Broken SEAL

by Geri Foster

  “How can I help you?”

  “I’m investigating Dr. Kingston’s kidnapping and I wondered if I might speak with one of the doctors?”

  “All those on her shift have left already. The day shift is working now.”

  Before Garrett continued, his phone rang. Placing the phone to his ear, he said, “Garrett here.”

  “Hey buddy, it’s David. What can I do for you?”

  Garrett turned and walked away so he could have some privacy. “I hope you’re sitting down.”

  “Why, what’s wrong?”

  Garrett heard the mounting tension in David’s voice. “Haley has been kidnapped. We think a terrorist group has her.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” David gasped. “Why would someone take her?”

  “I don’t know. I’m on the case and I’ll find her no matter what, but I need your help.”

  “Sure. Whatever you want, I’m at your disposal.”

  “I think they kidnapped Haley because she’s a skilled surgeon. That indicates that one of the terrorists may have been injured. A gunshot wound perhaps. Do you know what medical supplies she may need to perform a surgery like that?”

  A brief silence filled the air. “Give me a minute,” He heard rustling in the background. “So much would depend on exactly where the wound is located, but I can text you a list of the most common items she would use. Would that help?”

  “Yes. Yes, it would. And I appreciate your help. Also, where would they get these items?

  “For doctors, everything is at the hospital and very easy for us to access. On the outside, some of these things could be very difficult to come by. We are not talking about street drugs here. These are serious medications. Drug dealers don’t carry those. My guess is they would have to go to a wholesaler. And that doesn’t mean that they would willingly hand over those kinds of drugs and equipment to someone who’s not a doctor.”

  Garrett had hoped for a better outcome from their conversation. David and Haley had gone to medical school together. They were good friends. Garrett felt confident David cared enough for her to help if possible. David’s hands, though, were just as tied as his. “Can you text me a list of local suppliers. Ones that I can pay a visit to?”

  “Of course, I’ll send you everything I know. I’m worried, Garrett. If they are terrorists, once they’re finished with her odds are they will kill her. Right?”

  “I’m not about to let that happen. You forget how much she means to me, still.”

  “I know how difficult the breakup between you two was on both of you. I still don’t know why it happened and I don’t want to, it’s none of my business. What’s important is that you save Haley’s life. I know you still love her and she still loves you. Romance aside, the important thing is that she isn’t harmed.”

  “I am aware of that. That’s my main objective. Haley will come out of this alive. The problem is, David, I need to find out where they are holding her, and right now, every clue has led to a dead end. I have nothing except where they might go to find the drugs she needs to perform the surgery. Other than that, I don’t have a hint of where she might be.”

  “But you know that she’s still alive?”

  “I’m going to assume that. As long as her patient is breathing, I feel confident Haley is safe. Should he die, there’s very little reason for them to keep her alive.”

  “Now you’re scaring the hell out of me.” A pregnant pause filled the air. “I can’t imagine anything happening to her. She’s such a good person. She’s dedicated her whole life to saving people.”

  “Do you remember the first time we met? I told you then, even innocent people sometimes get hurt.”

  “I know what you said, but this is different. This is Haley, and we can’t allow anything to happen to her. I know you will do everything in your power to get her back safely.”

  “Text me the information and I’ll go from there. I plan on visiting every medical supply company in the general area. I’ll see what I can find out there.”

  “Call me if I can help in any way.”

  “You know me, David. I don’t give up easily, and I’m going to find out who has Haley. I will bring her back.”

  Garrett ended the call then quickly dialed Falcon Securities. The line went directly to Mac. “I wanted to keep you apprised,” Garrett growled. “If Haley must perform surgery, she will need medical supplies. I talked to a friend of hers and he’s going to send me a list of medical suppliers in the area. Do you have anything else?”

  “Nothing concrete,” Mac said. “I contacted a couple of agents to help you check out the supply companies. Right now, we don’t have anything. There is no chatter, no more information on the bombing, and we’re not getting anything from the FBI.”

  “I expected as much. I find it difficult to believe that no one else in the hospital saw anything. Haley left work during a shift change,” Garrett grumbled. He felt like punching a wall. “So that means hundreds of people were walking out the doors to go home. And yet only one nurse saw Haley being kidnapped? I find that really hard to believe. Go back over that surveillance video. We need to know who else was in the general area when they grabbed Haley.”

  “I’ll do that. I have the tapes here. The hospital has been very cooperative since Frank called them. As Haley was taken in the open, as opposed to the parking garage, I have to agree with you. Someone saw something.”

  “Do you think another employee at the hospital is involved to in this?” Garrett asked. “Someone who perhaps diverted people away from where they intended to get Haley?”

  “That would have to be someone who knew Haley’s habits. Who knew what time she would be leaving, and who knew what exit she took. That takes some planning, and this snatch and grab was done too quickly for that.”

  “Do you think they just got lucky? Could taking Haley have fallen into place so smoothly for them?”

