Chapter 8

Caitlin tried to shift herself in the chair as Ralph came close to her and put his hands on her shoulders. He moved her hair out of the way and kissed her neck. She closed her eyes and tried to struggle against the ropes.

Ralph laughed. "It's no use fighting it," he said. "I'm good at tying ropes. I'm good at lots of things. It's too bad my sister won't let me to take care of you now. I had all kinds of things planned."

"Leave her alone and get over here," demanded Gabe. "We need to review this sketch of the cabin that Rhonda gave us. We might not have a lot of time to get in and out with the goods."

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Ami was greeted immediately by Saint John when she walked back into Santini Air. He gave her a kiss and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you," he said. "Did you get all of your errands done?"

She smiled at him. "Almost," she replied while looking over at String who was sitting at the desk sulking. "Did he and Caitlin have another fight?"

"Oh no," said Saint John. "She just took off again."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"She does this from time to time if they have a spat," he replied. "She'll be back in a few days. In the meantime he'll go up to the cabin and sulk."

"Makes you wonder why they stay together," said Ami. "But, guess that works for them. That reminds me. I need to make a phone call to check on those flowers for the wedding. I'll be right back."

Saint John smiled at her. "Sure," he said. "Go right ahead."

String watched as Ami headed to the back office to use the phone. Then he looked at his brother. He could tell it was really hard on him. He had wanted it all to be a lie. Knowing that Michael had the phone bugged, the brothers waited outside by the desk.

Ami picked up the phone and called Gabe. Before he could even speak to her she rattled off what she learned. "We have to move up the time to right now," she said. "Get up to that cabin and get what you can. String will be up there tonight and it might be days until he leaves. He thinks she's just run off."

Gabe and Ralph pulled everything together quickly and gathered all of their belongings from the room.

"Looks like we have a change of plans," Gabe told Caitlin. "You won't have the pleasure of our company any longer."

As they were about to head out of the door, Ralph stopped. "I'll catch up to you in a few minutes," he told Gabe. "I have a promise to keep."

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Ami came out of the back room and walked back over to the men. Saint John could see that her demeanor had changed.

"I need to go and straighten some things out," she told him. "Planning a wedding sure is a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"That's okay baby," he replied. "You go and do whatever you have to do."

When Ami left Michael came out of the back room. "I have tail on her," he said. "She won't be able to go anywhere without us knowing. We traced the call to a hotel just down the road. Marella and I will check it out and see if Cait's there."

"Alright Michael," said String. "I think the rest of us need to get up to the cabin right away. Come on Dom, let's go get the Lady."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A

Ami met up with Gabe and Ralph who were just getting into the old helicopter they had recently purchased.

"Good thing you know how to fly Gabe," said Ami. "This is one time that it will actually come in handy."

"Hey, you're the one who prefers road travel over air travel," he responded. "To me, this is the only way to go."

As they lifted off of the ground Ami asked about Caitlin.

"Did you take care of her?" she asked.

"Oh, I sure did," said Ralph with a grin. "I keep my promises."