“I guess you’re right,” she said grimly. “I’m just so scared for our children.”
Mr. Long put his arm around his wife and sighed.
“So am I.”
Chapter 63
“It looks deserted to me,” said one of the SEALS.
“Too many tire tracks. The dune buggy goes in, but not out. The jeeps are in and out, and there is another larger vehicle that came in and out.”
“You can tell all that from the tire tracks?”
“You just need to know what to look for. Didn’t you learn anything in the tracking classes?”
“Not like you. But then I’m not a full-blooded Cherokee.”
“Your loss not mine, are we ready to go in?”
“Two front door, two back door, on three.”
Team leader Jacobs held up his fingers and counted off one, two, three and the SEALS crashed through the doors. They found Clyde and Fred sitting at the table eating. The meth cookers slowly raised their hands as they saw four fully armed SEALS pointing automatic weapons at them. Five minutes later Clyde and Fred were tied in two chairs when two of the SEALS returned from the barn.
“They were here. The dune buggy is still in the barn. The jeeps were here and left and another vehicle about the size of a pickup or van was here and left. Judging by the equipment in the barn, this is a meth lab.”
“I demand a lawyer,” yelled Clyde, “I know my rights!”
“Your rights!? You’re part of the terrorist plot to spray nerve gas over LA. I have family there. You have no rights. The only question now is how quick you talk before you go to Guantanamo Bay. So what’s it going to be?”
Clyde turned white as team leader Jacobs pulled out a knife.
“I didn’t sign up for this. What do you want to know?”
“There were four kids here. They came in that dune buggy in the barn. There were some men in a jeep following them. The kids had a flash drive with them. Start talking.”
“The kids were here. They showed up sometime in the middle of the night and hid in the barn. We found them in the morning. Then this jeep showed up and the men wanted the kids. The kids gave them the flash drive and they destroyed it. Then they took the kids and left. That’s what happened. I swear it.”
Jacobs walked over to the stove, turned on the gas and grabbed a knife lying on the counter. He placed it in the flame to start heating it. He turned back to Clyde, stared at him and said, “You’re lying and I have run out of time and patience. We have you involved in cooking Meth, a terrorist plot and kidnapping kids. There is no out or deal for you. The only question is how you live the rest of your miserable life and how long that will be.”
Clyde looked at the knife heating and said in a shaky voice, “OK, I’ll tell you everything.”
Jacobs walked over, ripped open Clyde’s shirt and attached two wires to his chest. Clyde squirmed around trying to get free and cried out, “What are you doing? I said I would talk.”
“Portable lie detector. See the knife. Guess what happens when you lie.”
Clyde twisted around in his seat and panicked, stared at the knife glowing red, and said “I’ll tell you everything this time.”
“Let’s start with the flash drive. Where is it?”
Clyde talked as fast as he could.
“The leader of the men in the jeep was named Joseph. He got it from the kids and brought it in here to see what was on it. He plugged it in the computer, read what was on the flash drive and seemed satisfied. He took the flash drive out and crushed it with his boot. He then took the crushed parts and put them in the pan on the counter and put in on the stove. The melted plastic in the bottom of the pan is what is left.”
Jacobs looked in the pan and then back at Clyde.
“Did you see what was on the flash drive?”
“No, he put it in the USB port opened it, looked for a minute, seemed satisfied and closed the program. I have no idea what was on it.”
“Where did Joseph go?”
“I have no idea. He drove away in his jeep.”
“He left the kids here? After chasing them for hours, after they killed one of his men, after they ruined his plans, he took the flash drive and just left the kids?”
Clyde looked down and shook his head.
“You have to protect me,” he said.
Jacobs slowly shook his head and walked over to the stove where the knife was glowing on the burner. One of the other SEALS walked in and whispered to the SEAL standing guard,
“Why does Jacobs have him wired up to the portable defibrillator?”
He whispered back, “He thinks it’s a lie detector. Every time it beeps he wets his pants.”
“Good idea. I never thought of trying that. Is he talking?”
“Yeah, he’s so scared now it looks like he’s telling the truth. Did you find anything else in the barn?”
“It looks like a typical meth lab except for some special equipment that’s wrapped up and sealed. It looks like they made something and then sealed up the equipment.”
“Do you think they made the nerve gas here?”
“Maybe. They used that equipment for something, but I’m not about to unwrap it without protective gear and more information.”
Chapter 64
Manuel walked into the conference room and saw Jose intently looking at a computer. Jose heard Manuel, turned around and said,
“I was just going to get you. I turned on the surveillance on the computer at the meth lap. There is a SEAL team there questioning Clyde and Fred.
“Have they said anything damaging?”
“They don’t know anything that really matters. Our tracks are covered too well. We are going to have to get another meth lab though.”
