Chapter 25

Steve

Mercy was shaking me, "Steve, Steve, wake up. Chuck may need you. I think Maria's in trouble."

I sat straight up trying to think why Maria would be in trouble. Oh yeah, she's about to hatch. "What kind of trouble, Mercy, what is it?"

Mercy just shook her head, "I don't know, but she just woke Chuck up. He may need us. Let's get over there to make sure they are alright."

I began putting some clothes on. Sue, Kathy, Mickey, and Juanita woke, seeing Mercy and me dressing, didn't ask any questions, but got out of bed and began dressing as well. Beth walked into the bedroom to ask what was happening and Sue told her, "I think Mercy felt something was wrong over at Chuck's. Watch the kids, okay?" We were on our way in the family Expedition in just a couple of minutes.

Chuck

Maria was lightly shaking me on the shoulder. When I looked up at her, I could see tears on her face and fear in her eyes. "What's the matter, Maria?"

"I hurt, Chuck, something is wrong with the baby. Please help me, I hurt real bad."

It was amazing the response her words had. Lisa was climbing over me, and Tina came around the bed to check on Maria. Julie and the Chinese sisters were sitting up, trying to get a grasp on what was happening.

Tina was pushing and rubbing Maria's belly and said, "Get dressed; we need to get to the hospital."

Lisa touched Julie on the arm, "Call the doctor and tell her we're on our way."

"Tell her I think it's a breach. It doesn't feel as if the baby has completely turned," Tina added.

We all dressed quickly and advised the three new moms in the other room of what was happening. I looked up and Etta was standing in the doorway, "I felt you were having a problem, Chuck. Can I help?"

I looked up at my aunt and smiled. That told me that we were growing closer as we were now feeling each other. "Stay with the others here. We'll call you to keep you posted."

Just as I was pulling our Expedition to the door to load Maria, Steve and family showed up. The women rushed past me into the house, and in seconds the women were carrying Maria out to the SUV. I quickly explained to Steve what I knew and told him where we were going.

"What can I do?" Steve asked, "Should I come with you?"

"Maria is probably going to need blood," Tina explained to Steve and her aunts, "so anyone who can give blood will be welcome at the hospital."

"I'll gather the troops and we'll have donors there within an hour," Steve promised.

I took off for the hospital and was almost instantly intercepted by two county Deputy Sheriff's cars. One stayed in front of us and the other behind with their lights blazing, and using their sirens every time they approached any kind of traffic. I needed to thank Mickey at the first opportunity.

Steve

As my ladies and I left Chuck's to go back to the patio, I could see and hear Mickey on her cell phone, requesting an escort for a medical emergency. That was quick thinking. It is nice to have someone like Mickey around for a lot of reasons. This was just one more of them.

The lights were on at the patio, and people were walking over to find out what the problem was. I didn't think we'd made that much noise, but we must have as one person from all of our closest families was showing up to find out what the problem was. As soon as the situation was explained, arrangements were being made to bring kids to our house to be watched by Beth, Missy, and Glenda.

A bunch of sleepy kids were walked to our place, where they vanished to bunk with one of their buddies. I doubt they will even remember in the morning how they got into the bed they were sleeping in.

Missy had made a pot of coffee that gave everyone a sip to wake up with. It took a minute to figure out how many vehicles to take, and which ones, but we got that done and loaded up.

At least a dozen of us took off for the hospital to make sure there was enough blood for Maria in case it was needed. We would give blood anyway as it never hurts to donate.

Chuck

As soon as we arrived at the hospital emergency door, emergency staff met us with a gurney. The doctor was already there and began the technical speak with Tina as they were both bent over checking the whimpering girl. In an instant, Maria was pushed into the hospital and that was all we saw of her, Tina, and the doc.

As I parked my SUV, three more came into the parking lot full of several of my extended family. They all parked their vehicles while the women flooded the emergency area waiting room. When the guys walked in, Mercy announced, "The nurse at the desk said for us to begin going into that room with the big Red Cross two at a time. She said they would welcome any blood donations we were willing to make."

