Dad decided to hang around to watch the meeting later on so I took him on a tour of the grounds in the meantime. When we got to the cottages, I introduced him to those guests that were awake. Shelley and her uncle Travis, along with Herr Strudel, decided to join us on the tour. Shelley was considering staying and wanted to know where everything was, while Herr Strudel wanted to stretch his legs.
“Also, I can’t think of anywhere safer to be than with you, Abby.”, he said.
I felt my cheeks heat up in a blush and changed the subject by starting the tour, taking my new guests through the various buildings and all the way to the lake. Along the way I explained how every part of the grounds tied into the rehabilitation process of survivors and their families. Shelley loved it and I could almost see the waves of stress and worry leave her body. When we got to the lake, she sat down on the dock and hugged her knees to her chest. Travis sat down next to her and she buried her face in his chest and cried. He held her as tears streamed down his own face. Sometimes freedom of the mind takes longer to achieve than freedom of the body.
Strudel, dad and I gave them their privacy and continued our walk in silence until we found our way back to the main sanctuary. Shauna and the team had set up a few tables with finger food and drinks along the wall closest to the meeting rooms. We’d be using the main conference room for out general discussion and the various agencies could use any of the adjacent offices to debrief their soldiers or agents.
With about an hour until the various organizations were set to arrive, I got a call from Jake.
“Hi Abby. Is everything ok?”
“Hi Jake. Yes, why do you ask?”
“An old friend just called me asking about the Hannah Foundation and about you specifically. He saw on your website that I was a director for the foundation. I wasn’t able to take the call at the time and I figured I should talk to you first because I can’t figure out the connection between him and you.”
“Who’s your old friend?”, I asked. I had a funny feeling I wasn’t going to like his answer.
“Colonel Joseph Brickman. He’s in charge of an army base a few hours away from you. I forget which one. I met him when I was a much younger man and he was a lowly captain. The army hired me as a consultant for one of the mining projects their corps of engineers was evaluating. Eventually my business grew too large for me to spend so much time with them and I had to quit working with them. Brickman was my main contact there for several years. He’s a good man, but I don’t like it when the Army takes an interest in the foundation or in you. Do you know what it’s all about?”
“I’m afraid that I do. One of his subordinates came by today and had a bad attitude. I sent him away and I guess he went crying to his boss.”
“I see. Do you know what rank the man you sent away was?”
“Major. Major John Covington. He seemed like the type of person who gets a kick out saying his full name and rank.”
“Brickman asked that I call him back before a certain meeting tonight. What time are you meeting him?”
“In about an hour. There are a few agencies coming and I don’t know if they’ll try to play any power games by coming late. I’m guessing that none of them show up on time, just to show me how powerful they are and how their time is so much more valuable than mine.”
Jake laughed loudly at that. “In this case, it works in my favor. I’m on my way to Hannah’s Home and I’ll need about an hour to get there. Don’t start without me, ok?”
“Sure. I’ll stall them until you get here. See you soon!”
“Wait, Abby? Who are the other agencies that you mentioned?”
“Uhm, besides Brickman there’s a major from Fort Bragg, a regional director for the CIA, a man from the state department and someone from the German consulate in Charlotte.”
“Only you could have a meeting with such a strange group of people and still tell me that everything’s ok over there! I’ll see you soon.”
That was weird. I wondered what Jake had to do with any of this. Then again, he was wondering the same thing about me, so we were even.
The man from the state department showed up a bit early. I appreciated that. His name was Ethan Helms and either he was just a regular nice guy or he was so good at politicking that I couldn’t tell that he was doing it. Regardless, I liked him and I spent a few minutes chatting with him about the Hannah Foundation and our goals. He wasn’t sure why he was called to this meeting. He’d only been told that there had been some developments regarding Venezuela and it would be worth his while to show up. I assured him that his time wasn’t being wasted.
Next to arrive was the deputy head of the German embassy in Washington, Councillor-Minister Alexander Muller. If I understood the title correctly, he was the number two guy for all of Germany in the US. Holy shit! What was he doing here? I was so going to have a serious talk with Studel after the meeting. Having Muller here was overkill. It was interesting to note that he arrived on time. He wasn’t here to play games either.
Major Perkins from Fort Bragg arrived only five minutes late and was followed by Agent Smythe from the CIA. Colonel Brickman and his aide walked in fifteen minutes late. I was prepared to stall the meeting further, but Jake had texted me that he was two minutes out, so I had Shauna usher everyone into the conference room. Was it petty of me to be glad that Brickman and his aide didn’t get to have any refreshments? I don’t think so.
