Seeking Safety (17 page)

His heart pounding, Barry suggests, "Scoot,
send someone up to the original compound. They could have
reconstituted it thinking no one would look in that area."

"Good idea Farrie. I knew we kept you around
for something besides those bedroom eyes of yours," Scoot
laughs.

"I'm going to move the helicopter closer in
case we need it. Bud and I'll take it to Boise and wait for
instructions. My gut is telling me they are somewhere in the same
general area as the original compound," adds Barry.

"I'll notify the ATF to make arrangements for
your arrival. Keep the faith Farrie, we're all with you on this,"
encourages Scoot.

As soon as Barry hangs up with Scoot, he
dials Jacob Murray's phone and explains the situation to him. Bob
Kenner agrees to come and stay at Barry's ranch with Virginia.

******

It's been over twenty four hours since we
were kidnapped. I wonder why these men haven't forced Eric to sign
the deed yet. They must be waiting on someone else to arrive. I
pray whoever it is, never makes it.

I remember Eric and the other little boys at
the compound talking about playing in this mine. It must not be too
far from the compound. I hope Barry, Scoot, and the guys will be
able to find us, that is, if they are even looking.
Oh God, please help us!

******

Eric is calmly waiting for his heroes to
arrive. He knows they are coming. He remembers telling Barry about
this old mine and he knows Barry won't forget. He wishes his Mom
and his grandparents would believe him. He has tried to tell them
they are coming but they don't act like they believe him. Those
other two guys don't believe him either. They keep talking about
trying to escape. They must be stupid to want to take on five armed
men. Eric doesn't believe they will be able to escape. He is sure
the armed men will kill them. It is better for them to be
patient.

Mark Brentwood is hoping those two scraggly
looking guys know what they are doing. They are going to try to
escape. He just hopes they don't cause the armed men to kill all of
them. The more he thinks about it, and now that he has seen the
armed men for himself, the more he agrees with Melanie. They need
to be patient and concentrate on surviving. These men are very
dangerous. He was shocked when he witnessed one of them kicking one
of the scraggly guys in the head for no reason.

Eric seems very confident that Barry and his
friends will come. He prays Eric is right.

******

When Bud and Barry arrive in Idaho they are
met by the four members of the Drake Security team as well as a
group of ATF and FBI agents. During the briefing held in one of the
vacant hangars at the airport, Barry learns that the FBI believes a
splinter group of the original militia is the perpetrator this
time. Aerial reconnaissance of the original compound site indicated
recent activity. They weren't able to see any buildings but they
did see tire tracks and spotted two vehicles hidden in the woods. A
group of agents are in position to enter the compound when
ordered.

Since leaving Wyoming, Barry has been going
over every conversation he had with Eric to see if he can remember
some clue as to where they might be. He remembers Eric talking
about an old mine shaft about a quarter of a mile from the main
compound where the boys used to play. He tells the group about it.
Looking over the topography maps they pinpoint the mine entrance
and agree it's a logical place to be holding hostages. The members
of the Drake Security team leave for reconnaissance to scope out
the immediate area around the mine.

Several hours later, a radioed report from
the reconnaissance team verifies the mine as the likely location of
the hostages. Several men have been seen coming and going from that
location. Not knowing the state of the four hostages, the decision
is made to observe the area for a period of hours, maybe days to
determine the exact number of group members and their routines.

The wait is killing Barry. Not knowing the
fate of Melanie and Eric is sheer torture. At least he is here in
Idaho helping to make plans for their rescue and not still back at
the ranch pacing the floors alone. Of course, he has to be very
careful to stay out of sight. He can't even step outside of the
hanger. If anyone spots him, the Paparazzi will be crawling all
over the place. He needs to come up with some kind of disguise.
He'll contact the makeup guys when he gets back to the ranch. They
should be able to furnish him with something he can use to venture
out from time to time as long as he doesn't over do it.

