JUNGLE RESCUE
IN GUATEMALA
CJ DAY
SPECIAL SMASHWORDS EDITION
© Copyright 2010 C.J. Day
All Rights Reserved.
SPECIAL SMASHWORDS EDITION
ISBN: 978-1-60414-228-0
What do you do when half of your family disappears in a foreign country?
What do you do when no one else cares that they are missing?
When is it right to take matters into your own hands?
Your country and profession mean everything…but without your family…
It means…nothing…
Prologue
Michelle Brook knew her husband most of her life. He was her sister’s boyfriend and Shell always thought he was a jerk. Somewhere between Mike’s break up with Shelly’s sister, Annie, and the kidnapping of Shelly’s mother, Katlin, things changed.
Now, four years later, they both worked with the FBI unit in Atlanta and are happily married with beautiful twins. Shelly changed career fields and followed her husband into law enforcement. Shelly is one of Atlanta’s best agents but she is only five foot tall and barely ninety pounds. She looks like a child and she’s a magnet for trouble.
Mike and Shelly work amazingly together. Mike’s Doberman ‘Buddy’ is now retired FBI and body guard to their twins and Shell’s Doberman ‘Baby’ (Buddy’s daughter) is her constant companion and skilled to the limit, just as her sire had been.
Shell’s skill as an agent, computer expert, medical skills and brilliant mind are great assets but she had come close to death many times and her fellow agents couldn’t help but be overly protective. They had no idea where her energy came from—she went nonstop and kept the office in top form and high spirits.
Shell loved her husband. Four years of marriage and they were still like newlyweds. That could get embarrassing at times but the energy, love and enthusiasm that Shelly put behind everything was contagious.
Office life was fun; home life was a blast. Things had gone great lately. The twins’ birthday was coming up and it was time to party…
CHAPTER ONE
Shelly ran up the stairs with her heart in her throat. Her husband and partner had disappeared up the stairs just minutes before her. Four gunmen were down in the lobby of the bank and the unit was securing the rest. Two of the gunmen took off upstairs to the offices. Shelly knew the access stairs to the roof was in the last room and Mike was trying to stop them. Alone! What the hell was he thinking?
“Mike?” Shelly whispered as she flattened herself against the wall and eased around the corner of the hallway. Where was he? She cleared the first room…nothing. The second room, the third and the bathrooms…then she stood beneath the stairs. Ah man!
“Charlie, do you read me?” Shell whispered into her headset.
“Go ahead, Shell.” Charlie came back.
“They have to be on the roof.” Shell said as she tried to get her breath. From the point of entry into the bank, five minutes had elapsed. It had been quick and efficient until the idiots sprang for the stairs. “I’m going up.”
“Shell…Wait on us! We’re on the stairs coming your way!” Charlie yelled and his wife, Darla, and Sam and Alan bolted up the stairs.
“Charlie, I can’t wait!” Shell huffed into her headset as she climbed the ladder. “I hear a helicopter landing, Charlie, get air support!”
“Roger! We’re coming Shell!” Charlie answered as Samantha quickly radioed for their helicopter. The fear in the other’s eyes was evident.
“Here we go again…” Charlie growled as they ran down the upstairs hallway to get to the access ladder…
Shelly cleared the opening to the roof carefully. She could see that Jasper Lawton had a gun to Mike’s head…Damn it! Her heart was in her throat. Mike was alert and looking around for a chance to get free. His eyes met hers and he nodded once.
Mike grinned at the guy standing in front of him. “Ah, y’all are in for it now!” He drawled and glanced toward the sky.
“What are you talking about now, Brooke?” Lawton growled.
“Well, Bubba, my wife don’t like anyone messing with her ole’ man, don’t ya’ know? Nothing pisses her off more than when I come home all battered and bruised and shot up.” Mike was grinning like there just wasn’t any danger at all.
“Brooke, are you crazy?” Lawton laughed. Here he had a gun to this fool’s head and he is warning them about his wife? “Are you telling us your badass wife is going be a threat here?” He laughed.
“Yeah Buddy, I am. You see, she’s five foot tall and ninety pounds of the orneriest, meanest, sharp shootin’ dynamite package that y’all will ever run into. It’s your bad luck now because she’s coming up here to kick your sorry ass.” Mike laugh and spit the blood from his busted lip on the guy’s boot in front of him.
“You mean that pretty little thing downstairs…the little curly headed blonde that looks like she may be sixteen? Brooke, are you a cradle robber?” Lawton had noticed the pretty little blonde—she wasn’t a threat, she was just a kid.
“Yep, that’s the one, Bubba. Our babies are just out of the cradle but Shell’s my partner. A little advice here, men, give up while you have a chance.” Mike was still grinning. He nodded one more time to let Shell know he was going down. When Mike pretended to stumble to the deck of the roof, one shot rang out and Lawton went down. His partner stared at the surprised look on Lawton’s dead face.
“FBI… Drop your weapon now!” Shell yelled out. The man turned toward her and without hesitation, Shelly dropped him as well.
At a dead run, Shelly leapt into the helicopter with her SIG pointed at the pilot’s head. “Shut it down NOW!” She screamed in the poor man’s ear.
She grabbed the gun that the man had reached for and ordered him out of the helicopter. She jumped out behind him, ordered him to go down on the pavement with his hands behind his head.
“Sir, you are under arrest.” Shell quickly slapped cuffs on the man. Shelly looked up and grinned as she saw Sam and Alan headed her way. “Hey guys, you want to read this man his Miranda rights?”
Sam shook her head. Shelly wasn’t even sweating and grinning from ear to ear. She terrified the hell out of them but she was quick and efficient.
Never sacrifice a hostage. There was no way of getting Mike free and she processed that in a matter of seconds. In this scenario, the bad guys had to go down to end the action.
“Why are we always cleaning up your mess, Shell?” Alan laughed.
