Chapter 4: The wrong target
Chapter TextBack at US Nigeria HQ - operation debrief
"What the hell is going on here Mandy? What's with the Intel?" Jason raises his voice as he's pacing back and forward
"Jason ...I'm working on ..."
Davis interrupts "errrm... I think you'll need to see this!... Chat window opened up and posted this before going dark again We have the unique package. Target secured'" Davis puts the message on the main screen
Jason furrows his eyes staring at it "So what does that mean? What?...they think they still have their target?"
Davis shrugs "I don't know.." she's as confused as him "...I know it doesn't make any sense but its the only explanation I can see. According to that posting they seem to think they still have their target" she frowns at Mandy and looks at Jason
"So you think that they think Lieutenant Lewis is Dubois?" Clay can't get his head around what's happened
Jason looks at Mandy "Anything?" He waits.
She shakes her head "No sorry I've got no idea at the moment I'm still running some intel"
"Jesus! Nothing?" he impatiently clicks his fingers at Davis "Play back that footage from the hotel CCTV"
"I can but its really poor quality we couldn't make much out on it" Davis warns him
"Yeah I know but its the only thing we have so put it on screen again" he sits forward studying it closer this time "and again"
"Jason..." Mandy frowns
"I said again!" he stares harder at it. The picture is really poor quality like she said but he keeps re-watching as the scene plays out again and again "Look!...Stop there!...Reagan! Can you see it?...Oh my god...how did we miss that?"
He looks at Mandy and Davis "The shot... came from him. LOOK...handgun" Jason points his finger on the monitor screen "he makes the shot to Dubois, then gets in the 4x4 with the others"
Davis shakes her head "I'm still confused... why would he shoot her?..I mean he knew who she was" she frowns "He's been doing security for her a few weeks now. How can they still think they have their target? If he's in on it he knows they have the wrong one"
Everyone else is still studying the playback they're all confused by what they're watching.
Mandy's starts rechecking all her intel files."None of this makes any sense. Reagan was brought in from Washington for this, they would have checked him out"
Jason sits back in the chair with his hands behind his head, trying to think."You're right it doesn't make any sense"
The screen lights up with the playback again. The 4 security guards putting a hood over C.J before shoving her her into the waiting car and Brent Reagan, shooting the UN aid ambassador
"Someone like him wouldn't' make that kind of mistake at that close quarters." he looks at Davis "Replay it again. What the hell are we missing here?"
Davis replays the tape and puts the chat room message up on the other main screen.
"We have the unique package target secured" Ray keeps reading it over and over rubbing his beard in frustration "You're right what are we missing? What have we missed?" He's thinking it over "there must be something?... something that explains this"
Clay's pacing now "So...we have no idea where she is!...Let alone why they would have taken her" He shakes his head "so what's gonna happen when they realise they have the wrong target?...SHIT!" he can't think. "We should be out there trying to find her. Not sitting here!"
He's sweating he rubs his hands through his hair and squats down against the wall. He takes some deep breathes "stay calm!"
"Hey ... What's your problem" Jason frowns at Clay "What?...Don't you think we're doing what we can? Don't you think we wanna find her? if that's what you think you couldn't be more wrong but it's no good getting out there when we don't know where she is!"
Ray's who's been sitting in quiet contemplation looks round at them "alright.. alright!... LISTEN!" he looks at them both as he breaks up the heated discussion.
He's still rubbing his chin thinking as everyone looks round at him. He scratches his head "OK I'm not sure how this might sound ..so bear with it!" he pauses and looks at Jason
"at this moment we've got nothing so... just spit it out Ray"
"Okay ...What if Dubois wasn't the target?" he rubs his chin again in frustration. Clay and Jason both frown at him "yeah I know... it doesn't make sense... but what if she was bait?"
"What?" Jason sits up in his chair "I'm confused. Dubois? ...Bait for what?" he frowns "OK sorry! look ...Carry on. I'm listening"
"For us... Well not us... but for C.J" he stops to think about what he's saying "What if C.J was the target?" he looks at Jason and shrugs. "I mean if you consider everything ... You know" he raises his eyes at Jason "she might be considered a High value target right?"
he's waiting for a reaction from Jason "then you know...they put her on a live stream and do...well you know what I mean" he stops short of saying what "well that might get some unknown crazies their name on the map! Do you get what I'm saying?"
Blackburn's listening to Ray's theory he nods and so does Jason
"Yeah... you might have something there Ray!" Jason's still thinking
Clay's now confused "What? I don't get it!... You're thinking because she's like ...a female military Officer? because of her Rank? but they could pick any military personnel off anywhere! I don't understand" he frowns at Ray waiting for a reaction.
Ray looks away. Clay then looks to Jason for answers but he just sits silent
"So why would they need to bait her? I mean why here now? I'm sorry I don't get it!... What was the point of her as a target?"
No on seems to be answering his question "I mean come on guys ... they had a high profile target right there!" he points at the screen "and they just killed her!"
Ray rubs his beard then says out loud what only some in the room know "Yeah thing is they'd need to bait us if they wanted that specific target!" Ray points at the chat screen message "it says 'unique target'" he pauses and sighs "Come on Jason!..you now she's more than just standard military personnel. Am I Right?"
Jason nods.
Blackburn folds his arms."SHIT! yeah.. I think Ray's hit the nail on the head!"
"SHIT! why didn't we pick this up Mandy"
She shakes her head "I never even thought about it .. but yeah I think he might be right"
Ray bites his lip "Look if this is her family rep it would make her unique in someones eyes, Right?"
