Chapter 1

Present — Samantha — WRAMC

I step out of the shower, get dressed in my Truth Network outfit, fix my hair and face and go into Ben's room. I look around but I don't see him or the cup of coffee he promised. I call out, "Hey Ben, where are you?"

Jim comes in with the coffee, hands me a cup and asks, "Where's Ben?"

I take a sip of coffee, look at him and say, "Thanks for the coffee - this is just the way I like it. I don't have any idea where Ben is. I took a shower and he was gone when I came out.

Jim goes to the closet, opens it and exclaims, "Shit! His clothes are gone. Jens is going to kill me if I let anything happen to him."

I finally notice a note on his bedside table. I notice it's addressed to Ms. Jennifer Donaldson. That's strange! I thought he always called her Jens.

Jim comes over and says, "Wow look at how terrible the handwriting is. I bet Ben wrote this with his injured arm. Are you going to open it and read it?"

I flip the note over and over in my hands while debating what to do. Finally Jim gets annoyed, grabs the note out of my hand and unfolds it. I see him turn white as a sheet while he reads it. He slumps down in the chair, hands the note to me and says, "I'm a dead man. Jens will never forgive me for this."

I read the note, let it fall to the floor and call Liz. I don't give a fuck about the time! I need to talk to her!

Present — Liz — Ramstein Air Field Germany

Shit! It seems like I've just gotten to sleep when my damn phone rings and wakes me up out of a wonderful dream. I grab the phone, look at the display and answer, "Samantha, this had better be important!"

She replies, "Liz, this is more than important - this is a fucking emergency! Ben's gone!"

Her words scare the shit out of me so I sit straight up in bed and ask, "Samantha, what the hell do you mean? Did Ben die?"

I can tell how upset she is when she answers, "No Liz, he's not dead, it's worse than that. He's missing! I took a shower and when I came back to his room Ben and his clothes were gone. All he left is a note addressed to Ms. Jennifer Donaldson."

I start trembling while Mira and Ira sit on the bed beside me and support me. I order, "Samantha read me the fucking note!" She reads the note to me and I yell into the phone, "Shit! That son-of-a-bitch! What the hell is he writing about, and what the hell is he doing?"

She replies, "Liz, I'm not sure what he's talking about in the note. It doesn't make sense to me."

I respond with, "Samantha, give me a second to think." I know what the fuck I would do if I was there, I would have a very friendly discussion with the doctors to find out what the hell Ben is talking about, but I can't ask Samantha to do what I would do to get the information. I finally decide on a course of action and say, "Okay Samantha, you need to figure out some way to find out what Ben's talking about. Bribe a doctor or a nurse but find out what sort of bullshit he's talking about. But before you do anything, call Jim and Linus and get their asses moving to see if they can find Ben! That reminds me, are things still in turmoil there?"

Samantha takes a deep breath and answers, "Liz, I'll find some way to get the information you need, even if I have to beat the crap out of a doctor or nurse. Jim is here and I'll have him call Linus and my other body guards right away. And yes the streets are still a big battle ground. Liz, I'm really worried about Ben being out there since he doesn't have any protection — Liz wait a second, Jim is telling me something." She comes back on the phone and says, "Liz, Jim gave me some good news. He brought Ben a pistol and his Ka-Bar last night and neither of them are in the room. So at least Ben will have some weapons."

I smile and consider that Ben with a pistol and a knife is more dangerous than most men would be with a machine gun. I tell Samantha, "Get moving on finding out what the hell he's talking about. Keep two body guards for yourself and send the rest with Jim to go out and find Ben. Call me when you have any information, and whatever you do don't let Jens know about this."

Samantha replies, "Sounds like a good plan Liz. I'll call you when I know more." She hangs up the phone and I put my head in my hands and start to cry. The twins are hugging me and Ira says, "Ms. Morgan, we understand from your side of the phone conversation that Mr. Blaine is missing."

I look up at them, collapse and babble incoherently.

Present — Mira and Ira — Ramstein Air Field Germany

Hugging Ms. Morgan is uncomfortable and hurts my ribs, but she needs our support right now and I will tolerate the minor discomfort. She is a very big mess and cannot even tell us why. It has something to do with Mr. Blaine so we need to find out what is going on. I look at Mira and say in our special language, "Mira, you comfort Ms. Morgan and I will make some phone calls to see if I can determine what is going on." Mira's ears are still bothering her and she doesn't hear me so I loudly repeat myself.