Shauna had placed name cards at each seat so that there wouldn’t be any jockeying for position. It also allowed each of the participants to address each other by name. Dad, Jenny, and Sister Clara were already seated on one side of the table and soon everyone was settled in. I noticed that Alexander Muller embraced Strudel before sitting down.
Colonel Brickman started to say something, but I politely interrupted to say, “I’m sorry Colonel, there’s one more attendee coming in. He’ll be here in a moment.” As if on cue, Jake walked in, followed by Mark.
“Excuse me everyone. I only learned about the meeting a little over an hour ago. Thank you for waiting, Abby.” Jake and Mark took seats next to dad.
“Jake! What are you doing here? Are you here to sort out this mess?”, Colonel Brickman asked.
“Not at all, Joe. When I got your call and heard about the meeting, I knew that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch. I’m here strictly as an observer and in my capacity as a board member of the Hannah Foundation.”
“I’m not sure what there is to watch, Jake. One of my majors was here earlier today with a sergeant to escort one of my captains back to base. He was denied access to the captain, verbally abused and then the sergeant was assaulted by someone named, Abby Smith, who said that she owns the place. I’m here to get my captain and my sergeant back and to decide whether to press charges against Ms. Smith.”
“That’s not what happened, sir. You’ve been misinformed.”, Shauna interjected.
“Are you Ms. Smith?”, he asked.
“No, sir. She is.” Shauna pointed to me and I gave a little wave.
“You’re the one that put Sergeant Price in the hospital?” He looked skeptical.
“Technically, Colonel Brickman, it’s only a clinic and Sister Clara and I pretty much carried him in. He wasn’t in any condition to walk at the time.” For some reason Mark covered his face at this and Jake let out a snort of laughter.
“It’s not funny, Jake. One of my men was assaulted.”
“You’re right, Joe. You’re right. Sorry for the outburst. It won’t happen again. Please go on, Abby.” There were a few confused looks on the faces of the people at the table.
“Before I address Colonel Brickman’s concerns, I’d like to bring everyone up to date on where things stand and why you’re all here. A few months ago, I was searching for an administrator for my charity foundation. I met Shauna during the interview process and I learned that she had recently resigned her commission in the army in order to search for her brother, Captain Martinez, who had been detained in Venezuela six months earlier. Part of my agreement with Shauna was that she could continue to work on finding her brother and that when she found his location, I would assist her in getting him freed. Two weeks ago, Shauna informed me that she had significant intelligence suggesting a possible location for her brother and I passed on the information to an associate of mine. Five days later, my associate contacted me and confirmed that Captain Martinez was imprisoned in a facility located outside of Caracas. He had infiltrated the prison and copied their data servers, as well as their surveillance servers. I understand that several of our intelligence agencies had previously tried and failed to accomplish this task.” At this comment, I looked over to Agent Smythe and a nod of his head confirmed my understanding.
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“My associate informed me that he would be returning to the prison to release Captain Martinez the following week and that he would be able to release any of the other prisoners that were with him. Shauna and I, along with my administrative team reviewed the prison records and the videos and found that there were ten other foreign prisoners being held in the same cell as the captain. We also found evidence showing that women and children were being held in another building of the prison.” At these words, I saw that I had Ethan’s and Alexander’s undivided attention.
“The prison records showed that the women and children were the families of prominent political opponents to Maduro. Over the next week, we helped plan and coordinate the rescue of the foreigners and the families. Shauna used her contacts to find a secure place for the families to hide once they were released and she was able to secure the transportation that was required to exfiltrate the prisoners. In addition, we gathered food, clothing and phones for the families and for the others. Yesterday, my associate entered the prison facility at around midnight and was somehow able to release all the prisoners that we had asked him to. Three of the inmates in the cell with the captain were not released, as their records showed them to be paid informants. The families were delivered to a bus that was waiting for them and they all made it safely to the village. Shauna has gotten confirmation of their safety. Last night, the remaining eight inmates were delivered here. Their physical condition was evaluated by Sister Clara and she diagnosed them with severe malnutrition and dehydration and immediately started to treat their conditions. She recommended that everyone stay here for forty-eight hours, after which they could all return to their various bases or agencies. This information was communicated to everyone’s supervisors and it was agreed to.”
