Book 1 - Chapter 9

Ozark Mountains

The Cabin

Elizabeth awakened with a start and a sound of her fast-beating heart drumming in her ears. She was dreaming about Anna again. Her sister was being kidnapped, and she couldn't help her. That accounted for the cold sweat, soaking Michael’s shirt. To ease her fears, she quickly went to the next room and opened the door, only to see Anna peacefully sleeping in the queen-sized bed. She is safe.

Elizabeth quietly closed the door, not wanting to disturb her and then took a quick shower. The feeling of warm water on her body was cathartic, washing away her deepest fears and that constant sense of hopelessness.

Last night was so stressful. First, not knowing if Anna would wake up at all, and then having to tell her an incomplete version of her ordeal. Thank God she did not remember the gruesome parts, it would have extinguished that spark of innocence still burning in her sister. 

She went to the kitchen and started making breakfast. If there was one thing that could wake up her sister, it was the smell of bacon and eggs. It worked like a charm, the smell of frying strips of delicious meat spread throughout the house and a few minutes later Anna came downstairs, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Ah, bacon and eggs, the breakfast of champions,” she said as she stole one of the crisp strips, drying on a paper towel.

“So, you and Michael… is there something… going on?” Anna asked while setting the table.

Elizabeth almost dropped a piece of toast she was transferring to the plate. “What? No, nothing, why would you think that?”

“Well, the way you look at him, the same looks he gives you, it’s the vibes sis, the vibes never lie,” Anna said and evaded a kitchen towel her sister had thrown in her direction.

“Stop with your matchmaking, and start eating, the eggs are getting cold.”

Elizabeth didn't consciously think about Michael in that way, not until now. But she could see how comfortable and unforced she felt in his company. She was no shrinking violet, but her experience with men and personal relationships was not too extensive. Anna and her job were taking the first two positions of the most important things in her life. No man ever liked being in third place, so those few relationships petered out fast. However, it was too soon to think about that, despite his intensity, she had just recently met the man.

“Let’s go into the town, we need to buy new clothes, and you can obviously see that this is a single man's cabin, not a tampon in sight,” Anna said with a smile after they were finished with breakfast.

They took Elizabeth’s car and navigated down the mountain road. She drove very slowly, due to the road’s conditions, yet, she felt that the bad road made the cabin much more secluded, safer. Nobody would accidentally come up the mountain as a result of missing their turn.

They spent most of the day in the city. She wanted Anna to have a fun day out, something they often did together when her sister was younger, spending the whole day shopping, going to the movies and hanging out. It was a guaranteed recipe to make Anna happy, and it worked. As the day progressed, a smile could be often seen on her sister’s face.

By the time they finished the second movie of the day it was almost dark outside, so they got in Elizabeth’s car, with the backseat filled with all their purchases, and set out towards Michael’s cabin.

Anna was just retelling the best jokes of the comedy they saw when Elizabeth noticed something suspicious. Three cars were following her, and all of her instincts honed by the FBI instructors told her that they were a threat. It was not so difficult to spot them, since there were no other cars on the road, and they did take the last four turns the same as she did. Now, they were all on the long straight stretch of the road, and there were no more turns she could take.

She didn’t believe this was about Michael. Max and he covered their tracks really well, that was her professional opinion. Therefore, that left only her and Anna. The only thing that would cause someone to follow them was the events that happened in that warehouse. How would anyone connect her with that was unclear, Michael has burned the entire place to the ground, leaving no evidence.

Trying to outrun them would not work. Her Prius was a hybrid, built for fuel-efficiency not speed, and the people that followed them were driving cars that were both heavier and faster. Even so, she increased her speed, but it was to no avail as they were keeping up without any effort.

Anna must have somehow read her body language; she stopped talking and turned around to see why Elizabeth was so focused on a rear-view mirror.

“They’re following us, aren’t they?” her sister said in a small voice.

“Yes, they are,” she admitted, knowing there was no point in hiding it.