  Mac scoffed. “In our line of work, that rarely happens. So, we need to be looking at someone at the hospital.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  Mehaza Nagi had difficulty concentrating and he blamed the doctor. They had gotten very lucky at kidnapping her so easily, but now so many other things had to fall into place for their mission to succeed, and he had doubts. After tying up the doctor, he left the room and went into the kitchen where a cup of lukewarm tea waited for him on the scarred table. He settled into a chair he feared would not support his weight, and rested his head on his hands. The whole ordeal had left him exhausted.

  They never considered El Hashem might get shot during their escape. No plans were in place should someone be injured. For it to have been Zareeb might very well ruin all their plans. Plans Mehaza knew nothing about, for his friend had kept silent about their true mission in the States. Simply telling him only what he needed to know.

  Now, Mehaza shouldered the responsibility of a mission he had no clue how to implement.

  To his knowledge, their plot to blow up the airport had been well planned. Nothing should have gone wrong. Yet everything had, and now they were in a terrible position. He knew in his heart they would be fortunate to escape the ordeal without being captured.

  Mehaza was not a stupid man. He’d been very well educated in England and one look at El Hashem’s wound told him it was fatal. He would not leave this country alive.

  But Mehaza had to be very careful. As he glanced around the room, his eyes fell on the seven men who had been their accomplices. Seven who were completely loyal to El Hashem. Men who would stab him in the back, if ordered. He didn’t know them or where they were from, nor did he know their families.

  These men, hand-picked by El Hashem, would gladly die for their leader. These were people he trusted and counted on to do as he commanded. Even though he and El Hasham had grown up together as children, Mehaza Nagi now held the position of an outsider. And he felt it in every way.

  El Hashem had come to him recently with talk of all the things he’d dreamed of. He c
laimed to have long known that Mehaza wanted to strike down America. To destroy her at the very core. But Mehaza was only one man and El Hashem had many, as well as lots of money.

  After serving the Muslim Brotherhood, Mehaza moved on to fight among the greatest rebels in Syria, ISIS. He was a good soldier and leader, but he wanted more. He wanted to come to America and destroy it completely. To do that, he had to be here. El Hashem presented him with the perfect opportunity.

  Mehaza had jumped on board immediately. He had grand visions of glorious martyrdom. They would talk about him in his country of Pakistan for years to come. He would be a hero.

  His reverie was interrupted when on of El Hashem’s men came and sat at the table beside him, a worried frown wrinkled his brow. “Will our great leader survive?”

  Mehaza didn’t think so but he would not express that doubt to the men who felt honored to serve El Hashem. They didn’t want to hear that, and he did not want to be the bearer of bad news. “Let us pray to Allah that the doctor can save him.”

  The man leaned forward, his forearms propped on the table. “Then what do we do? Where do we go?”

  “We must get him to Washington, D.C. once he has been stabilized. That is our true destination.” He reached out and patted the man’s hand. “Do not worry, I have everything figured out.”

  The man rose from the table and went to join the others. Mehaza shook his head with doubt. What a fool these men had been. All he knew was El Hasham had mentioned they were headed for the capitol. He knew nothing else.

  The best thing that could happen would be for their great leader to die quickly. Then Mehaza could create his own plan to demolish this country, instead of sitting there twiddling his thumbs. El Hashem was alive and needed surgery. If they waited for him to recover, it might jeopardize them all.

  El Hashem would die no matter what they did to try to prevent it, so why were they still here? And what did he plan to do with the doctor? He had no choice but to kill her, for nothing would interfere with his dream. Not even the murder of an innocent.

  Once El Hashem died, his only choice was to blame it all on the doctor. He would make sure she failed so they might be able to get out of there as quickly as possible.

  That appeared their only hope.

  Haley squirmed uncomfortably in the chair. Mehaza had gone to great lengths to make sure she had been securely tied. He didn’t want to take a chance that she might run. Having nothing to do, she thought about the two men who had left to go in search of the medical supplies. She had no idea where to send them. She didn’t buy surgical provisions on the open market.

  One of the men must’ve been an expert on the computer, because it didn’t take long for him to find several places claiming to carry the items they needed.

  She noticed their skepticism in leaving the safety of the building to go in search of the items on her list. She didn’t blame them. Perhaps they feared leaving their leader in the hands of Mehaza who appeared to not be one of them, for the men barely acknowledged his existence.

  Haley guessed that every armed official in the state looked for the whereabouts of her and those men. Before leaving work, she had briefly heard about the attempted airport bombing on the TV, and how the TSA had been able to thwart the attempt.

  While the men had gotten away, they suspected that one man had been shot. The news had been correct. Evidently, they spoke of El Hashem. Now it had become her responsibility to save his life. She doubted that was possible, but keeping her tied up and not attending to the patient was the worst thing they could do. No matter how many times she expressed her concern to Mehaza, he refused to listen.

  “Can I have a drink,” she called out. “I’m thirsty.”

  It took a few minutes before Mehaza came in carrying a glass of water. He held it to her lips and allowed her to take several gulps. Then he stepped away, his eyes narrowing.

