The Colonel's Daughter (6 page)

Mother and daughter safely boarded the ferry not knowing that Maurice had asked two of his men to follow the ladies with strict orders not to be seen.

* * * * *

Chapter Three

Capt. Santos sat in a wheel chair with his broken leg extended.

“Dorothea, how did I end up in Tampa, Florida?” He studied her hands taking his blood pressure.

She squinted as she stuck a flat disposable thermometer under his tongue, and veering left to make sure no one was listening, she whispered, “I overheard that you insisted they bring you to Tampa. They was just followin’ your orders.”

Javi hung his head in silence.

“You must be somethin’ special. Cause ain’t no one around here get that kind of treatment.”

His hands formed a fist as he tried to remember.

Dorothea raised her voice saying, “Why don’t I go get that sweet girl Jasmine to take you outside. It’s about time you breathe some fresh air.” She noticed Javi’s crooked smile appear at the mention of Jasmine’s name.

He motioned for her to come back as she headed towards the door, “I got to ask you something first.”

“Better make it quick, I need to change a man’s diapers across the hall.”

“Dorothea, do you believe in angels?”

“Have you been sneaking extra pills off my cart?”

“No, I’m serious.” He looked up. “I remembered something today.”

“Sure, I believe in angels. How you are alive today with the type of injuries written on your chart, I do not know. You got some kind of angel protecting you, that’s for sure.”

His eyes then looked down as he focused his mind inward. “There was an explosion and I felt my body being thrust in the air. Capt. Joshua Wittemore saved my life. He protected me. He was my guardian angel.” His mind drifted in deep recollection.

“From what I’ve heard around here and from what I seen on the news, you are a blessed man. God must have an important mission for you.” Dorothea walked out the door.

Jasmine entered the hospital room wearing a soft pink sweater. Her blond hair neatly picked up in a ponytail, and her fragrance filled his room with the scent of sweet violets. “The doctor gave the ok for you to venture outside. It’s such a lovely day. Not too hot, not too cold.” Her voice was a smooth melody.

“So, doc. is letting me out? Sounds good to me,” he cleared his throat, “I need to warn you, I got a lot of pent-up energy. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into taking me outside.”

“Well you seem okay to me. I guess I’ll take my chances.” She backed his wheelchair into the elevator.

“Wow…I haven’t heard birds squawking like this in a long time.” He shielded his eyes from the sun.

“They’re chirping. Squawking makes it sound like they’re being so aggressive. Even better, they’re singing.”

“Did you see that little guy right there?” Javi pointed at a bird distracting Jasmine while extending his other arm and with a quick-draw grabbed a pair of blue geraniums that bordered the path.

“I don’t see him, where?” She looked around.

“Right, there…look at him…he is fighter, he’s definitely squawking.”

She caught him taking the soft beauties.

“Hey, keep your hands in the vehicle at all times, mister.”

He lifted the flowers and gave them to her. She stopped to admire her lovely gift.

A young orderly pushing a wheelchair came to rest beside them. The passenger was a wounded Sergeant Major who addressed Javi using military jargon.

“Want some lifer-juice soldier?” Holding up a thermos filled with coffee.

“How are you doing sir?” Javi saluted from his wheelchair.

The Sgt. Major gulped his coffee. “Sure beats that dirka stuff we drank out there.”

“No thank you sir.” Wrinkling his nose, Javi looked at Jasmine.

“So tell me. How’s that Full Bird…Colonel Johnston doing? I heard about what happened to your boys at the chow hall. I wonder if the old Colonel knows you’re still alive.”

Javi scratched his neck.

Jasmine put her hand on Javi’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry but Capt. Santos doesn’t remember many details right now. He needs more—”

“It’s okay Jasmine.” Javi interrupted, “My mind’s been clearing up a bit. I actually had a dream with the old Colonel. He kept asking me to come to Tampa.”

Sergeant Major looked up at the male orderly. “Better quit shamming around. I need to hit the head pronto.”

The orderly chuckled as he pushed the wheelchair.

Jasmine smiled at Javi. “Somebody really needed to go to the bathroom.”

Javi chuckled.

“Shamming…haven’t heard that one in a while. The Colonel used it a lot on the guys when they pretended to be working thinking he wouldn’t notice.” Javi’s eyes lingered on Jasmine’s chest.

She gripped the wheelchair and pushed forward. “Are you sure you weren’t one of those guys he yelled at?” She stopped near a bench and took a seat.

“Me? No, not me,” He smirked.

“It is not my intention to pry into your personal life but my job is to find out information about your family. Colonel Johnston, I’ve seen him on the news. He’s a hostage in Afghanistan. Did you know him well? If you remember anything else, please tell me. I want to help you find your family. It’s not fair that you stay alone.”

Javi stared at Jasmine’s soft features and rosy lips and felt comforted. Years of burying personal information from the world had made it nearly impossible to excavate but her sweet demeanor plowed through his dry field of thoughts. “The Army has been my life for so long. All those guys are my family.” He agonized over the thought of looking into the dead eyes of his friends at the mess hall. He drew a breath and continued, “When I first got to Helmand Army Camp, there was a large auditorium with a thousand guys ready to watch a movie. I don’t even know the title. I walked in just as the National Anthem began. All of us snapped to attention. Something must’ve happened to the music because it just stopped. Those guys didn’t move. You could hear a pin drop. The music started up again but something happened and it shut off completely. Most people that age, around here, would probably be yelling obscenities just to start the damn movie. But not these guys, they stood at attention. And suddenly a thousand men sang in unison,” he sniffled, and quietly sang, “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” He paused, “That’s my family,” placing a hand across his bandaged forehead covering the tears in his eyes.

Unable to speak, Jasmine reached in the pocket of her sweater drawing out a tissue to wipe her own tears.

