Tess Awakening (35 page)

Upon boarding their Mangusta chopper, Tess
insisted that this time, she wanted to be the weapons officer and
asked Carmen to pilot the aircraft. Usually, it was the other way
around. Jake noticed the two women strap themselves in their seats,
Tess not in the usual position. He ran to the chopper and climbed
to the open cockpit. “Tess, what are you doing? Why aren’t you in
the pilot’s seat?

“I am working the guns because I want the
satisfaction of shooting down the bastard with my own two
hands.”

“Tess, do I need to remind you that we need
to take Amir alive? If he is killed, we will lose the trail to find
the baby.”

“Sad, but true; I know that. I have studied
the Russian rig, and I know precisely where to shoot so there will
not be catastrophic damage.”

Jake was not convinced. He still feared that
Tess would succumb to her impetuous behavior. He just hoped that
Tess would keep her focus on the objective: capture Amir. He
reluctantly walked away from the Mangusta and waved.

Carmen started the engines and Tess checked
the weapons systems. They waited until Nizar phoned to Jake to
advise him that Amir was in the air.

The team had armed their Mangusta chopper
with 50-calibre machine guns and two missiles. Carmen lifted off
and proceeded to the coordinates where they would intercept Amir’s
aircraft. They spotted it and closed the gap rapidly. Carmen
positioned herself behind the Russian craft, giving Tess a clear
view so she could use her weapons.

The pilot of the Iraqi chopper saw that
something was amiss, and maneuvered to avoid the pursuing craft.
Tess started firing the machine gun, aiming it at the helicopter’s
engines. Amir’s pilot initiated evasive maneuvers and deployed
countermeasures thinking that the pursuer was going to use missiles
next.

Tess had no intention of using missiles. As
much as she wanted to kill Amir, she knew that she needed him
alive. The faster Mangusta closed in again on the Hind, enabling
her to blast the cowl, finally generating some smoke from the
damaged engine. The chopper was wounded, and the Iraqi pilot had no
choice but to land in an open area. The Iraqi security detail
spilled outside the craft and started to shoot at the Mangusta.
Carmen deftly maneuvered to avoid the bullets sprayed at them. She
circled the area, and Tess unleashed a devastating spray of bullets
around the soldiers, clearly signaling that their resistance would
bring death. The soldiers raised their arms while the Mangusta
continued to hover above. Tess did not see Amir, who was still in
the chopper.

Having seen the attacking Mangusta, Amir
concluded that insurgents were not likely to steal an attack
helicopter, particularly a machine that was not in the army’s
inventory yet. He grabbed a machine gun from the rack, fully
planning to use it against the mysterious attackers.

Carmen kept the Mangusta almost stationary,
the rotor blades stirring sand and dirt. Tess again established
that resistance was futile by firing a few rounds close to soldiers
that appeared to resist. The men soon concluded that they would
join their wounded comrades if they did not surrender. They raised
their hands in surrender.

Jake had followed the Mangusta with his own
team with an Iraqi Black Hawk that was officially undergoing
maintenance. He landed next to Amir’s crippled aircraft and his men
spilled out, quickly surrounding it. Jake ran to the smoking
chopper while his team tied up the Iraqi soldiers with plastic
straps. He approached the Hind’s boarding door. “General al-Saadi,
I am asking for your surrender. You will not be harmed if you come
out with your hands up in the air.”

Amir had been in countless scrapes before,
and he understood that this time he couldn’t shoot his way out of
it. He made for the exit and raised his hands in surrender. Two of
Jake’s men tied his hands behind him and hustled him into their
aircraft. They let go of the Iraqi soldiers after destroying the
Hind’s radios.

Jake immediately took off with the Black
Hawk. Carmen, still in the air, banked her chopper and followed
them to a secluded area into the desert. John Powers and Ken Ross
were waiting with a Hummer. The team threw Amir into the vehicle
and sped off to a ramshackle, isolated blockhouse that appeared
abandoned.

Carmen landed her craft and jumped off, with
Tess following. Nicola jumped on board, took the controls of the
Mangusta and lifted off to fly it away to Jordan. He would later
claim that the craft had been stolen by insurgents.

