Chapter 7

"Here we go, it's the only private strip near the railroad tracks and the fast food place Elsa mentioned."

Evan stared at the map on the screen. "That still leaves a lot of area to search."

"Not really. This here is an active factory. This one is empty, this is a warehouse, and this is another active business. It's gotta be one of these two places." He tapped the defunct factory and warehouse.

"Are you going to tell the cops?"

Sighing out a breath in surrender, Sam replied. "I wish I didn't have to. If I could call in a favor with the CIA or something I would, but I'm still kind of on the outs with them."

"Man, those guys have no mercy."

"You got that right." Sam picked up the phone and called Casey. "Hey, Detective, it's me, Sam Axe." He put the phone on speaker so Evan could hear.

Casey mumbled, "Sam, do you realize what time it is?"

"The way I see it, it's time for a raiding party."

"What the hell are you talking about," Casey asked, still groggy.

"I think I've figured out where Elsa is. Evan and I would do this ourselves, or get my friend Jesse involved, but..."

The detective suddenly came fully awake. "No! You stay out of this, Axe!"

"Then you better get your butt in gear. We don't know how much time Elsa has left." He picked up his gun and pulled back the safety, certain that Casey would hear the sound and identify it.

"Don't even think about it! Where do you think she is? We'll check it out right now."

"Damn straight, you will," Sam answered. "It's either a factory or a warehouse on Rigby Road, and the closest cross street is Woodman. There's a cluster of buildings along that road, but the factory and warehouse are less than a block apart on the west side of Rigby."

"We can check it out, but I'm not sure what we can do. The kidnappers said they would have the place rigged to blow."

"Find a bomb squad member with Special Forces training. He should know how to get around it. If he can't do it, he better be an Army Ranger and not embarrass the SEALs."

"I think I know a guy on the Miami PD bomb squad who was in Delta Force. Thanks, Sam."

"We wanna be there when this goes down."

"No, it's too dangerous."

"Oh please, Casey. You know who you're talking to. I'll get Evan prepared, but he'll stay out of the line of fire. End of story."

"Okay, fine. I'll pick you up at the house."

"Good. When should we expect you?"

"Give us a half hour to get ready."

Sam heard sheets rustling on the other side of the phone. "Okay. It'll be sunrise an hour and a half after that. Perfect time for a raid." He smiled at Evan, his eyes sparkling with the memory of other raids conducted in the wee hours of the morning in other places in the world. "If you're not here by 0400, we're leaving without you. Be warned, I'll be loaded up big time."

After he hung up, Evan stared at him. "We're really going to do this, with or without them?"

"Preferably with. We'll have more boots on the ground that way." Sam slapped Evan on the back. "Come on, Kid! Time to get dressed for combat!"

Evan had no idea what he was in for. As they went upstairs, Sam rattled off the kind of clothing he would need. He never wanted to join the military for a number of reasons: the uniforms, the discipline, the haircuts, but most importantly, he didn't want to get shot up.

"Okay, go get dressed and meet me in my room as soon as you're done."

Evan nodded, his nerves causing him to jitter. This was for real, and he was scared to death. How anyone could be as calm as Sam was, he would never understand. When he finished, he tripped in to the room that Sam and his mother shared. He was already dressed and talking on the phone. He waved Evan inside.

"Okay, see you there, Jesse."

"What do you want me to do now?"

"Here ya go," Sam said as he handed Evan a heavy piece of equipment.

"Is this a bullet proof vest?"

"Bingo! It's a spare. Go ahead, put it on." Sam slipped a vest over his own head and pulled all the straps into place. Evan still examined his, trying to figure which way was up. Sam let out a breath. "Here, give it to me and just stand there." In a few seconds the vest fit Evan like a glove. "Okay, have you ever held a gun before?"

"Uh, when I played a video game."

"Oh brother, we've got our work cut out for us," Sam muttered. He checked his sidearm to make sure it was loaded, holstered it, and pulled out a semi-automatic rifle from the closet.