I paused to give everyone a chance to take all the information and then I continued.
“That was the extent of our involvement with the rescue operation. No one here knows how the rescue operation actual took place. We don’t know how my associate, who goes by the name of Roger, got in or how he got out. We don’t know how he managed to get the inmates out of their cells or into the United States. We certainly don’t know how he managed to do that without even waking them up. Their last memory was of going to sleep in the prison on Saturday night and then they woke up to find themselves here. Roger did mention applying a counter-agent to them once he dropped them off, but I have no further knowledge of it. I’m stressing our lack of knowledge about Roger’s methods so that you don’t waste time trying to interrogate any members of my team. You’ll get no further information from us about the rescue because we don’t possess any other information. I’m hoping that you also won’t browbeat your soldiers and agents for information that they can’t possibly have.”
Alexander cleared his throat and spoke up. “Thank you, Abby, for the summary of events. Before I ask you my question, I have some official business to take care of. The German government would like to extend its appreciation to you and to your team for arranging for Gerhardt’s release. There will be an official function recognizing that appreciation in Washington and we hope that you and your team can attend. You have done an admirable job in underplaying your part in all this, but it is obvious to me that none of this would have happened without you, Abby. On a less official note, I wanted to let you know that Gerhardt is not only a valued member of the German diplomatic service, but he is also my brother-in-law. I would like to extend my thanks to you from myself, my sister and her children. Please know that you and your team will always be welcome guests in my country and in my house.”
“Herr Strudel is your brother-in-law? Really?” It was payback time. I could already see the color start to drain from Gerhardt’s face.
“Herr Strudel?” Alexander’s confusion almost set me off laughing.
“Gerhardt Strudel. He told me that he comes from a long line of bakers.” I couldn’t hold in my smile anymore.
A stream of German passed back and forth between Alexander and Gerhardt and then Alexander shook his head in resignation. “I apologize for Gerhardt’s attempt at a pun. His last name is Becker, which translates as baker in English. The German people are not well known for their sense of humor and Gerhardt is living proof of why.”
“I’ll admit that he had me going there for awhile, but it’s only because it seems so fitting. Perhaps it could be mentioned as a possible nickname for him around the office?”
Alexander’s face perked up. “That is an excellent idea, Abby. Thank you for suggesting it.” Gerhardt’s expression of despair was not lost on anyone at the table and several people tried unsuccessfully to hide their smiles.
“Now that my sister will soon be known as, Mrs. Strudel, I want to get back to the discussion and to ask you why we’re all here. Besides saying thank you, Gerhardt told me that it would be in my best interests to hear what you have to say. I’m assuming that others here were assured of the same thing.”
“Yes, Alexander. I want to make a deal with you, Mr. Helms and with Agent Smythe. I’d like to give you each copies of the servers that were copied from the prison in exchange for your cooperation in two areas. First, the mission of the Hannah Foundation is to help victims of human trafficking. Occasionally, we will discover information about traffickers or Roger will come across some evidence of criminal activity and we’ll need to call someone in authority who will listen and be able to act on this intelligence, without us wasting a lot of time proving who we are and answering a bunch of questions that we don’t want to answer. It might be here in the US or in Europe. Slavery is a worldwide problem. I’m hoping that you, Mr. Helms and Agent Smythe can get Shauna in touch with the people who will listen to us and I’m hoping that you’ll vouch for us. Second, when you encounter victims of human trafficking, I’d like your agents to let us know, so that we can try to help them. We don’t have the organizational reach to work in Europe yet, but I plan to change that over the next several years.”
Alexander, Ethan and Agent Smythe all agreed to my terms and Jenny left to go get them the servers.
“Shouldn’t you get this agreement in writing, Abby? Make it official?”, Mark asked.
“I thought about it, Mark, but decided that the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. I’d never be able to enforce an agreement to cooperate in court and I’ll never know to what extent they’re cooperating. It all boils down to whether they want to help out or not. If they don’t want to help victims of slavery, I can’t make them and they’re not the type of people that I would want to deal with anyways. Besides, when word of the jailbreak hits their higher levels, everyone is going to be clamoring for Roger’s services. Pissing off the one person on the planet who can reach him is never a good idea.”
“That’s something that I don’t understand. This man, Roger, is able to do incredible things. He’s extremely resourceful. How did you meet him and why has he chosen to work through a sixteen-year-old girl?”, Colonel Brickman asked.
