Chapter 11: Sunday 09 September 2007

Khudabah, Pakistan — Evening of day eleven

I felt stronger today. I think it's because I had more food last night. I kept my legs up almost all night, so the rats didn't bite me much.

They inflicted the same drug torture today that I had yesterday, with the same effect. I was as loopy as hell and told them some incredible bullshit answers, but it seemed like they were happy that I was talking to them. I guess they're so fucking stupid that they don't know bullshit when they hear it. They fed me well again tonight and gave me all the water I wanted, but no hose bath.

Damned camel jockeys always use three guards with guns when they move me, and always leave one armed guard in the room with me when I'm tied up, except at night. I'm good at martial arts, but I know that no matter how good I am, I can't fight three AK-47s. I need to survive, stay strong and look for a chance to escape.

I'm surprised they left the lights on tonight. I'm hoping it will discourage the rats while I make the only escape I can.

Hawaii — Sunday, Day Eight

I awoke better-rested than I'd thought I would this morning, with Jens sleeping in the nude last night. I was spooning her all night long, and when I woke up, my right hand was on her breast, my left hand was between her legs, and my morning wood was pressed tightly against her back. Thank god that somehow I was able to extricate my hands and slip out of the bed without waking her. I fired up the coffeemaker and went out onto the balcony to watch the sunrise.

Ten minutes later, Jens came out in a robe with two cups of coffee. "Mmmm, I had the most wonderful dream last night. You spent all night running your hands all over my body," Jens said as she handed me a cup. "Good morning, my fiancé. How did you sleep?"

"I slept like a baby," I answered, not daring to tell Jens about where my hands had been that morning. "Thanks for the cup of coffee. How about we get some clothes on and go for a little run on the beach before breakfast."

"That sounds like a great idea," She answered. "I need to run off some of the food that we ate last night. I think I gained ten pounds. Let me go put on some cloths. By the way, I hope you liked my pajamas last night." She flashed me a wicked grin.

"I did notice your lack of pajamas last night. I figured that you ate so much you couldn't fit into them," I joked.

"You're going to pay for that, Mister." Jens caught me with a surprise leg sweep, took me to the floor and jumped on my chest. "So I'm fat, am I?" She acted upset at me, pretending to hit me on the chest.

"You know," I answered, "When you don't wear pajamas you're even easier to tickle." I grabbed her sides.

"Oh, no you don't," Jens replied, grasping my hands. I let her force them over my head and pin them to the floor. "I want a retraction of that fat joke!" She still pretended to be angry.

I decided to play along. "I, Bennie Blaine, formally retract all mention of Jennifer Donaldson being fat, for the time being."

"What's this 'for the time being' crap?" She remarked.

"Well, if you keep eating like you did last night and don't exercise—"

Jens interrupted, "—Hey, I was hoping for some exercise last night. I was even dressed for it."

I retorted, "Is that why you were sleeping when I came to bed? I guess you missed your chance. Now you have to wait until we're married."

"Oh, damn," Jens answered. "You could have just rolled me over and had your way with me."

"Hey, that's me doing all the work," I answered. "I thought you wanted some exercise. Speaking of that, let's not waste anymore of this beautiful morning. Let me up so we can go running."

"I want a kiss and a hug and from you to tell me how beautiful, and not fat, I am," Jens still pretending to be hurt.

So I did just that, several times, and Jens finally let me up and walked towards the bathroom. She looked over her shoulder when she was halfway there, noticed I was watching her, and let the robe slide off her bare shoulders and fall onto the floor.

She started singing, dancing into the bathroom:

"I'm in heaven when you kiss me
Heaven when you kiss me
You were sent to me from wonderland
Ooh its heaven when you kiss me
Heaven when you kiss me
You were sent to me from wonderland
I go crazy when you kiss me
Baby don't resist me
Take me with you back to wonderland
You know that I'm hypnotized by your eyes
and I just can't resist
Every time that we kiss."

I thought about how waking up with Jens each morning was an adventure. Then I corrected myself — being with Jens is the adventure of a lifetime.