“I’m sorry, Sugar, you’re just getting too slow. Last ones on the scene have to clean up, Bubba, that’s the rules!” Shelly grinned as she loosened her jacket and put her gun away.
“Now, where is that good looking hostage?” She was grinning when she saw Mike with Charlie and Darla. They had taken care of his cuts and bruises and he was limping on his football knee.
He stood up smiling when he saw his wife heading his way.
Mike opened his arms and Shelly ran and jumped into them. He flinched from the cracked rib but he was so thankful to be alive with no one else hurt, he didn’t care.
“There’s my hero…Nice save, Shell, thanks.” Mike held her close. He couldn’t tell her that when she cleared the opening to the roof, his heart about stopped. He was so afraid that she was going to be too brave and really get hurt. He tried not to show his worry and just held her close. “Love you, Baby.” He whispered into her hair.
“Ah hum! We have paperwork to do, then you love birds can go home and…whatever…” Charlie flinched when Darla smacked him on the back of the head. “Oh, all right take your time—we’ll do clean up…again!” Charlie laughed and picked up their emergency bag.
Alan and Sam already had the pilot in cuffs and headed downstairs and the coroner and the locals just showed up to help finish the scene. Charlie and Darla hurried downstairs to be cleared to head back to the office.
“I didn’t think they would ever leave.” Mike grinned. Shelly still had a death grip around his neck. “Are you okay, Sugar?”
“I am now. Thank God it’s Friday!” Shell laughed a shaky laugh and released her hold on Mike’s neck. “Sorry baby, it scared the bejesus outta me when I saw that gun to your head.” Shell admitted.
“It did me too!” Mike laughed.
“Let’s get finished so we can go hug on our babies.” Mike held out his hand and they headed to the stairs. Mike saw the perfect headshots on the two gunmen. Shell wasn’t messing around; they didn’t have a chance. But hey, he warned them. Mike chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Shell stopped at the door and stared at him.
“Well darlin’ I tried to tell them fools not to mess with my little wife. They just wouldn’t listen. They called me a cradle robber!” Mike’s bottom lip stuck out and Shell laughed at him. Poor Mike. There were a few years between their ages but Shelly always had looked like a little kid.
“Well Daddy, let’s go home and get weird then…” Shelly laughed and sprinted down the stairs to head down to the lobby. Mike followed her laughing. You would have thought that they had not just gone through a life and death situation just minutes before. It was over; the conclusion was made. Shelly handled things well until later—when the nightmares would take her back to the scene and make her relive the whole thing…
__________
Shelly got back to the offices and ran to the gym to get a shower and dress down. She just needed a few minutes away from the unit. Baby waited patiently, watching her master.
Shelly stripped down and climbed into the shower and turned the water on as hot as she could get it. She leaned against the tile wall and stared at nothing.
The whole scenario played itself through her head again.
There had been no other way to handle it and free the hostage. Even if it hadn’t been Mike, she would have done this the same way. Shell hurried to dry off and get dressed. She figured the sooner the paperwork was done, the sooner she could get home to her family.
__________
Shelly took off at a fast jog as quick as the elevator door opened. There was so much to get done. First, she had to get the case records filed and see what Mike had left to do. He always left paperwork in his hurry to get home for the weekend.
Shelly was carrying her black leather jacket and her laptop in its case was slung over her shoulder. Wearing a sleeveless white shirt, black jeans and boots, she didn’t quite fit the dress code for the office. No one complained. It was Shell.
The curly blonde hair and animated face was full of concentration and if you didn’t see the gun in the shoulder holster and the badge on her belt, you would have thought she was a teenager late for a date. Baby, her beautiful red and rust colored Doberman, stayed right by her side. They were inseparable.
It was Friday. She and Mike had just closed a case and she was hurrying to make the computer entries and close the case files. Then she was going home. She couldn’t wait to hold their babies in her arms. It had been eight hours, thirty-one minutes and twenty seconds since she had kissed them goodbye. It seemed like an eternity.
She needed to stop at the store and the pet store and the dry cleaners…
She was so intent with what they were going to do and what she needed to get done on the way home she ran right into boss, Matt Colburn. “Slow down Agent Brooke. Where’s the fire?” Matt had caught Shelly and her laptop before she hit the floor. Someone as small as Shell, running into someone as large as the Chief…the wall doesn’t give. Matt was twice her size. “Are you okay, Shelly?” Matt laughed. Shelly was grinning.
Shelly shook her head. “I’m sorry, Boss! I shouldn’t have been running. I was just hurrying in to log this information and my head was somewhere else…”
Matt laughed at Shelly. “Your mind was on those two little ones, right?” Matt loved the way Shelly’s blue eyes sparkled. She lit up a room whenever she entered it.
“Busted…yes, you got me. We haven’t had much time to spend with them this week. I am so ready for this weekend. Caleb’s running. Catrina is so cautious but she’s walking on her own and trying to run...Sometimes I get jealous of Juanita, she gets to see all the good stuff!”
“They still look so different. You’d think they would be doing everything at the same time. These guys seem to have their own agendas. Caleb fights with everything and Trina is so laid back, nothing seems to bother her.” Shelly reached down and petted Baby. “What are you guys doing this weekend? Can you make it to their birthday party, Chief?” Shell asked.
“Are you kidding? We wouldn’t miss that one for the world!” He said. Mike and Shell’s twins were like little miniatures of their Mama and Daddy. They made a good-looking family and the twins were brilliant. Caleb was a corker and Trina was a little angel.
They had headed into Shelly and Mike’s office. Mike was at the desk. He was absorbed in the conversation he was having on the phone. He looked up with a big smile on his face.
Shell hurried over and sat on the desk. He reached over and turned on the speakerphone so Matt and Shelly could hear the twins bubble over the line.
“Mama’s here.” He whispered. Matt watched the young couple. He had never seen happier parents. Their children were like precious miracles to them.
