Beginnings
Chapter Twelve
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-December 31, 1997*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Jess finished packing the last of her things. She and JT had an early morning flight in the morning to Dallas. Jess wasn't sure why she was feeling uneasy about the trip but something in the back of her mind kept telling her to pull back. A knock at the door broke her out of her thoughts.
"Come in."
"Even if it's me?" Jess smiled.
"Yes Matt." He came in and closed the door behind him.
"Tell me what you've been keeping from Dad and the others." Jess looked at him. Even when they were fighting it was hard for her to hold back with him.
"I know Kitrick isn't your favorite person Matt but you have to trust that I can handle myself."
"I'll kill the son of a bitch if he gets you hurt or worse Jess."
"Do you believe I can take care of myself?" He nodded. "Do you trust if something happens and I can't that JT has my back?" Tilting his head in thought for a mere second he nodded. "Then believe that I'll be okay."
"Speaking of son of bitches have you talked to Cutler?"
"Not since the before Christmas Eve. The night we all went out." Matt looked at her with that look he saved for interrogating prisoners. "Why?"
"You haven't talked to him at all?" Jess raised her eyebrows and smiled.
"Not once. Why?" He looked at her.
"Are you going to continue to see him?" Jess looked at him.
"See him?"
"Don't make me say it Jess." Matt was starting to squirm. Jess tried not to smile.
"Say what?"
"I know your sleeping with Cutler Jess and I want to know if you've got him out of your system or not." Jess reached over and brushed the bangs out of Matt's face.
"I almost thought saying that would make you combust." She smiled. "Cutler and I are finished for now. I can't promise one day it won't start again but if it does Matt it's between me and Jimmy." He rolled his eyes at her. "He's still your best friend."
"Jess he'll hurt you."
"He can try. Now let's go down to dinner and celebrate the New Year right. By getting very, very drunk."
"You know you're not old enough to drink in the state of California."
"When has that ever stopped me?" Matt laughed.
"Yeah. I should know better then to question it. Just don't make me have to arrest you." He smiled. "Just be careful." Jess knew he wasn't just talking about tonight.
"I won't make a move without you knowing."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Jess sat at the bar nursing her soda. Jake knew better then to ask what was bothering her because he knew. It always came down to Cutler. He was playing pool with Cody and Benji.
"You're not drinking?"
"The sheriff has men all over. I didn't dare." She smiled.
"Like they would mess with you." Jake laughed.
"Oh they would love to take Jesse Hawkes baby girl to jail on New Years Eve."
"Where's you new partner?"
"He and Matt are bonding over wanted posters or something." A tall dark haired man came up to the bar next to Jess and ordered a whiskey. He looked at Jess and smiled.
"Hey Renny."
"You drinking Hawkes?"
"No sir."
"Good. How's your old man doing?"
"Good. How are Dana and the girls?"
"Good. Christmas was nice." Jess liked the sheriff's deputy. He had helped Cody when he beat up Terry White.
"Good."
"How's the new job treating you?"
"I like it. It's different from here but it's not too bad."
"You just stay out of Cole's way and you'll do just fine." Jess laughed.
"You're not the first person to tell me that." She turned and looked at Cutler and the others playing pool. "I have to come back. Who else would put up with that bunch of ingrates?" Renny laughed.
"Yeah me and Cutler have gone a few rounds since you left. The man is a miserable drunk." Jess looked at the older man.
"Just threaten to call me. He should go home with his tail between his legs. He doesn't want me to know how miserable he is without me."
"Thanks for the tip." He downed the last of his drink and tipped his hat. "It was nice seeing you again Jess. Take care."
"Thanks Renny, you too." Jess saw Cutler watching her. She would end up in his bed tonight. It was something she needed. One last goodbye. It would be a long time before she got back home. And when she did it would never be the same.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-January 1, 1998*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Cutler threw his keys on the table. He was way to drunk to care where they landed. He slipped off his boots and hung his jacket and gun on the hook by the door. Throwing the rest of his clothes on the floor he sat on the edge of his bed and opened the bottle of aspirin on the table next to it and took a handful of prevention before he passed out. A warm hand ran down his back.
"Happy New Year." Cutler laughed. How happy could it be when she was leaving and didn't plan on being back till next Christmas? He got into bed and gathered her against him.
"Matt knows." He whispered.
"I know and he'll get over it." Jess kissed him softly. "I can't leave without saying goodbye." She kissed his lips. "I don't want to leave without you knowing what these last few years have meant to me."
"You're coming home again Jess, right?" She ran his hand down his face.
"Someday." That was the last thing she said to him for a very long time.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-April 10, 1998*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
JT sat in the small diner across from the hotel they were staying at in Dallas. Jess was late. It wasn't like her. This job had taken a whole lot out of both of them but it seemed like it had been harder on her. She slid in the booth ten minutes later looking like she hadn't slept in days.
"You okay?"
"Nothing a week in Maui wouldn't cure." The waitress poured her a cup of coffee. "Thanks Greta." She took a long drink. "So Cole say anything about when we're going to wrap this thing up?"