I threw on some loose shorts, put the snub nose into a low back holster, called Matt, and told him to meet us for a run in ten minutes. He was really sleepy-sounding, so I was sure he got lucky several times last night.

Jens be-bopped out of the bathroom still singing the same song. Dancing over to me, she stopped singing and said, "I love it when you watch me. I guess I go a little crazy and like to show off for you," and did a pirouette in front of me. "Like what you see?"

I loved what I saw. Jens had on a nice camisole workout top and her favorite pair of short shorts. I pulled her close to me and gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Very much. You look beautiful as always." I swatted her on the butt. "Damn, where's Matt? I want to run."

"Let's go knock on his door," Jens said.

Matt came out looking tired, but with a big smile on his face, "Sorry. I was on my way over, but sort of got distracted."

Jens and I looked at each other and laughed. "I think you need to zip your fly," Jens said.

Matt turned red and fixed his problem.

"Are you carrying and ready to go?" I asked.

He was, so we went down to the beach, kicked off our shoes, and started to run side by side setting an easy pace at first, increasing speed as we warmed up. Matt asked, "So how far are you to thinking of running today — a couple of miles?"

Jens and I exchanged a look, and we both said together, "Oh, not far, just about twenty miles."

Matt groaned. "Twenty fricken miles after last night? I think you two are trying to kill me."

We both asked, "Why? What went on last night?" And chuckled, knowing perfectly well what had happened.

"Shit, I'm calling Jim to meet me with a car at the halfway point. I don't remember the last time I ran twenty miles," Matt said, huffing out his answer. He called Jim, and from the gist of the conversation, we were able to tell that he interrupted something and Jim wasn't really happy, but agreed to meet Matt at what should be the halfway point of our run.

It was great running on the beach without shoes. We raced the waves to see if we could keep from getting wet. Matt was getting really tired and falling further behind us.

I looked over at Jens. "He's never going to make ten miles if we don't slow up."

She gave me her patented, sexy, pouty look and complained, "Shoot, I really wanted a good workout today."

"Your wish is my command, my love," I answered. "Let's switch off doing fireman carries on each other." I scooped her up and threw her over my shoulders, grinning at her startled squeal.

That did slow me up and allowed Matt to catch up.

Jens said, "So I guess I'm not too fat to carry."

Matt stared at me. "You told her she was fat? You must have a death wish. My wife's from Texas and if I ever told her that ... well I shudder to think what would happen."

I wanted to come up with a witty reply, but it was too hard running and carrying Jens to talk. Instead, I decided to run faster.

Jens said, "Now we're moving. Haw, horse giddy up!" She pretended to whip my butt with her free hand.

Matt said, "Oh shit. Come on, slow up for me."

After about a mile, I was getting tired, so I slowed up and lowered Jens down. "Your turn."

I helped Jens get me up onto her shoulders, and she took off just about the time Matt caught up.

We heard him say, "Hey, no fair; she had a rest."

I was amazed that Jens could carry me; I outweighed her by at least 70 pounds. She did a good job, but couldn't run as fast, so Matt did get a breather. She got tired after a half a mile and put me back down. "You want carried again, my love?" I asked

"As much fun as that was, I like running beside you better. But let's slow up a little for Matt," she answered.

Jim was waiting for us at the ten-mile mark. As we turned to head back, Matt yelled at Jim, "Those two are fricken crazy. They about killed me. Lots of luck to you, Jim."

Jim was a little lighter than Matt and could run better. We took it easy on him for about a mile so that he could warm up.

Jim said to us, "I don't know what Matt was whining about. This isn't bad."

Jens and I exchanged another glance, and said in unison, "Fresh meat!" And we kicked it up to our normal running speed.

Jim fell behind and we heard him say, "Shit. Now I know what Matt was whining about," as he tried to keep up with us.

Jens asked me, "You carrying your snub nose?"

"It's right next to my heart," I answered, indicating my lower back holster.

