Chapter Seven: The Rescue

Nairobi, Kenya

Meanwhile, back in his suite, Kevin threw his briefcase on the couch, and went to the wet bar and made himself a scotch neat. He took off his suit, slipped off his shoes, sat down on the couch, and then unknotted his tie as he started to relax. Little did he realize that he was dozing off. Seconds later, he was sound asleep. The time on his watch was three in the afternoon.

The constant ringing of the phone woke him up. He grabbed the phone still half asleep and answered,

“Hello?”

“How was your beauty sleep?” An unfamiliar voice said at the other end of the line. “By the way, for your information, the time now is eleven twenty-five in the evening. This is what I want you to do: go down to the lobby bar and look for a waiter named Clay. He will sit you down and take your order. Now listen, I want your complete attention. There is a manila envelope addressed to Clay, taped under the table. Open and read the instructions with utmost care.  You have to read the document right there at the table. Do you understand? Any deviation from this conversation would result in a costly and damaging consequence. Is that clear? Now go!”

With his remaining strength, Kevin tried to pull himself up, but he fell back down on the couch. He tried again. This time, he stood up but his knees gave out under him and sent him back down to the couch. He had a hard time standing up.

“What the? Was I drugged? But how?” Kevin asked himself. More confused than he ever was in his entire life, he decided to counter the situation with what courage he still possessed. Slowly, he let himself fall down on the carpet, then turned onto his belly, and started to crawl towards the wet bar, reaching the refrigerator. He opened the door, searched the inside of the cooler, and found a couple of packs of tomato juice, tonic water, and soda water. He reached for the salt shaker on top of the bar and gathered the ingredients together. He began to mix the tomato juice with four tablespoons of salt. Then he mixed the tonic and soda water with the rest. Without any hesitation, he drank it all in one big shot. After that he inserted his two fingers, the fore and the middle fingers, into his mouth, reaching his throat. Then his chest and stomach started to heave, and he finally started to throw up onto the floor and on himself. He then repeated the same procedure, placing his two fingers again into his mouth. Wasted from the self-induced vomiting, he rested first on the carpet, catching his breath and his heartbeat. Feeling better now, he hoisted himself up from the floor and took off all his clothes. Finally, he went to the shower and cleaned himself.

Ten minutes later, he was all dressed up as he got ready to go down to the lobby. Still a little bit nauseous, he called the housekeeping department, and requested to have his room cleaned. He thanked the lady on the other line and replaced the phone back. He checked himself in the mirror. To his satisfaction, he went out the door, turned towards the elevator, pressed the down button, and waited.

Down in the lobby, he proceeded to the bar. As if on cue, a waiter immediately approached him and ushered him to a table.

“Hello, good evening Sir, my name is Clay,” The waiter introduced himself “And I will be your attendant and server this evening. May I get you something to drink?”

In a foul mood, and not feeling quite well, Kevin ordered tea.

“Yes sir, coming right up. Your beverage will be served in about half an hour. You may examine anything you came for. Go ahead and take your time.” Clay informed Kevin as he hurried out towards the bar.

After the server was gone, Kevin snuck his hand under the table and began to search for the manila envelope. He located the envelope, pulled it out, unsealed the flaps, and placed it on the table. Kevin drew out the contents and immediately found a photo of a dead man lying on a street with a bullet hole in his head. Another one was a photo of Claudine settled on a couch with several men surrounding her. A third photo showed Carolina being pushed into a car with her hands tied behind her back. The last photo showed Ray inside the airport near the safe deposit lockers.

Shocked and anxious at what he saw, he motioned for Clay to bring him a glass of water, and his order of a cup of tea. He took a last glance at the photos again as he nervously returned them in the manila envelope. At that same moment, Clay arrived with the drinks.

“Sir, if I may,” Clay advised as he laid down the glass and the cup of tea in front of Kevin. “I would take a long look at those photos for the last time. Inside is a personal note for you. If you will sir, please read it now, since I will have to take the envelope right away from you.”

Dumbfounded, Kevin pulled out the note from the envelope. He read:

“Your time to shine!

Good luck tomorrow!

P.S. The ladies are having a good time and are with us for now.”

