The Retrieval... Ch. 03

After a brief pause the unknown and unnamed escorts opened the rear doors and helped Leah and Jules from the vehicle. These driver escorts then passed them off to another pair of nameless, faceless escorts who firmly held one of their arms and walked them towards something that was in the opposite direction of the vehicle. She didn't have a clue where they were headed, but Leah was aware that the terrain went from gravel to grass and then finally concrete. She also knew that they must have stepped through a doorway and gone indoors from the drastic change in smells and temperature. They stopped walking and just stood in place for a few moments and then the hoods were taken off.

Both women blinked rapidly and breathed in deeply in relief from the stuffy hoods. They found themselves standing in a plain white room with no furniture and no decoration. It was literally empty with the exception of ceiling mounted cameras that were pointing at them and the pair of steel elevator doors they stood facing. The doors silently slid open and the two men who had been escorting them didn't say anything as they waited for their guests to step into the elevator car. The women did and the escorts followed them in. One of the escorts unlocked a control panel and then keyed in a code into an interior control panel. The elevator started moving and Leah immediately sensed they were going down. So...it was an underground facility.

Leah figured they must have gone down at least thirty feet below the surface before the elevator stopped. The doors opened and the group exited the elevator and stepped right into a large hallway that was just as blank and empty of decoration as the room upstairs. Jules silently wondered if whoever had designed and built this place had indulged in one too many horror movies involving insane asylums because this place was just flat out creepy. Leah knew what this place was and why it looked the way it did. At an anonymous detention center, the people in control didn't want to give the people being detained any chance at objects that might possibly be used as a weapon...and almost anything could be used as a weapon.

The escorts led them down the hallway that was lined with a series of heavy, solid looking steel doors that didn't have any door handles on them. There was a small control panel set into the wall beside each door and then an opening in the middle of the door. It looked very foreign and futuristic to Jules. It looked like a lot of other Black Site prisons Leah had been to in the past.

They finally stopped at a door about halfway down the hall. One of the escorts punched in a code and then stuck a rounded key looking device into the opening and waited for a click. The heavy door released and the same escort who had opened it took a step back and held the heavy door open for them. Jules quietly advised Leah she would wait outside and reached out and gave Leah's hand an encouraging squeeze. Leah took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

The room was empty and bare just like everything else except in the middle of the room was a small, square table that looked like it was made out of steel. It was bolted to the floor. On opposite sides of the table were two chairs, also made of metal and also bolted to the floor. Leah glanced up at one of several cameras that were built into the ceiling. She seriously doubted there were any blind spots in a place like this.

Leah hesitated and then sat down in one of the chairs at the table and waited. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. She quietly sat and just stared down at her hands. She looked up as a door on the other side of the room swung open. She hadn't noticed it when she first walked in. She held her breath as she watched two more of these escort people walk Travis Rackley into the room.

********

Chairman: And approximately what time was this, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Around 0200, shortly after we had confirmed the kill, sir.

Chairman: Can you tell us what specifically made Mr. Rackley change the extraction time, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Rack didn't want us standing around and waiting for the body to be discovered. He said we needed to move forward with the extraction ASAP rather than wait until daylight.

Chairman: Did he say why?

Leah: He said he didn't trust the trainees. He told us he would talk to them and come up with an excuse as to why we had to leave in the middle of the night.

Chairman: And you agreed with Mr. Rackley's plan?

Leah: Well, it wasn't my place to agree or disagree, sir. Rack was Team Leader. But for the record, we were all in agreement...we were hoping it would buy us a couple of extra hours so we could get out of the country without further incident.

Chairman: So rather than wait until the following morning, Team Leader Rackley decided to approach the warehouse that night. Is that correct, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir, that is correct.

Chairman: Please describe the events that happened as your team approached the warehouse that night, Ms. Hartsall.

Leah: Well...at first we held back and observed for a while, sir.