Jason, Mandy and Blackburn stop what they're doing and look at each other.
Jason removes his hat and rubs his head before replacing it "SHIT! you're right Ray" He sits up as he continues to nod at the realization sinking in on him.
He looks at Blackburn and Mandy "You know you're gonna need to make a call?"
Blackburn closes his eyes and takes a deep breath."Yeah... SHIT that's all I need!"
Clay and Davis look at each other then at Sonny who offers them nothing in a way of explanation. He's still sitting in same position as if nothing has happened sucking on his tooth pick
Clay breaks the silence "OK that's it ...I'm still confused. What the HELL is going on here?" he gets the feeling the others know something he doesn't
Sonny laughs as Clay's frustration "oh no!... Blondie here's confused " he takes the tooth pick out and sits up "well let me enlighten you shall I?"
"Yeah Please!... do!"
"While you been making those puppy dog eyes at her did she forget to tell you who her Daddy is?"
Clay frowns even more confused as Sonny takes a big long sigh
"Well...now say them little terrorist nut jobs they get themselves a US Admirals daughter!" he pauses "That's ummm like an ultimate pokemon in the military pokedeck so to speak" he laughs "...and then they make themselves a little home movie" he looks at Clay to see if he understanding him
"They do all... kinda nasty little things to her and stick it on that there internet. Post it all over the world to their little buddies" he makes some hand gestures " you always telling me sharing is caring" he smiles. Clay still frowns at him " Now... don't you think that might just get their little friendship group some attention real quick?" He stops and throws his toothpick in the bin
"Wait what did you say?... This still makes no sense!"
Davis shakes her head. She's put it together before Clay can register. "Wait! WHAT?... Admiral Roger Lewis is CJ's father?...oh my god!" Davis looks round every one gauging their reactions
Jason, Blackburn and Mandy look up at Davis. "Woahh!" she lets out a big sigh "Well Hell!... that might make her a bit more of a target"
"C.J's Father is Admiral Lewis?" Clay sits back in shock. He's trying to understand what he's hearing, thinking to himself about when he met her father at the restaurant. No wonder she insisted on topics of conversation to avoid. He looks round the room. It's only Ray who nods at him confirming everything
The room has now gone quiet. Assessing and digesting the situation.
Jason, Mandy and Blackburn sit back. There's a hushed sigh from all of them.
Clay and Davis look at each other.
Mandy's rapidly thinking "OK.. I've been thinking about this, its not that straight forward. It this is true then it possibly means there's been a high level breach of security here"
Jason and Blackburn both frown at her
"How so?" Jason's confused
"Well from memory..." she raises her eyebrows "...the information about their family connection is Classified. I mean only either very very close people had that information or someone who has that amount of security clearance required to look at their files. I mean... they've both always been at pains to keep it a secret so ...that means its most likely someone leaked that information" she looks at Jason "and also ..." she sighs "to get her to the right location?... at the right time? That takes some pretty big maneuvers to pull that off..I mean she wasn't even meant to be on this OP!
Jason sits upright in his seat listening
"I mean seems coincidence she's here then her OP with Delta suddenly gets compromised? and...No one else is given Green lit on it? when its an already established package?" she shakes her head "how often does that happen? then someone puts her name forward for this...?"
"Yeah what was the chances of her being given this OP out of nowhere like this? Doesn't happen!" Jason bites his lip while he's thinking " I asked her if she pulled strings but maybe someone else did?" Jason frowns "Mandy you need to find out who pulled that op and who signed off on her for this!"
"Okay!" she nods "I'll see what I can come up with... but this kind of Classified ...it goes pretty high up!"
Davis moves round next to Sonny.
She puts her hand to her mouth and whispers quietly under her breath "Doesn't seem that much of a classified secret to me, most of this room seem to know it"
Sonny raises his eyebrows. He looks round then leans towards Davis pulling his hat down "Well it ain't come from this room that's for sure!"
"No that's not what I meant, Just... that if its that classified how come this room seems to know it?"
"This room..." he lowers his tone to a whisper "only knows it ...cos of what went on with her and Jason...it got real ugly...the old man had to pull Rank in the end...to keep both their careers" he looks up making sure no one's listening "he tore a hellava strip off Jason at the time in front of the team. Wasn't pretty that's for sure but ...that's when we found out who he was... but that's strictly between you and me,Davis! You understand?"
She nods "Oh my god!... her and Jason?...seriously" Davis looks round "what while he was still with ..."
"ummm hmmm!... he was gonna leave home for her" he looks up again and notices Ray staring at them shaking his head.
Sonny Coughs realising Ray knows what they're talking about and so he stops "look...errrr ... I'll fill ya in laters .. " he winks
"Okay!" she looks up at Ray too.
Clay is finally getting up to speed. "wait the English guy!... There was errmm .. an English guy in the Bar a few weeks back" he mumbles making no sense to anyone except himself "He might have known the connection. He was errrm... in a group they were making a scene, harassing her errmm ...he made a comment about Daddy saving her? I thought he was talking about me at the time. They'd been drinking so nothing was making much sense but I was suspicious of what they were up to outside" Clay's trying to remember back to that first night he met her.
"You were in a bar with her? "Jason questions."That's an interesting NEW fact there Spenser?"
