None of the characters belong to me – the glory goes to JE.
Chapter 11 – The Fall of November
My head ached. I couldn't move and when I concentrated hard to do something simple like change the angle of my arm, pain shot through me and I was still unable to manage the simple task. I didn't know what Tyler had done to me, but if I was ever able to move again, I had decided I was going to kill him for it.
I had no sense of time but had a vague memory of him occasionally moving me. I didn't think he was taking me to different venues just changing the room where I was being held to better suit his purpose. I could hear his voice in the distance and thought maybe he was on the phone as I couldn't hear anyone responding to his questions.
I hoped I could figure out how long I'd been here if I could just latch onto enough of his conversation.
"You said she would be out of it, but I think she is in pain too."
How nice, the psycho was concerned about me.
"No, I said I'd prefer she not die, but if it happened that would have to be alright."
Okay, maybe the psycho wasn't as concerned as I thought.
"No, but her constant whimpering is beginning to get on my nerves. The only thing that shuts her up is to give her more."
He has the nerve to drug me and then complain that I'm not being quiet enough to suit him.
"I don't know how much she's gotten. Maybe a dose every day plus a couple of nights I had to top her off. I'm guessing it's been eight doses."
What in the hell? So I've been here possibly five or six days? Where are the Merry Men? Where is the Calvary to charge in and save the day? Does this mean I'm on my own?
I tried not to think that way, but it was hard to not feel alone. I couldn't move. Any attempt at using a muscle was met with excruciating pain and because of the length of time that had passed I was worried that they would never find me.
Just then, Tyler's voice got closer, "I'm telling you she is in pain. Man, look there are tears on her face now. No, she isn't awake. I know because she isn't moaning and she always moans when she's awake."
I was going to have to tuck that away and remember to stay quiet as much as possible. Maybe he'd let enough of the drugs get out of my system in order for me to move or at least lessen the pain.
"Alright, bring it to the warehouse. I'm upstairs." He hung up but I could tell he was nearby.
I felt a touch to my hair before he spoke again. "Okay doll, he's bringing the antidote tomorrow. I didn't realize the effect this would have on you. Once I get it into you we should be able to move forward together."
Thankfully I was able to manage to keep from crying out when he moved my arms for me. I'm pretty sure I lost consciousness when he left the room.
Later I heard Tyler on the phone again but apparently not to the same person.
"Yeah, I've got the report you need to find the team. You'll be looking for a group of six Rangers. The leader is a big man, but not overly tall – maybe 5'11", Cuban descent. The other guys will be smaller and not nearly as well trained. If you take out the head guy the others will be simple to eliminate."
If I didn't know better I would say he was talking about Ranger.
"No, I'm sending it to your e-mail account now. It will give you their precise location in three days. If you are there you can ambush them when they stop for their pick up back to the states. I assume my fee will be wired as usual? Good."
This guy was selling military secrets? What kind of creep had me? I thought this was just a standard stalker with a military background, but this was much bigger. I had to figure out how to get out of here in three days in order to warn Ranger. He was about to walk into a trap with his team.
While I was pondering this I heard voices. Not the I'm crazy kind where I need a straight jacket and a padded room, but angry military men storming the compound kind of voices.
I couldn't tell if these were good or bad guys but they were calling for Tyler. The voice speaking was not one I recognized.
I heard the door to my room fling open and was instantly disappointed at the voice since I knew it was my captor. "I've got to move you doll. Hang on and I'll try to run with you as quickly as possible."
Maybe he wasn't all bad; at least he was apologizing for my agony.
"I hate to lose you, but I may have to if they open fire. If it is you or me, I've got to take care of me," He added.
Suddenly my warm feelings were gone again. Does he mean lose me as in I can run faster without your weight on my shoulders, or lose me as in I need to use you as a human Kevlar vest.
Tyler was moving slowly trying to listen to the military voices to see which way to go for his escape.
