Stone's Way

By D.L. Brumley

The second story in the Zack Stone series finds Zack in the country of Bahrain, tasked by the SOC Command to assist the Bahrain government in standing up their own Special Ops program. Zack works his way through and around the customs of this small Arabic country to bring the program to fruition in less than three months. During his time there, Zack falls in love with one of the female cadets, putting both himself and the women in constant danger of discovery. He manages to leave Bahrain with his reputation as the best of the best still intact. He recruits his lover, Dounia al Zanawi to join him and several U.S. special ops members in standing up a private security company known as CAPSTONE-X. Headed by former Senator Charles Clyborne, CAPSTONE’s mission is to rid the country of the corruption running rampant within the U.S. Political machine, as well as rid the world of corrupt leaders.

Zack remains the number one target of Denny Cravens, the Chief of the Special Operations Division at CIA. The two go back and forth with the all-out intent of getting rid of each other. Zack loses good friends, colleagues, and professional acquaintances in the ongoing battle to unseat Denny Cravens from his powerful position. Along the way, it seems Denny is protected by very powerful political figures, making it nearly impossible to bring him to justice.

The entire CAPSTONE team heads to North Korea to rescue the United States’ top Nuclear Scientist. Kidnapped by North Korean agents as he drove to work, Dr. Paul Dunning was moved to the NK nuclear lab in Pyong Yang. He was told, assist the NK scientists there to develop a nuclear weapon, or his entire family would be killed. A daring rescue takes place as the team devise a plan to enter North Korea, obtain Dr. Dunning, and egress North Korea. In order to have plausible deniability, the president was forced to use non-USG assets for the rescue.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664197732

D.L. Brumley

Born in 1948, D.L. Brumley is the grandson of Oklahoma farmers who left their homes during the early 1940s, seeking opportunities for a better life in California. His father was one of seven children of John and Ada Brumley, all born before and raised during the Great Depression. You will note with some humor the country aspects of his writing. Raised by hard working country folks, Mr. Brumley’s work ethic of nose to the grindstone is evident in not only his story telling, but in how his characters interact throughout this, his second book. After successful careers as an intelligence support officer in both the U.S. Army and with the U.S. Government spanning 43 years, he retired in 2013. Mr. Brumley is a veteran of the Viet Nam Conflict having served there in 1968-69. Later, as a USG employee, he served in Iraq early in that conflict in 2003. Having lived, worked, and traveled to multiple countries around the world, Mr. Brumley draws on those experiences to make his book more realistic to the reader. His second book, Stone’s Way, is the continuation of the Zack Stone series of stories. For those who have traveled and lived overseas, his writing will take many back in time to memories and experiences of their own. For those not fortunate enough to have traveled or lived overseas, Stone’s Way will take you on a visit to the small island country of Bahrain, sandwiched between Saudi Arabia to the east and Qatar to the west.

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Stone’s Way

D.L. BRUMLEY

Copyright © 2021 by D.l. Brumley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 11/04/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Authors Comments

List of Characters

Prologue

Chapter 1 Return from the Dead

Chapter 2 Memories of a Warrior

Chapter 3 Together in Love

Chapter 4 Ambassador Kamal

Chapter 5 Senator Clyborne

Chapter 6 Getting Closer

Chapter 7 The King and I

Chapter 8First Order of Business

Chapter 9 The News is not Good

Chapter 10 Fugitive

Chapter 11 Interview

Chapter 12 Setting the Terms

Chapter 13 Crossing

Chapter 14 Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 15 Meanwhile, back at the Ranch

Chapter 16 A Streetcar to Desire

Chapter 17 Absolute Meanness of Death

Chapter 18 Return to Abeche

Chapter 19 Storms of Life

Chapter 20 Who done it

Chapter 21 Fat Lady Sings

Chapter 22 Changing a Lifetime of Hate

Chapter 23 Clearing the Air

Chapter 24 Who Made the Mistake

Chapter 25 Cover Up

Chapter 26 Unexpected Meeting

Chapter 27 Another One Bites the Dust

Chapter 28 What Just Happened

Chapter 29 New Beginning

Chapter 30 Unbelievable Ending

Chapter 31 A Plan Comes Together

Chapter 32 Three Strikes and You’re Out

Chapter 33 Land Far Away

Chapter 34 A Moment of Solace

Chapter 35 G.O.A.T.

Chapter 36 What’s Up Doc?

Chapter 37 Rule of Law

Chapter 38 Day of a New Dawn

Chapter 39 Ways to Kill a Rat

Chapter 40 A Royal Flush

Acknowledgements

To my Brother John who lived life his way; to my Aunt Bib and Uncle Frank who gave me a gift more valuable than gold….a strong work ethic; and to the United States Army who gave me direction and purpose as a very young man.

Authors Comments

This is the second book in the Zack Stone series. Denny Cravens, the director of the CIAs Special Activities Division, continues to be Zack’s nemesis. He successfully eliminates several of Zack’s friends and colleagues, and sets an elaborate trap to rid himself of Zack. The two adversaries fight their way to a draw, neither gaining the upper hand. Each think the other lives a charmed life as neither can get the best of the other. An attack on Denny’s safe house by Zack, Stoltz, and Dounia to eliminate Denny accomplishes nothing more than increasing the frustration level of both Zack and Stoltz.

Follow along, as CAPSTONE-X takes on North Korea to recover a kidnapped American Scientist, as well as continuing its mission of eliminating corrupt officials around the world. CIA’s Special Activities Division continues its path of death and destruction, seemingly killing at will anyone who gets in Denny Craven’s way. In all of the mayhem, Zack loses a close friend, Stoltz loses his woman and unborn child, and another highly placed CIA leader falls victim to Denny’s insanity.

Amongst all the chaos and killing, Zack loses in love yet again - Vera Good decides Zack’s way of life is not for her. While in Bahrain, standing up the Bahraini Special Ops Teams, Zack and one of the recruits fall in love. Zack must balance the requirement to train Dounia Al Zanawi while not allowing his lust for her to interfere with that requirement. He walks a fine line between possible court martial by SOC Command, and CAPSTONE-X founder Senator Charles Clyborne questioning his moral and professional values.

