The Colonel's Daughter (10 page)

“You know Captain Javier Santos?” Maurice asked the little girl.

“You mean Javi?” Samantha replied.

“Ah yes, my good friend Javi.” He feigned a smile and gave back the baseball.

“He’s my mom’s boyfriend.” She declared.

Maurice lowered his body placing a hand on each knee and looked into Samantha’s eyes. “Will you help me find him? He seemed to have stepped out of his room.”

“I’m not allowed to go downstairs.”

“So you think he’s downstairs?”

“I think so. But I’m not allowed to go down there.”

“I’m sure you’re not supposed to but how many times do you do what you’re not supposed to do? I bet you shouldn’t be tossing that ball around indoors.” He gave her a wink. “So who’s your mommy?”

“Jasmine Johnston.”

“Ah! I met your mommy downstairs. I saw her nametag. She has a pretty name.” Maurice remembered Jasmine and how apprehensive she had been during his brief encounter with her downstairs and he realized that her reluctance only meant she had a great deal to hide. “Can you tell me if you saw my friend Javi with anyone else?”

“You ask a lot of questions. Are you sure, you’re his friend? You don’t seem to know that much about him.”

He stood up and looked around, “I think I will take the stairs, will you show me where they are?”

Samantha placed her baseball inside her glove gripping it tightly as she walked towards the stairwell. She stopped and pointed, “Its right over there.”

“Where,” Maurice tried to lure her, “Which door is it?”

She stepped closer. He jiggled the handle pretending not to know how. She stepped close enough to show him. He thrust the door open, swooped the child into his arms with a hand tightly across her mouth. He hurried down the stairs through the south exit to his sports car strategically parked by the curb.

* * * * *

“Dorothea, have you seen Samantha?” Jasmine asked anxiously leaning over the nurses’ station.

“Sure, she was sitting right there at your desk.” She pointed holding a chart in her hand. “Did you know Captain Santos actually had a civilian friend visiting him? He was handsome, tall, tanned skin…mmm…mmm. That man was hot.”

“Dorothea,” Jasmine smirked. Then she thought
a civilian?
“I hope it wasn’t that guy I met downstairs. He was so creepy.”

“Creepy? I was too busy looking at them jeans…mmm.” Dorothea said.

“Dorothea, Captain Santos left.”

“I knew that boy was up to no good the minute he asked me for those clothes.”

“Listen, I can’t find Samantha anywhere. Please page me as soon as you see her.”

“Of course sugar.”

Jasmine dashed for the elevator hurrying to the security room. An old man named Henry sat in front of a dozen small black and white screens. He rewound the recorded video until they spotted Samantha and then froze an image in horror. A tanned skin, tall, medium built man with jet-black hair was holding Samantha in his arms as he exited the southern stairwell.

While the old man called the police, Jasmine’s hands shook as she opened a folded piece of paper with Dallas’s phone number. Barely able to utter a sound, she asked to speak to Javi. “Javi,” her voice quivered. “He took Samantha. He took my little girl. He took my baby. He came asking for you and he took my baby!”

“Don’t panic. We’re turning around right now. I’ll be there as soon as possible. I need you to stay calm. I will find that son-a-bitch and get Samantha back. I promise!” Javi immediately dialed a new number.

“Lieutenant Colonel Rinehart. How are you doing sir?” Javi held the phone to his ear listening intently. “Yes, I made it out of Helmand alive, sir. I’m calling about the surveillance system you were implementing. No sir I haven’t forgotten that meeting we had regarding CIGS (covert intelligence surveillance gathering system.) I need to find an individual as soon as possible. Yes sir, I’m calling in a favor. I appreciate that very much. I’m handing over the phone to Lt. Brian Star sir. He will give you the specs. Thank you again, sir.”

* * * * *

Dallas and Abby stayed in the Truck while Javi limped across the hospital parking lot wearing black low top sneakers and right above his ankle was the cylinder cast tucked beneath a pair of jeans.