"Come on," I said, grabbing Steve, "we'll go first."

Steve raised his open hand to stop me and insisted, "You should stay out here in case they want you with Maria." Turning, he waved at Charlie, "Come on, big guy, let's bleed together."

As Steve and Charlie went through the door marked with the Red Cross, a nurse came out and looked around, "Chuck Johnson?"

As I moved to her, she instructed, "Come with me. The doctors want you with the patient."

Before we entered the glassed-in room where I could see a bunch of masked people in surgical gowns, the nurse said, "Scrub, I'll get you a gown, head cover, and gloves. Do a good job and make sure your fingernails are clean."

By the time I was finished washing, the nurse was back and held up a gown for me to slip my arms into the holes. She put a paper cap on my head, a mask over my mouth, and helped me get into a pair of gloves. She looked me over, then knelt and put some paper booties over my shoes. When she stood, "They will tell you what to do. Go to the head of the table and stay out of the way."

She pushed the door open and I walked into the busy room. Tina was between Maria's legs, and it looked like she had both hands inside her. The doctor was over Maria, where it looked like she was pushing the baby around from the outside.

She told Tina, "It's not moving for me. It must be sideways and stuck. Hopefully the cord isn't around its neck." She turned to a nurse who was watching some monitors, "How's the fetal heartbeat?"

"Ragged, not very strong."

The doctor looked up at me. "Hold her hand and whisper something nice to her. Help keep her calm. That will help the baby." She spoke to Tina, "I'm going to take it. I don't think we can wait or we're going to lose both of them." The doc said to one of the nurses waiting for instructions, "Bring the C cart stat, let's get this kid."

I held Maria's hand and leaned down to her. She had her eyes squeezed shut and was groaning. I whispered, "They are going to take the baby, Maria. They are going to make you feel better real soon. Relax, Honey, they will take care of you."

In her pain, she looked up at me and gave a partial smile before closing her eyes and gritting her teeth again.

They used a cloth shield in front of the patient, so the mom can't see the mess the doctors were making. I listened to a lot of the same words they had used with Tiani, but this was more critical as the baby or Maria may not make it. I said a silent prayer knowing that good thoughts would help in this situation. Mercy, Missy, Lisa, and Aunt Etta flooded my head, telling me they were also thinking good thoughts. A trio of little voices said, »We hope Maria will be alright, Chuck. We will think good things too.« I suppose that answered any questions as to how tuned in the triplets and the twins were.

A male in surgical garb was holding a mask over Maria's face. Maria looked as if she was sleeping, and I'm sure this was being done so she wouldn't feel what was being done to her.

It took what seemed an interminable amount of time before I heard the doctor say, "Move the cord away gently as I can't tell how tight it's been."

Next was Tina calling the pediatrician, "Take the baby; get her going."

That scared me as it meant the baby wasn't breathing yet. The doctor looked up at me. "Maria's going to be okay, I had to open her up more than Tiani as the baby was in the birth canal sideways with the cord around her neck. Come on Tina, let's clean her up, and you can do the sewing this time."

"Oh sure, give me the one with a meter of incisions," Tina groused.

With a smile, the doc replied, "You need the practice."

Just then, there was some sputtering, spitting, and coughing where the pediatrician was working on the baby. Then the welcomed scream of a newborn that started as a whimper, growing into a loud cry. When I let my breath out, I realized I had been holding it in, near panicking, waiting for the baby to make a noise. I should have been becoming an old hand at this, but it was still scary, especially when there was trouble like this.

In a few minutes, Tina spoke without looking up, "All done, Chuck. Maria should be fine. The baby sounds fine too. Doctor Journey? How's the little girl?"

The man at the pediatrician station answered, "I think she's made it through this fine. She's not very big to have been stuck the way she was. That cord must have gotten out of position and in the way when she began turning. Thank goodness they had enough sense to get her in here right away."

Tina and the doc looked at each other and I could see their mouths curl up on each side as they finished cleaning Maria up.

