The Jungle’s Secret, Part Four
Photo by Jakob Owens
“What do you mean by ‘in with these guys?’” Vero queried, concern in her voice.
“It’s been the rumor that some of the cops were the ones to tip off the slave trade organization, which is why they have never been shut down. Somebody knowing the moves of the cops would alert the head auction guys and they would fail to appear. But the thing of it is, it wouldn’t have been the cops, because those locations would not be in their jurisdiction. Also, the fact that the auction means shipping people overseas and that would be a federal case. Thus, the question is posed, who was being paid enough to protect the enterprise of the bad guys?”
“Oh jeez!” Vero groaned with understanding. “I get it. So, what if that’s true?”
“We take them all on, I guess,” Cecil said in a not too confident tone.
There was silence inside the vehicle as the outside world whizzed past. They would be turning soon. Thoughts were in motion.
“After we get there and get a feel for the lay-of-the-land, I think it would work if we think about our options then hide. We’ll beat anyone else there, I’m pretty sure, so we’ll have time to plan some strategies,” Bill stated.
“I agree,” Cecil responded. “We do have the advantage with the element of surprise because they won’t be expecting us, and Roberto and crew are close behind the guys in the cave. And so, with the six of us, and our powerful weapons,” he said wryly, “and Roberto, plus his four, I think we can do this.”
“But won’t the Federales have automatic weapons?” Rose asked.
“Likely, if the Federales are really part of the whole trafficking cartel, we can easily spot that fact by how they respond to the men coming out of the cave. If they turn out to be on their side, then I can try to disengage them with my taser and your shovel, the flare gun, and so on. They are good weapons if used right and in a timely manner. We don’t want to be stupid and put ourselves in the line of fire, but if we sneak up on them when they are preoccupied, then I think we can do some damage until the other help arrives.” Cecil told them.
“Sounds easy enough. Let’s hope it works,” Greg remarked, uncertain.
“Thanks for being here and helping, everyone,” I told them. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me and will to Lola, also. I just hope that no one will be hurt, except for the bad guys.”
“Yeah, us too,” Bill said. “And speaking for myself, I’m glad to be able to help. I hate this whole auction system, and even worse when one of our own is involved.”
“Yeah!” was echoed throughout the car.
“Great! Thank you all! Now here’s our turn-off. Not sure how far we need to go, but maybe we’ll know it when we see it.”
Photo by Tyler Lastovich
We drove down a dirt road for several minutes without seeing anything but a wall of trees.
“That cave must be really long, if it started at Yan Ten, crossing the highway and we’re still not to the end,” Greg pointed out.
“Yeah, well, Roberto said it was long, that there’d be spots where they’ll even have to swim, but at least we’ll get to the end long before any of the others.”
“Is that the place?” Bill asked, pointing left ahead.
We could see a large open space through the trees, and a road leading to it.
“It’s a good bet that it is since we’ve come up with nothing else so far.”
The road led to a green area surrounded by trees and brush. It was shady and cool when we disgorged ourselves from the car. And eerie.
“Look! That may be one of the stone buildings Roberto mentioned,” I told them, pointing ahead to our right.
“Let’s go look!” Vero stated.
Inside that 5x7 foot building, we could see wooden boxes and large canvas bags piled haphazardly. There was also a pile of pots and pans atop one of the boxes.
“I’d say that this is definitely a camp of some kind. Let’s go see if we can find a cave,” Cecil announced.
We all spread out. It didn’t take long for someone to whistle that they’d found the mouth of the cave.
It was Bill. Seeing the opening down into a cenote that was ringed with earth and stones, we determined that this could be what we’d hoped to find. We also saw the path to the right of the mouth, which convinced us further.
All we needed to do now was hide the car, prepare a strategy, sort our tools, and wait.
The plan we’d devised was to have someone hide behind the brush down the path as a lookout for the Federales. He or she would signal the next person with the raising of a broken branch. That next person would signal two others in sight near the mouth of the cave, who would then give a high sign to the other two at the back waiting to rush forward.
“I’ll watch for the soldiers,” Vero volunteered, “and then sneak behind them after they pass.”
“I’ll watch for your sign,” I said, “and then give Bill and Cecil, who will be near the cave mouth, the nod. Bill will then signal Greg and Rose in the back.”
Greater details were worked out regarding who had what weapon and how best to know when to use them, and whatever else came to mind to ask and work out. The time was well spent with questions and enactments of possible moves while munching nervously on the bags of cookies and snacks I had brought. No one felt really prepared, for none of us knew what to expect. We weren’t trained to be warriors and weren’t fighters by nature, but we would hold our own, we thought.