“Seventeen. My birthday was a few weeks ago. Also, I’ve never met Roger. I have no idea what he looks like, except from his description in the police report.”
“I really admire the way she does that, Grandpa. She seems to be answering your question, but then she drops a small bomb off at the end of the answer and makes you ask follow-up questions. She controls the information and you’re forced to play catch-up. It makes her seem all knowing.” Mark said this sotto vocce to Jake and I glared at him.
“Why are you here again?”, I asked.
“Jake said it would be fun. I should have brought some popcorn. Way better than Netflix.”
“Well keep quiet. I’m trying to have meeting here.”
“You were saying about the police report?”, Colonel Brickman prodded to get us back on track and I told them about how Roger worked with the police to free the victims at Serpentine Logistics.
“Ok. So why did he contact you?”
“He said that I’d impressed him and he felt that I was the right person to work with.” I didn’t want to elaborate, so hoped that they would leave it there. They didn’t.
“You impressed a man who can break into a foreign prison at a moments’ notice and liberate over twenty people by himself? How did you do that?” This was from the major. What is it with majors and giving me a hard time today?
“That’s not important. What is important is that...” I didn’t get to finish as Shauna interrupted me.
“I can answer that. Jenny, can you put up the video on the big screen, please?” When did Jenny get back with the servers? What the hell?!
“Shauna! Don’t you dare.”
“Too late, Abby. Consider this my revenge for keeping this from me.” She stuck her tongue out at me and blew me a raspberry. In a serious meeting with all these important people! I just buried my face in my hands and waited for it all to end.
I suffered through the entire viewing and when it was over there was silence. No one said anything. Until Gerhardt said, “Was zum Teufel haben Sie sich dabei gedacht?” and Mark started laughing.
“You speak German?”, I asked him.
“No, but I know what he asked you. It’s what everyone asks you. What the hell did you think you were doing?”
“Was that real?”, Colonel Brickman asked in disbelief.
“Yes, it was. I was the guy slung over Abby’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.”, Mark answered.
“Running into danger like that and risking your life for a friend is what we give our highest medals for. In the army, you’d have gotten the Silver Star for such an act of bravery.” Brickman’s tone was somber and thoughtful.
“Oh, she didn’t do it for a friend. I’d never met her before that day. She was just nearby and saw the smoke.”
“I think I need to re-evaluate the report that I was given by Major Covington. His report doesn’t match up with what I’ve seen here tonight.”
“I can help with that too. Jenny, please pull up the other video.” Damn Shauna and her videos. It’s strange how someone who has the ability to never be seen on camera keeps getting caught on camera.
The video started before dad and I got there and showed Major Covington being very aggressive with Shauna and Sister Clara. Colonel Brickman visibly flinched when the major was dismissive of me when I arrived and he got red in the face when the major ordered the sergeant to remove me. Several people leaned forward in their chairs to watch as I took the sergeant down and I started second-guessing myself. Had I been too quick to action? Should I have taken it easier on Sergeant Price? Maybe given him a warning?
“Jenny, can I see that last bit again, please?” Mark asked.
“No, you can’t, Mark! I think we’ve all seen quite enough videos for today.” That boy was getting extra plank for a month.
Colonel Brickman cleared his throat and looked visibly embarrassed. “Abby, please accept my apologies for the actions of Major Covington and Sergeant Price. They were extremely out of line and not adhering to the army code of conduct. This matter will be brought up for review before a military tribunal and I doubt that the major will enjoy it. If I could get a copy of that video, the army’s case against the major will be much stronger.”
“Ok, as long as I have your word that the video will not make its way onto the internet. The fire video is bad enough.”
“That’s easy enough to give. Covington’s actions bring shame on the entire army and the negative publicity would be painful. Trust me, Abby. I don’t want this video to get out there.”
“And I’ll be sure to make Shauna available for your investigators and their hours and hours of questions. I’m sure she’ll be just as happy talking to them as she was in showing you all that fire video.” I turned to Shauna and gave her a sickly-sweet smile as she scowled at me and then I stuck out my tongue at her and gave her a raspberry.
As we all got up from the table, I saw Jake approach Brickman and say, “That’s why I came, Joe. Because watching that girl pole-axe someone is so much more fun than being on the receiving end of it and I was so tired of being on the receiving end it. You look like you could use a beer, Joe. How about it? I’m buying.”