“I don’t think they’ll kill her. As strange as it sounds, these guys are averse to causing collateral damage,” said Kintrell.
“You mean the guys killing the pols, don’t you? But didn’t you say the guys that grabbed Alvarez may be a different group, being directed by someone else? These guys won’t want to face a kidnapping charge. They may just kill her, then cut and run,” said Wilkins.
“You’re right, Chuck, I didn’t think of that. All the more reason that I need to do something right now. I can’t gamble on their moral proclivities. I’ve got to get her back now. As far as moving her before we get to her, I believe the NSA has certain high- altitude assets that could keep track of what goes on at that place they’ve located, by tracking the calls,” said Kintrell.
“Do you have any idea what the costs would be to re-task a satellite, sorry stupid question. We’ve had this conversation before. I should have said do you even give a fuck what it costs …”
“She’s my partner, Chuck. What would you do?”
“Fuck, okay when do you want to do this?”
“We’ll alert the judge at 7:00 AM. If I’m right, he’ll immediately make a call, either to a location in southern New Jersey, or elsewhere. If the call goes to a location in southern New Jersey, and there is no follow up call, then we’ll assume that’s where she is. If the call goes elsewhere, we wait for a follow up call, then peg the location that call goes to. That has to be the place. We then have the eye in the sky keep that place under surveillance,” said Kintrell.
“Okay, Tom. I’ll set it up. Can we depend on your senator friend, if I get any flak on this?”
“Absolutely,” said Kintrell, hoping he was right. Hang in there, Lanny, we’re coming.
Kintrell then contacted Sheady and told him to expect a visitor at 6:30 AM.
Sheady said, “Why, what’s up?”
“6:30 AM,” said Kintrell, then hung up.
Kintrell then placed a call to Roddy’s place and got the operative tasked with listening in on Sheady.
“Did you hear Sheady say, Why, what’s up,” asked Kintrell.
The operative, sounding sleepy, “Hold one.” He came back within a minute and said, “Yeah, heard it.”
“Thanks,” said Kintrell, feeling relieved that Sheady hadn’t ditty-bopped out of town.
Kintrell then explained to Stryker what he wanted him to do.
“Roger that,” said Stryker.
He then called T.J. Worthington. “You sober, T.J.?”
“Almost. What’s up?”
“I may have a line on Agent Alvarez’s location, but I need to be in the air with a team by 6:45 AM.”
“Where?” said Worthington.
“There’s an abandoned airfield on the border between Marlton and Marlton Lakes in southern New Jersey. If you can be there by 6:15 AM, and have your men bring rappelling gear, just in case.”
“Standard equipment, how many men you need?” said Worthington.
“Six, counting me, should be sufficient,” said Kintrell.
“Roger that, we’ll be there,” said Worthington.
***
Alvarez turned her back to the door, then shinnied up as far as she could on the bed. It was awkward and painful, keeping her upper body raised while she tried biting through the wrist restraints. She had to stop every ten minutes or so from exhaustion. Using her front teeth wasn’t doing much good, but keeping her hands as wide apart as she could when they reapplied restraints paid off. When she squeezed her wrists together, she could now get the plastic between her back teeth. After two hours she made a little headway but still had a long way to go. As she gnawed away at the cuff, the edge of the plastic was cutting her bottom lip. She had to keep going through the pain. If she hadn’t gotten through the plastic by morning her captors would see what she was up to and they would no doubt see to it, that the restraints this time would be impossible to overcome. She remembered what Kintrell had said once to her and she repeated it as she chewed away, never out of the fight, never out of the fight…
At approximately 5:30 AM, bloodied from multiple cuts on her bottom lip, exhausted, hungry, and needing the bathroom, she broke through the restraint. The chain was another matter. It was attached to a metal loop that was bolted to a thick leather belt that was tightened around Alvarez’s waist. The ends of the chains were padlocked to a metal post at the foot of the cot. The metal loop went through both ends of the leather strap and was threaded on the end with a bolt attached to it tightly. Metal washers were between the loop and the top piece of the strap, and between the bolt and the bottom piece of the strap. She couldn’t get at the bolt on the underside of the strap, and even if she could, she would most likely need a wrench to remove it. She silently removed the tape from her eyes. She then retrieved the small automatic that was attached above her left ankle, taking pains not to make any noise. The weapon was a Smith and Wesson .380. The magazine held five rounds and she kept a round in the chamber, reasoning that if she had to draw the weapon, the shit had already hit the fan, and she didn’t want to have to rack the slide. She inched the slide back a tad just to make sure a round was chambered. Still had to figure a way to get the drop on both of them at the same time …
Chapter 27
Sheady, Stryker at his side, placed the call to the judge at precisely 7:00 AM.