“My Mama?” Caleb’s little voice came over the line.
“Hey Caleb! How’s my big boy?” Shelly cooed.
“Wuv you, Mama!” Caleb squealed.
“I love you too, baby. Where is your sister? Catrina, are you there sweetie?” Shelly waited. Matt was grinning because half the office had crowded in the doorway to hear the twins talk to their Mama and Daddy.
“Ma….Ma? Whatcha doin’ in da’ phone?” Trina whispered in awe.
“I am talking to you sweetheart!” Shelly didn’t quite understand.
“Mama, you know that you can’t fit in dat’ phone!” Trina squealed and the office lost it. She was a cuter. “Mama! Get out of dat’ phone! You’ll break it!” Trina fussed.
Shelly was grinning. “We’ll show you how it works when we get home baby girl. We love you bunches. We’ll be home soon!”
She heard the laughter coming from the hallway and looked around and waved. “Yes I know, when they figure out what the phone is all about we are going to be in BIG trouble, right?” Shelly met Mike’s gaze and smiled gently. They were so thankful that the babies were so healthy and thriving now. They had a very rough start coming into this world.
The agents went back to work in a good mood. They all felt personally attached to the baby Brooke twins. Almost everyone in the office had been involved before and after their miraculous births.
The Brooke twins were the exception to the rule. They were born three weeks before their due date. Catrina was extremely small. Both of the twin’s mental and emotional development had shocked all of the specialists.
Caleb was a real bruiser and his sister was very petite. Their first birthday was Sunday. It was hard to believe that a year had flown by already. It was definitely time to stop and be thankful for the joy that the twins had brought to their friends, Mike and Shell.
Life had become a comfortable routine. It was nice to think about evenings and weekends with family and friends. Except for this afternoon’s bank robbery, no one’s life had been in jeopardy for months and it was kind of nice. The bank situation could have ended badly but for once they had lucked out.
When the others left, Shell turned to Mike. “How much do you have left to do?” She asked as she slid down on his lap. Mike was grinning when he saw Matt close the door.
“Are you going to get us in trouble again, Shell?” He laughed.
Shell looked back at the door and smirked; “We are behind closed doors, Michael.” Then, she gave him a big kiss. “You’re stalling, what do you have left to close out so we can blow this joint?” Mike rubbed his hand up and down her back and gazed at ‘Lolita’ his computer program.
“I’m about done here. If you can finish the Jacobson’s case, I could go home and spoil our kids before you got home. You know when you show up, I don’t have a chance.” He was laughing as Shell jumped back up and looked at his files. She was glaring at his computer.
“You aren’t jealous of Lolita, are you Sugar?” Shell always griped at his computer like a jealous lover.
Shell stared from him to the computer. “If she starts jumping your bones, she has to go.” Then Shelly laughed and messed up his hair.
“I’ve got this, Mike. I have to make stops on the way home so I’ll be about an hour behind you. Go ahead handsome before I race you down the interstate. I’ll finish up and Lolita and I are going to have a little chat.” She had a total feline stare going on when she looked at his computer.
“Shell, be kind, we need her.” He laughed and jumped when Shell grabbed him grinning. “Shell!” He about squealed.
“Better leave while you can, husband.” Shell laughed.
“Outta here!” Mike grabbed his jacket and his briefcase. “Want me to take Baby with me?” He asked.
“Nah, she keeps me company.” Shell muttered. She was already engrossed in the files on the computer. Mike knew she would be through the work in no time flat. No one could work a computer like his wife. She would take half the amount of time and they both knew it.
He thought she made the perfect partner in every sense of the word. He was grinning as he waved at the others on the way to the elevator. He didn’t think anyone in the world could love a woman any more than he did his partner… Life was looking up and they had such a normal routine lately. Weekends had been a blast with time to relax and to love and they had been getting home by six o’clock every evening so they could spend more time with the kids.
__________
Unfortunately, this was all about to change. Shelly’s sister, Annie, had picked up her set of twins from school. Annie had waited until the last moment to leave. She was hoping that her husband, Andrew, would call and tell her that he and her parents were headed back home.
They had the Cessna and Andy said they had to deliver a couple to a private airport in Guatemala. J.C. would pick the couple up with one of the hydroplanes at the end of the week in the Gulf of Guatemala. The couple planned on spending the week with family.
Part of being a charter service included taking people into places that normal planes wouldn’t dare. Guatemala could still be a volatile country. You had to be careful and diplomatic. J.C. had another charter and Andy had just finished one.
Everyone was trying to hurry back for the twins first birthday.
Annie had a nightmare last night and she was having a terrible time trying to shake the feeling that haunted her. Something was wrong and Annie had felt on edge all day.
She called Tina, who was her Mama’s best friend and like an aunt to Shelly and Annie. “Hey Tina…How are you? I was just wondering if you heard from Mama today.”
“Oh hello, Annie…no Sugar, I was just getting ready to call you! Were you headed over to Mike and Shelly’s?” Tina asked as she was picking her own keys up from the table in her foyer.
Tina had been looking forward to her best friend coming home. She had missed Katie since she and Tom had moved to Belize. She thought for sure that Katie would call before they headed in.
They had unfinished plans for the twins birthday party and she had set up a short art showing in Atlanta for Katie. She was waiting on her for the final details. She couldn’t help but wonder why they were running late. Katie said that she would be sure to call and her friend always kept her word. Her friend was the most reliable person that Tina had ever met.
“Yes, I have Carey and Corey with me. I’m just restless and bored. I thought we would go play with the babies. Shelly should be home soon.” Annie answered.
“I’m bored too, honey. I have felt anxious all day. I don’t know why. I’ll meet you there, okay? I fixed dinner to take over to save Shelly some time.” She smiled.