I would like to assure the reader, there are many things in this book that are total figments of my imagination. Anyone associated with the USAF knows that flight manifests are never changed or doctored to hide the presence of anyone on a flight. The nuclear lab I mention in Pyong Yang, North Korea, is total fiction for purposes of the story. There may very well be a nuclear lab in Pyong Yang, but I have no idea where it might be located.

List of Characters

CAPSTONE-X Team:

Senator Charles Clyborne – Founder

Penny Waterson (aka Karla Simms) – Conservative Activist; wife of Senator Clyborne

Zack Stone – Former US Army Special Ops

Marty Bellenkamp – CEO. Former US Army Special Ops

Reggie Yarborough – Former US Army Special Ops

Kyle Faulkner – Former US Army Special Ops

Bobby Littler – Former Navy Seal

Dounia Al Zanawi – Former Kingdom of Bahrain Army Special Ops

Bahrain Royal Family:

King Hamad bin Ayad Al Khalid - Emir of Bahrain

Shaykha Nawal bint Ishmal Al Khalid - wife of King Hamad

Ahmad bin Hamad Al Khalid – Crown Prince Bahrain

Abir bin Hamad Al Khalid – Minister of Finance and Director Bahrain National Oil Company (BANOCO)

Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalid – Minister of Interior Bahrain

Rashid bin Hamad Al Khalid – Youngest son of the Emir of Bahrain

Princess Shahnaz bint Hamad Al Khalid – Oldest daughter and most favored child of the Emir of Bahrain

Kamal Ali – Illegitimate son of King Hamad

Kendra Johnson aka Kendra Ali – Former US Navy contract specialist and wife of Kamal Ali

Others:

Bernhard Stoltz – German Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) Agent

Brigadier Abdullah Al Aziz – Commandant, Bahrain Special Operations.

Denny Cravens – Director of Special Activities Division, CIA

Sandra Casey – Deputy Director of Special Activities Division, CIA

Vera Good – Co-owner Three Oaks Ranch

Prissy Good – Co-owner Three Oaks Ranch

Lieutenant Ardashir Mousavi – Iranian Special Operations

Vice Admiral Lawrence H. Costas – CENTCOM Forward Commander

Gary D’Angelo – Chief of Station, U.S. Embassy Bahrain

Peni Banuve – Head of household staff for Bahraini Ambassador Kamal Ali

Axel Reed – DIA Case Officer

Demitri Pasternak – former KGB Officer turned assassin

Wilson – Assassin for hire

Fear has its use but cowardice has none.

__Mahatma Ghandi

Prologue

After Zack had read the note from Stoltz, he sat down on the porch of the ranch house to rest. His mind was a mess, his body bloody and bruised, and he suddenly had an overwhelming need for water. He had taken none all day, and his body screamed for the soothing relief that water would bring. His kidneys were aching something terrible, in this case from dehydration. He rose, went into the ranch house and drank two large glasses full. The well water at the Three Oaks Ranch was cool, clear, and had a natural taste to it. Some in the Fowler, Colorado area called it sweet water.

The County Sheriff, Ben Tolliver, was still yacking up a storm about all the dead bodies he had found on the ranch, and those out near the abandoned mine. Zack had stopped listening to him several minutes earlier. The Sheriff kept repeating himself, asking the same questions, making the same accusations. Zack had done his best to explain the incident to the Sheriff, but he just would not listen. Zack’s mind was on all of his adopted family members he feared trapped or even killed in the mine, when Vince Carmichael had sent an RPG round straight at the entrance. Zack came back outside and with no other choice, started listening to what the Sheriff was saying. He had run into long-winded, stubborn people in every country he had ever been in, so this was nothing new to Zack. When a person has been in a position for as long as Sheriff Tolliver had, that individual tended to lean on his past experiences and gut instincts. He was positive that Zack just was not telling the truth.

I have half a mind to arrest your ass right now. You seem to be the only one that survived this shootout, other than the mysterious man who wrapped your bruised ribs. I know you don’t really think I am going to believe such a story do you son?

Zack looked at Sheriff Tolliver for a few seconds then said, I have tried my best to be straight with you Sheriff. It is apparent you do not want to believe me. I no longer care if you believe me or not. You see this note?

Yes, I see it, and I read it. It doesn’t mean a thing to me.

Well, Zack said, this is a note from the man that wrapped my wounds. He is a friend of mine from another country. He saved my ass here today and now I owe him big.

Who is he? What’s his name, asked the Sheriff?

Sheriff, if you think I am going to tell you what his name is, you are sadly mistaken. The man saved my life. I won’t narc on him so just forget about finding out who he is. What he is, is a special forces operator from another country, who came here specifically to make sure nothing bad was going to happen to me. You see those two bodies right there?"

Of course I do.

That is some of his work. He took out the angler, because he was a spotter for the seven men that came here to kill me. The other one, Vince Carmichael, was the leader of that group and the person who likely killed my entire family. I say likely, because I don’t know if they are dead or alive

If you aren’t going to tell me who he is, I have no choice but to take you into custody until either you tell me who he is or I find out on my own.

Sheriff, call my Battalion Commander at Fort Bragg. He will vouch for me. I will give you his number and I guarantee he will convince you of not only my innocence, but that he knew of this planned attack in advance. I need to get back out there to that mine and see if they have made any progress in getting that hole open.

Let me get them on my radio. I will find out how they are doing at getting all of that rubble out of the way. Before he could get his radio out of his belt, his deputy came over the radio, saying, Sheriff, this is Deputy Dobbs. You aren’t going to believe this.

What is it deputy?

The team from town has made good progress on removing rubble. They told me it would be cleared out by tomorrow morning.

Is that what I won’t believe deputy?

No Sheriff. About five minutes later, just a few minutes ago, a rag tag group of two Mexican men, a Mexican woman, and two Caucasian girls came riding up on horses.

Okay, and just who the hell are they and what do they have to do with anything?

Sheriff, these five people are the ones we are busting our butts to dig out of the caved-in mine. They found a back way out of the mine, with the only fatality being a horse that took the brunt of the explosion.

