Please remember to donate to Nifty, it gives so much to all of us. Any amount, large or small, is welcome in order to keep this free site available. Thank you, donations to the address below. Http://Donate.nifty.org/donate.html
Life's Illusions - 10 years on - Chapter 37
It was dark, no light penetrated into the room, he was lying on a cold hard surface, his hands and feet tied, no sound, except the occasional scurrying of tiny feet, mice, or worse, rats, no one had come, despite his shouting, he was so thirsty, his lips cracked and bleeding.
He vaguely remembered being tossed into the back of what he thought was a van, bouncing around on what seemed like a journey of only a few hundred yards, being dragged, then violently pushed, falling helplessly down steps, landing heavily on a hard floor, darkness, remembering was difficult, they must have sedated him again on the flight, he couldn't recall a landing so it made sense.
Blood was seeping from a wound on his brow, his head hurt like it had been kicked, he knew he had broken ribs, breathing was really painful, but other than falling down those steps, he had no recollection of how it happened.
He was trying to work out how long he'd been there, it seemed like days, but without light he couldn't tell time, he'd started to lapse in and out of consciousness, he knew now, he would never again see his precious Jacqueline or his babies, he was resigned, there was no escape, death was coming and it was coming quickly.
He thought of the deal he'd struck with Jacqueline, she'd fought against him, she'd cried, but in the end she'd agreed, no ransom, never, not a penny, they had an obligation to not encourage kidnapping.
He knew she would be wounded now, hurting as badly as he was, but he knew he'd been right.
In Torremolinas Leo was sitting in on a meeting with Juan, Casey and several of their Techies at Guardian's Headquarters.
Juan was speaking.
"Okay, so we have him pinpointed, we've located where the plane landed, it's a ranch in the Mid West, just outside Chicago, they must think they're being clever, there's a converted double wide barn, the plane is concealed inside, they even have aviation fuel tanks, we know everything about them, they're nasty evil vermin, we have three spotters watching their every move".
One of the young techies, Rick, jumped in.
I've got conversations, our spotters are good, they need to be rewarded when this is over, we can listen in to conversation in all of the ground floor rooms, what we're hearing is not good, we were right, they plan on eliminating Woody once the drop is made, that's if he lasts that long, they don't think he will, there are eight on site plus Woody, six are known mercenaries, wanted in a host of countries, two are newbies, looks like the newbies have been pulled in to make up the numbers
Juan took over.
I've got my team on the ground, twenty four all time served, plus one, they are our best, you know most of them Uncle Leo, you've worked with several of them Casey, two are field trained qualified medics, Josef is the plus one, he'll be leading the assault, don't anyone question it, you all know Josef, if the principal warrants it he'll always be on site, in this case nothing was going to stop him, they're about five miles east of the target, they should be in place exactly two hours from now, no one will disturb us, we've been given the green light to deal from the highest possible level, only an hour ago I was speaking off the record directly with our President, he offered Navy Seals if we needed them, I declined his kind offer".
Juan stopped for a moment as chatter came in from the spotters on site, then continued.
"We go in, neutralise the vermin, extract Woody, clean up afterwards, we leave absolutely no indication of what happened, deposit the vermin in whichever foreign country is offering the worst penalty, and the powers that be will not intervene, in fact they will not even acknowledge anything happened".
He paused expecting Leo to question him, when it didn't come he continued.
They will be expecting a quiet night before the money drop, they're in for a surprise, we strike at 2300hrs their time".
Rick continued.
"Woody is in a cellar under the main house, there are two entrances, only one is viable, not ideal, it's at the side, partly hidden, a really small door, but when we blow the door our guys remain protected, the other entrance is larger but its position is directly under the front porch, it's too open, it would leave our guys exposed, no matter, we can blow the front entry from the inside once we've eliminated the vermin and bring Woody out that way".
Leo asked the question Juan had been expecting.
"Why are we rushing in?, the money drop isn't until tomorrow, what's prompting you to strike tonight?".
Juan looked at Leo then explained.
"What I say now is only for inside this room, it cannot get out, it would upset too many people, Uncle Woody's been in that cellar six days that we know of, possibly a day or so longer, no one has been near him in that time, he's had no water or food, he's not moving, at first he was, but all movement stopped nearly twenty four hours ago, we suspect he's severely dehydrated, injured, possibly in a coma by now, there is still a heat source, so we know at this point he's alive, but we're guessing he's barely alive, the heat source is fading, another twenty four hours would probably see him die, we can't wait for the ransom drop, several members are quite rightly pushing us to wait, Josef and I have listened to the arguments, but we've over ruled them, we go in tonight, we extract Uncle Woody, we're bringing him home".