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t be so demanding,” Mehaza warned. “If we captured you, we can easily abduct another doctor to take your place.” An evil smirk twisted his bearded face. “A man perhaps? El Hashem might be much happier with that choice. He doesn’t trust women.”

  “Good, then you can let me go. Besides, I’m sure a man would do a better job.” She hoped he caught her sarcasm.

  “The men will be back shortly, then you will perform the surgery. Hopefully we can leave as scheduled.”

  “I’ve already told you that El Hashem cannot be moved that quickly. Well, not without killing him, and I’m sure you don’t want that to happen.”

  It surprised her how quickly his features changed. In a flash, a mask of indifference covered his face only to disappear instantly. Most people would never notice something so subtle, but Haley was very observant. She liked to watch their reactions to things, and Mehaza’s hadn’t been overly enthusiastic at the thought El Hashem might live.

  “I take it that El Hashem is your leader? Is he the mastermind behind the failed airport bombing attempt?”

  “We ran into a slight problem. Something no one would’ve been able to foresee. But we did get out of there alive. We were clever enough to do that.”

  “So, let me understand. You walked into the airport to blow up a plane or perhaps the terminal. And while you didn’t blow up anything, one of you got wounded. So, you think you succeeded because you got out alive?”

  “Yes, it’s very difficult. Something you would know nothing about.”

  “Well, I know you went in there alive and came out with an injured man. That’s about as far from a success as I can imagine.”

  The back of his hand across her face came so quickly Haley had not been able to prepare herself. Proof that Mehaza didn’t like to be belittled or challenged. She didn’t think he was a big fan of El Hashem’s, either. Funny the things you learn about people.

  “You know that everyone in this state is looking for me and you. Odds are none of you will ever get out of the country.”

  He leaned close, his eyes following the blood dripping down her chin. “What’s doubtful, Dr. Kingston, is that you get out of this alive.”

  She grinned and sharpened her gaze. “The more you beat me the harder I’m going to work to keep your friend alive,” she snapped. “Then all your hopes of becoming the man in charge will go up in smoke.” She leaned back, confident in her assessment. “Right, Mehaza?”

  A man came into the room and said something Haley didn’t understand, but Mehaza immediately lowered his hand and then narrowed his eyes. “You just wait,” he spat. “You’ll be killed for murdering El Hashem.” He grinned. “These men understand very little English. I can tell them anything. Even that you murdered their great leader and they will believe me.”

  It appeared Mehaza intended to lay El Hashem’s death at her feet. She couldn’t let that happen, not and live. “We’ll see,” she said, stoically. “I’m a pretty damn good doctor.”

  Chapter Five

  Garrett headed for his vehicle just as his phone rang. It was Mac. “One of our guys spotted a white van outside a medical supply place on Parker Road.”

  “What’s the address?” Garrett asked.

  “Twelve twenty-nine.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Garrett floored the accelerator and moved in the direction of the location. He punched in the destination as he drove. It didn’t take long for him to arrive on the scene. He spotted the other agent’s car and pulled up behind it.

  Parked on the windowless side of the white cinderblock building, he got out and greeted the two other agents. “What do you have?”

  “This van pulled up about ten minutes ago. We’re not sure if it’s a regular pick up or if it’s El Hashem’s men. The vehicle matches the description of the one used to kidnap Dr. Kingston.”

  Falcon agents Calvin Harrington and Steve Grey remained in the car.

  “Let’s wait for them to come out and we’ll follow. If we go in guns blazing I’m afraid we might not be able to learn where they’re holding the docto
r.”

  “Agreed,” said Harrington, a ten-year veteran agent. “We’ll take the lead. You stay close behind in case we have to switch off.”

  Garrett looked at the building. “If there is any chance they’ve spotted us, pull away. I don’t want to endanger Dr. Kingston.”

  “Yeah, if they suspect anything, they won’t lead us to her location.” Harrington agreed.

  “Right.”

  From their vantage point, they saw the men head for the truck, arms loaded with bags. “Looks like they got what they wanted,” Grey said. “Hopefully they won’t have to make a second stop.”

  “Let’s get going,” Garrett said. “Stay alert.”

  He jumped back into his vehicle and waited for the other agents to pull in behind the van. Then, after a short wait he vacated the parking space and followed.

  He stayed further back, this way if the lead car peeled off, he could move up front and they could come back around behind him.

  They went about two blocks then came to a stop sign. The lead car turned left, and Garrett went right. He’d circle around and come back behind them a few blocks up ahead.

  Less than a mile away, the van stopped, opened a garage to a small house, and pulled inside. Since he hadn’t gotten a good look at the men inside the suspect vehicle, Garrett couldn’t be sure if these were the kidnappers or if he’d wasted his time.

  Harrington and Grey parked down the street and Garrett turned at the corner before the house. He took out his phone and called Mac. When he answered, Garrett asked, “Who owns the building at four two nine South Mitchem Road?”

  “Hold on.”

  In seconds Mac’s voice traveled through the phone. “A corporation named Amir Unlimited. It appears the owner doesn’t live there. It says he’s a resident of Yemen.”