The Path to Freedom (Task Force 125)

by Pietsch, Lisa; Gerow, Tina

  Honey, I don’t know who you are, but you’re a welcome change from that fat chick I used to see all the time. Stick around. We could have some fun.

  She was even stronger than she’d been when she graduated from the Security Police Academy. The activities at the camp were becoming less challenging. Her self-confidence grew and she often imagined what her life could be like if she never gave up control again.

  Starting over. Where do I want to live? What do I want to do? I don’t know how or where, but I want to finally do something exciting. I finally feel like I can do just that.

  Chapter Five

  Bam, bam, bam!

  Sarah woke to see Tracey spring from her bunk.

  “I swear, Steve, one of these days you’re gonna knock that bitch clean off the hinges!”

  “Damn, Trace.” Sarah looked down from her bunk. “What the hell got into you?”

  Dani stood and started to dress. “I’ll tell you what it is. We’ve been here eight weeks now. Look at us. We’re gorgeous. How much longer are they really going to let us stay?”

  Sarah and Melanie each climbed from their bunks. All four women dressed in silence. Sarah realized she hadn’t even begun to think about what she would do when she left the camp. Excitement about her new physique, uncertainty about her future and doubts as to whether she could maintain this new body out in the real world mixed and tumbled in her stomach.

  Dani makes a good point. I think this may be a good time to start putting a plan together.

  Sarah walked outside first to see Steve’s smiling face.

  As the others stepped outside, Steve smiled with a larger than usual grin. “Good morning, ladies. Shall we?”

  The hairs on the back of Sarah’s neck stood at attention.

  As they walked to the chow hall for their Sunday weigh-in, Tracey leaned close to Sarah. “Did he call us ladies?”

  “Something’s up.”

  I weighed myself at the gym yesterday. I’ve lost fifty pounds so far. I can lose more. They won’t kick me out.

  Sarah was the first to step on the scale.

  Steve checked her weight and smiled. “Great job, Stevens.”

  A thrill ran through Sarah like an electrical current. She’d bought herself more time to put her plan together. “Thanks, Steve. Just check me out next week. I’ll do even better.”

  “No can do, Stevens. You won’t be here. Pack your bag and report to the command hut.”

  “What?” Fear smacked Sarah in the head and her face dropped. “But I’m making great progress. Why am I being kicked out?”

  Dani came to Sarah’s defense. “That’s messed up, Steve. Sarah is doing great and hasn’t broken any rules. Why is she getting kicked out?”

  Sarah felt as though her feet had been glued to the floor.

  “Don’t ask questions, ladies. You’re asking for need-to-know information, and you don’t. Good job on your weight, Dani. Get on the scale, Melanie.” Steve turned and stared directly into Sarah’s eyes. “Duffel bag drag, Stevens. Good luck.”

  Sarah took a deep breath and walked quickly out of the room. She clenched her hands at her sides and started to shake with anger. After the door closed behind her, Sarah vented all the way to her hut.

  “What the hell? I need more time. That bastard. No explanation? No ‘nice knowing you?’ Duffel bag drag, huh? I’ll drag my duffel bag back there and shove it up his ass.”

  Sarah took her anger and frustration out on the contents of her locker. She jammed everything in her bag, took one last look around the room and slung the duffel over her left shoulder. The door closed behind her with a final click and she walked the dusty quarter mile from her quarters to the command hut near the camp entrance. Sarah lifted her chin and stormed past a black Suburban into the command hut ready for a fight.

  The same guy who had picked her up at the airport stood inside the command hut, near Mary’s desk.

  Sarah looked for Mary but she wasn’t anywhere around. Sarah aimed her anger at the driver. “Look, this is bullshit. I followed every rule and lost a ton of weight. What’s going on? Why am I being kicked out?”

  “You aren’t.” The driver chuckled. “You’re moving on up to Phase II, kiddo. Get in the truck.”

  Sarah tipped her head to the side. This didn’t register. When she’d processed what he’d said, every cell in her body exploded with joy. “What? Are you kidding?”

  “Would you rather go back to the airport?” The driver shrugged as he made his way toward the door. “It makes no difference to me.”

  “No, no, no!” Sarah turned to follow him. “Phase II. Where is that? What is that?”

  “Short drive. More training and weight loss. What’s it going to be?”

  Sarah threw her duffel bag in the back of the Suburban and hopped into the passenger seat before the guy finished his question. “Phase II, man. Let’s go.”

  The driver smiled, shook his head and sat behind the wheel of the truck. He picked up a radio handset and keyed the mike. “Transporting Stevens to Lightning.” He nodded toward the blindfold on the seat. “Short drive.”

  Sarah tied the blindfold around her head without argument as her thoughts whirled about what was to come.

  This is turning out to be more of an adventure than I expected! What’s next?

  Chapter Six

  Sarah’s body swayed forward in the seat as the Suburban pulled to a stop.

  “Okay, you can take the blindfold off now.”

  Sarah untied the blindfold and squinted against the light. Once her eyes adjusted, she looked around and found a camp similar to the one she had just left, only this one had ten campers’ huts and several more hangar-style buildings. There were more people moving around outside at this camp. They all seemed to be the guys dressed in black BDU pants and black shirts.