“Liz, I’m scared,” Anna whispered, panic showing in her wide-open eyes.

They were in trouble, and it was too late to do anything about it, she hoped Michael could pull out another miracle from the hat, for he was her only hope now.

“Don’t worry little sis, it is going to be okay…”

She flinched when Max’s voice sounded from her telephone speakers. “All right girls, I know you’re scared, but we will get you out of this.”

“Max! How…”

“I am tracking you using your phone’s GPS, and have two surveillance drones on the way; they will shortly be above your position. Michael knows what’s happening and will be coming after you very soon.”

“How… how long?” Elizabeth asked, knowing deep inside that it will not be fast enough.

“Unfortunately, it’ll take him a little more than three hours to reach you. That means you two will be taken. I am sorry, but there is nothing we can do about it. I need you girls to keep calm and do everything in your power to stay safe. Do not make it easy for them to capture you, but don’t resist too much either. Comply with all of their demands, don’t give them a reason to hurt you,” Max said with a caring, but at the same time, assertive voice.

Two of the cars put on considerable speed, passing her in no time. They boxed her in, using the same technique she learned herself for safely apprehending a suspect without hurting them. The first car’s parking lights turned on, and he started slowing down. She did too, not wanting to collide with him. The window of the car beside her rolled down, and an evil-looking man, holding a gun in his hand, signaled her to stop with his other hand.

“Remember, do as they say and don’t resist. Michael and his friends will get you out in a few hours.”

Elizabeth stopped the car and looked at her sister.

“We will get through this,” she said and grasped Anna’s hand. “I know it’s going to be scary, but I need you to be strong for me. In a few hours, we will be free, and they will be really sorry for messing with us. Okay?”

“Okay,” Anna whispered, wiping off her tears.

The brutish looking man was beside her door’s window, knocking on it with the barrel of his gun.

Michael, please come soon, Elizabeth thought and opened the door.

***

Michael felt that this had been one long and tiring day, but he had accomplished so much. Colonel Jack and the team will be joining him very soon, and after seeing the spaceship, his father would surely jump on the wagon. 

A cold shiver ran down his spine by thinking about what would have happened to his father if they didn’t have the ship and medical nanites. There would not be a thing he or modern medicine could do to save him, and that was a very sobering thought.

Everything was coming together nicely, and he couldn’t wait to go home and tell Elizabeth about this day. 

That thought hit him like a ton of bricks, it has been so long since he had a desire to rush home and share the news with anyone, as he wanted to share them with her. The logical part of his mind told him that it was too soon, that he had just met her and was rushing into things. In spite of that, there was something about Elizabeth, something in her eyes, a strength he has rarely seen. Still, he had been burned too many times to jump into a new relationship, so he decided not to push or instigate anything, and let things sort themselves out by themselves.

He was still a long way from the cabin when Max interrupted his musings.

“Michael, something is happening,” the AI said, in a rushed voice.

“What?”

“Elizabeth and Anna are being taken.”

“How can they be taken! Nobody should know where the cabin is, what the hell happened?!” Michael shouted as his mind went into a crisis mode, and his foot pressed harder on the gas pedal.

“They are not in the cabin, the girls wanted to shop for some things in the town; they drove this morning in Elizabeth’s car. Right now they are on the highway, returning, but three cars have them boxed in.”

The dashboard speedometer showed that he was way past the speed limit, but he didn’t care. Getting to the girls that were under his care was the only thing that mattered.

“How far am I from them?”

“You need at least three hours… I’m sorry Michael,” the AI sorrowfully answered.

“Can you track them?”

“Yes, there are plenty of nanites inside both of them and I am still actively monitoring Anna’s vitals. Plus, I have diverted two mining drones that are now closing on their position, they can see perfectly in the dark and I will have a visual within a few minutes.”