If Evan's mouth hadn't been so dry, he would have choked on his saliva when he saw it. "Does Mom know you have that in here?"

"Oh jeez, Kid, will you relax? This one is your Mom's. I bought it for her, and I've been teaching her how to use it. It's real simple." Sam gave him some quick instruction, then he loaded a magazine on it. "Just remember you've got live rounds in that thing, so you better make damn sure whatever you're aiming at is something you wanna hit."

Evan shook from his shoulders down to his boots. "I don't know if I should be doing this."

"Hey, remember when we stole that big rig? You had some nerves, but you did okay." Sam clamped a hand on Evan's shoulder. "You'll be fine, Evan."

"But this is my Mom's life at stake here."

He heard an engine in the circular drive. "Our ride's here, Kid. No time for second guessing. Jesse's going to meet us out there, and we've got lots of tactical support, so don't worry. Everything will work out alright." He grabbed a small bag and his own semi-automatic rifle, and hurried out of the room. Evan trembled and ran behind him with the gun held exactly the way Sam told him to hold it. He was worried enough about screwing up in the middle of the operation. He didn't need to start it off with a bang, and not a good one at that.

"You weren't kidding when you said you'd be loaded up," Casey muttered as Sam got in the front and Evan settled in back with their gear. He gave the younger man an extra long look with doubt in his eyes when he saw how scared Evan was.

"I'm not going to rely on amateurs." He glanced back at Evan. "Well, the kid is a last resort."

"He stays in the car, Axe. And you too. We've got a bomb squad on the way, SWAT, the FBI, everybody's in on this party. And if you're wrong, it's coming out of your pocket."

"I couldn't be more sure about this, Casey."

Casey drove over the railroad tracks and a quarter mile later found Rigby Road. He turned right and drove up to where a large contingent of cars, SUVs, and a large panel van parked in an empty field. The warehouse and factory were just up the road half a city block away.

Sam got out of the car, telling Evan, "Stay put for now, Kid." He pulled out a pair of binoculars, rested his elbows on the car roof, and focused on the buildings. "Yeah, there's a light on in there. It's faint, they've got paper or something over the windows, but there's the sign that the factory is occupied." He handed the binoculars to Casey and he looked.

"You're right. But that could just be security lighting. We need to get someone in there to check it out." He sensed Sam's arm twitch, and he stuck out a hand to hold him. "Not you." He got on his radio. "Possible target seen in back. Send out Recon One."

"Recon One scrambling."

From behind the car, Sam and Casey watched the team of four black-clad men crouch and run across the street with their weapons at the ready. Sam wished he could be with them. When he saw the sleekness of their movements and how silently they went in, he lost all reservations. This was a good reconnaissance team, Special Forces trained: they would get the job done right. The team was barely across the road when they disappeared into the shadows.

"Now we wait," Casey spoke softly. He leaned against the car with one arm up on the roof. He would have preferred to pace or do something, but he feared that it would only stir up Sam and make him even more eager to get in on the action. In the dimness of the coming dawn he could see the impatience written all over his face. He'd heard quite a few things about Sam Axe and his friends, so when this case came up, he anticipated he would have a lot of trouble with him trying to fly off and do his own thing. Axe surprised him. Yes, he wanted to be involved, but he backed off and was cooperative enough to give them what information he found without begging to be part of the operation. This time, however, he demanded it. Casey didn't have the heart to say 'no', because it might very well be his assistance that helped the team.

All his illusions of Sam charging in recklessly were unfounded, and in fact, he seemed more relaxed than Casey himself. Next time, he wouldn't be so quick to judge a former special ops guy.

"Hey, Sam."

"Jesse, you made it." Sam turned to Casey. "He's going in with me."

Casey saw the determined looks on their faces and nodded. "We'll work you into a team, I promise."

"They're coming back," Sam announced in an even tone and moved through the tall grass toward the FBI agents who kept under cover of a grove of large oaks. "Let's see what they found."