Out of the deep recesses of his heart, Javi verbalized his emotions as best he could. “The Marines have their Semper Fidelis, their Latin motto for always faithful. It’s an immensurable connectivity that all Marines have with one another. We have our Latin motto, Sine Pari—without equal—because our Special Forces Teams are the ones called in the face of overwhelming odds. There’s a sense of family within the Special Forces that no one will ever understand. You tell me it’s not fair I stay alone. I want you to understand I’m not alone. I have a sense of belonging. But if the doctor was to tell me I’m out because of my injuries, I really don’t know what I would do.”

Jasmine fidgeted with the blue geraniums still in her hands. “I’ve heard soldiers say there’s no such thing as a former Marine. Once a Marine always a Marine, I’m sure it’s the same for the Green Berets.”

“So you know I’m a Green Beret?” Javi asked.

“I read your file.” Jasmine smiled. Her eyes and nose were red from crying.

“So now you know all this stuff about me. Tell me something about yourself. How did you get to have such a cute little girl? She’s like a miniature replica of you.”

“Believe me, Samantha’s a handful.” Her eyes lit up then in an instant she grew somber again. “Her daddy was killed by an IED in Afghanistan. She was too young to really known him. She’s so strong and brave. You should see her play against all those boys in baseball. I know she definitely gets those qualities from her father.”

“Don’t sell yourself so short. I mean…here you are working at this place even after your husband was killed in the war. You’re raising a kid on your own. It sounds like you’re pretty brave yourself.”

She stared at his crooked smile and gave a timid grin before looking down at the geraniums. “I never knew my father. It breaks my heart to see Samantha have to go through something similar. My mom had me at a very young age and she never married. She told me they were just a couple of kids fooling around and then my father went off to be in the military. She never heard from him again. I know what it’s like to grow up not having a dad.”

“Here you are trying to help me find my parents, how about I help you find your father? I’m serious, has anyone ever helped you try to find him?”

“No, no one’s ever offered to help me find my father. That’s very sweet of you. I’m tired of asking my mom about it. She just refuses to have the subject brought up. She says she doesn’t know where my father could be.” She grew silent. Then said, “Never mind my father, I’m getting paid to find your immediate family members and if necessary, to help you in your transition to civilian life.”

“Oh, I see, this is just a job for you.” Javi looked away.

“No, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“It’s alright, I understand.”

“Javi, I’ve searched for my dad lots of times. Yeah, I still hold on to the possibility that maybe he’ll come through my office one day. Every once in a while I’ll come across a file for an old vet and the glimmer of hope ignites. Maybe I can find a clue in his contact list that perhaps will lead to finding my father. I don’t have very much to go on, just hope. My focus should be on you right now not on myself, job or no job.” Jasmine reached for his hand.

Javi remained silent still enamored with the beauty of her face.

“I know
just
how I’m going to make it up to you.” She placed both hands on the wheelchair.

“Make what up to me? You didn’t do anything wrong?”

After backing the wheelchair out of the elevator on the second floor, she stopped at her desk and opened the bottom drawer. Javi studied her every move. She pulled out a small rectangular box and slowly pushed the drawer shut with her knee.

“You play chess?” Javi grinned.

“Yes I do. And I’m a fierce competitor.” She gave a tight, glossy-lipped smile as she handed him the chessboard and pushed the wheelchair back to the hospital room.

* * * * *

Maurice and Faisal boarded the hundred-foot yacht moored at the Fisher Island marina while Dallas followed close behind.

Maurice looked at the woman hostage and shouted, “Wake her up!” to the man with long black curls then hissed at the ringing cell phone in his pocket.

Dallas peered over a smaller boat docked nearby. He watched Maurice weave past the teak furniture on deck fidgeting with his cell phone and mumbling, “Hello father.”

Dallas hurdled over the hull side of the smaller boat and grasped the seawall ladder. He listened intently trying not to get soaked by the crashing waves.

“I will get you both mother and daughter. You can tell your buyer he will have the codes very soon. I know you stand to gain a lot of money from those codes. You don’t need to keep reminding me!” Maurice took the cell phone away from his ear and grumbled. “I have business to tend to, father…I will call you later…when will you start trusting me? Alright, what else is it that you want?” He sighed shaking his head. “The American soldier is still alive? I thought the bomb killed everyone in that camp. I will take care of it….I said I will take care of it. Father, please, I ask you to be patient.” His eyelid twitched as he clutched his phone and walked back inside the yacht to his newly acquired hostage. The red haired woman sat on a cushioned bench with her hands tied behind her back. She wore a one-piece lime green halter swimsuit that had been stained with blood from the deep gash on her forearm. She had down-turned eyes and hunched shoulders visibly fatigued from struggling and showing bruises on her thighs. Maurice sat down beside her. He raised his right arm as if to slap her, then retracted in slow motion, and with the back of his hand, he stroked her cheek. His lingering hand continued down her bare shoulder. “Your husband betrayed my father. Do you know what betrayal feels like?”

She stared at the ground deliberately ignoring his words. Maurice raised his hand once again above her face, palm facing out, and this time with a swooping motion struck her cheek with violent force. She shrieked while licking her bleeding lip then paused to look into his dark eyes regaining a semblance of composure before spitting in his face.

His nostrils flared as he stood with a jolt and panted ordering the men who stood guard, “Leave us.”

Faisal, who had been pacing on the deck, answered his buzzing cell phone.

Shahrivar yelled on the other end of the receiver. “Come back with those codes and if you have to without that insolent boy then do whatever you have to do. I want those codes, NOW!”

Faisal bellowed, “Maurice is my nephew…the son of my sister…your son. How can you throw your son away? Remember that coward cocaine boss who took your product and disappeared? Your son has captured his wife. He is defending your honor as we speak.”