  Damn. Those are some fine looking men!

  Sarah made a mental note that getting laid by someone who looks like one of those men should be on her to do list when she finally left the camp. She hopped out of the truck and grabbed her bag from the back before following the driver inside the command hut. The man sitting behind the front desk was nothing less than impressive. His biceps were as thick as Sarah’s thighs and his chest looked as if it was ready to burst through the black T-shirt he wore. He had a dark tan, sky blue eyes and a blond buzz cut. The tattoo across the top of his right arm read “Semper Fi.”

  A Marine. Of course. Nobody else builds them up quite like that.

  “Morning, Stevens. Welcome to Phase II.” His voice rolled like thunder.

  Sarah was so distracted by his physicality that she never thought to ask this man’s name. “Thanks. Good morning.”

  “Heard good things about ya. Hear you got potential. I s’pose we’ll see about that.”

  “Thank you.”

  Potential for what?

  “You’ll be in hut number three, just across the way.” He pointed straight out the door. “Your squad is short. Only gonna be two of ya but we can’t afford to wait for two more. Need to get you both in training ASAP. That okay with you?”

  The light blue eyes set in the smiling, tanned face distracted Sarah for a moment. “Yeah, absolutely. I’m ready to go.”

  “Good deal. Same rules here as before. Your training buddy ought to be here shortly so just chill in your hut for the rest of the day. Training starts tomorrow morning. The latrine is by hut number one and the chow hall is right next door here.” The massive man stood and towered over her. He was at least six-foot-four. His blue eyes narrowed as he stared at her. “Don’t go poking around in any of the other buildings or I’ll send your ass home. Got it?”

  Sarah nodded. “Got it.”

  “Dismissed.”

  Sarah slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the building. She pretended not to notice the stares from four guys, all dressed in black, who were sitting at a picnic table just outside the command hut. After taking a few steps she glanced back to see if they were still watchi
ng her and it surprised and excited her to see they were. The attention made her feel giddy and she suppressed a nervous chuckle. When Sarah arrived at her hut, it looked exactly like the one she’d left this morning. Sarah unpacked her bag and hung her clothes neatly in the first wall locker on the left.

  I can’t believe my luck. I’m staying at the camp, get to keep training and losing weight and I’ll only have one roommate instead of three. Throw in a bath and I might think I’d won the lottery!

  When she finished unpacking, Sarah picked a lower bunk because it meant less climbing at the end of the day and stretched out. A whole day to catch up on some rest and she fully intended to use it. She let out a deep sigh of contentment and fell asleep almost immediately with a smile on her face.

  The recurring dream she’d been having for the past year, ever since she had arrived in Las Vegas started again. She was lying in the sun on a warm beach with the whisper of palm trees and the sweet smell of salt water in the tropical breeze. Crystal blue waters lapped at the shoreline. Only this time someone was with her. She turned to her left to see him…

  Bam!

  Sarah bolted out of bed, both feet on the floor and her fists in a defensive position. “What the hell?” She found herself staring straight at Tracey who was grinning wide as she picked up the duffel bag she’d thrown on the floor near the head of Sarah’s bed.

  “Nice reflexes, loser.”

  Tracey is my training buddy? This is too good.

  Sarah played it cool. “I was sleeping, bitch.”

  “Forget it, loser. Beauty sleep won’t help you,” Tracey teased. “Is this a sweet deal or what?”

  “Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.”

  Tracey sauntered over to the first locker on the right and began to unpack her clothes. “Did you see those guys out there? I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”

  ~~~

  Sarah woke to the sound of firm knocking on the door of the hut. She sat up in the dark and looked for a sliver of light under the door. There was no light to be seen. Sarah rubbed her eyes and then flailed around until she found the string to turn their single light bulb on. She closed her eyes tight against the glare of the bulb. “Trace, get up.”

  Tracey pulled her pillow over her eyes. “I didn’t hear the pounding on the door yet.”

  Sarah slipped on her pants and buttoned them. “I guess they don’t pound here. It was just a knock.”

  When Tracey finished dressing, they both stepped outside to see their trainer waiting for them.

  “Okay, campers. My name is Shawn. Your wake-up calls will be the same as in Phase I, but there will be a slight change in the training schedule. Hit the chow hall for your liquid breakfast and then muster back here for your morning run in thirty minutes.”

  Sarah and Tracey jogged over to the chow hall, drank a light protein fruit punch for their first meal and then made quick time back to their hut.

  The routine was very much the samethey ran and lifted weights in the morning, but their afternoons were focused solely on martial arts training. They trained for four hours every afternoon learning Krav Maga. The first few days exhausted Sarah, but she soon learned to enjoy the physical challenges of Phase II.

  Within their first week, Sarah and Tracey became so accomplished at Krav Maga they had to start sparring with cadre instead of each other. Sarah and Tracey knew each others’ moves so well they could anticipate each others’ attacks. Sparring with cadre challenged both women to excel. The cadre kicked their butts more often than not, but Sarah and Tracey were up for it. Sarah’s self-confidence grew as she began to realize how physically strong and skilled she had become.

