Chapter 5
The men had been waiting in the bushes most of the night and were cold and wet. About half and hour ago the heavens had opened, rivers of water were everywhere, and now they were quite frankly cheesed off. Then they heard a car coming up the path, "just one" the look-out man said. They had been expecting several cars, for the exchange of drugs and money. They hoped it was not just another loving couple, they wanted some action, any action would do! They waited and watched as the car passed them and stopped just past the danger sign about land subsidence.
John checked that Simon could still see everything. Simon radioed back that there was a clear view through the camera and that John should move everyone up as the two men were getting out of the car, leaving the doors open, possibly for a quick escape. He could just make out, over the noise of the rain, through his sound equipment someone talking and thought that they were getting a message, or possibly just taped message of what to do, as they had just let it carry on as they left the car, so it could be a drug drop. Simon also warned the others that one was drunk and waving what looked like a knife around.
Arguing the two men walked over to a hole in the ground, looked at it, then went back towards the car, as they did so the one with the knife reluctantly put it away, still obviously angry at something. The group of four agents had moved up quietly, quickly and carefully so as not to be seen. The look-out man stayed where he was in case someone else turned up. He was happy, snug and warm hidden in the van, out of sight in the trees, the driver who had been resting was now alert ready for action. As the agents got close they saw the men go round to the trunk, open it and struggle to get something out.
John spoke quietly but sharply into the radio as he realised what was happening. "They are dumping a body. Simon stay were you are and film everything." As he said this one of the two men, who were dragging the victim forward towards the edge of the hole, hit the victim in the ribs. The victim tried to get his breath back, with difficulty as he was gagged. "We cannot have a hostage situation! Just as they let him go, Pete you take the one on the left, Jack the one on the right; take them away from the hole. No shooting. Rick and I will go for the victim."
As John stopped speaking they watched as the victim was pushed violently over the edge. The second he went down, Pete and Jack moved, taking the men out. Although surprised by the noise made by the agents as they gave the verbal warning and tackles, both men fought for their freedom. As they did so the ground next to them gave way, burying the victim and hindering everything. The drop had been several feet and was difficult to get to because of the water and mud.
John and Rick tried to watch where the man had been buried, they tried to get some of the soil away from his head. Rick had to stop and help Pete restrain Jake as he had the knife and was not afraid to use it, or anything else, to escape. Jack was having better luck with the other one, but he was still a handful. Realising they needed more help John yelled through the radio to Simon and the look-out man to bring the van around and see if there were shovels in the suspect's car and help.
Simon fixed the camera for a general view of things, raced to the car and found two shovels. He also took out the tape and put it in a bag in his top pocket for later.
The lookout turned up and grabbed a shovel, the driver parked the van back facing the scene. While helping, the look-out man told John that they were on their own as he had heard over the radio that all the rescue services were at a bad accident on the main road into Sunset Beach. A couple of coaches and a few cars had collided causing general chaos.
John, swearing, continued carefully trying find the victim's head - a lot soil had fallen on top of him. Although the rain had stopped some water was still running through the soil, he hoped that there would be an air hole as he knew the victim could not help himself. The others were making sure no more soil came down and started to clear away from the lower part where they thought his body would be. The driver secured the two prisoners, now handcuffed, to the inside of the van, found a blanket amongst the junk they kept in the back and made space for the others.
Then John had success, the victim was lying face down and the soil was not compacted around his face and the water was draining away. Carefully, John cleared the mud away while the others carried on clearing the legs and body. Simon handed John the knife that had been taken off the angry drunk prisoner, he carefully cut the gag away and made sure the airways were clear and then removed the blindfold. He could not tell if the victim was breathing. They then lifted the victim up onto the edge of the pathway and tried to see if there were any obvious injuries. They could not free his arms or legs. Rick, who had some medical training, thought he felt a very faint pulse and breathing was very faint, as the victim felt very cold and wet made it was impossible to be sure.
They decided to put the victim in the van and help him breath as they drove to the hospital. Pete radioed to the hospital for instructions how to get there. Giving them as little detail as possible, he was told they would have to use the Medical Centre as the main one was dealing with the accident victims. They split the team, some would stay, seal the area off, check the car over and tidy up. The driver would return later for them.
While moving, Pete phoned the Centre explaining that they wanted to keep their arrival and patient and whereabouts quiet. She directed them to the back entrance and told them a doctor would be waiting.
