The Life We Lead: Ascending (36 page)

The driver and Noi weren’t used to physical
labor, and the ground was rather hard due to the temperature. Ben,
the major, and James took turns supervising the digging of Joe’s
grave, James taking the final shift.

As Noi and the driver finished, James reached
into the SUV to retrieve the wrapper of the Kit-Kat bar he’d eaten
earlier. He placed a hair sample from Joe in the wrapper and put it
in his pocket. He then ordered the two men to gently place Joe in
the grave and cover him.

When the body was decently buried, Noi and
the driver both slid to the ground near Joe’s grave, breathing
heavily.

James, in full view of his captives, released
the magazine from his pistol, removed the chambered bullet, and
placed it back in the clip. He gave the pistol and magazine to Ben,
who had a steely look in his eyes.

“Thank you for answering my questions,” James
told Noi and his driver. “As I promised, no harm will come to your
families.” He started to walk toward the SUV.

Ben had not moved.

“You, you are too kind sir, thank you, sir,”
said Noi shakily. He and the driver went to stand up but were very
weak.

James stopped and gave the two men a stare
that clearly indicated they weren’t coming with him.

Noi stammered, “You take us back with you
then, sir?”

The major was on the driver’s side of the SUV
as James turned and said, “I’m afraid that’s out of my hands. I
promise your families will meet no physical harm.”

“But you said you would not kill us as long
as we told the truth!” said the driver.

Noi looked on, scared.

“That is true, I did.” James opened the back
door on the passenger side. “I am leaving. I am not killing
anyone.”

James climbed in. As he shut the door, he
heard the sound of the clip he had just handed Ben being
emptied.

Ben joined them a moment later, and they were
off.

Arriving at Noi’s office, James found the men
had been truthful. Thanks to the pass codes they’d revealed, he
found a lot of funds in several currencies, as well as bearer’s
bonds. James logged into the system and quickly found the
information he needed.

He searched for himself and Tim first just to
see how much was out there. A lot, it turned out, and he was
impressed, once again, with the detail Melissa had supplied to give
them outstanding back stories. Apparently he and Tim had both
graduated from Harvard near the top of their classes with political
science degrees.

He knew that part, but what he didn’t know
was that Tim had been captain of the rowing team and president of
his fraternity, while James had been on the basketball team.

James allowed himself a small chuckle at the
irony. He would never have attended a school like Harvard.

He eventually accessed about $86 million in
funds, once he was able to get into the database for the Tan
family. He then made provisions so that the kids and young adults
they’d rescued would be cared for once they became adults. In the
meantime, they were in the hands of an organization that, with the
very generous funding he gave them of $50 million, promised to see
to their education, health, and happiness.

There were fifty-eight individuals in total,
their ages ranging from just under two years old to over eighteen.
The “adult” children agreed to stay and help the younger ones with
the transition for a few months. James didn’t tell them they would
have half-a-million dollars waiting for them when they left, but he
did tell them that when they were ready to leave, money would be
provided to help them get started.

After he had left Noi’s office, James quickly
toured the facility where he’d placed the kids and met a few of the
caretakers. After, he sat down with the director and told her about
the funding and how it could be dispersed. She assured him she
would take care of everything, and that the money would go a long
way. Her young assistant had been in the room with them and not
spoken, but gave James a slightly weird feeling.

Letting out a great yawn, James said, “I am
sure you and your group will do everything in your power to give
these kids the life they deserve. No one else has, and chances are
no one knows they are alive. They deserve a fresh start to be
whatever they want. Please help them do that.”

The kids and young adults were having trouble
adjusting, but James was sure things would calm down soon and they
would be very happy once they realized what they’d been freed
from.

As James pulled away, he could see a lot of
faces pressed to the windows. He waved, but only a few kids waved
back. As he took the corner, someone came running out to the
sidewalk, but James didn’t look in time to see who it was.

He felt proud for getting the children out
and establishing a life for them. He felt a sense of accomplishment
for rising to the challenge and conquering it. This was what he
loved to do.

The rest of the funds went, tax-free of
course, to the guys involved. When James sat them down as a group
and told them what he was transferring to each of them, their
mouths hit the floor. It was almost comical how they all responded
the same, like close family members would.

“Holy shit,” said Rocker, breaking the
silence.

James laughed and said, “Figured gabby here
would be first to speak.”

Everyone laughed.

“James, we can’t take this. We didn’t do this
for money,” said Paul.

The others nodded and murmured their
agreement.

“The funds are coming from the Tan family,”
James said simply.

“The funds should be going to the kids,” said
Jason “to make sure they’re all right.”

“The children each have an account set up
with $500,000 in it. They receive the funds when they move out into
the world on their own. The funds awarded to each of you are for
your services for allowing them to be free, while offering your own
lives in the attempt. I only wish I could honor all servicemen and
women like this,” James explained.

Ben stood up, and all eyes turned to him.
“What about the others?”

“We’ve set aside money for the …” James
began. He thought Ben meant the F-14 pilots.

“No, the other kids,” Ben said in a low
voice.

Keegan spoke. “Dude, we got them all out.
Remember? That’s why James and you went back in.”

But James knew what Ben meant, and before
Haiden could agree with his cousin, James spoke.

“That’s something I want to talk to you guys
about. We have the records going back a good length of time. A high
level of intel was gathered that the Tans kept as leverage. I’m not
sure how long we have before others discover the Tan family is out
of business, so we’ll have to act quickly.”

“How we going to run all those operations? We
can’t be taking out a bunch of fortresses,” said Paul
doubtfully.

“I doubt they’re all in fortresses, dip
shit,” said Kevin.