Jasmine swung her arms around Javi in panic-stricken tears. He wrapped his arms tight around her waist, buried his face in her neck and whispered, “I’ll get her back, I promise.”

Javi and Jasmine looked up at the sounds of a helicopter propeller. They watched a military bird land on the helipad outside the parking lot. Dallas trotted over to greet General Brian Brown as Javi approached with a limp.

Jasmine stood next to Abby near the truck. Upon seeing her shiver in fear, Abby put her arm around Jasmine. “They’ll find her. I know they will. They’re the best at what they do. And look the local police are getting here.”

“That man who took my daughter is no match for local cops. He’s a terrorist isn’t he?”

“I don’t know.” Abby sighed.

“What would he want with an innocent little girl?” She sobbed in Abby’s arms while Abby studied the soldiers.

“General,” Javi saluted.

“You two know we’ve been looking for Afshin Shahrivar for some time now and here you boys have the opportunity to bring us his son Maurice. I couldn’t let you do that without a little help.” General Brown spoke over the propeller noise.

Javi boarded the helicopter with the General and waited for Dallas as he rushed back to the truck.

“Ma’am,” Dallas greeted Jasmine, “We’re gonna get your daughter back. Javi got the General of the United States Army on the case. They’re supplying us with anything we may need. Javi wants you to stay inside this hospital and don’t go anywhere until you hear from us. They’re putting this place on lock down. And if I may ask you a favor to please take care of Abby here.”

“Hey, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” Abby retorted.

Dallas drew in air, his nostrils flared, “Abby, I need you to stay with her and don’t leave her sight.”

“I’m not going anywhere…and…you don’t need to yell, I’m right here.” Abby snapped.

Dallas clenched his teeth, “I didn’t yell…” he hesitated. “I’m sorry.” He paused to look into her brown eyes. “I’m trying to protect you, Abby.”

She stared back into his deep blue eyes.

Jasmine stood near the bed of the truck facing the helipad. Her nose was bloodshot. Gusts of wind streamed through her blond hair sticking to her face. Her swollen eyes welled up with tears. She could see Javi deliberating with the General inside the helicopter.

* * * * *

Inside the bird, the General pointed to a map. “He’s heading down Alligator Alley. We’re placing a roadblock way ahead of him here and here and we’re letting you two off over here. There’ll be a car waiting for you. You can intercept at this point. Here’s a radio. Both of you will be able to get in touch with me directly.”

Exiting the helicopter, Javi and Dallas were met by a group of soldiers forming a military roadblock across Alligator Alley.

“I’m driving this bad boy,” Javi said opening the sleek silver door of their new ride, “This ain’t no pickup truck.”

Javi rested his left leg, placed his right foot on the accelerator, and revved the engine. A soldier approached the driver window. “Sir, we just received notice that the subject is alone. We can catch him here.”

“If he proves to be as suicidal as I think he is then he’ll push right through the roadblock. Either way we’ll be ready.” Javi said.

Maurice had no intention of slowing down. He maneuvered his speeding car around the armed soldiers who were not allowed to shoot unless given the order. Before reaching the deployed spike strip, which would have punctured his tires, he intentionally over steered causing a loss of traction in the rear wheels. His car went drifting through the median onto the opposite side of the road, which had been evacuated via a detour.

Javi accelerated pulling alongside the fleeing vehicle. Dallas got a closer look confirming there were no passengers. Javi steered sharply into Maurice’s car using a PIT maneuver (Precision Immobilization Technique). With rhinoceros persistence, Javi sent Maurice’s car fishtailing and while keeping his own vehicle steady he passed Maurice’s car. With marksman precision, Dallas shot a tire, which caused Maurice to lose complete control. His body thrust forward, smashing the rearview mirror into the windshield, with such force, it caused the windshield to crack. Blood streamed down Maurice’s face as he stumbled out of the car. Javi and Dallas quickly exited their vehicle with their target in sight.

“Where is she?” Javi pointed his gun at Maurice’s face. “What did you do with my little girl?”