Are you kidding me Pete?

No sir, it’s them all right. They are all injured, the Mexican woman the worst. All of them asked me about Zack Stone. Isn’t that the name of the guy with you?

Well I will just be damned. We will be out there in a few minutes to give them a ride back here to the ranch house. I will call an ambulance on my way out there.

No sir, not necessary for you to come out. They said they will ride their horses in.

Even the Mexican woman deputy?

Yes sir. We will be there in about twenty minutes or so. They asked me to make sure an ambulance is there as soon as possible. Ms. Lupe has a chunk ripped out of her leg, and a large piece of wood stuck in her chest near her left arm. She is afraid to change positions off her horse for fear that splinter of wood doing more damage that it has already done. Otherwise she would take a ride back with you.

Ah, I see. Okay, I am calling the clinic right now in Fowler to get someone out here as quickly as possible. If you are not here when the ambulance arrives, we will lead it out as close to you as we can to save some time. I will tell them to bring an extra man to help the woman off of her horse without injuring her further.

Zack dialed Vera’s number and she immediately answered. Vera, is Lupe going to be okay?

Yes, I think so. There is a piece of splintered wood stuck in her chest and protruding out through her back. It just missed her heart apparently, but she needs immediate attention. I tried calling you before, but the reception was nil, both in the cave and on the backside of the hill. I was afraid you were dead Zack, we were all scared out of our minds that you had been buried under all that rubble.

How are the rest of you?

We are all banged up pretty bad. I think my arm is broken, but there are no protruding bones. I also have a bullet wound in my stomach, but it is more or less superficial. A board hit Lalo in the back of the head and he was out for over 10 minutes. Hector has nicks and cuts all over his body, but a couple of bad ones on his face and the back of his head. Prissy has a bullet wound to her left thigh and a broken ankle; I think a large rock hit her when the explosion went off. My horse Zipper saved our lives Zack. The explosion hit her directly and literally tore her to pieces.

How the heck did you guys find your way out of there?

"Lalo and I knew there was a back way out of here. When I was around eight and Lalo was ten or eleven, we used to come out here and explore this place. We never told any of the adults about coming out here. We would have got our hides tanned if Daddy had found out. Our only worry was that the back opening was still open. It is about three hundred yards from where we were, and there was some rubble and bushes covering it. Lalo found it, said he could see the light outside. It took us a bit to get the rubble out of the way, and then cut the bushes away far enough for a horse to get through. I can only say, thank God for bad little boys and girls who did not know they were in danger roaming around in here. She snickered a bit. Zack had to let out a laugh too, which was a combination of amusement and relief.

The Sheriff said, Well Zack, I can’t believe it, but it looks like your story is going to check out. If these folks corroborate your version of things, you will be free to go. Why were all of these high profile military men out here in the first place? I mean, you don’t see Special Forces people chasing each other around in Colorado backcountry every day. With the high powered military grade hardware they had, that bunch could have wiped out half of Fowler.

"True enough Sheriff. However, let me tell you, there was nothing High Profile about any of those people. They were a bunch of out of control killers, mercenaries if you will, who kill for money. Thugs. Assassins. People on the wrong side of right. The leader, Vince Carmichael is, or was, a very bad man. The world is a better place without him in it. Those ex-SEALS were nothing but criminals. SEALS are honorable men, but those six forget their ethics a long time ago."

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Brigadier General Abdulla Al Aziz, the 51 year old Commander of the Bahraini Special Ops Group was watching his troops going through drills. He was not happy with any of the men, and was especially upset with the lack of effort being put in by the troops. They were lazy, undisciplined, and he got the feeling they were involved only to get the extra 300 Dinars a month that special ops personnel were to receive in addition to their regular pay. What a bunch of soft headed idiots he said to himself. These guys are actually worse than the regular soldiers.

Tactics that would be employed were copied from the British SAS playbook, but taught by Aziz. A brilliant tactician in his own right, the Brigadier pushed his troops relentlessly. And because of the poor calibere of soldiers, he would not tolerate failure. There was a 95 percent failure or drop out rate amongst the Bahrain Self Defense Force troops who applied for a position on this elite team. Using the Royal Guard as operational cover, no one knew that the government of Bahrain had established this special ops unit. Continuing unrest between the Shia and the ruling Sunni Muslims in Bahrain, and steady interference from the Iranians, dictated such a move. And with the poor results Aziz was getting from this current batch, he felt somewhat like he was swimming up stream against a very strong current.

Unknown to the Royal Family, Aziz had gone outside the BSDF and enlisted several mercenaries who pledged loyalty to him under penalty of death if they spoke of this fledging team to anyone. He kept the numbers to a minimum, currently with only 12 non-Bahraini’s fit for duty. All were Sunni Arabs from Saudi Arabia. Aziz tried hard to get his fledgling force to believe in themselves and each other, to put differences aside, and focus only on killing Bahrain’s enemies. But the men failed miserably at acquiring team cohesiveness. What a bunch of limp-wristed people our military is full of.

His plan was to eventually rid the team of the foreigners and make the team pure Bahraini, but with several nasty missions on the horizon, he had been forced to include them. He neither liked the foreigners, nor trusted them, but for the time being, he would be forced to deal with them.

A recent attack by suspected Iranian Quds Forces on the beach palace of the King near Sikia, was but one instance of the ever increasing pressure being put on the Royal Family. The King was furious that his Royal Guards had not only been out manuevered on their own turf, but several of the 20 strong guard detail had been killed. His 12 year old grandson, Hamad, had been severely injured in the fray and lost a leg in an explosion. The Kings son, Ahmad, who was the Minister of Defense had been given orders to find someone who could put together a team of SPECIAL Troops. There mission: stopping any further incidents such as this one from happening again, and chasing the offenders and eliminating them no matter who they were or where they went.