She loudly replies which makes Ms. Morgan jump with, "Ira that is an excellent idea. I have never seen Ms. Morgan this upset."

I leave the room, call Samantha and get the whole story from her. She even reads me the note and I make sure I memorize each word so I can tell Mira later. Next I call the nurse's station on Ben's floor. The secretary answers the phone and says, "Third floor nurse's station, unit secretary Jane speaking."

I reply, "Hello Jane, this is Doctor Morgan. I have been called to do a consultation on a patient of yours named Ben Blaine and I am wondering if I can get some information off his chart."

Jane answers, "Sure Doctor Morgan, let me get his chart and I'll be right back."

I start to get impatient because I have been on hold for ten minutes. Jane finally comes back on the phone and says, "Sorry Doctor Morgan, but Mr. Blaine's chart is missing. We've looked everywhere in the nurse's station and even his room and we can't find it."

I stamp my foot on the floor and say, "Well Jane if you do not have the chart, perhaps you could forward my call his primary physician."

She responds, "Now that I can do." She forwards the call to his extension but I get the doctor's voice mail so I hang up.

I walk back into our room and see Ms. Morgan curled up on the bed in the fetal position with Mira rubbing her back. Mira sees me and holds her index finger to her lips telling me to be quiet. I walk up, put my mouth next to her ear and whisper, "Mira, how did you get Ms. Morgan to go to sleep?"

She holds up a bottle of pills, smiles at me and says, "I gave her two of these. She should be asleep for at least six hours. Tell me what you found out."

I tell Mira everything I know, even reciting the note word for word to her. She looks at me and says, "Ira, knowing who held Mr. Blaine captive, I think we both understand that much more happened to him than he told anyone."

I answer, "Yes Mira, he went through terrible tortures that would be embarrassing for anyone to admit. And he has to have injuries from those tortures - it's the only thing that makes sense."

Mira asks, "Ira how can we help Ms. Morgan with this problem?"

I say, "We have to find some way to find Mr. Blaine for her. I was thinking, aren't there still some NSC agents in the United States?"

Mira smiles and says, "Yes Ira there are and they are in Washington DC. You watch Ms. Morgan and I will go give them a call."

I take Mira's place and she leaves the room to contact our agents.

Present — Ben — Washington DC

If I wasn't in such a bad mood, I could enjoy this beautiful spring day in Washington DC. I know I made the right decision but it was also the hardest decision I've ever made. To saddle Ms. Jennifer Donaldson with me, without me being able to give her what she really wants, would be a worse torture than what the bastard Hussein did to me. I'm glad I grabbed my medical records from the nurse's station when I left because the less information they have about me, the better. The first thing I did when I walked out the door was to head down an alley and toss the file into a barrel of flaming trash. Come to think of it, what's a trash barrel doing on fire this time of year? I get my answer when a gang of angry looking men step out of a side alley. One of them says, "Hey wat a whitey doin in our hood."

Another laughs, "Him lookz likez he'z wantin to die."

Another bastard says, "I'z wantz me a piece of dat fresh white azz fore you allz killz him."

I'm already in a foul fucking mood and I've heard enough. I pull my pistol with my left hand, my Ka-Bar with my right hand, and start running towards them screaming! "Fucking Bastards! I'm going cut off your balls and make you eat them!" It scares the hell out of them and they take off running like the fucking cowards they are. As I pass the alley they came out of, I hear a moan and I slide to a stop.

I keep watching for about three minutes to make sure the cowards are really gone and slowly slip down the side alley, pistol and knife in hand. It's a fucking mess and looks worse than the alleys in Iraq and Afghanistan. What sort of animals could live in this type of filth and mess? I understand when I come across the source of the moans, and wished to hell I'd killed the fucking bastards when I had the chance. There's a naked young woman tied spread-eagle across the hood of a beat up old car. She's had the hell beat out of her with bruises all over her body. The sadistic fucking bastards look like they took out their anger on her genitals and breasts for the most part.