Michael’s hands squeezed the steering wheel so tightly that the skin on his knuckles turned white. It was Murphy’s Law in action, just as things were starting to go smoothly, fate throws you a curve-ball. He didn’t have time right now to get angry, that would not help the girls, but thinking tactically would. 

Max was giving him play-by-play of how Elizabeth and Anna were forced to stop the car. And how were they transferred to the kidnapper's vehicles.

“Max, get me the team on the line.” He ordered after those vehicles drove away from Elizabeth’s abandoned car. By that time, Max was streaming a live video feed from the drones' cameras, directly to Michael’s implant. He could see the girls being dragged out of the Prius and transferred into one of the kidnappers' cars. One of the kidnappers got in Elizabeth's Prius and drove after the three cars. This was a well-planned operation, but he will make sure the kidnappers regretted every second of it.

In the next few minutes, he made a plan and arranged for Pete, Al, and Tyron to meet him… and to bring weapons.

***

An hour later, he received a message from Elizabeth's phone. There was a picture of her and Anna, bound with duct tape, sitting on a bare concrete floor. Even mistreated like this, there was a look of fierce defiance in her eyes, which made him respect her even more.

The text under the picture said: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM ALIVE AGAIN YOU DO AS WE SAY. TOMORROW, YOU WILL RECEIVE LOCATION, AND YOU HAVE ONE HOUR TO BE THERE. FOR ANY MINUTE YOU ARE LATE, ONE OF THEM WILL LOSE A FINGER. IF YOU CALL THE POLICE, THEY BOTH DIE.

If his phone hadn't been upgraded by Max, it would have cracked from the pressure Michael's hand was exerting. Oh, I am coming all right, sooner than you expect.

***

Albanian Thugs’ Headquarters

Looking at himself, Michael felt as if his past and present were merging. He was dressed in a standard Army combat uniform. It was one of several Tyron managed to pick up from the Army surplus store. The entire team was dressed the same, with an assortment of weapons that were not even close to the realm of legal for civilians to be in possession of. If authorities saw them carrying full auto MP5SD’s with integral suppressors, their future would be much bleaker than planned. The good thing was, they were far away from regular patrol routes of the local deputies. 

The building to which Max tracked Elizabeth and Anna was a mansion on a private estate, surrounded by thick woods. Miles away from town, and conveniently with no neighbors with prying eyes. It was a perfect place for someone who was doing something illegal; consequently, it was also a perfect place to conduct a covert assault on.

The thick woods around the estate provided ample cover for Michael and his team to approach the main building. As much as it provided privacy for those inside, it was not a location that could be easily defended, from a tactical standpoint. And this type of terrain was one of many in which Michael, and his team, have been thoroughly trained to blend into and to attack from.

Tyron and the guys met him a little while ago, five miles away from this place. They must have broken every speed limit to reach this location so quickly. Max did his digital magic, diverting police patrols, and shutting off cameras as they were passing through.

After they stashed the cars a good distance from the mansion, they put on their old working uniforms and equipped the lethal tools of their trade.

Straight away, Michael explained the situation and what the stakes were. Elizabeth and Anna’s safety were of utmost importance, so reaching them quickly and eliminating any opposition that was in the way was the prime objective.

Max’s drones were hovering high above them, giving them a comprehensive map of the terrain, and the location of guards walking the perimeter. Michael could see, from a birds' perspective, Elizabeth’s car parked in front of the four-car garage. He had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to subdue the wave of wrath rising from within. This was not the time to lose control, for the sake of the girls he had to approach the whole thing as just another mission, an assignment that needed to be professionally executed.

“I see four guards, each needs to be taken out simultaneously and silently,” Michael said to the rest of his team, “Pete and Al, you two will go through the back entrance, while Tyron and I will assault from the front. Remember your training, stay silent and unnoticed until the party starts. Since Tyron’s target has the best point of view, he is making the first move. Our primary objective is to retrieve the girls, but we need a prisoner that can explain what this is all about since taking the girls does not make sense. But, if they are armed, take them out with prejudice, and let God sort them out.”

