“Yeah, it’s really bad timing. I’m worried for her being so far away. She’s such a daddy’s girl, and this has got to be killing her. I wish I could…, I don’t know, fix it somehow…, you know?”
Maddie’s face softened, “I know you would, if you could. We just have to keep positive thoughts that everything will be all right.”
Ruth looked at her sincerity and smiled. “Speaking of bad timing, uh, would you like to, uh—” Ruth’s phone rang, and her courage deflated instantly.
“Ruth, it’s Yvonne. You’d better get up here quick, the doctor will be out in a minute to talk with Alice.”
“I’m on my way!”
Ruth and Maddie hurried back into the hospital, and as they boarded the elevator, Ruth slipped her hand into Maddie’s. Maddie squeezed it, but when the doors slid open, Ruth retracted her hand, leaving Maddie disappointed. She went back to her office, and Ruth went to find her sister.
***
In the dark, with nothing to illuminate the rocks, but the silver glow of the crescent moon overhead, Aidan noticed lights on the horizon. She nudged Vicky, and pointed towards the tiny lights, dancing like fireflies on a hot summer’s night. Suddenly a larger light, like an explosion, ballooned up, and the lights stopped moving. Aidan whispered to Vicky, “That was an RPG. A rocket-propelled grenade, about 30 klicks away.” Then the tiny sparks of light, began darting in and out of view again, “And that is gunfire.”
“You mean, they’re shooting at each other?”
Aidan nodded. Vicky had never seen that kind of gunfire before, except on the evening news. It terrified her. Unlike training with a rifle full of blanks on the firing range, this was a real war arena, where people were dying, as she watched. She wrapped her arms around Aidan’s strong arm, and moved closer to her. Aidan looked down at her, with an understanding smile.
“Aidan, was that what it was like, when you were attacked in Iraq?”
Nodding her head, Aidan replied, “Yes, only much louder, and more chaotic. When the shells are going off, you can’t hear anything else, not even the gunfire, so you don’t know which way to run. If you can’t hear it, you don’t know where it’s coming from. I think that’s how Jerry got shot by the roadside, where they were hiding in the grass. He had run right towards them.”
“Oh, my God, Aidan, how awful.”
Another RPG exploded in the dark, and to Aidan, it seemed closer this time, because the fireball was larger, and they could hear the explosion. Vicky could feel Aidan tense up, and instinctively, knew that was not a good thing.
Vicky whispered, “Are they getting closer, Aidan?”
“Yes,” replied Aidan. She took the binoculars out of the case, and looked toward the battle. Aidan could clearly make out the gunfire flashes, and the headlights of what she assumed was a small pickup truck. Vicky nudged her for a turn at the binoculars, and Aidan reluctantly gave them to her. Another RPG hit, flooding the pickup in light. As Vicky watched, a final RPG hit the truck dead on, and it exploded in a brilliant flash of light.
“Oh, my God!” She jumped back at the deadly sight, as if it happened right in front of her.
“I saw it, kid.” Aidan chastised herself for giving Vicky the binoculars. In her mind, she wanted her lover to understand better, what she herself, had lived through. But in her heart, Aidan wanted Vicky to stay innocent, of the death and destruction of war.
Vicky now had a small glimpse, into what her lover encountered, during the attack, and trembled at the thought of it.
The battle finally subsided, much to the relief of both of them. Aidan looked at her watch. They would wait another twenty minutes, to make sure it was safe.
“Aidan, I need to confess something to you.” The butterflies in her stomach were in a frenzy, and Vicky was so scared, she was fighting the urge to run away.
“What, baby?”
“I’m really scared, right now.”
Aidan wrapped her long arm around Vicky’s shoulder, and pulled her close, “Good, I’m glad.”
Vicky pulled back, and looked at her incredulously, “You’re glad?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to be the only one who was afraid. Listen kid, it’s good that you’re scared, it keeps you sharp and on your toes. But I have a confession to make also.”
“What honey?”
“I’m sorry I ever got you into this. I wish—”
“Aidan, look at me.” Vicky turned around so they could look in to each other’s eyes. “I’m very proud of you, and honestly, I’m very proud of me, too. We make a wonderful team, please don’t diminish that by being sorry, okay?”
