The Siege (8 page)

     “But just to be on the safe side, we’ll have a radio with us. Whoever’s on duty at the console
can alert anyone in the tunnel if they make a move toward the feed barn. Once we clear the tunnel we can install a lock on the underside of the feed barn’s trap door so we can open it from the inside but they can’t open it from their side.”

     “We won’t be able to get radio reception from the far end of the tunnel. We’ll have to post someone else with a
radio at the tunnel’s entrance to relay transmissions back and forth.”

     “That’s easy enough. We can post one of the girls there. Unless, of course, they’d rather dig instead.”

     Sarah said, “Uh…no. We’ll man the radios. There’s no way I‘m coming out of that tunnel looking like you guys.”

    
Bryan stuck his tongue out at his wife and went on.

     “I guess the big question on my mind is, what happens when the tunnel is clear and secured from the inside? Is that our main line for attack? And when do we hit them? During the day or at night?”

     “I’m a little bit concerned, frankly, about the man on the roof. We’ve been watching him closely, and he’s doing a great job of looking in all directions. He moves from side to side and then front to back of the building constantly. He never sits down and never stands still like most other sentries.

     “Even worse, he changes direction frequently, so we never know which side of the building he’s going to peek over next. Instead of performing the same sequence, he’ll frequently stop dead in his tracks and head in another direction. Yesterday I saw him stop short, then go back and look over the east side of the building three times in quick succession before moving on to the north wall. Sneaking in on him will be tough, because we’ll never know when he’s going to peek over the side of the building in the direction of the feed barn.”

     “It sounds like he’s had some military training. And if he catches us in the open, or in the barn, we’re in trouble. The feed barn is mostly empty, except for sacks of grain. We could hide behind them, but I don’t know if they’d stop a bullet or not.”

     “What about the night shift guy? Is he as thorough?”

     “Almost, but not quite. The first day after we blew the tunnel, the day shift man stayed behind after his shift and trained the man on nights to use the same technique. That’s why I believe that the day shift roof guy is their leader. He seems to know what’s going on, and he seems to spend a lot of his off-duty time training the others on tactics.

     “Anyway, he trained the night shift guy to use the same techniques, and for the most part he does.
But he does sit down and rest occasionally, and he walks slower than the day shift guy. Also, when he looks over the side of the building, he tends to look longer. So, for example, once our team is out of the tunnel, we can have them wait until he’s at the north end of the roof. Then we can give them the go signal, and they should have ten to fifteen seconds or so to make it across the open area to the back of the building.”

     “Will that be enough?”

     “It’ll be close.”

     “How about if we wait for a heavy rain, and then use that for cover?”

     “We could be waiting for weeks.”

     “How about a moonless and overcast night, where the visibility is next to nothing?”

     “Good idea. We’ll incorporate that into the plan. We’ll get everything ready to go, and then wait for the first moonless night.”

     John spoke up for the first time. Everyone stopped to listen. John was not only a former
Dallas police detective, he also pulled duty years before on the Dallas SWAT team. And before he joined the force he served a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps.

     If anyone in the group knew tactics, it was John.

     “Before we try any kind of assault, I think it would be wise to thin their ranks a little bit more.”

     “What do you mean, John? Thin their ranks how?”

     “By using a little bit of guerilla warfare.”

Chapter 15

     John went on to explain his logic.

     “I’m pretty sure we’ll eventually have to do a full assault against them… go in there and take the compound by force, with guns blazing. The only way to avoid it is by them leaving on their own, and I don’t see them doing that. They’ve had a taste of what we have, and they obviously want it bad enough to die for it.

     “We also know that the odds are in our favor, for a number of reasons. We’ll go eventually. And when we do, it’ll be a well coordinated attack, in the dead of night, and we’ll wear night vision goggles. They have some over there, but they haven’t found them yet. So in addition to everything else, that’ll give us a great sight advantage for night fighting.

     “But that’s not to say some of us won’t get hurt. So we need to soften them even more if we can. They have
six men left over there. Let’s whittle that down a little more before we go in.”

     “Okay, John, but how? You said guerilla fighting. I’ve heard the term, but I’m not familiar with it. Aren’t those the tactics the bad guys used in
Vietnam? Don’t we like, need a jungle or something for that?”