Hamad’s mother Fatima Al Assad, had been beaten severely for allowing Hamad to take up arms in an effort to defend her. Hamad was treated as a brave warrior, and because he had lost his leg in her defense was revered by his grandfather the king. This is a situation that outsiders could never possibly understand. In her world, Fatima should have fought Hamad tooth and nail to keep him from getting hurt. She failed. She was beaten for her lack of supervision over her child, although Arab women seldom were allowed to discipline their sons. Fatima held her tongue and took the beating without so much as a tear shed or a cry of pain. I will not forget this, she said to herself. Someone will pay for this beating one day, with their life. It is bad enough that I am treated as a hired servant, but now I receive an unjust punishment for my son getting hurt who was only trying to protect his mother. Of course her husband could not possibly understand why Hamad had tried to protect her.

Hamad, and his 12 year old emotions was upset that his mother had been beaten. He thought to himself, just another reason to not like the rules of the family. His mother had done nothing wrong, and someday, I will tell my father that his ways are old fashioned. He should be thanking Allah that she had not been killed. Hamad loved his mother, and he was much closer to her than he was his father or even his grandfather, the king.

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Kamal Ali sat across from his American girlfriend, Kendra Johnson, talking of a bright future ahead for both of them. Kamal was very ambitious, and the fact that his father was the king certainly opened more than a few doors for him. His business holdings in Bahrain were quite impressive. He was majority owner of a large grocery chain, had significant holdings in the Iranian owned Rapido Discount Store, and was majority partner in many foreign run small businesses scattered all over the island.

Kamal liked the doors that being the son of the king opened for him, but truth be told he hated him. And the entire Al Khalid family. He would get his revenge someday and these hateful wretches will get what is coming to them.

Kendra Johnson, a 25 year old Petty Officer assigned to CENTCOM forward, had jumped at the chance to date and subsequently become lovers with Kamal. The former Miss Black America contestant, hailed from Atlanta, Georgia. She not only liked Kamal’s doting attention, but had plans on marrying him just as soon as she could get him to ask her. Living a life of luxury certainly had it’s appeal. And it definitely was more desireable than going back to Atlanta and living around all the thugs that ran the streets there. The fact that she had lost two brothers to the Atlanta gangs made her desire to live a life somewhere else even stronger. Why not Bahrain, with a man of status?

Kamal had done his homework on Kendra too. His people had found out all there was to know about this beautiful and intelligent woman, and he had immediately set out to establish a relationship with her. Her position at the US Navy base in Juffair, brought her in daily contact with Vice Admiral Costas, the CENTCOM forward commander. She had knowledge of all of the comings and goings of the Admiral, and was read in on many classified projects.

Specifically, Kamal was interested in CENTCOM’s desire to increase the size of the base by up to 100 acres. No telling what the ultimate goal was but he had a feeling it was going to be big. Kamal had directed his financial advisor to start purchasing all the land North and East of the base that he could get his hands on. He thought to himself, wow, what a potential cash cow this could be.

-Chapter 1-

Return from the Dead

The RPG round tore through the opening of the mine, sending debris, shrapnel, dirt and anything not nailed down forward into the shaft. At the precise moment of the explosion, Vera’s horse Zipper stood between the blast area and the three women standing near the back wall of the mine. She died almost instantly, torn to pieces by the power of the explosion. Zipper blocked most of the harmful debris from getting to the women. When they saw what the explosion had done to Zipper, only then did they realize how lucky they were.

Hector and Lalo were blown forward violently onto their faces toward the area where Zipper had just been standing. The concussion of the blast rendered both men unconscious, and a foot or so of dirt and debris now covered them. A board from the frame of the entrance support hit Lalo square on the back of his head opening a massive cut. Two large rocks about the size of a football nailed Hector on the back of his head, leaving two very large knots, one of which was bleeding profusely. However, the dirt and debris acted as a gigantic Band-Aid and Hector’s bleeding had stopped once he was covered.

It took a minute for the thick dust to clear. At first, no one could figure out what had just happened, the concussion of the blast leaving everyone stunned. When everyone got their wits back, the girls saw a leg sticking out of the dirt that covered Lalo and Hector. Vera and Prissy moved forward and began to dig the dirt off Lalo with their bare hands. Then Vera noticed a hand sticking up from the dirt behind her. Oh damn, she said, that has to be Hector. Neither of the men had moved, but once their heads were uncovered, they coughed and spat out the dirt in their mouths. Lalo had regained consciousness first, picking himself up and out of his temporary grave. He touched the back of his head and winced in pain.

Ow, shit, he said. Vera brought a canteen of water and washed off the back of Lalo’s head to make sure all of the dirt was out of the gash. Her broken left arm limited her movements, but she was able to wrap gauze around Lalo’s head to hold a sterile bandage in place.

Lalo then started clearing all the dirt and debris from his father’s body. Prissy limped forward on a broken ankle and helped Lalo uncover Hector. Vera’s broken arm was useless now for digging, and she had hurt her arm worse by trying to help uncover Lalo. She went to the back of the mine to attend to Lupe whose left leg had a massive chunk of flesh missing. It was bleeding unabated. That is when Vera noticed the splintered piece of timber lodged into Lupe’s chest near the socket of her left shoulder and arm.

Hector regained consciousness, sat up and took several deep breaths to fill up his nearly collapsed lungs. He coughed deeply from his lungs, spewing out dirt, mucus and little pieces of rock. He drank deeply from the canteen, then again began coughing harshly for several minutes. Once his coughing subsided, he stood and asked if everyone was okay. Lalo, grabbed another canteen of water and cleaned Hector’s head wounds, then wrapped a sterile bandage around them with gauze and tape.

Back here guys, yelled Vera. Lupe is hurt bad. She is bleeding badly from her leg and has a chunk of splintered wood lodged in her chest. We have to stop this bleeding now. Lalo came and looked at the injury, then sucked air through his teeth in a show of concern. Damn mom, you are one tough lady. I know guys in the army who would be whining and crying like a baby with an injury like that."