“Okay, baby. You’re right.” She pulled Vicky back to her side, and together they sat quietly, gazing at the stars. When it was time to start down the rocks toward the house, Aidan pulled Vicky into a tight hug, and kissed her longingly.
“No matter what happens, know that I love you, baby, I love you so much.”
Vicky could feel Aidan trembling, and it frightened her heart, but she sought to comfort her lover, “I love you too, sweetheart,” she replied, “more now, than ever before. Please, please be careful.”
The two lovers kissed for a second time, like they would never see each other again, and then started their decent down the cliff, towards the now darkened house. Creeping along the back wall, crouching under the windows, Aidan gave the signal to stop and squat, which Vicky quickly obeyed. Then Aidan came up from the left corner of the window and peeked in. It was so dark, she couldn’t make out anything, other than a fan osculating in the corner. There was no other movement that she could see. She gave the signal to advance, and they made their way around the side of the house, to where the truck sat. Aidan signaled for Vicky to move to the truck, while she made her way to the front door.
Before she moved, Vicky recited a quick prayer, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. Then she took a deep breath, crossed herself, and exhaled slowly, before she made her move. Going to the passenger’s side of the truck, she was surprised to find it unlocked. I guess they don’t have much crime out here.
She climbed up into the cab, and checked to see if they had left the keys in the ignition. Vicky figured if they didn’t bother to lock the doors, maybe they left the keys as well. But the keys were nowhere to be found, so she scrambled back out of the cab, and quietly closed the door, but didn’t latch it. Taking out her hunting knife, she sliced the tires, as quietly as possible, praying that they wouldn’t hear the hissing sound, as air escaped through the rubber.
While Vicky disabled the truck, Aidan silently slipped through the front door, and waited for her eyes to adjust to the room’s darkness, and her heart to slow it’s frantic beating in her throat. She held her large hunting knife at the ready. Quickly scanning her surroundings, she saw an older man, with gray hair, asleep on the futon. He looked to be in his seventies, and snored loudly. Oh, shit! This is not good, not good at all. Another man to contend with, could be disastrous. Aidan took a shallow breath and returned her focus to finding Samantha. The intel suggested that she would be kept in a back room, perhaps a utility room or closet, but Aidan knew to protect her flank, by checking every room. She couldn’t afford any more surprises like the old man on the couch.
The kitchen was to Aidan’s left, and she surmised, the bedroom and bathroom were toward the back of the house. She peeked around the corner into the kitchen, to make sure no one was in there, then she walked quietly to the next door, which was open, and checked the bathroom. Always keeping one eye on the old man, she turned back to the next door, every nerve in her body, as tight as her clinched jaw. She opened it, her knife positioned for an attack. The door creaked, and Aidan instantly froze in place. She looked back at the old man. He continued to snore, so she peered inside the room. Aidan could make out Samantha, sleeping beside the younger man. Fuck me! She realized that these two must be living as husband and wife. Something she never would have believed, without seeing it with her own
eyes. She concluded, that’s why they have the bedroom, instead of the old man. Normally, the head of the house would take the bedroom, and in some cases, the woman as well. She racked her brain to try and figure out how to get Samantha out, without waking the man sleeping beside her.
Aidan analyzed it from every angle. Despite what she had told the others, she didn’t feel confident that Samantha would know her. Aidan’s fear grew like fire in her belly, but there was no turning back now. She silently, quickly, slipped into the bedroom, and around to the man’s side of the bed. He looked to be small of frame, and maybe a foot shorter than Aidan. She put her knife to the young man’s throat, and clamped her hand hard over his mouth. He opened his eyes, and she whispered, “shh,” hoping he would understand what that meant. Then in Arabic she demanded, “Get up,” and though she didn’t know the translation, she added, “you bastard.”
Aidan yanked him out of bed, keeping her knife to his throat with one hand, and bending his arm behind his back, with the other. Whether the man understood or not, he yelled a string of what she could only assume were obscenities, at her, waking Samantha up. Not understanding what was happening, Samantha became hysterical, as she crouched in the corner, and screamed in Arabic.