Chairman: Why did you do that, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Because the trainees still had fires going and we could hear activity inside. They had also posted a sentry outside of the main door.

Chairman: Was that unusual, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Very unusual, sir. The trainees never stayed up that late and they never pulled guard duty.

Chairman: Okay, thank you. What happened next, Ms. Hartsall?

The four of them were being ultra silent as they worked their way closer to the old, dilapidated Quonset hut. Something definitely didn't feel right. Even though they each wore their com-units with ear pieces and throat mics, Rack used hand signals to indicate he wanted Leah on over-watch with the M2010 and Barkley and Reiberson to spread out on either side of the perimeter. The three of them silently obeyed as Rackley started to circle the warehouse.

Leah snaked her way to a higher patch of ground and then quickly and silently set up with the sniper rifle. She attached the integral suppressor to the barrel and inserted the five round magazine of special hand-loaded sub-sonic rounds. She dropped onto the ground, adjusted her position and reached into her kit. She attached the small device to the end of her scope that would give her night vision capabilities. She settled in behind the scope. She was only seventy yards out. She would not miss if Rack called on her to start silently handing out long distance death certificates.

Leah kept her finger off of the trigger as she swung her scope around and checked that both Bark and Reibs were in position. She swung back and watched as the ghostly green image of Rack approached the side of the warehouse. She keyed her throat mic and advised that they were in position and good to go.

Rackley confirmed with a simple click of his mic and then worked his way to a spot that had a large gap in the boards on the side of the warehouse. The gap was about eight feet off the ground so he had to climb and pull himself up to peek inside. Leah watched through the scope as he hung there for about a minute and looked through the gap. She then watched him let go and he actually stumbled a little when he landed. She couldn't understand why -- Rack was as sure-footed as any man alive. She also didn't understand the look on his face as he turned around.

********

The simple walk across the room was slow going as Rackley was bound with four-point restraints. His wrists were cuffed to the chain around his waist which was attached by another length of chain to the chain that ran between the cuffs around his ankles. He shuffled along towards the metal table with a guard on either side of him firmly holding onto each of his arms. Rackley kept his head down as he concentrated on his shuffle so he didn't trip.

He finally made it to the table and the guards let him go. Rack turned half way around so that he could back himself into the chair. He was moving rather gingerly as if he was in pain and Leah immediately wondered if he was being subjected to interrogations. He sat down heavily and finally managed to swivel around to face her despite all of the restraints.

"I have probably told you this more than once over the years, sweet cheeks," Rackley immediately flashed her that familiar grin. "But I guarantee I never meant it more than I do right now...because you are one hell of a sight for these sore eyes."

"Shut up," Leah scowled, but then couldn't help but smile back at him.

They continued smiling at each other for another moment or two and then the grins faded and they just sat there in silence. While Travis Rackley was overjoyed to see one of his favorite people in the whole world, he didn't want to make small talk. He was embarrassed that Leah had to see him like this. He cleared his throat.

"I have to say I didn't expect to see you hear."

"Jules pulled some strings," Leah explained quietly.

"Oh," Rackley nodded. "I see. So...are you okay?"

"I am," Leah nodded. "You?"

"I've seen better days," Rackley chuckled. "But I've seen worse too...I'm surviving."

She nodded again and then said, "It's good to see you."

"Leah," Rackley sighed and leaned forward on the table. "Why did you come here?"

"I..." Leah started to say and stopped. "I'm not sure."

"Come on." Rackley said quietly. "Talk to me."

"I just wanted you to know," Leah whispered and tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Rack."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," Rackley sat up straighter.

"Yes," Leah wiped at her eyes. "I do."

"Hold on a minute," Rackley jingled his chains as he tried to hold up a hand. "Let's get a couple of things straight. First off, I'm a big boy, Leah...I made my choices and I don't have a problem paying my tab. Are we clear on that?"

"Choices?" Leah looked up in disbelief. "I testified, Rack. I told them everything...about Andarab."

