Hidden Thrones

by Scalzo, Russ

  He jumped in his car and headed for Emily’s place. He thought about calling her, but decided he wanted to surprise her. He would call her from the car when he got to her place. She had told him many times that she was an early riser, so he figured she would be up and about by the time he got there. He thought he would give it another month then, if all was well, he would ask her to marry him. Jack realized he was moving fast, but he knew that she was the one. Besides, he thought if he didn’t act soon, she might change her mind about how she felt about him and that was a not a chance he wanted to take.

  As he turned the corner and pulled up in front of her apartment complex, he noticed a young woman a good distance away out for her morning run. She was athletic looking and seemed very serious about her workout. As she got closer and came into focus, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. It was Emily. She had on a pair of tiny green running shorts and a top that stopped just short of her belly button. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had her ear buds plugged into her iPhone, which was strapped to her side. He had never seen her like this. It was very revealing in more ways than one. She recognized the car and started to slow down.

  Jack got out of the car as she approached with a pleasant but surprised look on his face. He stammered, “Emily?” He stood there, taking in the view.

  “Jack, what are you doing here? Is everything all right?”

  “I... I...” He was completely captured by her outfit. “I wasn’t aware that you were a runner.”

  Emily picked up on the fact that Jack had never seen her dressed like this before, but at this point she was more concerned with why he was standing in front of her apartment building at six-thirty in the morning.

  She repeated her question, “Jack, you didn’t answer my question. Is everything all right? Are you and Frank okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Everybody is fine. I just came by to ask if you wanted to go for a morning walk with me.”

  He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She looked amazing from head to foot. Her legs were beautifully shaped, but then again he already knew that. He couldn’t help but notice that they had great muscle tone and her abs were rock solid as well. Even her arms were tight and toned. She obviously did more than just running. Jack was intrigued.

  “I didn’t know you did this kind of thing. I mean I obviously knew that you kept yourself in good shape, but...”

  Emily interrupted, “Jack, I have to cool down. I need to walk for a while. Do you want to walk with me?”

  Jack’s face lit up. “Sure. Just let me lock the car and I’ll be ready to go.”

  He locked the car and they began to walk towards the park a quarter mile down the street.

  “You realize we have only known each other a few months. I’m sure there are plenty of things I don’t know about you, right?” Emily asked.

  “I suppose so. I have to admit we have been kind of caught up in all that has been going on lately. But I do believe you know more about me than I know about you at this point.”

  Emily stopped and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “That is probably true, but it was more important that I knew more about you first. You must admit that my life is pretty boring compared to yours - angels, demons, and all kinds of espionage round and about Washington. I knew I really liked you, so I needed to know more about who you were to know if our relationship would have a chance.”

  Jack had to ask, “Well, what do you think now?”

  Emily gazed into his eyes and answered, “I think I have fallen in love with you. That’s what I think.”

  They had just reached the small, empty playground situated in the park down the street from Emily’s apartment. They sat down on two of the three swings that were gently swaying in the early morning breeze. Jack was overwhelmed. He was so in love with her that he didn’t know what to do with himself.

  “Emily, you are the best thing that has happened to me other than Christ coming into my life. I love you like I never thought I could love anyone. I want to know more about you. You are incredibly beautiful and smart and kind and you love the Lord, as I do.

  “I’m sorry things have been so insane. I can’t believe it myself. I mean, Frank and I have had interesting cases before, a case here, a case there, but now...” he paused and took a deep breath. “Now it seems all hell has broken loose. I don’t know how, but we need to make sure we spend more time together talking and getting to know one another better.”

  Jack’s heart pounded within him. He wanted to ask her to marry him right then and there, but if that day was ever going to come, he needed to know everything he could about Emily, and the sooner the better. He had been with other women, but that was before he met Jesus. Since then, he promised himself and the Lord that the next time he was intimate with a woman, it would be within the confines of marriage. Staying right with God was essential to his relationship with Him and to his calling.

  Emily stood up, reached down and took his hand, and pulled him up. They stood face-to-face, nose-to-nose. Emily wrapped her long arms around his neck and gazed into his eyes. “Whatever happens, I want you to know this above all else…”

  Wait a minute, Jack thought to himself. What does she mean ‘Whatever happens?’ Is she leaving? Does she expect something bad to happen?

  Before he could open his mouth, Emily kissed him and said, “I have fallen in love with you, Jack Bennett.” Jack loved the way her lips moved when she spoke his name. She tilted her head slightly and a smile slowly broke out on her face. “I have to admit something. Although I had never met you, I had heard of you before I started working at CJ’s.”

