by Ivy Nelson
“Hello, Adara. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m sorry it’s under less than ideal
circumstances.”
Dumfounded, she just stared.
“You don’t look sick,” she said after a few moments of awkward silence. “I have good days and bad days. Today is a good day. Perhaps it is the hope that having
you here brings.”
“I don’t want to help you.”
The old man smiled. “I understand. But your help is appreciated, nonetheless. Now, I hear you have questions about your birth. The least I can do is answer them for you while we wait
for the results of the blood test.”
She took a long drink from the water bottle. Setting it to the side, she took a deep breath
and looked him square in the eye.
“Did you kill my mother?”
There was that smile again. It was a smile that would have been endearing if she hadn’t
read about his atrocities.
“I can see why you would ask that, but no. She died due to complications with childbirth.
You look just like her you know.”
“Did you rape her?”
“It took some convincing, but she came to my bed willingly.”
Adara doubted that. “How did you convince her of that?”
“It was a far better living experience than the rest of the other hostages were having.” So he’d bribed her.
“She slept with you out of self preservation.”
He nodded, not bothering to disagree with her.
“You’re despicable.”
“I think if you took the time to get to know me, you might not be so quick to judge.” “I’ve read all about you and your history. Nothing that has happened to you justifies the
innocent lives you’ve taken.”
“Ah, so my daughter is feisty. I approve.”
She fought the urge to spit. Comfortable bedroom or not, she was still a hostage, and she
had to keep her wits about her if she was going to survive this.
A knock at the door shook her out of her thoughts.
“The blood results are back. She is a match father.”
The old man looked at her. “I prefer your help willingly, but my son is insistent that you
will help me willingly or not. It’s a simple procedure Adara.”
She closed her eyes trying to determine the best response. “You know what, I will help
you. But only because when the U.S. captures you, I want you to rot in prison for a very long
time.”
He chuckled. “That is unlikely my sweet daughter but I will accept your gift,
nonetheless.”
She scowled at the merriment in his tone. The bastard was too damn smug. They were
going to force her to help one way or another though. It seemed like it might go easier for her
if she went willingly.
“A medical team will be available to help us tomorrow, Father. You should get some rest
tonight. My sister will be fine here.”
The old man shuffled out of the room bidding her a goodnight. When both men had left
her room, she stood. There was a window in the room but it had been cemented shut. The
door appeared to be locked from the outside. She was definitely trapped. She looked around
for her cellphone but there was no luck. Too much to hope for, really. She grabbed an apple
from her bedside and sat in the chair. Even if she helped them willingly, she didn’t see how
they could be planning to keep her alive. Unless she was able to keep them talking to her. She
closed her eyes and prayed that Homeland security had been able to track the plane and knew
whereshe was. She didn’t know where or when her phone had vanished. With any luck, it
made the trip to Canada before it was discarded. These were smart terrorists though. It was
unlikely they had made that mistake. She curled up in bed again and tried to sleep. But all she could see were images of Michael and the rest of her friends mourning her death after she
was killed. Hamilton would need a new home. Michael would take him.
Sleep must have overtaken her because she woke with a start when her bedroom door
flew open.
“Time to get up sister. I’ve brought you breakfast.”
He sat a tray next to the bed. Eggs, pancakes, and some kind of potato side graced the
plate. With her fork, she took a small bite of eggs. It wasn’t until then she realized how
hungry she was.
“I don’t suppose I could get some bacon,” she said dryly.
Her brother laughed. “A sense of humor is a good thing sister.”
She started to take a sip of the coffee that was on the tray but stopped. “This isn’t drugged
again is it?”
It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that he’d drugged her coffee before she got to the
coffee shop.
“No need. I apologize for having to do that. It seemed easier than bringing a gun to D.C.” “What happens next?”
“The medical team will be here soon. The procedure will be over in less than an hour.” “Then what? I don’t see how you let me go.”
“We hope you’ll learn to be comfortable with us. You are family after all.” She closed her eyes and tried to remain calm. It was a relief—sort of—to know they
didn’t plan to kill h er. Michael and the others would never stop looking for her. There was
still a chance at being rescued. She just had to keep her cool and cooperate.
“I wanted to kill you but father won’t allow it. He’s taken a liking to you it would seem.”
She tried not to react to his admission that he wanted to kill her. It didn’t surprise her, but it
was still shocking to hear the words out loud. She had a feeling her brother was even more
vicious than her father. With her eyes closed, she took another swallow of coffee. “I’d like to be alone now please.”
Her brother nodded and stepped out of the room. She jumped when she heard the lock
click. It would seem, she was truly fucked.
Two hours later, she was being escorted to a sterile room that had been set up much like a
hospital room with state-of-the-art medical equipment. It seemed that terrorists had better
health care than many Americans. That didn’t seem right.