Ray darts a worried look to Sonny
As Jason folds his arms and stares, Clay starts to flounder in his explanation "errrm...No I wasn't with errrm...her, she was there and I was there I... errrmm... didn't know who she was till recently, but there was an incident I stepped in!...It was nothing" he tries to deflect Jason's attention "I just remember his accent... and the comment. It errrm... seemed weird at the time but it was a nothing incident and I didn't...errr... think anything of it as they'd all been drinking." he looks at Ray to help him out but Ray just shakes his head.
Blackburn looks at the screens again "OK looks like I am gonna have to make that call then"
Mandy looks at Blackburn "I don't envy you that one!" she sighs "Never a good thing having to call the Admiralty office. You sure you don't mind?" she frowns secretly hoping he won't hand it over to her "not that I really wanna call Admiral Lewis and tell him we've lost his daughter to unknown terrorists and that I have no information to give him at this time!"
"No!" Blackburn sighs "I think it'll be better coming from me?...Can't pretend to say I relish it though" he heads out the door
"Eric Wait! ...best make sure you speak to the Admiral direct. Don't leave messages"
"Okay?"
"If this is a leak, like we think, then we need to keep any information restricted"
"Yeah Good idea!" he nods in agreement.
" Oh! and of course ..." she sighs " tell him I'm working on it!" she raises her eyebrows
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
After some time Blackburn returns.
"Right heads up team. It's time too pull your socks up, smarten up. We under the microscope now. I don't want us giving them any reason to look at us any more than they have to" he looks directly at Sonny
Sonny looks unhappy "I tell ya that woman gives me a headache. She brings nothing but trouble. Now she got Cake eaters looking at us!" he shakes his head taking the toothpick out of his mouth and tossing it in the bin again "Even when she's not even here she's a pain in the ass" he pulls a face " Lordy lordy I hope them terrorists know what they've taken on" he sighs
Ray has to laugh at Sonny's thinking.
Davis rushes into the room "Guys you need to see" she puts the monitors on " CNN are running a video that just got posted in the chat group we're monitoring. It;s the body of one of their journalists it turned up, beheaded. It was found abandoned at an aid camp south east Nigerian capital. A new terror group making name for itself NFJ Nigerian fighters for Jihad " she pauses "And..." she pauses "our chat room just came back online "
"Get it on screen Davis"
Davis brings the chat room screen up on the main monitor. The other monitor is running the CNN coverage.
The monitor now displays the "MESSAGE: 'target now in our possession. Transfer is awaiting instruction' Clay's translating the Arabic as its typed
"Wait what?" he's reading "they've sold her?" he has this deep frown on his faced "No sorry errrm ...that's the direct translation... but I think they're waiting a money transfer"
Mandy looks at him "OK! that's good ...errrm... I didn't mean good but... ermm if Money's involved there has to be a paper trail and we'll find it. This has to have been organized! It's a not random terrorist kidnap"
"Any news on the tracker?" Blackburn asks Davis
" Nothing concrete we we got a weak signal at one point leaving the city but at the moment...Nothing .. sorry" she shakes her head "I keep trying to locate it. we could do with it latching on to a wifi signal "
"That Brent guy if he really knows who she is, he's gotta know she'll have one?" Jason shakes his head worried. "Being ex Special forces, he's gonna check for it!"
"Jason.." Blackburn tries to reassure him "let's just assume that she still has it!"
"Anymore on him?" he looks at Mandy. She shakes her head "Dammit!... SHIT! she said something was off with him. I should've pulled her then. Should've trusted her instinct" Jason's starting to feel the pressure aside from any feelings for C.J and some guilt over what happened in the bathroom before she left, not having anything to go on and not being out there is getting to him.
"I'm just doing a a deep background check "
"Do it faster then " he snaps at Davis "every minute here counts"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Briefing Room - 15hrs Later
They're still working on intel but still have nothing when the door to the briefing room swings open.
Everyone stands to attention.
"Admiral Lewis. Sir! " Blackburn is surprised by the unannounced arrival. "errrr Sir... Good afternoon I errrm... didn't realise you would be attending in person?"
Blackburn and the rest of Bravo team look at each other. Blackburn looks at Davis he's annoyed no one has given him a heads up
"No I can see that" he looks at the casual surprised looks on their faces.
Admiral Lewis takes the chair Jason was sitting in and sits down " So..."
"So ummm Sir ... we can bring you up to speed on what we have" Blackburn snapping his fingers at Davis
"No need Davis here... as per my request has kept me in the loop during my flight here"
"errrm... OK!.. Sir if you had just let me know you were attending I could have personally kept you up to date"
"Commander... The killing of a UN commissioner.. That is now a TOP priority. It's been flagged at Command HQ. I need this cleared up ASAP and so... to ensure it's done swiftly I will be on site to oversee it."
"Yes Sir!"
Jason and Blackburn look at each they know that's not normal protocol but they guess that's the official line he's using for his personal attention to this situation.
Davis looks a little guilty that she kept quiet but she'd been contacted directly by the Admirals office and told to say nothing.
"What was she supposed to do?" she quietly mouths to Sonny who squints at her as if she was a traitor. She shrugs her shoulders she "had no choice"
Clay doesn't know where to look. This is the same man he sat at the dinner table with lying. Telling him he was a Gym instructor Hows he gonna now explain that to the man in front of him in full naval uniform. He wants the ground to swallow him up. He keeps trying to avert looking at him
"You!" the Admiral points at Clay
"SHIT"
"I know you?"
"No sir I don't think so?" Clay squirms. What can he say? he can't say, yes we had dinner that would open a whole can of worms but here he is now lying to an officer, again!
Jason and Blackburn look round
"We've met No?"
"No sir I would remember" Clay swallows hard "oh god! this is not good" he still tries not to look at him.