“Sir, may I?” Clay asked, disrupting Kevin as his hand reached for the envelope.

Without any qualms, Kevin handed over the envelope while trying to hide the note.

“Sir, the note too. And I would advise you not to make any untoward scene here and elsewhere, as this would jeopardize the party the ladies are enjoying right now.” Clay said.

With reservation, Kevin handed over the note to Clay. While his eyes burned with fury as Clay reached for the note, Kevin tried to stop him by laying his hand on his arm.

“Make sure nothing happens to them.” Kevin whispered as cold as ice.

“Sir, I would suggest for you to take your hand off me! Remember you are not in any position to demand anything.” Clay retorted.

Kevin took off his hand from Clay and stood up right away, head to head and toe to toe with him.

“Make sure nothing happens to them. Listen here, you don’t know me, so don’t try me.” Kevin whispered, pushing the chair to the side as he moved past Clay.

Kevin returned to his suite. Anxious, he dialled Ray’s number at Sound Beach. As expected, he reached Ray’s answering machine. He hung up the phone in frustration. He got up and went to the bar, but recalling being drugged from the scotch he drank earlier, he wondered if the entire carafes were all tampered with. He dialed the front desk and asked the receptionist to clear the wet bar of all the liquors and to replenish them with fresh ones. Unable to contain and settle his nerves, he started pacing the floor back and forth, back and forth. Every so often, he gazed at his wristwatch, and the time right now read 1:48 in the morning. Too strung up to sleep while still groggy from the effects of the drugs, he continued pacing the room back and forth. When all of a sudden, the telephone rang, and he almost jumped from his pants to answer the call.

“Hello?”

“I heard your get-together with Clay was somehow unpleasant.” Said the familiar voice. “Do you realize what he said was the truth, that you neither had the right nor the option to make any form of demands? So I want you to listen. We are aware that Ray, your Special Forces brother-in-law, is here. I need you to contact him and tell him to back off, otherwise... need I tell you more or need I remind you about how your pretty ladies are enjoying the party?” Mr. Singh threatened Kevin.

“I don’t know where he is right now, much more his contact number! You dumb a*s!” Kevin retorted.

“Not to worry, my dear, Kevin. Get a pen and pad, and write this down...” Mr. Singh said as he dictated the hostel address, the room number, the area code, and the phone number. “And by the way, Kevin, make sure you deliver tomorrow what we require from you. Do you understand?”

“You are a sick b*****d! I recognized your voice Mr. Singh, from the moment you spoke. Why don’t you get this over with and finish the sufferings of the girls? I am well aware of your conspiracy. I will not stop until I get to the bottom of this. So right now I dare you to hurt the ladies because I will bring you and everybody down!” Kevin yelled into the phone.

“Tomorrow, Kevin.” Mr. Singh said as calmly as he could muster.” Then the line went dead.

Kevin slammed down the phone and took another glance at his wristwatch, which now read 3:30 AM. He computed the time in Geneva, and figured they were two hours ahead. Kevin started to pace the floor again as his frustration began to overwhelm him. With a couple of hours more, he will face the UN budget committee, Director Mcvet, and the rest of the panel. Stricken with panic, his mind went blank. Taking deep breaths, he tried to fight off the sense of helplessness. He sat himself down on the couch beside the phone, and stared at the paper, which Mr. Singh dictated. Kevin closed his eyes and wished everything will be alright. He wanted to pray but all he can manage was to say a short one for Claudine, Carolina, and Ray.

#

Geneva, Switzerland

Once he had driven through the moon-lit downtown city of Geneva, and entered the freeway, Ray felt the chill coming through the air, as the cold wind blew right on his face.

Speeding on, Ray still remembered the long drive to the apartment when he followed Mike Long from last time. After about an hour of driving, crossing the bridge, he continued on. He spotted the county sign board and exited the highway. Returning back again to this side of town he drove through the slippery narrow road of the street, as he passed by the snow-covered trees. He drove through a number of street turns, and arrived at his target destination -- back to the apartment which held Claudine and Carolina. He parked again where he had parked before, on the opposite side a few feet away from the house. He popped open his side bag, and took out his binoculars.

