Third Eye Watch (A Serena Shaw Mystery) (23 page)

She glanced down; she was dressed in blue jeans and a tank top. She got up slowly thinking, margarita-morning-afters didn’t allow for “hurrying.”

She pulled on a pair of orange socks, and grabbed a cardigan, just in case.  His eyebrows arched as he saw the neon orange and black sneakers she pulled out of the closet. Serena arched hers back, questioningly. He pointed to the door.

MIDNIGHT

He glanced at Serena as he drove. She sat with her legs crossed Indian style on the seat, taking a short nap. He marveled that she wasn’t pestering him about their destination. His sister would have bombarded him with fifty questions.

“Wake up, sleepy head,” he said, turning into a long driveway.

“I’m just resting my eyes,” she quipped, opening her eyes and looking outside.

The long paved driveway was lined with apple trees on both sides, with ripe fruit lying around the thick tree trunks. He stopped at the end of the road where a large sign proclaimed “Silver Horse Farm”, in large black lettering.

A few steps away stood a white, one-story ranch-styled home, where two people were standing.

“Hello Sam,” said the woman, coming forward and kissing him on both his cheeks.

Sam had always thought Ms. Alison must have broken many hearts in youth. Now, in her mid-sixties, she looked elegant in blue jeans and a white cardigan, her pale blond hair woven into a French braid.

“Hello, Ms. Alison.” He hugged her with affection.

“It’s been a while son.” The man said as he came forward and shook hands, then clapped him on the back.

“This is Serena.” He slipped one arm around her waist and drew her close, introducing her to the couple.

“Serena, These are my friends, Ms. Alison, and Mr. Tom.”

“So nice to meet you,” Ms. Alison said, hugging Serena warmly. Mr. Tom shook hands with Serena, a smile on his lined face as he welcomed her.

“How is Midnight?” Sam asked Ms. Alison.

“See for yourself.” Mr. Tom pointed him to the barn.

“He has missed you too.” Ms. Alison handed him a clear bag filled with apples and sugar lumps.

Sam held Serena’s hand, as they entered the spacious and clean barn, sunlight streaming into it from dozens of overhead skylights. It smelled of hay and horses, and something not unpleasant. They passed five stalls and stopped in front of the sixth.

The horse was tall, and pitch black in color and when he saw Sam, he raised his head and whinnied.

“Hello, Midnight. I missed you, boy!” Sam stepped into the stall and hugged the horse.

The horse nuzzled him.

“This is Serena, isn’t she beautiful?” he said to the horse, pulling Serena forward.

The horse looked at her with soft brown eyes.

Sam opened the bag of apples and handed one to Serena.

“Offer it to him,” he whispered.

She held out her hand with the apple, looking unsure and a bit nervous. She jumped as the horse nuzzled her hand then took a small bite of the apple, then another, and the apple had been devoured with the third bite. The horse nudged her hand again, looking for more.

“Midnight loves apples, but you’ll make a friend for life if you offer him this.” he said, handing Serena a handful of small sugar cubes.

“Ummm, you want me to feed him this?” She asked him with anxious eyes. “Trust me, honey; he won’t bite,” Sam reassured her, holding her hand out and offering the sugar to Midnight, who licked the sugar off her fingers, his tongue tickling her palm and making her laugh.

“So, want to take a spin on Midnight?”

“Spin, as in ride Midnight? Uh….I’ve never ridden a horse, and I’m not sure…..I’ll wait here, if you want to go for a ride”, she offered, stumbling over her words in anxiety.

“Not without you, love.”

“But I’ve never, I don’t know that I….”. Sam had never seen her nervous before.

“Will you trust me?” He asked her.

She nodded.

“I won’t let you fall,” he promised.

He saddled Midnight, led him out of the barn, and swinging his longs legs; he climbed atop the horse. He held out his hand for Serena, and she hesitated; then let him pull her up onto the saddle and in front of him.

“Swing your legs over so you don’t fall,” he told her and held her while she did that.

“Now lean back against me, and relax. I promise, you’re safe”, he said as Midnight began moving forward.

He maintained a slow pace, keeping them close to the fence line. Then he gently veered onto an unpaved path, holding Serena close to his chest. He could feel her start to relax.

“Are you ok?” Sam whispered in her ear.

She turned her head and looked at him. Her breath mingled with his. He bent his mouth and kissed her. Her hands gripped his shirt tightly.

They rode for a half hour, and then Sam turned Midnight back towards the barn. He jumped off and held out his arms for her. She hesitated, then closed her eyes and slid from the saddle and into them, where he held her tightly for a brief second, before setting her down.

He led Midnight back into the barn, and rubbed him down; then he gave the horse some water and walked over to a bag sitting on a side table.

“Oats,” he explained to Serena, pouring some into a bucket.

He gave Midnight one more hug before taking Serena’s arm and walking outside where they said goodbye to the older couple and got into the car.

“Did you enjoy the experience?” He asked Serena as he drove.

“Yes, But I was a bit scared at first.” She told him, as she snuggled against him.

