Freeing Jasper

by Riley Edwards

  Phillips wisely pulled his hand back and clasped them in front of him.

  “Too bad. I was hoping this would be a short day. One of them shooting your treacherous ass would’ve sped things up. Clark, you get the pleasure. Escort this waste of space out to the car. Levi, stay here. Everything in the office is to be packed up. Lenox, Jasper do your worst, I’ll meet you at the shed in an hour – that should be more than enough time. After all, he has no issues flappin’ his gums like a whore in heat. And Jasper, don’t be gentle.”

  The Commander had given me the green light to jack him up, but leave him breathing. Which was a shame, I would’ve liked to put him down.

  Phillips didn’t fight when Clark and I flanked him on the way to the car, Lenox a few steps ahead. No one spoke on the way to the shed, but that changed the moment he was pushed into the building.

  “I can explain,” he said.

  “I’d love to hear this,” Lenox said as I yanked his name tape off his uniform and threw it on the floor.

  I went about removing all insignia patches off his uniform; he didn’t deserve to wear the flag, rank, and unit symbols of the Army on his ACUs. He was a traitor. His actions had put U.S. lives in danger.

  “Roman was going to kill my daughter,” he cried. Yes, actual tears leaked from his eyes.

  “What intel did you pass to Roman?” Lenox started, uncaring that the man was trying to excuse his behavior.

  “He was going to kill her,” Phillips repeated.

  “You mean the child you turned your back on, the child you didn’t want? The child that you threw away and paid her mother not to tell your wife? That child?” Lenox screamed in his face. “What intel did you pass?”

  Lenox’s words might have been for Phillips, but they hit me like a Mac truck. I was no better than Phillips, I had done all those things, too.

  “Dates and locations of arms drops. Battalion movements. Any information I could dig up about deployment dates on the 707.”

  “What’d you give him on the 707?” Clark asked.

  “Practically nothing. The only access I had was when the 707 was auditing bases. Roman wanted to know when the 707 went out for an audit. I guess he didn’t want you guys catching on to the arms drops, the guns and munitions never made it in theatre so they couldn’t be returned.”

  What a dumb fuck.

  “The bank robbery?” I asked.

  Phillips paled. He seemed to be more worried about the robbery than Roman.

  Clark pulled out his phone and scrolled down the screen a few times before he put it back in his pocket and asked, “What was the trade-off with Miller?”

  Phillips didn’t answer.

  “Choose your next statement carefully. Jasper hasn’t had any fun since he took out your friend in the bank, and he’s itchin’ to get a piece of you. You see, there’s a code we live by – loyalty, honor, fidelity, God, and country. You seem to like to disrespect all those things.”

  Still nothing out of Phillips. Clark nodded my way, and with a well-practiced move, I pulled him close with my left hand, and a strong jab to his solar plexus had him coming off his feet before he doubled over in pain.

  “We can do this all day,” Clark explained.

  Phillips tried to inhale and held his stomach. “He was…” He stopped to suck in a breath “He was gonna take out Beverly.” Piece of shit was going to have the mother of his child murdered. “She has been threatening to tell my wife for a long time. She’s pregnant again and said that she wanted us to be a family.

  Phillips was still bent forward, his hands on his knees. Rage taking over, I kneed him in the face, satisfied when I heard the sickening sound of bone breaking, and he fell on his ass with the force of the blow.

  “Did you ever take into consideration maybe the baby was Chuck’s?” I asked.

  “She was fucking both of you. Two married men fucking the same woman. Downright disgraceful,” Clark added.

  “Who else have you sold information to?” Lenox asked.

  “No one. Once word that Roman had been killed got out, I thought I was off the hook,” Phillips said.

  Lenox pulled out his phone and put it to his ear. “Where do you want this POS? I’m done breathing the same air as him.” Lenox was silent for a moment then a broad smile crossed his face. “Roger that.” Then to us. “To the airfield, boys.”