"Is that what's got you all knotted up?" Rackley asked her. "The whole testimony thing?"

Leah nodded and few more tears slid down her cheeks.

********

Chairman: And what happened next?

Leah: Rack called us all back in to our original meeting point, sir.

Chairman: And then, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Rack wouldn't even make eye contact with us. He acted like he was in a hurry and...I guess he seemed really upset about something. He started to strip down out of all of his non-essential gear and then loaded up with weapons and ammo like he was getting ready for a combat mission, sir.

Chairman: Did he happen to mention to you or your team what his intentions were?

Leah: No, sir, he did not.

Chairman: Did he say anything at all, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir. He instructed us to watch his six, sir.

Chairman: And what does that mean? Watching his six?

Leah: It means we were to watch his back, sir. Provide back-up to whatever it was he was planning to do.

Chairman: And did you, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir. We did.

********

"How long have you known me, Leah?"

Leah shrugged and wiped at her eyes again.

"We were in the shit for six years," Rackley informed her. "In all that time...in all the hell holes we ended up in - did you ever know me to get upset or hold a grudge against anybody for doing the right thing?"

Leah solemnly shook her head.

"What was the first thing I told you when I started training you?" Rackley asked her gently. "Do you remember? During that first week when you screwed up the map coordinates and didn't know what to do?"

Leah shrugged and wiped at her nose.

"Come on, sweet cheeks," Rackley encouraged her. "I know you remember. Tell me."

"Never apologize for telling the truth."

"Exactly," Rack said softly and leaned as far across the table as his restraints would let him. "So you know in your heart I'm not mad at you...right?"

Leah shrugged and sniffled, but then asked in an almost girlish voice as she looked up at him through her eyebrows. "You're really not mad?"

"Of course not," Rackley reassured her with a smile. He paused for a moment. "Look, I don't regret what I did in Andarab..."

"You don't?" Leah asked quietly.

********

Chairman: What did Mr. Rackley do next, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: He moved into position behind their sentry, sir.

Chairman: Did he approach this sentry person, Ms. Hartsall? Did he attempt to question this man?

Leah: Uh...no, sir. He didn't.

Rack always could move like a ghost.

He slowly moved in and without a sound came up ten feet behind the sentry who just stood there obliviously smoking a cigarette. The guy literally did not have a clue someone was behind him. Leah recognized the sentry as the youngest of the trainees. He wasn't the worst of what they had been dealing with for the past three days, but he wasn't exactly a peach either. They watched Rackley stand up tall and walk directly up behind the man. The three of them let out a collective surprised gasp as with two lightning quick movements Rack viciously snapped the young man's neck.

"What the fuck?" Barkley whispered urgently.

"No idea." Leah whispered back. She forced herself to get over her shock and commanded the other two men, "Let's move."

They silently moved into covering positions as Rack dragged the body over to lay it against the side of the wall. He rejoined them and without a word to his team started a countdown on his fingers to entry. Leah had never seen that look on Rack's face before. She wasn't really sure how to describe it, but she knew it was the scariest expression she had ever seen on a human being's face in her life. It was something ferocious and primal.

Rack's count reached one and they burst into the warehouse.

"Stand the fuck down!" Rackley shouted at the top of his lungs and fired a warning burst into the air from his M4. Leah, Barkley and Reiberson quickly fanned out and covered every possible angle, ordering everyone to freeze as Rackley stalked into the middle of the room.

Everyone inside of the warehoused froze and fell silent...everyone except the women and young girls. They continued crying and keening in pain and terror. Leah blinked her eyes at the horror she was seeing and at first it wouldn't register. The female villagers were lined up against one wall of the warehouse. The four adult females and five girls had their hands bound and short lengths of rope around their necks tying them helplessly to the wall like dogs. They were cowering and hiding their faces as they cried. Except for the young girl of about twelve whose hands and feet were tied spread-eagle to the four corners of a table. She was covered in blood and her clothes were in a pile next to the table. These fucking animals had been taking turns torturing and raping her.