"They are on the third floor. Roger, I'll take the shot. There only appears to be one civilian – a girl. A totally hot girl in a great version of dress whites. Yes Sir. Brown hair. No, it's curly and kind of crazy looking."
I could hear one of the men apparently communicating with his team. I wanted to be relieved that someone had come for Tyler, but couldn't understand why my description mattered.
"Yes Sir. I'll stay sir."
What, he was calling off taking out Tyler. If I could move I'd yell for them to do it even if they risked taking me out too. This needed to end and soon. Besides, with the pain shooting through my muscles a well placed bullet would really just be taking me out of my misery.
Then I heard a voice I did recognize, but knew I had to be dreaming. There was no way he was here. I had to assume the pain was making me hallucinate.
"Tyler, put the girl down and come out. We have you in our sights and will shoot to kill if you give us no choice."
Tyler seemed to be weighing his options before realizing he didn't have any.
"The girl is mine and we will walk out of the building together." Tyler yelled back as he began to move forward. Apparently he was under the delusion I was a bargaining chip that could extend his life.
Moments passed with Tyler moving only inches with each step.
Finally I heard what I knew would come and held my breath preparing for the worst, "Clear for shot on Tyler all efforts to avoid the girl."
I heard two shots ring out just as I felt Tyler's hold on me lessen. He had me slung over his shoulder and as his knees buckled my feet hit the floor. Unfortunately, they could not sustain my weight so I continued to collapse on top of him.
Within seconds I felt hands pull me off and toss me aside with no attempt at gentility.
"Positive ID, sir. This is Tyler alright." The initial voice said.
Then I heard boots thundering toward us with no apparent need to stealth their footsteps.
Most of the commotion centered on Tyler and radioing in for back up.
I felt a hand gently roll me over and then the unmistakable sound of Hal's voice saying, "Oh my God! Steph."
He fell to the floor beside me and cradled me in his arms rocking slightly too fast to soothe. Each movement was painful, but there was nothing I could do to tell him.
Pulling off his glove, he felt at my neck and exhaled loudly when he felt my pulse.
"Sir?" A young voice questioned the sight we must have been.
"Sir, is that the girl in the picture in your room?" He asked.
Hal must have nodded, "This is Stephanie Plum, the strongest woman I know and the love of my life. I can't leave her like this. I know we were to take out the target, radio it in and leave, but I simply can't abandon her." His voice was cracking. I knew he was not crying, but the emotion was thick on every word.
"Can we call 911?" The young voice asked.
"Negative. No authorities. Wait, do you have a sat phone?" Hal asked.
"Yes sir," The kid replied handing it to him.
I heard Hal dialing a series of numbers and then speak, "Tank, this is Hal."
Thank God, he was calling the Calvary.
"I found Stephanie. She's at 611 Water Street. It's an abandoned warehouse where Tyler has been holding her for at least a week."
There was silence where I assume Tank was speaking.
"No, my team has already radioed in the take down. You only have ten minutes tops to get her out. Wait, there's more. It looks like she's been drugged. She's unconscious, but has a strong pulse."
"No, I can wait for the sound of you arriving, but I have strict orders that my men and I can't be seen."
"That's right. The third floor. Tank, man, thanks. Tell Bobby I said thank you too." Hal finished talking and handed off the cell phone.
He ran his fingers through my tangle of hair. "Steph, Sweetheart. I have to leave you. If you can hear me, I've called the guys and they're coming to get you. Bobby knows what Tyler's given you and he will bring the antidote with him. They will take you back home and take care of you. Tyler will never hurt you again. You're safe now. Until three days ago I had no idea the guy we were to go after was the same guy that wanted you. I would have warned you if I could have."
He spoke quieter now directly in my ear. "I can't bear to leave you like this, but I have to. If you can hear me I'll understand completely if you never want to speak to me again. I'm abandoning you when you need me most, but I promise you that you're safe. Please don't hate me Stephanie, I couldn't bear it. I'll be home as soon as I can. Please forgive me. Please Steph. Please." He virtually sobbed into my ear as he laid me gently on the floor.