They arrived at the back entrance of the hospital without incident. This was a large secure area where the garbage was collected and where vehicles could be kept. The doctor was waiting with a trolley, equipment and a couple of nurses. While Rick still helped the victim to breath John told the doctor he thought that they had lost the victim on the way as he was very cold and showed no signs of life.
The doctor didn't wait to get the victim out of the van before checking his heartbeat and putting him on a portable ventilator. The heart beat was there, extremely faint and ragged. John asked if it was alright for Simon to take photos of what was happening and the victims injuries. This was agreed.
They moved him carefully onto a trolley and then into a large room with a bed and all the equipment needed to cope with anything. The door had a big sign Isolation Room Do Not Enter. Unless accompanied by the doctor. Use special clothing provided. The doctor laughed at John's hesitation "You wanted it kept quiet. This block will not be officially open till next week but we have everything here and can operate without moving him. There are rooms along the passage and some dry clothes in the store room, so take advantage of them while we sort things out. Coffee and sandwiches can be got at the top of the passageway and you can use the office to your left if you want phone or computer. By the way I'm Doctor Richards" He turned to help the nurses. John was quite taken aback by this co-operation, usually they had to show their badges and argue for any help.
They took full advantage of the showers and dry clothes, as they were covered with mud and soaked through. As the others arrived they too changed. John found two small cubicles where the prisoners could be handcuffed to a bed, with toilets just within reach, so he could shut the doors and leave them. The other agents found spare beds and rested knowing they would have a lot to do once the information from the car, and hopefully the prisoners, came through. Everyone knew they would not be able to get anything from the victim. The background noise coming from where the doctor and nurses were working kept on being interrupted by an alarm bell from the monitors.
John rang his base at Seattle with the details of the car and licences they had taken off the men, asking that all leads be followed up. He wanted this case and was not going give it to the local police. When his boss started to disagree he let his anger show for the first time, his boss reluctantly agreed and asked him to find out what happened to the job they were originally on.
John remembered the accident on the main road and rang an inquiry to the local Police Station giving details that they had been waiting for a drug drop. So if they found anything amongst the victims/cars in the accident, he might be able to assist. He gave his mobile as a contact number so it could not be traced to the hospital. A passing nurse reminded him that the mobiles could not be used, or left switched on in the hospital. He went to tell the others and hoped that he would remember to ring the station later for information.
Simon came out of the isolation room with a bag of clothes, handcuffs and his camera. John waited while Simon changed his clothes, then as Simon got a cup of coffee in the office asked "Good or Bad news, there's only a set of handcuffs, I thought he had his ankles chained?"
Simon replied between gulps of coffee. "They will have to be cut those off later, when he has settled down. List as long as your arm for injuries, not too bad if they were single but altogether could cause problems and, with dehydration and starvation, not too good. They are warming his blood up by machine at present once that is done they will have a better idea of what is going on. But to be honest every minute he is still with us there is more hope. The doctor will give you a better report later. Didn't know you could have so many tubes stuck in you, yuck!... His clothes look expensive and new."
They cleared a space and took the clothes out, trying not to make too much of a mess as they were wet and muddy. They found the labels had been removed and pockets empty until John searched the shirt and found a wet, grubby photo. "We will leave that to dry. It looks as though it's possibly a long term kidnapping. The prisoners aren't saying anything but if we leave them well alone it might just unsettle them" he told Simon.
The phone rang - it was Seattle to say that the records looked correct, but on closer inspection had false addresses and names, also the car had been in an accident earlier that day at a point between Seattle and Sunset Beach. They needed finger prints to identify the men. John asked that all missing persons and kidnappings in the area be checked against the following general description, which he gave. After a sharp retort from the other end that the description was not good and a kidnapping might not have been reported, John heatedly told him he knew it was a very long shot but he wanted to know that something was being done, and slammed the phone down. He hated hanging around waiting.
Simon looked at him. "This case has got you." John looked at him grinning "And you?"
"Yeah well like you ...I object to seeing people buried alive. Oh! I took a tape from the car; it was playing when they came. Do you want to hear it now or rest a while and come back fresh?"
"Right, listen to tape, then doctor should be free." John called down the passage to Rick "Get finger prints off the prisoners, if there is equipment in the van." Simon laughed because he knew they had nearly everything thrown in the van. It was a case of it had been used once and was portable, chuck it in!