“Sam! Sam it’s me!”
But Samantha didn’t recognize her, with the camouflage makeup Aidan still wore, so Aidan moved the man closer to her.
“Sam, it’s me, Aidan!” She softened her tone and tried again, “it’s Aidan,” She took her baseball cap off and showed Samantha her auburn hair.
Samantha stopped screaming, and looked closely at her, “Aidan?”
“Yeah, Sam, it’s me, are you okay?”
But her captor wouldn’t let Samantha answer. He cursed at her, and she shrunk back into the corner. Aidan’s anger was swift and immediate, pushing the knife tighter against his throat, breaking the skin enough to make it bleed.
“Shut the fuck up, or I’ll gut you like a pig!” She didn’t know how to say that in Arabic, but he got the meaning of it, just the same.
“Sam, we’re getting you out of here.”
“No, no Aidan, I don’t want to go.”
“You’re just in shock, com’on let’s go!”
Samantha slowly stood up, but remained in the corner, afraid to move. Aidan realized that the man she was holding, probably the baby’s father, was glaring at Samantha. Aidan took her baseball cap, and put it on his head, covering his eyes. He started to remove the cap, and she stabbed him in the arm, not to deep, but enough to send a message. He grabbed his arm, and forgot about the cap.
“Sam, grab that shirt on the chair, and hand it to me. Hurry!”
Samantha did as she was told, and Aidan put the shirt over the man’s head, “Now, take that belt off the chair, and tighten it around his neck, as tight as you can.” When Samantha was finished, Aidan wrapped the remaining belt strap around her hand, using it as a leash. With her knife now poking him in the ribs, she yelled at him, “Now move!”
Samantha followed close behind Aidan, as they left the bedroom, and entered the main living room.
“Shit!” Aidan barked, “The old man is gone. Oh my God, Vicky!” She pulled on the leash, and the younger man began walking again, as Aidan steered him sideways, so she could keep her perimeters clear. Letting the younger man go outside first, she used him as a shield, not sure what to expect from the old man. When no resistance came, she moved him out and around the corner, where she suddenly jerked to a stop. In front of her, stood the old man, with a gun to Vicky’s head. Aidan was jolted by a flashback to another time, another place, where the sight of Vicky with a gun to her head, was seared into her brain forever. That time, Vicky sacrificed her own body, to protect Aidan. Aidan would rather die, than let that happen again.
Chapter 16
Kate found Ruth sitting alone in Vicky’s office. After they got the latest update on Leonard, which was the same thing the circulating nurse had told them earlier, Ruth wanted to get away from everyone again. Leonard wasn’t just a brother-in-law to her, he was her friend as well.
“Whatcha doing, doll?”
“I’m trying to be alone right now, Kate.”
“I can understand that,” Kate said, as she sat down next to Ruth, “but I’ll just be alone with you, if that’s all right?”
Ruth fought to keep the corner of her lips from smiling. “You are so stubborn. Thank you. But I told you, we ain’t doing it in Vicky’s office”
“I’m hurt by that, Ruth. You’re my friend, I truly did not even think about that.”
Ruth notice the wounded look in Kate’s eyes, and realized she had hurt her feelings. She took Kate’s hand in hers, “I’m sorry Kate. I was rude.”
Kate nodded her head in acceptance, and then changed the subject. “I’ve never met your brother-in-law, what’s he like?”
“Well, he’s happily married for one thing,” Ruth nudged Kate playfully with her shoulder, “and a good friend to me. He and I would sit, and play checker’s for hours, talking about one thing or another. In fact, that’s what helped me get through my two divorces. For an ex-Marine, he’s really a very docile man, and without him, my sister will be absolutely lost. I fear she might shrivel up, and die too.”
“Try not to worry, sweetie. He sounds like too good a man to give up.” Ruth turned her head, and wiped away a tear before it could fall. “Besides,” Kate continued, as she looked at Vicky’s desk, “He has to live, so that I don’t feel guilty when you and I make out on that desk over there.” Kate giggled at her own joke, and Ruth let out a belly laugh.