  Jack had a bewildered look on his face. “You heard about me? How? I’m not exactly famous.”

  “Actually, in some circles you are quite famous. Your blog is very popular not only in this country, but in other parts of the world. Someone had turned me on to your blog about six months ago. I found it to be very interesting.”

  Jack was surprised and confused. Why hadn’t she mentioned that before? He suddenly felt a little uneasy. It was now becoming obvious there were many things about Emily he did not know. “Wow. Why haven’t you mentioned that before?”

  “I didn’t want you to think I was some weird stalker or something. I’m sure you’ve had your share of those experiences before.”

  “Actually, never. It’s not like I’m a movie star. I’m just a blogger.”

  “Oh yeah. Just a blogger that talks with angels and casts out demons and is being watched by possibly the next President of the United States,” she said sarcastically.

  She continued, “You know, when I saw you walk into CJ’s and sit down with Frank the first time, I wondered if you were involved with anyone. I knew you weren’t married because that was the first thing I looked for - a ring.

  “Then, after days of watching you two talking off and on, I began to wonder what you guys were saying because you always looked so intense. Now of course I know you weren’t talking about sports or some movie you had just seen. You were talking about incredible things - things that few people are even aware of. There were many times when I just wanted to walk up to you and say, ‘Hi my name is Emily. Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?’ but I would always chicken out.

  “And then that day when you came up to the register and asked me out... I couldn’t believe it. In the beginning I was taken in by who you were and what you did, but after a while I realized I was falling in love with you. I guess I’m telling you this because I just want you to know how I feel. I don’t want you ever to doubt it.”

  “Wow! I can’t believe you felt that way. I mean, I never had anyone that crazy over me. Are you sure you’re not on drugs or something?”

  Emily laughed out loud. “You’re funny. You are kind of like drugs in one way, actually. You are addicting.”

  Jack wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in tight. He kissed her on her neck and then pressed his lips on hers. The kiss was the best yet, deep and long. Th
ey both pulled away slowly and together. Jack’s mind went back to her earlier statement. He looked deep into her eyes and asked, “What did you mean when you said, no matter what happens?”

  Emily brought her arms back down to her sides and took a small step back. “Nothing. You know life can take weird twists and turns sometimes and I just wanted you to know that the way I feel about you will never change. That’s all.”

  “Okay, sorry. You just kind of freaked me out a little when you said that. I feel the same way. I will never let you go or change the way I feel about you Emily. Ever.”

  Jack wasn’t really sure what caused Emily to say all that, but he decided he would accept her explanation for now. He loved her too much to think about anything coming between them. He took her hand and they began to walk back to her apartment. It wasn’t the long walk that Jack had hoped for, but all in all, it was a good morning.

  * * *

  It was another awesome spring day in Virginia and Emily was ready for her morning run. She lifted one foot at a time up against the building and did her usual pre-run stretches. She was going to add a half-mile on to her run this morning, bringing it to a full five miles. She could actually do more, but today she was going for speed. She took a deep breath, took a look around, and headed off. Her route this time would take her by the reservoir and through the park, then back home.

  She was very serious about her workouts. The morning run was just the beginning. Every other day after work she hit the gym. She didn’t care for the machines. She mostly used the free weights because she felt it gave her the best workout.

  As she turned the corner by where all the new construction was going on, she noticed a van parked on her side of the road. It wasn’t that unusual on this block because of all the new townhouses that were going up. Plumbers, carpenters, and all kinds of contractors were pulling in and out all day long.

  Some days the guys would make sure they watched her run by. She didn’t mind since they never said anything. They just glanced at her and kept on working. But there was something different about this van. It didn’t have a company name on the side of it, and it looked too clean to have been traveling on the wide, muddy dirt road that led to the construction site. As she approached the van, her heart began to pound and she unintentionally picked up her pace. As she ran by it, she peered in at the driver, but he was busy reading something. As soon as she passed it, she felt kind of silly as she continued down the road towards the reservoir. She just wrote it off as paranoia that came with hanging around Jack and Frank.

