"So where are we of to" Eric asked as everyone was settled in the briefing room the next morning
"Bangui, Central African Republic" Lisa said pulling up the pictures she needed
"Currently in the middle of a civil war between Christian and Muslim factions and is considered the worst country in the world to live" Jess added filling in the group on the current geopolitical situation of wherever were headed
"Always makes it extra fun" Trent laughed sarcastically, there was something extra exciting about getting sent into the middle of a civil war between religion
"Al-Tabari gave us the entire list of his companies, front companies, including a list of ones he created for funnelling funds to Abdullah. These were disposable companies, mainly start-ups, use it once or twice then burn it as soon as someone got suspicious. One of the alias's has just become active" Jess said, that was what they were waiting for, they'd set up alerts on everything Al-Tabari had given them, businesses, numbers, bank accounts
"Are we positive its Abdullah" Jason asked
"Or someone related to him, all companies need to be registered with the UAE board of commerce before they can trade. Despite it being located in the CAR, this company has been recognised as being foreign owned by investors in the UAE" Jess said, once a company had been registered it was impossible for someone else to use it unless they paid appropriate fees to the owner of the company, which was Al-Tabari
"So who are we after" Eric asked satisfied the intel was sound
"Alexander Le-Rue, native to the CAR, weapons dealer, he's recently received 3 large shipments from this alias company, and is the only person currently doing business with them" Jess said
"Our mission is a straight up snatch and grab, he's unmarried so we are operating on the assumption that anyone he is with is a potential contact, any contacts we receive, will be an immediate follow on, be prepared, we're not going to be home anytime soon" Lisa added, this was going to be a long mission
"Backup" Ray asked, hopefully they were taking their own
"Alpha and Charlie along with a team from the CIA, we'll be taking 2 C130's complete with scooby vans" Lisa said
"We are being prepared" Sonny said, that was 20 tier 1 operators, 3 hair missiles, a team of spooks, 3 CO's, support crew and 4 scooby vans
"Intelligence is pointing towards Abdullah Al-Asiri and his party are basing themselves in Syria" Jess said revealing the final piece of the puzzle
"So that would be our extended deployment goal, nailing this guy" Jason asked
"Yes, we need to however get as much information as we possibly can on his network before we go, we don't want to be chasing this guy and his followers for years" Lisa said, the longer this guy went on, the more infamous he and his organisation would come
"Zah discharged from hospital yet" Jason asked taking a seat next to Jess on the plane
"Tomorrow, my focus is this mission if that's what you're worried about Jason" Jess said to her team leader, she wanted him to know she was squared away
"She okay with you leaving" Jason asked
"She's fine with it, she's still got her dad, Nonna and Boompa along with Cerbs at the hospital with her" Jess responded, Jay and Alie had driven up that morning with Cerbs
"What about when she has the one done on her hips" Jason asked
"That's still 5 weeks away, if I'm here then I'm here, if I'm not then she knows I'll be there as soon as the plane touches down, and she'll get private mummy time before anyone else gets me " Jess said with a smile, she was feeling a little tired from all the questions she was getting asked about Zalie and how she was going with everything
"Even before Luca" Jason asked surprised
"Even before Luca" Jess said
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
It was just over 4 weeks later when the team touched back down in the US, exhausted after doing 7 consecutive missions without a break, they'd done the Central African Republic, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Nigeria, Venezuela and Jordan and they were ready for a break, Alpha and Charlie were taken of rotation for the next week to recover, Bravo however were being given 2 weeks meaning the next time they shipped out it would be to take over from team papa in Syria. Jess had eagerly messaged Luca and Zah to let them know she was coming home and when she would be there
"Mummy" Zalie squealed seeing her mum walk past the security gate that signalled the separation of the airstrip and the carpark
"Hey my Super Zah, how you feeling" Jess asked surprised at how well Zalie was looking, she didn't have that look of fatigue she had in the past and had a lot more colour in her cheeks
"Good, just can't wait to get my hips done now" Zalie said proudly, she'd gone from having trouble with her asthma having bad attacks nearly every day to probably twice a week now which was a huge change for her, now her heart wasn't having the episodes where it was beating so fast that she couldn't get enough air in her body to keep up she was feeling a lot better, she'd even asked Luca about the possibility of her taking up a competitive sport once her hips healed seeing how good her asthma was now compared to what it had been
"I know you can't" Jess said giving her a cuddle
"Look who we picked up from the airport" Zalie said opening the door to the minivan Jess drove, appropriately nicknamed the party bus by her brothers as it sat 8 adults at full capacity
"Hey Jess" Laura said hopping out
"Laura, forgot you were due today, we cross so many time zones its hard to keep track" Jess said excitedly
"I understand, and look who else has arrived safely" Laura said showing Jess the crates
"Oh, they've gotten so big" Jess said looking at the occupants
"Aunty Laura said Pepper found them when you were in Africa" Zalie asked
"She did find them when we were in Africa" Jess said as Brock walked over to the group seeing that Laura was there with animal carry crates
"Laura" Brock said smiling, finally seeing her in person after what felt like an eternity
"Brock, what do you think Pep, there's your babies that you rescued" Laura said bending down so Pepper could see the occupants in the crates
"They've certainly grown, when are they going to the rescue" Brock asked laughing at the playful antics as Pepper watched them
