Starting Over Pt. 08 Ch. 02

"I see. Well, in that case, we'll just have to keep the drone off to the side where the beacon is so that it is traceable."

"Okay, that's a good one. Anything else?"

"Everything else I can think of is GPS based and I think they will probably put her in a cage and scan her for anything like that. These people appear to be very efficient, based on the information you sent us."

John rubbed his hand over his short bristly hair. "Okay, that will have to do. I'll discuss it with her."

All the way home, John thought about how this operation could work. They had to remove all GPS items, switch cars, and take the individuals somewhere private. They couldn't manage this without all that type of support. He had to figure this out.

---------------------- Saturday, August 27, 2022, John's apartment, Seattle, WA -----------

Maggie had come over to pick up some more things when Vanessa knocked. John had seen her approaching on camera, so he was there almost immediately to open the door.

"Hey, Vanessa."

"Hi, John." She leaned in and gave him a short hug. "I hope you have something interesting for me."

"I do." Maggie came around the corner at that moment, so John introduced them. "Oh, Vanessa, this is my wife, Maggie."

"Hi, Maggie." They shook hands.

"Hello."

John could see the two ladies evaluating each other. Maggie was in jeans and a t-shirt and Vanessa was in yoga pants and a tank top. Maggie looked good, but Vanessa looked poured into her clothes. Her nice round tits and well-formed ass were obvious around a still slim waist.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Vanessa said.

"You, too." Maggie finished looking her over. "I understand you saved John from some attackers once."

"Yes, that's true. He had been jumped in a men's room by a couple of guys and they had gotten him on the ground to kick him. I managed to stop that and we got them. They were wanted in connection with other crimes."

"Yes, that's what John said. He told me it happened in a strip club where you were an undercover waitress. I can see why he was attracted to you." Maggie smiled at that as Vanessa glanced at John, apprehensive at what was coming. "We weren't together, so don't take this the wrong way. I am just surprised that such a beautiful woman was attracted to that old man." She turned and pointed at John with a grin.

"Hey, wait a minute." John was interrupted immediately.

"Relax." Maggie turned to Vanessa. "We have to keep our man on their toes, don't we. Please come in and sit, Vanessa."

Vanessa was grinning now, too, as she realized that Maggie was poking fun at John. "Yeah, I wonder now, too."

"Hey!" John said. "It's not right making fun of a man of advancing years." He was grinning now, too. He realized the two ladies were just poking fun. "Now, if we can get down to business."

Everyone sat and John went over the item that George had provided and then John was going to go into what he had figured might happen. "That's all we could come up with without providing something that could be scanned for and confiscated. Once you get in that car, you have only the vehicle following capabilities of your friends and the FBI. Using a helicopter won't do much more. I don't believe that they will be capable of following this car further than these guys want it to be followed. This is what I think is going to happen.

"First, they will get you into a GPS-screened car with a Faraday like cage built in. That had to be expensive, but they must be well financed and think they can go somewhere and switch cars. How will they do this? I think they will drive the followers a little crazy with the way they take you to where they will switch. Since they are afraid of GPS and being followed, they will drive to a parking garage somewhere, where they will switch vehicles. Maybe a panel van. Whatever it is, they will have it arranged that they can get in and out easily without anyone knowing they've dumped the car for at least long enough for them to get away. They will then drive you somewhere where they keep all the kidnapped women. Not sure what the step is after that, but we need to decide right now how and when you will use your ring.

"I propose that you don't use it until they move you to the other vehicle. They may try to incapacitate you, but I believe using it on the first car is wrong. What do you think?"

Vanessa was mulling all this over. "I see your point. After we found their spotter at the Ravenna Brewing Company, I thought they may take time off. But, if they are to continue, and they suspect they are being followed, they definitely have to change cars. I agree with your assessment. They will probably incapacitate me in some manner, but I am going to have to try to save my ring marker for the second vehicle. Now, what happens if I can't get it on that vehicle?"