A second Humvee picked up Tess and
Carmen.

Jake’s men tied Amir to a chair. Tess walked
in. Amir was startled to see her approaching him with a look in her
face that was murderous at best. ‘This is going to be interesting,’
he thought.

“Hello Tess; did you miss me?” he said,
smiling.

Tess slapped him on his face.

“Tess, if you want to play rough, I will be
more than glad to accommodate you. Just take your clothes off.
Would you like me to spank you?”

This time Tess punched him. She was ready to
do it again when Jake grabbed her by the wrists. “Stop it. Don’t
forget what we are here to do.”

Amir was bleeding from a cut to his mouth,
but it didn’t affect his sarcasm.

“Ah! You must be Mister Tess. Glad to make
your acquaintance.”

Jake saw that Tess was about to lose it.
Before he could restrain her, she kicked Amir in the chest,
toppling him backward. The chair slid and came to a stop when Amir
hit his head against the wall. He passed out.”

Jake was furious. “Tess, get a hold of
yourself; if you kill him, we might as well go home because we will
never find the baby.” Jake hated having to repeat himself. He
forcefully dragged her out of the room.

Ken Ross checked Amir. He was still on his
back and he was bleeding from the top of the head. He pulled him
back up, still tied to the chair.

Tess was struggling to control her murderous
rage. She had an overwhelming need to break every bone in Amir’s
body, to hit him again and again until he turned to pulp. All of
her resentment about his past deceptions and the ultimate crime of
his seizing her son unleashed her pent-up fury. She was shaking
with rage. Carmen came over, grabbed her shoulder and persuaded her
to go to the other room.

Amir woke up, feeling like he had been hit by
a freight train. His vision was blurry and his head was hurting
like hell. Ken gave him some water.

Tess came back in. Amir could not resist.
“Tess, beloved, it seems that being with you often gives me a bad
headache. I would enjoy it even more though if you wore a proper
outfit. You know, black rubber suit, a mask, stilettos and a
whip.”

Tess still wanted to murder him, but Jake
gave her a hard look to discourage inflicting additional bodily
harm on Amir. She asked Jake to leave.

Now she went to business. “Amir, we can do
this the hard way or the easy way. I don’t have to elaborate, as
you know very well what I mean. I am going to ask you only one
question: where is my son?”

Amir affected a puzzled look. “Do you mean
our son Tess? Have you lost him? Do you need my help to find him?
My lawyers will take a dim view of your parenting skills; mothers
generally don’t misplace their children.”

Tess kicked his shins with her combat boot.
Amir winced, but wouldn’t let up. “That felt great Tess. Is it my
turn now? Can I spank your beautiful bottom? Please bare it for me.
I would enjoy that.”

“Amir, enough games; tell me where you are
keeping my son and I will let you go.”

“My love, I don’t want you to let me go. I
want to be with you. Tell me what happened, and together we will
look for our son. We will be a family again.”

“We were never a family, you bastard, stop
being delusional. Once again, where is little Morgan?”

“I never liked that name. He needs to be
renamed with a proper Turkish one worthy of his lineage. How about
Tahir? If you prefer, we can work together to choose another
name.”

Tess grabbed the small table in front of the
chair and hurled it at him. A corner hit him in the face, breaking
a cheekbone. Amir blanked for a minute.

“That was good, Tess. You are getting more
creative. You are turning me on, as usual.”

Carmen and Jake came back into the room and
tried to drag Tess out.

Jake was clearly concerned. “Tess, you are
getting nowhere. He is goading you. We need to get one of the guys
on him to make him talk. You are too tied up with him emotionally.
Your anger is not helping.”

“There is one more thing that I think will
work. Carmen. Give me a knife.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Watch me.” The rest of the team was lounging
around in the next room, with the door open, smoking and playing
cards. All noise stopped.

Tess went back in the room with Amir. Without
saying a word, she went to him and unzipped his pants.

“Tess, it looks like you need me to give you
pleasure. Please help yourself.”

Tess did not respond. She cut his pants at
the belt line, then his underwear.

