She was so tired but she couldn’t turn off her brain. The men around her were trying to build a case against Conrad Bane and she felt like she should be helping them but the fear inside her was growing and she didn’t know how to stop it.
Struggling with herself trying to sleep, she finally gave up and stumbled back over to the table a few feet away. With shaking hands, she reached for the photo of Conrad Bane she’d seen earlier. Growing fear almost paralyzed her but she knew she had to help them figure out what was going on.
Staring at the tattoo on the man’s chest she wracked her brain to find the memory she needed to tell her where she’d seen it before. Groaning in frustration, she let the photo fall back to the table.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Bull whispered in her ear and his arms wrapped around her shoulders. He sat down beside her.
“But what if I can’t remember in time?” her words came out as barely a whisper but Bull heard them.
He shrugged. “What if you don’t? Is remembering really so important?”
“I don’t know?” she whispered. “It might be.”
“What are you trying to remember?” he asked softly.
Charlie’s face crumbled. “I don’t know but whatever it is it scares me.” Her throat hurt as she tried to speak.
Bull held her tighter. “Hush, nothing is going to hurt you here. Not as long as any one of us is still standing. We won’t let it. Don’t try to talk so much yet, I don’t think your throat can take it.”
Charlie grabbed the pen and began to write. “When I first laid eyes on the man in the photo my heart almost burst. That was three years ago and that feeling has never gone away. I was shaking so much I couldn’t move. Something about him sparked a memory I didn’t know I had. But I couldn’t quite remember what that memory was. Just like today when I saw his picture, I knew him but I can’t remember where I know him from. It’s like nothing more than a flash, gone before it was there fully.”
She showed him the writing and waited while he read it. Then she began to write again. “It’s like the memory is closed in a fog that won’t clear. The fear is there and it’s very strong but what I’m afraid of I don’t know.”
“Don’t push the memories,” Bull told her. “Stress never allows memories to come. You have to relax and just let your mind clear. The memories will comes if you don’t push it. The fog you feel is your mind protecting itself against whatever trauma you’re feeling when you see him.”
Charlie leaned into his shoulder and let her body relax. Closing her eyes, she allowed his body to take her weight. Slowly, sleep began to claim her.
* * * *
Bull carried her to bed. Laying her down, he covered her with a blanket and stepped away from her.
Bull went over to where Judge and the others were standing.
“Is she alright?” Hawk finally asked.
Bull’s mouth tightened and he shook his head. “She’s trying too hard to remember where she’s seen Bane’s tattoo before. It’s scaring the hell out of her.”
“What did you tell her?” Judge wanted to know.
“I told her to relax and let the memories come back on their own.”
“Hey guys,” Mustang called out softly. “I might have found something.”
“What?” Judge wanted to know.
“Amir Hussain has been coming to this country for many years.”
“How many years?” Hawk asked.
“Well over twenty,” Mustang informed them. “On a hunch, I ran his passport. It goes back over a very long time then about seven years ago, Hussain completely stops coming here but another man starts. The other man’s name is Conrad Bane.”
“So he’s been here all along?” Judge commented.
“Yup, seems so.” Mustang looked up at his boss. “This pipeline has been well established for a while now it seems.”
Judge nodded. “We knew that already from the intel reports we had over in the sandbox. We just didn’t know who was behind it.” Judge thought for a moment then asked, “Is there any way you can trace it back and find out who set the route up?”
Mustang shrugged. “I can try.”
“Do it,” Judge ordered. “Check out the older members of the Malik family. Uncles and cousins.” Glancing over at his men, he shrugged. “You never know, this could be a family affair no one thought to look at before.” Looking over at the wall of information they found already Judge asked, “What did we find out on the Benali cartel?”
Tank reached out and grabbed a bundle of pages off the wall. Handing them to Judge he noted, “Now the Benali family has held a piece of the drug trade for a very long time. They’ve been running drugs into this country for the last twenty five years. At least that’s how long the law has been trying to bust them anyway. When they first started quite a few of their runners ended up in our jails, in the past ten years or so, not so many.”
“Someone has been protecting them,” Judge stated flatly.
“Yup,” Tank agreed.
“How long have they been using the river to bring that shit in?” Bull asked.
Tank shrugged. “No one knows for sure.” He motioned at Charlie. “If what she says is right, over three years at least.”
“Could be closer to ten,” Wild Child spoke.
“Could be,” Judge acknowledged.
“If what Charlie has told us is true the FBI and ATF are already trying to link the River Ratz and the cartel and at least one of their agents paid the full measure of getting caught.”
“Likely more than one,” Tank reminded everyone. “She said the last one came looking for other agents that have disappeared.”
“I wonder if she knows where the bodies are buried?” Hawk wondered out loud. “Maybe that’s what the beating was for.”
Judge turned and watched Charlie carefully. If she knew where the bodies were buried, the River Ratz would definitely want her gone. Glancing over at Bull, he asked, “You said earlier you thought the Ratz were searching for someone or something? Could they be looking for her?”
