Warriors for Wildlife is a serial novel, with a new episode published each week. Start from the beginning with the prologue and contents, or jump right into Episode One. If you are enjoying this project, I encourage you to purchase the prequel War on Wildlife trilogy!
Michelle awoke to find herself tied to a hard wooden chair, in what appeared to be an old warehouse. In front of her was a video camera. Next to it stood a heavily tattooed man wearing a dirty tank top and a red bandana on his head. As she struggled to clear her head, the grogginess she was experiencing led her to believe that she had been drugged. She struggled to remember the circumstances of the situation, but her mind was blank from the moment she had left the house to meet Heather. “Where am I?” she demanded.
“Shut up bitch.”
“What are you going to do with me?” she shouted.
“You and your friends are going to pay.”
“Pay for what?”
“Shut up, you’ll find out soon enough.”
“Just let me go, and maybe my friends won’t kill you,” she screamed at the man.
“Oh right, you and your skinny white friends are going to kill me.”
“I have other friends.”
Just then another gang member walked in. His battered face made it easy to guess he was the guy from the downtown fashion show. He stepped in front of her and pointed a long knife at the camera, signaling that he wanted the recording to begin. He walked up behind her, grabbed her hair with one hand, and held the knife to her throat with the other. Then he moved the knife around, tracing her body with the sharp blade, slicing her shirt while leering into the camera. Eventually, he violently released her hair, shoving her head down as he walked away.
Leaving the camera rolling, both men walked away and abandoned her bound and completely alone.
As Caleb entered signal range near Craig, he sent a text to his new friend John.
“John, Caleb. We just met earlier today. Call me, it’s urgent.”
John immediately replied, “Meet me at the bar.”
Caleb explained what had happened, and John listened intently. Eventually he turned to his phone and sent a text. He hit the send button and looked up at Caleb. “We have people out that direction. Ghost has his crew fanning out to cover the bars. It’s a small town so it shouldn’t take long to recon the area.”
As the two war veterans pushed their beer glasses away, Caleb received a text from Angie. “Emily says there’s a strange guy hanging around the Stage Line.”
Caleb showed the message to John, who simply replied, “Let’s go.”
Caleb replied to Angie, “Don’t do anything, just lock the doors and windows and stay home. I’ll be there in a couple hours, and hopefully he’ll still be there. Oh, and tell Emily to just act natural. We don’t want to scare him off.”
“Okay, Caleb, but hurry.”
“We’re on our way.”
It was starting to get dark as Caleb and John arrived. As it was a weeknight, few vehicles were parked outside. In true Douglas County form, nearly all the vehicles were pickup trucks with the exception of a single lowrider car.
“That has to be it. Nobody down here would be driving a lowrider to this bar.”
John walked over to the car and reached under the wheel well.
Caleb asked, “Did you GPS it?”
“I did. Let’s go inside and have a look.”
As Caleb’s eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed two local families sitting at tables having dinner. Bellied up to the bar sat an outsider, sipping a draft beer and sporting gang tattoos.
Caleb whispered, “That’s got to be him.”
John motioned to a table behind the man, where they could not easily be watched. Emily’s eyes lit up when she spotted Caleb, who waved her away and put a finger to his lips to quiet her. She quickly understood, and nonchalantly walked over to take their order.
After taking the order, she walked behind the bar and poured two glasses for her new patrons.
Eventually the stranger received a text message and stood up to leave. Caleb tossed a bill on the table to cover their tab, and the two men followed the suspect out the door. When they saw that he was walking directly toward the lowrider, they relaxed and milled around the front door as if they were just getting a bit of fresh air. John checked his phone to make sure they had good contact with the GPS tracker, and motioned for Caleb to get in John’s truck. John started the vehicle while they watched their mark turn right onto Highway 86, with I-25 just a few miles away, just past Castle Rock
The men followed closely behind, but trailed far enough back to escape detection. Eventually, the chase continued north on I-25, with John and Caleb in close pursuit. Caleb soon received a frantic text from Angie, “Caleb, somehow they got my number. They have Michelle and they want money. What should I tell them, I don’t have that much money!”