Jason is suspicious that something is not right but seeing how uncomfortable Clay looks Jason heads off the question
"No Sir Spenser is new to BRAVO last time you were here he wasn't"
The Admiral doesn't take his eyes off of Clay. "Master Chief ..."
Jason closes his eyes "Oh Shit
he continues with his back to Jason "No!... you're right he wasn't but you unfortunately were!" he turns the chair to face him and looks him up and down "and by some miracle of chance you still are!" he sneers at Jason.
"Commander by the looks of some of you team We need to improve some standards. Perhaps starting with uniform?" he looks at Jason's T-shirt and untidy dress sense.
"errrm Yes Sir" Blackburn frowns at Jason "I'm right on it, Sir!"
the Admirals dislike of Jason is evident to everyone "I believe last time I saw you Master Chief Hayes... we had to have words, did we not? lets hope that doesn't become a habit" He stands up and Jason stands to attention. "Yes Sir I remember"
Sonny and Ray swallow hard they also remember the words when the Admiral spoke to Jason it wasn't good.
"Sir" Blackburn tries to deflect the awkwardness of the situation "Coffee? Sir."
Admiral Lewis nods "Good idea Commander...I'm errr...sure the Master Chief can manage that without too many problems?"
"Happily, Sir" Jason bites his tongue "I could do with the air"
Ray and sonny leave with him "we'll come with you" officers make Sonny uncomfortable
"2 sugars" the Admiral snaps
Jason purses his lips and grinds his teeth. Ray puts his hand on Jason's back
"Yes sir " Ray replies on Jason's behalf "come on Man keep it together" he whispers to Jason
Clay feels awkward left alone with the Admiral as Blackburn and Davis leave the room to gather some further data.
"so Mr Spenser...We haven't met?" the Admiral stands up from the desk he'd been sitting on
"Sir I …"
"Yes, Yes... I know ...you couldn't say anything." He lets out a long tired sigh while he pacing the room "The Lieutenant, as you will find, has a habit of creating chaos where this team is concerned" he stops in front of Clay looking him up and down "this probably doesn't have a great outcome what ever way we go about it"
"No Sir"
"I of course can't condone this but... " he pauses watching Clay's reaction "You care about my daughter?"
Clay swallows hard before answering "Yes Sir"
"That's good then! because right now, Mr Spenser, there are 11, probably very scared women out there, in some god forsaken hell hole and the important thing is getting them home to their loved ones. Do you agree?"
"Yes Sir"
"Then you''ll do everything to ensure they ALL get brought back? Are we clear?"
Clay bites his bottom lip and nods his head "understood Sir"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Jason enters the room with the coffees but the Admiral pushes past him.
"Master Chief I'm authorising this operation. As of now this is a hostage rescue mission and I've made clear to Mr Spenser failure of this operation is not an option. Your Team, need to ensure you bring all of those women home at any cost. ALL of them you understand me?"
"Yes Sir" Jason gulps. He frowns hard at Clay as the Admiral walks out of the door
They both let out a long sigh.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Davis has a trace on the tracker it blipped on her screen. "She's not given it up" Davis smiles to herself
"Her tracker I've got it. getting a location now" she shouts across the room grabbing everyone's attention
"OK she still got it that's good" Blackburn looks at Jason. "it must mean they don't know she has it" Blackburn answers Jason silence.
"Okay! Heads up Team... This information needs to stay in this room" Blackburn's thinking about that potential leak "everything stays with Bravo for now! Nothing do you hear, nothing leaves this room without my authorisation"
The chat room page lights up and video starts to upload.
"Sir!" Davis shouts "you need to see this!"
Blackburn spins round "Oh SHIT!" he puts his hand to his mouth "Oh no!...Dear god"
the video comes on screen of the 10 women hostages plus one at the front. Tied and blindfolded its C.J she looks badly bruised and bloodied.
"Oh God!" Clay's heart sinks he puts his hands on his head "What are they going to do?" He's standing up straight and holds his breath putting his hand on his mouth "Oh God! ..they're gonna kill her?" he panics.
Jason gulps he's thinking the same thing. "Oh SHIT! ... NO!" He's seen enough of these internet postings to know how these things usually end." Jeez..." he closes his eyes
The whole room goes quiet and they all hold their breath.
The video plays as the terrorist guard takes the metal pole he's holding and strikes across C.J's ribs and back. She doubles over and falls to her knees.
They pick her up and keep repeating again and again for the camera.
The Command room hasn't moved. Everyone is holding their breath.
Finally Jason speaks "Switch it off!... That's enough" Jason finally cracks he rubs his hands through his hair then rests them on his hips. He feels sick
Clay grinds his teeth and stares at the screen his fear and anger are rising. Ray prays resting his chin in his hand. Sonny shakes his head looks down closing his eyes. Brock looks at Trent. There's total silence in the room.
"Lordy lord" Sonny lets out a deep sigh as he looks up at Jason. He shuffles in his chair. Even as much as he dislikes C.J, and the trouble he see's her bring "SHIT Man!...I can't look at that!"
Davis has been working on the location "Her tracker! It's just pinged again must have been when they moved her to take that video and its used their upload connection allowed it to connect"
"Do we have the Location?" Blackburn asks
"Yes Sir! Already on it!" she taps on the computer "location Co ordinates are on screen"
Jason stands up. "Let's get geared up! Time to go" Jason doesn't take his eyes off the paused video screen "let's hope she's still alive when we get there!"