Casey leaned into the open window. "Evan, you stay here. Okay?"

"You'll get no arguments from me!" His voice shook despite his best efforts to keep the fear at bay.

"Report, Recon One." Ross barked.

"We found a hole in the siding. Ferguson, McLaren and Sullivan were in there with reinforcements. Six total personnel. The skeleton crew was watching over a door. Looked like an office, it's freestanding, and the walls aren't very sturdy." The recon team leader informed them.

"So you didn't see Elsa," Sam asked.

"No. We suspect she's in that room. The big three were asleep on cots away from the light while the other three walked around the office and the interior perimeter."

"Recommendations, gentlemen," Frasier asked.

"Are the three close together or spread out?"

"Axe..." Casey muttered.

"Good question, Sir." The recon leader acknowledged Sam's query with a nod. "They were leaving about twenty five to thirty feet of space between them. I recommend we wait until two of them get close to the road side of the building and lob in some smoke canisters. Meanwhile, we throw in a couple more on the other side near the office, get the one guy there, and the rest of the team swoops in to take the kidnappers before they know what happened."

"Yeah, but what if they wake up shooting," Jesse countered. "They could hit someone, or their bullets could pierce that office. We don't want to hit the hostage or set off the booby trap."

"What do you suggest we do," Ross asked.

"We work as quietly as possible to create an entrance at three points." Someone provided him with a large piece of paper and a pencil, and Jesse hunched over an SUV hood and drew a map. "Here, here, and here. We time it so that a team takes care of these two guys, a larger team comes in from the back to slip in and cover the three masterminds, but they'll have to be ready when things happen up there. A third team grabs the single guard and takes care of the booby trap. We've got enough people to do this."

Frasier smirked. "You're not putting that kid in there with you."

Under the glow of the muted flashlight, Sam stared at the agent. "I have no intention of letting Evan come along. I just got him all prepped so he could feel like he was doing something. He's too scared to be of any use in this operation."

"What about that gun you gave him?"

"Casey, do you really think I'd put a loaded gun into that kid's hands? It's full of blanks. Don't worry, I never had any intention of putting him anywhere near the action."

Frasier and Ross turned away and consulted in hushed tones. One of the SWAT team members joined them. Sam recognized him from an operation many years ago. He never got the guy's name, but he remembered that he was a good sniper. The man glanced at Sam and his hushed voice carried just enough for Sam to know that the guy was on his side. He was fighting for him and Jesse to be allowed in the fray. Sam glanced at his watch and noted the time. In a half hour, dawn would break. Time was wasting.

"Okay, Axe, you and Porter are in. I want you with the team that takes the third guard."

"Thanks." He nodded toward Casey and trotted across the street with Jesse and the two others on his team. He saw Evan ducked in the back seat, just his forehead and eyes showing above the door. Sam gave him a salute, silently telling him that everything would be okay.

The team moved along the side of the building, looking for a way inside, and found a door. The door had a multi-pane window that wasn't covered in paper, so the men crouched out of the light spill. The guard's shadow floated past, and one of the men picked the lock when the guard was out of range.

"Subject is going around the office," the team leader murmured into his radio.

The reply came back in the team's ear pieces. "Copy. On my mark, enter the building."

Sam waited crouched down, his legs protesting keeping the position for so long. His entire body balanced on the balls of his feet, the nervous energy bouncing him slightly. In the faint light, he saw that he wasn't alone.

"Alright, on three. One... two... three."

The door pushed in and the team of four with two bomb squad members behind them burst into the room. A smoke canister rolled ahead and stopped in front of the guard. More canisters came from the team entering to the left and enveloped the cots in a fog. Voices shouted, a few shots rang out, and to the untrained eye it would seem as if total chaos ensued. Three teams converging on the kidnappers, a total of sixteen police, FBI, and one former spy and a SEAL created a panic situation for their targets, but the teams worked like this was an every day occurrence. Sam and Jesse found the single guard. He shot at them, but they came out of the smoke and lunged at him, taking him to the floor before he could get off another round.