“Anxious, aren’t we? We have no bed here, but
I am sure that we can improvise.”

“Ok, Amir, this is what’s going to happen.
You tell me where you are hiding my son, and I won’t cut your dick
and balls off.” She showed him the knife.

“My dear, why would you want to harm the
divine instrument of your delight? Do you remember our sublime
night of love? Wouldn’t you like to enjoy me again?”

Tess placed the point of her knife on one of
his testicles and stabbed. Amir screamed in pain. “You bitch!”

“You deceived me about Aara. You killed the
baby in my womb and you have stolen my son. The only reason you are
still alive is because I need you to tell me where my baby is. Do
you think for a minute that I don’t mean what I say?”

“You sound harsh, but you don’t have the guts
to kill me.”

“This is what’s going to happen, Amir. I will
grab your balls and cut them off. Then I will cut off you dick and
make you eat it the whole package.” She stabbed him again in the
groin and twisted the knife.”

Amir screamed one more time. “All right, I
will tell you.”

“Excellent Amir; now tell me, where is my
baby?”

He is in a house on the outskirts of
Istanbul. He is being taken care of by my new wife along with
Aara.”

“Congratulations on your marriage; many happy
returns. I would ask to see the pictures of the wedding, but as you
can see, I am in a hurry.

She kept the knife on his groin. “Now, you
wouldn’t be lying to me, would you?”

“I couldn’t lie to you. I must keep my
private parts in excellent shape so we can again make exquisite
love together.”

“You never quit, do you, Amir?”

“A man in love is never satisfied, my
beloved.”

Tess went back to the team’s room. Carmen and
the guys were somewhat disappointed that she had not cut Amir’s
manhood off.

Jake now instructed George Kimmel. “I want
you to sit down with Amir and get the info down. I want the address
of the place, whether there are guards and what the routine of the
people in the house is.”

George was an experienced interrogator and
went to Amir sporting a benign smile. “Nice to meet you, General; I
understand that you have some detailed information for us.”

Amir looked at him with hostility. “I changed
my mind, I will tell you nothing!”

George was not in a mood to negotiate. He
slid a knife from his belt and lightly ran his finger on the sharp
end if the blade. “Before we begin, General, I need you to know
that Tess has authorized me to cut off your privates if you don’t
cooperate.”

Amir looked at his blood soaked lap and knew
that he needed help. “Fine, I shall provide the information you
want, on the condition that I receive medical help for my
injuries.”

“Of course General; that will be no problem
once you tell me what I need to know.” George kept inspecting the
blade of his knife.

Shortly after, George joined the team in the
other room. “We have the info we need.”

Carmen asked, “What do we do with Amir
now?”

“We are going to take him to our CIA black
facility in Jordan,” said Jake. “I just want to make sure he is
telling us the truth. If we end up on a wild goose chase, I want
access to him again.”

“Too bad,” added Tess. “I was looking forward
to killing him.”

Chapter 58

The team landed in Istanbul and checked in
at the Armada Hotel. They met for dinner at the famous terrace. The
place boasted a spectacular 360-degree panoramic view of the Blue
Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Marmaris Sea, and the Asian side of the city
and to other areas of Sultanahmet. At night the major sites were
dramatically lit in the background, the lights twinkled from the
opposite shores, and the sound of the ships plying the waters
enhanced the atmosphere.

The whole team was there except for Carmen
and Nicola, who stayed behind to take Amir to a CIA facility in
Jordan. Jake and Tess, George Kimmel, Ken Ross, John Powers and
even Joe Slezak, everyone’s favorite geek, admired the view, but
none of them was in a party mood. They were conscious of the
importance of the mission to retrieve little Morgan. After dinner,
they retreated to a conference room and studied maps of the city.
Not only they had marked the location of Amir’s rental house in the
suburbs but had also planned escape routes. As usual, it was not
necessary to take notes. Jake had committed all the details to
memory.

The next day, they rented two vans and drove
to a dilapidated warehouse, where they were issued various weapons,
dark clothing, flak vests and nighttime goggles. General Turner had
been thorough and resourceful.