Fried chicken and all the goodies were already loaded in the car. Shell said that she was missing her Aunt Tina’s fried chicken. Shelly lost weight so quickly whenever stress or work got too heavy. When that she said that she was hungry for something, Tina made sure that it was fixed and put in it in front of her.
Lord knows, she couldn’t help but spoil those girls. They were like her children. Now she had Annie’s twins and Shelly’s twins—the only thing that was missing was her best friend, Katie.
“Great minds think alike, Tina. I fixed a salad and some desert. We should all be able to play with the babies until bedtime, huh?” Annie was smiling because she could see her daughters eyes dance with excitement.
Carey and Corey absolutely loved and adored their niece and nephew. After all, they were the big girls now. Seven years old made them authorities on babies—especially this particular set of twins. They loved being around them. Shelly’s babies thought they were perfect.
“Well, that sounds like we’re ready to start the weekend! I’ll meet you there! You think they’re going to get tired of us and kick us out?” Tina laughed.
“Lord, I hope not…later, Tina!” Annie hung up in a little bit better mood. But still—Andrew said he would call as soon as they made their last stop. That should have been hours ago. Maybe he forgot. Maybe they had engine problems and had to stop for repairs. But Andy would call. He always called.
Annie loved the life they had even though she knew Andrew flying so much could be very dangerous. He was so much happier now than when he was in the Navy. With all of her parent’s holdings—the islands, the Charter service, the hyperbaric company, her mother’s paintings and books and her own books, it seemed that they really did need their own attorney.
Andrew had been an excellent attorney for the JAG office. He probably would have been back out on a ship by now if he had stayed in. She hated those deployments. Andy spent a lot more time with his family now and it was so much nicer for their little girls.
Some of the places that Destiny Caye Charter Services agreed to take passengers into were not always easy or safe. All of the pilots were excellent, but between landing in rough water with the hydroplanes and landing strips between stretches of jungle with the Cessna, some of it was pretty dangerous.
Again, the total sense of dread settled over Annie and she shivered from the cold breeze that seem to go right through her. This was not right. This feeling was too strong. Annie was getting really worried.
__________
“Hello Juanita, where are you hiding my babies?” Mike Brooke yelled as he entered his home from the garage door. “Where is my big Buddy? Where are you all hiding those beautiful angels?” Mike flashed a smile at the twin’s nanny and housekeeper. This was one of the best times of the day. He never tired of it…
Mike laughed when he heard the loud “Shhhh …” He had seen Annie and Tina’s cars out front.
“Oh man! My babies have been kidnapped! I have to call the FBI—wait a minute—wait a minute! I AM the FBI! All right then! You in there! Put my babies down and come out with your hands in the air!” Mike was grinning at Juanita.
Juanita was laughing so hard she was about to cry. No matter how exhausted Mike and Shell were when they came home, one of them always turned it into a game. It set the mood for the whole evening. There was nothing but love that radiated through this sprawling Georgia estate by the lake.
Corey came running in. “Uncle Mike, it’s just us!” She squealed.
“Did you take my babies, Corey? You know that’s a federal offense. It is extremely illegal to take the Brooke babies. We take Brooke baby napping very, very seriously.” Mike said with a sober face.
“Nope, Uncle Mike, we didn’t TAKE them! They’re still here!” She laughed.
Caleb came wobbling in with Catrina crawling quickly behind him. “Da!” Caleb squealed holding his arms up to be picked up first. Mike grabbed him and threw him in the air.
“Hey!” Caleb giggled. He wasn’t a big talker. Caleb was a little bag of muscles. He looked so much like Mike it was amazing. He was even getting that Georgia tan that his Daddy had.
“OOK, Da!” He yelled and showed Mike the booboos on his right knuckles.
Mike looked at Juanita with a raised eyebrow in a question mark. “What did he get mad at this time?” He asked with a sigh.
“Caleb was angry with the door, Mr. Mike. He ran his big wheels into the door and it would not open. So Caleb tried talking to it and it still would not comply. And before I could get to him to open the door, Caleb gave it a big punch! He cried like you wouldn’t believe! That one’s got a temper, Mr. Mike!” She was poking Caleb in the tummy as she was explaining Caleb’s day. He argued with a lot of things that didn’t cooperate.
That could end up being a problem one of these days. However, Caleb NEVER argued with his little sister. Mike sat his big frame down on the floor.
Good ole’ Buddy (their twelve year old Doberman) had followed the twins into the kitchen. Buddy was ‘retired’ FBI. He had a new profession. He was the twins’ bodyguard and he took his job seriously. Buddy never left their side. He even slept in the nursery while Baby (Buddy’s daughter) slept by their door in the hallway.
Catrina had crawled to a stop and pulled herself up with Buddy’s collar. She was a little wobbly but standing, she reached out for her Daddy.
“Daddy!” She squealed in her little voice. Mike grabbed his daughter and gave her a hug. Unlike Caleb—the bruiser—Trina was tiny and petite. Caleb wore a size two already and Trina wore a six months. She was a little angel. They both had curly blonde hair with big blue eyes. She was as beautiful as her brother was handsome. Mike was a lucky man.
“Where’s my Mama?” Trina asked. Trina was the talker. She said ‘Mama’ when she was three months old. By the time she was eight months old, the single words turned into whole sentences.
Caleb was a man of few words. “Hey Da—Mama—My Mama—and; what waz dat?” These were his favorite words. He was starting to talk more. Maybe when he could start expressing himself a little better, he would stop hitting everything with his fists. Who knew?
“My Mama!” Caleb argued.
Trina looked at him seriously; “I know dat’ Cabe! Where’s ‘our’ Mama, Daddy?”
Mike laughed. She was a cutie. “Mama stopped at the store, honey. Why do you think I rushed home before she got here?”
“To steal ah our wuv!” Trina squealed as she squeezed her Daddy’s neck. “But Daddy, we always have ‘special wuvin’ for Mama!”