The anesthesiologist was using another mask to blow oxygen into Maria's nose and mouth to wake her. When her eyes opened, I leaned down and pressed my lips behind the mask to her forehead and said, "You have a little girl, Maria, just what you wanted." She smiled a little, groaned, and closed her eyes again.

"We're going to take her into intensive care recovery for a while," Tina explained. "One of us will stay with her until we know she will be okay. Go count fingers and toes, then tell everyone what brand of baby Maria had."

The pediatrician had just finished cleaning the baby and held a diaper up to put on the tiny baby. He said, "She's a small one, only five pounds, six ounces. We'll put her in an incubator to watch her for a while, but she appears to be healthy. Little Latin babies are so cute. That's probably why I have a Cuban wife."

They wrapped up the baby and handed her to me. I held her just a second before the nurse took her from me and placed her into an incubator on wheels. The baby was wheeled from the room through one door and Maria was pushed from the room through another.

A nurse pulled her mask down and smiled at me. "I've been seeing a lot of you around here lately. Do you have any more?"

I really didn't know how to answer the question, considering the Chinese sisters were negotiating with the brothers. I sort of shrugged my shoulders and said, "Maybe."

Tina was still in the room with the doctor and spoke up, "You know the Chinese sisters, and of course, his Italian beauty, Gina."

The doc said as she and Tina were leaving, "And of course, your friend, Lisa, and you, Tina, are both possibilities. I'm going to have to come up with a volume discount."

That elicited a chuckle from the nurse as she had me turn around and untied the surgical gown. When I was stripped of the clean room garb, the nurse pushed me toward a door, saying, "Straight through those double doors to the waiting room. Go make your announcements."

When I walked out into the waiting room, a mass of people rose as one, looking at me questioningly. Mercy and Lisa were grinning, so I knew they had been, or even still could be, in my head. I must have had a relieved look as Steve gave me a hug and said, "Maria must be okay, you're smiling."

Sue asked, "Okay, tell us; tell us what she had?"

"Maria had a baby girl, only five pounds, six ounces, and they are going to put the baby in an incubator for a while. Tina said Maria should be fine and they have her in the intensive care recovery area."

Juanita handed me a cup of coffee and hugged me, "You have to take care of my little sister. At least, I feel like she is, most of the time."

Steve was guiding me away from the masses and whispered into my ear, "Julie called me to tell you your cell phone has been ringing every five minutes almost as soon as you left the house. Here, use mine, and call Julie to find out who is calling."

Julie answered the house phone on the first ring. I asked, "Can you get my phone so you can tell me what the number is that is calling?"

"Already have it in front of me," she replied, "but all it says is 'undisclosed', whatever that means. Do you know who is undisclosed?"

"It could be a couple of people," I told her, "I'll make some calls."

Lisa had noticed me on Steve's phone and walked over to me. I told her, "You call our desert contact and I'll call DC. Someone is trying to reach me. I'll use Sam's cell number."

A grumpy, sleepy voice said, "Nightfox."

With as much of a smile in my voice as I could get, I said, "This is Johnson, and I just wanted to tell you I'm the dad of another little girl."

"You called me at quarter to four in the morning to tell me another of your women had a kid? I'll get you for this one."

"Nightfox, I really called because someone is trying to get in touch with me from an undisclosed number. I thought it might be you."

"Not me, big guy, but congratulations on another baby. Now go away; I'm going to get some more sleep. Don't call me." He hung up on me.

Lisa handed me her phone and a voice, not our contact, said, "You are needed, but your contact can't call you for a few minutes. Call back in five to ten and he should be back."

I told the person on the other end, "No, you know the rules. Call me on my partner's number." I hung up.

After I hung up, I just stared at the phone. When I told Lisa what the guy had said, she looked at me quizzically, "That's strange, they are always supposed to initiate calls so a trace can't be put on us as quickly. I'm glad we're using my phone instead of Steve's, as I'm sure his isn't safe."

"How about we wait fifteen minutes and if no one calls back, I will call the check-in desk to see if they know what's going on." I thought for a second, "You know what, let's call the desk right now. This is really strange. You call as it's your phone, and they will receive your signal when you call. If I'm on the phone, the voice prints won't match."