  “No. I have rights under the UCMJ rules and the Geneva convention,” Phillips argued.

  “Unfortunately, you’re right. Even a piece of shit like you has rights afforded by the very country you betrayed. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be appointed legal counsel when you arrive at your destination,” Lenox told him.

  “No, I won’t. You know I won’t. Turn me over to the MP. I’ll admit to everything,” he begged.

  “I know no such thing. Now would be the time where you shut the fuck up,” Clark told him.

  Philips struggled all the way to the car, making us drag him out of the car as well all the way to the airplane where we handed him over to two men in plain clothes, no identification, no names. Whatever agency they belonged to, Phillips was their problem now.

  Good riddance.

  My only thought was getting back to my house to see Emily. I didn’t like that Gains was out there somewhere, no doubt plotting his next attack. The fucker was next. He was going down, and for good.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Emily

  Jasper had been gone for hours, and while it was nice spending time with Connor and Jason, I was tired of watching TV and I was hungry.

  I had begged Connor to take us somewhere, but he refused until Jason said he was hungry, too. He agreed to take us to a drive thru. It’s funny how you can spend all day lazy around the house not caring, but when you’re told you can’t leave, all you want to do is get out of the house – even for fast food.

  I was happy to get in the car. With Jason in such close proximity that meant Connor had to stop drilling me about my relationship – if that’s what you wanted to call it – with Jasper. He was a close friend, but I didn’t feel comfortable talking to him about Jasper. Not yet anyway, not while Jasper and I were still trying to figure things out. It felt like a betrayal to Jasper. I would never tell Connor about Jasper’s past, and without fully explaining that, I couldn’t explain why he had a sudden change of heart, to use Connor’s words about Jason.

  I knew Connor was worried about us, and I tried to reassure him. He admitted that he liked Jasper and thought he was a strong, decent man; however, he was concerned that Jasper would break my heart. He may have been right, Jasper had the power to destroy me. However, I was willing to take my chances.

  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

  “What do you guys want to eat?” Connor asked when he pulled onto the main highway going toward the base.

  “I want nuggets,” Jason said from the backseat. His second favorite food behind pizza.

  “I’m good with whatever,” I told him.

  Connor stopped at the next fast food restaurant and went through the drive thru. I looked into the bag and realized they forgot the dipping sauce. Connor pulled into a spot. “Sorry, I don’t think Jasper even has ketchup at his place,” I said.

  “It’s fine. Stay in the car with the door locked. I’ll be right back.” Connor started to open the door.

  Before he could protest, the door was wrenched all the way open, and a loud bang exploded in the car. Blood poured from Connor’s stomach, and I struggled out of my seatbelt trying to get to the back seat when the back door was opened. Jason was pulled to the door, a gun pointed at his head.

  “I wouldn’t move, Emily. You bring me my book or Jason dies,” Liam said.

  “Don’t do this, Liam. Take me, please leave Jason alone,” I cried.

  He threw a scrap of paper in the backseat. “Call me when you have the book. Don’t think about sending Army boy or I’ll kill Jason. It’s you with my book, or you never see him again.”

  “Please,” I screame
d frozen in place as Liam held a gun to my little boy’s head. Jason’s eyes were full of tears, and he was trembling. “PLEASE!”

  Liam took off running with Jason, and I got out of the car. I was afraid to chase him and have him kill Jason there in the parking lot. Connor was shot, and Liam had Jason.

  “No, no, no,” I yelled, and my legs gave out. I didn’t register the pain when my bare knees made contact with the asphalt. What was I supposed to do? A crowd had gathered around the car. I heard the wailing of sirens in the distance, someone was talking to me, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

  All I could hear was Liam's words roaring in my ears. I’ll kill him.

  ***

  Jasper

  There were police cars surrounding a fast food joint not too far off post. Lenox had to slow the SUV once we got close, partly due to looky-loos and because the fire trucks, police, and ambulances had a lane blocked off.

  I looked in the parking lot to see what all the commotion was and my blood turned to ice.