“Just tell them you are getting the cash ready, and try to stall them. John and I are tailing one of them who will probably lead us right to her.”
“Oh my God Caleb, what if they hurt her?”
“I don’t think that’s their endgame, but I’m sure we’ll be messing up their day long before they are ready for us. ”
The car ahead of them turned onto Broadway and continued north toward downtown, with the GPS tracking signal still strong. Eventually the lowrider pulled into a parking lot in front of a rundown warehouse style building.
“This is probably where they are holding her,” commented John.
“Yeah, what’s the plan?” asked Caleb.
“We have to get in there and find out where she is. We stick together in case we have to take out any guards. Quietly, no guns. We’ll use our knives if we have to, but it would be best if we can just slip in and out without being seen.”
John reached under his seat for his corner mirror as Caleb locked the passenger door.
“Put your phone on vibrate,” added John.
“Right.”
The front door was locked when they arrived, and John pointed and said, “Check the window.”
The window was also locked, but Caleb easily unlatched it with his knife. He peered through a small opening to survey the room before sliding the window open, quickly slipping inside to unlock the deadbolted door. John entered and they paused together to listen carefully. Hearing nothing, John commented, “They probably wouldn’t risk being on the first floor right by the sidewalk.”
Caleb pointed to a freight elevator but John shook his head no, and it was immediately understood that the noise would alert the gang of their presence.
They quickly located a stairwell and proceeded to the second floor, where they heard two men talking. One of them said, “She said she’s getting the money together.”
John and Caleb waited in silence for the conversation to end, noting which direction the men went. John used his corner mirror to look down the corridor, then followed once they were out of sight. Turning the next corner, they observed the two men entering an open doorway a few feet away. They proceeded to the doorway, gaining a clear view of the room and the chair where Michelle was tied.
One of them said, “Okay, I’m going to hit the head. Shoot some more video, and this time make her scream. I want that skinny bitch to know we’re serious.”
The instant the odds favored them, John tapped his knife against the door frame. Michelle’s captor glanced toward the doorway, then went back to setting up the torture video. John tapped louder, and this time, the man came to investigate. As soon as his head cleared the doorway, John clubbed him with the butt of his pistol. Caleb dragged the body around the corner while John rushed in to cut Michelle loose. Caleb entered and quickly shoved the back of the chair under the restroom doorknob. As the trio fled the room, Michelle stopped to deliver a swift kick to her unconscious captor’s face.
By the time the second captor was able to escape the restroom, Michelle and her rescuers were already out of the building and opening the doors to John’s truck. As the truck began to roll, Caleb texted Angie, “We got her, she’s okay.”
John dropped Caleb and Michelle off at the Stage Line and quietly slipped away, leaving no trace of his involvement in the rescue. Caleb texted Angie that they would be home shortly, and took Michelle home in his own truck. Angie, Jessica and Heather were all waiting in the driveway for her return. Angie ran to the door to help Michelle, but was emphatically waved her away. “I’m okay, no need for all this fuss!”
“We were so scared,” cried Angie.
“Yeah, I guess I was pretty scared too.”
Jessica hugged Michelle tightly and squealed, “Oh, It’s so good to have you back safe!”
Heather turned on her state owned radio and broadcasted that Michelle was home safe.
“I really need a drink,” exclaimed Michelle.
“Oh definitely,” replied Angie. “Let’s go sit down on the deck and relax.”
“I suppose we should let the police know.”
Caleb replied, “Heather, can you radio the police with that thing?”
“Done,” she replied. “You all have a great evening, I need to get home.”
“Okay Heather, thanks for your help!” replied Angie.
“Anytime!”
Episode Five <««« »»»> Episode Seven
