Safe House Wrap Up & Unit Arrives
Safe House – Interviewing Picnic Attendees
Jules had one last person to speak to. She was drenched, felt sweaty and grimy. Her hair was plastered to her head. She was feeling a bit light headed. She should have brought water with her.
They had been out in this heat in full gear for just over an hour now. She leaned against the porch rail to balance herself. A hand appeared at her elbow to steady her as another appeared in front of her with a water bottle.
"Jules sit on the steps a moment and drink you look wiped out" Wordy said kindly.
Jules sat then looked up to Wordy. "Thanks." She lifted the bottle and drank a quarter of it.
"Whoa slow down, sip" he cautioned. "How's it going here? Can I help?"
"Just one more." Jules pointed to a teenage girl sitting on a tire swing reading a book.
"You want I can talk to her. You head back to the command truck, cool off a bit" Wordy offered.
Jules shook her head "No. I got it." She downed another quarter of the bottle and rose. Only to wobble a bit on the first step.
Wordy was at her side in an instant "Jules, sit now. You don't want to pull a Dale. Right?"
Jules looked at Wordy and cocked an eyebrow at him and thought poor Dale. His action of passing out on the job due to dehydration and heat just became known as a 'Dale'.
Wordy just smiled back and pointed to the steps. She glared at him but complied and sat back down because she sure as hell didn't want it to become known as a 'Jules'.
Wordy headed over to the girl. When he reached her he introduced himself and then started asking questions.
As Jules watched from the steps, she saw a cavalcade of Army vehicles roll up to the scene. Fifteen men exited the trucks and Humvees. There were a couple of cooler trucks. She frowned as she realized those were for all the bodies. She watched as they set to work. That was one grim job she thought.
She glanced to the last two Humvees to arrive. Jules smiled as she recognized one of the men. He was easy to recognize she had never met anyone quite like him. It only took once and she would never forget him. Sam was gonna be happy to see him.
Her attention was drawn away by a young boy who sat down beside her. He was about ten or eleven and had an old digital camera that has seen better days. He asked if he could take her picture. They started talking.
Safe House – Near the Command Truck
Sam was half-listening to Greg and Ed discuss their status. He was frustrated no leads had been found. The team was doing everything in their power to obtain information but nothing was coming up.
He was also getting concerned that he had not heard a single thing from Winds. Was he still following? Was he out there injured and unable to get help? Had he located Daphne and Ben but could not communicate?
So many questions and no answers. They had exhausted every avenue they had available to them. Sam picked up a bit of their conversation and noted that Greg was now saying they should return to the barn. Sam was out of ideas and as much as he didn't want to he had to agree with Greg. He was about to agree when Ed spoke.
Ed's voice was laced with the same frustration Sam felt as he said "Greg, you're right. We've done everything we can here for now. I agree we head back to the barn and continue investigations from there. Until we have something to go on there is nothing we can do. Spike is still running the photos and he can do that from the barn."
Wiping the sweat off his brow for the umpteenth time, Ed saw Greg and Sam do the same. Christ it was hot and muggy. "We sure don't need anyone on the team pulling a 'Dale' and this heat is sapping it out of all of them. The team could do with something to eat and a cool place to think. The barn would be a good place for that."
Sam agreed with that. He needed the team in top form and this heat was actually a hindrance. Ed was ever looking out for everyone's well-being. He should have made the decision earlier to pull the team to the barn. Interviews of the subject and Spike's work could easily and probably be better done there.
Being in command was new to him. He needed to pull out a different skill set to ensure everyone's safety and think beyond his single minded objective of getting Daphne and Ben back. He was in charge of the team's welfare too. Seeing it from Sarge's and Ed's side increased his admiration of those men.
Sam stated "I agree. Sent Wordy over to check on Jules a bit ago. They should be done in short order. You all can head to the barn. I need to wait until the Army arrives to take over the scene. I'll join you when I can."
He looked over his shoulder briefly as he heard several trucks arrive and noticed the portable morgue trucks and the regular soldiers exiting them. He continued to Greg and Ed "Speak of the devil. Good they finally arrived. I can hand over the scene them and head back to the barn. You can head out now; I'll be just a bit."
The three were about to disperse and start packing up when Leah who had been silently listening to them all tentatively commented "Boss, I'm wondering about something."
All three turned to her but Greg answered wearily, the heat was really getting to him "Go ahead."
She felt a bit uncomfortable under the stare of the three. At Greg's weary tone she thought maybe she should have kept her mouth shut and she was butting in where she shouldn't again. But then she realized his tone was probably from the heat. She was more accustomed to heat and humidity having grown up in Haiti; today was less taxing on her.