He told her about the first time he had seen Midnight.

“We found Midnight along with three other horses, badly malnourished and abused during a raid at a farm in the UP.

“The FBI knew about the treatment facilities offered by Ms. Alison. She took all the horses in, proposing to rehabilitate them. The FBI never took the horses back.”
“Audrey and I went back a few times to see how the horses were doing and I always visited Midnight in his stall; he was so beautiful. During one visit, Ms. Alison asked me if I wanted to take Midnight for a ride and I told her I didn’t know how. The next day, my lessons began. Mr. Tom taught me the basics, and a few weeks later I took Midnight for a solo ride.”

“I was thoroughly petrified, but Midnight knew me and maybe that’s why he didn’t throw me off. He had to have known that I was shaking in my shoes”, he laughed.

“I offered to buy midnight, and pay for his boarding and care, but they won’t accept my money,” he finished.

“They love you like a son,” she looked up at him and told him.

He glanced at her, surprised because she had on her glasses.

“The glasses are not 100% foolproof. I try to avoid making eye-contact but how can I avoid it entirely?” She said, sighing in frustration.

He nodded. He could relate.

THE TEAM

The owner of Denny’s was an Iraqi-American and knew Audrey and Sam who stopped there for coffee and pie frequently. When the restaurant wasn’t very busy, the owner joined them, talking about his wife and kids, and his hometown.

“I tell my friends, I have inside connection with FBI,” he had told them once, laughing heartily.

The team arrived at Denny’s within seconds of each other.  The owner gave them a large table in the back corner and closed the section, telling them that he would serve them; then he left to bring their coffee and pie.

Sam and Audrey went over Operation Third Eye Watch with the six new members. Carter was there too, but he sat quietly. When they were done sharing the details about the operation, the six new members asked questions.

The owner dropped off a fresh pot of coffee for them, allowing them privacy.

“So, are you all in or out”? Audrey asked after giving everyone a few minutes to absorb the information they had shared. No small talk for her, Sam thought, smiling at his partner’s no-nonsense attitude.

Vince Sanders responded first with a gruff “Hell yeah, I’m in.”

The rest of the five members also said yes and Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Operation Third Eye Watch was now fully staffed.

“Go home and rest up. And tell your families that after tomorrow, they won’t be seeing you for a few days”, he joked.

Everyone started talking at once.

“You dare to say that because you are single,” said Brian Stucky, whose wife of twenty-five years, was a police sergeant in the Royal Oak, a nearby precinct pointing his finger in Sam’s face.

“Yeah, why don’t you come and tell my wife that, pretty boy?” this from Cal Decker, who had gotten married only six months ago.

“So, I can send my kids to Yo mamma’s?” asked Vince Sanders in a calm voice. He had four boys under the ages of five, and his wife was a high-school math teacher in Canton, a suburb of Detroit.

“Ok, Ok, I’m sorry,” Sam, said laughingly, raising his hands in surrender.

After the new six recruits had departed, Sam, Carter, and Audrey sat around discussing the operation and congratulating themselves on assembling a kick-ass team.

“That son of a bitch won’t know what hit him,” Audrey said through gritted teeth, remembering Sasha’s sex-trafficking activities in the United States.

Carter nodded, “We’ll get him this time.”

“We will get him this time.” Sam agreed, granite in his voice.

THE PLAYBOOK

They met again the next day at Audrey’s home, which would be their command center. Sam and Audrey had used it for numerous missions over the years, and today it would see another mission come to life.

The team enjoyed breakfast on the patio before trooping inside to begin.

Sam opened the playbook that he and Audrey had created over the years. It contained ideas, tactics, and best practices, things that had worked and things that had not worked so well during past cases.

They discussed the goals, and created a high-level game plan, breaking down each of the major activities into micro level tasks. Next came the lists; Audrey loved making lists and had lists for everything. So now they created lists for the mission; guns, equipment, body gear, and so on. They contained tactical and long-term action items, and assigned people to each.

Time was a precious limited commodity. They wanted to get Sasha before he disappeared again. So they worked around the clock, taking short breaks, and within two days, they had a tentative game plan that they had gone over twice already. Audrey had nicknamed it SSP, a Simple Stupid Plan, which had only three components; Surveillance, Raid, and Rescue.

After the others had departed, Carter helped Audrey cleanup, and Sam took out the trash. Audrey began loading the dishwasher and Carter leaned against the counter watching her. Sam wondered if he looked just as smitten when he looked at Serena.

“Think we’re ready?” Sam asked, stretching to loosen his arm and neck muscles.

“Yes. Yes, we are.” Audrey affirmed confidently.

“We’ll do this quick and dirty, and nab the bastard without wasting too many taxpayer dollars,” Carter said, and Sam nodded. Their plan was to roll within twenty-hours, and be done within no more than a week, worst case ten days. It may not be the shortest operation in the history of the FBI, but it would be the most efficient, thought Sam, his mind running over all the things he had to do before the mission began. Once they went live, they’d not have a life for a while.