She laughed. "I guess I'll have to see if I can find your heartbeat there later. You know, Jim has always been a little mouthy, his wife is east-coast bitchy, and I really don't care for them. I don't think we should show him any mercy. Since you're carrying I don't mind if we drop him." She sped up even more, getting in front of me. Damn it was a nice view, and I don't mean Hawaii.

It wasn't long till we were back at the hotel beach and Matt was waiting for us. "Jim called me and said that you guys dropped him, that he's about five minutes behind you, and that I needed to be waiting for you. Are you two done running for the day?"

Jens looked at me and said, "I don't know, honey. That was pretty fun. Maybe we should do it again."

Matt groaned, "You two are crazy."

In unison, we replied, "Hey, we never said we were sane."

"So, now you two are starting to say the same things at the same time," Matt said. "This is getting spooky."

We both laughed and said, again together, "Great minds think alike."

But that did make me think, ever since day before, it did seem like we were becoming more one. We were saying the same things at the same times, and sometimes even finishing each other's sentences. It didn't really feel spooky to me; it just felt really natural.

Jens looked at me. "It doesn't feel spooky to me, either."

"Did I just say something out loud?" I asked her.

"Nope, but I knew exactly what you were thinking," She replied with a smile. "I noticed it yesterday after my big cry, but didn't say anything to you. I was wondering if you would notice. It's not like I can read your mind. It's more like I can read or feel your feelings. I don't know how or why it happened, but I'm glad it did because I feel so close to you. Let's see if you can do the same with me. I'm going to feel something; you concentrate and see if you can figure it out."

I concentrated and walked over to Jens, gave her a big hug and kiss and bent down and whispered in her ear, "My love, you know I want to, but we need to wait until we're married."

Jens got excited and started jumping up and down, "That's right. You did it. That's exactly what I was feeling."

"It was like I could feel your feelings, but I'm not sure that was a good test," I replied, "You think about that all the time. Why don't you try something else?"

She looked into my eyes and I concentrated. Finally after a couple of minutes I said, "I felt like you wanted to know that the plans are for today? First we are headed back to the North Shore to 'The Moke" to introduce you to rock climbing, then a break for lunch and we're heading to Kualoa Ranch, where Jurassic Park was filmed for an afternoon of mountain biking. How did I do?"

That started her bouncing again. "That was really good. You got two thirds of it right. I also wanted to know what we were doing tonight."

"I know you did," I smiled. "But that's a secret--" I started, and Jens interrupted

"—If you told me you'd have to kill me." We laughed.

Matt said, "I changed my mind. You two are really spooky!"

Jim ran up and said, "I think I'm going to die. Damn, you two are fast."

We all started laughing, and Matt replied, "They did win the Leadville 100 trail run this year."

"Oh shit. I'd heard two Marines had won it, but I didn't know that it was both of you. No wonder you kicked my butt," Jim answered.

I started, "Let's go clean up and meet for--"

Jens finished, "—breakfast in thirty minutes."

Matt explained to Jim, "They've been doing this all morning, either finishing each other's sentences or saying the same sentence at the same time. It's really spooky."

"No, it's not," we both said, and then laughed.

Jens said, "Last one to the—"

I interrupted, "—Hotel is a rotten egg," And we all tore off for the hotel.

In the hotel room Jens wanted to shower together to, "save time." I told her that someday we would, but not today, and, of course, she got even by pouting and stripping in front of me.

Dancing into the bathroom she started singing,

"Heaven ... I'm in heaven,
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.

Heaven ... I'm in heaven,
And the cares that hung around me through the week,
Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak,
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek."

She finished and I jumped into the shower. Making sure I locked the door, I started singing,

"Oh, I love to climb a mountain,
And to reach the highest peak.
But it doesn't thrill me half as much
As dancing cheek to cheek.

Oh, I love to go out fishing
In a river or a creek.
But I don't enjoy it half as much
As dancing cheek to cheek.

Dance with me! I want my arms about you.
The charms about you
Will carry me through to...

Heaven ... I'm in heaven,
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek."