I turn away in disgust that this could happen in the streets of our Capital. It would probably be more merciful to shoot her in the head, and before my last dream I might have done that. But I'm working under different rules now than before. My eyes travel up the wall across from her and what I see makes my blood boil. Taped to the wall, in front of my face is her driver's license along with three more licenses, just like trophies on the wall of a den. I yank them all off the wall and put them in one of my pockets.

Then I turn around, I walk up to her and see they even taped her eyes open. I look into her azure eyes and where I should see the spirit of a proud young woman, all I see is an empty shell. I use my Ka-Bar, cut her loose, put her over my shoulders in a fireman's carry and head back to the hospital.

The security guards see me coming with her on my shoulders but they don't even give me any crap. As I walk inside the ER, one of the nurses sees me and yells, "Oh my God! That's Sally he's carrying - she's been missing for a day and a half. Quick someone get him a gurney." I gently place her on the gurney and they cover her with a blanket as the nurse says, "We need to take care of her first, but I'll come out later with the police to take your statement."

They wheel her to an exam room so I wait a minute and head back out the door. I sure as hell don't need to be giving any statements to anyone. But I sure know what I need to do and it's not sitting on my fucking hands and waiting for the police. I have a plan, but first I need to make a few phone calls because twice today I didn't have the right weapons for the situation at hand.

Present — Samantha — WRAMC

I look at Jim and say, "Alright, Jim we need to get moving. Get on the phone and get Linus and the rest of the guys over here."

He just sits there and whines, "Jens is going to kill me."

I get in his face and say, "Jim, if you think Jennifer Donaldson is going to kill you, just imagine what Liz and I are going to do to you if you don't get off your ass and get on the phone."

He finally starts moving and I say, "I'm going to see if I can find out what the hell Ben was talking about in his note. When the team gets here, Liz wants you to leave two of them with me and the rest of you need to get out in the streets and find Ben. If Jennifer Donaldson calls make sure you don't let her know about Ben leaving."

I walk out of the room, head to the nurse's station, walk up to the desk and ask the unit clerk, "Excuse me, I was wondering if I could talk to Mr. Blaine's nurse?" She is reading a magazine and doesn't even bother to look up as she says, "I'm sorry, we had a nurse call in sick today and we're understaffed so she's busy taking care of other patients. Unless this is an emergency you will just need to wait until she comes into his room."

I clear my throat and raise my voice, "Excuse the hell out of me for interrupting your reading! What's your name so when I do my report I can make sure to let everyone know how helpful you've been?"

This shocks her and she finally looks up at me and says, "You're the young reporter for the Truth Network."

I smile and say, "You're only half right: Yes, I'm Samantha Stevens but also I'm your worst nightmare if you don't get me Mr. Blaine's nurse."

She looks around the nurse's station and replies, "I'm sorry Miss Stevens, I'd love to go get her, but there's no one else here and I can't leave the nurse's station empty."

Shoot, what to do now! I think and ask, "You just need someone to answer the phone, right? And you won't be gone long?"

She answers, "That's right Miss Stevens."

I reply, "I'll be glad to watch the phones for you until you get back."

She answers, "I really shouldn't do this, but I'll just be gone a minute." She takes off and I start ransacking the nurse's station looking for Ben's chart. Shit! I can't find it anywhere and I hear the unit clerk coming back so I put things back where they were and nonchalantly sit in the chair, she walks into the station and says, "Mr. Blaine's nurse will be here in a few minutes. She's busy finishing a sponge bath. You're welcome to stay in the station if you'd like."

I smile at her and answer, "Thanks but I'd better get back in Mr. Blaine's room please ask his nurse to come and see me there."

I walk back to Ben's room, and see Jim, Linus and Bernie have all arrived. Then Ben's phone rings. I look at it and say, "That's probably Ms. Donaldson. The last time I answered her call, she was a real witch and went off on me. Linus answer the phone and make sure you don't tell her about Ben being gone."

Present — Jens — Hospital Ramstein Air Field Germany

The fog clears and I see my Ben. He's wandering aimlessly through a city alley, in a not so nice part of town and he is sad - sadder than I've ever remembered him. His mind is awash in turmoil and I even see a tear or two slip down his face. I yell, "Hey Ben it's okay! I'm right here and I love you and always will!" He doesn't respond and it's like he can't hear me.

