“That’s it gal. Let’s call that the beta plan.”
“What is the alpha plan?”
“You can’t guess? It should be obvious. That would be to jump off the truck and run for the hills.”
“You are probably right. Once they get us to where ever we are going, I imagine the opportunities to make a break for it are going to be slim.”
Wagner pushed her way to the back, opened the door, and peeked out. “We ain’t jump’n just yet!” They were perched on a ledge on a mountain trail. The truck hit a pothole and she lurched out the back and caught herself on the door handle swinging precariously. “Akkk!”
Turner ran to her aid. “Quit playing around and give me your hand.”
“If I give you my hand, I’ll fall to my death. I ain’t let’n go gal.”
She hung there for a minute or so and finally Carol grabbed her by the belt and dragged her back inside. “God — thought I was a goner.”
“Hey! What’s going on back there?”
“Noth’n!”
Turner peeked out the back and could see it was hopeless — at least at the moment. It was a thousand foot drop into a ravine with a river running through it. Probably the Shabelle.
“If the truck slows down for any reason, that will be our chance to jump out the back. If we can do it in a manner in which they don’t hear it, we could be long gone by the time they turn around.”
“Let’s face it. It ain’t gonna happen. Jump’n out of a moving truck is not my cup of tea.”
“Yeah — I hope they don’t kill us when we get wherever we are going.” *
Robinson speed dialed Deshano from the Citation CJ3. He was not having any luck with his calls to Dimochka and he had decided he was not going to call Kuznetsov or Vissarionovich for something like this — at least not yet. If it came down to calling them he would, however he was a long way from that. Dimochka was the key to get a mission set up. In time, he would be answering the phone.
“Deshano here — what can I do for you Robinson?”
“I wanted to be sure the president knew I was not going to be there for the fireworks.”
“Yep — he did not give it a second thought.”
“I’m in the air and wanted to see if I would have your support in the event I needed some satellite surveillance for Somalia later on. My hope is I can work with the Russians and get it from them.”
“I imagine we might have what you need. We have E-3 AWACS over that area. If we have it I’ll work on it with you.”
“Great. Don’t worry about it right now.”
“No problem.”
“How’s Landenberger holding up?”
“Everything is copasetic. It is just another day at the office for him.”
“Thanks. Goodbye.”
It was time to get some sleep. He’d try Dimochka a few more times and then try again when he woke up. He speed dialed his mother. “Mom, I want you to call me if you receive a call from Carol. Keep a notepad and pencil by the phone and write down anything that you might forget.”
“I’ll be happy to, Houston.”
“I’m flying to Somalia now and I’ll be in touch.”
That was all he could do right now. He took an aspirin and that would help him get to sleep quicker. Otherwise he would lie awake worried about Carol. There would be plenty of time later. He washed up and went to sleep.
He woke up with a start. “Carol?” He had been dreaming. The two were in the back yard and he was pushing her on the tire swing hung from the oak tree. She was laughing, her hair dancing in the breeze. She cried she wanted to go higher and he warned her that she was at her limit.
“I dare ya!” He pulled at the rope then brought her to a stop and spun her around facing him. He was startled by her twelve year old feminine beauty. It was more than that, her innocent blue-green eyes pierced into the deepest part of his soul. Suddenly she was both a little girl and a woman. “I love you Houston. Nutt’n can ever change that. I cannot change what I feel in my heart. My mind knows that age works against us and it can never be. Perhaps in time Houston, we will be together….”
It was funny how the mind played tricks on you like that. Suddenly something forgotten for a quarter century jumps out at you and hits you over the head. He doubted that he would have remembered it the next day and now it was uppermost in his mind. I’m going to find her if it is the last thing I do. She was beautiful. I don’t think I really ever paid any attention to her at all. Other girls were always on my mind. She was only a freckled-faced kid that lived down the street.
I wonder what she looks like now? I tell myself she will be frumpy. So many girls I dated don’t look like much now. I look at most and wonder what I ever saw in any of them? I will find her and that will be it. She will thank me and go her way and I will fly back to D.C. Le fin. Maybe we’ll talk about old times back in Petoskey — that would be nice.
He picked up the phone and tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk. Two more hours and he would be landing at Aden Adde and he knew no more than when he departed from Baltimore. Suddenly General Dimochka was on the line.
“Здравствуйте это Генеральной Dimochka.”
The Russian language had never sounded so pleasant. He returned the greeting, “Здравствуйте это Dimochka. This is Robinson.”
“How are you?”
“I have been trying to call you for hours.”
“We’ve been running operations in the valleys and there were some problems with the communications. It is over now we are on higher ground.”
“I need a favor from you today. I am flying in to your location and am looking for a Red Cross worker that has been kidnapped.”
“Red Cross. They are good people. I’ll do whatever I can.”
“The only thing I know is that she managed to make a phone call at approximately eight o’clock in the morning your time yesterday from a road leading to Beledweyne.”
“I am on my way to Beledweyne now. Some of the Red Cross workers moved on ahead of us and must have run into some trouble up there. Give me her name and I’ll see what we can do.”
“It’s Turner, Carol Turner…”
“Carol Turner? My God! You should have said so from the beginning!”
“Do you know her?”
“Of course I do. She is like a daughter to me. My God — if anything should ever happen to her?”
“She was an old friend during my childhood. I have not seen her in twenty-three years and yet—”
“She is a very special woman.”
“I thought so too.”
“Do not worry my comrade. We will find her if it is the last thing we do. I know where she was and can run satellite reconnaissance in order to find her. Eight in the morning you said?”
“Run eight to nine to start the search and then spread out from there if nothing shows up.”
“It sounds like you have knowledge of satellite research techniques.”
“I was CIA for five years…”
“CIA — that is a side of you I would have never guessed.”
“I want to take an active part in this.”
“So you want to play? That is good. You wish to kill those who took her then?”
He hadn’t thought about it but there was no hesitation with his answer. “Yes. If it comes to that I would kill anyone who gets in the way.”
“That is good. I would do the same. Perhaps I can relive my younger days and we could team up on this mission?”
“That sounds fine.”
“I’ll have a chopper pick you up at Aden Adde and bring you to me. I’ll have things well under way by the time you arrive.”