“Yes, what is it?”
“We have a problem. They’ve somehow found the location where Alvarez is being held, and they’re going to make a move on it in the next hour or so.”
“Where do they think she is?”
“They’re being pretty tight-lipped about it, but they said it’s somewhere in New Jersey.”
“How did they find her?” asked the judge.
“The NSA had something to do with it, according to my boss, but like I said, they’re being very secretive about it. I believe they suspect someone on the inside is sharing information. I’ve got to lay low for a while.”
“Okay, thanks,” said the judge.
***
After disconnecting, the judge immediately called Domingo. The phone rang seven times then went into voicemail. The judge disconnected and immediately punched in the number again. Again, it went into voicemail. The judge thought he hadn’t given it enough time to get out of the message program. He waited impatiently for two minutes then dialed again. This time the phone was answered.
“Hola?”
“The site has been compromised, get them out of there now!”
“Si, Padron. What about the woman?”
The judge was torn about this. He couldn’t risk the operation being blown, but he didn’t want the blood of innocents on his hands.
“If your men think they can’t be identified, leave her be. If not, have them do what they have to do.”
***
The chopper lifted off at precisely 6:45 AM and headed south-southeast at a leisurely pace. An open com line was set up between Kintrell and Wilkins.
***
In Washington, D.C., Specialist Charles Wilkins watched as the phone call from the judge’s location was picked up in Puerto Rico, then the second call from Puerto Rico to southern New Jersey. There was no third call, so the second location was triangulated, and the GPS coordinates obtained were then relayed to the chopper, where they were keyed into the helicopter’s guidance system. The coordinates were twenty-two miles away on an easterly course. The trip would take approximately seven minutes.
“Cocked and locked, gentlemen,” said Worthington and received a chorus of Roger thats.
***
7:08 AM
Jorge answered the phone after it vibrated three or four times.
“Si, Jefe?”
“Ellos vienen!” (They come!)
“La mujer?” (The woman?)
Domingo hesitated, thinking that any blowback would ruin his and his wife’s future, said, “Matarla.” (Kill her.)
“Si, Jefe.”
Jorge then rousted his partner Mateo and whisp
ered something in his ear. They both brought out their guns, quietly racked the slides, and approached the door …
***
Alvarez heard some noise on the other side of the door. She brought the Smith and Wesson .380 to bear. The door was shoved open and Jorge, followed closely by Mateo, entered the room guns drawn.
Alvarez, seeing the drawn guns, assumed they meant to kill her and fired at Jorge finding center mass. Jorge dropped and Mateo fired wildly hitting Alvarez in the side under her right breast. She felt the round as it plowed across her right side chipping a rib. Keep fighting keep fighting. She fired at Mateo catching him in the right shoulder.
She brought the gun up again, and this time caught Mateo in the left arm. Mateo, panicking, fled the cabin, hopped in the van and sped off. Alvarez watched Jorge on the floor, assumed he was still alive and intended to shoot him again if he moved one centimeter. Once her adrenaline stabilized the pain in her side increased. She heard Jorge mumble something. It sounded like Madre de Dios, then he was still. She started to feel woozy and thought she might be going into shock, so she started yelling at herself. She thought she heard the thrum of helicopter blades. Must be getting delirious.