“Right. Yeah, well I’m in,” Paul said without
a second thought.

Ben still had questions. “How are we going to
fund this, and what about money for those other kids?”

James turned to the others. “What do you
think, guys?”

Jason cleared his throat. “Their masters have
money, and that money goes to the kids. We can fund anything up
front and get reimbursed from each individual takedown. I’m
in.”

The discussion went on for over an hour.
Everyone agreed this needed to be done tactfully and that bringing
down too many of these “businesses” too fast would draw unwanted
attention. This was the part James struggled to persuade them to
adopt. James was to keep the records, and whenever they had a
mission somewhere, the major would contact James for names and
offer any additional assistance he could.

Ben had just one remaining issue. “How are we
going to get all of them? This sounds rather piecemeal. I want them
all.” There was a cold fire in his eyes.

“I’ll make every effort to make sure each and
every one of the people in those files suffers and the kids reap
the rewards. I know it isn’t ideal, and that some kids are
suffering now,” James admitted. “If I had a way to spring them all
at the snap of my fingers, I’d do it, but we have to do what we can
without jeopardizing our ability to help others.”

Ben didn’t look satisfied. James didn’t blame
him. But Ben still said, “I’m in.”

James made eye contact with him and vowed,
“Before my last day on this Earth, I’ll make sure those bastards
fall. You have my word.”

Ben didn’t know the things James had done
before, or what skills he really had. He only knew what he’d seen,
and that was James’s unflinching willingness to go back into hell
to save a single child. That was enough to earn his buy-in.

The major promised to find a way to get money
to the guys who were involved in the F-14s, but since they thought
it was just an exercise, he had to be tactful about it. James
wanted Calvin and Raymond to get some of the money, too, though
that wasn’t what they were excited about.

They’d gotten some great information from the
data they’d collected at the fortress. Both felt the money coming
from that would make them richer than anyone could imagine, once
they’d developed their ideas. They still took the cash, however, as
it would help them independently fund their research and get them
out from under the thumb of Dr. Watterson.

Now that it was obvious Raymond would make a
full recovery, minus some small scars, the twins were back to their
normal selves. James had talked with them about everything that had
taken place. Though they were upset by the events, they promised to
keep the mission to themselves. They also acknowledged that they
would have been happier not knowing, and they were smart enough to
know they didn’t want to know anymore. They wish it were some
secret plan the team had gone after, as thinking about child
trafficking was horrifying.

“I’m sorry mate; I should have listened and
not had a go at getting that drive. I appreciate you coming back
for me. Saved my life, you did, and I will never forget that.
You’re a good man,” Raymond had said, hugging James.

Calvin had been very quiet. James knew
Raymond’s near abandonment weighed heavily on him. As they were
saying farewells, Calvin said privately to James, “I understand why
you would have walked away from my brother. I understand that you
didn’t go back specifically for him. The fact is, he’s alive
because of you, and that is what I choose to remember. I don’t ever
want him to know we almost left him.”

James started to say, “Thank …”

Calvin continued, “I feel sorry for you. You
lack basic human emotions, but there’s still a chance you can learn
that emotion can save you. Thank you for saving my brother, James.
I will never forget what you’ve done for us.”

This was not what James had expected, and he
was dumbfounded as he watched the twins walk away. He tried to
process it, but he had other things to attend to. Besides, he
wasn’t that devoid of emotion. He had some plans for himself and
Carissa, plans that would indeed get him mostly out of this life.
Helping bring down other abusers wouldn’t be too much of a stretch,
and if he were honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he could ever
stop doing this type of thing completely.

James kept very little of the funds for
himself, just enough to cover expenses and $10,000 extra for his
upcoming medical costs. He felt rather beat up and decided it would
be smart to get checked out.

His CT scan came back clean, as did the
x-rays. Despite this, James felt he had a slight concussion, but
there wasn’t much to be done for it. The lack of broken bones
didn’t mean much either. It certainly didn’t stop the pain James
felt or the really interesting colors appearing all over his body,
even in places that didn’t hurt. His back wasn’t exactly damaged,
but he now had some minor alignment issues in his lumbar from the
fall.

Such was life.

***

Later that night, following the end of
Operation Joshua, James called Carissa. He wanted to fall asleep to
the sound of her voice. He also wanted to talk with her, but his
body was starting to shut down and he needed to recharge. Plus, the
muscle relaxers he’d taken were having a sedative effect.

She didn’t object or take offense. She merely
talked and he listened, drifting off as she described the error
she’d found in someone’s account for some amount James would never
remember.

He was running down black tunnels, searching
for something. There were pipes, pipes he could jump down, but
mushrooms were covering them and children were laughing …

The dream changed. It was more blurred and
somehow felt more real.

He was in pain and dragging himself down the
hall to an open door. He could see outside to a very
well-maintained courtyard behind a beautiful large wooden desk
...

At 10 a.m., the alarm went off. James felt
like crap, but he needed to catch a plane back to the U.S. Two
weeks would give him ample time to heal and let him get a few
things situated so that he could smoothly transition his life.

As the plane touched down on the runway at
Aberdeen’s airport in Dyce, James turned on his phone to text
Carissa that he’d be home soon. She always liked to know when he
landed, but especially when he was home.

It was late, and James had caught the last
flight from Amsterdam. It had been a long trip with some unexpected
delays. He’d hoped to be home a good eight hours earlier, but he
was glad to be home all the same.

Funny, Aberdeen really does feel like home
now
, he reflected.

As the plane came to a halt, James noticed
the familiar drizzle he’d come to associate with Scotland nights.
He smiled a bit, remembering his first visit and meeting
Carissa.