  ~~~

  One night, Sarah and Tracey lay in their respective bunks chatting about life in general to avoid thinking about the aches and pains from the day’s training.

  “You know, Trace, I always thought if I was a good girlfriend, I’d get what I wanted and needed from guys.”

  “That’s a sucker’s bet, Sarah. If you want something in this world, you gotta take it.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “Sarah, stop being such a doormat. I don’t know about you but I’ll be ready to start breaking some hearts when I leave this place.”

  “You’re absolutely right, Trace. It is about time I got a piece of the pie instead of being the one to bake it, serve it and clean up after some bastard has finished eating it.”

  “Frig the pie, Sarah. Eat the apple straight from the tree and send Adam packin’, baby!”

  Tracey was right. Sarah was ready to be a one woman wrecking crew and the determination carried over into her training.

  The biggest difference with Phase II was the men in black were around every day. Sarah recognized one in particular who followed her and Tracey throughout their training. He had a massive build. She recognized his shoulders every time he showed up, but could never see his face since he wore dark sunglasses and a black BDU cap low over his forehead. Not being able to see his face created a delicious mystery in Sarah’s minda mystery she’d spent a great deal of time thinking about lately. Whatever this mystery man was up to, he provided great fantasy fodder for this now very physical woman who hadn’t had sex with a straight man in a very long time.

  One morning during their run curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to get some information from their trainer. “Shawn, who are those guys in black and what do they do here?”

  Shawn kept running. “They’re scouts.”

  Sarah stepped up her pace to run beside Shawn. “Scouts for what?”

  Shawn glared at Sarah as he picked up the pace. “Any further information will be given on a strictly need-to-know basis. When you need to know, they’ll be the ones to tell you. Now do you want to train or do you want to go back home and eat Twinkies?”

  Sarah nearly fell over when Tracey pushed her left shoulder from behind. “Run, loser.”

  Tracey sped by as Sarah recovered from her stumble.

  Sarah sprinted to catch up but her mind wandered.

  What are they scouting for? Who do they work for? What do they have to do with our training?

  Unanswered questions didn’t stop Sarah from taking full advantage of what the camp’s program offered. Her body had changed for the better and so had her mindset. This was a chance at a whole new and completely improved life.

  I won’t be here forever. I’m an excellent physical specimen now, but where will that and eight years in the Air Force get me? I’m thirty, homeless, jobless and have no possessions of note. I don’t really exist, do I?

  A smile curled her lips.

  I can be anyone I want.

  Chapter Seven

  “Okay, guys. Time to pick a replacement.” Vince sat at the kitchen table and opened his briefcase.

  Will leaned against the kitchen counter. “What are you talking about?”

  “I told Young we get to pick the replacements from now on. We can’t assume the Agency knows what we need for our team. We know better than anyone, so sit down and start checking out these files.”

  Chris thumbed through the files Vince had placed on the table. “This is all well and good, boss, but how do we know if any of these are good looking enough to pull off a Honey Pot?”

  “It’ll be better to start blind.” Vince pulled a cigarette from the box on the table and lit it. “Right now, we just have to find the ones who are qualified. We need language skills, good test scores, some sort of background that prepares them for the job. We’ll narrow down the list and then get a look at each of them.”

  “Hey, how about this one, guys?” Jason pulled a page from a file folder. “Air Force cop with FBI training, maxed out her language battery scores and” Jason smiled wide. “Lots of heavy weapons certifications.”

  “You and your gun fetish.” Brian closed the folder in front of Jason. “We need a babe that can work close up, not long distance, dipshit.”

  “Wait a minute. Wait a minute.” Jason he
ld up his hand. “Heavy weapons operators have a very short life expectancy. I think we can all agree on that no matter what branch we served in.”

  Everyone nodded.

  Will sat down at the table. “What’s your point, Jason?”

  “Here it isa chick in the Air Force doesn’t automatically get heavy weapons training. She has to request it and even then she won’t get it if she’s just looking for bragging rights. She’s got to have the nerve to do it and the strength to haul the weapon and ammo. We need a woman with guts who can kick ass if she has to. This one” He held up the folder. “Is the one we need if she cleans up nice.”

  Vince set his cigarette in the ash tray. “Good points, Jason. I like his thinking. I say we check her out. Who is she?”

  Jason read from the folder. “Sarah Stevens. She’s right here at the camp in Phase II.”

  “I’ve seen that one.” Vince pointed at the file. “She’s pretty tough, but I don’t know if she’ll clean up to what we need. Jason, you and Brian check her out.”

  Chapter Eight

  Five weeks into Phase II training, Sarah continued to drop weight. Not to mention, six hours a day of Krav Maga training did amazing things for her reflexes, and her self-confidence.

  On the Sunday marking her fifth week in Phase II, Sarah weighed in as usual.

  “One hundred and fifty on the mark, Stevens. Nice work.”

  Sarah raised her arms, fists clenched, in triumph. “This is huge. The least I’ve ever weighed as an adult is one hundred and fifty-seven pounds.”

  Shawn smiled. “Congratulations. Now tighten that belt and get off my scale.”