     John laughed.

     “Not necessarily. Guerilla means ‘little war’ in Spanish, and it’s been used in every war to some degree, whether there’s a jungle or not.

     “Guerilla warfare is nothing more than unconventional attacks on your enemy. Traditional warfare means two armies shooting at each other trying to annihilate each other.
Guerillas work in small pockets, sometimes behind the lines, to take out the enemy a few at a time. They use various means to do so. Like booby traps and snipers and ambushes.”

     “So, in essence, blowing the tunnel on top of them was a guerilla tactic.”

     John smiled.

     “Exactly. So in reality you’re already guerilla fighters. By blowing the tunnel we’ve already whittled their forces by half. More than that. Now we need to whittle them down even more.”

     “Okay. Well, I don’t really think they’re going to try the tunnel again. So what’s the next plan?”

     “We’ll send out a small team, two men, to take a couple of them out. It’s been several days now since they lost seven men in the mine. When their men first disappeared, they were on high alert. Now, my guess is they’ve started to relax a bit. Several days of pulling guard duty for twelve hours a day and not seeing anything has probably made them a bit complacent.

     “Complacency means sloppiness. They’ve probably let their guard down, to some degree. And that’s the best time to hit them.

     “So we’ll send a two man team out to take out a couple more of them. Then we’ll back off and bide our time, and let them get sloppy again.

     “The idea is to deplete their numbers as much as possible, so that when we actually do our assault there’s only a couple or three left.”

    
Bryan was uneasy with the idea, and said as much.

     “I have to tell you, John, it sounds good in theory. But I don’t much like the thought of sending
just two of our own out there. I mean, if something goes wrong, they’ll be on their own. What if they get pinned down, they’re getting shot at, and we can’t get to them to help them? Or, even worse, if they get shot and we can’t get into the compound to get them back out?”

     “Who said they
’d be in the compound?”

    
Bryan looked puzzled.

     John continued.

     “Look, Bryan, I understand your concern. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. We’ll do it the right way. And it’ll be well coordinated. We won’t go until we’re positive we can make it back safely. In wartime, and make no mistake about it, this is a war we’ve got here… in wartime, nothing is ever guaranteed. Nobody can say for sure that nothing will ever go wrong. But we’ll do everything we can to ensure our safety before we go. And I won’t ask you to go if you’re not comfortable.”

     “Oh, crap, that’s not what I’m saying, John. I’m not afraid to go. I just don’t like the idea of splitting up, when thus far we’ve stayed as a group and we’ve done quite well.”

     John was irked.

     “
We haven’t done that well, Bryan. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve had to evacuate our home. Bullets were flying. Sami almost died. And it was just by the grace of God that she was our only casualty. This is the way to go. We strike them one or two at a time, we strike them hard, and then we get the hell out of there. And then, when their numbers are lessened, we go in as a group.”

Chapter 16

     John and Bryan made their way through the woods on the west side of the compound on a four wheel drive Gator. The Gator was essentially a two seater quad runner on steroids, with a tiny pickup bed in the back for hauling feed, seed, manure, or anything else a farmer might need to haul. It was made by the John Deere Company as an all-terrain utility vehicle for farmers and ranchers.

     And it worked equally well for two men who were determined to get back what was taken from them.

     Strapped to the bed of the Gator were two sixteen foot extension ladders. Collapsed, they were still eight feet in length, and hung over the tailgate a considerable distance. But tie down straps kept them from going anywhere, and they only scraped the ground a couple of times when the machine climbed up the steep grades of the arroyos.

     Both men had their radios turned on and wore
ear pieces to listen to Mark, who stood in the open doorway of the mine.

     Mark was blind to the goings on inside the compound. In fact, he couldn’t even see the compound from his position, but that was okay. His sole purpose on this mission was to relay information from Hannah.

     Hannah’s radio wouldn’t penetrate the thick walls of the mine to the outside. But they would reach to the mine’s door, and Mark’s signal would reach to the west side of the compound.

     Hannah kept her eyes on the bank of monitors, and gave a report every thirty seconds. Sometimes more often, if there was any movement.

     “Okay, two men still at the gate. One on the south side of the roof. One in the dining room, and the others are in their rooms.”