"I don't know. We can hope that the other agencies can follow them, but I doubt it. As a last resort, you can try to get that beacon on anything outdoors wherever you go and we can send the drone up as high as possible to find it. Are you sure you still want to do this?"

"No, but I don't have a choice. I cannot let this go and let more innocents be killed or taken. I have to do it."

"Okay. Let's have a drink."

John got out the good scotch and they all had one. When Vanessa left, Maggie hugged her and wished her well. She hugged John hard and turned and left quickly.

Maggie turned to John. "She's very brave."

"Yes, she is."

Maggie then grinned. "And she was probably a tiger in bed."

John grinned back. "She was a great fuck."

Maggie slugged him on the arm. "Potty mouth. Slut."

"Who me?"

Maggie hugged him. "But at least you're now my slut."

John held her tight. "I love you, too."

They finished packing up some more things and Maggie left to go stay at her father's house.

---------------------- Saturday, September 3, 2022, John's apartment, Seattle, WA -----------

It had been over a week since Vanessa started hanging out with the group that it was believed to be the next to be targeted. But nothing had happened so far, so all the law enforcement people were getting tense. They were worried that they had found the wrong group. John and his guys were just waiting. They had provided Vanessa with another way to be tracked and all they could do was wait. They were just getting bored waiting for the call.

John was relaxing, studying which of the college football games he wanted to watch. He decided that he would have to figure out how to watch and/or switch back and forth between some games. Army vs Coastal Carolina was on at 4pm on ESPN+, Oregon vs Georgia was on at noon, Ohio State -- Notre Dame was at 4:30pm, the Florida -- Utah game was at 4pm, and then the Washington -- Kent State game was at 7:30pm. With Maggie out of the apartment, he would have plenty of time to veg on the games.

John was switching between the mid-afternoon games and it was about 6pm when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"John, it's Luke. Vanessa was at the target bar watching football with the other ladies this afternoon. At 5pm, she decided to leave and they grabbed her. All GPS devices were lost as she got into the car. The following teams lost her about 15 minutes ago. The kidnappers drove the car into a large garage with a couple of entrances or exits. There didn't appear to be any way a vehicle was missed as they came out, but she's gone. They've lost her."

"Shit! What are they doing now?"

"Chasing phantoms. They have no idea what to do. Just wanted to let you know."

"Which garage?"

"Pacific Place, downtown."

"Rather bold. Okay, listen, I have an idea. I will get in touch with my guys and get back to you."

John hung up and called George. George answered immediately. "Yes?"

"They have her. The chase cars lost her. They went into the Pacific Place parking garage downtown and the chase cars say they never saw her or the kidnappers come out. We need to be up and running now."

"Roger. Drone has been staged, prepped, and tested every day. It's ready. I'll get it up in the air and you tell me what you think we should do. Call the others and I will call back in five to start the search."

John called Criag and Marty and gave them the update. Craig went to pick up Marty in his Jeep and he would wait to be joined in on the call with George.

When John called George back, he had an idea.

"George, where is the drone now?"

"I've got it over the I5 entrances south of where that parking garage is."

"We going to have any problems with the drone flying laws and restrictions?"

"No, the FBI has cleared everything for this one. I worked that out, but they don't know the total plan, just that I wanted to have it up while she was missing."

"Okay, if these guys are kidnapping many girls, then I figure they have to stash them somewhere that they can keep them without anyone noticing. So, I'm thinking they are heading across I90 to the east. Maybe somewhere near Snoqualmie. What do you think?"

"Well, there are plenty of places also down in the area of the container ships, but there may be too much traffic there. Let's try your guess first and hope either we or the FBI gets lucky on locating where they took her."

Craig called in then and John merged the calls.

"Okay, everybody's on. George is trying to see if, by some possibility, Vanessa managed to plant the beacon. He's got the drone up. Craig, I'm thinking they took her east on I90 toward a less populated area. George?"