The medical team explained exactly what was going to happen. It sounded simple
enough. Very little chance of complication so that was good.
After they had her lay on the table, she breathed deeply as they instructed, and once again
everything went black.
###
“It’s been two days. Why the fuck can’t you find them Miller?” “We’re working on it detective. I promise. You’re too close to this. You need to back off and let us do our jobs.”
Michael paced his office, his cell phone pressed to his ear. He was doing everything in his power to stay calm and it wasn’t working. Terrorists had Adara and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He fought the urge to hurl his phone against the wall. Agent Miller was keeping him in the dark. As soon as it was determined that the kidnappers had left the country with her, he had lost the jurisdiction battle to Homeland, the CIA, FBI, and half a dozen other members of the alphabet soup that made up the federal government. Miller was supposed to be keeping him in the loop though.
“Are they in Canada? Do you know that much at least?”
“They are definitely in Canada and we think we’ve located their hideout. We’re working with a SEAL team on a potential rescue. I promise. I’ll let you know if and when something is going down.”
Michael didn’t believe him. He had a buddy that was a SEAL though. He would make a phone call.
Peter stuck his head in the door. “You got a minute? I
think I’ve got something.”
Michael ended his call with Agent Miller and waved Peter in. “Come on in. What do you have?”
“Adara’s flag pin is transmitting again. No idea why. I suspect wherever they are holding her had some sort of signal jammer in place. Don’t know why it would be turned off unless they are trying to transmit something.”
“So we have a location we can give the SEAL team?”
“My sources say the SEAL team isn’t the first option. If Homeland is telling you that they are jerking your chain. Carrie has a source in the White House and they are considering a tactical strike designed to take out Hadawi. Hostage rescue is low on the priority list if it’s even on the list at all.”
Michael swore. He should have known Miller was just leading him on. “What do we do? I have a buddy that’s a SEAL but I don’t know what he can do if his team isn’t getting spun up for a rescue.”
“Let me handle this. It’s unlikely that the U.S. chooses a drone strike because it’s fucking Canada and that would be a diplomatic fucking nightmare. But, if a SEAL team does get tasked with taking out the terrorist, we might still be able to get them to put hostage rescue at the top of the list. I also have some… contacts who might be able to help.”
Michael raised an eyebrow. When Peter said contacts, he probably meant mercenaries and off the radar black ops security specialists. Peter knew some dark people but if they could rescue Adara, he didn’t care. “Make the call. I want her back Peter. I’m pissed as fuck at her but I want her back.”
Peter nodded. “I see it in your eyes brother. You want to walk away after you rescue her. Remind me to tell you about my beginning with Carrie sometime.”
“I just don’t know how I’m supposed to trust her after this. She clearly didn’t trust me.”
“Now isn’t the time to make these decisions.” Michael closed his eyes. Peter was right. He just needed to focus on bringing her home alive.
“Let’s go get her. Where’s Bradley?”
“He had a campaign event with his dad today but he’s coming to my place tonight. He’s not exactly rescue operation material but we have his moral support.”
Michael did his best to get through his day. He didn’t take the day off work because he had access to resources in his office to try and find her. He sat at his computer researching Faisal Hadawi. Thanks to Adara’s conversation with her brother, he knew something about the disease he had. In order to do the bone marrow transplant he needed, they would need a medical team. They were likely being blackmailed or otherwise coerced unless they had been radicalized themselves and were helping the old man to further the cause.
He didn’t have any Canadian law enforcement friends or he would be on the phone trying to tap into Canadian resources as well. Right now, he was technically under a gag order though. The president didn’t want to involve Canada unless they had to. Michael didn’t exactly see how it could be helped. This was happening on Canadian soil He could tip them off himself and risk his badge. He would when he had enough intel to bring them to launch their own rescue operation.
He couldn’t wait until Steve Givens was president. The man in office now was an incompetent asshole. He was only grateful that Sean Atleigh wasn’t running anymore. With his scandals a few months ago, his party hadn’t put forward a strong replacement candidate, and it looked like Givens was going to win in a landslide. That gave him an idea.
He pulled out his cell phone. Bradley answered on the first ring.
“Sorry I’m not with you right now, I had to do this event.”
“No. It’s fine, there isn’t much to be done right now anyway.”
“I know. I just feel bad. You were with me every step of the way when Darci was taken.”
It was true, Michael had stayed by Bradley’s side through the entire ordeal. “There may be a way you can help me.”
“I’m all ears man.”
“Has your father started getting daily intelligence briefings?”
“He has. As soon as he clinched the nomination.”
“Is there any way you can bring this situation to his attention? Homeland is yanking my chain and Carrie has a source inside the Oval that says they aren’t planning a rescue mission but a kill mission instead. Rescuing Adara isn’t high on their list of priorities.”