I get worried when I see a nasty looking group of men step out of a side alley and confront Ben. I can't really hear what's being said, but I can tell by the changes in my Ben that he's getting mad. Then he pulls out a pistol and a knife and starts chasing the men. He scares the poo out of them! It makes me giggle and I wake up. Wow, was that ever a crazy dream. It's funny Liz isn't here with me right now because she's been next to me through this whole ordeal - better than any sister I could ever wish for.

I stretch, yawn and realize I never did hear my darling husband-to-be's answer to Samantha's question. I look at the clock and figure Ben has to be awake by now so I decide to call him. On the fourth ring I hear, "Ben Blaine's room this is Linus speaking."

I ask, "Hey Linus, it's s-o-o-o-o good to hear your voice, but I'd rather hear Ben's voice. How about handing the phone to him?"

There's a short pause and he says, "Sorry Jens, he's not here right now, he's down at PT."

I giggle and say, "Yeah and I bet Ben's the one causing the Pain and Torture. Please tell him I called when he gets back to the room."

Linus answers, "Will do Jens. Is there anything else?"

I think for a moment and start with a question, "Linus, we've been really good friends for a long time haven't we?"

He answers, "Yeah Jens, we've both been through some good times and bad times together. Why do you ask?"

I answer, "Well Linus, you're one of the few that sort of believed I could sense Ben's feelings and since my surgery I can't do that anymore. So I wanted to ask you to tell me truthfully how Ben is really doing."

There's an annoying pause which seems much too long as Linus replies, "Jens, Ben's doing better than anyone imagined and will be leaving the hospital sooner than anyone expects."

I say, "Thanks Linus and don't forget to tell him I called." I hang up the phone and wonder. Something doesn't seem quite right to me, but I can't put my finger on it. Linus, well, seemed to be more secretive than normal, almost like when he was trying to hack my account on the laptop. I'm a little depressed because I can't talk to Ben so I decide to find out where the heck Liz is. I call her phone but hear, "We're sorry, the number you have reached is currently not in service. Please try again later."

I hang up the phone but now I'm really worried - something must be going on. I dial Ira's phone, she answers and says, "Hello Ms. Donaldson. Did you sleep well last night?"

Hmmm, she's being almost too nice! I reply, "I slept well, but had a really strange dream about Ben and woke up giggling from it. I called you because I tried calling Liz and her phone's not working."

She says in an 'oh so sweet tone', "Ms. Donaldson, Ms. Morgan didn't feel well last night and could not get to sleep. So Mira gave her some sleeping pills and she is still asleep. I think she will wake in about an hour and then we will come to your room."

I reply, "Okay thanks Ira. Tell Liz I need to talk to her as soon as she wakes up."

I hang up the phone and yell, "Rats, Double Rats, and Triple Rats!" It scares Matt so he jumps up from the chair he's been sleeping in and yells, "Where's the fucking rat bastards!"

I laugh and say, "Relax Matt, I'm just upset because I can't talk to Ben or Liz." I think for a moment and ask, "Matt, something feels hinky to me, please call Jim and ask how Ben's doing?"

I watch as he picks up his phone and begins to dial, but we're interrupted when the doctor walks into the room. Matt closes his phone as I give the evil-eye to the fricken perv doctor. He laughs and says, "Don't worry, I didn't come to examine you."

I sarcastically grump at him, "Yeah right! Then why in the fricken-fracken heck are you here?"

He laughs and says, "I came because you and your parents are doing remarkably well. In fact I would go as far as to say the speed of all your healings are a miracle..."

I interrupt, sass him and say, "S-o-o-o-o-o what in the heck does this mean to me?"

He smiles and answers, "It means all three of you can go home today. I've written the orders releasing all three of you so the nurses will be in to get all of you ready."

I continue to give him the evil-eye and ask, "You aren't playing some sort of dirty trick on me, are you?"

He laughs and replies, "No Miss Donaldson, just take a look at your chest wound. It's already totally closed."

I pull out the collar and peek down the front of my jammies and smile to myself - yes I did a very good job on this. Then I look at the doctor and he continues, "However Ms. Donaldson, I would like an opportunity to write a paper on the miraculous healing you and your parents have experienced."

