CHAPTER TWENTY-Three

 

Three hours later

Friday night
March 28 – 11:34 P.M. CDT

Somewhere over central Texas

 

After pitching a major fit, the Jakker agreed to allow a Super Hercules team to fly them to Texas. While everyone conceded that Zack could fly the Super Hercules, a feat he proved at take off and again while they were in the air, the Air Force pilots wanted to fly the Fey some place, any place. The Jakker huffed and puffed. But when Zack arrived in the passenger compartment, he laughed about Alex’s video enhanced notoriety.

“Do we know where we’re going?” Zack asked Alex.

“Big Bend National Park, that’s all I know,” Alex said.

“I’ll head to the cockpit,” Zack said. “You haven’t heard from GPSOC?”

“I have. Just nothing certain. It’s not a huge park, but we have to cover a lot of territory in a short amount of time. They want to be sure.”

“You’ll let me know.”

Zack moved toward the cockpit. As if on cue, Vince’s cell phone rang when Raz stood to use the restroom.

“This is my call,” Alex said.

The men looked up. No one knew where they were going and they had little idea of what they were involved in. Max stood to use the restroom. Alex opened the cell phone and held it to her ear.

“Fey,” Alex said. She waited for voice recognition to confirm her identity.

“Lieutenant Colonel?” Alex’s Sergeant asked.

“Yes Sergeant.”

“I have Sergeant Flagg, Captain Vardee of the Texas Rangers and our intelligence friend on the line. I also have a full update from GPSOC.”

Alex smiled at her Sergeant’s use of ‘our intelligence friend’ instead of naming Ben.

“Texas Rangers first, sir,” her Sergeant said.

“Ma’am, this is Captain Vardee. I’m in charge of Texas Ranger Midland Company.” Captain Vardee’s deep voice spoke with a thick Texas accent. “We’d like to thank you for involving us at this stage. We’re usually included in these activities as they are going down. We appreciate the heads up.”

“We’ll need your help, Captain Vardee,” Alex replied.

“Yes ma’am,” he said. “We’ve been working with the National Park Service. They have records of a party entering the park near Maverick Junction.”

Feeling movement near her, Alex looked up when Raz sat down. He pointed to the National Park Service Map of Big Bend National Park on his laptop. Alex smiled her thanks. She pointed toward the east end of the park.

“That’s the east end of the park, ma’am. Do you have a map?” Captain Vardee asked.

“Yes sir, I’m looking at the National Park Service Map,” Alex said.

“Sir,” Alex’s Sergeant said, “I put the topos and satellite maps to your project area.”

“Thank you Sergeant. We’ll pull them down. Please continue Captain Vardee.”

“Ma’am, the Park Service says five men and two boys entered the park near the end of last year. There’s no evidence they ever left the park. They were supposed to clean up in the area around the Mariscal Mine. The Park Service has checked for them a couple of times and has never interacted with them. They have a trailer and equipment near the mine, but the park ranger says they disappear when anyone gets near their location. We have no verification that any work has been done at the location.”

Alex pointed toward the tip of the national park. Raz reoriented the map.

“This area of the park isn’t well monitored. There’s not a lot of visitor traffic and frankly, there’s a lot of border related crime. We’ve spoken with the border patrol agents in charge of the region. They’ve received a report of a few boys swimming in Rio Grande near Tally Campground, near the tip of the park, about two months ago. When they approached, the boys were clearly United States citizens so they did not intervene.”

Closing her eyes, Alex paused. It never ceased to amaze her how many times people see hostages, and know something isn’t quite right, but never think to intervene.

“Captain Vardee? Does the border patrol state how many boys?”

“Ma’am, how ‘bout I call the officer and find out?”

“That would be very helpful. We’re not certain the number of boys. It could be two or as many as nine boys. A date and a number would help.”

“Ma’am, we’ve moved a team of men into the park. They’re waiting for your command at the Castolon Visitor’s center, down river from the sighting. You won’t be able to use a chopper or motorized vehicles in any area of this park. Sound echoes in this terrain. These villains will hear you from miles away. We have canoes and river guides for waiting you. Once you’re near, you’ll need to walk.”

“Thank you, Captain Vardee,” Alex said.

“I’ll get the information for you.” Captain Vardee clicked off the connection.

“Sergeant Flagg? Can you hold a minute?”

Turning to Raz, she said, “Can you get into my project area? My Sergeant has sent us some more maps.”

“Got it,” Raz said.

“Ok, Sergeant Flagg. What do you have?”