Lalo went to his horse, opened the saddlebag and took out a first aid kit. There was an extra-large chest bandage and a tourniquet. He placed the tourniquet above the leg wound and tied it off just tight enough to stop the flow of blood to a trickle. He cleaned out the wound with canteen water, placed several gauze pads inside the wound, and put the large chest bandage on her thigh. He then wrapped the entire injured area with gauze and finally covered the gauze with several large strips of tape wrapped around her thigh several times. He covered the entire leg with two ace bandages to hold everything in place. He then slowly eased back on the tourniquet a half turn, to allow a small trickle of blood to hit the bandages. He kept loosening the tourniquet a half turn every 10 minutes so that Lupe would not lose her leg. They all took turns eye balling the splintered piece of timber lodged in her chest, then to their immediate concern found the tip protruding about an inch out of her back.

Lalo was freaking out at the chest injury his mom had, but kept his cool so she would not panic. He said, Vera, you remember this place right, from when we were kids?

Somewhat, she replied.

Well, we know there is a way out of here. So, we need to get mom on a horse, put her in a comfortable position and get out of here so we can get her some help quickly.

Hector said, You are right son. Do you know a way out of here though?

Yes, I do. Help me get mom on her horse and let’s move out. Prissy, you should ride too. You can’t walk on that ankle, and as I recall, the shaft is plenty high enough to be on a horse.

Once the two injured women were on their horses, Lalo and Vera led the way. It was slow going, but it took them only 15 minutes to get to the backside of the shaft.

Vera said, Lalo, are you sure this is the way? I don’t see an opening here. Maybe that side shaft back about 50 feet was the right way to go.

It’s here Vera. Lalo walked up to a break in the wall, and pushed the thick limbs and leafy twigs apart. The light broke through the brush and all could feel the fresh air, rushing through the break.

Oh thank God, Vera said, letting out a big sigh of relief.

With the light now penetrating into the mine, Lalo could see that there was a pile of rubble about three feet high covering the floor.

Damn, he said. He walked back to one of the pack horses, and took out an entrenching tool, then returned to the exit break. He started removing shovels full of rock, dirt, and pieces of wood, and 15 minutes later had the floor of the opening completely cleared out.

Hector, had brought up a small axe from the same pack horse and started cutting off the limbs of the Aspen tree growing outside just to the right of the opening. They also would have to remove several brittle brush bushes that covered the bottom of the opening. He looked at Lalo and said, We have to get these limbs cut back so that the horse can fit through here. Otherwise we will have to walk, and I don’t think Lupe or Prissy either one can do much walking.

You are right Papa. Here let me have the axe. You take a rest papa; you are trying to do too much. I don’t want that gash opening back up on your head. Please Papa, take a seat and let me do this.

Hector smiled at his son, Ok Lalo, but if you need a break, please tell me.

You got it Pop.

Lalo worked hard, whacking, cutting, and snapping everything out of the way as fast as he could. He knew his mom had very little time, and if they didn’t get her to a doctor fast, she could be in serious trouble. Ten minutes later, he felt he had removed enough of the limbs and brush to allow a horse to fit through the opening. He quickly repositioned the load on the packhorse, grabbed the pull cord attached to the horses bridle and led her towards the opening. As he eased through the opening, the horse followed, the rock forming the opening slightly touching her sides. She halted for a second, but followed Lalo when he moved forward more. Once through the opening, Lalo tied the pull cord of the horse to a nearby Aspen tree.

Lalo walked back inside the entrance, and grabbed the reins of the next horse in line, which his mother was sitting on. Vera, go outside please, and stay with mama when I bring her out. Papa, follow me out with Prissy’s horse.

Lalo led Lupe’s horse toward the opening slowly. Lupe’s horse was a very spirited animal, and balked at the exit, screaming his unwillingness to go through. He was lifting his front feet into the air and this was causing Lupe some discomfort. In fact, she had hit her head on a rock in the ceiling of the shaft, and had opened a cut just above her forehead in the hairline. She bent forward, put her arms around the horse’s neck, and whispered into his ears. It’s okay Belleza, you can do this. Her words seemed to calm him down, and when Lalo gently tugged on the rein, the horse responded and moved forward and out through the opening.

Hector followed with Prissy, and her horse Bufon went right through without a problem. Lalo brought out his horse Feliz, and tied him to the Aspen with the packhorse. He went back in and led the second packhorse out into the sunlight. Hector came quickly back in and followed the packhorse out with his mount, Suerte. Lalo again went back in and led Zack’s horse Thunder out.

Okay everyone we need to get moving. I will be leading mama and one of pack horses tied behind mama. Dad you lead Prissy’s horse and tie the other packhorse behind her. Vera, you ride Thunder. I would ask you to lead one of the pack horses, but don’t think you can with that broken arm. The group followed Lalo, and they moved out at what seemed a very slow pace. They all knew the pace was set to accommodate Lupe and keep her as comfortable as possible. A horse bobbing up and down at a fast pace would have caused her much pain and possibly start the blood flowing again in her wounded leg.

In spite of the slow pace, it took only around twenty minutes to ride around the hill to the front of the mine. Lalo saw several men busily trying to remove the rocks and debris from the mine entrance.

The deputy noticed the group as they neared. I wonder who these people are, he said to himself. As they drew near, he could see that most of them had bandages somewhere on their bodies. Within yelling distance the deputy said, What the heck happened to you folks?

Lalo said, We are the ones you are digging for. We found a way out at the backside of the mine. We have several people that need attention, especially mama, he said as he pointed at Lupe.

Vera asked, Do you know if Zack Stone made it out of the explosion? He was coming into the cave right after Hector and Lalo entered.

Good news, said the deputy. "He was injured, but evidently the concussion of the explosion blew him away from the mine. His wounds have been dressed and he is currently down at the Ranch House with the Sheriff. Stone wanted to take a crack at identifying a couple of corpses that we found there. Let me contact the Sheriff to get us medical help out here to take care of your injuries.

The deputy was quickly on the radio, and the Sheriff said he would get an ambulance out here as quickly as possible. I got to tell you folks, this is nothing short of a miracle, you finding an exit out the back side of the mine. No one told him that Lalo and Vera knew about the exit since they were young children. It didn’t seem important anymore.