“Ah, I know it, you little heart breaker. I guess I have to be a big boy and share, huh?” Mike scooped up the twins and headed to the outside deck. Corey and Carey had joined Annie and Tina in the pool.
“Hey Mike, where’s Shelly?” Annie yelled. She got out and grabbed a towel. Andy and her parents should have already been back to Atlanta by now.
“Shelly had to make a few stops on the way. She’ll be here shortly. Annie, what’s wrong kiddo? You look bummed out.” Mike asked.
Shelly and her sister looked a lot alike. Annie was two inches taller and was just as pretty as Shell. She lacked her ornery look but other than that, Annie and Shelly looked just like their Mama and the genetics had been passed on down to their daughters.
“I’m just concerned, Mike. Did Mama or Andy call y’all at work? I haven’t heard anything since early yesterday morning. That’s just not like them, ya’ know?” Annie quickly grabbed her wrap and put it on.
She snatched little Trina. “Now, I have you angel!” She kissed Trina’s cheek. Annie turned toward Mike and waited.
“No, I haven’t heard anything yet. I doubt that Shelly has either or she would have told me already. Honestly Annie, I figured they would already be here.” He turned to see Caleb getting ready to jump in with Corey. “Hey Bubba…Wait a minute! You don’t go near the pool without a life vest and an adult in charge. Rules, Caleb!”
“Da!” Did Caleb actually stomp his foot? Maybe he did have more of his Mama in him than they all thought.
“Caleb, I’m serious.” Mike said as he was reaching for one of the twin’s life vests. He was kind of glad he couldn’t understand the entire baby babbles that Caleb was spewing. Trina was looking at him pretty shocked.
“Tina? Will you keep an eye on waterdog here?” He asked. Tina quickly came to the side of the pool to grab Caleb before he ended up in big trouble.
Mike turned and looked at Annie seriously. “I’m going to go and grab some tea and go do some checking, Annie. We’ll figure out where they are. Trina you take care of Aunt Annie now.” He gave her a quick kiss on her sweet smelling hair and headed back into their home office.
Juanita met him with the tea. “Thank you, Sugar. Why don’t you go take a break and be with Annie? They have the twins—both sets of twins. She’s really worried about Andy and her parents. I’ll be working in the office if you need me and Shelly should be home soon.”
Juanita watched Mike head back to the big office that he and Shelly shared. They had a lot of high tech equipment, computers, software, medical books, law books, Katie and Annie’s books, and a space age looking desk set up where they enjoyed working together for hours. The monitors were huge and mounted on the wall and everything was extremely well organized.
They had actually remodeled and made to 30’x30’ office into 30’x20’ office. The bookcases now slid open to hidden doors to go to the underground office that had more computers, desks, surveillance equipment, gun lockers and God only knows what else they kept down there.
Juanita loved her job and she really loved this nice young family. She wasn’t real excited about Mike and Shelly’s job. It seemed like Shelly was always coming home with bruises and cuts…and wasn’t she kind of little to be carrying three guns? She weighed—maybe ninety pounds and probably ten pounds of that were the weapons that she carried.
No, Juanita could not understand their profession. They were a loving couple, loving parents with a loving family. Both Mike and Shelly had serious skills that could have landed them in really high paying jobs.
Shelly’s talent on the piano and her art was amazing. Her brilliance in computer programming outshone everyone in her department. Mike’s intellect with marketing, his vast computer knowledge, and his degree in law could have kept them comfortable and safe.
Juanita loved the couple. She cared about Shelly like her daughter at times, but she would never understand their need to be in such a dangerous profession.
__________
Mike lost track of time. He called the pilots that they had in Key West, J.C. and Jeb.
The pilots reported that they had been attempting to get in touch with the Cessna since midday yesterday. They tried the airport in Livingston, Guatemala where the plane was scheduled to land last night. They wouldn’t give them any information. Tom’s pilots were getting frustrated and running into a brick wall.
Mike got the number from J. C. He called the airport himself.
“Hello, this is Agent Michael Brooke from the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Atlanta, Georgia. I am checking on a Cessna that is owned by the Destiny Caye Charter Service. It should have landed there sometime last night with passengers that were visiting a nearby village for the week. Pardon me? Yes Sir. Pilots would have been Thomas Alley and Andrew James. Yes Sir. No, actually we were expecting them in Atlanta this evening and the Charter Service has not been able to make contact….” Mike listened as the man on the other line stalled.
“Well, has anyone been out to the plane that went down, Sir?” He listened with a scowl on his face. This was not good.
“Yes, please let me know your findings as soon as possible.” He listened a couple more minutes. “I can’t tell you that for sure but I can tell you that family is involved. So yes, if there is any way that we can, we will be down to help search. I’ll have Chief Colburn call you, Sir. Thank you. Good Bye.”
Mike got up after he fired up their bank of computers and punched in the information.
He brought up the satellite imaging to try to pin down where the plane was reported down. Mapping in the co ordinances and trying to get a clear picture in a mountainous rain forest, was not an easy endeavor.
Mike paced around the room and tried to put the information together in his head. He was trying to look at the facts objectively but that was hard to do when it was family. Shelly’s family. Mike felt a knot in stomach. Shell’s family was about the closest-knit family he had ever met. Mike had grown up around this family…they were like his own…
Mike was terrified to find out what was happening. He tried to clear his head as he grabbed his headset and started more calls. Chief Colburn was first.
“Matt, this is Mike … yeah, really. Boss I have a problem and I need your help…” Mike quickly told him about the possibility of Shelly’s parents and Andrew, his brother-in-law having gone down in the jungle of Guatemala.
“Mike, are you sure that it’s them?” Matt asked quietly. “The United States has some rocky relations there. The drug cartels from Guatemala, Honduras and from Mexico are getting pretty dangerous. We have deported a bunch of Guatemalans to let their government decide what to do with their own criminals. They aren’t too happy with us right now.”