Ray looked through the binoculars and saw a man standing outside at the front yard, who was smoking a cigarette. He also saw a number of men inside the living room. Some of them were resting and sleeping. Ray deliberated with himself whether to surprise-attack them or do the ninja style. Over the years, he did a lot of rescue and extraction missions. On some missions, he applied a covert tactic called the silent night approach. This move, as they referred to, is so much like how a ninja approaches and overcomes the opponent one at a time. This is only applied  on special missions -- alone. Whenever he was with his eight pack team - the Classifieds, a moniker given to them by the NSA -, they apply the quick response in-and-out approach. So in this case, all alone in this rescue mission, he opted for the silent night approach.

 Without any warning, another man stepped out of the front door, and called out to the man who was smoking outside. The two men talked for a few seconds, and afterwards, the man threw his cigarette butt and stomped on it as he went back inside the house.

Through his binoculars, Ray witnessed the scene and grabbed this opportunity to make his move as he started the car and drove forward. He took a long last look at the apartment that was holding Claudine. He reached the old abandoned building where Ray parked the car in hidden view. Out of sight, he took out the balaclava inside his bag’s pocket and pulled this over his head. He took out his handgun from behind his pants, and then very slowly screwed the silencer on the barrel of his gun. He double-checked the gun’s magazine, as a force of habit, and cocked the gun. He closed his side bag then slung it over his body, and opened the car door very slowly in silence as he got out of the car.

The night was silent and eerie. A fog hung in the air, making visual a lot more difficult. Ray arrived at the narrow yard on the left side of the house, which was filled with small-cut grass. But also, the yard had a pathway that led to the backyard, which was Ray’s objective as a means of getting into the house. Ray used this path,  proceeding in silence and in darkness as he crouched down like a ninja, remaining very close to the wall of the house. And as he drew closer to the backyard, he heard noises of men coming from the house laughing.

“Sounds like a party I will crash." Ray thought to himself.

When he made it at the end of the wall, he felt his back rubbing against the rough concrete. Still hidden in total darkness, he maintained his silence as he pulled out his gun from behind his pants. Ready to shoot at all cost, Ray scanned the full view of the backyard. Only a couple of feet from him, three men were talking and having a drink on the patio table. He realized he can take out these men with minimum effort, except for the third guy who was still out of his range and angle. He scrutinized the situation then aimed his silenced gun at the targets, and took a quick and easy shot at the back of the head of the man nearest him. Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Once the man fell face down on the patio table, Ray got up, walked briskly, and exposed himself while shooting the other guy behind the head. At that instance, in panic, the third guy got up and pulled out his gun. But before he was able to shoot, Ray shot him first at close range, hitting him on the leg. Ray kicked the gun away from the hand of the man, who was lying on the ground. Ray dragged the man a few feet away from the patio.

“Where are the hostages?” Ray whispered.

The man looked at Ray with arrogance as he yelled out aloud to get the attention of the other men inside the house, but Ray smacked him on the head with the gun and shut him up.

“Don’t you mess with me, now.” Ray said as he stomped on the man’s leg, right exactly where the bullet went through.

While the man twisted in pain, Ray continued on with the interrogation.

“Are you ready to tell me now?”

“I-i-in-in-the-b-bb-bed room. Uh.. in the master bedroom.” The man replied with gasping heavy breaths.

“Where is the master bedroom?” Ray asked as he further stepped on the man’s bleeding leg.

The man screamed a little as he felt the vicious pain. Ray removed the pressure on the leg for a moment and let the man speak.

“It’s--it’s--at the end of the hallway on the left side.” He gasped for air and continued on, “The hallway is between the dining and the living room, right after you passed by the kitchen, as you enter the house.”

Ray took note of the information and continued to ask, “How many more men inside?”, while he applied more pressure again on the man’s leg.

“Oww--ah--four men are in the living room--ah--one in the dining room. And another man, Mr. Long, is in the other bedroom.” The man replied. Satisfied with the information, he stroke down the head of the man with the gun and left him unconscious.

Leaving the bodies behind, Ray holstered his gun and walked with a single purpose towards the patio. From the outside, he peered through the window and studied the layout of the kitchen inside. But he could not get the right angle to view the dining area. He stopped to think for a while, and walked to the back door a few inches away from the patio. He then tried knocking on the door a couple of times, and called out for attention so someone might open the door. Sans the familiarity of the area, and since the dining room was just near the kitchen, Ray thought that maybe he could entice the two men to come out, instead of him going in.