***
All six of them rappelled from the chopper to a small clearing, fifty yards from the cabin. They spread out, and crouching, quickly approached the cabin. Two men went around to the back of the cabin. The front door was wide open. Worthington held up his fist. The men held their positions. He chanced a quick look into the cabin. He could see a door to another room in the cabin and what appeared to be a body sprawled on the floor.
Worthington, in Kintrell’s ear, said, “Better stay here, Tom.”
“Fuck that, let’s go.”
Worthington quickly entered the cabin crouching, weapon at the ready, with Kintrell and his other two men right behind him.
After scanning the room, Worthington said, “Clear.”
Kintrell then swiftly approached the bedroom noting the body on the floor was male, then saw Alvarez laying on her side mumbling to herself. He ran to her then.
“Lanny, it’s Tom, are you hit, Lanny, where are you hit?”
“Tom?”
“Yeah, Lanny, it’s me. Put the gun down, partner. You’re safe now.”
Kintrell took the gun away from her. Seeing the blood that was pooling on the mattress, Kintrell said, “Where you hit, partner?”
“Inna side, hurts a little.”
Worthington, seeing what was going on directed one of his men to grab a med kit from the chopper.
“I’m going to have to take a look at it, Lanny, okay?”
“Just don’t try to cop a feel, Kintrell. I heard about you.”
Both Kintrell and Worthington chuckled. Kintrell lifted up her blouse and saw the furrow the bullet made and determined that it was more of a graze than a through and through. It probably cracked a rib so it would start to throb. The med kit arrived, and a pressure dressing was applied to the wound.
“What took you so long?” asked Alvarez.
“Well, with the holiday, I had to get ready for my hot date, and then of course I’ve been thinking about painting my den, so I absolutely had to look at some swatches …”
“Wait a minute, you had a hot date? Like any self-respecting woman would actually go out with you,” said Alvarez.
“Nobody said she was self-respecting.”
***
A team member found a key to the padlock and the chain was removed, as was the leather belt. After getting a description from Alvarez, Worthington alerted the local and the state police to put out a BOLO, noting that the suspect was armed and dangerous and was thought to be wounded. A sheriff’s deputy arrived a short time later as the team was starting to head for the chopper, Alvarez being carried by Kintrell.
Worthington filled the deputy in with what he knew. The deputy advised Worthington he would need a statement from Agent Alvarez.
Worthington, thinking Good luck with that, said, “Sure, but we have to get her to a hospital first to get her sewn up.”
“Which hospital are you taking her to?” asked the deputy.
“Is Hammonton Hospital the closest one?”
“Yeah, probably,” replied the deputy.
“Thanks, Deputy, and a forensics team will be here soon. This is a federal case. Do me a favor and see that nobody disturbs the scene,” said Worthington.
Once inside the chopper, T.J. told the pilot to head for Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, NJ. They could land on the roof and get Alvarez inside without any prying eyes. He could also claim the deputy misunderstood him if it ever came up.
On the way to the hospital Alvarez related how she managed to free herself from the restraints, and then described the shooting. When she was done, Kintrell, smiling broadly, said, “Agent Alvarez, you are a stone-cold warrior.”
The rest of the team chimed in with “Oorah.”
“Never out of the fight, right, Kintrell?”
Kintrell, a little misty-eyed, kissed her on the forehead. “Good to have you back, partner.”
***
After dropping Kintrell and Alvarez off at the hospital, Worthington and the team re-boarded the chopper and headed back to Quantico. Once Alvarez was under the care of a Doctor, Kintrell called Stryker.
“We got her, Norm, she caught a round but it’s not too bad. She’ll be out of action for a few weeks, but she’ll be fine.”
“Great news, Tom! Give her my best. What do you want to do with Sheady?”
“Tell him to report to work tomorrow as usual, that we will have another job for him shortly, and Norm, I can’t thank you enough for this and also your friend Roddy.”