“Tell you what Kate, when this is all said and done, and Leonard is all right again, we…” Kate looked at her with hungry anticipation, “we still won’t make out in my nieces office.” Kate pouted dejectedly, but Ruth offered a solution, “But I will treat you to the best dinner money can buy, and a night of unbridled passion, in a concierge suite at the Marriott.”
Kate bounced back immediately, the sparkle in her eye evident that she was happy with that compromise.
***
Vicky looked up at her, like a child who had done something wrong, “I’m so sorry, Aidan, he snuck up behind me.”
“Shit, shit, shit!” Aidan tried to pull a plan of action out of her panicked brain, but she was to stressed to be creative.
The old man said a couple of words in Arabic to the younger man, and Vicky understood enough of them to be afraid. She used pig-Latin, a child’s language they would play as kids, to explain to Aidan that the younger man was about to elbow her in the ribs.
Thinking she was crazy with fear also, Aidan suddenly realized what she was saying, and she immediately punched her captive in his wound, as hard as she could. He cried out in pain, causing the older man to pull Vicky in front of him, using her as a shield, and cocked his gun against her head.
They all began screaming at once, except for Samantha, who seemed to be the only one with a cool head. She calmly walked out between Aidan and the old man. She spoke first in Arabic, then in English, “Stop!” Her boldness was more about giving up, than about being in control. She knew they would never let her leave, with the son’s baby in her belly, and she also felt that the two women were doomed, they just didn’t know it yet.
Both sides quieted down, and Samantha spoke again, translating for both. Pointing at Aidan she explained to the old man, “She will kill him, if you don’t let that woman go.”
The old man told her that he would kill Vicky, if Aidan didn’t let his son go. Samantha translated for Aidan, and then waited to see what she would say.
“Tell him you are coming home with us, end of discussion.”
Even if he couldn’t understand what she said, her angry face said it all. Samantha translated for the old man, and Aidan could see his nostril’s flare in anger, as well. He replied with one word, that even Aidan could understand, “Choose.”
She looked at Samantha, “Is he saying what I think he’s saying?”
Samantha nodded
her head, “He wants you to choose between her, and me.”
But Aidan didn’t understand the dynamics of his demand, “Why would he want that, when you’re carrying his grandchild?”
“Because it doesn’t matter. My baby is dead, and he knows it. He did nothing, because his son loves me. It is his son’s place to kill me, if I can’t deliver a child to him. He would prefer to have that woman,” she pointed at Vicky, “because she is strong and healthy. These people are very old country, Aidan, very dangerous people.”
Aidan’s eyes began darting back and forth, as if trying to grab a hold of a way out. Oh, shit, this is impossible!
Samantha’s nerves were on edge, “Hurry, Aidan, there are more than just these two, in this area. We don’t have much time.”
Running it down in her mind, Aidan thought, If I choose Vicky, this whole thing would have been for nothing, and Sam will die. If I choose Sam…, fuck that, I would never leave Vicky here. Either way I’m screwed. Aidan’s thoughts were interrupted by the son pulling on the belt. She looked at him, and suddenly knew what she had to do. Please, baby, please understand. She stepped out to the side of her hostage, gripped the leash firmly, held her knife to his throat, and said, “Okay, Sam, I need you to stand back over there, and then tell the old man that I choose you.”
Both Samantha and Vicky were shocked. Samantha said, “You understand, that means he will kill her?”
“I understand he will try,” replied Aidan.
The crushed look, and whimper from Vicky, “Aidan?”, shattered Aidan’s heart, causing a volcano of regret that push hot tears to the rim of her eyes, but her resolve was set in stone. It had to be.
Vicky was too stunned to say anything more. It was as if the world had come to a screeching halt, and her heart was slammed up against it. She knew Aidan would do nothing to put her in harm’s way, but that didn’t stop her from being terrified, and quite honestly, hurt. She closed her eyes, and whispered, “I love you, I trust you, I love you.”
Remember, It’s You I Love: Operation Pink Knight Page 20