Clay hasn't moved. Sonny pushes him out the door "Hey Ken, snap out of it!..Its time to pack up. We need to go bring Barbie home"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Next Chapter
(sorry didnt know how to insert one after)
RESCUE OPERATION
The tracker co ordinates have them headed to a remote farm location that was at one point used for a drugs operation.
It has one road in and is hidden in dense jungle.
Bravo are loaded and ready to go. They halo in under darkness and start the trek to the farm on foot.
When they arrive on site they manage to locate all of the women. They're huddled together in a main farm Shed but there's no sign of C.J.
"SHIT!...they must be holding her somewhere else" Jason's still hoping after the video that she's still alive
A truck is sat empty beside the shed. "We'll use that to get them out load em up!"
They load the women quietly on to the truck.
Some of the backup team is tasked with driving it away."It's OK! Just stay quiet and we'll get you all out alive"
"OK!... as soon as we start that truck this place is gonna light up. So... we need to find C.J first OK?" Jason checks everyone knows what to do "give us 10 mics to do a sweep and then whatever start up and drive away. We need to split up to cover more ground" he points to the left "Bravo 2 you take 3 & 6 with you the rest with me the hair missile is with us"
most of the Guards have been taking drugs and drinking to pass the time so a lot are asleep or out of it and are easy take downs but It will be daylight soon and more will return. They need to get the truck with the woman out.
"8mins 40 time's nearly up and we don't have her yet" Jason looks at Trent "If we don't have her when the truck starts she'll be the first one they'll kill"
Sonny and Spenser prize open the door on a tin shed at the back of the farm.
Inside a bloodied chain is hanging loose and large metal pole but there in the corner in small dark heap
"JACKPOT" says Sonny
Clay takes a deep breath and exhales. "Is she alive?" He thinks about the uploaded video thinking even he would have struggled taking that punishment.
Suddenly they hear the sound of the truck engine starting up. Mack and the rest of the support team drive the women hostages away.
Gun fire is heard over the other side of the camp
"Bravo 1 this is bravo 2 we have Jackpot say again we have Jackpot"
Jason sigh's a small sigh of relief "Bravo 2 this is Bravo 1 Copy how's she doing" Jason shuts his eyes for a second waiting for the reply normally he leaves the praying to Ray but he does it now.
"Hold 1 we checking the sit rep Copy "
"BRAVO 1 this is BRAVO 2 ..she's not in good shape and only semi conscious but... she is alive!"
Clay cuts the ropes holding her. They have cut deep into her flesh on her wrists. She looks really badly bruised and has hardly any strength to move "come on let's get you up"
Jason lets out a massive sigh. "Copy that! OK can you get to safe lo cal. We're pinned down here. We gonna come round. Can you make your way to ex fill? well meet you there. COPY "
"HAVOC this is Bravo 1 we need medical assistance Ex fill please advise"
"this is HAVOC Copy that standby "
"Come on we need to get you out of here" Ray and Spenser lift her gently to her feet
"Shit! she's' in a bad way" Ray looks at Spenser
Sonny "OK we need to go! Speed it up we gonna be taking heat any time soon" he's got the entrance covered but they're struggling to walk her out they can't lift her properly due to the bruising around her so it's slow going
Ray thinks about situation and how fast they're moving "It's no good we're gonna have to head to cover till Jason comes with help" he gets back on the comm "Bravo 1 this is Bravo 2 we heading for cover waiting for you to come with back up. We moving too slow to head to ex fill "
"Bravo 2 this Bravo 1 copy that we'll find you. We have the dog. 1 out "
They head into the jungle undergrowth carrying C.J as best they can between them after 15 mins of walking they need to stop. The heat and terrain are slowing them and the tropical rain starts to fall.
They find a shelter in some rocks and set C.J down. They've minimal first aid but Ray gets what he has out.
"OK we'll rest till back up gets here "
"If they find us" Sonny frowns "or we don't get eaten by spiders first! Did you know there are ..."
Ray stops him before they have the story about man eating spiders he gives that story every Jungle Op "Sonny! Please...They ll find us! They have the dog. He'll find your smell even out here" He smiles at Sonny who sniffs his shirt
"Okay! I'll take that given the situation"
Clay laughs and shakes his head as he sits down next to CJ to take a breath.
Ray takes out a long bandage "I was going to put try put round her for some support round her ribs. Stop it rubbing where we're holding her"
Clay gently lifts her T shirt to survey the damage
"I don't know if that's gonna work. That bruising is really bad" They both take a deep intake of breath
"Whooaah! That's bad!... shit Man!" They look at each other "that bandage its not gonna do anything with those injuries"
"Where the Hell's Trent when you need him?"
"What else we got"
She groans for the first time since they got her and comes round properly. Her face is contorted with pain. "aaaahhhhhh! ...SHIT!"
After seeing how bruised she is Clay can imagine the pain. "You Okay? .. we're gonna try sort you out! Just hold on"
"HAVOC this is Bravo 2 do you have eyes on us "
"negative Bravo 2 working on it but the trees are not making it easy"
"Copy that"
"OK looks like we on our own for a while we need to rest"
Clay lifts C.J top again to see what the damage is "shit those bruises look sore"
She nods.
Sonny he didn't see before and grimaces now he looks "Jeez man! that's bad"
Clay gently start to touch her sides "I'm just gonna check see if anything's broken"
"Okay! just careful" She grimaces and groans in pain "arrrrrggghhhhhh!...Clay STOP!"