  “Stop. That’s Connor’s car,” I yelled.

  His red sports car was unmistakable. Lenox veered off the road and slammed on his brakes. He wasn’t fully stopped before I jumped out of the car and ran toward the scene. An officer tried to stop me, but I rushed past him through the police tape. “That’s my wife,” I yelled.

  Connor was on the ground with multiple EMTs surrounding him. Emily was on her knees screaming, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. I skidded to a halt in front of her, dropping to my knees, uncaring I had basically knocked an officer out of the way in the process.

  “Where’s Jason,” I asked.

  “Gone. He took him,” she cried and launched herself at me knocking me on my ass, clinging to me like a spider monkey. For the second time in the same number of minutes my life crashed down around me.

  I didn’t have to ask who. I knew Gains had Jason.

  “Em, I need you to calm down a minute and tell me everything that happened, baby. Step by step.”

  I heard Lenox and Clark push back the local police officers, telling them that Connor was a Deputy US Marshal and lying saying Emily was a protected witness. I didn’t need the PD getting in my way.

  “He shot Connor and grabbed Jason. He said he wanted me to bring him the book. If I didn’t, he’d kill Jason. He threw a phone number in the backseat.”

  “Good. Which way did he go? Did you see what type of car he got into?” I asked.

  “He ran around the building. I didn’t follow him,” she cried.

  “You did the right thing.”

  I looked at Lenox. His face was hard, and his eyes looked ready to shoot fire. He seemed to understand my struggle. He gave me a chin lift, and in a defining moment, I knew what I had to do.

  “Listen to me. You’re gonna stay with Lenox and Clark. They know what to do and won’t leave your side. I’m gonna go get Jason,” I told her.

  “No.” She held on to me tighter. “He said not you, only me with the book. He’ll kill him.”

  “You have to trust me again. I promise you, swear to God, I will find Jason and bring him home to you. But you have to stay with the guys.” She still wasn’t convinced. “Em, I will protect him with my life, you have my word.”

  She nodded her head, and Lenox pulled her off me allowing me to stand.

  “You don’t have to say it, I know,” Lenox said.

  “I called it in,” Clark said.

  I was trusting my team to keep her safe.

  I pulled Emily out of Lenox’s arms and hugged her tightly. With a kiss on her forehead, I passed her back and took off in a full sprint back to the SUV.

  I called Levi. “Where am I going?” I asked when he answered.

  “He headed north on Washington Boulevard,” he said.

  I drove to the next spot where I could make a U-turn and headed north.

  “Traffic cameras are only going to get us so far. Once he gets off the main roads, we’re fucked. There are no cameras on the country roads.”

  “Aren’t you a ball of fucking good news,” I snapped.

  He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know, I just didn’t want to hear how FUBAR’d the situation was. I had to find Jason.

  “Left on First,” Levi said ignoring my outburst. I had about three miles until my turn.

  “Any idea where he would take Jason? Any known associates in the area?” I asked.

  “Phillips’ house is in the opposite direction, though he could’ve double backed using back roads. I’m still sorting through traffic cams. Miller lived on base, he wouldn’t go there. No one else that I could find.”

  “On First, where to?” I asked.

  “Last cam has him on Battlefield, make a right,” Levi said.

  “What’s off Battlefield besides the campground?”

  There was a large military campground in the woods to the west. There was no way he’d go there. The campground was patrolled and well lit.

  “I pulled up the satellite. Half a dozen private homes, directly off the road. Farther back there are a few hunting cabins. They shouldn’t be in use, it’s offseason for deer hunting.”

  “He’s in one of those,” I told him. “Satellite image show any cars in front of a cabin?” I asked.

  “No visual. I can barely make out the rooftops with the tree canopy,” he answered. “It will take an hour at least to get a drone in the air with thermal.”

  That would be extremely helpful. We could easily see their heat signatures.

  “Get one up,” I told him.

  “Text me your coordinates for standby.”

