The Bahamas Caper Read online
THE BAHAMAS CAPER
Drew A. Hill
This is work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
©2018 Printed in the United States of America.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. All scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Acknowledgements
I especially want to thank my aunt, Debra Stacey, for her help through the editing process. Also, my mom, Natale, my dad, Durant, and my brother, Jackson, helped me edit as well. Jackson also helped me find the title. Thanks so much to these people for their help and encouragement.
But the One I want to thank the most is the Lord. Without Him, I could not have completed this book.
Cast of Characters
Oliver Haselry: CIA agent
Malachi Jefferson: CIA agent
Levi Richardson: CIA agent
Timothy Michaels: President of the United States
Jordan Michaels: Timothy Michaels’ son
Jackson Barkley: Vice President of the United States
Joseph Martins: National Security Advisor
Frank Jones: Director of National Intelligence
Daniel Smart: FBI Director
Trent Baker: Secretary of War
Bill Gray: Secretary of State
Mark Right: Secretary of Defense
John Blackright: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Amos Scott: President’s campaign manager
Arthur MacDonald: Chief of security for Jordan Michaels
Landon Schwartz: FBI agent
Drew Martin: NSA agent
Dominic Walton: Presidential candidate
Donald Morrison: Presidential candidate
Jeremiah Montley: Presidential candidate
George Walburn: Presidential candidate
Gerald Hamilton: Black market weapons dealer
Harold Summers: American gangster
Marcus Tolliver: American gangster
Pierre del Monte: President of France
Edward Huffield: Prime Minister of Great Britain
David Copman: MI6 agent
George Stanfield: MI6 agent
Robert Hill: MI6 agent
Nazr Khalil: Iranian Intelligence Director
Carl Arlington: Deputy Director for Operations
Isaiah Harkens: Deputy Director of Intelligence
Jacques Benzamaen: Pilot for hire
Chapter 1
Arthur MacDonald thought he heard a noise in the hallway. Probably just a passenger needing to use the restroom. But as Chief of Security for the President’s son, he knew he couldn’t be too careful.
Five weeks earlier, the President’s son had his sixteenth birthday. For his gift, the President let him go on a cruise to the Bahamas. Five Secret Service agents went with him. One agent stayed in the room with the President’s son. Each adjoining room held two agents.
Arthur came out of his suite and saw Sergeant Matthews coming out of his room.
“Good morning, Sergeant,” Arthur greeted with a yawn.
“Good morning, sir,” replied Sergeant Matthews.
Sergeant Matthews knocked on the room where Jordan, the President’s son, was staying.
“How’s everything in there, Agent Hopkins?” asked the sergeant.
Suddenly, the door swung open. A small round object hurtled out of the room, bounced once, and rolled across the hallway.
Arthur MacDonald yelled out, “It’s a grenade! Duck for cover!” and dove into his room.
Sergeant Matthews froze when he saw the grenade. A fiery explosion filled the hallway. Screams were heard at the loud interruption of their sleep, and a small fire broke out.
Arthur MacDonald sprang up and felt a sharp pain in his side. Looking down, he saw a piece of shrapnel deeply embedded in his right side. He ignored the pain and grabbed a SIG Sauer off his dresser. He heard a footfall behind him and whirled. It was Agent Gonzales. He turned around, carefully pushing the smoldering door open. He saw two men hustling up the stairs down the hall. He wasn’t sure whether to fire. Suddenly, he noticed they were carrying a body.
He was about to continue his pursuit when he noticed Agent Goodrich kneeling on the ground in Jordan’s and Agent Hopkins’ room. Agent Goodrich looked up, and Arthur saw the lifeless body of Agent Harkens lying on the ground.
Agent Gonzales hurried past, bringing Arthur out of his stupor. Arthur continued in pursuit of the men who had, he was now sure, kidnapped the President’s son.
As he ran up the stairs, he heard the muffled report of a silencer ahead. He doubled his pace when he heard answering fire. He came to the top deck and saw four masked figures firing at Agent Gonzales, who was trapped in a corner with limited cover.
He took aim at the group of gunmen and let out four quick shots in rapid volley. Two of them dropped, and the others spun to face this new attacker. As they did so, Agent Gonzales fired several times in quick succession and the third one went down. The fourth one turned around and ran across the deck.
As the two Secret Service agents pursued him across the deck, they became aware of a helicopter ahead. The man jumped into the helicopter, which immediately took off. The two agents each got off one shot before it was out of range.
Arthur MacDonald immediately radioed his superior in the Secret Service. Within minutes it was known throughout the intelligence agencies that two agents were down, two passengers killed, two passengers injured, and the President’s son presumed kidnapped.
Chapter 2
The agents searched the room, discovering Jordan was not there. He was not in the restroom or cafeteria.
More agents arrived via helicopter. They searched the entire ship, but it appeared Jordan was not on board. They came to the conclusion he was on the helicopter Arthur and Agent Gonzales had seen take off.