So she shared her thought "Well, it's just something you said when we first got here? If they already had Daphne and Ben why didn't all of them leave? Spike's review of the tapes showed they got them quickly but the subjects kept flooding in and shooting at them. It was like they were intent on killing them all."
Sam's mind instantly grabbed onto Leah's thought. "Shit this was not only an abduction it was a kill mission. They didn't want to leave anyone alive. Dammit, I should have seen it sooner. The unit is likely still in danger." He quickly pulled Blaze's phone out.
Last Humvee in Cavalcade Enroute to Safe House – Past Hour and Just Arriving On Scene
Apollo, Cameo and Pawn were dumbstruck by their Sergeant's behavior. Sarge was damned scary when he was angry. He was pissed so utterly pissed when Sutton had contacted him and told him who to report to.
They had left the base immediately after Sarge had returned from Sutton's office. All he had yelled to the unit was to grab their god damned gear and that they had to report to a cocky little shit of an SRU officer and that the cocky bastard was in charge of their mission.
Pirate and Lotus had taken one look at Sarge then quickly grabbed their gear, jumped in a Humvee and left not wanting to be anywhere near the Sarge. The three rookies were left to ride with Sarge. Whoever this Blondie person was, their Sarge wanted to beat the holy living crap out of him. Sarge punched the side of the Humvee as he got in then kept slamming his hands on the steering wheel as he drove. He had been cussing a blue streak and yelling nearly all the way here. It was a long, uncomfortable hour drive.
Apollo stared at the Sarge. He had thought that he, Cameo and Pawn had lucked out getting assigned to Sarge a week ago. It was said he was one of the best. That he was calm, cool and level headed. But he was definitely not that now.
He surmised that Sarge must be pissed that his unit was reporting to a mere police officer. To him it seemed the Sarge thought this assignment, whatever it was, was beneath them. He would agree; an elite JTF2 unit should not be assisting the police. They had more important things to do, like deal with terrorists.
Apollo wished Sarge would have shared something about the mission with them, but all he did was rage. It was very clear that Sarge didn't like this Blondie person he had to report to one little bit. Kept calling him an idiot, stating he'd beat the shit out him when got him alone for being so stupid. He wondered how Sarge would handle it when they actually arrived and he had to report to what Sarge called the cocky little shit.
Mason was taking long slow breaths now trying to get control. He had to get a hold of himself. He had been raging on and off for the last hour for several reasons. He was sure his rooks were confused by his behavior. They had only been with the unit for a week and were so green.
One of the reasons he was pissed was he was not happy being put on assignment. He knew they had no choice but his unit was not ready. What little he did know of his new rooks was that Apollo was a damned hothead. He needed an attitude adjustment before he got someone killed. He was rash and made unfounded leaps and assumptions. Apollo had an arrogant attitude that Mason was surprised had made it passed Drill Sergeant Braddock. Jeff usually knocked that right out of recruits. He was pissed he had not had time to get his unit squared away before having to go on a mission.
The second is that he could really use Riddler, Brace and Eagle right now. He trusted them but unfortunately it would be months before they were able to return to the unit. He missed them, they were all working so damned hard to rehab.
Mason still felt guilty that they were injured, always did and always would. He should have realized it was a trap and gotten them out of the building before it exploded. Which looped back into the first reason; this assignment was an unknown and he wished he knew the rooks better. They were untested and he wasn't sure how they would react or handle themselves in the field.
Sutton had given him only the bare minimum mission details. All he said was there was an incident at a safe house that involved two packages being taken. He also said that regulars had already been sent to deal with the bodies at the scene.
The last details he shared was that JTF2 had assumed jurisdiction and to report to Braddock for further details because he was in charge of the mission. Then Sutton told him to bring Braddock up to speed on the current state of JTF2 units, it was something they could not share even over secure com lines.
Those last two bits had thrown him off kilter and was the third and biggest reason he was pissed. This was personal, he was reporting to Blondie. Just how the hell had that happened? Who the hell pulled him back in?
Mason knew that Sutton wouldn't have instructed him to give Blondie the full sit-rep if this was only temporary for Blondie. He was going to kill Blondie if that cocky idiot had caved to the General's wishes and voluntarily re-upped.
As the Humvee approached the scene he glanced at the rooks. They just stared at him and said not a word the entire trip. He was sure they were wondering how to react to his furious ranting. He didn't have time now.
He would have to explain later. Mason had needed to let the fury out before he arrived on scene. On scene he would have to act differently to be in control, calm and cool. He couldn't afford to show the anger he felt at Blondie reactivating here.
