Go to the previous Chapter: Pirate’s Folly – Hotel Gloria
Chapter 5
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Summer Camp
I did a quick run down the hall by our room to see if I could find Dani but there was no sign of her. There was a bathroom at the end of the hall. Nobody there. A few steps farther was a security door that led to the outside. It was unlocked. Dani didn’t seem like she was in any shape to go on her own. Was she taken?
I heard some voices coming from the lobby, so there was no time to waste. I grabbed my bag from the room and high-tailed it out the security door. As I ran down a side street, I saw Gilbert and the girl from the front desk running in the opposite direction. The gunshots would surely have been heard by people in the vicinity. The police would be arriving at any moment. Once I was several blocks away from the hotel, I called Gerard.
“Bill, where are you?” he asked urgently.
“Half a dozen blocks from the hotel. Dani’s missing. That hotel was not what you think.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding. There too? Christ!”
“Yeah.”
“Shit.” There was a long pause. “Ok, listen Bill, don’t go to the store. That block is crawling with those assholes now. The whole gang is on high-alert, and they’re looking for me too. I’ve been rejecting calls for three hours. They must have put two and two together with those six idiots on the boat. I’m sure one of those guys was on the horn with someone in gang HQ before they got to us. Meet me at 4th and Madison. It’s by the marina.”
“Shit Gerard. This town is a fucking snakepit. Dani is missing!” I was panicking.
“Bill, trust me. This is just a gang on steroids. They’re called Tren de Aragua. They aren’t rocket scientists. Half of them are high. I’ve been working on a plan for a while, and I’m not alone. Now is the time. Meet me there in fifteen!”
“Ok,” I said weakly.
I found a hoodie in a tourist shop and got to the meeting point on time. Gerard was already there. He grabbed my shoulders and looked hard at me.
“Are you gonna be okay?”
“Well,” I took a deep breath. “I just blew 4 guys away with your 45.”
“That’s my boy.” Gerard patted me on the back. “I’m sure they deserved it. We have some work to do. Now we need to find Dani, yeah?”
I nodded.
“Okay.”
“We need to check in on their HQ first to see if she’s there. It’s a house with no inherent security features, just a few guys walking around that would make a rent-a-cop laugh. Go figure.”
“Alright.” I was feeling dejected.
“Bill, we’ve got this, okay?” Gerard shook me lightly.
“Yea.”
“Take this.” Gerard handed me an AirTag. “And put this cap on.” He handed me a rust-red baseball cap. “One of their honchos, Nogueda, has a fancy center console tied up down there. A fifty-foot Contender. You can’t miss it. Four massive outboards. Sort of like the one we destroyed, but nicer. It’s light blue with some red trim.”
“Okay.”
“Have a good look to see if anyone is watching. If you’re in the clear, throw this thing in the livewell. Don’t take any chances. If it’s busy, we’ll find another way. Meet me back here in an hour. I have to take care of something.”
The docks were busy, but mostly with people returning from their fishing charters. The twilight colors are the most amazing feature of this part of the world. Pink and orange mingled in the scattered clouds beautifully as the sun began to set. I walked around pretending to be impressed at the evening’s catch. Under normal circumstances, I would have been very impressed, but my head was not in it. A number of huge halibut dwarfed some very large lingcod and salmon. There was even a large, nasty-looking shark that had drawn a crowd. Someone said it was a salmon shark. It looked like a medium-sized great white, but darker.
I spotted the Contender. There was a guy cleaning it, but he soon left and trotted up to the road. I walked over to take an admiring look at it, nodding my head. Nobody was watching. I tossed the AirTag in the livewell and made my way up to the road, then to 4th and Madison.
“Okay, phase two,” said Gerard.
I had no clue where he was taking me but soon we were on a trail in the woods overlooking a neighborhood. Gerard set his backpack on a rock and opened it, pulling out some binoculars.
“See that big green house down there? That’s Tren HQ. See if you can spot Dani in there.”