“Hell, Tom, I haven’t had this much fun since my last colonoscopy. And by the way, have you given any more thought to adopting me?”
Kintrell chuckled. “If you were house broken, I’d consider it. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, Norm.”
Kintrell then called Wilkins at the NSA, described what went down, then said, “I owe you, pal.”
To which Wilkins replied, “Fucking A you do, I could do with a case of Caymus Cabernet.”
“You got it, pal, a case of Coors Light. Talk to you soon.” Kintrell disconnected the call, laughing.
Kintrell then called Dede, who had already been apprised of the successful operation.
“Dede, I need you to do me a favor. The guy in Puerto Rico, I need him to be picked up and held incommunicado for a while.”
“I don’t see how we can do that, Tom.”
“Well, we have to bring him up here for a few days, maybe the plane has trouble and has to divert to Guantanamo or maybe invoke the Patriot Act, anything that will keep him from contacting his co-conspirators.”
“Okay. You’re probably gonna get my ass fired, Kintrell, but I’ll see what I can do. How did you get the information on Alvarez?”
“Loose end here, boss, have to run. I’ll need to see you and Dixon first thing tomorrow to go over a few things,” said Kintrell.
“Agent Kintrell, why is it I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you’re going to tell me tomorrow?”
“Probably because you’re unnaturally suspicious, which has made you the stellar agent you are, De. Can’t talk about it on the phone, first thing tomorrow, OK?”
“Tom …”
***
After Alvarez was patched up and admitted to the hospital Kintrell huddled with the doctor who treated her. “What’s the prognosis, Doc?”
“We’re going to watch her for a couple days. The wound itself isn’t that bad but it did nick a rib, which will heal in time, but the bullet took a piece of cotton with it from her blouse—as it traversed her side—so we have to make sure that infection doesn’t set in. We’ll know in a day or two. I’ve given her a shot for the pain, so she’ll be a little out of it if you talk with her.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
Kintrell entered Alvarez’s room to find her dozing off. He sat down acros
s from her and watched her for a while. He knew he was going to have to face the music with Dede and Dixon about his methods, so he would have to do it in a way that didn’t drag down Alvarez, Stryker, or Roddy.
Alvarez woke an hour later to find Kintrell staring at her.
“Hey, sailor.”
“Hey, cutie.”
“What time is it?” asked Alvarez.
“A little after 1:00 PM,” said Kintrell.
As she started to doze again, she said, “The book, Tom, you have to get the book.”
“What book, Lanny?”
“Might be the cipher book, have to get the cipher book.”
“Lanny, focus, what book?”
“On his desk, didn’t make sense …”
Alvarez drifted off again. Kintrell thought it had to be something important. He got close to her. “Lanny, I need to know what book, whose desk. Come on, Lanny, wake up, I need to know the book.”
Alvarez was out of it. He would wait till she woke again. She woke again at 5:30 PM. Kintrell poured her a glass of water. After drinking the water Kintrell said, “Lanny, before you dozed off you mentioned a book on someone’s desk, do you remember?”
“A little woozy, Tom, whatever they gave me is nice. I’m floating. I’m in a good place. Are you with me, Tom?”
“Always, Lanny, but you mentioned a book, maybe a cipher book on someone’s desk,” said Kintrell.
“Yes, I remember now. There was a book on his desk. Thought it was out of place when I saw it, then I forgot about it till I was laying in that cabin,” said Alvarez.
“Whose desk, Lanny?” said Kintrell.
“The judge’s desk, Tom. It was sitting there, the only book on his desk and I thought at the time, gee that’s odd and then I forgot about it.”
“What was the book, Lanny?”
“It looked like one of those cheap, cheesy romance novels, you know, the kind with a hunky guy on the cover with his shirt off and a buxom maiden at his feet, looking up at him adoringly. You know, a book a woman might be interested in, not a seventy something distinguished judge.”
Termination Limits: Tom Kintrell Book 1 (Tom Kintrell Thriller Series) Page 18