“We’ve contacted all of Joiner’s ex-wives, girlfriends, and miscellaneous mothers of his children.” Larry stumbled over a few words then stopped talking. Vince said something encouraging in the background. “Sir, we believe the mothers are lying to us.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Alex said.

“Oh. Oh. Okay. Um… We researched the missing persons report for Tristan Joiner. It was filed in Long Beach right after Christmas. The Long Beach police canceled the investigation after Tristan’s mother, Buffy Joiner, assured them that Tristan was with her. We telephoned the person who filed the report and spoke with... Uh… Beth Ann Lopez and her father, Robert Lopez.

“Bear with me a moment, sir. This is where it gets complicated. Tristan was living with the Lopezes in Long Beach until two days prior to Christmas. He left Long Beach to visit with his mother for three days. He was to return to Long Beach. Sir? He was enrolled at Long Beach High School last fall as a transfer student. The school records state that Robert Lopez and his wife, Estefanie, are Tristan’s legal guardians.”

“Are they?”

“Not legally.”

“Sergeant?”

“Yes sir?” Larry and her assistant asked in unison.

“Not you Larry.”

“Yes sir,” her assistant said.

“Can you make certain the girl and her family gets into protective custody? You know what? Can you arrange travel for them to Denver? I need to speak with them in person.”

“Yes sir,” Alex’s Sergeant said.

“Please continue, Larry.”

“That’s about all we have.”

“In a nutshell, we don’t know how many kids are missing but we think the mothers know more than they are saying.”

“We’re guessing that there are seven boys missing,” Larry said.

“But that’s a guess.” Vince said in the background.

“Just in case, I’ve emailed you photos, descriptions and pertinent information for the boys,” Alex’s Sergeant said.

“Thank you, Sergeant,” Alex said. “We’ll use them. Is there anything else Sergeant Flagg?”

“Um… sir? One more thing, I spoke with one boy. He answered the phone. Um… Lance Joiner. He’s the oldest of the illegitimate children. I heard a child in the background but I couldn’t tell you if it was a boy or a girl.”

“Did you speak with his mother?” Alex asked.

“Krystal Joiner? Captain Hutchins spoke with her.”

“Alex,” Vince said taking the phone from Larry. “Krystal Joiner was surprised we were calling, shocked even. She seemed legitimately confused as to missing children. She assured me that her two boys were present. In fact, she put the other boy, Jason, on the phone to speak with me.”

“Two boys weren’t taken?”

“Only two and the unborn child,” Vince said. “Oh, and Alex? Krystal Joiner was much sharper than the other women. She wouldn’t speak to Larry. She insisted on calling us back. She called a few people before she was sure we were on the up and up. The other mothers? They acted like they almost expected our call.”

“I wonder what that means,” Alex said.

“No idea,” Vince said. “We’ll keep working.”

Vince clicked off the line.

“Well that’s confusing. Benji, what do you have?” Knowing her Sergeant was fluent in French, she spoke French.

“Nothing nice,” Ben replied in French. “We’ve been reviewing off shore accounts with potential Joiner connections and consistent activity. These accounts show patterns that match Cee Cee Joiner’s usual level of activity.”

“Hookers and fried food,” Alex said.

“They prefer the term escort. But yes, we found the accounts through some of his regular vendors. They’ve been very friendly with immunity granting Federals. We’re about ninety percent certain these accounts belong to Cee Cee Joiner. A member of the security team will be at the bank when they open. We are hoping to find him through these accounts.”

“And the children?”

“Nothing. Larry and Vince have worked their butts off. And they have nothing. We’ve found nothing.”

“Do we know what Joiner was up to before he disappeared?”

“Shady oil deal?”

“Any idea who was involved or where the oil deal took place?” Alex asked.

“No. I was trying to be funny,” Ben said.

Alex didn’t state the obvious. Ben was a lot of things, but funny was not one of them.

“Patrick is working his contacts,” Ben said. “Almost everyone in South American hates Joiner. Did you know he was jailed in Venezuela?”

“Which time?” Alex asked. “You’re saying: We don’t know who; we have no idea why; and Joiner is off the map.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying,” Ben said. “Your Sensei wants to speak with Olivas.”

“Thanks Ben,” Alex said.

“How are you feeling?”

“Worried,” Alex said.

She avoided mentioning the obvious pain, swelling, bruising. She was even bleeding. Again.

“Yes, hostages first. We’ve got your back.”

Alex closed her eyes at his usual assurance. These simple words said from mentor to student told her he was worried about her. She nodded to herself. That’s good. She was worried too.

“Sergeant? Any word on where we’re going?”