“That’s a shame. They were a good team. However they served their purpose. Losing teams once in a while is part of the business. Keep monitoring them and make sure they don’t know more than we think. How well have Clyde and Fred held out so far.”
“About what you would expect of them. They are talking as fast as they can. The other problem is he is our contact for the kids. You will probably have to postpone your session with them.”
“I’m a patient man. We can locate where they live. I’ll get my revenge.”
Chapter 65
Jacobs picked up the glowing knife and examined it. Fred blurted out,
“Clyde, tell him everything. This is over. If you won’t tell him, I will.”
Jacobs looked over at the other SEALS and said,
“Why don’t you take that one to the other room and get his story while I talk to Clyde. Then we will compare notes and see how truthful they are. And if they don’t agree, we’ll find out who’s lying. Take him now.”
As the other SEALS carried Fred out of the room in his chair, Jacobs turned to Clyde and said,
“Now, where were we? Oh yeah. You were getting ready to tell me why Joseph left the kids here?”
Clyde looked up at Jacobs and then looked down, shook his head and said,
“It’s over. I might as well tell you. Joseph was working for the same boss I have. I got a call from him to keep an eye out for those kids and when I woke up this morning they were in my barn asleep. I locked them in the storeroom and called my boss. He told me to wait for Joseph and he would deal with the kids. Joseph came, he got the flash drive like I told you and then talked to our boss. He told Joseph to leave the kids with me because he wants to deal with them personally, so Joseph left after destroying the flash drive.”
“So where are the kids now?” asked Jacobs.
“My boss wanted me to keep them until he got here, but I have no good place to keep them and still cook meth, so I called my cousin and he is supposed to keep them for two weeks until my boss gets here.”
“Who is your boss and what’s his name?”
Clyde looked up and shook his head. “He’ll kill me.”
Jacobs looked at the knife and then back at Clyde.
Clyde looked over at the knife, slumped in his seat and said,
“We call him Jefe or Manuel. He heads one of the Mexican drug cartels. I cook Meth for him.”
“Which cartel?”
“I have no idea. Jefe is more of a title. There are certain questions I don’t ask because I don’t want to know.”
“What does Joseph do?”
“He’s not part of the drug operation. This was the first time I saw him.”
“Did you make the nerve gas here?”
“Yeah, we made it here.”
“How did you know how to make it?”
“Manuel sent a man here for two weeks with special equipment. He made it. Then we shipped part of it to a place outside Barstow in stainless steel tankers. The rest of it was put in stainless steel containers and some men picked them up in a truck. After that we bagged up all the equipment, he left and said it was safe to go back in our lab after two days.”
“Did your cousin get the kids?” said Jacobs.
“Yeah, he came a couple hours ago and took the kids.”
“Why did your cousin take the kids?”
Clyde hung his head down,
“Because my cousin makes pornography. He is always on the lookout for new subjects, especially minors. He is supposed to keep them for two weeks and then bring them back and give them to Manuel when he comes here.”
“He does that with teenagers?” he asked disgusted.
“He does it with anyone, willing or not. So yes he does it with teenagers.”
“Where did he take the kids?” he asked as his blood started to boil.
Clyde blurted, “I don’t know. I really don’t. He has always kept his place a secret. I contact him by E-Mail and he calls me back on a burner phone. All I know is his place is east of here, he calls it “The Studio” and it takes about an hour to get here.”
“We need to send your cousin a message. Do you have any code you use when you E-Mail him?”
“No, I just send him an E-mail, but he doesn’t always respond very quickly. Sometimes it takes hours, especially when he is busy.”
“Like when he just got new victims?”
Clyde hung his head. “Yeah, like then.”
Jacobs walked over and cut off Clyde’s restraints and motioned him over to the computer.
“Write him a message so he calls back. What’s the number for your cell phone?”
Jacobs talked into his radio while Clyde was typing.
“We need to get a trace on a call that came into this number in the last couple hours. It will probably have come from a throwaway cell phone.”
“If it’s a throwaway, the best we can get is the closest cell tower. Are there any other calls coming in?”
“Yeah, we are sending an E-Mail to try to get him to call back. There should be another call.”
“When?”
“Sometime between now and I don’t know when,” said Jacobs. “Call me immediately when you have it. Also we need a helicopter. We need to move fast when we get that tower.”
“Do you want another team?
“Yes. Send us a helicopter and put the other team in a helicopter about 60 miles east of here. Also get a ground team in about 40 miles east of here. Then we wait.”
Jacobs looked over Clyde’s shoulder at the message, nodded his head and said, “Send it.”
Clyde sent the E-Mail and Jacobs glowered at him. His voice was like flint.
“We need to talk some more. I want more information about your cousin. This cell phone tower is not good enough. I want better information. I have kids of my own. If those kids are hurt I will be very unhappy with you and you do not want me to be unhappy, so start talking.”