"I'm Sorry! I just need to check"
"We've got some morphine" Ray rummages in the kit bag
Sonny frowns "I hate to point out but If we give her that she gonna be like dead weight to walk out"
Ray nods weighing up the pros and cons of it "OK Well... we'll give her some now! Rest for a bit while we wait it out till Jason and the others pick us up?"
They all nod in agreement.
Ray prepares the vial and injection. Then he stabs it in her leg "Owwww! ...SHIT Ray! That hurt!" She gulps
"Sorry"
"That just reminds me why you're not a medic"
Sonny shakes his head "women they're always moaning"
Ray and Spenser laugh.
C.J's dozing on and off "Clay, don't let her go to sleep Try keep her awake as much as possible. Just in case we need to move"
She's lying on Clay's chest. He covers her over with his jacket "She seems a bit cold"
"Just keep an eye on her. Trent should be here soon!"
He strokes her hair back and kisses the top of her head.
Sonny and Ray look at each other and Sonny shakes his head as they take watch.
Sonny frowns "Jason's not gonna be happy at that"
"We'll deal with that when we have to. Let's just get out of here for a start "
"Bravo 1 this is Bravo 2 do you copy"
"Copy Bravo 2 We're on route to you. Targets neutralised here but we think you have 4 hostiles inbound. We trying to clean but be ready. What's your Sit Rep? "
"Copy that Bravo . Not good. I've given her some morphine. So we resting while we wait for you "
"COPY that Bravo 2. Just stay alert they should be in your direction soon. We coming as quick as we can "
"HAVOC his is Bravo 2 do you see us yet Copy"
"That's a negative Bravo 2. The tree canopy is making too difficult. The satellite cant get a locate. Working on tracing the tracker. Maybe if you can get it to a bit higher ground clear of trees? COPY"
"HAVOC we can't move her at the moment it's too risky with the weather and terrain. COPY"
Davis gets on the Mic "Bravo 2 can you move the tracker"
"This is Bravo 3. errrmm...Davis did you not hear what 2 said? We can't move her, and last time I looked the tracker was still attached to her"
"Bravo 3 can you make it unattached. Copy"
They all look at each other and frown
"Make it unattached? what the ..." Sonny rubs his head
"HAVOC this is Bravo 2 Can you clarify please. Copy"
"Ray can you remove the tracker?" Davis pauses "It's only under the skin surface should be fairly easy"
They all exchange glances
"She mean cut it out?...SHIT!... I wish you hadn't queried that Ray I think preferred not knowing"
"HAVOC standby. I'll get back to you"
"Shit!.. do we do it?" Ray, Spenser and Sonny look at each other
"Davis means like ... .you know ...what like take it out?"
Ray nods
"Okay then... I'll do it" Ray and Spenser look at him frowning "Hey I am an expert with knives"
"you Sure?" Ray questioning Sonny's stomach for things like this
"Yeah sure how hard can it be?.. I can gut a fish, Right?"
He gets his knife out. Clay gently holds her head against this chest and pulls her hair out he way
"What's going on Clay?"
"Its just there look"
"Clay what are you doing?" she's confused
"Okay I'm sorry we just try and get the tracker." he swallows hard "they can't get a locate on us cos of the trees so they wanna try moving the tracker"
"Shit!.. Okay.. just do it " she closes her eyes and leans her head into Clay's chest he holds it steady "Just hurry up while this morphines working" she takes a deep breath
Sonny can see the red lump behind her ear & then stops hands the knife to Ray "you better do it you got smaller hands. I'll prob cut her ear off give her something to be more pissed with me than she normally is"
Clay smiles for all his bravado the reality of what he has to do hits Sonny and he can't do it "OK" says Ray taking a deep breath "CJ..hold steady this is gonna hurt me more than you"
Realising what they are about to do C.J responds "Yeah thanks for that Ray!" she breath deeply
He just gets the tip of the knife to her skin and closes his eyes before he touches the skin when a shot goes off making them all stop and sit still
Sonny gets his gun ready. Clay stands up.
They make her as safe and comfortable as they can "Just stay there OK we got this!"
They take up positions as shots ring out just through the trees
"Here they come"
Clay keeps staring down this weapon then lets a round off. He hears a cry somewhere in the thick of the Jungle.
Sonny's impressed."and the crowd go wild! The kid gets a Judges score of 8 out of 10"
Clay laughs. "that's gotta be an 8.5 surely?" Sonny frowns
Sitting as silent as they can they don't hear anything. Then tree branch breaks and Sonny lets off a few rounds in the general direction
"Bravo 2 this is bravo 1 we have visual on you stay where you are. Targets approaching "
2 more rounds go off from behind.
Then out of the darkness they are pounded upon by big hairy wet dog,
"Cerberus! You found us!"
Soon Jason Brock and Trent catch up. They all get down behind the rocks and are silent Jason silently indicates 2 with his fingers for the two more targets.
Ray and Spenser position themselves ready
C.J lets out a cry of pain. "arrrghhh! ... Oh shit!"
They all looks round Jason drops down "CJ sshhhh! quiet just for a minute" and sits with her pulling her head across his lap he strokes her hair.
Sonny looks at Ray. Spenser does a quick glance putting but his feelings aside he concentrates on his job to get them all out safely.
"Hey!.. Come on... CJ wake up! Don't you got to sleep on me. Do you hear? you need to stay awake" He looks up the guys are all concentrating He whispers in her ear "Hey!... Look I'm Sorry ... back there at the base... I shouldn't have done that"
"It; Okay" She is groans again in pain. Trying to move to get more comfortable she holds her stomach. "ahhhh! .. god... " She cramps up crying.