I took the binoculars. We were perched at a great vantage point as I could see the house and its rooms very well. There must have been twenty people in there, most of them walking around with pretended purpose, checking their cell phones. Something was afoot for sure. I did not see anything that looked like a center of attention, though. It seemed to me that a captive would create a certain energy in part of the house. These guys didn’t have any energy like that.
“I don’t see her.” I said.
“Okay, keep looking. I’ll be back in thirty.” Gerard tapped away at his phone.
“Sure.”
Gerard disappeared.
I kept watch on the house. It was at the end of the block and was set away from other houses on the road, tucked into some woods. People came and went. A few guys stepped onto a side deck on the second floor and hid in a corner to take some hits from a vape. I laid back on a slanted rock to rest a little and must have fallen asleep. Before I knew it, Gerard was tapping my shoulder.
“All good Bill?”
It took a minute to get my bearings. It had been a day and a half since I had slept.
“Gerard?”
“Yep. Let’s go.”
We walked back down the trail to his car then drove back to his warehouse. Inside, Gerard rummaged around in some boxes and filled a couple of black duffel bags with god knows what.
“That Contender left the docks about 45 minutes ago and went north about 20 miles. It’s docked at the old Oceanside Camp.”
“Oceanside Camp?”
“Yeah, it used to be a summer camp for kids. A few years ago it was sold off to a tech bro who wanted to make it his doomsday escape but he ran out of money. Last I heard he was trying to sell it again. These guys must be using it. Here.” Gerard handed me one of the bags. It must have been fifty pounds.
“More toys?”
“Just in case.” Gerard winked.
He led us to a covered dock where there were some Kawasaki Jet Skis. These things were a far cry from their ancestors. Those early stand-up watercraft are still made today, but the crotch-rocket style skis are much more popular now. Impossible to tip over and faster than most other boats. Gerard had two Ultra 310 LX-S models. Not many people would pick a fight with one of these in a race. Gerard hooked the duffel bags to the rear platforms and started them both up.
“We need to get moving. It’s pretty dark. Let’s see if Dani is up at the camp. Do you know how to ride one of these?”
“I’ve got the idea, yeah.”
“You have your throttle there, pull the lever to speed up, push it out for reverse. In calmer water we can go pretty fast, but just follow my lead. I know the waters up here and I have a spotlight if we need it. Moon’s out though, we should be able to see pretty well.”
“I’m good to go.”
Gerard didn’t waste time. Within fifteen mintues we were leaving Ketchikan behind us and racing north. He waved for me to come up beside him.
“We’ve got another fifteen miles and then we need to slow down as we approach. Don’t want to tip anyone off. Let’s go dark from here.”
“Ok.” I switched the lights off.
He sped back up. We were running at about 40 mph under moonlight. The water was like glass. It was surreal. This was full special ops.
About half an hour later Gerard slowed down to 20 and started flanking the shore, looking for a spot to land. Lots of rocks but no waves, so it was not long before he found something. He pulled into a mini-cove and ran his Jet Ski right up onto a pebbly beach. I skidded up next to him. We could still see really well in the moonlight.
“Watch your step.”
Gerard clipped a small rope to the bow of his Jet Ski and tied it off to a rock about 20 feet up the beach. He then ran a small line between the two skis.
“That should hold just fine.” He pulled out his phone and opened a map of where we were. “The camp is north about three hundred yards. We’ll never get there walking along the shore though. If we go inland just a bit, say a hundred yards, there is a pathway that runs along this entire peninsula. It goes to the camp. We just need to be careful not to be spotted.” Gerard opened one of the duffel bags and pulled out a few objects that looked like binoculars on head harnesses.
“I never get to use these things but they’re great. Night vision. This will give us the advantage. These have thermal imaging,” he said, laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’ll see.”
We walked up the beach and picked our way through the trees to get to the path, which was where Gerard expected it to be. It was much darker walking through the thick trees, but it was incredible how well I could see with the goggles, almost like it was day. Metal objects clanked around in the duffel bags. I wasn’t sure what other goodies Gerard had in there, but I had no doubt we were well armed.