The theory on the kidnappers’ mode of operation was the helicopter had dropped the abductors on deck.. The pilot landed and waited for them to board. The remaining gunman jumped in, and they took off into the night.
A careful examination of the three kidnappers’ bodies showed they carried no ID of any kind. All were young, strong men, apparently of Middle Eastern descent.
Arthur MacDonald went to talk to Thomas Stuart, the man directing the investigation. Thomas was sixty-two years old and nearing retirement. He had been in the Secret Service thirty-seven years and was now one of the highest ranking agents in the Secret Service.
Arthur MacDonald was a forty-four year old man with graying hair and a solidly built body. He had been part of the Secret Service for eighteen years.
“Tom, who do you think has kidnapped Jordan?” asked Arthur.
“Now we have very little evidence, but I’m afraid it appears the President’s son has been kidnapped by an Islamic terrorist group.”
҉
Within ten minutes of the crime the President was notified, and he called an emergency meeting in the Situation Room. Present at this meeting were the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the FBI, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of State, the Vice President, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Security Advisor, and all the other members of the Cabinet, except for the Secretary of Defense, who was on a vacation to Greece.
“Anyone want coffee?” asked the Vice President. After filling their cups, they began the meeting.
“It is almost certain Jordan has been k
idnapped,” stated the Secretary of War, Trent Baker. “Therefore, we must find out who his kidnappers are and where they are going.”
“That is easier said than done,” declared the Vice President, Jackson Barkley.
“We must find the helicopter the kidnappers used. This shouldn’t be hard as long as the government of the Bahamas allows us to investigate on the islands,” reasoned Frank Jones, Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
“Over to you, Bill,” said the President, Timothy Michaels, who had just downed his second cup of coffee.
“I’m sure they will allow us to investigate this case as we are on good terms with them.” Bill Gray, the Secretary of State, stood. “I will get on the phone with them.” With that he left the room.
After he left, Frank Jones said, “Although the evidence points to a Middle Eastern country or terrorist group, we still don’t know who kidnapped Jordan Michaels or why.”
FBI director Daniel Smart asked, “Isn’t it obvious? They will call with a ransom call. They could want money, arms, or prisoners released.”
“That doesn’t explain who did it,” Joseph Martins, the National Security Advisor, stated. “Was it a country or terrorist group? We have no evidence of who it was.”
At that moment, Bill Gray walked back into the room. “The Bahamas have granted permission to investigate on the islands and have promised to help in any way they can.”
As they were discussing plans to investigate the crime, the President interrupted, “It has come to my attention that two news stations have already begun broadcasting the story. Turn on that monitor next to you, Jackson.”
“Breaking News,” it said at the bottom of the screen.
They tuned in and heard the reporter say, “At approximately 3:12 this morning, between six and ten men landed on a cruise ship in the Bahamas. They went into the room of the President’s son, Jordan Michaels, and killed the Secret Service agent in the room with him. Jordan is missing, assumed dead or kidnapped. They threw a grenade into the hallway outside of Jordan’s room, starting a fire which has been contained, and killed another agent. Two passengers are dead, one is critically injured, and one is slightly injured. Thomas Stuart of the Secret Service has taken over the investigation in the Bahamas, and—.”
The President turned off the monitor and exclaimed, “How did the media discover this already? I mean, it’s only 4:08 a.m.”
“There were four reporters on board, one of whom had interviewed Jordan. When they heard gunfire, and soon saw the boat swarming with agents, it wasn’t too difficult to find the story,” said Bill.
“We need to find that helicopter. Frank, Joe, Dan, what have you come up with?” asked Timothy Michaels.
Daniel looked at Frank and began. “Arthur MacDonald saw the license number before it got too high to see. It was a nice-sized craft, able to fit up to eight men. With these facts, we asked the nearest airport if that helicopter had taken off from there. They said it was a group of scientists observing water currents near Andros Island in the Bahamas and their effect on the sea life there.”
“They were flying between Andros Island and New Providence, the island which contains Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, so they weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary until the crime,” said Daniel.
“We have a satellite photo of the helicopter flying toward Exuma Sound in the Bahamas. As there are many deserted islands there, it would seem they were heading toward one. There they could have a cabin and keep Jordan until they were prepared to move to a different country. They could stay there until the heat was off. Or they may keep him there for several weeks if they think this island won’t be found,” said Frank.
“We are scanning the area with a satellite,” Joe said. “We should soon find this helicopter.” As he spoke a message came on the screen. Joe exclaimed, “We’ve found them! They just landed on a deserted island in the middle of Exuma Sound. John, here are the coordinates. Why don’t you have, say, twenty men flown onto this island to recover the President’s son? Just be very careful none of them see you, or it may be curtains for Jordan.”
Frank spoke up. “I’d like three of my agents to accompany them.”