I get back to accusing, "I knew you were a peeping Tom perv and just wanted another free look. There's no way in heck anyone is looking at this body other than my husband-to-be, Ben, and he doesn't even get to look until after we're married."

The doctor says, "Oh well, you can't blame me for trying. Anyway you're all released and I would suggest you start getting ready to head home."

The doctor leaves the room, Matt looks at me and says, "Jens what the hell is going on between you and the doctors?"

I look at Matt, bite my lip and wonder if I should tell him, then I decide to tell him part of the truth and say, "Matt, I've had my fill of doctors and I believe most are nothing but glorified drug pushers. Almost all of them never treat the illness, they just give you pills to mask the symptoms. I have more healing in my little finger than most of them do in their whole fricken-fracken bodies."

Matt blinks at me and challenges, "So when did you get your fucking medical degree?"

I laugh and say, "Matt, I don't need a fricken-fracken medical degree to know how to heal a human body."

Matt, laughs and replies, "Jens, I'm beginning to think you've lost it."

I start to get real sassy with him, but Liz and the twins walk into the room. Ira gives me a look and pulls on her right ear. I simmer down and say, "We're wasting time; we've all been released from the hospital so let's blow this Popsicle stand..."

Present — Ben — Washington DC

With the way things are in DC right now, there are no cabs to catch. In fact the streets are deserted and very few people are risking travel. But I need to get to my bank first. If it's open, then I need to hit a few other places. I head towards the bank at a lope, and think damn it feels good to run again! But I tire after about two miles and I have to slow to a fast walk.

I hear a car accelerate behind me and a bunch of yells coming from it.

"Hey, looks like we've got fresh meat!"

"Kick it in the ass Bob and let's get him!"

"I bet he's a fucking conservative!"

I pull the Taurus PT 24/7 Pro DS¹ that Jim gave me and silently swear, wishing it was my Kimber. But it was the best he could do on such short notice. I did notice he kept a Kimber for himself, the bastard! I spin, face the car, kneel, bring up the pistol and take off the safety.

¹ A double action/single action, double stack, striker-fired pistol in .45 ACP. Capacity is 12 in the mag and one in the tube.

I sure hope this pistol shoots straight because I haven't had a chance to test it. I wait, watch the car approach and take aim on the driver. I don't fire yet - I cannot fire yet. Everything has changed since the dream. Before I would have already taken at least one shot. Now, I must wait. They must make the first move. There's only one rat bastard that I can kill without provocation and he's still in Afghanistan.

Finally the passenger fires so I slowly squeeze the trigger. The Taurus barks, the windshield breaks, the driver slumps down in his seat, the car veers sideways and runs into a lamppost. I move my aim to the passenger's seat, and watch as the door slowly opens and a young man falls on the ground. I run over and see that he's seriously injured his back - but not from the wreck: The airbag deployed and he didn't have his seatbelt fastened.

I put the Taurus to the back of his neck and say, "If you fight me your dead." Then I pull the pistol out of his hand and look at it. It's a nice Glock 21. I drop the mag on it and notice its capacity is thirteen rounds and I demand of him, "Where the fuck did you get this."

He's moaning but finally says, "We found a dead cop and took it off him." That's what I thought. The odds of a civilian having a Glock 21 with a thirteen round mag are very slim. I stripped the mag and put the rounds in one of my pockets.

I command, "Lay still while I check on the driver." I walk around to the other side of the car and open the door. There's a forty-five caliber hole in the middle of the driver's face and the whole back of his head is splattered over the back window and seat of the car. I make a mental note: At forty-five meters this Taurus shoots one inch low. I'd been aiming right between his eyes. I toss the rest of the car and find two boxes of forty-five ammo. Right now that's worth more to me than gold.

It's all over and I look at the Taurus in my hand with more respect. I turn it over, see "MADE IN BRAZIL" and smile. I remember Mom and wonder if perhaps one of my family members helped work on this pistol. I was going to keep the Glock and ditch the Taurus, but for some reason I can't, not anymore. I decide, for a mostly plastic pistol the Taurus is not bad. There's only one problem with it and I can adapt, right now I have to fire it with my left hand and the thumb safety isn't ambidextrous. No problem, it will just slow me up about one second before I can fire.