We walked north on the path for a few minutes then Gerard put his hand on my shoulder and stopped.
“Up there, see him?”
I looked up the path and saw the thermal form of a person leaning against a tree. He appeared to be smoking.
“Yes.”
“I think I see someone else up further too. There’s no way to know how many people they’ve got here, but they are on high alert so we can expect more than 5, maybe 10 guards or more.”
Gerard took a look at his watch and seemed to make a mental note of something.
“Billy, our first job here is recon. Our goal is getting Dani. If we see Dani is in there we will need to attack, but it needs to be planned, depending on the outlay. This can be tricky, but we really have an advantage. We stay in the shadows. The darkness is our ally.” He took a breath and looked down. “Our biggest problem is the fucking twigs.”
Indeed. They were everywhere. I put my foot on one and pushed down slightly. It was rubbery.
“They seem wet. Somebody up there is pulling for us.”
Gerard tried one.
“You’re a genius Billy. Just look out for the bigger ones then.”
Gerard pulled a short rifle out of his duffel and walked forward a dozen steps, waving me forward. There was a fork in the trail. We took the path that avoided the smoking guard. This path circumnavigated the camp and had several connectors that led into the compound. We stayed on that outer rim and observed the buildings from several angles.
“There,” said Gerard. He pointed to a cabin on the north side. Several people were hanging around the front door. “That looks like the best bet. Why don’t you go around this path farther and see if you can get a peek in one of the windows on the back side. I’ll try to get a closer look on this little path.”
From a good distance, through the thermal night-vision goggles, I saw 6 people outside. Surely there we more inside. Gerard crouched his way up the connector.
I walked further around the circle to the north side of the cabin. It was more heavily wooded back there but the trail was visible. A small path, shrouded with brush wended its way to the back door. Nobody was back there. I walked up the path and, as carefully as I could, peeked in the window. There were another five guys in the cabin, but no Dani. I quickly made my way back to the circle path, then to Gerard.
“She’s not in there. It looks like their Camp HQ.”
“Ok, good news. Stay here. I’m going to have a quick look.”
Gerard made his way over to the north side of the cabin and was there for a few minutes before returning.
“You’re right. Nogueda’s in there. It’s definitely Camp HQ, and I don’t see Dani either. Let’s go have a look at that cabin over there. I see two guys outside that one.”
“Fifteen so far?”
“Yep. Follow me.”
We walked back around the north side and passed the HQ cabin, making our way to the one with the two other guys, about 50 yards farther. To get close to that cabin would require walking through a grassy field without trees. We would be much more exposed.
“Zoom in on the windows with the scope. See if you can see Dani. We’re not crossing that field yet.”
I did as he said. And then I saw her. She was standing in a corner of the cabin, staring angrily at the guy who was in there with her. The man seemed to be trying to explain something to her, pleading her. It was strange.
“Gerard, she’s there! Looks like there’s one guy in there with her.”
“Thank god! Okay.” Gerard grabbed my shoulders. “We’ve got this.”
“Sixteen guys? We’ve got this?”
“I think so. Follow me.”
Gerard made his way back along the circle path, past Camp HQ, back to a spot within view of the first two guys we saw as we came in.
“Bill, this isn’t just for Dani, but for a lot of other people who are being controlled by these freaks, right? This is a trafficking organization. They have harmed a lot of people. They have enslaved young girls. They’ve taken over business in Ketchikan, including mine, and they are straight up criminals of the worst kind. We need to stop them.”
“No question.” I had no reservations at this point, after seeing Dani. “What do we do?”
Gerard picked up his silenced rifle and took aim at the guy smoking the joint. He pulled the trigger.
The smoker made a gasping sound and dropped. The second man seemed to notice and walked toward his fellow guardsman.
“Qué onda?” he asked quietly.
Gerard took another shot and dropped the second.
“Thirteen.”