Leo just nodded, to Juan it was like a sign from God, Leo approved.
When it was all over Leo would tell them, this was why he wanted them, for decisions like this, for expert handling, for positive outcomes, he hadn't wanted second best, someone who couldn't make, and execute a decision, he wanted the best, and without doubt, they were it.
In Montclair Jacqueline was in their bedroom suite, not having left it in a while, he'd been gone nine days, she refused to entertain the idea he might not be coming back, looking around, he was here, his papers on the table, pen still resting where he'd left it, next to the armchair he loved, the chunky mahogany case which held his cuff links sitting on the dresser, his dressing gown, the one she'd been burying her face in periodically, inhaling deeply, smelling his cologne, the tears constantly rolling down her cheeks.
Downstairs, in the salon, the family waited, Lenny, Roslyn, Paul and Daniel, along with Pete, Jaque and their children, JJ, Marcel and Fleur, they'd all tried to get Jacqueline to come downstairs without success, she didn't seem to hear them, she was absorbed completely in her own world, looking constantly around their suite, spotting something of Woody's and moving to it, reaching out, stroking it.
No one had slept in days, other than curling up on sofas and chairs in the salon.
Around ten in the evening Beth arrived at Chateau Montclair with Dave and their children, she informed them they weren't the only ones defying Leo's orders to not travel.
"Billy, Jay and Jolly with their tribe have just landed in Nice, they're on the way here, I couldn't stay at home, I'm going crazy, he's my baby brother".
In New York PJ was staring out over Central Park, Josh and Brian, along with Billy and Julia Fielding had not left him since the day they'd learned of Woody's kidnapping.
PJ was broken, convinced it was his fault Woody had been taken, stuck here in New York, with Lenny in Montclair, he felt so alone, so stupid, so sad, so frightened, his baby boy was out there somewhere, at the mercy of God knows who, all he could do was listen and pray.
They all knew Woody's policy on dealing with kidnappers, he had always been vocal on the subject, don't deal, don't give them credibility, defy them, tell them to do their damnedest.
That was easy when it wasn't your boy, your baby.
It had been Pierre who had called PJ, knowing Woody's stance he had been expecting a rebuff.
"Uncle it's Pierre, I wanted you to know the boys are doing everything possible to bring him home, if anyone can do it, it's them".
PJ thanked Pierre for his kind words but other than that his mind wasn't focusing, so Pierre continued.
"Uncle I hate to do this but we need to be prepared for every eventuality, the ransom demand, Uncle Woody expressly forbade the payment of a ransom, Aunt Jacqueline won't discuss it, but I wanted to speak to you, he's your son, do you want to make the funds available, I stress it would be just in case they're needed, it's your choice?".
PJ didn't need to think, he blurted the words out.
"Yes, I'll have it ready, I don't care who it upsets, I want my boy back, if it's at all possible, nothing else matters".
Pierre felt he needed to explain.
"You need to understand Uncle, if it's needed it will be an electronic transfer, once it's in motion there's virtually no way of recovering it, my guess would be that inside the first twenty minutes it will have been transferred between around fifty or possibly one hundred accounts around the world until we lose track of it, you may lose it altogether".
PJ appreciated the way Pierre was trying to be gentle with the facts.
"Thank you Pierre for explaining, but it wouldn't matter, either way, if Woody comes home, I don't care, if Woody never comes home all the money in the world wouldn't have any appeal for me".
Coming off the call, Pierre immediately sent an email to Juan, the ransom was available, one hundred million dollars.
It meant they could distract Woody's kidnappers, keep them less focused, they would each be mentally counting their share, planning what they would spend it on, and it might make them a little more concerned about Woody's wellbeing, the later was a long shot but worth a try.
Billy, along with Jay, Jolly and their three boys arrived at Montclair a little after midnight, they were a somber group and met an equally sombre family group.
The youngsters had been sent off to bed, the adults sat in the salon, occasionally picking at the snacks constantly refreshed by the Chateaus household staff who also hadn't slept for days, and were prone to burst into tears without warning, only to be hugged and cuddled by whomever was nearest, for most of the staff Woody was as much their parent as he were Roslyn, Paul or Daniels, and his absence was just as painful for them.
At around two in the morning Jacqueline appeared in the salon.