“I thought so at the time and nothing has changed my mind about that,” Bull agreed. “I told you that before.”
“Yes you di,.” Judge admitted. Then he snapped his fingers. “Do you think Bane gave you three days so the Ratz could continue searching the town for her? Could he be giving them time to find and eliminate her from the equation?”
“Damn, you might be right.” Bull shook his head. “But how did he know?”
“Think about it,” Tank suggested. “They saw you at the gym they blew it to hell a few hours later. If they followed whoever brought her here from Texarkana they would have seen his vehicle somewhere nearby.”
Bull thought for a moment. “I did see a vehicle leaving the parking lot as I came out of the gym. That was just moments before I noticed the Ratz car driving really slow down the street going in the opposite direction.”
“Damn, they’re looking for both of you.” Judge growled. “If they think she told you anything, they’ll take both of you out. She was right, Bane will kill you as soon as you turn yourself over to him.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“We need some eyes out there,” Bull stated as he rubbed the back of his neck in worry. “We need to know what’s happening.”
“How do you think we can watch over a whole town?” Tank asked. “Even one as small as this one.”
Bull was agitated and began to pace. “I don’t know. There has to be a way to find out what’s going on out there. I can’t just sit here and wonder what Bane or the Ratz are doing to bring down this town. The people who live here don’t deserve to be left to their mercy.”
“That’s true enough,” Judge agreed. “Because neither Bane nor the Ratz have any mercy to give them.”
“We could try and patch in the traffic system,” Tank suggested. “If they even have one.”
“Well check it out.” Judge motioned at the laptops. “That or ATM’s with cameras.”
Mustang, Wild Child and Tank all began typing commands into their laptops. For a long time, no one spoke as the three men worked.
Bull walked over to the windows and looked outside.
A short time later, Mustang called out, “I got in.”
“Into what?’ Judge asked.
“The city cameras. Traffic lights, bank surveillance and security cameras downtown.”
“I got into private security cameras all over town,” Tank told them.
“I got the police cameras,” Wild Child called out.
“Ok, now all we have to do is find the bastards.” Judge growled.
“Yeah, it would help if we knew what we were looking for,” Mustang suggested. “We don’t know their faces.”
“But she does.” Hawk pointed out.
Bull turned and watched them stare over Charlie. Knowing he couldn’t stop them, he went over to her bed and shook her shoulder gently. When her eyes flew open he calmed her, “Shhh, it’s all right. We need your help.”
Charlie searched his eyes for a moment then gazed over at the others. Looking back to Bull, she gave him an inquisitive look.
“We need to know what’s going on out in the town,” Bull explained. “But we have no idea what the Ratz look like. Do you think you could point them out to us, so we can track them on the city cameras?”
Charlie closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, Bull could see the fear she was trying to hide. She slowly nodded her head and sat up swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
Bull stepped back and held out his hand to help her to her feet. Charlie took it and allowed him to pull her up to her feet. They both walked over to the others.
“We need you to watch the monitors and point out if you see any of the Ratz,” Judge told her. “We can follow their progress through the town and see where they are searching for you and Bull.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know where Bane’s office is do you?” Mustang asked.
Charlie took a deep breath and began searching for the answered they needed. When one of the cameras scanned the outside of Conrad’s office building, she pointed it out. “Bane,” she whispered.
The front of the building was stone and looked to be an office type building but as Mustang scanned the front, they saw it was a historical landmark of some kind. He zoomed in and they read the sign out in the front of the building. It was at one time a library of some kind.
Mustang turned to stare at her. “That’s his office? Are you sure?”
Charlie nodded. Grasping the bandage on her throat she told them, “It isn’t a library anymore. It’s the city headquarters. The mayor and city hall is there as well as the police station and jail.”
Mustang shook his head. “Wow, not used to small town living I guess.”
Then an image caught her eye. It was a vehicle she knew. She pointed it out to the men. “That’s Paolo.”
Another vehicle caught on a different camera was next. “That’s Jose’s car.”
Bull searched the image. “That’s the same car I saw when I left the gym. It had four men in it at the time.”
Searching the cameras, she pointed out four more vehicles as belonging to the gang members. The men followed the vehicles as they spread out into a grid and searched the streets for any sign of Charlie or Bull.
A few hours later, Hawk noticed Conrad Bane leaving his office building. He wasn’t alone. A few minutes after Bane walked out, Seth Ritcher walked out as well. Bane had turned left when he left the front doors. Ritcher turned right and hurried down the street. He got into a dark sedan and the car rushed away from its parking spot.
Bull and the others watched as the car drove away. “That son of a bitch.”
“We really need to end that fucker’s career.” Judge growled. “Not only for his part in the drug trade but also for Pony and Blue’s murders.”
“Amen to that,” the others all agreed. “We just have to prove it. That’s the tricky part. We need to prove it in a court of law or a military tribunal.”
Judge turned to Charlie and searched her face for a moment. “You told Bull you witnessed a murder of an FBI agent and got caught shortly after that.”
