEALs. The hero versus villain was always a popular favorite. The villain always delivered the worst, stereotypical, Dr. Evil type laugh. I thought it was only in the movies. Not anymore. Kong was Dr. Evil personified.
His thugs pulled me up from the chair and pulled me towards the door.
“Not going to say good-bye to your girlfriend? She’s gonna be my girlfriend tonight.”
The thugs pulled me away and continued dragging me to the door.
“Wait. One more thing. You Americans all love baseball right? Your national pastime? First base I eliminate Harper, that double agent scum who only good for pawn then dispose. Second base, I finish what you tried to start. Third base, I embarrass American military. And home base I get granddaughter of Russian traitor…all…night…long. What you call this, superman? Touchdown!”
I struggled to get at Kong but the thugs held me tighter. This was the worst kind of bottom feeder. Not only was he trafficking humans, he was using women and children as pawns in a battle they had no business in. I wanted to rip his guts out and step on them over, and over and over again. And he didn’t even know sports metaphors.
Kong continued to laugh as his two remaining thugs dragged me towards the door. I was running terribly low on time and options. We crossed the threshold and into the night, and continued down to the containers.
“Welcome to your new home, dead man. Just think of it as a floating coffin and everything will make sense.” They shoved me out of the way and moved to the front of the containers.
“Boss said water and bananas.”
“It will rain sometime after he gets halfway across the Atlantic.” They laughed together as one opened the co
ntainer and the other pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. I could see the pack in the available light. It was red with two Chinese characters. Chunghwa. The most popular brand in China. I was expecting a popular American or Russian brand. What would they be doing with Chinese cigarettes?
“You got me. You win.”
“What you say, scum bag?”