We then backtracked toward the HQ cabin. Gerard put the rifle on the ground and pulled out parts of another gun. He quickly assembled it. I almost laughed but the mood was not quite there. It was a Tommy gun with one of those round ammo drums.
“Chicago typewriter. We need something fast.” Gerard took his phone out, clicked a few times and put it on the ground. “Things are going to move quickly now.”
“What do I do?”
“Nothing. Sit there and look pretty.”
“Ok.”
Gerard tapped an icon on his phone. A few seconds later there was a boom in the distance.
“What’s that?”
“Ketchikan HQ.” Gerard tapped his phone a few more times. “Hang tight.”
Everyone inside Cabin HQ exited to see what the boom was about. Eleven guys stood in front of the wooden building. The two guys standing guard in front of the cabin with Dani in it came trotting over.
“Three, two, one.” Gerard opened fire, spraying the group with bullets. Five guys dropped before the rest found cover. All but one ran into HQ. Curiously, the one exception ran into a cabin farther away.
“Get behind that tree and plug your ears.”
I did as he said. Gerard pushed another button on his phone. The northern half of Cabin HQ exploded. The blast was intense and rang my bell pretty well. The southern wall of the cabin fell down, not having other walls to support it. Three men staggered over it to get away from the blaze. One guy was on fire, head to toe. Gerard mowed them down.
“Holy shit.”
“That leaves two. The guy that ran that way, and the guy in Dani’s cabin.”
I looked through the scope of my gun toward Dani’s cabin. A man’s head was peering out the front door. He seemed frozen for a few seconds. I just need him to step out a little bit, away from the cabin.
Suddenly, he jerked as though being hit from behind, and tumbled out the door. Dani came out after him, kicking him repeatedly. He howled. The remaining guy suddenly ran from his hiding spot toward them. Gerard opened fire on him and dropped him. He fell face down in the dirt. The only guy left was the one Dani had mauled. I started to run over toward them but Gerard grabbed me.
“Wait. There may be some others. Just hang on.” He picked up his scoped gun and started scanning the other buildings. “Let’s go around on the path.”
While we ran the circle path, I heard more howling coming from the guy Dani was kicking. It seemed like she had matters under control. When we got to the edge of the field, Gerard stopped and scanned the buildings again.
“I think we’re good. Just keep low.” We trotted over the field and got behind the cabin Dani had been in. Gerard looked in the rear window to see if anyone else was in there. “All clear.”
We walked out from behind the cabin. Dani looked over at us, frightened.
“Looks like you’ve got this,” I said. I walked over to the last remaining dirtbag and pointed my gun at him.
“Wait,” Dani said, running over and hugging me. “We can use him.”
“How did, uh… what…well let’s catch up later.” I wanted to ask a bunch of questions but decided we needed to get ourselves to a safer place first. “Gerard, what now?”
“Let’s hang tight for a few minutes.” He tapped on his phone.
About thirty seconds later there was a voice from the woods.
“Gerard!”
“Yeah, over here.”
A few men in dark clothes ran over to meet us.
“I thought you were going to wait for us.”
“The opportunity presented itself. We had to take the advantage.” He smiled. “But you can clean up if you want.”
“Not much left to clean up.” There was chuckling all around. “Well, it’s about time those guys were shown the door, thanks to you two.” The taller of the two men reached a hand out to Bill. “Name’s Paul, this is Marty.” Both men looked like Marines. Marty patted Dani on the back. “Looks like it was only a matter of time and you would have taken care of these guys on your own.”
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The last remaining guy turned out to be a trove of information. The first minute or so was a river of Spanish, but he eventually was able to get some English out. He talked about the HQ building in Ketchikan, then about Texas, then Florida. Names popped out here and there. The organization had its fingers in a lot of places.
“What about Seattle?” I asked.
The man was quiet for a bit.
“No sé.”
Gerard looked at the others, then back at the man.
“Come on, let’s get you a hot meal.”
Paul and Marty laughed.