One of the American's from the security company moved from where he had been leaning up against the wall. Leah remembered his name was Clark. He slowly approached Rackley with his hands held up. He shook his head. "Man, I tried to tell them --"

Without a word Rackley smoothly and quickly drew the Beretta from the tactical holster on his thigh and put a 9mm hole into Clark's forehead. Bark and Reibs shared a quick look and then pulled their M4's in tighter against their cheeks. The trainees jumped at the gunshot. They continued holding their hands up as they stared at the body of the dead American trainer.

"What the hell, man? Have you lost your --" the other American trainer started to shout at Rackley, but another boom echoed around the warehouse and he joined his friend in hell.

Leah tightened her grip on her CAR-15 as she maintained her own position. The assault rifle felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. She was breathing so hard and so fast that she suddenly thought she might hyperventilate. She continued to cover the two trainees who were in front of her, but couldn't keep her eyes from glancing back over at the little girl tied to the table who was just whimpering now.

"Which one?" Rack stepped forward and asked. His voice was thick and hoarse with emotion. He slowly looked around the room and his eyes looked like they belonged to some rabid animal. "Which one of you sick motherfuckers came up with this evil shit?"

Of course no one spoke up. Rackley's eyes flicked wildly around the room as his lip curled back from his teeth like a predator's. He grabbed the closest trainee by the throat and it seemed Rack had superhuman strength as he man-handled the grown adult with one hand like he was small child. The other trainees started surreptitiously trading looks with each other out of the corner of their eyes.

What did this crazy American think he was going to do?

Chairman: And what did Mr. Rackley do then?

Leah: He shot the trainee in the head, sir.

Chairman: And did he say anything when he did this, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir, he said 'fucking answer me', sir...and then he repeated his original question.

Chairman: And did you say anything at this time, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir. I asked Rack if I could attend to the young girl, sir.

Chairman: Did you?

Leah: Yes, sir, I did to the best of my ability.

Chairman: And were you able to help her, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: No, sir. I tried...but she died in my arms, sir.

Chairman: Oh...well, I'm sorry to hear that. What did Mr. Rackley do next, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: He killed them, sir.

Chairman: Which ones? The ones responsible for raping that young girl?

Leah: No, sir....All of them.

Chairman: Did they all confess, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: No, sir. They didn't have to. They either participated or let it happen...either way Rack figured they were all just as guilty. So he put a bullet in each of their heads...sir.

********

"Not one little bit," Rackley reassured her again with a firm nod. "The world is a much better place without those pieces of shit walking around in it."

Leah nodded her head in understanding. She agreed.

"But at the end of the day," he continued and smiled at her. "Deep down, I understand why you had to talk about it."

Leah looked up at him and her lip quivered.

"I mean it," he nodded. "I know you Leah...I understand why you needed to finally get that nightmare out of your head."

"You do?" Leah whispered. When Rack nodded she broke down and began sobbing. She leaned her head down on the desk close enough to Rackley that he managed to get his fingertips up high enough to stroke her hair.

"I do, sweet cakes...I understand," Rackley said softly and leaned far enough across the table to kiss her on top of her head. "I honestly don't think you need my absolution for anything you said or did...but I need to tell you something."

Leah managed to get control of herself and sit back up. She wiped her face with some embarrassment and sniffled. She looked at Rackley. Those bright blue eyes of hers were as vulnerable as he'd ever seen them.

"I'm saying this because I think you need to hear it," Rackley whispered and actually smiled as his own tears started to leak from the corners of his eyes. "I forgive you."

****

"Good morning, General." Smith offered the polite greeting into the speaker phone on his desk. He was sitting in his home office holding his encrypted cell phone in his hand. He was staring at the longitude and latitude coordinates of the little tracking device.

"I'm about to walk out of the door with my family, Smith." He could hear the General sigh. "Church service starts in twenty minutes, so I suggest you get to it rather quickly."