"Hopefully next week." Jess had never been this long without talking to her parents or her brothers. She heard from a source that Cody had been shipped out somewhere in the Middle East. She didn't like not knowing. "Pull it together Hawkes. You do me absolutely no good to me in the shape your in." She looked at him.
"I've been working day and night for the last four months. What more do you want me to do." JT knew she was right. Jess had done everything asked of her. Being young and looking younger helped them get in to circles normally inaccessible.
"I made some calls. Cody's safe behind a desk in Afghanistan for now. He'll be there till the end of the year unless things change over there." JT knew she was worrying about her brother. He could see it in her eyes. The waitress poured them both another cup of coffee.
"What can I get you today sweetie?"
"A new job?"
"All out of those but we got those banana pancakes you gave us the recipe for. You better get a stack before we run out." Jess smiled.
"Sounds good." The waitress left. "She's so sweet."
"You remind her of her daughter." Jess smiled. She knew JT flirted with all their waitresses but Greta was his favorite. "She died a few years back in a climbing accident. I told you were into that crap too. I think she prays for you at night." Jess looked at JT.
"What, do you guys sit and talk about me when I'm ten minutes late?" He smiled. "Just wait Mc Cullen. One day I'll be early." Looking down at her coffee her mind drifted to the stack of letters she'd spent the night reading. Ones from Matt mostly. Some from Cutler and her parents. One or two from Cody. Mia had sent them to her. Things in Lake Tahoe were going on without her but it wasn't the same. They all said so. Matt even told her he missed her.
"Are you going to be able to make it though this Jess because you're the inside go to girl for this mission? We worked long and hard to get you where we need you. The computer techs say there's big talk about the new girl on the block." Jess took another drink of her coffee.
"I'm doing what I can JT. They want me to hack the Pentagon computer. I told them it could take a few extra days."
"Hence the reason why you look like you do." She smiled. Greta put the pancakes in front of her and toast and eggs in front of JT.
"Have play the part of the hack that doesn't sleep right?"
"But you do need sleep Jess." He looked into her eyes. The dark circles around them weren't make up. She was truly loosing sleep. "Maybe this isn't the job for you."
"Don't you give up on me too Jasper Thomas." She smiled.
"Never. Tell them you're going to be checking some things out this week end and we'll take a mini vacation. I hear the Sierra Mountains still have a great base." Jess knew that JT worried about her. Even when he could clearly see she could take care of herself but sometimes it was nice to feel wanted.
"No I won't risk the mission." She finished her pancakes and grabbed her book bag. "See you when I get home from school." She kissed him as she walked by sealing their cover as high school computer hack and older bad boy boyfriend. More then once she saw some of her employers walk by the hotel and being as astute as she was she noticed another one of their lackeys leaning against a light pole across the street. JT watched as she crossed the street. Greta filled his coffee cup.
"You keep a tight reign on that one."
"I do my best but Greta; she's a handful and a half."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*May 15, 1998*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Matt wanted to slam his fist into the nearest wall but he though better of it. The whole team had given him a wide birth the last few days. No one seemed to know where Jess was and if they did they weren't telling. Cutler came in with a box.
"What's this?"
"A package." Matt rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I got that." He looked at it. "Who's it from?"
"I guess your going to have to open it to find out." Cutler turned and left.
"You're an ass Cutler." Matt took his knife out of his belt and cut opened the box. There was a card along with another brightly wrapped box. He opened it.
'Matt,
Happy Birthday. I wish I was home to help you celebrate but things here are up in the air. I promise I will be home soon.
Jess
Matt pulled out the second box. He smiled. He hadn't heard from her in almost six months. JT had told him that Jess might go weeks without being able to call or write. His parents were on edge with both Jess and Cody out of contact for so long. Opening the wrapping and then the box Matt pulled out a hand tooled leather shoulder holster.
"You busy?" His father stuck his head into his office.
"No, just opening a birthday present."
"Your birthday isn't for two weeks."
"I guess some people couldn't wait."
"Your sister?" Matt smiled.
"Yeah." Jesse stood in front of his son's desk and whistled.
"Nice."
"I guess I can quit worrying about her for another week of so." His father laughed.
"Never quit worrying." He looked at his oldest son. "Me and your mom are headed to Big Bear for the week end. I thought I'd let you know."
"Thanks. It always helps to know where to look for you if your get lost." Jesse shook his head.
"Your brother and sister are the smart asses not you." Jesse left and Matt sat down and looked at his present. Jess had always bought thoughtful and useful gifts. The phone rang and Matt picked it up.
"Ranger station. Matt Hawkes."
"Matt." The voice on the other end sent a cold chills though his blood.
"Where is she?" There was silence. "Kitrick I trusted you to keep her safe."
"I…JT is with her. We lost contact last night."
"Are you saying you don't know where they are?"
"They left Dallas at dawn. We followed them into Arizona and then we lost them. We picked up some weak radio singles out of Baja. I'm sending someone ahead."
"You have twenty four hours. After that I can't promise this won't get messy." Matt slammed down the phone. He couldn't tell his father that Jess was missing and he really couldn't track Cody down half way across the world. He needed to vent. He needed to worry without someone telling him he was over reacting. "Cutler!"