Lisa called, and when she spoke, she gave the current password and waited before continuing. "Chuck has been getting calls from someone. When I called our contact, the person who answered didn't ask for the password, but asked Chuck to call him back in five to ten minutes as he said the contact would be there then. That's not how it's supposed to work, is it?"

She listened a second then said, "He's right here," and handed me the phone.

The voice asked me for my password, and I gave it to him before he said, "What number did you call?"

I told the check-in desk attendant, "I used the contact number I have in memory. Not my phone's memory, but mine. We were instructed to memorize three numbers, our contact, the desk, and cleanup. My cell phone is at home, and I'm told it is only displaying undisclosed. I called the Marshal Service and they didn't have a clue."

The man at the desk said, "I will call Lisa back as soon as I have confirmed a couple of things. Don't call your contact yet. If you can leave what you're doing, go get your cell phone, and be prepared to leave upon notice."

I told him I was at a hospital where a close friend has just had a difficult delivery of her first baby. He said, "Make excuses, make an apology, but go get ready. I'll call Lisa's phone back as soon as I have information."

I went to Steve, "Ah, I have to go somewhere and need to go get ready. Can you intercede with Maria? Tell her I was called out for an emergency."

Steve just nodded and asked, "I'll need to tell the girls something, what should I say?"

"The same thing, tell them I have an emergency. They should understand by now."

Gina and the Chinese sisters were there and I quietly told them I had to leave. They seemed to understand, and didn't frown or anything as Lisa and I left for the parking lot.

We were home in fifteen minutes where we both did our morning's get ready stuff. We pulled our cases to check our equipment and were interrupted by Frieda walking in. She looked at the deadly looking equipment displayed in the open cases and asked, "Are you two going somewhere?"

I could tell the sight of the equipment made her nervous, but she didn't say anything. I went to her and hugged her. "We may have to do something and were just getting prepared. We'll know in a few minutes."

Frieda hugged me and kissed my lips, "Be careful, Chuck." She turned to Lisa and hugged her too. "Take care of yourself, Lisa." She walked back to her bedroom area.

When Lisa and I walked into the kitchen, Julie and Aunt Etta were putting a good country breakfast on the table. Lisa and I dug in, not really talking much. Aunt Etta asked, "Does this sort of thing happen often?"

I smiled, "Not often. As a matter of fact, it's been a while since we've been called. I'm not sure what this is about yet, but we'll see."

My phone was sitting on the table and began ringing. It said, "Undisclosed," so I answered the phone. The voice on the other end said, "Password please." I looked at Lisa and mouthed, "Call the desk to have them trace this call."

I waited for a couple of seconds to give Lisa time to get through then gave the guy a password that had been used last year and waited. The guy said, "Now I can tell you where you need to go. We need you, by yourself, to report to an address in Atlanta. when you reach Atlanta call this number I will give you and we will give you the address."

I asked, "Should I bring extra arms?"

The voice answered, "Not necessary, this is more of an interview than a case."

"Where's my contact, why isn't he talking to me?"

"The man has a stomach virus and can't stay away from the toilet bowl. I have to be your contact now."

I told the voice, "Protocol says you have to give me the address now and I will meet you at a specified time. I can be anywhere in Atlanta in four hours. Now where?"

"Don't argue with me. I am your contact, and I make the rules. Do as I say and call me when you get to Atlanta. I will give you the address then."

I said with what I hoped was an obviously nervous voice, "This is not the way we were taught to always react to calls. I'm concerned you are not following protocol. How about getting the desk or the director to initiate a call to me?"

Lisa was holding up her thumb and middle finger in the okay sign. That must mean they had traced the call. I told the guy, "One more time, give me the address, or have someone I know call me."

The guy went off on me, "Dammit, I just gave you an order. I want you in Atlanta, calling this number for instructions in less than four hours. Now do it, or you will pay dearly for your insubordination."

I smiled, "Then it might be the time for me to tell you I resign. I will not break protocol any more than I already have, so let me give you my resignation. I will e-mail you a scanned copy of a signed letter by this afternoon. Now go away and leave me alone."