"You OK?"
"No.. somethings wrong... shit!"
Clay lets off another 2 rounds and the trees fall silent they all sit quiet listening
" think its it?"
After few more moments of silence they all relax.
"HAVOC this is bravo 1 we have jackpot will need medical ex fill ASAP copy"
"Bravo 1 this is havoc" Davis voice comes back over the mic " did you get the tracker?"
Ray shakes his head "there was no time"
"at least Trents here now he can do it properly!"
Trent takes the scalpel from his medical kit.
"Okay! I've got her" Jason holds her head still against him "shhh I've got ya!"
The scapel blade touches the skin on her ear she lets out a cry "ahh SHIT" she squirms. She closes her eyes to the sting
"I'm sorry" Trent frowns as the blood starts to run down her ear and side of her face. Everyone else looks away as Trent fiddles to get the small chip tracker
"hurry the fuck up" she says grimacing
"I'm trying. Sorry big fingers small tracker " he shakes his head. "I've got it" he hands it to Ray as he starts to dress the small incision behind her ear "you didn't make as much fuss as you did when it went in!" he laughrs
"Yeah I hadn't had all this morphine then!" she smiles
"OK Davis saaid we need to get it to higher ground clear of the trees if possible!"
"Up there!" Jason points "incline in the trees "
"I'll go" says Clay "I'm fastest"
Brock coughs and looks at Cerberus. Clay smiles "OK he wins" The attach the chip to Cerb
"HAVOC this is Bravo 1sending the tracker on its way"
"Copy Bravo 1"
Brock throws Cerbs ball as far as he can Cerberus chases it
"BINGO!" the tracker lights up on Davis's laptop screen
"This is HAVOC I got you"
"Thank God!" They all breath sigh of relief
Cerb returns, with the ball, and wants to go again. Brock smiles
Davis comes back on the comm "there a clearing 2 clicks west we can put the helo down. You need make way to ex fill now"
"2 clicks? .. that's not far but far enough the way she is to walk I mean" Jason frowns while he gives it some thought
"Do you think you can stand up? If we support you?" Spenser and Ray take hold either side of her
"Let me just have a quick look while she's standing" Trent starts to examine her torso "Just gonna see if anything is broken" He frowns "Okay looks like you've got at least one broken rib and a few cracked ones from what I can make out. Gonna be painful for a while"
Jason frowns as Trent shows him "OK then we have to move carefully"
"It's not really that bit that concerns me it's the bit we can't see it could pierces her lung"
Jason sighs. "Alright we go slow. CJ we got ya, but we need to get that Helo it can't wait ... and they're gonna be sending people after us"
She nods.
Jason looks at everyone and takes a long deep sigh "Okay let's go!... HAVOC this is BRAVO 1 we're headed to Ex Fil "
Finally they arrive at ex fill point
HAVOC this this BRAVO 1 where's that Helo?"
BRAVO one this this is HAVOC helo is one mic out copy"
"Copy that 1 out"
Jason looks round "OK helo is 1 mic out , We're gonna need to get across that green space when the helo arrives"
They can hear the sound of the helicopter arriving
"Sonny you cover behind till we make ex fill"
they wait and watch for a few moments as the Helo comes in to land "OK On 3 exfil" Jason starts counting " 3,,2,,,,1 ,."
"Arrgggghhhhhh!" CJ let's out a massive cry "WAIT!" she and doubles in half with pain."OH SHIT! .. I feel sick... arrrghhh "Jeeeeeeezzz!" she takes a deep breath "oh...What the fuck!" she puts her hand out and grabs Jason body armour to steady herself "arrrghhh!" she's still holding her stomach
"Shit!... Trent what the hell's wrong?" Clay looks panicked
"I don't know I'm trying to see where the pains coming from... But I can't see any changes to anything?" he frowns "CJ where's the pain most?"
She holds her lower stomach.
Jason looks at the helo waiting "Whats the sudden hold up? ...Can we make it to that helo?"
"I can't see what's causing it. Just give me a minute I don't wanna move her if we shouldn't"
"Come on Trent I need some answers! can we move her?" asks Jason "We need to get moving that helo is vulnerable there"
Trent's checking all over to see whats going on "I can't see anything different, must be something internal that's causing all this pain?"
She's crying and breathing hard now, cramping up.
"CJ let me look" He presses he stomach as gently as he can she groans at every touch.
"HAVOC this is bravo 1 we have a medical problem. We gonna have to push back ex fill standby ... Trent how long?"
Trent shrugs "I don't know! I dont' know what the problem is yet."
They all look at each
"errrm .. I'm not a medic but errrm..." Ray points " that can't be good?" the inner thigh of her beige combats are now covered in red blood
"Shit!.. Sit her down!...CJ sit down!"