I pull the driver's carcass out of the car, dump it onto the ground, use my Ka-Bar and cut out the airbag. Then I take a blanket and clean up the blood as well as I can. Once that's done I hop in the car and start it up - the motor smokes a little. The injured passenger yells, "Hey you aren't just going to leave me here are you."

I think: Son-of-a-bitch! Now I have to help this bastard. It was easier when I could just kill them or let them die.

I order, "Your door's still open. You have exactly one minute to get your ass back in the passenger's seat. If you can do that I will take you to the hospital."

I watch as he struggles and barely makes it back into the passenger's seat. I know I shouldn't do it, but I can't resist. His feet aren't all the way in when I take off and the door slams closed on his legs with a satisfying crunch followed by a loud scream. The bastard passes out. I spin the car around and head back to the hospital's emergency entrance. I pull up, open the passenger's door, kick his ass out and watch him crumple to the ground. Security yells, "Hey you can't leave him here."

I yell back, "I sure can, this bastard tried to shoot me with a service Glock from a dead cop. Make sure you call the cops and give them this weapon. I toss the empty Glock out on top of the bastard and drive off.

With the streets being so empty, I make it to my bank in record time. I don't believe it! It's open but there are armed guards in tactical gear out in front of the bank. I pull the car into the bank parking lot...

Present — Liz — Jens' hospital room Ramstein Air Field Germany

The sleeping pills Mira gave me knocked me out, but I'm not sure I slept very well because I still feel like shit. I wake up groggy as hell. Mira offers me some more pills to help me wake up which I decline. I need to be in total control of my emotions when I go to see Jens. I take a long cold shower which helps then have two steaming cups of strong black coffee and decide I'm as ready as I'll ever be to face her.

I'm so damn pissed off at Ben! What the fuck is he doing? After all he went through to get back to Jens and after all she's gone through to get back to Ben, he just decides to dump her! If he was here I'd have Mira and Ira hold him while I kick him in the balls until he came to his senses!

We head over to the hospital and walk into Jens' room. I can see she's already fired up and is giving Matt shit. I almost turn around to walk out the door but she notices Ira, simmers right down and says, "We're wasting time. We've all been released from the hospital so let's blow this Popsicle stand. But first I want to call my Ben and tell him to be ready for me!"

I start to panic and feel faint until Ira squeezes my hand and says, "Ms. Donaldson, I think it would be an excellent surprise for Mr. Blaine if you did not tell him. Can you imagine the look on his face when you walk into his room?"

Jens gets a huge smile on her face, starts squirming and says, "Ira! Thank you very much! That's an excellent idea. It's s-o-o-o-o stinkin' hard to do anything sneaky around Ben and I bet he will give me the sweetest kisses."

I breathe a sigh of relief because Ira has come to my rescue and distracted Jens. Now she wants it to be a surprise so she's not going to try to tell Ben about it. I ask, "Jens, are you well enough to leave the hospital?"

She smiles and answers, "No Liz I said WE are released from the hospital. That's me, Daddy and mom. I can't wait to get back to America, to see my Ben again and totally surprise him. His face is going to look so cool when I walk into his room. So sister, start getting the plane ready."

I ask again, "Jens, it hasn't been that long since your surgery. Are you really sure about this?"

She nervously glances at Matt and says, "Matt, you need to leave the room. Oh and close the door on your way out." He jumps up and says, "Great, I'm going to go get some chow and will be back in about thirty."

I'm shocked because as soon as the door closes, Jens hops out of bed like she's never been hurt, unbuttons her pajama top and says, "See for yourself Liz, I'm almost healed."

The three of us walk closer, I look at Jens chest and — well, the incision from her surgery is all closed up and looks really good." I ask, in a stunned voice, "Jens, how-how-how did this happen?"

She bites her lip, gives me the look and says, "Liz, Mira and Ira, can you guys keep a secret?"

I look at the twins and think, we're already keeping a hell of a secret from you, and we all say, "Yes Jens we can keep a secret."

She bites her lower lip even more, squirms some like she's battling something and finally says, "Girls, I think we need to pinky-swear on this."