We’d been at the camp for over two hours but were sitting in our positions for half an hour when I finally saw Vero’s signal. When I could hear the chattering’s of the Federale soldiers my mouth went dry, and my stomach lurched as I signaled Bill, who was nearest me. All were soon alerted.
None of us were visible as the soldiers came off the path and stood near the cave entrance. They were smoking and talking as if they had no other chore than to count the birds. I wanted to shout at them to keep quiet because they’d be alerting the bad guys in the cave, until Cecile’s words came back to me. What if these guys were in on the whole kidnapping scheme, also? I watched them warily with that thought in mind.
Photo by Josefin
I tried to catch some of the conversations from the two that were closest to me but could understand very little. They were being much quieter than the other two closest to the opening who were louder and seemed more confident. The two nearest me were whispering as they kept looking at the other two, which made me wonder about the allegiances of the pairs. Which ones would be on our side?
It wasn’t long before we heard the echoes from voices coming from the cave. Showtime!
I thought I was going to pee my pants I was so nervous. Suck it up, I told myself. Concentrate on the plan.
The others may have been as nervous as I was, but there was no way to tell at that moment, and it didn’t matter, anyway, because the action was ready to begin.
One man, then another came up through the opening, both dripping from wading or swimming in the water below. They each greeted the two Federale soldiers standing at the entrance.
Ah hah! I thought. Why am I not surprised about those two? But those thoughts were no sooner formulated when my attention was diverted upon seeing my wife being handed up to the two bad guys and the two Federales. Her hands were tied in front of her, and she looked dazed, yet defiant. I wanted to rush to her side but had to restrain myself from the impulse. I had to wait it out, as hard as it was to do.
Two other kidnappers climbed out of the cave’s mouth, and they all seemed ready to go on with their business, taking Lola away, until I saw one of the Federales cry out and fall to the ground writhing in pain.
Cecil had sent out a shot from the taser.
Before the other five bad men could react, Bill jumped down from his hiding place and sent the other Federale sprawling from a well-placed whack from the shovel he wielded.
I was ready to pounce on the two Federales closest to me, who were obviously commanded not to interfere with the goings-on, in case their allegiance would be to help their comrades, but I sensed a hesitation, so I waited to see which way I needed to go.
Greg had made a perfectly sound shot with a large enough rock in the slingshot he held, to the head of one of the cave men to send him down screaming as blood spurted from the wound. Three down, I counted.
The other three turned to run, leaving Lola unprotected, thinking the other two Federales would be loyal to their cause and hold her. Before I could react to run and grab my wife, the two Federales ran ahead of me. I ran behind, ready to tackle either one who put a hand on her. One of those men stopped and turned. Seeing me, he hit me hard in the stomach with the butt of his rifle. Down I went, the wind knocked out of me.
“Oh, God!” I groaned trying to get up to run after the bastard who I had hoped would have been an ally.
Bill came running over and grabbed my arm to help me up. “Gotcha!” he said and pulled me forward, still hanging on to hold me upright as I stumbled along gasping for air.
“I was hoping those last two guys would be on our side,” Bill whispered.
“Yeah, me, too,” I uttered back breathlessly, “But now we have a good reason to get at least that one out of the way.”
“Right,” Bill said, “Let’s do that.”
As we ran forward, the man who’d headed for the cave mouth stopped and looked around. He seemed baffled. When the other man ran up to him, they talked, and then both headed for the cave.
Photo by Valerie Sidorova
I realized why they were perplexed…Lola was nowhere to be seen.
Taking advantage of their inattention to us, I shook off Bill’s hand and ran toward them. I rammed into the one who had knocked me down. It hurt like hell, but I wasn’t concerned about my own pain at the moment. However, all I did was piss him off. He pulled up his rifle.
Suddenly I saw a whir and heard a crack. Vero had used the edge of her tennis racket, and with her forehand knocked the man out cold. Venus Williams would be proud, I thought, as I nodded a thanks to her.
The soldier that Cecil had tased was still jerking and screaming. The guy that Greg hit with a rock from the slingshot he used was starting to stir. Bill punched him in the mouth and knocked him back down. The last soldier just stood looking around as if confused about what to do.
Just when we thought we had things under control, the other three kidnappers came walking toward us from the trees with Rose held tightly between them. She was struggling and cursing.
“They knocked Greg out,” she yelled. “I don’t know if he’s okay, the bastards!”
“Callete!” said the third man as he put a gun to her head.
Don’t miss what happens next. Read Part Five NOW!If you missed any parts of the story read them here:
* Part One — The disappearance of Lola *