“We need to see about getting your medicine,” she said as she sat beside him in the straw.
Mitchell held up his hand. “I’m too hot to complain. Don’t worry too much about me, we all need to get out of this place,” he said. “Besides, every time we see our sergeant, he seems to get a little more cross with us.”
“At least he has air conditioning,” she said. They could all hear the small window unit across the court struggling with the heat. “Maybe next time he’ll be a little more sympathetic,” she said with a grin.
Mitchell chuckled. “Just don’t get hurt. I don’t think he’s known for his empathy.”
She shrugged. “You do what you can.”
“Tell me. What makes you so confident?” he asked.
Crowell looked at the floor and gave a faint smile. “If you think I don’t worry, you’re wrong. This situation is a hot mess and we could be here a long time. But at the same time, I know something our captives don’t.”
“You’re clairvoyant?” Mitchell joked.
The smile grew wider. “No, but I know that somewhere there is a man doing everything he can to get me home,” she said. “You see, I married a man who I know is a lot smarter than most people and has ways of getting a lot of things done.” She motioned toward the young guard standing in the outer hall. “These guys have no idea what’s about to happen to them,” she said.
The sound of a door banging shut and footsteps across the gravel courtyard told everyone in the room to get to their feet. Within a minute the Sergeant was standing smugly at the cell door. He glanced around the room and a smile crossed his lips. “That is much better. When you show the proper respect, I feel more generous. This evening, after your dinner, each of you will be allowed to shower and clean up. I have a change of clothing as well. As long as you are compliant with my wishes, you will be allowed to bathe each day,” he said.
The sound of more footsteps across the courtyard highlighted the arrival of their meal. The two young soldiers opened the cell door and slid the pots into the cell, along with bread, paper plates and plastic utensils. The regular guard held his rifle toward the door to stop any idea of creating a disturbance. The mayors stood silently. Crowell raised her hand.
“You wish to speak to me?” asked the sergeant. There was an edge to his voice that warned her he might take their meal again.
Crowell nodded. “Yes, Sergeant. I would like to respectfully ask if there is any way to help this gentleman here…” she said pointing to Mitchell, “to either get some medicine or to see a physician. I know you said earlier that he should do without, but I am worried about his health and would not want to see him harmed. He is already running out of the one medication he has. If you could do anything, it would be a great help,” she said quietly. Crowell made sure that the anger she felt was not in her voice. It had its desired effect.
A smile crossed the sergeant’s face, almost as if he knew something was going to happen. “Now, you see? When you ask respectfully I can be most generous. Tomorrow your friend will be taken to a physician to take care of his needs. After that, he will have nothing more to worry about,” he said smugly. “Now enjoy your meal,” he said as he turned and abruptly left the building.
The people in the cell looked around at each other. They all thought the same thing — it was too easy.
Sharon Roberts crossed the room as everyone sat back down. She kneeled next to Mitchell and Patricia. “At least you didn’t piss him off,” she said with a grin.
Mitchell chuckled and Patricia shrugged her shoulders. “Remember, you told me I needed to cool it down some. If some sweet talking works, the better for us,” she said.
Roberts nodded. “Yea, but somehow I don’t think that’s why he gave in. Maybe, I’m being a pessimist, but I don’t see the sergeant becoming a saint. Something’s going on,” she said.
Patricia took a breath. “I actually agree with you, but Jim needs his meds and if we can somehow get them, he’ll be better off. I just figured we didn’t have anything to lose.”
Mitchell sat back and placed his hands on his chest. “It’s nice to have two nice looking colleagues worrying about me,” he said with a grin.
Roberts poked him in the arm. “Keep dreaming, old man,” she said with a note of sarcasm. “I don’t think you have enough brownie points yet.”
Several of the group laughed and the air in the room got a little lighter. But Patricia Crowell knew Roberts was right. She wondered what was really going on.
In Washington, the President arrived at his military brief to see his friend, Roger Hammond, standing at the foot of the table next to Jim Butler. O’Bannon nearly ran across the room to embrace Hammond before ushering him to one of the chairs. Everyone in the room knew Hammond and was glad he was there. After the pleasantries were over, the group got down to business. The Chief of Naval Operations started first.
“Mister President, I requested to begin this session because as we guessed, Roger, here, has something to add to the pot that I am in agreement with. As you know, we have been trying to look over all of the northern part of South America. After last night, more effort was placed on Colombia. But Roger says we are looking in the wrong place.” He turned to Hammond. “Roger, explain what you’ve come up with.”
“Mister President, it’s just like a young ensign said to me yesterday. We can’t figure out who did something until we figure out why it was done. Look at the facts. We have been able to establish some pretty good relationships with most of the South American countries lately. Good trade agreements, some strong political alliances and we’ve been able to help out on occasion when they really needed it. There’s no real reason for something like this to happen. This isn’t even a religious thing. The program the mayors were there for is one of the most popular programs around. Both sides benefit. So it begs the questions, why now, why there and why these people?” Hammond stopped a moment to let the questions sink in.
“A simple target of opportunity? I mean, people have been kidnapped like this in the past,” said General Foote.
“In the Middle East about ten years ago maybe, but we are at peace down there. Have been for a long time. So now let’s ask, what do they want,” said Hammond. “This thing last night about political prisoners, from what I have heard, Colombia doesn’t have any, except for the ones they are rounding up now. Then the demand to throw the US out of Bogotá. Everyone knows that’s meaningless. Remember, we’ve been at peace with Colombia for as long as I can remember. Then the claim that it’s the FARC. Since it has gone legit, the FARC is a lot better off than it ever was and gaining in political power. None of it makes sense. So let’s figure out what is really being done here. Someone has kidnapped fourteen mayors, something guaranteed to get attention around the world. Why Americans? But more importantly, why now? Remember, this has happened one time before.”
O’Bannon’s eyes shot wide. “They want me out of office. Just a month before an election, they know that if they play their cards right, the hostages won’t be rescued in time. There will be a new American administration.”
Hammond sat back. His point was made. “Now who down there would benefit most?”
“Parente!” General Black almost shouted. “Not only does he hate America, but he sided with North Korea in the last big one. He’s been known to brag about what a big man he is in South American politics. What if he could silently demonstrate that he could really dictate what would be happening in the United States? He would be king of the hill down there,” Black said.
“The last nail has to do with distance,” said Hammond. “Remember, they said the majors were drugged. Moving them around would be a nightmare. The truck fitting the description crossed into Venezuela. Someone can check me on this, but the roads are not that good down there. On a long trip, these guys would be banged around a lot. But if you look at the video, they don’t really look that bad, so they can’t have gone that far. The video was back to us within 24 hours and it was shot in daylight. That means we need to look somewhere within about 200 miles from the border.”