“You can’t shoot me in front of your men. Your military friends want me alive. They are not investing all this quality equipment for a little girl. They capture me, and you will never see her again.” Maurice elevated his face to prevent the blood from dripping into his eyes.

Enraged, Javi wielded his gun as if it were a club striking behind his collarbone. He hit Maurice’s brachial plexus clavicle pressure point and knocked him to the ground. In a grapple move, Maurice gripped Javi’s sleeve, pushed his foot into Javi’s hip and hooked his leg behind his knee taking advantage of Javi’s existing wounds. Javi gave a painful roar and in a surge of adrenaline, he gripped Maurice’s arm firmly placing him in a submission hold.

“Where is she?” Javi grasped tighter.

Maurice chuckled.

Infuriated, Javi gave a firm palm, heel strike to Maurice’s kidney.

“She’s long gone.” Maurice tried to draw a breath. “She probably already made it to the Port of Miami.”

The soldiers from the military roadblock arrived drawing their weapons and apprehended Maurice. Javi walked away holding his bandaged side. He came near Maurice’s car. With a deep sigh, he slammed his hands on the hood. He retrieved the baseball from the back seat, clutched it tight to his chest, and hung his head in sorrow.

Dallas radioed the General. “We got him sir.” He cleared his throat. “Sir, we need to find out if he was at the Tampa Port and we need the exact location inside the port.” The technician in charge of the covert intelligence surveillance gathering system got on the radio with the coordinates.

Javi and Dallas rushed into their vehicle as Javi drove following the coordinates. He accelerated to over 120 miles per hour tightly gripping the steering wheel.

Javi stopped the car at the Port of Tampa container terminal berth where Maurice had been photographed by satellite surveillance. They split up to search the perimeter. Dallas stood in front of a gantry crane, which was lifting a container by a hoist onto a stack of almost a dozen others. He called over to Javi and pointed at the containers that had been loaded at the time of the satellite picture. An old Irish man walked with Dallas removing the locks as they inspected one by one.

Javi limped towards an old rusted container that caught his eye. “Can we take a look inside this one?” Javi shouted over the noise of the crane trolley.

The Irish man fidgeted with the lock. A sudden ray of light gleamed into its darkness revealing the tiny curled up body of a little girl that lay on the ground in the middle of the empty container. Javi dove inside, put his right knee down extending his left leg, and took Samantha into his arms. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes.

“You’re gonna be ok Sammy.” Javi whispered holding her tiny body in his arms. “You’re safe. I’m here now, you’re safe.”

“Javi,” she opened her hazel eyes. “I knew you would find me.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Javi asked checking her head for signs of trauma.

“No. I was just crying a lot.” Samantha placed her little arms around Javi’s neck.

Dallas walked inside and picked up a small baseball glove from the ground then brought it to Samantha.

“Is this yours?” He asked the little girl still in Javi’s arms.

She smiled.

* * * * *

At the Tampa Hospital, Javi limped through the double doors of the emergency room carrying Samantha in his arms. Jasmine dashed to meet them. The little girl was placed on a stretcher as a doctor rushed to examine her. Jasmine gripped her little hand. As the doctor placed his stethoscope to her lungs, Jasmine stared in silence. Tears streamed down her face.

“I’m okay momma. Don’t cry. I’m fine.”

“You don’t know how happy I am to see that smile.” Jasmine brushed her daughter’s cheek with her thumb. She looked into her young hazel eyes realizing how Samantha was truly a much stronger, braver extension of herself.

Abby stood by the emergency entrance waiting for Dallas. She approached Javi with concern. “Is Dallas ok?”

“Oh yeah, he’s alright. He’s got a bunch of paperwork to turn in.”

“Thank you.”

“He’ll be here soon.” He gave Abby’s shoulder a tap and limped towards Samantha holding the baseball in his hand, “Look at what I got.”

“My baseball,” Samantha gave him a big smile while still clutching her glove.