"Okay, I have the IR sensor on and I'm moving along at about 1000 feet over I90. I have to stay above 1000 feet in order to fly it along these routes. I'm just passing over Mercer Island. If they have had her for, let's see, say 25 minutes after pulling into the garage, they could be much further along, but they had to have a way to exfiltrate her from Pacific Place. Without a vehicle exiting one of the standard exits, they had to have taken her out one of the personnel exits. But how?"

John chimed in. "Well, they could have smuggled her out as a drunk, if they drugged her, or they could have put her into something that could hold a body and rolled her out. George, keep searching. I'm going to call the locals and the FBI about checking cameras."

John picked up his land line, which he always maintained, and called Alison first. He told her his idea, and she said they were already checking local cameras. They had two agents going store to store in Pacific Place checking with anything suspicious that might have happened there. After that, John figured they were on the ball, and he went back to his cell and the connection with George and Craig.

"Okay, the feds are already checking cameras and going store to store to check for oddities."

"Got it!" George suddenly broke in with a yell. "I see an IR beacon just passing Issaquah. They are still on I90."

John grabbed his cell. "I'm leaving now to follow. I'm dropping the call. George, call Craig and direct him while I get going. I'll call back once I'm on my car Wi-Fi."

John hurried to his Jeep, carrying his rifle, with this handgun in his shoulder holster. He squealed away from the curb and headed to I90.

John called George and he merged his call with the others. George continued to direct them along the route. The vehicle finally pulled off just east of Riverbend, went north, and then east again. Based on the map, George was guessing that they were on the SE Middle Fork Road. He followed them until they did a quick turn off the road. The map he was using showed almost nothing.

Craig got there about 5 minutes later and passed where George said they turned and went to 486 Ave SE. He waited for John, who got there about 10 minutes after that. They gathered in John's car and discussed what to do. They were only a short distance from the other road that had led to the building where the kidnappers were.

The three of them got out and slowly moved through the woods. It was now 7:30pm and it was dark in the woods. They approached the house, which was near a small pond, from the east. They could see that it was a decent sized structure. They could also see some kind of delivery van in front of the house, but nobody was visible. They had their gear with them and, since it was getting dark, Craig pulled out his night vision goggles.

Craig went over the house, whispering, "There are a couple of cameras outside. One on the front door, and one on the side overlooking the driveway and the way to the garage. There's one man standing just inside the front room that I can see. Let's check out the rest."

The three of them moved silently around the house, keeping their distance at about 40 meters and in the woods. They studied it and were satisfied that these guys were not expecting trouble. While making their way back around to the east side, they heard engines. The three ducked down and hid behind the foliage as three cars came around the corner. They were all some sort of town cars and when they stopped, three what looked like chauffeurs got out and opened the back door for someone. The three exited almost simultaneously and went into the house. They were greeted at the door and shown in.

While John, Craig, and Marty watched, the three chauffeurs turned the cars around in the driveway, lined them up, and then went into the house, as well.

John looked at the others and whispered. "What do you think?"

Marty, the most cynical of them, shook his head. "Orgy? Rape party?"

Craig nodded. "I agree. Those women are being provided for personal use. There must be several in there and maybe more somewhere else. A lot of women have gone missing lately."

The three of them were just starting to turn and leave when they heard a muffled scream. They all looked at each other. John pointed back towards the car. "Let's notify the feds, get our other weapons, and come back here. I can't leave them in there."

The other two nodded.

They rushed back to the Jeep to grab all the weapons. They were each wearing a handgun already, but there was a shotgun and two rifles in the back. They grabbed those as well as more ammunition.

As soon as they were ready, John called Alison. She answered immediately. "You have something?" No preamble. She was in full press mode.

"Yes, we gave her a ring with an IR beacon magnet in it. She managed to get it attached to a delivery vehicle of some sort. We found the house they are in. I'll send you the pin." John hung up and sent the pin. As soon as he had sent it, Alison called back.

"You're already there?"

"Yes, we had to follow it to make sure it wasn't moved to a random vehicle."

"Don't go in. Wait for us. Let the feds enter first."

"Can't do it. Get here as soon as you can, but we heard screaming. We can't sit and listen to that."

"Damn it, John. We're on our way."

