Samuel’s home was a two-level Victorian house nestled in a five-acre estate just east of downtown Richmond. The mile-long driveway that ended in a circle in front of the house was shaded with dogwood trees along the route. The house was located behind the trees. You could not see the home from the main road. In fact, the house did not come into view until you were half a mile up the driveway. Behind the house, he had a swimming pool, basketball and tennis court. There was a pool house that doubled as guest quarters from time to time. It had two bedrooms, a sitting area, a small kitchen and a laundry. In the center of the laundry room floor was a trap door. It could not be seen by the natural eye unless you knew it was there. Samuel hit the button on the wall next to the door. The floor slid open exposing a descending staircase. The moment his foot hit the second step the lights came on. When his foot hit the last step, the entrance closed.
Samuel stepped into a long hallway with white walls lined with floor to ceiling cabinetry on the left and a doorway to the right. There was an open area with sofas, chairs, tables, a full-size kitchen on the far side and four doors that were open, exposing bedrooms. He glanced around as he pulled out his cellphone and pushed a few buttons. There was a whooshing sound indicating the ventilation system had kicked in. Next he walked into the kitchen and opened the door marked pantry. It was a 10 x 10 room with floor to ceiling shelves of canned food, non-perishable items, bottled water, a variety of juices, and a large freezer in the back. He opened the top of the freezer to see it was packed with a variety of meats and frozen vegetables. Satisfied with what he was seeing, Samuel closed the door. He checked each bedroom to make sure they were prepared for his family. Then he walked out of a door from the back of the room that led back to the entrance hallway. He turned to what looked to the normal eye like a wall at the end of the hallway. He placed the palm of his hand on the wall. It slid open. Inside were several golf carts, all plugged into the wall, fully charged. He climbed into one then pulled off. He pushed a button inside the cart. The wall in front of him slid open. He drove out the opening. Stopping under a light on the ceiling above, he got out. He touched what appeared to be another wall. It skidded open to a hallway with a door at the end. He then walked what was only twenty steps with his long legs, but would have been a hundred to others, put in a code and the door opened. He walked up two flights of stairs, placed his palm on the wall, it too slid open. This time he was in the back of the walk-in closet to his bedroom. He watched as the door closed behind him. Satisfied that all was working as it should, he placed his hands on the wall, then retraced his steps back to the golf cart.
The drive was now descending further underground as he reached the end of his property. His drive was under the main highway following the same path as motorists above him. Only, he could not be seen or detected by surveillance cameras or others driving along the highway. He came to an underground intersection. If he turned right, it would lead him to his parents’ and his brother Matthew’s homes. Left would lead to his siblings, Timothy’s and Opal’s homes. He continued straight, as he descended deeper underground. Soon he came to a fork, one way would take him north towards Washington, DC the other straight ahead. He took the path straight ahead. Soon a wall appeared in front of him. It was the only one with any writing above the entrance. Welcome to the Tunnel Luke Built.
Samuel drove closer. He pushed a button and the wall slid open. Inside he parked his cart next to the others. From the charging spots that were being used, he knew other family members were inside the house. He left his cart charging then walked to the wall at the far corner of the area. He placed his palm on the wall and it slid open. He walked into the open great room area.
“Where is my daughter?” Samuel asked with a calm he was not feeling.
His brother Luke glanced up. “We have eyes on her.”
“Eyes on her? Not good enough. My daughter should be home with her mother and me. You’ve had sufficient time to locate, retrieve and bring her home.”
“We did and if you feel that is what we should do once you hear what I have to say, we will have her home in an hour.”
“Bring her home now.” The bellow was so loud it echoed in the enclosed area.
“If he does, we will lose any chance of discovering who is behind this plot against our family.”
Samuel looked to the right to see Phire walking out of the kitchen area of the underground safe house with two bottles in her hand. She flung the beer to him then opened the bottle of water for herself.
Samuel caught the bottle and set it on the table. “I don’t give a damn who is behind it,” Samuel growled. “My wife is under sedation. Our mother is pacing the floor worried sick about her grandchild. I’m dealing with hysterical women in my household and my daughter is probably frightened out of her mind and not at home safe with me.”
“But she is safe,” Luke pointed to the monitor. “When I said we have eyes on her, I meant it literally.”
Samuel looked towards the monitors on the walls. One monitor showed Samantha sitting on a sofa. She was watching every move the men made.
“Where are they?” Samuel demanded.
“My people are on it,” Luke replied as he continued eating popcorn and listening through his earbud.
“Where in the hell is my daughter?” Samuel ordered again.
“Sammy, we have this under control,” Phire stated as she touched her earbud. “Give me an outside visual on monitor 2.”
The screen on the second monitor flashed. An aerial picture of a house in the woods came into view. There were people in the back of a black SUV. A woman and a man were putting on bullet proof vests and checking their weapons. Another woman and two men were putting on rock climbing gear. One woman touched her ear.
“She needs a location on the girl,” Luke glanced at Phire.
