by Drake, J. L.
“So you like alternative rock then?”
“I like all music, but yes, that would be my second favorite.” I smile, then spot Keith watching us from the porch. A slow chill runs up my spine as he slowly starts to walk our way.
“Savannah, can you come join me inside?” Keith asks looking white as a ghost. I feel the panic form and it grows inside my stomach, making its way to my heart which is now beating at a rapid pace. I look at Derek, seeing him make eye contact with Keith.
A moment later Derek takes me by my arm, walking me toward the front door. I don’t want to be indoors.
I want to run far away from what they’re about to tell me. I don’t want to think the worst, but it’s there teeter-tottering between the good and the bad. One moment I’ll be okay then the next I’m looking for an exit.
Keith opens the door to Dr. Roberts’s office.
I feel the tension in the room and a rush of goose bumps breaks out making me shiver.
Daniel’s arm is wrapped around Sue. Her eyes are glossy and her hands are clenched into fists.
Oh God, I look around at everyone’s face feeling the haunting prickle that’s dancing along the back of my neck.
June holds out her hand for me to sit next to her. I do, nearly falling over my shaky feet.
Abigail joins us a moment later dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Doctor Roberts gives her shoulder a quick squeeze. Everyone is painfully quiet as Daniel gives Keith a nod to begin.
“Fifty-four hours ago team Blackstone entered the house known to be The American’s main place of residence.” He clears his throat as mine closes over. “Things didn’t go according to plan. They had to abort the mission. While attempting to retreat they came under fire. Everyone got out, except Cole.”
Everything stops. Time; movement; brain waves; breathing; heartbeat—you name it, it just stops. I barely hear his next words, but they eventually find me. “We do know he’s alive.”
“How?” Sue cries out, reaching for her husband, who grips her hand tightly.
“We’ve received confirmation from Washington that the satellite camera picked up an image of Cole being transported to an unknown location by The American and the Cartels.”
My lungs beg me to take a deep breath. Finally I do, letting out a horrible sob.
Abigail leans over rubbing my back as I fall forward onto my thighs.
“We don’t know all the details, but the guys are in pretty bad shape and have been ordered to return to the house once they’ve been checked out by the medic in Washington.”
“They-they left him there?” I whisper feeling the heat from the tears that course down my cheeks.
Keith looks at me pressing his lips together.
“Frank is now in charge,” Daniel says in an eerie voice, “since Cole isn’t able—” He stops himself, taking a deep breath. “They’re coming home, that’s an order from Frank. They don’t have a choice, Savannah.”
“Yes they do!” I shout through my tears. “What about Cole? What if they—” My hand covers my mouth. Another loud sob escapes as I stand, feeling sick and light headed. “Please make them go back,” I beg. I turn to Keith crying out every word. “Please, please, Keith, please, make them go back and find him. I want him back, he needs to come back!”
“I’m sorry, Savannah, it’s out of my control.” Keith’s eyes plead with me to understand.
I start to back up toward the door. I feel claustrophobic—the walls closing in and the ceiling lowering. I need to get away. Everyone is watching me. Some stand and approach, but I hold up a hand warning them off. I just want Cole back. I bump into Derek who’s now standing in my path. I hear Sue say to Daniel that I should calm down. How can I calm down when they are telling me that Cole is being held captive, not when the father of our baby is being held against his will…no, I need to get out of here…Now.
The look I give Derek makes him move aside. Doctor Roberts calls out for me but I hear nothing but the door handle turning. I move without thinking up to my room, punching the keypad on the wall and dropping onto the pillows in Sue’s private library. I curl up, passing out immediately. My thoughts quickly return to when I was held safe and sound in his arms. Yes, it’s only a dream, but I’ll take what I can get.
***
Sue finds me some time later with Keith's help. She slowly lowers herself to the floor.
I’m awake, facing away from her. I ache too much to move.
She lies behind me wrapping her arm around my mid-section holding my hand in hers.
