SECRET AGENT DAWSON
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin: Mission into
Hell's Fury
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin seemed like a quiet
town. They had been there for a few days and Jack was beginning to think they
had been set up. Was the letter to Kaufman a fraud to get them off the trail?
he wondered.
They waited, but a few hours later a boat
pulled onto the lake, and it was heavily guarded. They kept an eye out on the
boat, looking for George. When they spotted him, everyone was in their places.
"Tommy, are you in position?" Jack
called on his walkie-talkie.
"Affirmative." Tommy arranged his rifle
into a comfortable position.
"Okay, people. Time to get this mission
underway," Jack told his crew.
Kevin, Bill, Tobey, Christian, and a few
other men put on diving gear as they prepared to enter the water.
Jack surveyed the team as they headed into the
water. He kept a close eye on everything. George was not leaving his sight this
time.
When they got to the boat, they boarded.
Hardly anyone was on deck, so when Jack gave them the go ahead they entered. He
would have loved to have been there, but he was glad he wasn’t. He would have
killed George for hitting Rose.
Flashback to the evening before…
"Jack, I am not going to argue with you.
I love you, but I am not going to stand by and watch you kill yourself for
something so stupid." Rose stood there looking at him.
"Rose, it isn’t stupid. George hit you.
I want revenge." Jack was packing his stuff, getting ready for the
mission.
"Revenge on what? It was an accident. I
swear, I never saw you like this before. What is wrong with you?" She
looked at him. It seemed like she knew him less and less over the past few
days.
"Rose, this is me. Since the day we met,
you knew I had many secrets. So, God help me when I want to protect the woman I
love. I just can’t figure out why you are being so stubborn about this."
He glanced up at her. He knew she was worried, but this was something he had to
do.
"I am not stubborn, Jack. You are taking
this way out of proportion. Does this have something to do with Chloe?"
Rose knew she had stepped into difficult territory when she said that.
"Chloe’s dead. She saved my life."
He couldn’t believe she would bring Chloe into this. He looked at her with an
angry stare.
"Now the ugly monster comes out. This
isn’t about me. It’s about Chloe." She felt hurt, but then she didn’t. She
had never known Jack totally. He was still a mystery to her.
"Okay. I admit part of it is because of
her." He wanted to tell her everything, but it seemed that when he tried
to hide his past, it just kept showing up.
"How serious were you two?" Rose
asked.
"Pretty serious. We were gonna be
married the following week before she died." He could feel the pain
tearing him apart, but he stood his ground. He would not cry for something in
the past.
"Jack, you have to let her go. She
wouldn’t want you mourning her death." Rose looked at him with sympathy.
"I know. I just can’t help it." He
held her and kissed her. He hated fighting, so he just gave up and let
everything come out. He cried on her shoulder. He had never done that before,
ever.
Back to reality…
"Hey, Jack. Is it a go?" Tommy
called over the walkie-talkie.
"Yeah. It’s a go." Jack paid
attention to the mission.
The area was clear from what Jack could see.
Kevin and his team were on the boat. Everything started going to hell when they
were noticed.
Tommy shot the men that tried to attack Kevin
and the team. He was a good sharpshooter.
Shots went this way and that.
Jack saw someone from far away come up behind
Tobey.
"Tobey, behind you!" he yelled.
It was too late. Tobey was hit, and he fell
to the ground.
Jack ran from where he was and went into the
water with his clothes on. Tobey had been his best friend since they were kids.
He hoped to God he wasn’t dead.
When he got on board, Tobey was bleeding, but
he was still alive. Bill saw and went over to Jack and Tobey.
"Tobey, you okay, man?" Bill asked.
"No. I have been shot," he told
him, wincing at the pain.
Kevin and the others got George secured, and
the bomb, too.
Kaufman had never shown up because Jason
Bourne and Sydney Bristol had closed down his operation a few days before, and
he was now looking at a term of twenty-seven years to life in prison for
terrorist threats.
Jack walked up to George and smiled.
"It’s over now!"
"Not by a long shot, Jack." He
smiled, took out a detonator, and smiled at him.
Jack yelled at everyone to get off the boat.
Bill helped Tobey and threw him into the water. When the bomb went off, the
boat shattered to pieces in a blazing fury of fire.
Jack swam to the surface. He looked for
survivors. Tommy came with the boat to help out. They picked up everyone from
the team. They all looked okay, except for Bill. He was burned badly.
"Jack, tell my wife I love her, and make
sure my little one is taken care of." He closed his eyes and stopped
breathing.
"No, Bill. Don’t go," Jack said,
crying and holding his friend.
Tobey realized that Bill had died saving his
life. He didn’t deserve to live. He felt bad that Lisa was now a widow. He
would take care of her. He owed Bill. He cried silently.
Everyone put their heads down in silence. It
had been a long time since they had lost an agent, especially since it had hit
so close to home.