"Sir, there are vehicles approaching." The young voice interrupted.
"Feds?" Hal asked still stroking my face with his ungloved hand.
"No, I don't think so. It looks like three black Explorers." He reported back.
"Good, prepare to bug out." Hal commanded in a voice I had not heard him use before.
"Alright Sweetheart, I'm going, but the guys are on their way up to take care of you. You'll be home soon." Hal stood up and then paused before adding, "Shit!"
Now what was wrong? I heard a zipper and then the rustling of fabric. Finally I felt something soft cover my legs. Within two breaths I caught the unmistakable scent of Old Spice and the sea. Hal had put some piece of his clothes over my legs to cover me up some. No doubt he was trying to preserve my modesty. The skirt was really short and all the carting of me by Tyler had it ridding even higher.
I never heard him leave but somehow I knew he was gone.
No more than two minutes later I heard the guys coming.
"Spread out. Hal said she was on the third floor. If you see Tyler steer clear there is a team of Feds coming to clean that mess." Tank commanded.
I heard footsteps pounding through the building before hearing Les' panicked voice, "In here! She's in the Northwest corner room." I could feel his fingers caress my face in much the same way Hal had just done it. "Oh, Beautiful, what has he done to you?"
I wondered the same thing myself.
Bobby entered next. I could hear his medical bag hit the floor as he dropped to my other side. "Alright Bomber, we're here and I'm going to give you a little something to counteract what Tyler's been administering. I know you are probably in some pain but we are going to have to go slowly to be sure I don't do too much for your body to handle at once."
I always appreciated Bobby's bedside manner. I'd had more than enough experience with various injuries to know that Bobby explained everything he was doing. He knew it kept me calmer to know what was happening. Just knowing he was nearby made me relax a little.
I felt a prick in my arm followed by Bobby's rubbing of the muscle. I couldn't help but let a moan escape from the pain the movement was causing.
"It's alright Beautiful," Les assured me. "We've got you."
"She is probably in a lot of pain right now and the antidote will take an hour or two to kick in fully. She will need to be moved as carefully as possible," Bobby warned.
"I've got her," Les said with a stern voice. I knew no one would question him. The tone of his statement was too definite.
Fifteen minutes later I was being gently lifted from the back of the SUV in the RangeMan garage and carried to Bobby's office for observation and more treatment as necessary.
"When will she start coming around?" Tank asked in the elevator.
Bobby sounded slightly uncertain, "If she has enough of the antidote in her system it could be within the hour, but I can't give her anymore until we see what state she is in then. If she isn't completely herself I'll continue to administer smaller doses each hour until she is. The problem is we don't know how much the bastard gave her." The uncertainty had been completely replaced with anger.
The doors opened with a ding and Tank asked Les if he was coming upstairs?
"No," Les replied. "I'll be offline until Steph is okay."
Bobby told him, "Man, I've got this. It could be hours before she is awake. The waiting is the hardest part."
"No!" Les practically shouted. "I let her down and I'll be by her side when she wakes up so that I can try to apologize. I can't leave her now." He softened to explain.
"Alright," Bobby said unlocking his door. "Then you may as well be useful and sit by her side to let me know of any changes. I'll hook up a few monitors and you can let me know when the readings have any type of variance."
I was placed on one of the gurneys in Bobby's office. Although he was being slow and gentle each movement shot pain through my body. I tried very hard to keep from moaning but a few escaped despite my efforts.
Les asked, "Is there anything you can do for the pain?"
"Not until she is fully conscious. The drug Tyler gave her has a depressant effect on her system. I can't risk slowing things down any more," Bobby explained.
Things settled down after a bit and I could hear no movement but I knew Les was still holding fast in his vigil by my side. For some reason he seemed to blame himself for my abduction. As soon as I was awake I needed to be sure he understood this was not his fault.
Bobby reentered the room and spoke to me. "Alright Bomber, it doesn't look like we've countered the full effects yet, so I'm giving you another dose. As soon as you can, I need to you tell me if you are getting any better. I don't want to give you too much."