I walked out of the bathroom and Jens continued singing, until I "accidentally" let my towel drop and the words froze in her throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "I guess the towel slipped." And I picked it up and wrapped it back around my waist. "What's a matter; cat got your tongue?"

"You wouldn't want to do that again?" Jens asked.

"Nope, I'm hungry and the show is over," I replied.

She gave me her best pouty look. "Just once more. Please!"

I was saved by a knock on the door; I grabbed my clothes and ducked into the bathroom. When I came out a couple of minutes later, the six of us headed down to breakfast.

Sitting around the table, everyone looked really happy, satisfied, and loving. I looked at Jens and winked, "I wonder why—"

Jens continued, "—Everyone looks so happy and in love today."

I kept going, "Makes me wonder what happened last night and this morning."

Jens's turn: "I do know that Matt had his fly down and looked pretty flushed when we knocked on his door." We laughed as the other four blushed.

Sally and Molly looked at us in disbelief. Matt said, "They've been doing this all morning."

Jim told them, "They complete each other's sentences or say the same sentences at the same time. Shit, they even have us doing it now."

We both said with a chuckle, "That's right."

Molly looked at us. "No, this isn't spooky; I saw this before in my small home town in Texas. We had this old couple that had been married for sixty years and they did this all the time. They were so in tune with each other they could tell what each one was feeling and thinking. It was a wondrous thing to watch. But you two aren't even married and haven't even — oops. I almost told the guys your secret — I guess it doesn't make sense to me."

"Haven't even what?" the guys echoed.

Now it was our turn to blush. Matt saw it and the light clicked on in his head. "Oh, I understand." He leaned over and whispered in Jim's ear.

Jim's eyes widened and he said, "Is that for real?"

I nodded my head and started explaining, "It has to be this way for us—"

Jens picked up, "—Otherwise, we couldn't be a sniper team together."

My turn: "Jens's father, the general, knows about this—"

Jens: "—And approves of it."

Matt said, "Isn't it hard?"

We both said, "Death before dishonor!"

Matt and Jim said, "Semper Fi."

The rest of the table answered, "Orraahhh!"

I told them all about the plans for the day. Matt and Jim thought it was cool, but their wives weren't too happy about the rock climbing. I looked at Jens and I knew that even though she had never climbed, she would take care of the situation with the wives, so we decided to take two cars today — the ladies in the Mustang with Jens driving, and the guys in Matt's car.

"My love," I cautioned Jens, "Please drive safer today than yesterday. It would be a shame if you had to spend tonight in the jail."

She gave me a kiss, and we were off. I had enough climbing gear for Jens and myself other than shoes for her, but we needed equipment for the other four. So we stopped at a rental place and got four more sets of shoes and climbing harnesses. I had enough carabineers, belay devices, quickdraws and ropes. I would never use rental ropes or quickdraws — you never know if they're safe — and rental shoes are always nasty. The rental place had a nice selection of new La Sportiva climbing shoes so I bought Jens a pair of Mythos just like mine.

She thanked me with a hug and kiss and said, "Now we're twins."

Even with all that we had done today, we were still at The Moke by ten hundred hours. I figured we would climb for three hours and then break for lunch and head to the ranch. Jens had worked on Molly and Sally, and they were ready to try rock climbing. But Sally made it known that she was stopping if she broke a nail.

Jens smiled and said, "Sorry my love, it's the best I could do. She grew up in New York fricken city and never spent much time outdoors."

"Thanks, my love. I'm amazed at what you did. I looked at her nails. She's probably going to break one on the first climb. I brought some nice wine in the cooler so if she does, she can at least sit and enjoy herself."

I wanted to do Easy Rider, one of the two climbs rated 5.7, but because of the way it was slanted I knew that we could have some injuries if/when we had a fall. I felt it wiser to try the other, so we headed on down to Vegetable Crack.

Matt and Jim had climbed some in Basic Training but they had forgotten everything. Feeling a little like I did when I took the boy scouts climbing while on leave, I put on my harness, showing everyone how to do theirs, and I checked the fit on Jens harness.

"Mmmm, I like it when you touch me down there," she purred.