After a couple of times of knocking and calling out, a man started to respond: “Hey man, what’s up? Is that you, Feynman?”

“Yeah. I’m locked out.” Ray replied in a raspy voice, coughing so that his voice would not be recognized.

“Oh, sure, I’m coming. Thought you guys didn’t lock this?” The man replied as Ray kept quiet until the man reached the door.

“Hey man, this damn thing isn’t locked at all.” The man said as he rattled and opened the door.

Quite fast and efficient, in position, Ray grabbed the man behind and applied the sleeper hold, jerking the head and decapitating the man.

Ray entered the house with his gun ready. He went through the kitchen and approached the dining room. He realized that nobody’s in the area, so he holstered back his gun. Adjacent to the dining room was an opening, which Ray figured to be the way into the hallway and to the living area. Bit by bit, he walked in silence as he searched for the house’s main fuse box. A few paces from the back door, Ray found the main fuse box hanging from the kitchen wall. Ray approached this and reached for the fuse lever-handle switch, as he took out his night goggles from his side bag and wore this over his head. After putting on the night goggles, he pulled the lever down, switching off the lights and the electricity in the house, and activating a total blackout. A commotion ensued as the whole house turned pitch black, and almost all the men from the living room became helpless.

“Whoa! Do we have a blackout?” Said man 1.

“Sheesh!!” Said man 2.

“Is it only us, or the whole town or city?” Said man 3.

“Why don’t you run outside and check with the neighbors?” Said man 4.

“I’ll call the electric company right now.” Said man 2.

“I’ll go check the fuse box.” Said man 3.

“I’ll go light up a candle. Hurry up before Mr. Long wakes up!” Said man 4.

In complete silence, Ray listened to their conversations and started to move stealthily away from the fuse box, across the kitchen, and towards the living room. As Ray came into the living room, he envisioned the four men knocked against each other while they tried to accomplish their respective chores. One went outside to check with the neighbors, and another one went to get Mr. Long. In an instant, still with his night-vision goggles on, Ray became a killing machine. Using his elbow, he hit the fourth man on the side of the neck, and killed the man instantly. In the process, he knocked down the second man who fell on the floor face up, exposing his Adam’s apple. Ray took this opportunity and swiftly stepped on the man’s throat, crushing his Adam’s apple. Coming back inside the house, the third man got the shock of his life. Halfway through the door, Ray in reflex kicked the door shut and squeezed the man’s body between the doorway, cracking the head and the upper ribs of his body.

Ray reached the end of the hallway and remembered to turn left as per the information provided to him. He located the master’s bedroom and entered in total silence, moving and advancing with caution with the gun in his hand.

Ray noticed a woman sleeping on the bed through his night vision. He slowly holstered his gun behind his waist. Ray rushed up to the woman and roused her up in an extremely tender manner. The woman was surprised and with all the lights out, she panicked right away.

“Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay.” Ray said.

“Ray? Is that you? Oh my God, you found me!” Claudine said recognizing Ray’s voice.

“Yes, it’s me! I’m here to get you out.” Ray interrupted, hugging Claudine as he took off his night-goggles to show his face, when he was alerted by a loud cry that came from the center of the house:

“Hey boss! Someone turned the power off in the fuse box!”

“Okay, listen, Claudine. We need to get out of here right now. Where’s the other girl, Carolina?” Ray said as the lights went back on.

Another loud cry interrupted them that came from the house: “Oh s**t! Someone killed Feynman, Lee, and de Broglie in the living room!”

“Claudine, where’s the other girl?” Ray asked, insisting for the second time.

“Yeah, umm, the other girl, a man took her and escorted her back to his hotel downtown. I think they call him Mr. Singh or something, he’s staying right down at the Minerva. I’m sorry, that’s all I know and remember. Thank God you’re here.” Claudine replied back, as she hugged and kissed Ray.

“Yeah, don’t worry we’re going to get her. We have to go now, c’mon.” Ray said as she took Claudine’s hand and looked around the room for an exit.