That was an instruction I would be more than glad to obey. Unfortunately, as time passed I still couldn't seem to open my eyes or move. I did think the pain was slightly less, for which I was truly thankful.
This was the routine all afternoon. After the fifth injection Les asked the question I was beginning to worry over, "Man, she's had a lot of the antidote. Shouldn't she be waking up?"
I heard Bobby let out a long breath. "I can't tell how long it will take. Her vitals are strong so she is holding her own. You said she hadn't made any sounds lately so I'm hoping that means she isn't in as much pain. Honestly, I figured she would be awake by now too, but we have no way of knowing how much of the drug is in her system."
"What did the bastard give her?" Les asked.
"It's a blend of drugs. One immobilizes the muscles in essence paralyzing the victim. Another is designed to send false pain messages to the brain with any movement. The final piece is a fast acting and potent sedative. The three together temporarily knock out the victim, immobilize them for about twelve hours and send pain messages to the brain for at least that long making the person unable to move. The blend would be considered a perfect rape drug. She was probably out with in fifteen seconds after he administered the first dose."
"Did he touch her?" Les asked with his voice seething with anger.
"I don't know. Until I think we've countered enough of the drug to eliminate the pain I don't want to disturb her enough to do a rape kit." Bobby answered, his voice matching Les' with emotion.
I tried thinking back. Had Tyler raped me? I certainly didn't remember it. From the irritation of his voice on the phone I doubted it. He sounded inconvenienced by my condition, not turned on by it.
Thinking back through Tyler's phone conversations made me remember the Intel he had sold to someone. Although I couldn't prove it, I knew Ranger was in danger and I needed to wake up enough to get a warning to him. As much as I didn't want to do it, I needed to try and move.
I tried to move my arm first and not only did it not work, but I felt a jolt of pain from the effort. Apparently that wasn't going to work. I decided to try something easier, like maybe turning my head to Les' side of bed. Hopefully he would notice.
I concentrated really hard and was thrilled to feel my cheek come in contact with the pillow. It was uncomfortable to move my head, but it was not agonizing. Unfortunately, Les and Bobby were too busy talking to see my big accomplishment. I was going to need to take this up another notch.
I needed to try and talk. Honestly, I hadn't tried in a while. I had spent most of my energy concentrating on not making noise; maybe making a sound would be easier.
My first attempt came out as more of a sigh than a word like I'd hoped, but it was enough to get their attention.
I heard Les' voice first as he came back to my side. "Bobby, she's moved, look at her." His voice sounded thrilled, like he had just won the lottery.
"I see it, that's a great sign man she is finally starting to get the effects of the drug I'm giving her. I'll get another dose ready." Bobby replied before walking out.
Les leaned close to me and kissed my forehead before placing his own head against mine. This was my chance to try talking again. With him so close he was bound to hear me no matter how softly it came out.
"Les," I managed to squeak out.
"Hey, Beautiful," He replied, "I'm right here. I'm not leaving you." He assured me while placing a hand in my hair.
I was thrilled to have finally communicated but knew I needed to get the message to him. I tried again.
"Ranger…position…Tyler…sold…stop him." Was all my brain could get out. I was majorly frustrated at the lack of a sentence.
"It's alright. Ranger is on a mission and we did stop Tyler. You are safe now, you can just rest." Les said, thinking I was worried about my safety.
"No," I began rather happy at how clearly that came out. "Tyler sold Ranger's position." I blurted out in one long breath.
"Bobby!" Les yelled without backing up. The sudden loud sound of his voice made me wince which gave me hope that I might be able to open my eyes soon.
Bobby rushed in. "What's wrong?"
"She is trying to tell me something but it doesn't make sense." Les explained.
"It's probably just the drug in her system that has her confused or dreaming," Bobby explained.
"I don't think so. She seemed pretty intent on telling me." Les countered.
"What did she say?" Bobby asked.