“Yes sir. The Mariscal Mine. It is an abandoned mercury mine. It’s in the portion of the park Captain Vardee mentioned. Do you see it? It’s between Tally Mountain and Mariscal Mountain.”

“I see it.” Alex pointed to the topo map and Raz opened the topo map for the region.

“The Park Service received notification that a non-profit environmental group was going to clean up the Mariscal Mine with new mercury abatement technology. About four months ago, a crew arrived to begin work. The Park Service has copies of what looks like legitimate paperwork. However, the IRS has no record of this non-profit or anyone related to this project.”

“Bingo.”

“The men Captain Vardee referenced? They were supposed to be working on the clean up crew. Fake IDs, fake credentials. “

“What do you get from the satellite heat imaging?” Alex asked.

“GPSOC found five faint GPS signals. Cell phones, they think. The satellite heat reading shows… well… I’ll send you the latest pictures. Agent Rasmussen is skilled at reading heat scans. Can you ask him to confirm what he sees?”

“He’s right here.” Pointing to a new email, Alex said, “That’s for you.”

Raz opened the heat reading for the abandoned mine. Raz looked at the picture and puzzled. Pointing at the distinct blurry blobs, he counted. His finger hovered over one set of images.

“May I have the phone?” Raz asked.

Alex nodded.

“Sergeant,” Raz said. He listened to something the Sergeant said. “Yes, I confirm your findings. Yes, that’s correct.”

Raz gave the phone back to Alex.

“I think that’s it, sir,” her Sergeant said. “Call me when you get to the park.”

“What about the heat reading?”

“Agent Rasmussen will tell you. Oh sir, I received a message from Captain Vardee. He says the border patrol saw five boys.”

“Only boys?”

“Only boys,” he said.

“Thank you Sergeant.”

Alex closed Vince’s phone. Looking up, she discovered the men had been watching this entire time.

“We have a location!” Alex said.

The men cheered.

“We’ll brief in five minutes,” Joseph said.

Joseph tapped Matthew’s shoulder. Joseph gave Alex an Ensure shake to drink. Distracted by the ringing cell phone, she opened the drink then set it down.

“Troy, can you take this call? Steve wants to talk to you about possible South American ties to Joiner.”

Surprised, Troy looked up from his cards. He took the phone from Alex then walked toward the back of the plane.

“What’s on the heat, Raz?”

“Two dead people, one dying,” Raz said. His eyes searched her face.

“People?”

“Small people.”

“Children,” Alex said. “Your theory?”

“I assume they are killing them one at a time to get to Joiner.”

Alex closed her eyes for a moment. There was nothing was worse than finding a dead hostage. A dead child? Rather than think the next thought, she asked her next question.

“Do we believe any of the children are alive?”

“Yes. There are three, maybe four other children, five at the most. Two adults have a child between them. No way to tell what they are doing.”

“That matches Larry and Vince’s guess of seven boys,” Alex said. “They’re in a mine?”

“Maybe a mine office or the opening to a tunnel. They are not deep, less than a mile from the surface.”

“Anything else?”

“The second picture shows four adults in a building or a trailer near the tunnel. I assume the adults are in the trailer. You can see the trailer on the satellite imaging. What is our intel?”

“Captain Vardee of the Texas Rangers confirms the location of a trailer. Outside of vague satellite image, we don’t have great information. The Space Shuttle is on the other side of the globe and U-2’s don’t fly over the continental United States.”

“We’re acting on what we have,” Raz said.

“We can’t risk not acting,” Alex said.

“No matter how much information we have, we always end up walking in the dark,” Joseph said.

Joseph picked up the Ensure and gave it to Alex. Alex looked up into the face of her old friend, her Fey Special Forces teammate. She took a drink of Ensure then set it down.

“Charlie said that before every mission.”

“Kill plan?” Joseph asked. “I’m not aware of a policy.”

“We don’t have one,” Alex said. “Not yet. I prefer the no-kill policy of the Fey Special Forces Team.”

“Leadership needs to decide,” Matthew said. “We’ll communicate our decision to the mean.”

Again, Matthew words sounded confident but his voice betrayed his uncertainty. He did not want to offend her.

“Same thing,” Alex shrugged. Her mind had moved on to how they were going to get there.

Matthew sighed out the breath he’d been holding. Glancing at Raz, he saw he was not fooling Raz. When Raz wagged his eyebrows, Matthew almost laughed out loud.

“What do you want Matthew?” Alex asked.

“I think we kill when we need to. We should not shackle the men with arbitrary policies,” Matthew said.

“Raz?”