"How do we get out?" Claudine asked with concern.

At this point, Ray and Claudine heard some men out on the hallway just outside the room:

"Mr. Long! Mr. Long!  There’s a problem" A voice called out knocking hard on the door.

"We have five people dead, and one badly hurt!" Another voice called out. "We need to rush Johann for medical help, now!!"

As the chaos inside the house went on while still in the master’s bedroom, Ray kicked the window pane, shattering the glass into pieces, and using the pillow to wipe away the bits and pieces of the broken glass. He picked up Claudine as they both jumped over the ledge, onto the street, and straight to his rented car. Ray turned on the ignition and drove off heading towards the open road to freedom.

While checking on the rearview mirror to see if anyone was following them, Ray drove at the city speed limits. After several minutes, Ray turned the car around to head back to the opposite direction where they had come from. A couple of minutes later, he slowed down and drove into a narrow road leading to a small cabin. Upon reaching the front of the cabin, the door of the hidden garage on the left side of the structure opened immediately, and a man with an automatic assault machine gun came out of the opened garage door.

It was Daniel. A loyal friend and Ray’s communications and intelligence officer in the Special Forces. Daniel signaled that everything was okay and went back inside the garage. Seconds later, another car pulled out of the side of the garage, and parked right beside Ray. Daniel got out, went to check if all was clear, and gave the thumbs-up to Ray. Daniel assisted Claudine out of the car, and guided her towards the door of the cabin. In the meantime, Ray gathered all his belongings that was littered inside the car, and forced everything into his duffel bag. Satisfied there’s nothing left inside that can be traced back to him, he picked up the bag then slung it over his shoulder, closed the door, and went inside the cabin.

Inside, Daniel prepared cocoa and tea for them. Wrapped in a thick blanket, Claudine was sipping chamomile tea to soothe her nerves after her agony at the hands of Mr. Long and his goons. While Daniel was gulping down the cocoa, Ray entered the cabin. Happy to be inside, he prepared to warm his body against the freezing coldness outside.

“Where is the other girl?” Daniel asked, handing a mug of cocoa to Ray.

“She wasn’t there. According to Claudine, they took her in a car with a man, and brought her to some place.” Ray answered as he reached for the mug, giving Daniel a nod of appreciation.

“So what are your plans now? We might have a collateral damage in our hands. And by the way, how well will Kevin take and handle this situation?” Daniel inquired.

Deep in thoughts, Ray played some scenarios in his mind, as if putting a complicated puzzle together, sipping his hot cocoa in silence.

Ray gazed at a distance, then finally said, “I need to go back. This will be an eye for an eye. I will trade this Mike Long for Carolina. Meantime, I need you to take care of Claudine’s departure back to the States, even if you have to go with her. Can you do that?”

Claudine interrupted, cutting Ray off, "I want to go home with you Ray, please?” Her voice shook as her body shuddered with fear. Ray approached Claudine then wrapped his arms around her shivering shoulders and assured her.

“I want to go home with you too, honey. But I owe Kevin this. I promised him that I’ll do everything I can to bring the two of you home. I love you, and I will not let anyone harm you in any way. I’m sorry for what happened. It was all very sudden and unexpected. I, myself, was caught off guard. I need to do this. You understand? Danny here will take good care of you. Do you trust me?” Ray said.

Still shivering, Claudine nodded. Ray stood up to his full height, slowly picked up his duffel bag, and said,

“For your safety, I will still use the rental. Danny, you can use the modified one but be sure to bring her home safely. Okay? Thanks, man! Notify me upon her arrival.”

“Affirmative! Take care and God speed!” Daniel nodded.

Ray walked out the door and took a long last look at Claudine. He gave her a wink expressing that everything was going to be alright. As he closed the door behind him, he jolted at the thought of going after Mike Long, which sent chills down his spine.

With a firm resolve, he got into his rented car, placed his bag beside him, and opened and took out his mobile compass to check the location of Mike Long’s residence. Ray memorized the details and returned the compass inside the bag. He took out his night scope and checked it for peripheral configuration. Satisfied that everything was in perfect order, he started the car and began his drive towards his encounter and fate with Mr. Mike Long.