"Okay, okay, I'll give you the address, but this is a classified address and you will not disclose it to anyone, do you hear me?"

"I hear you. I have a pen and my pad, where is this secret place?"

"4615 Morgan, Downtown. Go to the blacked out door nearest the corner and rap three times. Before you get there, call this number to let us know you're about to arrive. Remember, come alone and don't disclose this address to anyone."

"Got it, I'll call you in about three hours."

The voice hung up and Lisa handed me her phone. The man at the desk said, "Perfect. I have the call recorded from the fake password on. You did good to get the address. We'll converge on the area before you get there. Call this number with Lisa's phone as soon as you land in Atlanta and watch for a tail. If you can land somewhere other than Hartsfield-Jackson International, do it so you can be a little more invisible."

I told him, "I'll call in a couple of hours. I wanted an extra hour to make any plans, so I gave that guy three hours."

The man said, "Now, do yourself a favor and call the director on his private number. Explain to him what's going on. He'll contact us here and dispatch as necessary. If he doesn't call me, I'll know something else is seriously wrong and will call Lisa. I seriously don't believe anyone could get to the director, but stranger things have happened."

Lisa and I acted casually and finished our breakfast and coffee. We said our goodbyes with hugs, picked up our cases, and went to my car. I called out to the airpark and asked if Wes might be there early. They said he was probably at breakfast, so I drove to the patio. Lisa and I went inside and quickly cornered Wes. "We need to make a flight today. How about I put some hours on your twin turbo for you?"

Wes said, "Oh man, I'm sorry. We've torn it down again to check on wear. You can use my old twin if you want."

I patted the man on his back and said, "No, that's okay, I have a couple of perfectly good aircraft to use, so no big deal. Just thought I could help out."

"Ask me later in the week, Chuck. It will be back together by Wednesday or Thursday," Wes replied, as we turned to leave.

On the way to the airpark, I called the charter desk and asked, "I know this is late to ask, but can I use something that isn't painted up with logos and cartoons?"

It was Betty who had answered and said, "Let me check. I think you're in luck. The little Citation is open today. We'll need it tomorrow. Why don't you use yours?"

I told her, "I couldn't keep the paint crazy kids away from mine and it's too distinctive sometimes."

"Gotcha, Boss. I'll have someone get the Citation out and prep it. See you when you get here."

Thanking her, I said, "We're on our way, thanks, Betty."

At the airpark we did our preflight, and once we were in the air enroute to Atlanta Lisa asked me, "How are we going to do this?"

"I don't know, Lisa. Do you recognize the address? Do you know the building and area?"

"It's downtown where there are a lot of abandoned office buildings," she answered. After thinking for a moment, she continued, "The forty six hundred block is at the end of that area bordering a big park. I thought those buildings still had offices in them, but it's been a while since I would have known. When we're close, I'll call to see if we can get some help with a map to make a plan. I'm not letting you walk into something completely blind. I know you think you can handle anything, but there's no sense in being stupid about it."

"Agreed, my lady. I don't like it, and I'm not walking into the spider web. The way the guy sounded, they were going to try to jump me as soon as I stepped through the door. That means I need to do something bizarre to keep them from doing that."

I was thinking about the situation, when I had an idea, "Take over here, I need to use the satellite phone."

It took me a minute to look up the number in my contacts, but I found it. When I called, a female voice answered and I asked, "Veronica Highsmith please, this is Chuck Johnson calling."

The voice said, "This is Veronica, Chuck. How nice to hear from you, but it is early, isn't it? What do you need, more space for the offices?"

"Veronica, I'm calling to find out if you own any property in Atlanta."

"I do, Chuck. I have several buildings there. Surprisingly, I'm still at better than seventy percent occupancy there."

"Veronica, do you recognize 4615 Morgan?"

She said in her most refined voice, "I sure do. I own that building, the building next to it, and the one across from it at 4616. The other side of the building you're asking about is a street before a large walking park. Do you want some office space there?"

"Tell you what, Ma'am, give me the name and number of your building manager there so I can look at the buildings. I'll have one of my men take a look at them."