Three faces, painted in camouflage colors, nodded back at him. This was not their first dance; they had been in so many similar situations that words were superfluous. They separated, each going for his designated target. 

Michael was moving slowly through the night, using all the skills accumulated over the years in Special Forces; it was like slipping into an old familiar skin. Before long, he was a few feet away from his mark, and if he wanted, he could have reached out with his hand and touched the back of the man’s neck. The slight drizzle of cold rain made the man seek shelter under a big pine tree, leaning his rifle against the trunk and enjoying a cigarette. Michael waited for the perfect moment, taking shallow breaths, unmoving. He saw Tyron taking action, and in the next split-second, he did too. One hand covering the mouth, the other, which held a knife, making a well-practiced move and silencing the man for all eternity.

On a tactical map projected on his HUD, he saw Pete and Al had done the same. All four dragged their kills a few feet into the woods, hiding the bodies from the line of sight of those inside the mansion.

They carefully approached the front entrance, using dead angles and convenient covers to minimize the chance of being seen. The amateur level of security was evident; they managed to approach the door without being noticed. Michael could hardly believe when Tyron turned the doorknob, and the door opened—it wasn't even locked. 

The big guy looked at Michael and shrugged his shoulders, the amateur hour was one thing, this was criminally neglectful, pun intended.

Cautious not to make any sounds, they stepped into a long entrance, each covering his designated half of space. The hall ended with the central staircase, structurally located in the middle of the mansion. Again, there was no one in sight, but the sound of people talking in a foreign language could be heard. It came from the direction of the closed doors of a room, some ten feet away from the entrance. 

They approached the doors, and while Tyron was watching possible avenues of attack, Michael took out a dentist mirror and placed it next to the gap on the bottom. He could see six men playing cards, with guns on their belts, and automatic rifles carelessly left leaning against the wall. There was so much cigar smoke in the room, he wondered how these idiots could breathe the toxic air inside.

He stood up, and using a series of hand signals, explained the situation to Tyron. They both nodded and on the silent count of three, Michael turned the knob and pushed the door open.

They didn’t wait or give their opponents the opportunity to respond, this was not a negotiation. Dramatically pausing before a shootout only worked in the movies. A few seconds was all it took. A couple of the men even managed to reach for the guns on their belts, but it was too late. In a situation like this, a weapon that is not in a hand may as well be on the other side of the world.

Michael finished his third target almost at the same time as Tyron. With the next few breaths, they could smell the coppery scent of fresh blood mixed with the stale stench of tobacco. They checked that all their targets were neutralized, and closed the door.

Using silenced guns, with subsonic rounds, greatly decreased the noise their weapons made, but that didn’t make them completely silent. A person with some training would easily distinguish and recognize that sound, so time was of the essence. From the back of the house, the whispering sound of silenced guns echoed through the corridors. Pete and Al were cleaning their part of the house.

They went further down the hall, checking the rest of the rooms, only to find them empty. Michael was almost at the stairs, with the barrel of his gun pointed upwards, making sure that no one would come from the upper floor unnoticed. The only movement he saw was with his peripheral vision, it was Pete and Al.

Each man was pointing their weapons in a different direction, controlling their sectors when they all met by the staircase. 

“Five marks in the back, no sign of the girls,” whispered Pete.

“Six in the front, the same,” answered Tyron.

The inside of the house was eerily quiet, Michael’s enhanced hearing could not pick up anything except the sounds he and the team were making.

“The game is not over yet,” he said and started climbing the stairs.

Going up the stairs and covering every angle took a little time. Again, they met with no resistance, just plenty of closed doors. Each room they checked was vacant, and most of them did not even have any furniture inside. In the end, only the master bedroom was left, with big sturdy oak doors. His enhanced hearing could pick up a person breathing heavily from the other side.

“How do you want to play it?” asked Tyron, as the team was hugging the walls, not wanting to be surprised if someone from the other side decided to shoot through the wood.