"Something about Tyler selling Ranger's position and stopping him. I thought she was scared of Tyler and told her she was safe, but she gave me a clear 'no' that I was off base and then said it again." Les explained.
Bobby came over to my empty side and bent down close to my ear. "Steph, are you trying to tell us something?"
I managed to get out an "uh-huh" which I hoped they knew was supposed to be yes.
"What are you trying to say?" He asked.
"Ranger's pick up Tyler sold location," I blurted.
This time Les spoke up, "Did you see him sell the location?"
"Heard it," I replied quite pleased with myself.
"See," Les told Bobby. "What do we do now?"
"You call Tank down here in fifteen so she can try telling him," Bobby began, "I'm giving her another dose now and hopefully as it kicks in she will be a little clearer."
I'm sure it was exactly fifteen minutes later that Tank entered the small treatment room. "Alright, what is it that I need to hear?" He asked.
"Get closer to her," Bobby instructed, "Her voice is pretty weak.
Tank took my hand in his large one and I knew he was close by. "Little Girl, do you need to tell me something?"
"Yes," I said in a much clearer voice. Apparently this last dose had gone a long way in restoring my vocal chords.
"What is it?" Tank prompted.
"Tyler sold Ranger's pick up location. They are going to ambush his team in three days." I told him. Then I began to worry about how much time had passed. Maybe it was only two days now, I had no way to know. As I was worrying about it I could hear the faint beeping of my heart monitor increase in tempo.
"What's happening Bobby?" Les asked apparently as concerned as I was about the increase in the monitor.
"Steph," Bobby said with his hand on my wrist at my pulse point. "I need you to calm down. Tank's got the message and he will do everything he can to get it to Ranger. You have kept him safe and you can relax. You don't need to worry about him anymore. Now we just need to concentrate on getting you better. I know the medicine is helping and we are going to keep moving forward to get you back, but you need to calm down."
I was relieved to know they were taking my information seriously when I heard Les and Tank talking across the room.
"What can you do?" Les asked.
"I'll call the general and tell him. I think his rendezvous was to happen in about 50 hours so her timeline is probably right. I'll see if they can somehow get a message to him to either change the pick up time or location." Tank replied.
Then he added, "I can't believe with all she must have been going through she was still worried about one of us enough to try and get a message out."
"That's who she is," Les replied with something like pride in his voice.
I decided I was due a nap now and drifted off quickly. When I woke up the next time I felt better. I had no idea how long I had been out, but I didn't have any throbbing or stinging pain. I could feel someone holding my hand and it felt like their still face was touching our joined fingers.
I thought it was time to try opening my eyes. I popped them open and even though the lights were low, the ambient lighting was enough to make me blink from the shock. Eventually everything came into focus and I could feel a smile on my face. It seemed I was definitely coming back.
I looked down and saw the face belonged to a sleeping Lester. I willed my free arm to move and was pleased when it obeyed and landed on his hair. I seemed to be able to move but my limbs felt heavy and clumsy still.
The contact was enough to jolt Les awake with a start and he sat up quickly looking around the room before glancing back down at me.
I smiled at him when he realized I was what woke him up.
I found myself immediately drawn into a bear hug. "God, Beautiful, you scared the hell out of me." He said continuing to hold me tightly.
"Sorry," I said embarrassed at the trouble I must have caused the guys over the last week.
He virtually dropped me back against the pillow when he suddenly let me go to pull back.
"No!" He startled me with the firmness of his voice. "No, you did nothing wrong. You did everything we asked of you and Tyler still got to you. I am the one that needs to apologize to you. I let you down. I was standing right outside the door when he got you. I'm so sorry Steph," Les said while stroking my cheek.
"No way," I answered back causing his face to fall with the fear that I was refusing to accept his apology.
"No, I mean there is no way you are to blame for what happened to me. You cleared the room and had no way to know Tyler was hiding in the air vent. It all happened so fast that I didn't have time to call out to warn you. Nothing in this was your fault. I refuse to listen to you apologize because you haven't done anything wrong." I answered while cupping his hand in mine and holding it against my cheek.