"I'm sorry, Billy, Jolly, Jay, I didn't welcome you, I've been a little preoccupied, make yourselves at home, you know the format here, I just need company for the next few hours, can I sit with you?".
In truth, Jacqueline was the only person outside of Guardian's Headquarters who knew what was about to happen, and what it could mean for not just Woody, but for so many others.
Earlier in the evening Juan and Leo had disagreed badly, Leo had wanted to tell key members of the family of their plans.
Juan had been adamant, no one, especially not family, could be allowed to know of their plans, it was crucial to their prospects of success, the slightest slip, a wrong word in a telephone conversation, they had no idea who might be watching them, monitoring the whole family, listening to what was said, just as they were monitoring traffic into the kidnappers.
Josef had been called into the discussion whilst his team made their way toward the target.
As a compromise it was agreed Pierre would contact Jacqueline, no one else, he would impress on her the importance of secrecy, he would give her a key phrase, one which would tell her the outcome of their mission.
Jacqueline heard it but for a few moments she dismissed it, it would be family, or friends, wanting to express their concerns, she didn't need empty platitudes, she needed Woody.
It continued to ring, for a few minutes each time, then it would ring again.
Finally she was irritated by the ringing.
"What !!!, don't you understand I don't want platitudes, I don't need them, I want my Woody, if you can't give me that, then leave me alone".
What Jacqueline heard in reply stopped her world for a moment.
"Aunt Jacqueline, it's Pierre, I hope in the next few hours we can give you what you and all of the family crave, I can't tell you too much, but we're going in, at around eleven pm their time, so in about three hours, someone will call you as soon as possible after that with a code phrase, if we're successful the phrase will be, 'The parcel is in the air', if things go wrong the phrase will be, 'Regrets', you cannot tell anyone what I've just told you, do you understand?".
It took Jacqueline a few moments to understand and respond.
"Pierre, thank you, I understand, you have my word, I'll say nothing, please god let you be successful child".
No more words were exchanged, the call ended, but Jacqueline was lifted, for the first time in nine days she could actually hope.
It was ten fifteen, they'd made good time, the plan was clear, three at the side entrance to the cellar, they would be the two medics and an explosives expert, along the sides of the ranch house there were six windows, three each on the front and the side away from the cellar, there would be three members at each window leaving three to simultaneously blow the front door.
At eleven pm precisely, had there been anyone within a mile of the house they would have been stunned, for the people inside the house it was like the end of the world had come early.
The medics were shielded as the side door to the cellar left its mountings and cannoned outward leaving the entry clear, no sooner had the smoke cleared than they were inside.
At the same time, the windows on each elevation and the front door all suffered the same fate.
It was over in moments, the mercenaries overpowered without any fatalities.
In the cellar, Woody was oblivious to the rescue mission, he'd long ago slipped into a coma, the medics quickly went to work on him.
By the time Josef descended the cellar steps there were several drips feeding vital fluids into Woody's lifeless body, one medic was tending him, the other had gone up into the farmhouse to render the mercenaries senseless for several hours.
By the time the drugs wore off they would be waking up in a foreign country, one which had offered considerable payment to have them where they could be tried for their past atrocities, Josef had declined the offer of payment, thanking the host country for taking them.
Josef leaned over the medic speaking into his mic.
"The bird is two minutes out, will he be ready to go?".
The medic turned to Josef.
"He's good to go, I'll continue working once we're airborne, he's a lot worse than we expected, has anyone alerted Northwestern Memorial?".
Josef replied.
"No, we couldn't before we'd secured the site, you do it, you're the one with the specialist medical knowledge anyway, the billing reference is Guardian 13755, password Rosa".
The medic nodded and returned to tending Woody as they heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter landing.
Josef tapped the medic on the shoulder to get his attention above the noise of the rotors.
"You stay with him until your relief shows up, he is not to be out of your sight, no exceptions, the relief shouldn't be too far behind you, I'll be there as soon as I can".
Hearing a shout from the explosives guy they both crouched down over Woody, shielding him from the explosion which took out the double width cellar doors under the front porch, leaving a large opening and giving a clear view of the helicopter waiting to whisk them to the hospital.
Josef spoke into his mic again.
"All parties, all parties, the parcel is coming out, stand by, be vigilant".
In minutes Woody was loaded into the helicopter, they were on their way.
Josef switched channels on his headset.
"Control, connect me to Prime one".
Prime one was their code for Jacqueline.