"Sounds good, Chuck, do you have a pen?"

"Go ahead, Veronica."

She gave me the man's name and telephone number. I thanked her and told her I would be giving her a call. I used Lisa's phone to call the desk and explained the information I had. The guy couldn't believe I had someone to let us in all three buildings. He took down the information and reminded me to call the director and when I arrived in Atlanta to call the desk back.

I felt a little better when I relayed the information to Lisa.

The director answered on the first ring, so I know he didn't get a caller ID for a sat phone. I began telling the director the whole story, but he told me to stop.

He said, "Let's start over again," and challenged, "Pond."

"Dumbo can't fly," I responded instantly.

"That's better. At least I feel more comfortable."

He asked me to start over again before asking what I was going to do. I told him I was most worried about the condition of my contact, but I would think of something by the time I arrived in Atlanta. He said to me, "I'm going to call in everyone we have over there. I'll get a good man to lead and have him call Lisa's phone. Don't do anything to spook the people trying to get at you, and hopefully our men will be able to get at the people who are waiting to do whatever they are going to do with you. Oh yes, and don't forget the password protocol. It is important."

We touched down at least two hours ahead of schedule. I used one of the agency's general credit cards to rent a car so it wouldn't set off any alarms. Lisa called the desk and told them we were in Atlanta. The deskman said, "The director has mobilized everyone we have in the area. He's not going to use any of the other services as he doesn't know if there is someone watching there. We're already going through the buildings as if we were prospective tenants. I'm told we've planted listening devices at the location where you are supposed to enter. I haven't heard anything from them yet. I'm getting off the phone so our man can call you. Make sure he uses the passwords. If there is a new one, we will text it to Lisa."

Lisa and I drove to a Roy Rogers roast beef sandwich shop for a quick sandwich. While we were sitting there, my phone rang. When I saw it said undisclosed, I let it ring as I wanted the caller to think I was in an aircraft on the way to Atlanta.

Lisa's phone rang and she went through the passwords with the caller, and then handed the phone to me. He said, "Protocol." I challenged, "Pond." He responded, "Dumbo can't fly." Strange word groups today. He told me his name today was Ace. He also said I could have his real name later if it was important, but right now, only disabling the growing plot was important. I asked him, "Have you heard from my contact? I'm concerned."

He admitted, "Me too, he's mine as well. We both have a stake in this." After a pause he continued, "So far we've identified three different voices in the room where the door you have to enter is located. One of the guys listening thinks he recognizes one voice. He thinks it may be from a guy attached to the Bosnian consulate. The listener said the other two men had heavier accents and all three often slipped into Arabic. Who have you pissed off over there lately? Do you think someone is still carrying a grudge over the shit you were involved in last year?"

I explained, "The group who were probably the meanest and had the most firepower was the group that went both east and west out of the Detroit area. We put a big crimp in their plans in that region. The counterfeiting print shop they had was huge, and was probably already supplying cash to other insurgents. I'm sure there were some stragglers from that group that didn't get picked up. It's always possible someone could have figured out who was leading up there."

"Who knows," Ace acknowledged, "but if these guys are part of a local cell, I would really like to try to find them. How far are you willing to go to find this out?"

"If I don't go in, there is no way to find out where the contact is being held if he's still alive," I asserted. "I'll armor up and pack enough spare firepower to make sure I don't fall prey to some vultures. Tell me when you're ready, and I'll make the call to tell them I'm in town and will go to them."

"We're ready," he declared. "I have men in place on both sides, across the street, overhead, and we are watching the rear. If we hear they are going to get nasty, we'll rush the door. Remember to stay away from the door in case we have to blow it. You know the drill, one sharp rap on the window, and it's boom time two seconds later. Cover your eyes."

I told him, "I'm going to go get another car so I'll have it if I need this one for cover. I'm going out to Hartsfield-Jackson, and should be back downtown in an hour. I'm going to have Lisa tail me and be ready to help. She is wearing a navy blue pantsuit with a blue and red scarf today. She should be easy to recognize."