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Lieutenant Ardashir Mousavi held his hand up to indicate to his team to halt in place. The Iranian Quds had meticulously planned this raid on the King’s Beach Palace near Sikia for weeks, only waiting for word from an informant to supply the day that he would be there. Finally, the word came King Hamad bin Ayad Al Khalid would be spending the weekend with his family there.

Mousavi was leading the very best of the best that Iran had to offer in terms of special ops teams. He had trained these handpicked soldiers and had no doubts about their capabilities. The King of Bahrain would not even know what had hit him. He smiled and snickered under his breath. I can’t wait to see the look on that pig’s face when I put a bullet in him.

Mousavi hated the Bahrain ruler, his family, and anyone who claimed to be a Sunni. His Shia brothers in Bahrain were the majority of the population, but suffered much under the Sunni’s running the country. The Khalid family had ruled this small island nation for over 300 years and until recently had ruled it with an iron fist. With the death of King Hamad’s uncle, Ahmed bin Ayad Al Khalid, the King had set about making life somewhat easier for all his subjects, but there were 300 years of distrust to work through. The King made education compulsory for all children up to the age of 16, whether Sunni or Shia. Also announced was a monthly stipend of 1,000 Dinars for all citizens. These payments would come from proceeds earned from the government controlled oil industry. He further made it mandatory for government jobs to be open to all citizens, Sunni or Shia. Something of this nature would be very hard to enforce. The entire civil service was currently 98 percent Sunni.

Mousavi said to himself, Who does this goat think he is kidding. It’s all talk. My team will take him out, and in the ensuing chaos, the Shia will be empowered to overthrow the Khalid family. The Ayatollah himself had authorized this action, and was standing by to hear favorable results from Mousavi.

Several children were outside in a play area between the palace and the beach. The squeals of laughter were full of happiness and joy, normal for children who did not have a care in the world. These were the children of the future, who would one-day rule the country of Bahrain. Watching over them was Sarah Madras, a registered nurse and nanny from Barcelona, Spain. Shaykha Nawal, the King’s wife, had recently hired her after an exhaustive search for just the right person. Sarah was a part time activist, favoring the Palestinians over the Jews in Israel, the Shia over the Sunni all over the world. Her one weakness was that she loved children, and did not care whom they belonged too. She was especially fond of the Kings grandson Hamad.

She caught movement in her peripheral vision near the beach, her instincts telling her it was Mousavi and his team. She was a well-planned insert and was Mousavi’s woman. She gazed towards the beach for a brief moment, and could see Mousavi standing there, beside a palm tree. She longed to be with him, but he had convinced her that she must do this for Iran. She began waving at Mousavi, trying to indicate to him to go away. Mousavi misinterpreted her hand signal, thinking she was telling him hello with her waves.

Inside the palace, Shaykha Nawal was looking out an upstairs window. In spite of the beautiful view, she was angry with the King over a last minute change in plans. The Crown Prince from Qatar was coming in this afternoon to work out a funding agreement. The two countries had already reached a general agreement to build a causeway that would connect the two countries. A sudden movement caught her attention on the beach. There stood a single figure on the beach. Now who could that be, she said to herself. The man raised his hand and waved to someone at the palace. She immediately saw Sarah waving back. Nawal thought to herself, What is that all about?

Suddenly, the palace shook like there was an earthquake. An explosion near the beach side entrance to the palace went off. The accompanying concussion of the explosion knocked Nawal off balance and she fell, but was otherwise uninjured. She screamed at Mohammed, the team leader for the Palace Guards, The beach Mohammed, the beach. The guards immediately went into action, intent on engaging the beach side intruders. As B team rounded the East corner of the Palace, there was another explosion, taking out the front three guards, killing them instantly. Mohammed led his team around the West corner of the palace, taking immediate fire from the beach. Both A and B teams decided to dig in a bit, and laid down automatic fire in the direction of the Quds. Mohammed had never been in a real firefight, but slowly brought his team forward towards the end of the patio that turned into beach.

The Shaykha sprinted to her bedroom and took a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun from her closet, and grabbed three 20 round clips. She ran back to the window, loaded, and started firing in the direction of the beach. You bastards! I don’t know who you are but you won’t have your way here. She hit two men dressed in black fatigues, killing one and putting the other out of commission. Her firing drew immediate return fire to her location. She quickly ran to the next room and laid down a stream of automatic fire until her clip emptied. She ran from the room and headed up the stairs to the roof, running at full tilt. As she hit the stairs an RPG round came through the window of the room that she had just vacated. It destroyed the back wall and all of the furnishings inside.

Damn, Nawal muttered. Who in the hell are those people? They sure aren’t ordinary citizens; the tactics they were using made it clear they were a military force of some kind. They can’t be Bahraini troops; they wouldn’t be stupid enough to try something like this. That left only one choice. Quds!

Now on the top of the roof, Shaykha Nawal low-crawled to the edge of the roof, skinning her knees and the tops of her sandaled toes. Then she slowly peeked over. She heard gunfire near the house below her, but the weapon sounded different from the guards AK-47s. She took a chance and looked straight down off the roof. It was her grandson Hamad. He was holding a weapon, a Gewehr 3 7.62x51mm select fire battle rifle, and was popping off rounds in the direction of the beach. As Nawal looked down, yet another explosion blew her 12-year-old grandson into the air, separating his left leg from his body.

No Hamad, No, she screamed. She lifted her weapon over the edge of the roof and pumped another clip of 20 rounds toward the intruder’s location. She could see Sarah crawl to Hamad and pull him behind cover, then cover him with her body. This confused Nawal. She obviously knew the man on the beach, he was obviously a part of the attacking force, and yet there she lay covering Hamad’s body to keep him from getting hurt worse than he was.

More of Mohammed’s guards died in the ongoing firefight, and several more were injured.

Mousavi was pissed. Who is that bitch on the roof, he asked of no one in particular. She has done more damage to my team than the supposed elite palace guards have. He contacted the six members of his team still alive and uninjured, ordering them to retreat to the boat. "Bring the dead and wounded with you. All hands, they have the high ground and that bitch up there is a good shot. We will go, and live to fight another day.