“Give me a close up on the girl on monitor three,” Phire ordered.
The screen on the third monitor flashed black then went to a close up on Samantha.
“Samantha doesn’t look scared to me,” Luke chuckled.
“She looks pissed to me,” Phire replied.
“Neither of you have children yet. You don’t ever want your child in this type of situation. I don’t care how many eyes you have on them.”
“We understand Sammy, but you have to trust us to do what we have been trained to do,” Luke stated. “Once we get Samantha home, you get to do what you are trained to do.”
“Which is to prevent this from happening again,” Phire stated.
“No, you have to do more,” Luke added. “You have to let the world know if they come after a Lassiter, the world as they know it will end. You have to send a message so clear that no one else will want a piece of the devastation we will put on them.”
Samuel looked from his younger brother to his baby sister and knew what they had put together while he was traveling from New York was unbelievable. Most law enforcement agencies would have made far less progress and he knew that to be a fact. But this was his little girl they had snatched. And Joshua was MIA. These people, whoever they were, had targeted his family for some reason. What that was, he still had no clue. But make no mistake, once his daughter was home and safe, he would uncover and destroy whoever was behind this.
“How did you get a camera in there?”
“We didn’t,” Phire replied. “We tapped into the feed they are sending from that location.”
“Do you know who the feed is going to?” Samuel asked as he watched the people on the monitor.
“Nigeria is all we have right now. Once this is over, we will get all the information we need.” Phire replied then spoke into her earbud. “I need at least two alive to question.”
They watched as one of the men nodded. “Affirmative,” the voice replied.
A vehicle pulled up next to the parked SUV.
“That’s your cue, Slay,” Luke said into his earbud. “Secure the girl and place her in the vehicle.”
The woman with the weapons nodded. “Affirmative.”
The woman held up her fist. The others gathered around in a circle with fists out, heads bowed. Luke stood and did the same. “May your god keep you safe.” He said into the earbud.
The group nodded. Tank spoke as she held out a tablet. “Three, roof top, enter through the windows, here…here…and here…” she pointed at the tablet as she spoke. “Leo, you take the back, I’ll take the front. Window team, shoot to kill. Leo injure, but don’t kill. We need answers. I’ll get the girl.” She touched the earbud. “On your command sir.”
“Take them out,” Luke ordered then sat back down.
The team was dressed in dark clothes and armed with rifles, the men and women crawled on the ground through the wooded area leading to the house. Samuel watched as they, one by one, moved with precision.
“Window one in position.” Tank advised.
“Copy that.” Slay replied.
“Window two in position.” Leo advised.
“Copy that.” Slay replied.
“Window three in position.
“Copy that.”
“Back entrance in position.”
“Copy that,” Slay studied the area, then crawled her way to the porch. Rather than walking, she rolled onto the porch and positioned her body beneath the front window. “On my three count,” she whispered as she eased her body into the space between the window and the front door. “1…2…” before she hit three she heard the thump on the roof of the house. “Shit…go….go….go.”
They watched as Samantha jumped at the sound of the glass breaking. The child smiled then pointed at the men. “Ohhh, that’s my daddy and he’s going to shoot you right in the middle of your head. And then, my uncle is going to blow all of you up. You just wait and see.”
“Shut up.” One of the men grabbed her arm.
Samantha bit into his arm.
“Cut the outgoing feed,” Luke ordered.
Phire hit a button and the fourth monitor on the wall went blank. “You have two minutes, to get out.”
Samuel growled, “He touched her.”
“We know Sammy,” Luke attempted to calm him. “We are inside now.”
A large clock on the wall above the monitors began to tick louder as Samuel watched the action. The five people burst into the house. One came through the front door, another through the back and the other three came through a window in each bedroom. Two sniper shots with silencers pierced through the air.
The four men stationed in the house stood with weapons drawn, but it was too late for them. Two were shot, center mass, the other two near arteries that were known to bleed furiously. Slay grabbed Samantha. Carrying the child, she ran through the woods until she reached the vehicle. Matthew stepped out of the driver’s seat, taking Samantha and placed her on the ground. “Uncle Matt. I’m glad to see you.”
“Can I go back and slap that man who put his dirty hands on my mouth?”
Slay opened the vehicle door and pushed her inside. Matthew exhaled then pulled off.
Once Matt was clear, Phire switched the fourth monitor back on with a loop of previous footage recorded of the men and Samantha on the screen for anyone who may have been paying attention.
“Send the clean-up team in,” Luke ordered.
The woman from the window team stood in the middle of the room where Samantha had been only minutes ago. Slay walked back through the front door.
“Three, Tatanika…three.” She held up fingers. “1, 2, 3,” she emphasized.
Tank looked up at her and smiled. “Me no speak no English.”
“Really,” Slay frowned. “See if you speak English when I cut that paycheck.”
The man lying on the floor bleeding yelled out. “Hey, I’m bleeding down her.”
“Clean up,” Luke bellowed. “We need some answers and we need them fast.”