“Yes, well that would explain why they haven’t even sent a search patrol or a rescue unit out yet. I didn’t think it was just because it was frickin’ raining!” Mike was starting to lose his cool. It always has to be about politics.
“Matt, I have to go after them. They’re family. Shelly would go by herself if I didn‘t have something in the works and heading in that direction. None of us would blame her either.” Mike felt like his head would explode.
“Tell me now, Matt. Are you refusing to go in because of our government’s relationship with Guatemala right now? Because if that’s what you are saying, then you don’t need to know what I plan on doing about it.” Mike kept his voice quiet although he felt like screaming. Freakin’ Bureaucratic of Interference, that was the name of the game…
“Calm down Mike, let me check it out. Go ahead and get the team together and set up. I’ll be there as quick as I can. I didn’t say we weren’t going in. I just said it’s going to be a little tricky, okay Bubba?” Matt could almost visualize Mike pacing.
“Where’s Shelly, Mike?” He could just see his smallest agent going ballistic.
“She isn’t home yet. Oh crap Matt, this will kill her…” his anger vanished and he was instantly saddened. “I’ll get things going, Boss. Thanks!”
Mike quickly contacted the unit. Charlie and Darla were en route. Sam and Alan would be there as soon as Alan called his Mama. They were going to ask her to come help run the command center. Mark and Hawthorne were in town. Sally, the agent that thought she was tough until Shelly repeatedly made a fool out of her in training—she would probably want in and Matt would go as well…
That would give them ten agents. They were a tight group. That should do it. Everyone was on board. Mike started to open the bookcase to the downstairs and stopped suddenly.
The Guatemalan government would be a deterrent.
If they refused to help, if the mountains were full of mercenaries, their team could be in a world of hurts from the moment they entered the country.
The Alleys had a great relationship with Belize. That would help. The family had brought in business with their charter service. Tom had brought several hyperbaric chambers and set up in strategic places for divers and accident victims. Katlin was a well-known author and artist. Katie or Tom could run for office and win. They were very well thought of by the higher ups.
Regardless of all of that, when you met the Alley family you automatically liked them. They were genuine caring people. You could count on them if you ever needed a helping hand... Katie helped in the clinics and painted beautiful pictures of landscapes and people in Belize. The charter service had brought in many perspective buyers and businessmen.
He had to go find Shelly first. He just went ahead without her. He wasn’t real sure how she would react to that.
Where was Shelly?
The thought of losing Shell’s parents was painful. She loved them so much. He had even become close with his brother-in-law and Shell’s best friend. Too many key players in Shelly’s life were in danger.
This was going to be unbelievably hard.
__________
“Hey Harry!” Shelly yelled as she ran into the dry cleaners. “Big weekend…did you get our stuff finished?” Shelly had known Harry and his wife Alice since she was a baby. The family use to bring her Daddy’s Air Force uniforms in to be cleaned all of the time. Shelly quickly paid the man and invited him and his wife out to the twins’ birthday party. They had received the invitation but she wanted to make sure. She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Shelly placed the clothes on the hanger in the back of her Jeep and a wave of terror swept over her. Suddenly, it hit her and she fell to the pavement. Oh no! Shelly felt a knife like pain in her stomach and an icy squeeze on her heart. She was physically ill and trembling in a cold sweat…
Harry and Alice ran out. “Shelly, Shelly, are you okay? Do you need us to call a doctor? What is wrong?” Alice was looking at the child that had frequented their dry cleaners since she was big enough to waddle in with an armload of shirts.
Shelly was white as a sheet and shaking. In all of the years that they had known this child, she had never looked so shattered. Alice was helping her up and she had tears in her eyes. Whatever floored this little agent was painful. She had never seen her in so much agony.
Shelly looked up at them in tears. “No … no! Sorry, I have to get home. Mama! Oh Lord, I have to get home. I—I’m sorry guys, I have to go!”
Shelly jumped up and ran around to the driver’s seat and squealed the tires pulling out. She flew over the interstate and only slowed down when she reached their little community in Oakridge.
Shelly raced up the driveway. Baby had whined with a paw on her lap all the way home. Shelly had to try to stop shaking. She had never been so frightened in her life. What did it mean? Where were her parents? What was happening? Her Mama’s face flashed in front of Shell’s eyes. Katie was covered in blood and her eyes were dazed and full of pain and fear…
Shelly turned off the engine. She was gripping the steering wheel so tightly her hands were cramping. Concentrating, she released a finger at a time until she could stretch her hands out and rub them. Then she slammed her fists into the dash.
“No, I’m just being nuts!” She yelled at herself. Shelly often had gut feelings that were so overpowering and so accurate that everyone at the office or in the field got use to relying on her ‘instincts.’ Shelly hated it. It wasn’t a gift—it was a curse.
What had overwhelmed her at the dry cleaners was a picture in her mind of her Daddy’s airplane going down in the jungle and her Mama’s excruciating pain. This was crazy. They should already be at the private airport down the road. Shoot, they are probably lounging around the pool right now…No…Oh, God; she knew that they weren’t here. They were somewhere out in that God forsaken, snake infested rain forest…
Shelly ran to the front door with the groceries and the dry cleaning and was met by Annie and Mike. “Is it true? Please tell me I’m wrong! Mike is it true?” she demanded and knew as soon as she saw her husband’s face that something terrible had happened.
“I told you, Mike!” Annie cried as she grabbed part of the things from Shelly. Juanita quickly took the cleaning and asked Shelly to go to the office to discuss this.
Mike picked up his wife and carried her shaking body into their office. He didn’t think he even wanted to know what her premonition had been. Shell looked terrified.
The children were too close.
Annie looked at her younger sister and realized that Shelly had been crying. Her sister looked devastated and her eyes were full of fear and her hands were shaking.