He moved up to the side of my bed and leaned over to put us head to head. "You are too good to us. We fail to protect you again and again and as soon as you battle back from the cocktail of drugs in your system you try to warn Ranger and now you want to absolve me. I've always known we didn't deserve you."
"Les, I don't have the energy to get mad at you. So I'm saying this only once. You guys did more than I thought was possible to keep me safe. This was just a determined, sick and well trained individual. If anything I don't deserve all that you guys have always done to watch over me. Please don't make me have to argue with you about this." I pleaded.
"Alright Beautiful, I'll let you win this one, but only because you said please," He teased back.
At that moment Bobby walked in and Les pulled back to say, "Look man, Sleeping Beauty finally woke up."
That garnered a big smile from Bobby who came over and shined his penlight in my eyes. "How are you feeling?" He asked with relief evident in his voice.
"Much better, thank you." I told him.
"Any pain?" The doctor was clearly in the house right now so I decided I needed to give it all to him.
"No, the pain is finally gone, and I can move everything, but my limbs feel heavy and slightly hard to control still."
"You are due for some more of the antidote and it sounds like you are going to need it. Maybe that will take care of things and with a little more rest you can be your old self later today." Bobby announced.
True to his word by lunchtime I felt like my old self again. When Les asked if I needed anything I thought about it for a few minutes and then admitted, "Yes."
"Lay it on me, how can I help?" Les volunteered.
"I need a shower." I confessed, then followed it up with, "And some lunch, and my laptop. Maybe I need the laptop first." I was suddenly eager to check in with Hal.
Bobby walked in for the last of my list and laughed. "I think you should start with the shower. Everything is set up for you. Les and I will get you in, there is a bench in there if you are weak and need to sit down and you can call us when you're ready to get out. If you need some help I can call Ella."
Bobby was right, after allowing the warm water to run over me I felt like a new woman. Just as I was pulling on the clothes they left for me my stomach growled announcing what my next demand would be.
I stepped out and was greeted by the smell of pizza. When I got close enough to what had been my bed I saw a box with my lunch and a laptop to the side.
I sat in the chair that had been Lester's and helped myself to a gooey bite of cheesy goodness. Apparently I moaned loudly enough to alert the guys in the next room as I suddenly saw Tank, Les, and Bobby standing in front of me sporting faces of concern which were quickly replaced by smiles.
"Sorry," I said around the food in my full mouth, "It smelled too good to wait."
Tank told me the general thought he could intercept Ranger and change the rendezvous point and speed it up to tomorrow bypassing any of the people that might be waiting to ambush his team. Apparently when the Feds picked up Tyler they eventually found the information he had sent to someone in Columbia, but my warning came soon enough to act on. "You probably saved their lives, Little Girl."
I let out a big breath of relief to know Ranger would be safe. I might not be with Ranger romantically, but I knew he would always be one of the most important men in my life.
"I see you found your other requests alright. Is there anything else you need?" Les asked.
I eyed my laptop anxious to get on-line. "No, I'm just dandy."
All the guys turned to give me some privacy. "Wait," I called out halting all three at once.
"I'm sorry I worried you all and thank you for searching for me and getting me out of there. I just wanted you to know when I was told RangeMan was coming I finally relaxed because I knew you would stop at nothing to get me home. Thank you." I told them fighting hard to keep my eyes dry while talking.
Each one of them stepped back in the room to place a kiss on my head or cheek. Les added a tug to a curl before saying, "You're right, we would have stopped at nothing to bring you home. You belong here with us and we would never give up on you." I felt his promise in my heart and knew it was true.
As they stepped out I greedily grabbed the laptop and got on-line. I had a certain sailor that I needed to reassure. I was feeling lucky to be alive right now and realizing I owed my life to Hal made me anxious to tell him how much I loved him.
I was feeling more myself and knew Bobby would have me physically back to normal soon. That being said, I also knew I wouldn't be whole until Hal was home and I could finally hold him in my arms.