“By now, whoever is on the other side knows we are here. Pete and Al, go outside and tape a flash-bang to a rock, then throw it through the window of that room. As soon as it activates, Tyron and I will breach.”

Michael never turned around, pointing his gun at the doors, in case someone decided to open them; that small part of a second to turn his head back, could cost him dearly. He could hear as the two men went to accomplish the task.

A few minutes later, the sound of breaking window glass was followed by a loud explosion that could be heard from the other side. Using all of his considerable mass, Tyron ran at the door and broke through. Michael, one step behind him, checked the opulent room for any sign of movement.

The curtains were waving out of the broken window, and the draft was already clearing the smoke flash-bang produced. The only occupant of the room was a fat middle-aged man, hiding behind a massive office desk, holding his hands over his ears. A ridiculously big and chromed handgun was lying on the floor next to him, it was sufficiently large caliber to easily punch through the big doors.

They secured him, tied his hands with zip ties, and put him in the chair.

“Tyron, go with Pete and Al, and check the entire house, I’ll have a talk with him.” 

It took a little while for the man to come to his senses, he looked groggily around the room, until he set his eyes on Michael.

“You don’t know what you’ve done, we will kill your entire family for this,” he threatened, with a trace of a foreign accent.

That threat would have carried more weight if there was not a wet yellow trail running down his trousers. 

Michael put his face inches away from the man.

“Where are the girls?” He asked in the most menacing voice he could produce. And he didn’t really need to fake it, he made a small opening in that bundle of rage inside him that was trying to break free.

“What girls are you talking about, we have no girls here,” the man answered in a quivering voice, trying to put on a facade of innocence.

Michael smirked, seeing right through him. “I’m wondering, is this connected only to the girls, or it has something to do with those idiots that tried to cheat me while buying gold?”

The man’s eyes opened wide, and hate seeped through them. “You! It is you that killed our men!”

“That may well be, but I asked you a question and I expect an answer,” said Michael, and popped his knuckles.

The man's name was Basim, even getting that from him took some work. Apparently, the leader of the thugs Michael and Elizabeth killed in the warehouse was a nephew of Basim’s boss. What is more, that boss was powerful and scary enough, that only after a very sharp persuasion was Basim willing to give him away.

Furthermore, Basim told his superior how he had managed to capture the family of the man responsible, and that he expected to have them all in captivity very soon. That resulted in his boss informing him that he was coming tomorrow morning to avenge his nephew, and kill everyone that had any connection with his death.

The reason they were able to connect Michael with the girls was a video of Elizabeth, and then of him, captured while they were separately entering the warehouse. It was owned by the gang and had an extensive surveillance system installed. All the cameras from inside were destroyed by fire, but there were a few hidden outside. They easily identified Elizabeth, from the trial of her sister’s assault, and kidnapping. When one of their members spotted her and Anna, while they were shopping, Basim organized for them to be taken, so he could use them as leverage for Michael to surrender. 

The girls were locked inside of cells in the basement, and he was all too eager to explain how to find the hidden entrance. Once they opened it, a staircase led them to the lower level. 

Basim and his men had built a private prison in the basement, a convenient thing to have when you’re involved in human trafficking. Ten cells with old dirty mattresses on a concrete floor, and dirty buckets for the prisoners to use as a toilet. The cells were used for detaining and conditioning young women before they were shipped overseas to be sold like cattle. In two of those cells were Elizabeth and Anna. 

Their eyes lit up when they saw Michael and the rest of the team.

“I knew you would come, Elizabeth told me that no matter what, you would save us,” said Anna, holding onto the metal bars and jumping in place.

Elizabeth took a little different approach. “What took you so long? We have been expecting you for hours.”

Michael looked at her and saw that she was trying to suppress a smile. “You wouldn’t believe the traffic.”

He released the girls, with the keys provided by Basim, while the other guys were checking the rest of the underground level.