Five minutes later, they boarded an Iranian version of the Mark V Special Operation Craft. Mousavi called his contact in Manama. What the hell Rahim? I did not see hide nor hair of the King. He must have been hiding behind the skirts of the women.

Mousavi, I was just about to call you. The king had an unexpected visitor from Qatar and will not be in Sikia until tomorrow. I just found out 1 minute ago.

We are aborting the mission. This whole thing has been a disaster.

The Mark V took off and twenty minutes later Mousavi and his crew were standing on the deck of the Moudge Class Frigate, IRIS Jamaran. All ten members of the team were accounted for including the one dead and two injured. Mousavi was on the radio with the Ayatollah, giving him the bad news.

What do you mean you didn’t get the King?

"Supreme Leader, the King was not there. He was supposed to be, but he was not. Our informant was waving us off when we arrived, but I thought she was just waving at me. I was able to contact our man in Manama via cell and he gave me the news that the King was not at the palace. My humble apologies to you Supreme Leader, I will immediately turn myself over to authorities for the punishment I am due.

Oh nonsense Mousavi, said the Ayatollah. Your father would have my hide if anything was to happen to you. Get your team back here, and then give me a full briefing on what took place.

"Yes, Supreme Leader, as you wish.

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The ambulance arrived at Three Oaks Ranch well ahead of the injured people it had been dispatched to treat. Sheriff Tolliver hopped in his truck, and said Follow me people. Zack jumped in the passenger side and the two vehicles drove as quickly as the sandy terrain would allow them.

Five minutes out, the two vehicles rendezvoused with the folks on horseback and deputy Dobbs who was following them in his pickup.

The EMT’s jumped out of the Ambulance and ran to the group of people. Who is hurt the worst, one of them asked?

Here, Vera said, pointing to Lupe. Do not grab her off the horse. She has a tourniquet on her leg and a piece of splintered wood stuck in her chest. The two men looked at Lupe, who by this time had lost a lot of blood and was quite pale.

"Ma’am, ride your horse to the back of the Ambulance. We have a platform that we can raise to you so that you can dismount by simply laying on it. Make sure you put your right shoulder down first, and I will be there to assist you without moving your left shoulder. The maneuver worked like a charm. Soon Lupe was sitting in the back of the ambulance, hooked to an IV bag and a plasma bag. One of the EMTs was working feverishly on her leg. He took the makeshift bandage off her leg, then removed the gauze from the wound. He cleaned out the wound with cold water, then applied a saline solution that mimiced Lupe’s internal PH. In an environment with improper pHi, biological cells may have compromised function. He put several sterile bandages on the raw skin to fill the deep injury, then packed gauze on top of the bandages. Finally, the EMT wrapped gauze around Lupe’s leg several time, then taped the entire treatment in place. He added a large leg wrap and buttoned it in place as tight as he could without causing Lupe pain. He then gently removed the tourniquet. Some blood seeped out, but for clinical purposes her bleeding had subsided.

Lupe said, "What can you do about this splintered piece of wood. I would prefer that you take it out, unless it will cause more damage. I can tell you this, it did not hit any arteries or my heart. It is too far to my left to be anywhere near my heart.

Well, let’s take a look. The two EMT’s fingered the wood a bit, trying to decide whether the splinter was lodged, or just penetrated and could be removed.

Jeez, I wish I could see the board that this spintered piece came from. I mean looking at the piece sticking out of your back, it seems that it is larger in the front than in the back. It also seems a bit loose which would indicate that is not lodged in place. We can wait until we get to the hospital to have the doc take a look at it. Or, we can try and push and pull it out of the front. Your call.

Lupe said, You are the experts here. I am in pain, but I am ready for you to try and slide it back out.

Hector said, Mama, are you sure. Doing that might cause more damage.

Trust me Hector. As bad as this hurts now, it could not possibly cause me any more pain that I am in at the moment.

Zack said, defending Hector’s reasoning, Mama, it is only 15 minutes to the clinic, you sure you can’t hold on for another little while. Nothing against these guys, but it might be better if a doctor did the removal.

I hear you Zack. But please, Mijo, I need this thing out of me now.

Zack nodded his assent to the EMTs. He knew he wasn’t going to talk her out of it anyway, so his only choice was to agree.

The EMT said, Ms., if I pull this object out of your chest, there is always the possibility of it causing a sucking chest wound. I have the items to treat such a wound, and will put them in place anyway to prevent an SCW from occurring later.

Lupe thought for a minute, then said, Go ahead and take it out fellas.

As cliché as it was, the EMT handed a wrapped piece of soft wood for Lupe to bite down on during the process. "This will keep you from biting your lips Ms.

Aye yo, Lupe said.

I’m not going to lie to you Ms., this is going to cause you some discomfort, but we will do this as quickly as possible. You have handled your wounds remarkably well so far, so just hang in there.

Okay, said Lupe. Let’s get on with it.

When the chief EMT started pulling the wood splinter out to the front, it immediately moved, unimpeded. Once the tip on Lupe’s back disappeared inside her body, the other EMT placed a large SCW bandage over the hole and taped it in such a manner that air could neither enter or exit the hole.

Once the patch was in place, the Chief EMT began sliding the splinter forward slowly. The only worry the EMT had was splinters snagging on the edges of the hole caused by the large splinter. It was still moving forward freely. Lupe winced occassionally as the large splinter move slowly outward. The other EMT was standing by with another SCW bandage. The splinter came right out of the hole with no trouble. The EMT immediately squeezed a saline solution into the 2 inch hole, then placed the SCW bandage over the wound. There was no evidence of the hole sucking air, but the bandage was placed on as a precaution.

Lupe let out a loud sigh. Oh my, I feel much better already.

Sorry to run, but we have to attend to the others now.

Please, go.

Everyone of the group needed attention, and a large amount of bandages, gauze, anti-bacterial solutions and other medical supplies were used. Vera’s bullet wound in her side was treated by cleaning the entry and exit wounds with clean water. The bullet had penetrated and exited, but surprisingly enough there was not much bleeding. A fine layer of petroleum jelly was placed on both entry and exit, then a non-stick bandage applied to both, as well. A body wrap was placed around her stomach and back, held in place with bandage clips on the side of her body furtherest away from the wound. Prissy’s bullet wound was treated with bandages at the entry and exit points, then a four inch ace bandage placed over the bandaged wounds and wrapped around her leg.