“I’ve never been in this situation, Alex.” Raz shrugged. “I don’t really know what it’s like to be in battle. That said, as a cop, we shot as the last resort. Period. Every shooting is reviewed. Our job was to protect life, even the lives of the people who were criminals. No bad guys.”

Alex nodded.

“Joseph?”

“I like what Raz said. I know we struggled to keep to ‘no kill.’ In the long run, it made us trustworthy to captors. They could trust us to deal with them, not kill them out of hand.”

“That kind of policy only works where there’s a governing body that will prosecute. Raz took the criminals to jail,” Matthew said. “There’s no real international jail to take criminals too.”

“Well… captors aren’t really criminals,” Alex said. “Yes, taking a hostage is a very bad thing. But captors are mostly desperate people trying to make a point.”

“Maybe we decide for this mission,” Joseph said. “We haven’t agreed to do extraction full time. We haven’t signed these men onto our team. We’ve only committed to this single mission.”

Alex nodded.

“Shoot to protect your life or the life of a hostage or teammate. Do not shoot to kill unless absolutely necessary,” Alex said. “We’ll review each shooting.”

“Agreed,” Raz said.

“Agreed,” Joseph said.

Matthew’s face clouded with anger and worry. Folding his arms across his chest, he put himself somewhere away from them. He looked up when Alex touched his arm.

“What do you need?” Alex asked Matthew.

“To know someone has my back, I guess. If I kill someone, I’m not hung out to dry.”

“That’s what it means to be on a team, Matthew. We’re in it together. Every kill is a team kill, not a personal kill,” Alex said. “At least that’s how we worked under Charlie. He used to say, ‘Who had more control over monitoring the men than the team? Who knew exactly what happened? We share responsibility.’ It’s one of the things the Boy Scout hated.”

Matthew nodded.

“Ok, who goes?” Alex asked. “We’ll need someone to connect us to base. Joseph can take care of that.”

“Why not have Colin connect to base? The men respect Joseph and I appreciate his support.”

“It’s okay, Alex.” Joseph looked at Matthew. He put his hand on Matthew’s shoulder. “I have limited vision. It’s worse at night. I had Lasik surgery and got something called ‘The Sands of the Sahara.’ I’m not supposed to carry a weapon.”

“How did you stay in the field?” Matthew asked.

“We keep telling you this. That’s what it means to be on a team,” Joseph said. “We had marksmen and metal winners in every category. I wasn’t needed in that capacity.”

Matthew nodded.

“We’re going speed hike at least ten miles,” Alex said. “Uphill. Can you do the walk, Matthew?”

“Can you?” Matthew asked.

“I have to,” she said. To emphasize the point, she took another drink of Ensure. “He called me, Matthew. I have to go.”

“I’ll stay with Joseph. Trece and White Boy will go with you. We’d have to shoot Troy to keep him from going. Max?”

“He can function as our connection to law enforcement,” Alex said. “We’re going to need that. If something happens to us, we have you, Joseph and Max, to kick some ass. That’s good.”

“What about Colin? Yes, we need a medic. But he’s still a civilian.”

“Only sort of,” Alex said. “The way we were raised? Only Erin is a true civilian. Plus Colin is wonderful with children. Kids trust him. If any of these boys are still alive, Colin will know what they need.”

“Drunk or sober, Colin Hargreaves is handy in a fight,” Joseph said.

“Raz?” Matthew asked. “Will you keep an eye on Alex?”

“I’m assigned to ass-ist her in all things,” Raz said. “If I receive a contract for the team, I’ll request to continue as her partner.”

“Then we’re set,” Joseph said. “After you finish your Ensure, Matthew and I will update the men.”

Grumbling, Alex drank the meal replacement. She gave Joseph the empty container.

“We’ll wait for your action plan,” he said.

“Half hour,” she replied.

Joseph and Matthew moved to talk to the men.

Alex walked toward the cockpit to check in with Zack. The pilots of the Super Hercules confirmed receipt of coordinates for the Castolon Visitor’s Center from Military Intelligence. Blushing and ‘ah shucks’-ing at the Fey’s thanks, the pilots said they would land in an open parking lot where the Texas Rangers waited. Zack would stay with the plane in case he needed to come and get them. When she turned to move to the back of the plane, she heard Zack request a helicopter from Lackland Air Force Base.

Turning back to the passenger compartment, Alex saw Troy waiting for her in the hallway. Troy nodded to a corner of the plane. Before updating her on his conversation with Steve Pershing, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a thermos of hot coffee with milk. Like a young child, Alex squealed when he poured her a cup. When she had enough coffee, and enough news, they shared a Snickers bar. Restored by the coffee and candy, she went back to her seat to work out the mission strategy.

F