"We're on our way to take them out now if you want to come, aunty Laura said they got horses, cows, donkeys, cats, dogs and daddy and Boompa are going to see what help they need" Zalie said excited at the prospect of visiting another rescue shelter with her aunty Laura to help, that was their time to bond even though it wasn't always very nice when Laura would have to handle some animals when they first came in, Zalie always felt so sorry for the animals, but she knew that sometimes there was nothing her aunty could do to make the animal better and aunty Laura had to do what she called the final act of kindness, Zalie even helped her sometimes by talking to the animal, giving them pats and lots of love and attention why it was happening, she would cry at first but wouldn't stop coming or leave the animal alone, eventually the tears came less and less these days, it was not as if it didn't make her sad when it happened, but her aunty Laura was a good one for talking to her and helping her understand her feelings. Slowly Zalie learnt to direct her negativity towards the owners when Laura was dealing with abuse and neglect cases, and that the best thing she could do sometimes was to give them a bit of love and comfort so that the animal knew at least what that felt like. She had found the picture of her Boompa nursing her mum when she was a baby, Zalie was curious as to why Jay was nursing her mum and not Alie. Jay and Alie had to sit Zalie down and explain that Alie was not Jess's mum who had given birth to her, that that woman's name was Sara, and she had been married to her Boompa, she'd gotten really sick before Jess was born from cancer and was accidentally given medication that she shouldn't have had while she was pregnant with Jess and it had made Jess sick to and the doctors had said Jess was going to die after she was born and don't get attached, that Sara was to sick to be there with Jess so Jay decided that regardless if Jess was going to die, she was at least going to know the touch and smell of one of her parents and that she was loved, even though Jess survived the ordeal Zalie knew then how important it was and became more determined to be there for the animals when they had no one else. Zalie had taken to referring to Sara as mummy Sara, she'd seen photos of her with her mum and Boompa with coloured scarves around her head, or a beanie or wig, and some she had no hair at all, and she'd been taken to the cemetery where they had buried her for Zah to lay flowers
"You don't think they'd mind some extra visitors" Brock asked suddenly excited about the possibility of spending time with Laura
"No" Laura said, she knew Tahlia, the lady who run the rescue was always happy to have visitors come and see the facility she had
"Give me a sec" Brock said suddenly darting back over to where the rest of Bravo had gathered
"What's he doing" Laura asked Jess confused
"Probably trying to rope the whole team into coming out" Jess said laughing, she knew Brock had strong feelings for Laura but was still shy about openly expressing them, the boys had plans to go and grab a few drinks, if Brock suddenly disappeared and went to the rescue with Laura he would be ribbed by the others for weeks to come and he didn't know yet if Laura felt the same way. If they were there as a group it wouldn't be so awkward for him
"They'll probably be put to work" Laura said warning Jess with a smile
"Something tells me I don't think Brock would mind, we've just had 4 and a half weeks on the go, a bit of distraction might do some good" Jess said, there was nothing for Bravo to do for the next 2 weeks but wait to be wheels up for Syria
"Tahlia" Laura said exiting the car when they pulled up, the rescue was a 50 minute drive from the base, Brock had convince the whole team to come with them to see the puppies and kittens get settled into Tahlia's care, they'd spread out across 3 cars
"Hi Laura, when you said you were bringing some volunteers, I didn't realise you meant this many, we may need to fire up the grill" Tahlia said laughing as she embraced Laura warmly
"I can manage that" Sonny said with a smile, he loved cooking a BBq
"Sonny does all our family BBQ's" Jess said as Tahlia looked at them confused, she rarely had time to do things like that, she'd never had someone offer to do one at the end of a busy day
"Well I might just take you up on that, I've had a busy day and have some hungry volunteers to feed already, I know you've just arrived Laura, but I've got 3 truckloads of horses coming in from auction we've just rescued, they need vet checking, save me calling you out tomorrow" Tahlia asked the young vet, she knew that Laura would already be tired from travelling, but their previous vet who Laura was taking over from had left earlier than what Tahlia had expected and they had been given an unexpected chance to rescue these horses. She hadn't even seen them by sight yet so she had no idea what state they were in
"Sure, you don't mind Jess, I know you've just got back" Laura asked looking at Jess, it would take a bit and Jess looked a little tired and pale already, she didn't want to go stepping on toes by wanting to put Jess out considering she was going to be living with them and not pay any rent
"Fine by me" Jess said not really fazed, doing the work now would help Laura's jet-lag as she was dealing g with different timezones, she would make sure tonight to make sure Laura would take a mild sedative as she had trouble sleeping sometimes, make sure she had a decent sleep
"I don't mind staying to help, what bout you Sonny, you've done plenty of farm work" Brock asked Sonny
"Sure, why not, I'm sure we can bring Miss Laura back if you need to leave" Sonny said looking at Brock, he knew that Brock had some feelings towards Laura and was wanting support
"Sure" Laura said looking at Jess and her brother
"Okay, fine by me" Luca said giving his approval
"Just be aware, some may need us to do the final act of kindness" Tahlia said noticing Zalie standing there
"You mean put them to sleep because they're in to much pain to be saved" Zalie said
"Zah's aware of that side of animal rescue, she's really good with giving pats and cuddles" Laura said reassuring Tahlia that Zalie understood that part of animal rescue and was okay being there knowing it could happen
"Yeah, its sad but sometimes you need to, horses and the bigger animals are harder for aunty Laura to make better, as its not possible to do the same types of surgery like you can on a dog or cat" Zalie said
"You're a beautiful little girl, and so wise" Tahlia said embracing Zalie
"Right, lets get this show on the road, you got medical supplies for me to use" Laura asked looking around
"Yeah, might need to send someone to town and grab some BBQ supplies though" Tahlia said
"I'll go" Ray said volunteering
"How many we got" Sonny asked Tahlia, still surprised at the fact that someone she hadn't met before was offering to cook a BBQ for her and her volunteers
"9 if everyone stays" Tahlia said
"I'll make you a list of what to grab Ray" Sonny said working out what he would need in his head
"Well let's go get these babies settled in while we wait for this first load of horses" Tahlia said happy to have the volunteers for the afternoon