They found a tape machine, played the tape but no sound came so they rewound it for a short while then played it again...a man's voice was saying "I always promised him a painful death so make sure he is alive before he goes..." John interrupted "Well someone's going to be unhappy. Let's try it from the beginning. We'll take notes and then you can transcribe it later"
"Thank you very much!" Simon replied sharply, he hated transcribing tapes.
They started the tape ready to take notes, expecting the male voice, and were surprised when a female voice which was light and full of laughter said "Hi Ben darling I hope they are treating you well...Oops! I forgot you can't speak..."as it played on they looked at each other knowing they were not going to like what was coming.
Later when the Doctor popped his head round the door he stopped and looked at the two men sitting in silence and said. "I think you need something for shock I'll get it then give you my verdict." and disappeared. It broke the tension and they gave voice to their thoughts. John said slowly "I think I should have had that rest first." Simon looked at the list of names etc. he had "Can't believe I made these notes. What do we charge them with, not just with kidnapping and attempted murder surely? She was loving every minute, what was she jealous of? "
The doctor came in with brandy and coffee. Which they took gratefully, as John replied "Having to share her love? I don't know. I suppose it could be aggravated kidnapping maybe torture, impersonation I don't know but we have to get them. At present they think they have succeeded. There are no surnames, dates or places so nothing to go on, just hope our two men will break or he recovers consciousness. How is he?"
Dr Richards had sat down with them. "Still with us. His body temperature is nearly normal so we can take him off one set of machines soon. He needs help with his breathing at present and that could last most of the day if he keeps on going as he is. His heart beat is driving everyone up the wall, including the machine.
Just as you think the heart's flat lined it beats again, then a couple of beats and flat lines, it is very slightly stronger. I wish it would beat more frequently, we cannot shock it into a better rhythm, it's too weak. We nearly lost him for good when we had to shock him the first time, so now we leave him alone and watch and hope. His wrists were badly cut by the handcuffs and bad sores higher up, as though he had been in other chains like the ones on his ankles. We've cut those chains off and given them to your officer."
He stopped for a second to collect his thoughts then carried on. "Badly bruised all over and various ages, some could be as recent as yesterday, some very deep and could be couple of weeks old. As he has been deprived of some water and food over a period of time, recovery from beatings would take longer. He has very minor internal injuries which do not need treatment just time.
Cracked ribs, badly strained shoulder, no problems there - just painful. His lungs may get congested as he breathed in some water when he was buried but then again they may remain clear. We are rehydrating him, and to help him regain his strength quicker feeding him through a tube into the stomach." He stopped as the two men pulled faces at the thought of it. "Well it's less painful than tubes down your throat, if it makes you feel better. "
John took a deep breath "What do you think of his chances if he also knows that one person he thought he loved didn't love him and did this to get his money, also that his brother is impersonating him and also hurt the feelings of a person you know you love."
Dr. Richards took a moment to think about it. "Well his chances are good as we have him here and could put him on complete life support if needs. He will either be hopping mad and want to get everything back which will be good. Or just want to stay where he is now in a coma, we know that there is some brain activity but he cannot communicate with us in any way at the moment. So it will be a case of wait and see. If you have got his name in the list the sooner we start using it the better. It may just give us the upper hand. But at present as long as he gets stronger we are happy."
John nodded thoughtfully then said "Right! Simon go through the tape again, make a definite list of names and any relationships mentioned. You can listen to it Doctor if you think it will help. Then rest, which is what I'm going to do now. I'll send up a fax of that photo and finger prints to Seattle." He left them to it.
Jake was sleeping off the drink. In his room, "Tubs" sat on the edge of the bed brooding, it was silent in the room; he had no idea of the time they had taken his watch and shoes, when he changed out of his wet clothes. Everyone had treated him politely. Then he had been given a drink and had his finger prints taken. Surely they knew who he was by now but no-one had been to ask questions, just this long time of waiting. He didn't know what was worst, constant questioning or this silent and polite approach. He could not relax, wondering what was going on.
He then realised that Ben must have felt like this except he knew they were going to kill him some when. He shivered. Should he admit to everything and just ask to be put in a jail well away from the others. No... he knew they would find him.
There was darkness all around, no real feeling, only knowledge that he had lost something and had to keep looking for it... he stopped once and a sudden a sharp flash of brightness came... he had not liked that, so he had to carry on looking... for what he did not know... only to carry on looking...