The unforeseen terror

"Hey grace should we do something interesting today?" Ashley asked? "Sure Ash what would you like to do?" Grace replied. "Hmm well we could go site seeing or swimming but guess what I really want to do?" Ashley said. "Well what is that Ash?" both Helen and Grace said simultaneously. "I really want to go bungee jumping off the Eiffel Tower! It sounds like so much fun!" Ashley said excitedly! Helen and Grace both looked at each other the color draining from their faces. Ashley just stood there and asked" Oh come on guys one time no one will even see us please pretty please" she begged. "Alright Ashley" they both agreed that if they didn't Ashley would probably just go and do it anyway so they might as well go all together.

So off they drove to the Eiffel Tower to fulfill Ashley's activity for the day. "So who wants to go first" Ashley asked. "How about you" Grace said. "What do you think Helen?" She asked. "Of course Ashley should go first it seems this was her idea" Helen responded. So Ashley harnessed herself up and tied her rope off. She climbed up onto the railings edge looking into the dark ocean waters. "Well here I go off 20,000 feet of complete iron." Ash said teasingly. She counted to 10 then jumped off the side. "Wow this is such a rush it's so exhilarating." Ashley thought. Just then she heard a snap turned around and she was free falling with the dark ocean waves staring up at her. " Ahhhhhh" she screamed! Yes indeed Ashley's rope had broken and there's nothing anyone could do. Just then a jet ski drove by with a strap that looked like yes it was a gun slung into the holster. The driver of the Jet Ski reached out and grabbed Ashley as soon as she hit the water. "Coughing, gagging and wheezing, thank you" Ashley said. "No problem" the mysterious driver said then hit her upside the head and knocked her out. Skiing away to a place unknown, that was possibly terror.

Helen and Grace both looked at each other the color was defiantly drained from their faces now and questions circled in their minds. "What happened to Ashley? Who had taken her? How could her rope just break like that?" Grace thought to herself. Helen had a scared and a fearful look in her eye. Tears started flowing from Helen's eyes even though she told herself all the time crying is not for her she's too strong, for once she wasn't strong enough. She wanted to know why where and who, so many questions that would be left unanswered unless they investigated further. So Helen and grace went back to grace's house and ate lunch. Grace kept thinking about Helen's offer to have her back on the team. She did miss it but was it something she really wanted? Finally Grace was pretty sure she made up her mind about her answer

"Helen I want to talk to you about something" Grace said softly. "Yes Grace what is it?" Helen replied. "Well I was wondering if you still wanted me back on the team?" said Grace. "Of course I do why?" Helen replied. "Well I was wondering why you specifically asked me back instead of hiring someone else." Grace stated nervously. "Well if you must know, I didn't want anyone else to have your position it was too valuable and you were really the only perfect filler for that job and you were ready to be trained to become like Ashley and I." Helen replied to Grace while staring deep into her coffee mug. "Well Helen I am glad that the offer still stands for me." Grace said bashfully turning her head to stare out the window. "I say this because I want my position in the Lab back." She said. "Really? Grace thank you I missed you so, you were the best worker there, you knew everything, how to work it and how to get the job done." Helen said "Your welcome Magnus the truth is I really did miss my job." replied Grace. "Glad to have you back! Now you can start training!" Helen told Grace. Grace gave her a genuine smile that said well I'm glad to be back and start the training ASAP!

That night as Grace lay awake in bed she was thinking of a way to tell John that she had accepted the offer of having her old job back. She wasn't sure how he'd react or what he would say but she had to tell him. So that evening as John came into the bedroom and kissed her she told him everything that has gone on the past couple of days and about her job that she now has. John listened and finally agreed that if this is what she wanted then he was alright with it. Grace kissed him happily and smiled a genuine and compassionate smile. With this John grabbed her waist and pulled her on top of him. With a smile Grace kissed him and the rest of the night was as fun as the first night. The next morning Grace and Helen started training right after breakfast. Grace wondered how intense this training would be she soon would find out. "Boss what kind training did you have in mind?" Grace asked. "Well I'm going to start you off with some conditioning then we'll work your up through the skills and maneuvers." Helen replied. So all day Grace was stretching and conditioning this left her worn out and exhausted by the time dinner was supposed to be ready. John came home expecting to find dinner ready on the table but instead he found Helen making salad and Grace asleep on the couch with an ice pack lying on her thighs. Immediately his thought was "what in the world happened?" Since Grace was sleeping peacefully and he didn't want to awaken her he asked Helen "What happened to her she looks like someone ran her over with a semi-truck?" Helen explained to John that Grace was doing some training today and her muscles were just a tad bit sore. So after John heated up and ate a microwave dinner he carried Grace back to their bedroom and laid her in their bed.