“Hey Mike, you are not going to believe this, I think Christmas came early this year.” Al’s voice could be heard from the back of the basement.

There was a separate room, more like an office at the other end. When Michael looked inside, he saw a shelf covering the entire wall, filled with stacks of money. On the other side was another shelf of the same size, packed with white square packages bound in tape.

“There must be millions here!” said Al, “can we keep it? Can we, can we?” chanting like a little kid.

“Well, as Basim told me, that money is from drugs and human trafficking, so yes, we will make better use of it. As a bonus, his boss, one Ariz Rama, is coming here in the morning, I think we should prepare him a warm welcome.”

He took Elizabeth to the side and quietly told her, “They tracked you down using a recording of us at the warehouse. Once they recognized you in town, they decided to capture you both so they could convince me to give myself up,”

“What are you going to do now Michael?”

“I’m going to wait for his boss to come, and then have a talk with him. Hopefully, by tomorrow afternoon, all this will be over.”

“I want to help,” she said, with a vicious fierceness in her voice.

“You need to take Anna and get her to the cabin, they didn’t know about it, so it’s still secure. This is the second time someone kidnapped her, she needs you more than ever.”

He knew that one more person trained with a weapon could increase the odds in their favor, but after everything she and her sister went through, protecting them took priority.

Elizabeth placed her palm on his chest and looked him in the eye. “Fine, but you better come home safely.” Then, in front of everyone, she kissed him.

After a few seconds of silence, Al’s voice could be heard, “You know, I helped—”

Tyron’s slap to the back of his head interrupted what he wanted to say next.

“You’re ruining the moment." The big man murmured.

It didn’t take them long to pack all the money inside Elizabeth’s car. What couldn’t fit in the trunk they put on the back seat and covered it with a tarp. All the drugs were left undisturbed; one way or another, tomorrow they would be destroyed.

Elizabeth and Anna got into her car and drove toward the cabin, leaving four men behind, in a building where the majority of the residents were already dead.

***

Albanian Thugs’ Headquarters

Michael and Tyron were making a plan for the coming visit, while Pete and Al were on the lookout for anything unexpected.

“I’m not really comfortable with only four of us going against unknown forces, and I have nobody to call that can make it in time, so I’m reconsidering if we should stay here,” Michael said, looking at the rough sketch of the mansion and surrounding terrain.

“We can call Alice,” Tyron said.

Michael smiled. “Alice… I was planning to see her one of these days, to bring her in. I didn’t know she was nearby.”

“Well, Jack called her last night, after you left. I don’t know how close she is right now, but there’s a good chance she’ll make it.”

“Do it.”

Alice was a frequent addition to the team, on account of her really specialized talents. One being that she was an excellent sniper, and the other, a very skillful interrogator. 

She could make anyone talk. It didn’t matter how tough they were, and how trained for withstanding an interrogation. Alice always got her answers.

There was a contradiction between what she did and how she looked. If someone saw her on the street, he would pause and look at her, drawn by her beauty. One would expect to see her walking down the catwalk of the fashion show, not in a small humid cell with a terrorist, making him sing like a canary. And certainly not lying on the ground in a ghillie suit, unmoving for hours and waiting for a perfect shot.

When they first met, it took a long time for her to open up to Michael and the other members of his team, but after a few missions together, she did. They found out that she was an orphan, and had a very shitty childhood. One of her foster parents was a sexual predator who molested her while she was a child. She reported him to the authorities, but since it was her word against his, nothing happened. 

So, the whole team took a leave of absence, and one night visited the man who once had a job of protecting her. She was alone in the room with him for half an hour, but after that short time, he was only able to pee through a catheter. 

The team treated her as their little sister, that is, a very deadly little sister. And in turn, she looked at them as if they were her big brothers. Alice got out of the military a few years after the team, but they had all stayed in touch.

Tyron returned after a couple of minutes. “She will be here at least two hours before our guests arrive.”

“Good… now we wait.”