Shelly looked at her and then back at Annie and Mike. “I’ll meet you in the office. Let me say hello to the babies. Oh Annie…”
Shelly just shook her head and ran to the kitchen sink and threw water in her face. Grabbing a towel, she walked out back where Aunt Tina was riding herd like old times. There they were…their beautiful babies with their radiant faces and happy voices.
Just for a few moments, Shelly had to put on her Mama hat. “Hey Tina! Hi guys!”
The children had already climbed out of the pool and were enjoying a snack. Caleb and Trina were getting tired. Caleb raised his hands to his Mama’s face and Shelly leaned down so he could do the usual.
Caleb always put his little hands on either side of Shelly’s face and stared into her eyes. It was like he had to reassure himself that she was real and she was okay. It was sweet.
“Kay, Mama?” He asked.
“I am now, Bubba.” She hugged him big and patted Buddy, their big old Doberman. Buddy doubled as a lifeguard in addition to his bodyguard duty with the babies. He took his job seriously. Shelly loved this old dog. Baby, his daughter, was so much like him it was great. The whole family had protection.
“There’s my angel…” she whispered softly and reached down to take Catrina out of Aunt Tina’s arms. “How’s my little angel girl?” she cooed at her.
Trina snuggled into her Mama’s arms and clung.
Tina watched Mother, daughter and son and just smiled. Who would have thought that Shelly would be such a great Mama? The love that radiated between Michelle and her children was almost heart breaking.
She noticed something was off though. Shelly had a strained look on her face. Something was bothering her. Shelly looked like she had been crying and she was pale.
Tina noticed that Shell’s hands were shaking and she held Trina a little tighter than usual. Clinging to her for dear life would have been a more accurate description. Trina seemed to sense her Mama’s need because she was hugging her back just as tightly.
“Shelly, is everything okay Sugar?” Tina asked. Juanita had just come back out and touched Shelly on the shoulder. Shell tiptoed a bit to hear whatever it was that the nanny didn’t wish for the kids to hear. When Shelly looked back she had a serious look on her face.
She kissed Trina’s head and handed her back to Tina. “What is it, Shelly? Honey, is something wrong?”
Shelly turned to Annie’s twin girls. “Ladies, would you to do me a BIG favor?” And of course they were all excited. “Juanita says these two are in need a nap. If you could help them through a bath and a story time, maybe after supper you can get another swim in and then watch movies and fix chocolate chip cookies. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Yeah!” The girls gladly helped with the littlest twins upstairs. They were so grown up and the babies thought they were the greatest aunts in the world. According to Shelly, they were.
Shelly loved the girls so much. They were like duplicates of Annie and Shelly. Unfortunately, Corey inherited Shell’s attitude and temper. She was constantly in trouble just as Shell had been throughout her childhood.
“Come on, Tina. You need to come with me, Sugar.” Shelly reached out for Tina’s hand. She realized Tina was feeling her anxiety. She was lucky that the children hadn’t picked up on that. Tina followed Shelly into the office. She stood and stared at the bookcase. Tina hadn’t been in this room for quite awhile but something was definitely different.
Although Mike and Annie were still standing at the command center, there were people in the basement. “Okay, we’ll catch Tina up on things downstairs. Come on, Sugar!” She grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs behind them.
Tina saw that Annie had been crying…that really concerned her. Annie had been pretty depressed earlier when she had talked to her and she was still pretty quiet at the pool…Tina was totally confused. What was going on here?
When they cleared the stairwell, Tina stood there with her mouth agape. She had never seen anything like it. Charlie and Darla were removing guns and boxes of ammo and different types of grenades. Alan and Sam were setting up headsets, flak jackets and parachute equipment. Sally and Matt were packing food and first aid equipment. And Mark and Chief Hawthorne from Quantico were studying some kind of map that was displayed on the monitor on the wall.
It had been awhile since Tina had been in Mike’s basement. Katie had told her that they were doing remodeling—but—this wasn’t a basement. Half of it was a command center and weapons locker and the other room was like a vaulted safe room with supplies and electronic equipment. It was a huge room. What was this place and why was it in the Brooke’s basement?
“Would someone please tell me where I am and what’s going on?” Shelly turned from Annie and saw the shock on Tina’s face. She went over to talk to her.
“Tina, I’m sorry. We have redone the basement into a ‘field office’ since you have been down here, haven’t we? We can base major operations out of here. We have all of the latest computer, satellite, and weapons cache. We have everything you could need if you had to set up outside of headquarters. It’s a precaution. This room over here is a safe room. If a tornado would hit, we would be protected. If someone would break in, we could take the children and lock ourselves in here and no one could get to us. It’s pretty cool.” She saw Tina’s confusion.
“Tina, we are starting on a very important mission, we need your help.” She said quietly.
Shell pulled Annie close and wrapped her arms around her. She knew her sister was on the verge of totally losing it. Andy was her life. Mama and Daddy, was more than she could imagine losing. The combination of all of them would destroy Annie. They could not let this happen.
“What is it Shelly? What is wrong?” Tina saw the tears and knew instantly that this was a personal mission.
“Oh no, Shelly, where is Katie?” She saw it in Shelly’s eyes the minute she spoke the words. Shelly reached out and pulled her Aunt Tina close and told her everything.
Tina’s hands shook but she was trying to stay steady. Shelly told her that she needed her and Annie to help Alan’s Mama, Beth, when she got there to run the command post. So they needed her to learn everything she could as quickly as possible.
Tina quickly reached out to Annie and firmly grabbed her hand. “We can do this! Let’s find them and bring them home.” Her voice was steady. Shelly looked at her in amazement. They had always depended on Tina to be the strong one. She was her Mama’s best friend—the nearest thing to a sister that she had left. Tina was ready to do anything to help try and find their family and bring them home.
You could always count on Aunt Tina. She held Annie close to her while they hurried over to the command post to watch and learn how everything operated.