"arrrrghh
BRAVO 1 this is HAVOC you have 6min push back Helo needs refuel"
"Shit" Jason tries to think "OK you need to work this out we have 6 min window" he looks at his watch
"Shit! ..it hurts" she's still holding her stomach taking breath through the wave of pain
Trent prepares some more morphine "I'm gonna give her this so we're gonna have to carry she won't make it across there"
"Okay! do it! ... we got no choice we need to make that helo"
"CJ you listening I'm gonna give you some more pain relief but that means we gonna have to carry you out" Trent tries to look he gently feels her stomach and ribs he looks at Jason " I can only guess. Internal bleed... its hard to tell out here"
"Okay!" Jason has his hands on his hips takes his comms out while he tries to think for a minute "We need to get to that Helo there's no more time to waste we gotta go" he looks at the team. They all nod
"what you thinking Boss?" Ray asks
Jason hands his weapon to Ray and squats down he looks at C.J " C.J listen. I gotta do this so I'm sorry ...C.J are you listening" shes drifting in and out a combination of the pain and morphine. He slaps her cheek to get her attention "C.J"
"Hey,,, Jace, Steady!" Ray see's Jason's tension in him
"OK this it gonna hurt like hell but we need to make that window"
She nods what ever it is she trusts him. She's in so much pain now it's clouding her mind and she feels sick but she braces herself."Just do it"
Sonny puts his weapon down "I'll take her"
"NO! I'll take her...Ray you take the lead. Sonny you cover us behind. Okay... lets do this" he squats down and gets his balance
Ray nods at Sonny "On 3 lift" they all look at each other "This is gonna hurt like hell" they all gulp
"Just watch that Rib" Trent says "that's what I'm concerned about!
Ray looks at Sonny "3..2..1 lift" they lift her as gently as they can over Jason Shoulder but even with all the morphine she screams out in pain and cries.
Clay closes his eyes as the scream seeing her hurting like this.
Sonny and Brock look away.
Ray takes a gulp and looks at Jason.
"arrrrrrhhhhggg FUCKKKKKK!" she cries and takes a deep breath. Her head is spinning from the intense pain. She's not sure if she's going to be sick or pass out.
"She don't look good there" as the colour drains from her face. Clay looks at Trent. He shakes his head. "She's not good"
"HAVOC this is Bravo 2 we're gonna need medical standing by when we land at HQ do you copy "
"COPY that BRAVO 2 see you back here"
"OK lets move" Jason keeps his grip on her and gets his balance as he stands up
They make a last quick run across the open ground.
At the open helo door they try to gently lower her in with out inflicting too much more on her.
Trent's looking at her "She looks like she's passed out!" he checks "her pulse has slowed right down" he looks at the medic onboard the helo
Jason stands up. He straightens his back and shakes it out from carrying her weight. He looks at Trent for update
Trent shakes his head "She's not looking great"
"OK lets get out of here!"
They're all boarded and the medic on board put CJ a line up give her a couple of injections of adrenaline, but the blood loss is worrying Trent as he doens't know what's causing it.
Everyone is sat in silence all that can be heard is the whump whump of the helo blades, the pilots on the radio and Cerberus panting.
the onboard medic looks at Trent "she still losing blood! We're 20 mins out to base."
"Could we do a person to person line in?"
"We could try it"
"I'll do it says Clay" he already understands what they mean he's been listening to every word of the conversations.
Everyone else looks at each other.
"actually Sonny is nearest match"
"What? Sonny's what? ...for what?" Sonny looks at them both
"person to person emergency blood transfusion" Clay explains "roll up your sleeve" he grabs at Sonny's shirt
"Don't touch me " he frowns as pushes Clay off "I can roll my own damn sleeve up! ...oh Man! is this some sort of joke or what? " as they put a line in the vein for transfusion. He squeamishly looks away. "She better appreciate this is!"
she groans as they hook them up all the lines up
Clay takes deep breathes "How long before she get that oxygen hit?"
"Anytime now. If its gonna work"
She starts to come round a bit and her cheeks flush with colour.
Jason lets out a sigh "phewww!...is it working? " he looks at Trent for answers. Trent nods "looks like it, for now"
"Thank god! I can't believe I'm having to do this" he shakes his head "I better not catch nothing or I swear to god.."
"Sonny" she breathlessly responds through the oxygen mask "Shut up!"
Sonny smiles at her. "Hey... for once it's good to hear you speak! but errrm... don't get comfortable with it still don't mean I like ya"
The others all let out sigh of relief except Trent. He and the medic are still monitoring they look at each other they know, whilst its good to hear her speak she's still not out of danger yet.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Sonny's sat beside her on the helo floor. He's looking at her thinking about all the hate he's given her wondering if perhaps this makes amends.
"Maybe she shouldn't have taken all of the blame"
He blamed for the hurt caused to Alana. For being part of their problems and wrecking their marriage.
"Though that wasn't strictly true" Jason and Alana's problems ran deeper than just C.J
He also hated her for the guilt he carried for the lie he told Jason. When he asked him if he knew who she left with that night and he said NO.
And though he never said a word to Ray or anyone about it, he knew it was Ray that she cheated with. He saw them kiss as they left the bar and he blamed her for having to keep that secret and the damage the truth would have done.
He was angry she didn't stop it that night, hell he was angry he didn't stop it and he knew the guilt tore Ray up and so he hated her for that.
Sonny hated her for all of the shit that followed when it all came out and when Jason nearly lost his career and hated her because she never would let Jason go.
But now, he looks at her laid there he thinks just maybe she didn't deserve the blame for all of it.
He always saw her as a poison around Bravo but perhaps Jason and Ray were as much to blame and maybe he should have hated on them too?
but he couldn't they were his brothers so he covered their back always 100%.
Suddenly he's back to reality as they medic starts taking the line out of his arm as she closes her eyes and starts convulsing.
"Sonny, hold that!" Trent puts a dressing pad on it
"She's crashed" the medic grabs Trent's attention. The helo is just coming into land on the tarmac. "It's OK they're standing by"
Jason stands watching rubbing his head. Spenser's biting his lip worried. Sonny shakes his head as he looks at Ray.
Trent goes with the waiting medics as they whisk her away
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o