18. River

18

River

We scoped out the compound's entrances and exits and found three possible entry points. As we moved, I noticed something and signaled the others to stop. A man appeared, walking out of a door hidden in the wall—one we hadn’t seen before. He looked around, then took off running, passing right by us. No one moved or even breathed until he disappeared, and then we quietly returned to camp.

We stayed quiet until we got inside the building, when I turned to Cyclone. “Who the hell was that? He ran right past us and didn’t see any of us. How many little jungle jackets can we make before nightfall?”

“Enough,” Cyclone replied, calm as ever. I always wondered how his Delta Force name stuck. Beau Allan—Cyclone—was deadly to his enemies, but with his family, he was a different man.

“Good. Tomorrow night, we’re getting those kids out. We’ll go for the older girls, too. Everyone’s going, so make as many jungle jackets as possible. We’ll all help,” I said.

I couldn’t shake that damn dream. It constantly nagged at my brain. I needed to get back home as soon as possible. As we walked out of the jungle, we picked up branches and leaves, anything that could help with our camouflage.

“We need to find a way to let the kids know we’re coming. Once we get them out, we’re blowing that compound, Omari, and as many of his men as we can,” I said as we slowly made our way back.

As soon as we returned to our room, I grabbed my phone and tried calling Kat, but there was no answer. So I called Gage.

“Hello, I’m surprised you would call me at this time of day.”

“It’s daytime where you are. Why would you be surprised?”

“Isn’t it the middle of the night there?” I heard him chuckle.

“I tried calling Kat. Is she in the office?”

“No, she is packing up her house. I’m taking care of everything here.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. I’ll talk to all of you later,” I said and hung up.

Two seconds later, he called back. “Why did you say that was a relief?”

“It was nothing. I had a bad dream,” I said before hanging up again. Okay, now I can focus and push that damn dream out of my head.

We were making more jungle jackets when the door opened. We all looked up. A man stood there, dressed like the Nigerian gang members.

“Look, I know you guys are here to save the women and children, but I don’t want you fucking with my reason for being here. ”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Navy SEAL, Rush Turner,” he replied, shaking our hands. “These people have my friend's kid in that damn compound. I promised to get him out, and I’m doing it—along with the others.”

“That’s a big promise, you made,” I said.

“I didn’t think, I just said I’d do it,” Rush admitted/.

“Okay, do the kids know you are going to rescue them? How many children are there?” I asked.

“There are twenty-three kids and eight older girls in another building. I tried warning them that I’d be back, but Joey said one of the girls told the soldiers everything. I don’t know who the informant is,” Rush said, taking off his cloth headcover and running a hand through his blond hair.

“We’ll have to find out who she is. I wonder where the others are. I heard they had kidnapped hundreds of women and children,” I asked.

“They’re being held nearby, on the seller’s block. Twice a week, they sell about twenty of them. The men inspect them first, degrading them as much as possible. It’s disgusting—they force the women to walk up there naked. They make them walk up there naked. It’s horrible.”

“We need to rescue the kids at the compound and the others near here. If we don't, they’ll retaliate by going straight to the second group. We’ll need a couple of large covered trucks, and we’ll blow the compound up as soon as the kids are out,” Cyclone said.

“I agree,” Rush nodded. “We need to do it at the same time. I’ll go to the compound and get Joey—that’s a promise I’m keeping.”

“Do we have explosives ready?” I asked.

“Yes, everything we need is here,” Cyclone confirmed. “ Let’s meet with the Rangers in the morning and finalize the plan.”

“That’s a good idea. They’ll come after us, so we need to get the hell out of here as soon as we’re done,” I said. “They’ll know it was us, and if Omari’s not dead, he’ll keep this going. We have to make sure he’s gone before we leave.”

The next night, we had a plan. The Rangers went to the nearby buildings to rescue those women and children while we headed for the compound. Cyclone had set up the explosives, rigged to go off with the push of a button.

It felt like the people knew something was about to happen. The clapboard houses were empty, and no one was around. They all disappeared for the day and into the night. We headed to the compound carrying our little jungle jackets for the children. I prayed that everything worked out how we wanted it to.

As we neared the compound, something felt off. The place was wide open, completely different from the other night. Men were laughing, and we spotted Rush, the Navy SEAL, walking past us, disguised like the others. He stepped through the open gate.

“Okay, are we ready? When we see Rush's signal, we’ll get the kids,” I said.

We waited for about thirty minutes before we saw the signal. The kids were coming through a side door. We hurried over and put on their jungle jackets.

“Hold hands,” I instructed the children. I turned to Rush, who was holding a small boys hand. “Did you see any of the girls?”

“Yes, they are coming. They said men were coming for them, Rush said.

“Take the kids to safety. Gideon and I will get the girls,” I said, walking close to the wall. “Cyclone, push the button ten minutes even if we’re not back.”

Gideon and I moved close to the wall, slipping inside the compound. I spotted the girls, and one of them spotted us. They were all crying, holding hands. Suddenly, an explosion went off, and they ran toward us. We barely made it out before the compound blew up.

We ran as fast as we could, the kids in front of us, Cyclone leading the way. It was a long trek, and the little ones were struggling. Some of the guys picked up the smallest children, and a few girls helped carry others. Three miles was a lot for undernourished kids.