“I’ll get right on it.” John Blackright, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stood up, shuffling his papers together.
Timothy stood as well. “You’d better find him and bring him back.”
They broke up the meeting as the President finished his fourth cup of coffee. He picked up his cup and walked out of the room.
҉
Oliver Haselry, a CIA agent, was thirty years old, and had served in the Central Intelligence Agency for only five years, but in that time had distinguished himself greatly from his peers. He had organized the capture of 11 high-value targets and had found evidence to prevent a terrorist attack in New York City.
Oliver was one of three CIA agents chosen to accompany the Navy SEALs on the mission to rescue Jordan Michaels. The other two agents were Malachi Jefferson and Levi Richardson. These three were all involved in this mission for their incredible service in the five years they had been in the CIA.
They were conveyed to a ship in Exuma Sound where they were picked up by two large transport helicopters and transported to an isle near the island where the kidnappers were holding Jordan. They had several canoes hidden on the side of the isle opposite the island where they assumed Jordan was being held. They left that island and paddled next to a part of the targeted islet where there was cover. They landed the canoes in a shallow bay on the west side of the island. They pulled the canoes ashore and hid them in some bushes.
They crawled through the bushes until they caught sight of a cabin. The commander of the group halted everyone, then motioned for ten of the soldiers to follow him as he made his way to the other side of the cabin. A sergeant took four more of the soldiers with him and they went the other way around the cabin. The rest of the soldiers and agents stayed where they were and spread out a little.
As Oliver waited, he heard a rustling behind him. He turned his head and saw nothing. He heard the rustling again and turned around. The last thing he saw was the muzzle of a gun before he blacked out.
҉
When Oliver woke up, he was on a bed in a small room. He turned his head and saw Levi and Malachi sitting on their beds. He turned his head the other way and saw three Navy SEALs.
One of them said, “How are you feeling, Oliver?”
“I feel like I got hit in the head with a sledge hammer,” Oliver moaned. “What happened? Where are the rest of the soldiers?”
“It was terrible,” said the Navy SEAL. “They were waiting for us. Somehow they knew we were coming. They waited for us to go past them. Then one of them hit you on the head with his gun. Levi heard one of them coming and fired his gun at him. This alerted the rest of the men to the ambush, but they still had the better position and killed everyone but the six of us. As we were escaping, Levi saw you move, so we carried you to the canoes. We escaped to the canoes and made it back to the helicopters, which took us to this carrier we are on.”
“They must have seen or heard the helicopters, or saw our canoes,” said Oliver.
Levi walked over to his bed. “How did they have everything prepared so quickly?”
“They must have good leaders,” said Malachi, “or there could be a spy in our group.”
One of the Navy SEALs shook his head. “There was no chance for a spy to tell them, so we can rule that out.”
“Unless there’s a spy in the President’s inner office,” said Oliver.
Chapter 3
The President called another meeting. After he downed a cup of coffee, he asked, “How many casualties were there?”
John answered, “Out of twenty Navy SEALs, only three returned. However, all three of the CIA agents survived.”
“Bill, please send their wives and children the President’s condolences,” said the President.
“I’ll get right on it,” said Bill.
“It took off shortly after the survivors escaped the island. We think they attempted to find our men but searched the wrong way. After about twenty minutes, they flew toward Nassau. We are tracking them. When they land, we’ll arrest them,” said Frank.
“But, we don’t think they will transport Jordan in the helicopter,” said Daniel, “as they may have realized the helicopter will be recognized. They most likely transported him out by fishing boat. By now the boat has been lost in fishing traffic in Exuma Sound.”
The President interjected, “An icon just showed up on this screen saying I am receiving a call. Do we have a warrant to trace any calls from my son’s kidnappers?”
“Yes, sir,” affirmed Frank.
“Then are you prepared to have it traced?”
Frank answered, “Just a minute. Yes, we’re ready to roll.”
The President pressed a button. The caller said, “We have your son.”
The President answered, “Who is this?”
The man on the other end of the line answered, “That is not important. What’s important is that we will kill him unless you pay the ransom of a nuclear missile. I will call back with instructions in thirty minutes.” Then he hung up.
“Have you traced the call yet?” asked Timothy anxiously.
“Yes. But it doesn’t help us.” Frank hung his head. “It was traced to a hotel in Miami. It was probably a disposable phone. We can station plainclothesmen there before the next call, and we can ask the clerk who borrowed the phone, but that’s about all we can do.”
“Well, do it and see if anything comes up.” Timothy gulped his second cup of coffee.
҉
Thirty minutes later, a call came through. Timothy answered it without hesitation. “Hello.”
“Write down these instructions: You will deliver the missile to a warehouse at 124 15th street SE, New York City, tonight at midnight. No police, agents, or military personnel except for those who deliver the missile, or you will never see your son again.” He hung up.
The Bahamas Caper