Clyde couldn’t talk fast enough. “I’ll tell you everything I know. He has a brilliant setup. Most people that view illegal pornography go to jail because they are caught with the photos or videos. With his system everything is on computer, but nothing is stored. Everything is stored on servers in Belarus. He sells access codes to web sites. The web sites look normal until you type in a code in a hidden area. Then you jump to another site, type in another code in a hidden area to get to the real site. Then you have so many hours depending on what you paid. You don’t store anything on your computer, but you can get to anything you want within a minute and they have a lot stored. He is not the only one that sends them video. All the sites are in Belarus so our government can’t shut them down.”
Jacobs thought for a minute.
“What about the money trail? How does he get paid?”
“He sells his clients expensive shampoo.”
“What!”
“He buys cheap shampoo in drums. Then he bottles it in his own containers and sells it on the internet for $50 a bottle as designer shampoo. Each bottle has a code on it. If you know the system, you type in the code to the web site and you have $50 worth of viewing. When you have used it up, you get a code from another bottle. All the profit comes to him through the legitimate business of selling shampoo.”
“What about the video and pictures he takes?”
“He sends them through the internet to his partners in Belarus. But he only has to do it one time. Then his clients get it through the servers in Belarus. No one knows where his compound is. I’m his cousin and all I know is that it's east of here. That’s why I have to E-mail him and he calls me back on a throwaway cell phone. He doesn’t have the risk of sending videos out of his place, except for the one time to Belarus. The only exception is when he gets victims for the first time.”
“What happens when he gets them for the first time.”
Clyde took a deep breath. “He has to break them so they will do what he wants. A lot of his clients want to see this live, so he takes the risk of streaming live for up to a half hour to select clients that have been purchasing shampoo for a long time. If no one knows he is about to start streaming, even if they see it they don’t have time to figure where he is because he sends it through Belarus. Some of these clients even get to E-Mail him with suggestions during the live presentation.”
“So fairly soon, he will be sending out a live presentation from his compound?”
“I’m not sure when fairly soon will be, but yes. However he will be sending it to Belarus and only select clients will be notified by Belarus when it will be sent, so his risk is almost non-existent.”
“How does he break them?”
“I have no idea.” He lowered his eyes. “I’m not into watching stuff like that.”
Jacobs said, “Have you been getting all this?”
He heard in his earpiece “We have all of it. Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
Jacobs walked a little ways away to get some privacy.
“He seems to be. What about the cell tower?”
“We have the cell tower, but it’s rural there so it covers miles of area. There are a lot of possibilities. We need to narrow it down.”
“I can keep questioning him, but I think he is telling us everything he knows. I’m not confident I’ll get anything else useful.”
“Keep trying. After the helicopter gets to you we will reevaluate where you are needed. There is an organization we need to notify when anything regarding abused children comes in and they have some tremendous resources available. Maybe they can help.”
Chapter 66
Abused Children Unit (ACU) New Mexico
There were numerous Air Force bases built during the Cold War in the deserts of the Southwest United States. When the Cold War ended, most of these became obsolete. Some of them were ideal for the use of an organization that few people in the government were aware of. They picked one that still had good facilities and was therefore easy and inexpensive to renovate, but more important was not near any town. It was a combination headquarters and prison. Having many miles between the base and any town
to give them more time to locate any escaped prisoner was important. After they were there for awhile, they realized this made everyone more comfortable but wasn’t necessary. One of the great advantages of an old airbase was the existing runway. These are very expensive, but last for a long time and it didn’t need any renovation. The housing wasn’t too bad and they found that after the prisoners started arriving they could use them to improve the living quarters quite inexpensively by just buying materials and putting them to work. After the living quarters for both the staff and the inmates were totally renovated, they moved to the old golf course, the swimming pool, and the tennis courts. They soon had an oasis in the middle of nowhere. They even grew a lot of their own food. All the inmates had jobs that kept them busy for part of the day. Most of the renovation money went into the communications, because they insisted on the best. They also had a good medical staff that could perform operations on site. Many of the staff were retired military and soon reverted to their old ranks. They worked very closely with active military including the Air Force and Special Forces from all the branches. They only needed the additional manpower and special Air Force transportation from time to time and they found it was much easier to just ask for it when needed than maintain their own force. The assets were officially loaned as needed to avoid issues with using military for civilian operations. They initially were concerned about how well the elite Special Forces would react to helping out on loan as the tasks they were usually asked to perform were quite simple as compared to their intensive training. They discovered a simple solution for this problem. They let the Special Forces they intended to use meet Tony and he asked them to help. That immediately ended any question of their willingness to help. If given an option of taking a well deserved leave and helping the ACU they would all forgo their leave and fight to be included on whatever mission was necessary.