Shelly hugged them both before she answered the call from the Guatemalan Airport. “Yes, this is Special Agent Brooke. No, No—sorry, Sir—this is his wife. Yes, Sir. Thank you. What? WHY NOT?” Everyone became quiet as they watched Shelly’s face. “Sir, I need you to report this to my Boss. Yes, Sir. Here he is…Chief?”
Shelly went over to study the maps that Chief Hawthorne and Mark were looking at. “What’s going on Shell?” Mark asked quietly. If steam could have poured out of Shell’s ears right now, it would. She was trying hard to get some kind of control. This was not going to be easy. He’d seen this controlled fury in Shell before. She was on the edge and she needed to hit something.
Shelly’s eyes sparked when she looked up at them. “They won’t go in. They say there are gorillas in the area and mercenaries from the drug cartel. They lost a man. The rains are heavy—visibility stinks—and they just aren’t going to risk it—chicken shit—jerk wads, son of a …” Shelly broke off in the middle of her rampage when she looked and Tina and Annie’s faces.
“Crap. Sorry…” She quickly turned away. She had to learn to watch her mouth. Shelly walked over to their kick bag and started belting it with fists and kicks. She had to hit something and she needed to watch her mouth.
If she could have reached in and grabbed that jerk on the phone, she would have pinched his head off. Annie stared at her sister and shook her head. This was not going to be easy. Shelly was already on the verge of taking someone out and the mission hadn’t even started yet. Shell was already losing her cool. Surely they wouldn’t keep them from going in and rescuing their family, would they?
Hawthorne slammed his fist down on the table. “Son of a Bitch!” He stomped over to where Matt was standing. “Matt! Tell the bastard we’re coming anyway! Screw ‘em!” He looked around and saw Shelly grinning and holding her hands out to show her sister where she got her mouth—yeah, right!
“Sorry ladies…” He muttered and grabbed a cigar and headed upstairs for a walk and a smoke outside. Shelly didn’t allow the cigars in their house since the babies were born. Who could blame her?
Matt Colburn tried to talk patiently to the man. It wasn’t working. He finally hung up and called the white house. He went up into the office to finish his conversation with the Chief of Staff.
Annie looked terrified. “Shelly, are they not going to try to save them?”
“We’re going, Annie, don’t worry.” Shelly said firmly.
“Shell…” Mike started to say what he was afraid was going to happen but when Shelly whirled around with her hands on her hips—he knew to stop. “She’s right, Annie, we’re going.” Charlie and Darla just smiled and kept on packing.
Matt and Hawthorne came back downstairs by the time the rest of the group were packed up and ready to roll. They looked around pleased. This was the group who didn’t wait for orders. When it was time to go, they were ready.
“Okay,” Matt said. “We have permission. They don’t want an international incident but considering you guys are my special unit and trained as well as any of the others, they’re going to let us risk our asses and our jobs on this one. We do it right? They’ll get the glory. We do it wrong? You know the drill. Who needs glory, right? We have a leer jet to catch in Atlanta. Mike, you and Shelly say goodbye to family and we will load up. You have five minutes. Let’s go!”
Shelly hugged Annie and Tina and she still beat Mike up the stairs to the twin’s room. It was so sweet. Caleb was curled up in Corey’s arms sound asleep and Catrina was cuddled with Carey sound asleep. They kissed them all quietly and tip toed back out.
They were pulling in the airport in Atlanta right behind the others. Shelly hadn’t said much to Mike all evening. They were both numb at this point.
Mike looked at her and groaned. “Shelly, Mom and Dad were coming in tonight!”
As they jumped out of the Jeep, Shelly called Annie. “Hey Annie, would you please call Mike’s folks? They should be heading there before too long. They probably will want to stay there too, okay? Yes, it will be good to have help with the kids. Mark said Jenn and little Jordon are coming down to help too. They wanted to be there for the babies’ birthday party. Yes? I don’t know Annie. We will do what we can. I’ll call you as soon as I can—and Annie? You can call me whenever, okay? I love you, Sis. Bye!”
Shell stopped for a moment and Mike reached out and held her. He knew that Shell was losing it inside but she was staying strong for her sister. You had to respect that. It’s almost impossible to sort things out and prioritize when it happens to be your family. You know the drill and that it is really important to think clearly…but…who can be objective when it’s your family?
Within thirty minutes the wheels were up and they were on their way. They would pick up their own helicopter in Belmopan, Belize and they had a fueling stop on the way.
They had to have something agile enough to get them in. J.C. was their best bush pilot and he was flying directly to Livingston and parking the hydroplane at a Marina in the Rio Dulce.
He wasn’t sure of his welcome but they would see what the political climate was like when they got there.
__________
Shelly couldn’t believe she had fallen asleep in her seat. It had been a long day before they were hit with the news of the downed airplane. She didn’t realize how tired she was…it just took over and she conked out. Mike had lowered the window shade and tilted her seat back. He was so sweet. He even wrapped her in a blanket. They had worked really late.
One by one, the other agents went back to get a nap. Mike and Shelly had worked on.
She looked at Mike. He was all stretched out with his feet in the aisle and his head hanging over the top of his seat. These seats hadn’t been built for the big guys. The poor man…she had no idea how he slept like that.
She had plenty of room. She placed her blanket over him and tried to crawl over the back of her seat to not wake him. His hands caught her around her waist and he pulled her down on his lap.
“Where are you going pretty lady?” He whispered. He nuzzled against her neck and sent chills up her spine. Mike’s hand cradled the back of Shelly’s neck as his other hand rubbed up and down her back.
Shelly was all muscle and right now her muscles were as taunt as a violin string. She was a mess of nerves.
“Later handsome…I need coffee. Coffee. Mike, I need Coffee!” Shelly grumbled. Mike looked at her and smiled. “What are the magic words, Shelly?”