Chapter 6 - REDWATER
Abigail read the message three times.
Each time, the words became less believable and more real.
Caleb took the phone from her.
His face hardened when he saw Lucas.
Ruiz leaned over his shoulder.
"Don't touch anything else."
"Can you trace it?" Abigail asked.
"Maybe."
"Maybe isn't enough."
Ruiz looked at her.
"It's what I have."
She hated the answer because it was honest.
The photo showed Lucas in gray sweatpants and a military undershirt.
His left eye was swollen.
A dark bruise stretched beneath his jaw.
His wrists were hidden behind his back.
The newspaper across his lap displayed that morning's front page.
Someone wanted them to know he was alive.
Someone also wanted them to know they controlled whether that continued.
"Noon," Abigail whispered.
Caleb checked the wall clock.
4:28 a.m.
"Seven and a half hours."
Ruiz shook his head.
"You're not signing anything."
"If signing keeps Lucas alive—"
"It won't."
Abigail looked at him.
Ruiz spoke carefully.
"If you sign, they lose the reason to keep him alive."
The truth was cruel.
It was also obvious once he said it.
Caleb placed a hand on Abigail's shoulder.
"We find him first."
Ruiz looked at him.
"We find him."
Caleb understood the emphasis.
"I'm not sitting in a safe house while a nineteen-year-old is held somewhere because he trusted my wife."
"You're a civilian."
"I'm useful."
"You're emotionally involved."
"Also useful."
Ruiz rubbed his forehead.
"This is exactly why retired operators are a nightmare."
"You said that in Kandahar too."
"I was right then."
Abigail interrupted.
"Can we stop measuring who is more annoying and find Lucas?"
Both men looked at her.
"Thank you."
Ruiz sighed.
"Fine."
He pointed at Caleb.
"You do not enter Redwater."
Caleb said nothing.
"Say it."
"I heard you."
"That's not what I asked."
"It's what you're getting."
Ruiz muttered another curse.
By five-fifteen, a small NCIS team had assembled in a secure conference room beneath the hospital.
They projected satellite images of Redwater Annex onto a wall.
The property sat twenty-six miles southwest of the city behind pine forest and old industrial fencing.
Three structures remained visible.
A warehouse.
A low administration building.
A concrete training facility with an indoor pool.
Abigail stared at the pool building.
"That's where the picture was taken."
Ruiz looked at her.
"How can you tell?"
"I can't."
She pointed to the satellite image.
"But Lucas had chlorine irritation around his eyes when he came to us."
Caleb nodded.
"And the photo showed a pool."
Ruiz zoomed in.
"We still need probable cause strong enough for a warrant."
Abigail looked at the picture on her phone.
"A hostage photo isn't enough?"
"We have to tie it to the location."
Caleb leaned toward the image.
"Show me the utility side."
Ruiz switched layers.
Power usage appeared as a graph.
Caleb pointed to repeated overnight spikes.
"Those are pump cycles."
"Could be anything."
"Not with that interval."
Ruiz stared at him.
"You remember pool pump schedules from thirteen years ago?"
"I remember everything about places where people tried to drown me."
Abigail looked at him.
Caleb did not elaborate.
She knew better than to ask now.
An analyst entered.
"We traced the text relay."
Ruiz stood.
"Where?"
"Burner device bounced through three towers, but the initial connection hit near Suffolk."
"How near?"
"Seven miles from Redwater."
Ruiz grabbed his jacket.
"That's enough to move."
Caleb stood too.
"No."
"Caleb."
"I'm coming."
Ruiz stared at him.
"You are not law enforcement."
"Then don't give me a badge."
"You're not entering."
"I heard you the first time."
Abigail stood.
"I'm coming too."
Both men answered together.
"No."
Abigail crossed her arms.
"Interesting."
Caleb gave her a look.
"Abby."
"Lucas knows me."
Ruiz shook his head.
"He may need medical care, but we'll bring medics."
"He was terrified of uniformed personnel when I treated him."
"We're not all uniformed."
"He trusted me."
Ruiz hesitated.
That was enough.
Abigail continued.
"If you find him conscious and panicking, I may be the only person he recognizes as safe."
Caleb looked unhappy.
Ruiz looked even less happy.
"You stay in the medical staging vehicle until I call you."
"Fine."
Caleb raised an eyebrow.
Abigail smiled sweetly.
"See how easy that was?"
At 6:12 a.m., two unmarked vehicles left the hospital.
The rain had weakened to a cold mist.
Morning was beginning to lighten the eastern sky.
Abigail sat beside Caleb in the rear of Ruiz's SUV.
Neither spoke for the first ten minutes.
Finally Caleb said, "You know you're staying in the vehicle."
"I agreed to staging."
"You also agreed to run when I said run."
"And I did."
"Eventually."
"You were bleeding."
"Occupational hazard."
"You're retired."
"Marriage hazard."
She elbowed him lightly.
For three seconds they laughed.
Then Ruiz's radio crackled.
"Unit Two to lead."
"Go."
"We have a vehicle leaving Redwater northbound."
Ruiz sat forward.
"Description?"
"Gray SUV."
Caleb and Abigail looked at each other.
"Plate?" Ruiz asked.
The radio answered.
"Obscured."
Caleb leaned forward.
"Don't stop it yet."
Ruiz looked at him.
"Why?"
"If that's Dane or Warren, let them think nobody found the site."
Ruiz considered it.
Then keyed the radio.
"Maintain visual only."
Five minutes later, Redwater Annex appeared through the trees.
The main gate hung partially open.
No guards.
No lights.
No movement.
The place looked abandoned.
Caleb stared through the windshield.
"That's wrong."
Ruiz slowed.
"What?"
"Gate should be chained if they're pretending it's dead."
"Maybe they left in a hurry."
"Or they want us inside."
Ruiz stopped the convoy two hundred yards from the entrance.
Agents moved forward on foot.
Abigail stayed in the medical vehicle as promised.
Caleb stayed beside her for exactly ninety seconds.
Then gunfire erupted from inside the compound.
Abigail flinched.
Caleb opened the door.
"Stay here."
"Caleb—"
"This time I'm not negotiating."
He disappeared toward the tree line.
Abigail swore and reached for the trauma bag.
The radio on the dashboard exploded with voices.
"Shots from warehouse two!"
"Officer down!"
"Need medical!"
Abigail was out of the vehicle before anyone could stop her.
She ran toward the gate with the trauma bag bouncing against her hip.
An agent waved her back.
"Ma'am, get down!"
"You called medical!"
"Not you!"
"Too late!"
She reached the wounded agent behind a concrete barrier.
Blood soaked his thigh.
"Femoral?" she asked.
"Missed it," another agent said.
"Lucky man."
She applied pressure and packed the wound.
Gunfire stopped as suddenly as it had begun.
Then came silence.
Ruiz's voice crackled over the radio.
"Warehouse clear."
Abigail looked toward the pool building.
Its side door was open.
A shape moved behind the glass.
"Lucas?"
She stood.
The agent grabbed her sleeve.
"Where are you going?"
"I saw someone."
"Stay here."
Then a scream came from inside the pool building.
A young man's scream.
"Abigail!"
Her blood went cold.
Lucas knew her name.
May you like
She tore free and ran.
