Inside, he found they had been neat. Everything had been moved, then replaced. Even the pictures on the wall had been lifted and checked behind. Most were not rehung straight. Mrs. Chalmers stood in the doorway.
“I watched them. I told them if they weren’t neat about the search, I’d find out where they lived and phone their mothers. One laughed, the other shut him up. They were neat.”
“Did they take away anything?”
“Not that I saw. Anything missing?”
“Not that I can tell so far. There was nothing here that would interest them. It just makes me mad.”
“I read the warrant. It said there was just cause to think that you may be involved in some criminal activity.”
“That’s what they think, but they’re wrong.” He hesitated. “Thanks, Mrs. Chalmers, for your help. I better get some sleep.”
Bradford went over the quarterdeck the next morning at 0745 as usual, waved at the Master Chief MacKenzie, and hurried to Third Platoon of SEAL Team Seven. Half the platoon was already there and the men were working on their gear.
“Bradford,” Senior Chief Sadler called. “We’re on a four-hour alert. Something is cracking wide open in the Philippines. We’ll probably be out of here by noon.”
By 0815 all members of the platoon had reported in and were working on their tropical-weather duffel. They would take three sets of forest cammies, two pairs of boots, and other clothing for an extended stay.
“This is a tropical nation and we’ll be near the equator, maybe four hundred miles away,” said Sadler. “Daytime temperatures can go to a hundred degrees with humidity close to that as well. We’ll be there in January, the best time of the year climate-wise. Sometimes the daytime temperatures will get up only to sixty degrees. So think warm, wet, and humid. Lots of times it rains every day over there in January. Think wet. Carry on.”
In the small office, Murdock looked over at Ed DeWitt. “The chain-of-command edict has ruptured in places. I took a call from Don Stroh this morning at home. He said to gear up. The official word won’t come for three hours and then we’ll have only an hour to get ready. He’s arranged transport out of the North Island Air Station for us. The Master Chief knows the score.”
“What’s the problem in the Philippines?” DeWitt asked.
“Not sure. Stroh said he’d meet us in Davao in Mindanao. That’s near the bottom of the batch of islands. As I remember, they’ve been having a lot of trouble with Muslim guerrillas down there. The whole Island is Muslim, not Catholic like the rest of the country.”
“As hot as Nam?”
“Closer to the equator, so hotter, more humid. Not a fun vacation. Jungle on jungle. Won’t be a walk in the park.”
A tenseness filled the equipment room. The SEALs took multiple weapons; every man had two. All seven of the Bull Pups were slotted as well as both the EAR weapons. They had a good mix this time, with MP-5’s for close-in work and the MGs and sniper rifles. Since they wouldn’t be stopping at any U.S. military bases, they took as much ammo as they thought they might need. They went heavy on the 20mm rounds, and had six extra batteries for the EARs.
By 1100 they were ready.
Murdock took a call and scowled. “I’m sorry, that man is not available.”
“This isn’t routine, Commander. I’m with the San Diego Police Department and we have a warrant for your man’s arrest. I just want to make certain that you will have him available and not out on a training exercise somewhere when I get there. We’re talking about a felony here, Commander.”
“Do you know who we are and what we do, Sergeant?”
“Somewhat. SEALs.”
“Our platoon has just been alerted by the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C. He’s the top dog in the Navy. We’re out of here in a little less than half an hour to fly to Manila, on direct orders from the CNO and the President of the United States. You’ll have to tell your captain that the PD has been outgunned and outranked. Anything that has happened with this man will have to wait until we return. Of course you can always go through channels, starting with Admiral Kenner in Little Creek, Virginia. That’s Rear Admiral, lower, Richard Kenner. I’m sure he’d be glad to talk to you.”
There was a long pause.
“Sergeant, what’s the charge against Bradford?”
“Conspiracy to paint and sell copies of old masters. A felony.”
“Sounds a little vague to me, Sergeant. I’ll give you a call when we get back from the Philippines in two or three weeks.”
“You do that, Commander. I’ll talk to your commanding officer. This is a civilian crime and the Navy has no jurisdiction whatsoever.”
“Good, tell that to the admiral.”
They hung up and Murdock frowned. What in hell had Bradford been doing in his spare time? He’d seen some of his marine paintings. Murdock had one in his apartment. They were good, but not in the class of an old master. There had to be some mistake. Murdock would get it sorted out as soon as they came back from Mindanao.
6
Murdock felt like a quarter horse had been galloping through the inside of his head. They had taken a long series of flights, but even in the sleek Gulfstream II business jet the Navy called the VC-11, it had been an exhausting day and a half. The men were bunked down in temporary quarters there at the air base at Davao while the briefing continued. The American ambassador was on hand, as well as two top Philippine generals and the nation’s Vice President, Rosales Domingo. A colonel in charge of the Mindanao province continued the briefing.
“As of today there seems to be no change. The rebels have demanded a hundred thousand U.S. dollars for each hostage. Our best count is that they have sixty-four hostages: two Filipino guides and two Filipino drivers, and sixty nationals from sixteen different foreign countries.
“Our government has urged the governments of those nations not to allow any ransom money to be sent to these criminal outlaws. This offshoot of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is notorious for supporting itself by kidnapping. Usually it’s a Chinese businessman or visiting merchant who is kidnapped; a ransom demand is made, it’s quickly paid, and business continues as usual. This is a flagrant expansion of that operation, and we want it stopped and crushed for all time.
“That is why we have asked for help. The kidnappings are now two days old. Yesterday we sent in a well-armed Army force to rout out one of the strongholds of the rebels where we suspected they might have the hostages. Our force of twenty-five men suffered eighty percent casualties including nine dead. The team did not reach the strong point, or even see it, and barely saw the dug-in guerrillas. They knew we were coming.”
Murdock’s forehead pounded like a Chinese gong on New Year’s Eve. It was his version of a headache produced by too much caffeine and too little sleep and too much tension. DeWitt and Senior Chief Sadler didn’t look in much better shape, he decided.
Murdock jerked his attention back to the colonel talking.
“So, we come to you for help. This small force you have sent us seems woefully inadequate. Sixteen men? We understand that there are more than two hundred and fifty rebels in this group holding the hostages. We can give you what intelligence we have on them. We know of two camps they use in the jungle. One is the one we tried to attack yesterday. The other is deeper into the jungle and would require a helicopter trip, which we can provide.” He paused and then looked at Murdock.
“Commander, what can you suggest for this operation?”