“Shit. Yes. Right away. He’s on stage right now but as soon as he steps off. He’s already marginally aware, but I haven’t had five minutes alone with him since we got here.”
“I appreciate it. Call me when you have an update.”
Michael ended the call and stood to pace again. There really wasn’t much else to do. He grabbed his keys and badge and walked to his SUV.
Fortyfive minutes later, he was pacing in Peter’s office. Not much different than being at work. At least there he could talk more openly about everything.
“Michael honey sit down,” Carrie said from her spot in the corner of the room. She was in research mode again so the surrounding area was littered with energy drink cans and hard candy wrappers.
He smiled at her. “I can’t. Too much pent up energy. I hate not being able to just go after her. Damn international laws.”
Carrie chuckled. “Master won’t let that stop him. He’s got a couple of Canadian law enforcement friends he’s talking to on the down-low.”
Michael didn’t doubt it. He didn’t know all of Peter’s secrets or his life story, but he knew the man was one well connected fucker.
Peter stepped back into the room. “Talking about me again?” he asked with a wink at Carrie.
“Just telling Michael how bad ass you are, Sir.” The quirky blond blew her husband a kiss and went back to her computer screen.
“If you have Canadian law enforcement friends, ask them to look for medical professionals that have ties to this terrorist group or who could be susceptible to blackmail. This bone marrow transplant he needs would require a full medical team and a place to conduct the procedure.”
“You’re assuming Adara agreed to help.”
“That or they’re forcing her. They kidnapped her for fucks sake.”
“Fair point. I’ll pass it along.”
Michael felt his phone buzz.
“Bradley any news?”
“I passed everything on to dad. He’s going to look into it and see what he can find out. He has to be careful because so much of the intelligence briefing is classified, but just know he’s in our corner.”
“That’s all I needed to hear buddy. Where’s your wife?”
“Right behind you.”
Michael turned to find Darci standing in the doorway of Peter’s office.
“I’m going to get back to the rally Michael. Tell my wife I said behave. She knows what I mean.”
Darci grinned. “I heard you, Sir,” she said loud enough for Bradley to hear.
“What are you doing here? I figured you would be on the trail with Bradley,” Michael said as he pocketed his phone.
“Not today. I had a work thing. He called and said you might need a friendly face.”
She opened her arms for a hug. As he wrapped his arms around her, he fought the urge to bury his face in her shoulder and cry. His friend was a source of comfort and for that he was grateful.
“Yes!” Carrie exclaimed from her corner of the room. “I found Steven.”
“Steven?” Michael questioned, his brow hiked in confusion. “Who the hell is Steven and why are we looking for him?”
“I can’t actually tell you that but it’s a good thing, and he’s going to get me some information that might help us find Adara. He may or may not owe me a really big favor for keeping him anonymous in something I wrote a few years back.”
Interesting, Michael knew Carrie had a few contacts of her own as an investigative journalist. Must be a pretty good source if he could provide information that would lead them to an international terrorist in another country.
“I know you can’t tell me who he is or anything but I ne
ed to understand how he can help Adara.”
“Just trust her man. You don’t need to know anything other than he’s a good one to have in our corner.” It was Peter who spoke this time.
Michael turned to Darci who shrugged.
“I know as much as you do,” she said.
Michael sighed. Waiting and trusting weren’t his strong suits. He didn’t have much of a choice though. Darci reached for his hand and tugged. “Come on. Let me buy you some coffee and we can talk. There’s a place right around the corner so you can be close if something happens.”
He didn’t want to leave, but it was probably a better idea than hovering over Peter and Carrie as they worked. He followed Darci out of the building and down the street to a small coffee shop. Not much different from the one Adara had been taken from. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. Darci made him go find them a table while she got in line.
In less than five minutes, she was at the table he had picked for them with steaming cups of coffee.
“Talk to me Michael. You’ve been so quiet.”
“I’m not sure what to say Darci. I’m terrified and I’m angry all at the same time.”
“Those are natural feelings don’t you think? I’d be pissed if someone took Bradley.”
“That’s the thing, yeah, I’m pissed at the prick who took her, but I’m also pissed at her. She lied to me, didn’t trust me. She put herself in danger after I explicitly asked her not to. I want to throttle her after we find her. I don’t know how we’re supposed to have a relationship after this though and that terrifies me. I care about herso much.”
Darci reached for his hand and squeezed. “I think all of those feelings are pretty normal sweetheart. But can I give you some advice?”
He smiled. “Of course.”
“Don’t make any rash decisions right now. Wait until we find her and bring her home safe. The two of you clearly need to talk and work some things out.”
“I want that. I’m just not sure if we can have it. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me. Especially when I’ve never given her a reason not to.”
“Trust doesn’t always work that way Michael. I think you know that.”
“We’ll see. Right now, I just want to find her. After that? I’m not sure what we’ll have to say to each other.”