"Yeah boss." He came into the office.
"Are you up for a tip to Baja?"
"I'm always up for a trip to Baja. Matt were working we can't just pick up and go to Mexico."
"The hell I can't. Kitrick lost Jess and if he doesn't call with in the hour I'm going down there." Cutler looked at his best friend of nearly ten years. The look of pure anger was in his eyes.
"I'm the first one to admit I would do anything for your sister but Matt we have to think this out. You can't go down to Mexico half cocked and gunning for bear." Matt knew Cutler was right.
"You know the area. You raced down there." Cutler didn't like the fact that Matt should have to worry about Jess.
"Matt…" He saw the pain in his best friend's eyes. No matter what he said or did Jess meant the world to him. "I'll go get my gear." Cutler turned and headed to the door.
"Thank you." Matt said. Cutler tuned around and looked at his friend.
"When I get her back you better damn well tell her that you love her just as much as you love your brother." Cutler turned and headed to grab his gear and head to Baja.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-May 16. 1998*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Somewhere in Baja California, Mexico
2:15 am
JT winced. The pain in his ribs was radiating to his whole body. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep next to Jess a few hours ago. She had been restless and worried about Cody. He had talked to her till nearly midnight then she had fallen asleep. The pounding at the door pissed him off because she hadn't slept in so long. He answered it, gun in hand then his world went black. He felt movement next to him. Maybe he was back in the hotel with Jess lying next to him.
"Jess?" He moaned quietly. He felt the fur touch his hand and jumped. The light from the window in the door showed two twitching rats where he had been just a second ago. The pain was worse then. He nearly passed out but he needed to get his bearings.
2:30 am
Jim Cutler hadn't always been a praying man. His father's abuse had left a bitter taste in his mouth for all that was deemed holy. Jess was eleven the first time she asked him about why he didn't go to church. He wasn't going to tell the impressionable young girl that his preacher daddy beat him into confession every Sunday before he delivered his sermon on love and tolerance. Later when his father died and the bitterness was boiling over it was Jess who made him see that God wasn't the bad guy. Their parents had been the evil ones. They shared a lot since then and he refused to believe that God would let harm come to a soul like Jess Hawkes.
Frank had dropped him off at the boarder and within an hour he had a jeep and his equipment loaded. He borrowed a tracking system from the boarder patrol and headed south. Laughing to himself he thought about the pull the Hawkes and the Rangers had. He was proud to be a member of such a respected group of law enforcement. If his old man could see him now.
4:40 am
Jess pounded the keys of the old computer. She had a Commodore 64 that ran faster then this thing. She looked at her 'boss'. Something big had to be brewing. Taking her and JT in the middle of the night and hauling them to Mexico was a bold move. One that wouldn't go unnoticed. But just in case she had the small transmitter deep in the seam of her pants leg that she tapped every few minutes to let Kitrick and whoever else that she was still alive. But was JT? They had pulled her out of bed and gagged and bagged her before she could react or see what they had done with her partner who had been lying beside her when she fell asleep.
"You need to finish. We need those codes by dawn." Jess looked at him.
"I want to see JT." Then man stood behind her.
"When you get the codes." She stopped typing.
"You get the codes when I see my boyfriend." Jess knew she was pushing it but if JT was gone she really had nothing to loose either way.
"You will see him soon." Jess pushed her chair back and pressed the seam of her pants to the leg of the chair.
"I will see him now." The man looked at her. She was a determined one.
"Get the man from his cell." He said to a younger man at the door.
"I was giving you what you wanted. You didn't have to play it this way."
"My friends were not giving me what I needed. You were the only one doing your job well. I needed to separate you from the others. You have a brilliant mind Miss…Hawkes is it." Jess froze. Swallowing hard she looked at the man. "I worked closely with your father once. Your picture sat on his desk along with those of his sons. I wasn't sure till yesterday."
"What happened yesterday?" The man threw an envelope on table. Jess looked down. It was a letter to her father that she had written but never sent. It had been tucked away in a pocket of her bag for months. A bag that never left her side.
"Keep your friends close but your enemies closer." The man looked at Jess. "Didn't your father ever teach you that?" The door swung open and one shot rang out. Jess looked up.
"Somebody call for a cab?" Cutler stood at the door with JT next to him. Jess smiled.
"Took you long enough Jimmy." Jess stood up and caught the cuffs he threw her. She cuffed the older man. "I guess I found out just how long of reach my brother and my father have." She turned the older man over. "He used to work for the CHP."
"You didn't recognize him before this?" Jess shook her head.
"No. I only met him once when I was twelve. We ran into him at some ski thing in Big Bear." She looked at JT. "What truck hit you?" He shook his head.
"They put me in a room with rats Jess." She frowned. JT hated rats.
"Poor baby. Where's the rest of the gang?" Cutler pulled the man off the floor.
"Tied up. The Mexican's are going to be here soon. Let's grab this jack ass and get out of here." They headed for the door.
"Thanks for coming for us Jimmy." He looked at her.
"I'd move mountains for the Hawkes." They headed to Cutler's jeep and the safety of home.