There was no reply, something Josef and Juan had implemented as soon as they took charge, the cutting out of useless chatter, the line simply took on a dial tone, then a ring tone, it rang for only two rings before a sobbing voice answered, Josef spoke the few words necessary".
"The parcel is in the air".
Josef heard the sobbing as he cut the call.
His second call was again to control.
"Control, pass a message to one, three and four, parcel is in the air, destination as planned, status bad but stable, okay to inform".
Within minutes two secure phones started ringing, one in New York, the other at The Inn in Montclair.
In New York it was PJ's secure line fitted with scrambling technology that rang.
PJ was in mid conversation with Josh when his secure line started ringing, he almost knocked Josh out of the way to get to it.
"PJ Thorn who is this".
What he heard left him slumped and crying.
"It's Leo PJ, we have him, he's in a bad way but stable, he's in the air as we speak heading for Northwestern Memorial in Chicago, trust us a little longer PJ, I forbid you to travel for the next twelve hours, then you're free to go, don't repeat this information over any telephone system, someone may be listening in, if you need to speak to Lenny use the secure number I gave you a while ago, that number will connect to a friend who will arrange a conversation, don't call it for the next couple of hours, they are getting a call similar to this one right now and they'll be busy, speak soon my friend".
PJ hadn't said a word since answering the call, he replaced the receiver as the others in the room just stared at him.
"They have him, he's in a bad way but stable, he's being airlifted to the hospital now".
At the same time as PJ got his call, a secure phone at The Inn in Montclair started ringing, a sound which caused Aly to drop his coffee mug, shattering it on the stone floor, he raced to his study, lunging for the handset.
"Pierre is that you?".
He was right, instinct told him it would be his son.
"Yes Poppa, it's good news, we have Uncle Woody, he's in a bad way but stable, he's in the air as we speak on his way to Northwestern Memorial in Chicago, once the scene is cleaned Josef will follow and stay with him until Aunt Jacqueline arrives, we need you to go to Chateau Montclair and brief the family, Aunt Jacqueline got a message telling her we have him but that's all, they are forbidden from traveling for the next twelve hours, after that they're free to go, stress that nothing can be said over a normal telephone line, if Aunt Lenny wants to speak to Uncle PJ she must come to you to use the secure line, I have to go now Poppa, I love you all".
Aly sighed loudly as Pierre cut the call, from behind him came a gabble of voices, Bo and Piers wanting to know what had happened, he replaced the receiver and said".
"Josef has him, he's in a bad way but he's on his way to Northwestern Memorial in Chicago right now, I have to go out to the Chateau, I need to brief the family, come with me we can talk in the car".
As Aly drew up at the Chateau it was clear there was a lot of activity, things were being thrown clumsily into cars, family members were running in and out of the Chateau.
Aly got out of their car and spoke to the chauffeurs.
"Take all of these cars back to the garage, no one is going anywhere tonight, do it now".
As the cars pulled away from the main entrance Jacqueline came out.
"Where are they going, we need to get to Nice now?".
Aly took her by the shoulders.
"Look at me Jacqueline, you cannot travel tonight, tomorrow after midday yes but not now, it's for Woody's safety, be strong Jacqueline, I'll explain everything inside".
She didn't resist, she just looked him in the eyes.
"Promise me he's alive Aly and I'll do what you say".
Aly hugged her to him whispering.
"Pierre called me ten minutes ago, he's alive, he's in a bad way, but he's alive, Josef will be with him until you arrive, but no one can travel before tomorrow, it might alert people to his whereabouts and right now he doesn't need that happening, trust me Jacqueline, I want to be there just as much as you do, I was born only a moment after him, he's been my big brother all my life, I'd willingly give up my life for him, I love him like you do, unconditionally, and I'll be flying with you tomorrow".
And so they waited, they talked, they cried, the children came downstairs, woken by all the noise, and they cried too, Uncle Woody was saved, but they couldn't know could they, about Life's Illusions.
Over Chicago, in the helicopter transporting Woody, there went out an emergency call.
"Northwestern Memorial this is Guardian Medi Vac Flight, Golf, Victor, one niner, declaring a medical emergency, I repeat, medical emergency, Code Blue, Code Blue, patient has suffered a catastrophic cardiac failure, resuscitation is ongoing with negative response, I repeat, negative response, we are on final approach, your Helipad is in sight, requesting crash trauma team on standby for arrival, ETA, three minutes to wheels down".
TBC ARB Allan
Comments are welcome to cfgw2000@aol.com.
Thank you for giving me your time, enjoy.