On the third morning, three of the group's
members leave the area of the mine. They are followed by the FBI to
a restaurant in a nearby town where they meet with a well dressed
man who arrived in a chauffeur driven limousine.

Benjamin Roland is very excited. He instructs
the limousine driver to park at the back of the parking lot at the
restaurant where he is to meet the militia members and pick up the
boy. Where are the idiots? They should have been here by now.

Suddenly the limousine door opens and a man,
semi-automatic weapon drawn slides inside. He says, "Mr. Roland I
presume?"

Benjamin Roland calmly looks at the man and
then says, "Yes, where is the boy?"

"You ain't getting the boy until you bring us
the money and the deed to the property, signed sealed and
delivered.

"I can't give you a deed until the boy signs
it. Bring him here tomorrow and I'll have it ready for him to sign.
I'll give you the money when I get the boy. You can do whatever you
want to with the others, except for the mother. She has to die and
I want proof, a picture at least."

When the three militia members leave the
meeting they are confronted by the ATF a few miles away. All are
killed in the ensuing gun battle.

The FBI stops and arrests the man in the
limousine. He is a lawyer from Seattle by the name of Benjamin
Roland. Even though Mr. Roland is uncooperative, the FBI secures a
search warrant for his office in Seattle and finds duplicate copies
of an unsigned deed for the property in Idaho as well as adoption
papers for Eric Calloway giving Benjamin Roland complete control
over the Calloway fortune. That should be enough to send him to
prison for years.

Around five that same afternoon another
militia member steps outside the mine to smoke and is taken out by
the FBI. When another of the remaining members comes looking for
his companion he too is captured. Uncertain whether or not any more
of the militia members are inside the mine, the members of the
Drake Security team will enter the mine first.

Scoot and his team don their night vision
goggles and slowly make their way down the tunnel. Watching
carefully for booby traps, they find three very crude ones and
disarm them before advancing deeper into the mine. Several hundred
yards further down the shaft, they can see the hostages. The area
is lit by one kerosene lantern. They see Mark and Patricia
Brentwood, Melanie, and Eric all huddled together along the wall.
Two other scruffy looking men are sitting along the opposite wall.
Unsure if they are hostages or more members of the militia they
continue to advance slowly and silently toward them in the
dark.

They hear one of the scruffy looking men say,
"I wonder what happened to Miller and Smith. They've been gone a
long time."

The other one answers "We can only hope they
met their maker. I'm ready for this to be over."

"Have you managed to saw through those ropes
yet?" asks the first man.

"Not yet, but I am making progress. Be
patient," says the other.

From the dark of the tunnel Scoot calls,
"Don't anybody move or you're dead!"

All six sets of eyes look toward the dark
tunnel. Eric, his heart pounding with excitement, says, "Scoot,
we're here! I knew you would come!"

Relief pours through all of the members of
the Brentwood family.

Scoot asks, "Eric, who are the two men
sitting across from you?"

Eric glances at the two scraggly men.
"They're prisoners too. Help us Scoot!" begs Eric.

Scoot advances into the area where all the
hostages are sitting and unties the four Brentwoods. He notices
they are shaking from the cold. The other three members of the
Drake Security team remain in the deep shadows weapons trained on
the two scraggly men. Scoot then goes to the other side of the
tunnel and looks at the two unknown men. "What are your names?"

"I'm Harold Winters and this is Mason Diggs"
answers the first scruffy man.

Scoot recognizes the names as those of the
two undercover agents. He bends down and cuts the ropes binding
their hands and feet then says, "I'm Scoot. Everybody make your way
outside. I'm right behind you."

As soon as everyone is outside, Scoot
furnishes all of the former hostages with warm blankets to wrap up
in and MREs, Meals Ready to Eat, to satisfy their hunger. The ATF
and FBI agents advance into the area and begin asking questions
about their time in captivity.