     Mark dutifully passed the information. “Two men at the gate. One on the south side of the roof. One in the dinin
g room, the others in their rooms.”

     Thirty seconds passed.

     Hannah reported, “No change.”

     Mark relayed, “No change.”

     Finally, John and Bryan made it to their destination. Directly ahead of them, and about fifty yards away, was the west wall of the compound. They were still in heavy brush, and could just barely make out the wall, and only because the late afternoon sun was at their backs and shone its dying beams upon it.

     John turned the Gator completely around, so that it was pointing back toward the way they’d come. They’d need every second they could to make a fast getaway.

     “Okay, we’re in position.”

     “They’re in position, Hannah.”

     “Okay. No change. Still two on the gate. Looks like they’re doing shift change. One is on the south side of the roof, one in the dining room and two in their rooms.”

     Mark relayed the information, then added, “It’s a go whenever you’re ready.”

     John and Bryan waited another five minutes, until they were sure they’d have the setting sun at their backs.

     Then they carried the extension ladders across the clearing to the face of the wall, extended them, and leaned them against the wall four feet apart.

     They climbed up the ladders until they could peek over the wall. They knew the sun directly behind them would hide them from anyone looking their way. However, they thought it prudent to maintain a low profile anyway.

     From their position, they had an unobstructed view of the two guards a hundred and twenty yards away, on the opposite
side of the compound.

     They took their AR-15 rifles and propped them upon the rungs of their ladders to steady them. Then they sighted in their targets.

     “I’ve got the one on the left.”

     “Okay, I’ve got the right.”

     “Let me know when you’re ready.”

     “I’m ready.”

     “Okay, three… two… one… fire.”

     Both rifle shots went off simultaneously. Both of their targets fell to the ground.

     John and Bryan dismounted the ladders and laid them down. They had served their purpose for now, so there was no need in trying to take them back.

     Within seconds they were back on the Gator and hauling ass back to the entrance of the mine, while listening to Mark’s words in their ears.

     Hannah said, “One appears to be dead. He was shot right between the shoulder blades and hasn’t moved. The other was shot in the upper chest. He’s on the ground, convulsing but still alive.”

     She paused long enough for Mark to relay the play by play to the shooters.

     Then she went on.

     “The one in the dining room has moved to the hallway and is looking out the window toward the gate. He appears to be afraid to go outside. The one on the roof is still there. Two others came out of their rooms and are now out in the hallway with the other one. I think the second man at the gate has died. He’s not moving anymore.”

     Mark passed the info onto the shooters.

     John responded, “10-4. We’re about five minutes away.”

     “10-4, John. Hannah, let me know if anything changes. John, I’ll open the door as soon as I have you in sight.”

     A few minutes later the Gator came out of the woods and Mark opened up the mine’s overhead door. David and Brad stood by with weapons at the ready during the thirty seconds the door was open. Mark reclosed it immediately after John and
Bryan came speeding in and screeched to a halt.

     Mark called back to Hannah and said, “All secure. Everyone accounted for.”

     Then he gave his brother and John each a high five.

     “Two more down. Nice going, guys.”

     The two men on the Gator had each just taken a human life. But they weren’t bothered by it. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. Instead of remorse or guilt, they each felt a sense of accomplishment.

     It turned out that despite their initial reservations, guerrilla warfare suited them quite nicely.

Chapter 17

     Mark looked over at Hannah. She was sound asleep. He’d always said she looked like an angel when she slept. Early in their relationship, he set his alarm clock ten minutes before he had to get up in the morning, just so he could watch her in peaceful slumber.

     He carefully drew the covers to one side, with the intent
ion of crawling stealthily out of bed without waking her.

     It didn’t work.

     As soon as he drew his body away from hers, she placed her arm around him.

     She said, “Uh-uh.”

     “Uh-uh what?”

     “Don’t leave me. You’re nice and warm.”

     “But I told John I’d meet with him and the security people this morning.”

     “You didn’t ask me first.”

     “I didn’t know I had to.”

     “Of course you have to. I’m the boss of us. Have you forgotten that?”

     He chuckled.

     “Apparently I didn’t get the memo. When did that happen?”

     “The day you said you did.”

     “The day I said I did what?”

     “The day you said ‘I do,’ silly. It’s in the ownership papers.”