  “Roger,” I acknowledged.

  I turned off a dirt road and pulled as far as I could into the brush trying to conceal the SUV. I got out and shut the door.

  “Where are you going?” Levi asked knowing I wasn’t waiting like he had asked.

  “Hunting.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Emily

  I was going out of my mind. Two goddamn days in a row my son had been in harm’s way. TWO! Liam better pray that Jasper finds Jason safe or I’ll kill him. I’ve never hated another human being as much as I hated him.

  “Emily, stop pacing. Come sit down,” Clark said.

  I bit back the fuck you I wanted to say. Instead, I ignored him. It wasn’t his fault Liam had Jason, but I was not in the right frame of mind to talk to anyone but Jasper. My cell phone was in my hand waiting for his call. I prayed it would be soon. It had been hours. HOURS! Liam could’ve been doing God knew what to my child.

  It was torture. I was in the deepest pits of hell.

  The phone in the hospital waiting room rang, and Lenox answered. It was only a few seconds later, and I could hear him saying thank you before he hung up.

  “Connor’s still in surgery,” Lenox told me.

  I should’ve been more concerned about Connor than I was. My mind was completely focused on Jason; there was nothing left to give Connor.

  “I know…”

  “What do you know, Lenox?” I spit out, my venom finally overflowing. “Do you know what it feels like to have your child held at gunpoint in front of you, then taken while you stood there and did nothing. Do you?”

  “I was going to say, I know this is hard, but you need to stay hydrated. Adrenaline and dehydration are not your friends.” Lenox held up a bottle of water. “While I don’t know what it feels like to see my child at gunpoint, I know what it feels like to see a deranged terrorist hold a gun to Lily’s head. A man who had killed countless people, including his own wife. I know a little about that fear, yes. Those moments where you see your whole world in danger, afraid they’re going to die. I get that you’re scared and you need to lash out. I’m a strong man, Emily, I can take it. You wanna punch and kick and scream? Do it. But, you gotta know, Jasper’s out there doing everything humanly possible to find Jason. He’s a good tracker, smart, and he will get Jason. You have to drink something before you pass out. Jasper will kick my ass
when he gets back if you have a bump on your head. He’s already gonna go ballistic when he sees how torn up your knees are, and you’ve refused to allow us to clean them.”

  “I’m sorry. Fuck, I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. I feel helpless sitting here. I’m an asshole for only thinking about Jason while Connor’s fighting for his life.”

  “You’re doing exactly what Jason needs you to be doing. Sitting here safely so Jasper can concentrate and get him. Right now, Jasper knows you are being taken care of; he’s gone from the Jasper you know to the Special Operator. He has one objective – retrieve his hostage and take out the enemy.”

  Hostage, gunpoint, kidnapping, firebombs, GSW, critical – all words that are not in my daily vocabulary yet here I was hearing them over and over again. Police officers, fire chiefs, perjury, and fraud – again not normal things I deal with in my life. Yet I have lied to the police, the fire department, and my insurance company.

  All because of Liam Gains. Lenox, Clark, Levi, and Jasper had all put their jobs on the line because of me. Connor died, he died, in the ambulance on the way here and had to be resuscitated. I hoped Jasper tore the son of a bitch apart.

  “Drink.” Lenox handed me the bottle of water.

  And that’s how the next few hours went. I paced, Lenox handed me a water bottle every few minutes and made me drink more.

  By the time the phone rang in the waiting room again, I was exhausted and I had to pee.

  “Thank you,” Lenox said and hung up the phone. Then to the room. “Connor’s out of surgery. They repaired the damage and were able to remove the bullet. He’ll be moved to ICU in a few hours. We can go up then.”

  Fatigue and relief in equal measure washed over me. He wasn’t out of the woods, but he made it through surgery – that was something.

  “Someone grab her a soda and a chocolate bar with peanuts,” Lenox asked.

  “I’m not hungry,” I argued.

  The last thing I wanted was to eat.