possession. Agent Henry was certain the Bass Pro Shop would carry everything they could possibly need.
As they approached the Wildcat Farm, the silo loomed high above the farm once again signaled their destination. The logo on the silo was unmistakable. The hostages were being held somewhere among the many buildings clustered near the center of this facility.
Observing the farm for the first time, the men identified several things that looked out of place. The first was a Peterbilt tractor-trailer transporting a large object completely covered by a green tarp. The second was a private tour bus with all of its windows tinted except for the windshield. These two vehicles seemed to herald that something out of the ordinary was taking place at Wildcat Farm.
Morris made a slow pass by the facility and Henry took as many digital pictures as he could snap in the thirty seconds it took to drive past the farm. Once they were completely out of sight of the buildings, Morris pulled to the side of the road. The time was almost 4:00 p.m. It seemed obvious they had found where the hostages were being held, but the only way to confirm this hunch was to wait for darkness. They decided to head back to the Bass Pro Shop to get supplies and draw a plan for how to rescue the hostages.
Agent Henry was looking at the digital pictures on his camera. He handed it back to Palmer, who was now on the side with an unobstructed view of the operation. “I’ve seen enough,” he said. “Here… take a few more as we drive by. Looks like a man with a Remington. 308 could cover the back side of the residence without any trouble.”
“We’ll need to know the exact position of the hostages,” Palmer replied. “But yeah, I agree, assuming we locate the hostages…this may not be too bad.”
“So…can one of you fill me in on the plan, then?” Morris asked.
Until this point, Morris had kept his thoughts and questions to himself. When he earlier proposed contacting the local police, he hadn’t received a forthright answer, but he knew when not to press the point. It was obvious Agent Henry was under orders not to involve the local police or he would have already done so. But as the time was getting late, he needed more information on what was about to go down.
“Dave, this has national security implications. I’m not at liberty to discuss anything in front of a civilian,” Henry replied.
“Sorry, ma’am,” he continued, turning to Angelina “but we’ll need to find a safe place to drop you off. It’s much too dangerous for you to go any further.”
Angelina turned toward Emerson, looking distraught. She hadn’t come this far to be summarily dismissed.
“I beg your pardon,” she said indignantly. “You wouldn’t be in a position to do anything if it weren’t for me,” she reminded them. “Emerson, you gave me your word that we’d find Sela together.”
Jason Henry turned in his seat, slightly irritated that he had to explain his decision. “Regardless of how you got here, ma’am, this is my operation and I won’t involve a civilian in a matter of national security.”
“Oh, please…spare me, Mr. Secret Agent,” Angelina mocked disrespectfully. “I’m so sick of men like you judging me stupid because of the way I look. I’m not an airhead, mister, and kindly ask that you not treat me like one.”
“Just what is it you think you can do, ma’am?” Henry retorted. “Do you mean to suggest you’re up for helping us raid the premises? Can you use a gun?”
Angelina exhaled sharply, exasperated by the condescension of Henry’s remarks. “Of course not! I don’t need a gun to disarm a man; I’m a diversion,” she replied crossly. “I guarantee that anyone who sees me for the first time will be caught off-guard, even for just a moment. If you guys are as skilled as you say, that should be all the time you need to take advantage of the time I can get you,” she explained, smiling sweetly.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Henry replied, irritated by Angelina’s temerity.
“Just a second, Jason,” Palmer interrupted. “She may be on to something. It’s clear from what you and I discussed earlier that Morris will be left defending the hostages when these guys take off. He’s one man against one or more guards in there. If Angel can give him even a moment’s advantage from a sniper location, he could benefit from the diversion she proposes. And she’s right…we wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for her. I say we go with it.”
Angelina smiled at Emerson, appreciative of his show of confidence.
“Whoa…slow down a minute, hoss” Morris said, trying to concentrate on driving while listening to the conversation. He looked baffled. “You’re leaving me behind to defend the hostages and my only backup is an unarmed woman?” he asked incredulously. “Sorry, ma’am…but that’s as crazy an idea as I’ve ever heard.”
“Listen to me…all of you,” Angelina said firmly. “All my life I’ve been treated like some bimbo. But men are such fools-they see someone like me and fall all over themselves. I’ve been using my looks to manipulate men to my advantage ever since I was a teenager. I’m the best asset you have for rescuing Sela and her family. The sooner you realize it, the sooner we get on with the job.”
Morris, Henry, and Palmer were dead silent. None of them dared risk further sparring with the feisty Miss Navarro. Henry especially hated to admit she was right about her capacity to create a diversion and he realized Morris was going to need all the help he could get. Begrudgingly, he decided to give in if Morris was comfortable with the situation. “What do say you, Dave?” Henry finally asked. “Can you make it work?”
“Actually…considering what I’m up against, she makes good sense,” Morris replied. “If she can draw attention off the hostages for just a moment it might be all the time I need to take out the guards.
It all depends on where the hostages are being held…but honestly, I think it’s worth a shot.”
“Finally…someone in this car is thinking with his big head,” Angelina said, slapping Emerson on the side of his thigh. “You won’t be disappointed, Lieutenant, I promise you.”
“I don’t doubt your resolve for a minute, ma’am,” Morris replied. “Now can you please fill me and my partner in on the rest of your plan, Jason?” he asked.
“Okay…this is what we’re up against,” Henry replied.
He reviewed all the information he was comfortable sharing: that the hostages were kidnapped as the result of an elaborate scheme to steal top secret research being conducted by Dr. Jarrod Conrad- research that had national defense implications; that the technology was to be used somehow at the Fort Knox Army base; and that he and Emerson were not to interfere until the machine was fully deployed. Further, the local authorities were not to be contacted and the hostages could only be rescued secondary to this primary objective. Their orders were top-secret from the highest level of military command, presumably in concert with the president.
“Ho-lee Jesus,” Morris said, his face turning ashen as he tried to grasp everything Agent Henry was sharing. Angelina slowly shook her head, too, mortified by the extent of Alastair’s appalling nature. Palmer merely looked relieved that the truth was finally out so they could cooperate with one another.
“Yeah…now you realize the full extent of my mission. Sorry to keep you in the dark all this time, Dave, but I was under orders. As it is, I’ll have to ask both of you to disavow everything you’ve just heard,” Henry said, expecting an affirmation from both Morris and Angelina.
“You have my word,” Morris replied.
“Mine, too,” Angelina chimed in.
“So where does that leave us, Jason?” Palmer asked.
Agent Henry ran through the list of objectives in his head and counted them down on his hand as he made the recitation. “Dave and Angel will cover the hostages. As soon as the balance of this crew mobilizes to Fort Knox, we follow them to the base. Assuming everything goes as planned, Dave will take out the guards and rescue the hostages after Angel’s diversion. Only then will he contact the local authorities…but he won’t divulge any information about Fort Knox, that’s Emerson’s and my responsibility. Then we all meet tomorrow morning for breakfast,” he added good-humoredly, needing one more task to use all the fingers on one hand.
“I’m stoked on the breakfast part,” Palmer joked.
“It’s a date, then,” Angel said, looking playfully at Emerson. “Don’t you stand me up now!”
“I wouldn’t think of it, my dear. But promise me one thing.”
“Anything, honey,” she said agreeably.
“Keep your pretty head down when the lead starts flying. Only when the shooting stops do you release Sela. Understand?”
“Whatever you say, honey,” she said, patting his hand after feeling the affection in his voice. “Whatever you say…”