I sob, desperately needing a mother and she sobs, desperately needing a child to hold.
She holds on while we both go through a roller coaster of emotions. We both fall asleep and wake several hours later feeling drained, and in need of some water.
We decide to go for a walk, neither wanting to be alone.
Keith and Daniel are working away in Cole’s office.
Not wanting to disturb them, we head outside for some fresh air. We don’t talk about anything important just mindless jabber when the pain becomes too much. I’m really thankful for Sue needing me as much as I need her. She’s is fast becoming my rock. Thank God for her and Abigail. I don’t know what I would do without them.
I flinch when she does. We hear it before we see it, the noise of the rotor makes my heart pound. I turn to see the black helicopter flying low over the mountains behind us. As it descends, it kicks up snow, making it swirl around us. I squeeze her hand knowing how hard this is going to be.
She tugs my arm heading back toward the house.
We’re almost to the porch when the SUV stops next to us. I feel Keith come to my side.
The doors open and Paul gets out first. He’s struggling to stand up straight.
John is next coming to Paul’s side, grabbing his bag then wrapping his arm around Paul's waist to stabilize him.
Mark keeps his head down as he comes into view. His body language makes me uncomfortable. I notice not one of them has made eye contact with me.
Keith motions for us to come inside.
Sue never lets go of my hand as we slump down onto the couch waiting for them to join us.
They drop their bags and carefully make their way in. Daniel helps John sit Paul on the couch. His leg is in a small brace making it hard for him to move around.
Mark’s arm is in a sling tied tightly to his chest, he’s like a robot making his way to his seat. He sits staring at the floor I’m not even sure if he knows we are all here with him.
“Here.” Daniel sets Mark’s drink on the table and stands by the fire. I notice Mark doesn’t reach for it. We all wait while the guys gather themselves.
“Nothing went according to plan.” Paul’s voice is quiet. “The moment we entered the house, it all went to shit.”
My stomach is in knots. I want to yell out what the fuck happened? Where is Cole? But I don’t. Instead I sit and stare at Mark who still hasn’t looked up.
“A maid caught us as we moved through the kitchen. She dropped her tray and one of their men saw us.”
“There were so many of them,” John says clearing his throat. “My radio got busted when three of them jumped me. I managed to get away and went to our next location but no one came so I went back to the last spot I’d seen Paul in the dining room. I found a safe spot and tried to fix my radio but it was done.”
“After I got a knife to the leg I found cover in a closet. Thirty minutes later, Cole found me,” Paul says.
I break my gaze from Mark and look at Paul.
“He saw my leg and told me that Mark had a bullet wound. He said we were to abort the mission. That’s when he left looking for John.”
John rubs his head. “We got stopped on our way over to get them. Cole got one man down and sent me ahead to get the guys out. I met Paul and Mark in the hall and we headed for the door. The last thing I heard was a gunshot and a Cartel falling down the stairs. I glanced back when we were running for our check in point I-I—” He shakes h
is head. “I couldn’t see him.”
My head starts to prickle, my eyes are feeling fuzzy, and my hands go cold as I listen.
“We waited for him.” Paul takes over because John is barely holding it together. “We waited all night and into the morning. We fixed each other up as best we could and called in for support. By the time they came the place was cleared out. We were ordered to return here until further notice.”
My eyes shift around the room trying to absorb what we’re being told. I want so much to yell at them to go back but I can see they’re just as raw as I am. They had to leave a man behind, their Colonel, their friend, and brother. I can’t imagine. Suddenly, I feel a horrible cramping pain in my stomach, one that matches the pain from the gaping hole in my heart. I wrap my arms around my mid-section as my face breaks out in sweat.
“Savi?” Keith is kneeling in front of me. “You need to calm down.”
“Calm down? Calm down!” I repeat feeling the anger burn through me. I stand, feeling the pain wrap around my middle.
“Yes, Savannah,” Daniel warns, but I’m not realizing what they’re getting at.