It didn't take long to detain the six kidnappers. The teams hauled them off to the panel van and they were taken away to be booked into a high security facility until the day of their trials. The smoke cleared, leaving Sam standing in front of the office with his team. He glanced at the two men dressed in thick padding.

"Well, it's all yours. Don't screw this up."

"We won't. Don't worry."

"Sam, you should probably back off, just to be on the safe side," Jesse urged him and pulled on his elbow.

"No, I'm fine right here." He wanted to be close enough to rush to Elsa's side when it was all over, or risk death if the bomb squad failed. If she didn't make it, he didn't want to make it either.

Jesse stepped away to a safer location, but close enough to assist if necessary. The bomb squad used a sensor to determine where Elsa was in the room. Then one of them drilled a hole in the window covered with paper and stuck a fiber optic camera inside. After a few minutes, he pulled it out and consulted with his colleague in soft tones. The two stood and approached Sam.

"Well?"

"It's a pretty sophisticated set up in there, trip wires all over the place. It's like a ball of yarn unraveled, and we don't know if we cut one strand if it's connected to another that loosens up the tension on the mine and it goes off."

"Great." Sam felt dark anger rising up in him, but he held it in check.

"We can get in through the top, though." He quickly explained what he and his partner proposed to do. "First step is to cut through the ceiling."

"You sure they didn't rig that up too?"

"No. Believe it or not, they were only thinking two dimensionally when they came up with this. When we lower ourselves down, there's enough space to get the hostage out without tripping anything. She's got like a six inch buffer around her."

"Plenty of room to get her out. Okay, do you need me to do anything?"

"No, Sir. You and your friend just be ready to grab her when we bring her down to the ground."

A smile crossed his face. "That we can do."

Two men took a saw up to the office roof and prepared to cut.

"Wait a second," Sam said as he came forward. "Did anybody warn Elsa to stay put? Let me talk to her first." He didn't bother to wait for anyone to hold him back or protest. He got up to the door, peered through the small hole, and saw that Elsa was awake and looking around with anxiety flashing in her eyes. "Elsa, honey, it's me, Sam. Don't move!" He heard her making noises like she was trying to tell him something. "We know that the room is rigged to blow if we try to rescue you. Don't worry. We have a team coming in through the ceiling. In a minute they're going to cut a hole in the top so they can lower themselves down. Then they'll grab your chair and lift you out. Okay?" He paused and heard her make more noises. "Don't try to undo your bindings or breach that space around you. Trust me, sweetheart, it'll be okay. We'll get you out of there."

He nodded to the team, and the men on top of the office started up the saw and created the hole. It was large enough for them and Elsa. The sheet metal clanged as the team tossed it aside to land on the concrete below. Elsa looked up at them with fear in her eyes, crying, and they knew panic when they saw it.

"Oh, crap."

The team member with the saw jumped down from the office and spoke into his mic. "The ceiling must have had a sensor. There's another bomb with a timer. Repeat, there's another bomb with a timer set to go off in less than a minute." The two bomb squad men quickly lowered themselves inside as the third man reported what he'd seen. They grabbed the chair and tugged on the lines. Outside the office, Sam, Jesse, and several others pulled on the lines to bring them up as quickly as possible. Their feet touched the roof, they disconnected from the lines, and took hold of the chair to drop it gently to the floor. Sam and Jesse waited. As soon as the legs hit the floor, the two repositioned their hands on the back, lifted the seat with their free hands, and ran for the exit. The bomb squad team jumped off the roof and ran with them.

Elsa screamed behind the gag. The sound, however, was drowned out when the timer expired and the bomb exploded. Shrapnel flew in every direction, and those inside ducked or were thrown to the floor. Sam's legs came out from under him, and with his hands taken up by the chair, he had nothing to break his fall. The three of them crashed to the floor, and a fireball erupted, trapped by the factory ceiling.