  The area around the reservoir was beautiful, especially this time of year. One of the flowers that Emily particularly loved was the Arisaema triphyllum. It was exotic with all its twists and curves and beautiful colors, but the real reason she loved it was because of its other name, Jack in the Pulpit. She smiled. It fit him to a tee. As she ran past some large bushes to her right, she heard something behind her. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her shoulders from behind. The next thing she knew, someone had pulled a black hood over her head. She could feel the string tighten around her neck. She spun around to take a swing at whoever it was, and that was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

  The kidnapper threw her over his shoulders at the same time a van raced around the corner with its side doors wide open and pulled up beside them. He threw her inside and slammed the door shut. He motioned to the driver and they sped away. A few minutes went by and Emily started to wake up, her head pounding. She realized she must have been hit pretty hard to have blacked out like that. They had jammed a rag in her mouth to keep her quiet so she was unable to scream. The man sitting in the back with her noticed her moving and pulled the hood off her head. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the light, but when they did she could see that there were two of them, a driver and the one who grabbed her. One of them had a large scar on his right cheek and an evil smirk on his face. She tried to get a look at the driver, but she could only see the back of his head. That was enough for her to know that it was the same man she saw just minutes before. She immediately tried to free her hands, but they had been tied behind her back with tie wraps.

  “Well look what we have here,” the one said with a heavy Russian accent. “You’re a pretty little thing with your cute little running outfit and those long beautiful legs. Just the kind of woman I like. We are going to get to know one another real soon.”

  Emily scanned the inside of the van looking for anything she could use to keep this guy off of her. She noticed he had a large knife strapped to his side and a handgun jammed in his back pocket.

  It wasn’t too long before the van stopped. She couldn’t tell exactly where she was since there were no windows in the van, but she assumed it was somewhere secluded.

  The man with the scar called to the driver, “Kostya! Remember, I have first round.” He laughed. “Wait outside. I will let you know when I am done.”

  Kostya groaned, lifted his arm, waved his hand at him in disgust, and got out of the van. He positioned himself right in front of Emily, his eyes groping every inch of her. He could never get such a beautiful young woman to even glance at him for a minute, so for him this was a great bonus. Money and sex. He moved in closer, leaned over her, and got right in her face.

  He removed the knife from its sheath and put it next to her face. “Now, don’t make Maksim have to use this on such a pretty girl.”

  Maksim. She noted his name.

  Maksim placed the knife down off to the side and behind him and unzipped his pants. Emily began to pray for strength and opportunity. As he leaned over to pull her shorts off, Emily, in the blink of an eye, jammed her right knee into his groin. He jolted backwards, then bent over grabbing himself in agony. When he did, she kicked him in the chest with both feet. She still had her running shoes on, so impact was hard enough to cause him to tumble backward against the side of the van, furious and groaning in pain. Seeing the van rock to one side, Kostya smiled, thinking his friend must be having a good time and hoping he saved a little fun for him.

  Emily quickly rolled over to the knife that lay on the floor on the opposite side of the van where Maksim had left it. She manipulated the blade behind her back in a desperate effort to cut the cable ties that held her wrists together. Maksim looked at her with fire in his eyes. He was going to make her pay for that. Sex was no longer on his mind, only vengeance. He pulled his pants up and violently snatched her by her feet and dragged her over to him. Emily stayed focused on setting herself free. He laid his body on top of Emily’s, pulled his gun out of his back pocket, and put it to her temple. All of a sudden, his eyes grew wide and his face morphed from rage to panic.

  Emily pushed him off her and grabbed the gun in one swift motion. Maksim rolled over on his side and looked down to see his own large knife sticking out of his chest and blood pouring everywhere. Emily got up on her knees, pulled the gag out of her mouth, and then removed the knife from Maksim’s chest.

  She looked him in the eye and introduced herself, “Agent Emily Rafel, Mossad.”

  She took the knife and thrust it back in his chest killing him. She knew Kostya was outside and armed. She would have to be ready. Emily checked the weapon, moved to the back of the van, and waited.

  Kostya was getting impatient and banged on the van door yelling, “Maksim! Come on! We haven’t got all day. Someone might see us.”

  He waited a moment more, and then shouting his name, opened the van’s side slider door. He immediately saw Maksim lying dead on the floor of the van. His eyes widened and heart rate jumped. He grabbed for his gun. As he did, he saw Emily kneeling off to the side. Before he could fire, Emily shot. He crumpled to the ground, one bullet in the center of his forehead.

  Emily jumped out of the van to avoid all the blood that was now beginning to cover the van floor. She reached in her back pocket, pulled out her phone, and hit a number in her contact list.

  “Aaron, it’s Agent Rafel. I have a situation.”

&n
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