I back away running both hands through my hair, tears streaming down my face. My chest feels like it’s going to explode. I raise my arms up wide. “You want me to calm down while Cole is sitting in a prison somewhere or six feet—” I stop, closing my eyes. I feel everyone staring at me. I drop my arms hitting my legs with a thud and turning on my heel I head for my room. I curl up in a ball to ease the pain in my stomach and cry myself to sleep.
***
Cole huffs out as one of the men sticks his finger in the large gash across his torso. Over the last two days, he has been tortured by some very imaginative assholes. The electric shocks, waterboarding, and whippings haven’t broken him yet. The two rats in front of him seem to be growing bored. They leave him hanging by his wrists from a chain, his feet a foot off the ground. His shoulders have lost any feeling long ago. The pain he should be feeling is blocked by long hours training to turn that part of the brain off. He watches as they walk down the hallway forgetting to shut the door. He takes the opportunity to listen to all the sounds in the little house. He concentrates on trying to remember the steps from when he arrived. Eleven steps from the Land Rover, three steps past the doorway, fourteen till the bedroom. He hears a TV turn on and the opening of twist-off beers. He closes his eyes, slipping into meditation mode, taking this time to get some rest so he will be mentally strong enough when they decide to come at him again.
***
A bright light burns into his closed eyelids. Cole senses he’s not alone.
A shadow moves in front of his face and the sound of nails on tile sparks a memory for him. Savannah’s description of The American’s boots. Cole plays like he’s passed out, hoping to gather something from him.
“So, this is the famous Colonel Cole Logan,” The American says in perfect English.
“Si seńor,” a man’s voice answers.
“How many men did his team kill?”
“Veintiocho”
Yeah, motherfucker. Twenty-eight down, a billion more rats to go.
“And he’s not talking?”
“No.”
“I think I may know how to fix that.”
Two footsteps later and he gets a hard punch to the stomach. “Time to wake up, Colonel,” The American says sharply.
Cole coughs, trying to catch his breath, then leans forward taking in what the man is wearing: his signature, black and white suit, a cowboy hat, and his ridiculous looking cowboy boots with the gold- headed cobra sticking out at the tips.
“At last, we finally meet after all these years,” he says.
Cole keeps silent, watching him, studying his movements. He has a slight limp in the right leg and he keeps tilting his head to the left like his neck is hurting.
“So, I’m going to ask you a question and you’re going to answer it. Where is my Savannah?”
It takes everything in Cole’s body to not to react.
The American nods his head fixing his left shirt cuff. “So short term physical torture doesn’t seem to bother you. I wish we had more time, but sadly we don’t.” He taps his mouth with his finger. “I wonder how strong you are mentally.” He smirks. “Mr. Donavan, would you please join us?”
Cole gaze moves to the door when he hears footsteps.
It only takes a moment to realize who it is. A wheel of photos flicker through Cole’s memory the most recent from when they were doing surveillance on the house and this guy shows up. A navy blue suit with a cream-colored cloth bag over his head with his wiry body is hard to forget.
“I’ll take it you recognize me?” he asks, smirking.
“I do,” Cole grunts out.
“You see, Colonel, we have a problem. You screwed up a very important business deal for me.” He moves closer. “This can be very easily fixed if you would just give me Ms. Miller.”
Cole takes a minute, trying something. He rotates his shoulder and flops his head around like he’s losing consciousness.
Mr. Donavan looks at The American. “Can you at put him in a chair or something?” He points to Cole’s stomach. “This is offensive to me. I don’t need to see this all stretched and bloody.”
The American shakes his head slowly, annoyed, but calls for the men to come. “Don’t try anything,” The American says, sticking a 40mm in Cole’s face as the men release the pulley system lowering him into a wooden chair. They keep his hands and feet bound but don’t actually tie him to the chair. He notices one of them is wearing a longhorn belt buckle. The horns look more like a weapon than a decoration. A dull ache runs through him as he starts to feel the beating his body took but relishes in the fact that his plan worked and he was released from the ceiling. His mind slips back into survival mode as he sits, his body starting to build strength as the seconds tick by.