     “I don’t think I ever said, ‘I do, silly.’ And I’m pretty sure I never signed any ownership papers.”

     “The marriage license, silly. It was in the fine print. It said the husband would do whatever the wife wanted him to do forever and ever and always, amen. You mean you didn’t read it?”

     “I guess I overlooked that part.”

     “Trust me, it was in there. You do believe me, don’t you?”

     “Uh… sure.”

     “It also said it applied especially when you had an early morning meeting with John and the security people…”

     Mark smiled and started to get out of bed.

     Hannah continued, “…and your wife wants to make love to you instead.”

     Mark stopped.

     “You want to make love to me?”

     “Over and over again.”

     “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

     “It was more fun to drag it out.”

     “Is there really any fine print on the marriage license?”

     “Oh, Mark… just shut up and kiss me.”

     Sometime later Mark walked over to the security console, where John was watching the monitors and cleaning two of the AR-15 rifles.

     “Sorry I missed the meeting, John. Anything good?”

     “No, not really. We just had a debate on when we wanted to do our next move.”

     “What did we decide?”

     “WE decided to do it tonight, if there’s no moon. If there’s a moon, we’ll go the first night there isn’t one.”

     “Sounds good. I’ll be ready at midnight.”

     Mark walked over to the kitchen area and grabbed three MREs. He took them to Bay 8, where Hannah and little Markie were snuggling on a couch watching
Hannibal and the Little Princess
.

     “Hey, you two. Spaghetti and meatballs, pork patty or beef stew?”

     Little Markie said, “Daddy, shush. I’m trying to hear.”

     Mark sat on the other side of Hannah and put the MREs in her lap. She looked at him with a mild look of amusement, and whispered, “Yes. Shush. This is the best part.”

     Mark just shook his head. But he did indeed shush as they watched a seven year old boy on the screen turn beet red as a seven year old girl kissed him on the cheek and said she loved him.

     Markie announced loudly to both of them, “Okay. You can talk now.”

     Hannah laughed and said, “Well, thank you, little sailor. Why was that part of the movie so special that we couldn’t talk?”

     “Oh, Mommy. That’s when my girlfriend says she loves me. Well, she doesn’t say it to me. But she will someday.”

     “Pamela what's-her-name is your girlfriend?”

     “Mason, Mom! Pamela Mason!”

     Little Markie grew exasperated.

     “And she’s not my girlfriend yet. But she will be when we meet, but before we get married. I told you that.”

     Mark gave Hannah an inquisitive look. Hannah just shrugged and said, “Well, okay then.”

     Mark asked
, “Son, why do you want this girl to be your girlfriend?”

     “Because she’s pretty, just like Mommy. And I’ll bet she’s soft and smells good, just like Mommy. And her hair is never messed up and I’m old enough to have a girlfriend, aren’t I?”

     “I guess. But I think this movie was made in Hollywood.”

     “What’s
Hollywood?”

     “It’s a city far, far away.”

     “Is it farther than the ocean?”

     “Well, as a matter of fact, it’s right by an ocean.”

     “Good. Is there a beach at the ocean? You said you’d try to take me to the beach and to the ocean.”

     Neither Hannah or Mark knew where he was going with this.

     “Well, yes, there are some very nice beaches right next to Hollywood. Why?”

     “Because you guys said you would try to take me to the ocean and to the beach someday. So we can just call Pamela and she can meet us there and then we can be married. On the beach. And she can kiss me and tell me she loves me, just like she did to
Hannibal in the movie.”

     “But what if she already loves
Hannibal in the movie?”

     “Oh, she really doesn’t.”

     “But how do you know?”

     “Because she’s
my
girlfriend. She has to love
me.
”

 
   Markie’s cousins, Robin and Sandy, came by and asked if he wanted to go to the playground to play. He said, “Sure!” and was off like a shot.

     “Mark, I’m worried about him sometimes. Should we talk to him seriously about his crush on Pamela Mason?”

     “Why?”

    
“Because she’d probably dead. And even if she isn’t, she’s in her twenties now. This movie is fifteen years old. And I never promised him we’d take him to the ocean. I said we would try. And I was thinking somewhere way closer than Hollywood. Like maybe Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico.”