Winters and Diggs are able to verify that the
militia members were working for Benjamin Roland to kidnap the boy,
kill Melanie and her parents, and give the boy to Roland to be
adopted. The militia members were to receive the deed to the
compound property free and clear and a significant amount of cash
for their part in the kidnapping. The two undercover militia
members are not aware of the fortune that belongs to Eric Calloway
and indicate they didn't believe the other militia members were
aware of it either. The information provided by them will send
Benjamin Roland to prison for many, many years.

As soon as word is received of the all clear
signal, Barry and Bud take the helicopter to the compound landing
in a clearing only a few hundred yards from the mine entrance. When
Barry approaches the area he sees Melanie sitting on a rock wrapped
in a blanket just outside the mine, Eric is standing beside her.
Her parents are sitting a few feet away along with two scruffy
looking men he doesn't recognize. Relief floods through him. Thank
God! Melanie and Eric are safe!

Mark Brentwood sees Barry approaching and
nudges Patricia to watch as he approaches Melanie.

As Barry nears her, he softly calls,
"Melanie?"

When I see Barry, I jump to my feet and fling
myself into his open arms sobbing in relief. Barry enfolds me in
his warm embrace and then holds out one arm to include Eric. The
three of us just stand in the clearing outside of the mine holding
each other for a long time.

Observing from their position just outside of
the mine, Patricia squeezes Mark's hand and smiles up at him as
they are both pleased that Barry has come to collect their
daughter. Patricia had told Mark about the conversation she had
overheard the day they left the ranch. During the two months
Melanie and Eric stayed at their Seattle home, Eric hasn't stopped
talking about Barry and Melanie seemed sad all the time. When they
questioned her she refused to talk to them but they were pretty
sure their daughter was missing the good looking movie star.

I am so relieved to be free. I was so afraid
for Eric and I prayed we would survive until Barry could find us. I
knew he would come if he knew we were in trouble. I never had a
moment's doubt about that because he is just that kind of man. It
was during the long nights in captivity that I realized I am in
love with him. I have been trying to hide from the truth ever since
the day we left his ranch but I'm not going to hide anymore. I am
going to rejoice in my love for him. I just hope that someday he
will love me in return.

Barry is so relieved and so happy to be
holding Melanie again. He hopes she is as happy to see him as her
initial reaction indicated. He wants to take her back to the ranch
and never let her out of his sight ever again. Of course, he knows
that is impossible but he can dream can't he? He is so in love with
her he can't even see straight. He realized that fact the day he
watched them drive away from the ranch. His problem is convincing
her she is worthy of his love.

Scoot ushers everybody back to the helicopter
which flies them back to Boise where Barry's jet picks them up for
the flight to the ranch in Wyoming. Pinky and Goose will fly the
helicopter back to the ranch the following day. It is late when
they arrive back at the ranch so everyone heads straight to the
showers and then to bed.

Barry is too restless to sleep and so he
heads to his favorite place, the wooden swing on the patio. When he
walks outside he immediately sees Melanie sitting on the swing and
his heart swells with love. A warm smile slides across his
face.

I hear him approaching and my heart speeds
up. I knew he would come ... all I had to do was be patient and
wait. When he sits down beside me on the swing, I turn to him,

"I knew you would come, I was waiting for
you." My heart is pounding and I am very nervous.
Please God, don't let him turn from me because I so stupidly
left him before.

Placing his arm across the back of the swing
Barry reaches up and brushes a loose curl back from my face, "I've
missed you Melanie. When I learned you had been kidnapped I was so
frightened that I would never see you again."

"I've missed you too. Please, kiss me
Barry."

Slowly raising his hand to my cheek, he
lowers his head and lightly brushes his lips across mine. The
expected zing crashes through our bodies. I sigh and he quickly
increases the pressure of his lips demanding entrance to the
sweetness of my mouth. When I open my lips to his invasion and he
plunges his tongue past the barrier of my teeth, a groan of
satisfaction rumbles up from deep within his chest. He delves into
every corner drinking deeply. Plunging his tongue in and out
mimicking what he really wants to do. How did he survive without
her kisses? Pulling her closer he whispers, "Please don't ever
leave me again."