John hung up and looked at the other two. "She seemed to accept that we were going in, but she's not happy. Let's go."

The three of them made their way through the forest again. It was only about a third of a mile to get there. As soon as they got there, they saw that a couple of the chauffeurs were outside smoking. They crept up very close to the side where they were screened and there were no cameras. Next, they worked their way along the side to the front porch where the smokers were. John gave the others signals that he was going first. They others nodded. They were hoping that since the chauffeurs were on the porch and the camera had been showing someone present, that the addition of them wouldn't make anyone look at the Ring camera images.

John put his rifle down and jumped out around the side of the house with his Glock raised. The others fanned out right behind him about 5 meters on either side. "Don't move and don't make a sound or you're dead."

The two chauffeurs looked shocked and didn't move.

"Slowly drop the cigarettes and raise your hands." They did so. "Now, step off the porch." The two slowly made their way down. They were not bodyguards or security. They seemed petrified of the guns. It was obvious they were just hired drivers delivering the bad guys.

John continued. "Now listen carefully. Move over to the back of the last car along the side of the house. Nothing funny."

One of them finally spoke. "We aren't armed. We're just drivers."

"I know. I can tell. Now, I want you two to get into the last car after we bind your hands. Stay there while we go into the house and get the guys we want. We aren't law enforcement. Law enforcement will be here soon and, after an interview, they'll let you go. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," they both replied.

With that taken care of, John left one of the doors open. "So, there's another driver in there, the three men you drove, and how many others?"

"Not sure. I think there are three, but we didn't get to see them all."

"Okay. Stay here and you won't get shot."

John and the others formed up in front of the house and decided who would go which way in their room clearing procedure. They walked up to the porch, not too quietly, since the two smokers were supposed to be out here, and got ready.

John held up his hand and indicated he was ready. He put his hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it. It should be unlocked. He nodded his head once, twice, and on the third time he threw open the door. He went left, on the side the door opened from, Craig went right, and Marty went straight up the middle. They saw nobody. John looked at the others. There was music coming from the other room, but they didn't hear any screams.

John nodded and they all advanced on the next room. They again entered and there were three men in there, all sitting and drinking a brown liquid, apparently scotch or bourbon.

"Freeze!" John yelled and they all froze. The guns staring at them were a good argument for obeying the command.

John and the others moved around the sitting three and slowly asked them to stand. Marty disarmed all three and they all had handguns, two Glocks and one Sig Sauer. They then trussed them up with the plastic cuffs they had brought. "Where are the others?"

Nobody said a word, so they gagged them with some napkins and searched the house. They didn't have any time to waste.

Craig finally found the basement door. The three of them formed up again and started down. But they needn't have worried. There was nobody waiting. There was just a hallway with several rooms off it. They walked down the hallway looking in the rooms. What greeted them was staggering. And the rooms must have been soundproofed, which raised the question of the scream, but as they moved along, they could hear nothing from the rooms.

The first room had Vanessa in it. She was stripped down to her bra and panties and looked badly beaten. John went in as the others continued to the next rooms.

Vanessa had been playing unconscious, but immediately smiled when she saw John. She had been beat up so that her nose was bloodied, one eye was bloodshot and would probably blacken, and her mouth was bleeding. "Hey, John. Guess I don't look so good now."

"You look great. You're alive and we'll get you out of here."

She looked down. "They gave me something for the pain a little while ago, after they found out what they wanted. They know I'm a cop and planned on killing me later." She looked down at her left hand. "They took my little finger off at the first knuckle."

John's eyes widened as he looked down. They had wrapped the hand up in a lot of towels. "I think I'll leave those there. The feds are on their way."

"Okay, good." She was exhausted and couldn't hardly sit up any more after that burst of adrenalin. "Save the others. This place is disgusting."

John nodded. He untied her and put her down on a mattress in one corner. "I'll be back."

John went back out. In the second room, Marty had an older gentleman on his front, cuffing his wrists. In the corner on a mattress was a naked, young woman, cowering and beaten.