By LARRY BALLWAHN | Wilton
A President makes enemies, especially if he has been using drones to battle terrorists. There was often collateral damage. Asim Ai-Ashead blamed former President Matthew Keating for the bombing/killing of his wife and daughters. Al-Ashead was the most-sought terrorist of the Middle East because of his very public, very cruel methods of killing and his lack of affiliation with seemingly anything but his personal definition of jihad. He had money available and a worldwide network of supporters and activists.
Before Keating was voted out of office, he had ordered what had turned out to be a failed attempt at killing Asim Al-Ashead. During the raid, the building housing Al-Ashead’s family had exploded. Not knowing better, Keating publicly took the blame. Now he was out of office and his 19-year-old daughter no longer qualified for secret service protection. Al-Ashead knew the perfect way to get back at the former president.
Al-Ashead and a cousin kidnapped Melanie Keating while she was hiking with a boyfriend. The boyfriend was shot in the head as Melanie begged for his freedom. This was happening at the same time that the former president was learning that the word was out that he was being targeted. His effort to get his wife to safety worked, but finding the boyfriend dead was a clear message that Melanie had been taken. Not long after Al-Ashead took credit for the kidnapping and issued his statement and ransom demand. His televised message was directed to former President Keating, and it blamed him and the United States for the death of his family. The ransom demand was one that required the government to act rather than the former President.
President Barnes, with the advice of her husband and chief of staff, ignored the ransom demand. She had no love for Keating and thought her prudence would play well with her political base. After being rushed to safety, Samantha Keating was now in the White House with her husband and the Barnes. She could tell right away that payment of the ransom was unlikely. Their daughter’s beheading was shown on TV via video tape, along with some choice statements by Al-Ashead. It was almost more grief than the Keatings could stand. They promptly went home.
It was there that a forensic scientist gave them some hope. He believed that the beheading was fake; the blood spatter on the camera lens was not right. Perhaps Samantha was still alive! Further investigation led them to understand that Al-Ashead was not still in the White Mountains, but in the Mountains of Libya, a frequent refuge of the terrorist.
Matthew Keating had been a Navy SEAL. He was in his 50s now, but he still had the skills and knowledge, rusty though it was. Official sources were not making headway and in fact had stopped after the beheading. As he told his wife, he was going to get his daughter back and back alive. Obviously, he couldn’t do it alone, but it would have to be off the books. He was joined by two SEALs who were on leave, David Stahl, a Secret Service man who had grown close to the family, and later by a former friend of Melanie’s who was a computer genius. But they were a long way from Libya.
The rescue team discovered that an Air Force tanker was leaving soon and flying nearby. The former President still had some military friends in Washington, and an order from the top got them on the plane. Even so, it took a poker bluff by Mrs. Keating to get them in the air.
Melanie Keating was attempting to escape. A Chinese National wanted Melanie as a bargaining chip. Al-Ashead’s cousin was tired of the terrorist life and wanted out. All of this was going on, and the rescue team was not even there yet. Al-Ashead hadn’t operated for so long without having a trick or two to use.