Operation: Austin

Chapter One Part Two- Rescued

The fact that this conversation had gone from “I have a problem” to “We need to get her out of here” was not lost on Gary. He smiled; they were both suckers for a damsel in distress. It was what they did.

“Where is she now?” Gary inquired.

“In my hotel room, sleeping.”

That would be the Rio, Gary thought, their favorite off-the-strip hotel.

“Okay,” Gary was looking for the punchline. “Tell me again why she can’t stay at your place? I mean, just out of curiosity.”

“Well, Layla isn’t really big on me bringing home beautiful girls; besides, I’m not headed back; I’m flying out in the morning for Mexico.” He added, “Layla was going to come down with us, but the upcoming event for Wallace and Suzanne has her tied up, so Rob, Paula, and I are headed to Rio on a bodyguard gig. Besides, I’m not exactly the safest guy to be around right now, and I need to clear out. You’re boring, you have a big place, a pool, and Paula’s not there working at the moment. You need some company. This girl will be safe with you.”

John knew Gary’s soft spots; after all of these years, they could read each other. This was not the first time he’d used the “There is a girl who needs help” line. Usually, it meant Gary was going to get his PayPal account charged, but something was different in his tone this time. Gary had that tingle that told him there was more to this deal than a down-on-her-luck teenager.

“Beautiful, you say?” Gary was intrigued that John mentioned the fact. Not that it made a difference, but John wouldn’t usually comment on it so specifically.

“Did I say beautiful?” John replied. “I meant f*****g gorgeous.”

Gary thought for a minute. Sarcastically, he thought it would be a real hardship having a beautiful guest for a few days, but he would suffer through it. If John could not use his friends, who could he use? Besides, John was right about Layla; what he did not mention was that she would be the worst babysitter in the world. “Okay, she is here legally, right? Does she have some ID?”

“Yeah,” John replied. “She’s from Idaho. She was able to grab her purse on our way out the door. They took her cash, but they hadn’t gotten rid of her passport and driver’s license. We tossed her phone; she wasn’t happy about that, but she understood they could track her. She’s a pretty scared kid.”

“Okay, fine.” Gary was already forming a plan. “You get her to Portland, and I’ll pick her up there in the morning. That will add some confusion to finding her. Any luggage?”

“Nothing. She has blondish hair, a UNLV T-shirt, and blue jeans; she’ll be wearing everything she has. Can’t go back to pick anything up.”

Gary understood. They don’t leave loose ends; the deal went down dirty, John is heading out fast and light, and she needs to do the same. “I’ll leave early in the sedan; it’ll make the trip faster and be more comfortable. I might need to get her some clothes on the way back, though. I’ll bill you for them. Text me with her flight info.”

John laughed. “Sure, get her some clothes. She’ll need them. Thanks, Boy, I knew you wouldn’t say no.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Gary agreed dismissively. “I can’t wait to see how much you’re going to owe me for this one.”

They hung up; the text came about twenty minutes later. “Flight thirteen sixty-five lands at 9:58, don’t be late.”

His sixth sense tingled again… that tingle of anticipation.

As he got ready for bed, Gary’s mind kept wandering over what he did and didn’t know about the situation. Like most of their deals, it’s what you don’t know that ends up being the most important. You can plan for surprises, though, and it seems in this case, John’s way of handling this surprise was to call him.

So, Gary mused, John went in to extract a trafficked girl, perhaps hired by her parents. There were no surviving bad guys; John did not like looking over his shoulder to see who was coming after him for revenge.

Gary understood that part. The unknown factor that complicated this mission was finding another girl. That created several issues, including the potential for her to lead other people back to the team. From experience, John would have known how to deal with that by calling his best friend.

Do you know the scene in the movies where the hero gives the bad guy a fair chance? You know, the one where the good guy, out of some sense of honor, throws his gun away and goes mano a mano with the bad guy? That is total Hollywood crap. A pro would shoot the perp twice in the center of the chest and not give it a second thought. If the perp’s life were worth considering, the job would not have been taken in the first place. They deal with those decisions before the operation. As much as possible, everything that happens when they are in the field is planned that way. They are not there to teach lessons or make moral statements; they are there to do a job efficiently and deliberately, getting in and out with as little risk as possible to themselves or the team. That was why they would have already planned on killing everybody on site except those they were there to rescue.

As Gary continued to run through the scenario in his mind, the other girl’s parents were most likely staged nearby to receive her after the operation. The loose end was that John was stuck with Paige. He would not have left her; that’s not what they did, and besides, fires happen. Recognizing her as a victim, he certainly would not have killed her; they are in the rescue business. Well, rescue-and-other-things business.

Gary would learn more from her, but he was still thinking there was something John was not telling him. The statement that Paige was “beat up some” came out too casually. He trusted John. Even though he was not entirely sure what he was walking into, if it weren’t important, and if he weren’t the guy John needed, he would not have called. Gary mentally shifted into full mission mode, working through each step. John would ensure she got on the plane before he took off for Mexico; then he would trust Gary to take it from there. Finally, with only a couple of hours before he had to leave, he slept, faintly aware of the dog snoring on the floor beside him.

With Paige’s flight information on his phone, Gary pulled out of his place in Ellensburg just after 4:00 a.m. He would have to make a few stops before picking her up at PDX Arrivals in Portland, Oregon. Ellensburg is a small college town over the mountains, about two hours east of Seattle, Washington; hot in the summer, cold in the winter. It was close enough to everything if he needed something, yet far enough from anything to ensure some solitude. In their business, isolation had advantages.

It was a magical morning, with the light, colors, sounds, and smells blending into an amazing sensual symphony of orchards, farms, and irrigation. The Cadillac was running smoothly in the cool morning air. The July sun was starting to lighten the sky in the east, and the windows were down as he drove south on Highway 82 towards Yakima. Although it was cool yet, the promise of heat was in the air; it was going to be a hot day.

One of the pleasures of driving a car with more than 600 horsepower is how relaxing it is. The engine’s smoothness and power gave the sensation of being effortlessly pulled down the road. That feeling, combined with the morning sensations and the sounds of Elaine Elias’ Brazilian Jazz, encouraged him to relax, and his mind started to wander. It was going to be a nice three-and-a-half-hour drive. Getting out of the house for a day on a mission of mercy added a slight element of adventure. Driving time was also good thinking time, and there had been a lot to think about lately. It had been a very rough year, and it was time to move past some of that and clear his head. Three or four hours on the road would help.

It started him thinking about a case he had just been contacted about. He and the client were going through the early introductions. It was different with every job, a new mystery to unravel, the challenge of pitting his intelligence against the worst villains on the planet. Having spent the early part of his career in the mundane corporate world, Gary loved cyber investigation and the freedom it offered.