Charlie nodded.
“What was he doing there?”
Charlie paled and began to sweat. She looked over at Bull then back at Judge. Swallowing hard, she knew she would have to tell them, she just prayed they would believe her. Wrapping her hand around her throat, she told them, “He was searching for two other agents who disappeared three months ago.”
Judge stared at her then looked at his men, then back at her again. “So there are three agents missing, presumed dead now?”
Charlie shook her head. “Three agents dead. The Ratz killed the first two months ago. Then they killed the third one a few days ago.”
“Can you prove it?”
Charlie nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know where the bodies are buried.”
“Damn, no wonder the Ratz want her so bad.” Hawk whistled.
Charlie shook her head. “They don’t know anything for sure. When they were beating the hell out of me, they kept asking if I had seen the third man only. They have no idea I know where the first two are. No one does.”
“Damn Commander, “Hawk pointed out. “The government is going have a hay day with the evidence she’s got. She’s not only a witness to the death of three FBI agents, she’s got a link between a street gang, a drug runner and the cartel, plus the cartel and a member of the government of Texas. They’re gonna want her in WITSEC for sure after they bust everything up and the trials are over.”
Charlie backed away and began shaking her head. “No, I won’t do it.”
Bull went over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Hush now,” he told her gently. “We have a lot to do before that can happen.”
Charlie turned to him and with tears running down her face she whispered, “I can’t testify. I won’t testify. I can tell you where the bodies are buried and what I know but I can’t go to court.”
“Why not?” Judge demanded. “What else are you hiding?”
“I’ll never be safe.” Charlie insisted. She couldn’t tell them the real reason she was afraid. She could never tell anyone that. “You don’t know these people. No one does and that scares me. The cops can’t protect me for the rest of my life and any one of them could come after me. Maybe not tomorrow or even the next day but someday in the future, after the government declares me safe. Then they would come after me. I can’t put my life on that kind of line or I won’t live very long. As it is I probably won’t live very long and I don’t want to die before I’m twenty one years old. I have a baby boy to protect.”
“A baby that isn’t even yours to protect,” Judge insisted.
“His mother is dead and I won’t turn him over to his father.” Charlie snarled as she pulled away from Bull’s embrace. “He doesn’t deserve him. He doesn’t even know the boy is alive and that’s something I never want him to know. That’s the only reason Braden is safe. His father doesn’t know he’s alive and I’m going to keep it that way.” By this time, her throat was on fire and the bandage was turning red. She felt the strain and her words dwindled to nothing more than a bare whisper.
Bull hauled her into his arms and tried to hush her. “You shouldn’t talk. You’re hurting yourself by pushing it.”
Charlie struggled to break free but Bull held her tighter. Then she brought up her knee and hit his groin. Bull sucked in his breath and doubled over releasing her. Cupping his balls, he groaned as he slid to the floor.
Charlie stepped away from him and growled, “Don’t tell me what to do.”
She raised her eyes to Judge and glared at the other man. “You don’t get to tell me what to do either. Braden is mine to protect and I will protect him. The only way I know how to do that is to live long enough to see him grow up and that doesn’t mean being a blabbermouth. I have already said too much.”
She had tears running down h
er face by the time she was done. By then, she could barely be heard and her throat was raw. She could feel something slick running down to her chest but she wouldn’t reach up to contain the blood. Instead, she turned and went back to the small bed she’d been using. Laying down on the mattress, she turned her back to the men standing behind her. Reaching for the blanket, she pulled it up over her shoulders and closed her eyes.
Bull slowly got to his feet and stumbled over to the table. Sitting down gingerly, he glared at Judge. No one said a word but then they didn’t have to. Everyone knew they’d just lost Charlie’s help in this investigation.
* * * *
It was midafternoon before Charlie got up and made her way to the bathroom. After taking care of business, she stared at herself in the mirror. Her throat hurt like hell and she knew the dried blood would not help matters at all. Looking around the spacious bathroom, she noted the first aid kit sitting on the chair. It was open and the items she needed to rewrap her throat were laying on top.
Wetting a wash cloth with hot water, she pressed it on her throat to loosen the gauze around her wound. Again and again, she did this until she felt the gauze give way. Taking up the small scissors, she cut the old gauze and threw it in the wastebasket.
Wetting the cloth again, she dabbed at the wound. It was red and swollen but not bleeding anymore. That was in her favor. Taking up a clean cloth, she dried the wound the best she could. Going back to the first aid kit, she found the antibiotic cream and fresh gauze and rewrapped her throat.
When she was done, her eyes caught the small dark red birthmark on her left wrist. She never knew what it was until now and now whenever she saw it she wanted to cry. Taking up the gauze again, she wrapped it around her wrist until the birthmark was no longer visible.
Her fingers brushed the tears away and she glared at the mirror again. She’d never known who her father was until now and she hated the man. When she lost her mother all those years ago, she thought she was alone in the world. And now as far as she was concerned, she still was.
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