“Now,” Mr. Donovan says as he takes a seat in front of him, “where’s the girl?”
Cole moves his tongue around his mouth tasting tin he spits to his side…yup blood. He looks over at the man, taking his time answering, “Why the girl?”
“Do you know who I am?” He leans forward in his chair, “I mean really know who I am?”
“Luka Donovan, the Mayor’s assistant.”
“Correct. I’ve known the Mayor’s daughter for a long time,” he says, smiling at Cole.
Cole smiles back but for a very different reason, his much more violent.
“You see, the Mayor is up for re-election. The numbers are good but due to his daughter’s constant fuck-ups they’re not great. So a change was necessary.” He leans back shaking his head. “I never would have been able to pull it off if it wasn’t for Lynn.”
Cole always suspected Savannah’s best friend, but could never connect the dots. “Savannah trusted her more than anyone,” he continued conversationally. “So when Lynn and I met for dinner and she agreed she could get a customer of hers to pose as a prospective client who could lure her ‘friend’ down to the parking lot at the right time, it was perfect.”
“Joe Might?” Cole interrupted.
Luka nods with a shrug. “You see, Colonel, much like in your profession, I, too, meet a lot of shady people. You start to learn things. Like money doesn’t always buy you what you want, but a pretty face and a smoking body like Savannah's can.”
Before Cole even thinks about what he is doing he lunges forward, plowing Luka off his chair into the wall.
Luka cries out as the wind is knocked out of him.
Cole elbows him in the face and knees him in the stomach just as he feels a hard crack between his shoulder blades. He drops to the ground and sees the butt of the gun as it collides with his temple. The pain doesn’t register as he tries to get back up but The American sticks the gun in his face making him freeze.
“Make one more move and I’ll blow your head off,” he hisses closing his eyes, teeth grinding loudly, no doubt trying to calm himself. “Get him out of her
e!”
Two men grab hold of Cole and another keeps his gun in his face.
He sees Luka in a ball on the floor moaning holding his stomach. He tries to force himself to control his thoughts as the deadly violence in them would probably get him killed if he didn’t. Handcuffing him to a water pipe in a small closet and slamming the door closed, they leave him alone in the dark. Cole shifts leaning his head against his hands using pressure to stop the bleeding from his temple and letting out a long sigh thinking of all the ways he could escape. He just needs to get his hands on a weapon.
A small breeze of cool air next to where the pipe meets the wall gets his attention. He lines his eye up with the one-inch hole and he can see outside—there’s lights about twenty yards away. He must be in a small town. He turns back around when he hears footsteps, then muffled voices and a loud crack, followed by a thump. He sees the light under his door go dark as something is being dragged outside the room. Shaking his head not wanting to know, he pulls at the pipe testing it's strength. He leans back, kicking at the base of it but it’s no use. “Fuck!” he whispers to himself resting his head against the wall, needing sleep. He closes his eyes, but all he can think about is Savannah. She must be beside herself right now. His chest hurts thinking about her. He knows that she will be devastated by Luka and Lynn being behind the kidnapping.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Wake up!” Luka kicks him in the ribs. “I said wake up!”
Cole opens his eyes, even though he’s been awake most of the night. He dismisses the pain in his ribs and smirks when he sees Luka is sporting a black and blue goose egg over his eye.
Luka glares down at him. Closing the door he pulls up a chair and sits watching Cole. “I heard you were one tough Green Beret. Hell, you became a Colonel at thirty; you must really be something,” he croons. “But you see, Colonel, everyone has a weak spot.” He leans back, crossing his legs. “And last night you showed me yours.” He smirks back. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Her long, silky hair, her tan skin, those dark eyes that seem to pull you in, that slender body with just the right amount of curves, mmm, so lovely.” He shakes his head like he’s remembering something. “I don’t think there’s a man in that office that didn’t think about screwing her.”