Safe House
As he had exited the last Humvee he scanned the area. Shit it looked awful, just what the hell had happened? His gaze landed on a group of three SRU men and a female SRU officer just off to the side.
He found his target, Blondie had his back to him talking to the others. He looked to the five member of his unit they appeared to be taken aback by the scene too, especially his rooks.
The color had leeched from their faces. Yeah they were green, very green. Cameo even looked like he might hurl. He said to his men "Apollo, take care of Cameo, he's gonna be sick. Stay here for now, once I know what's up I'll let ya know."
Then he strode forward with purpose. Mason would know that cocky blonde headed kid anywhere. Just what the hell did he think he was doing? Blondie better have a damned good reason or he was dead.
Sam had just pulled out Blaze's phone. He needed a protection detail for Blaze and his unit right now. Leah was so right; he was mentally kicking himself for not realizing sooner as he dialed. He was halfway through dialing when he heard someone was approaching behind him and saw Ed and Greg smile. Sam pivoted around.
"Well hello Sunshine" Mason said in a cheeky and cheerful voice.
"Afternoon Gorgeous" Sam smiled broadly and replied. He was relieved the unit sent was led by someone he knew and trusted.
Mason pulled Blondie into a bear hug and when he finally released him said "You seem to be out of uniform."
Sam recoiled slightly at the uniform comment and chose not to acknowledge it. Instead he said "They didn't tell me they were sending your ugly mug."
Mason read his reaction to the uniform comment. God dammit this was not by Blondie's choice. He had to know why and how but it would have to wait they had a mission.
So Mason replied cheekily "Just lucky they sent you the best. Brought along a bunch of regulars to secure this scene and deal with all this" his hands swept across the unpleasant scene "So you can focus on the packages. Sergeant Grey is in charge of the regulars if you need anything from them." Mason pointed out the man.
Sam nodded, as happy as he was to see Mason and wanted to catch up, he got right to business "Great. What I need right now is a protection detail for Blaze, Daniel, Hal and Angus at St. Simon ASAP. Whoever is behind this tried real hard to leave no one alive. I believe they are still in danger and they are in no shape to protect themselves."
Mason flinched at Blondie's words but instantly changed to all business at that comment "You want JTF2 or Regular?" He was reeling inside; Sutton didn't tell him Blaze's unit was involved and injured. Blondie did not mention Winds and Russ.
He quickly scanned the area looking for them. He saw Russ but not Winds. His eyes saw all the covered bodies, was Winds under one of the sheets? God he hoped not. He looked back to Blondie waiting for an answer.
Sam considered it a moment "Given the threat level a combo would be best. Two of your guys and four regulars should do for now. I'll contact Sutton in a bit and request a proper security detail."
Mason turned to his unit of five guys. He had two he trusted without reservation and three untested rooks. Who should he send to guard Blaze and his unit? Given the scene around them it was a no brainer, only the best would do.
He called out loudly to his men "Pirate, Lotus, front and center." He turned back to Blondie as they joined them "Blondie this is Pirate, my second and Lotus my go to man for surveillance. I trust them with my life. They will keep Blaze and the others safe."
Sam nodded in greeting then launched into his orders. Within a few minutes they had left with four regulars to provide protection to the downed unit guys.
Jules chimed in over the headset "Boss, found something. Spike, I have pictures for you to analyze. No idea if it is going to be useful or not but a boy found an old camera he said he saw drop from some guy who was watching the house for some time earlier today."
"The boy was playing in the woods behind the safe house when he saw the man looking at the house with binoculars. When the guy left the boy went to see what he was looking at and found the camera." Jules sprinted towards the command truck.
Sam's heart skipped a beat, finally maybe a clue. He trotted to the truck and joined Spike and Jules. Greg, Ed and Mason were right behind him.
Spike pulled up a few of the images. They were interior shots of some type of warehouse. Spike looked to Sam. "Sorry buddy, this is going to take a while to run through analysis before I even know if I have something useful." He saw Sam's face fall slightly but then quickly recover.
Sam said "Okay. I understand. We've done all we can here. Let's head to the barn. The Army has the scene secured. Spike you can run the analysis there."
Mason interjected "Blondie we need to talk privately. Sutton instructed me to brief you on some things."
Sam nodded and looked to Mason "How about your guys head to the barn with the team and we can take the Humvee. I need to stop at my apartment to grab a few things. We can talk on the way."
Mason nodded.
Sam then turned to Greg and Ed "Take Russ too. Set him up so he can continue to monitor the subjects. I shouldn't be too long."
They nodded and everyone set off to execute.