The next day Grace awoke to a loud BANG coming from the kitchen. Startled she opened the bottom drawer of her nightstand and opened a jeweled covered box and took out a 9mm pistol that she kept loaded. She opened the door and walked toward the kitchen slowly. She turned the corner and aimed her gun only to find that the mysterious intruder was John. He turned around startled to see Grace pointing a gun directly at his head looking like she was going to shoot him. "Grace! What are you doing?" he asked. "Oh gosh I'm sorry babe I thought that you had left already and someone had gotten into the house" she replied "No it's just me now would you put that away before you accidently shoot someone." John said. Grace put the gun down on the counter. John held open his arms and she rushed right into them. He kissed her and she kissed back they slowly made their way to the couch still embraced in each other's arms. Grace was closest to the couch except on her way her right leg hit the corner of the coffee table sending her falling right onto the couch with John falling right on top of her. "Perfect" she thought. Just as they were about to get further into the moment they heard someone cough behind the couch. John unlocked his grip on Grace and stood up mumbling something she couldn't hear. Then Grace looked up only to find that it was Helen standing behind the couch with her arms folded and a disgusted look on her face. "That's what they have bedrooms for" Helen said in a disgusted tone. Grace stood up and straitened her shirt suddenly thinking "When is she going to leave!"

After lunch Helen had Grace doing more training, and then she brought out different kinds of knives and guns. Grace stared at each weapon wondering what Helen had in mind. Grace's mouth dropped open as Helen stated that she would be using each one of the weapons to practice with today. Grace was amazed that she could use each one of the weapons quite well and suddenly had the feeling that she liked this job and was glad she took it back.

As John walked in the door that evening he smelled something delicious. "What is that wonderful smell?" he asked. "Its steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and chocolate pie" she said. "Yummy sounds amazing" John said. As it was a really good dinner compared to the microwave meal he ate yesterday. That evening John and Grace continued what was started on the couch earlier that morning this pleased John because he missed having Grace all to himself on the weekends.

The next morning Helen found Grace curled up on the bathroom floor. Helen kicked her and she awoke startled. "What's wrong why you on the floor and in the bathroom?" Helen asked. " I didn't feel so good this morning, I think I ate something yesterday that was bad but, I feel better now though" she replied. "That's good I'll give you a few minutes to get cleaned up and I'll start breakfast" Helen stated. "Okay great thanks" she said back "What would you like Grace" Helen asked. "I don't know what did you had in mind boss." Grace replied. "Omelets" boss said "sounds great I haven't had one of those in a long time." Grace said smiling.

After breakfast and training Helen decided Grace was ready. So they started by deciding they have to find Ashley. They looked through all the ropes and gear they were using that day that Ashley fell including Ashley's broken rope. They analyzed the split ends and found traces of acid on the rope. They realized that this wasn't an accident it was done on purpose. That answered one question now they had another, what did they want with Ashley, Why they had chosen Ashley and the biggest question of all how were they going to find her.

John got home that evening to find his wife and her boss sitting at the table with chemicals surrounding those testing different ropes. This confused him but he wasn't about to ask questions he just simply kissed Grace and went into the office around the corner until dinner. Grace hoped that he didn't think she was neglecting him she loved him with all her heart she was just really busy at the time. She got up from the table and went into the office to talk to John. "Hey" she said. "Hey wonderful" he replied. "Look babe I want to say I'm sorry that I haven't had much time with you I've been so busy." She said. "Honey your fine I know your busy and you haven't been neglecting me I spend time with you every night it's just hard now on the weekends because your boss has suddenly decided to live with us." He said. "I know it's awkward because now that's she is here we can't even make love in our living room" she replied with a genuine but teasing smile. Laughing John kissed her and said "how about me you and Helen all go out to dinner and catch a movie?" "Sounds perfect" she said.

Today Grace decided that she was going to go to the doctors because she hadn't been feeling well the past week. She was very shocked at what the doctors had told her this was something she did not need at this very moment but accepted it. She wondered how she was going to tell John though but she had to tell him this evening because this was such exciting news!

That afternoon she trained carefully with Magnus then they both decided to work a bit more on Ashley's case tonight and test out there theory tomorrow. Dinner was quit at the table that evening and she wondered if she should break the silence or not. "Grace I have great news" john said. "Oh do share darling" she replied. "I just got promoted to manager of my company" he said "Oh that's great im so happy to hear that!" she replied. "I also have good news if you would like me to share it now with you I will" she said. "Sure" John and Magnus both said. "Well I'm pregnant" She said John and Helen both dropped the forks and stared blankly at her. Grace frightened and hurt stood up and ran to her bedroom crying and locking the door behind her. John suddenly realizing that she was serious stood up from the table and went to the bedroom knocking on the door. "Grace honey would you please let me in" he said. Sure enough Grace unlocked the door and let him in relocking it behind him. He wrapped his arms around her saying he was sorry and that he wasn't sure what to think at first. "It's alright I shouldn't have just told you out like that without talking to you about it first." She said. Then they kissed a few times and went back out and finished dinner all the while Helens face was still very unreadable.