Zack said, Wow! Don’t we look like the walking wounded. You would think we were in an explosion or something.

Everyone laughed, even the hard-nosed Sheriff.

Twenty minutes later the entire group minus deputy Dobbs were at the clinic in Fowler. The Sheriff had called the County Coroner, who was now busy gathering all of the dead bodies and taking them to the morgue. The coroner made the comment to his assistant, What the hell Charles, what happened out here. Reminds me of a combat zone in Iraq. I hope the Sheriff has fun investigating this mess. The Coroner didn’t know it yet, but the Sheriff had called in CBI investigators to run the investigation. He knew this was way over his capability and the county resources at his disposal, to conduct a proper investigation. This was something the Colorado Bureau of Investigation were trained for and had the resources available to do.

The Doctor at the clinic praised the EMTs for their work on Lupe. Excellent work guys. He removed the bandages, and ran an MRI on the area around the shoulder wound. As luck would have it, the clinic had just purchased their first MRI machine and the read outs were fantastic. It clearly showed the wound, and revealed nothing internally that would turn into permanent damage. He re-bandaged both sides of the wound then turned his attention to Lupe’s leg wound.

The staff of Nurse Practicioners and Emergency Medical Techs continued to bandage, medicate, and wrap on the wounds of the other people as needed.

Outside, Zack was on a phone call with his commanding officer back at Fort Bragg. LTC(P) Joe was on the horn, playfully chastising Zack.

Damn, son. I can’t ever send you anywhere, even home on leave, without you being involved in a major altercation. What the hell happened out there?

First sir, congratulations on being selected for Lieutenant Colonel. You deserve it.

Thanks Chief. That means something coming from a warrior.

Well sir, as far as what went down out here, it’s not good. One of our former SOC agents, employed by the CIA, put together a team of retired and ex-SEALS and came after me and my adopted family. Fortunately for us, we were able to hold them off, with the help of a mystery man from Germany. He took out almost the entire team of bad guys, but not before the SOC guy blew up the mine my family was hiding in.

I’m sorry to hear about that Chief Stone. That sort of crap is not supposed to happen against one of our own. Anyway, I received a call from the CIA’s Special Activities Division. Acting Chief Sandra Casey is who asked for you. She wants you in Bahrain ASAP.

Colonel, please. Those guys want me dead. I’m not doing anything for them.

That is exactly what I told HQ. General Stark has put a halt to all assistance to the CIA until an investigation of that Division has been conducted.

Thank God, a man with balls.

"However, the General has instructed me to send you there to assist the Royal Family and their fledgling Special Ops program. It has not been released to the public yet, but Quds Forces from Iran attacked the King’s Beach Palace in Sikia. The King’s 12 year old grandson lost a leg during the attack, and the King is pissed. He was considering an armed response against Iran, but his Special Ops guy, uhh, Brigadier Abdullah Al Aziz, talked him out of it. And because we suspect there are Shia locals spying for Iran, you are to bypass CENTCOM Forward altogether and report directly to the Brigadier. You will have an American POC at NSA Bahrain, CWO4 Bronson, leader of the SEAL team. I will forward all his information to you shortly. If you have to speak face to face with him, use a safe house. Do not go anywhere near the Navy Base in Juffair.

Aye, Aye, said Zack. Got to get used to that Navy talk I guess.

Colonel Joe said, You are never without something smartass to say are you Chief Stone? Some day that mouth of yours is going to get you into some deep kimchi, he said laughing. But I so look forward to speaking with you Chief. I love a man who speaks his mind, military courtesy be damned.

Sir, I hope you don’t take my barbs as a show of disrespect. They certainly aren’t meant that way.

No, I know you Chief, and trust me, I would know if you were disrespecting me. I’m just saying, be careful with your language over there. They don’t much like smart asses in the Middle East, especially American smart asses. Throw in the fact that your point of contact is a SEAL and being a smart ass with him might not bode well for you. From what you have told me, you and Mystery Man took out six of them. And remember this. To a SEAL there is no such thing as an ex-SEAL no matter how disgusting or obnoxious they may be. You took out his brothers my friend, and this might cause some complications for you. If I were you, I would only contact him when and if it is a real emergency.

I hear you Colonel. I may forgo a meet with him at all and just call him initially. There is really no need to meet with him and get him all riled up. Sometimes people are just hard-headed and will only believe what they want to believe. Fact is, his brothers’ were the bad guys in this attack because they chose the wrong side. I’d rather just deal solely with the Bahraini’s and stay away from him. I would like a chance to explain to him what happened and why, but I suppose that is something that can be done another time. It might be better if SOC sent an explanation message to the Navy, and hopefully this Warrant Officer Bronson will accept an official explanation."

True Dat. I’ll try to work on it from that angle, said the Colonel.

You see Colonel Joe, that’s what I like about you.

What’s that Chief, he snickered.

You are a lot like me. You don’t talk like a regular officer with career aspirations. You are as big a smart ass as I am. The two laughed hard at that little joke between them.

That is true my friend, but you listen to me Chief. You keep your nose clean and your head down over there.

I will sir, and thank you.

Joe continued. Plan on stopping at Fort Meyer in Arlington. See a Master Sergeant there by the name of Bryan Stone. I am sure he is no relation to you, and probably wouldn’t claim to be if he was.

Both men broke into another round of laughter.

Yes sir. And why am I to see him?

He will brief you up on what is going on out there, provide you with cover orders, give you copious amounts of funny money, and arrange to ship your weapons and equipment to a safe house in the Mahooz section of Manama. It will be DHL overnight so you will have what you need within 2 days. Overnight in Arabic is, as you know, 2-3 days. Inshallah, that is.

Again, the two men broke into laughter.

However, Zack knew from past missions in the Middle East in Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq that what the Colonel was telling him was spot on. The term inshallah, roughly translated, means I hope so, or God willing with the speaker