Title: Love and War, 21/28
Author: Goddess Evie
Date: December 10, 2016
Category: JJHR, Adventure
Summary: Christmas in Prague doesn't go exactly as anybody planned.
Disclaimer: I do not own JQ. I make no money off this story. I am only using the characters for my own unique story.
Author's Note: Thanks to the guest who left me a review! I'm so glad you are enjoying this story! Consistent updates are easy when you write the entire story BEFORE posting it! ^_^
Chapter 21
Between the edge of the trees and Reznicek's estate lay an expansive courtyard. In the middle, snow frosted a low and simple hedge maze. The drive came straight out of the forest and then curved wide around the center yard to the house and then back to meet with the straight way. The late morning sun glinted off the snow like diamonds.
Kladivo's van was parked in front of the main entrance and two of his men stood guard. Race crouched with Jonny and the Czech Special Forces men a hundred yards from the edge of the trees.
"They are expecting us, maybe," the leader of the four Czech Special Forces commented. Kulhanek, his name was.
"I wasn't too subtle with them. And Kladivo's not stupid," Race responded.
"This makes our job harder," Kulhanek said.
Race nodded his response, his jaw clenched. Maybe he'd been a little emotional and a little stupid earlier.
Nothing to do about it now except hope for the best.
As Race studied the terrain he felt Jonny's eyes on him. He was still mentally smacking himself for giving in to the young man.
Can't think about that now. Focus on Jessie.
"Best plan will be to come from the side," Race finally said. "It'll be our best opportunity not to lose the element of surprise."
"As long as there aren't any more sentries," Kulhanek noted.
"Stay to the trees as you get into position. Be on the lookout. Radio in if you run into any trouble," Race agreed.
"And if we do?" Kulhanek asked.
"Meet back here."
Kulhanek nodded at two of his men—his second, Beran, and Skala—then motioned for the final man, Zima, to follow Kulhanek. Race and Jonny stayed put while the two pairs disappeared among the trees, headed in opposite directions.
Race turned his attention back to the estate. The two men on the ground were the obvious guards, but Race searched the roof of the chateau for an extra sentry up there. After staring for a good five minutes, he didn't see any sign of one.
"We can probably get closer if we stay low," Jonny suggested softly, breaking Race's concentration.
Race looked into Jonny's eyes, searching them. They were filled with impatience, but also earnestness and eagerness. Race knew Jonny wanted to see Jessie safely returned almost as badly as Race did. Almost.
Race's mouth drew in tight as he considered the option. He turned to look back out over the open yard between them and the front doors. His gaze swept over the myriad windows looking out on the courtyard from multiple floors in the chateau.
"We'll want to be close by when Madame President Stasny's men take out those guards, not lose any time," Jonny added.
"We'll also want to be here waiting if they can't execute the maneuver," Race responded.
"Madame President Stasny assured us they were the best," Jonny reminded.
Race shook his head. Having Jonny with him was like being back in I-1 and having a junior agent at his side. A damn good junior agent at that.
With a grunt and a shake of his head, Race said, "Stay low, stay close, and follow me."
With the order given, Race moved through the trees in a crouch, heading for the very edge. He kept his eyes on the hedge maze and the guards beyond, moving only when the men weren't looking directly at him. He could feel Jonny just behind him, hear him breathing and the snow crunching softly under the young man's feet.
At the edge of the trees, Race paused and crouched behind one of the thicker tree trunks. The body language of the men guarding the door looked lax and overconfident. They probably thought no one was coming to rescue the young lady they'd captured. That they'd covered their tracks.
Their mistake, Race thought grimly to himself, then shook his head. He was still operating on a hunch.
When the goons were looking away again, Race shot forward. He made the hedge in less than three seconds, then kept moving, following the shrubs until he turned and was hidden within the maze. He didn't once look back to check if Jonny was with him. The young man would have to keep up on his own. Race had to focus on rescuing his daughter.
It was callous and Race knew he didn't totally believe the sentiment. He'd never let anything happen to Benton's son, the young man his daughter was apparently falling for. Had already fallen for. A young man that, along with Hadji, was already very much his son.
Focus. Jessie needs you to focus.
Moving slower, Race inched through the simple maze, keeping to the center of the isles. He didn't want to shake a hedge and bring the attention of Reznicek's men on him. He crouched so low he was practically army crawling his way forward, wary not just of the guards but of who might see him from the windows or the roof. The radio in his ear was quiet. He wished Kulhanek or one of his men would say something, give him something to let him know how things were going on their end. But Race knew they'd keep radio silence unless necessary.
No news was good news, Race had to remind himself.
Finally he reached the hedge closest to the front entrance of the mansion. Jonny had followed silently and patiently the whole way, exuding none of his usual recklessness. It was a testament to just how much Jonny had come to care for Jessie.
Which was one more reason, on top of all the other reasons, to get her back and soon.
Race carefully leaned around the hedge to check the status of the guards. This close up he could see just how nonchalant the men were about their duty. They both held their automatic weapons one handed, casually, and one of the men was smoking.
Movement at the edge of the mansion caught Race's eye. The Special Forces guys, Kulhanek on one side, Beran on the other, crept along the walls of the chateau toward the guards, using whatever they could for cover. Zima and Skala were still out of sight. Reznicek's men watched mainly the trees and the drive into the courtyard. But one random glance to the side, and the Special Forces soldiers would be spotted.
Race watched their progress, his jaw clenched so hard his teeth hurt. His fingers were tense and tight around the grip of his own weapon. Every time the guards glanced to the sides, Race was sure the Czech soldiers would be spotted.
When Kulhanek and Beran were less than ten yards from their targets, Race knew they'd need a distraction or they'd be spotted. They had to take these men quietly. They couldn't lose the element of surprise. They couldn't reveal their presence. It could mean Jessie's death, if Race had been wrong about this whole thing. If the gunman's threat had been real.
In one fluid motion Race stood, revealing himself to the guards at the door. Startled but well trained, the men brought the barrels of their weapons to bear on Race. Clumsily. They'd have been quicker if they hadn't been so lax in their job. Instinct told Race to shoot the men before they shot him, but he kept his firearm close to his torso.
With the guards' attention on Race, and their delayed response, Kulhanek and Beran sprinted the last few yards and grabbed Reznicek's men before they could squeeze the trigger. Race watched the expert maneuvering of the men Alena had provided him. Silently they disarmed the guards, then put the men in choke holds until they fell unconscious.
Before the guards were immobilized Race had dropped down again, but he watched the action with Jonny over the top of the hedge. As soon as the guards were unconscious, Race was on the move, Jonny right behind him. Race jogged for the van, then leaned against the back doors.
"We don't know if anyone's watching from those windows," Race explained to Jonny.
"So you may have just revealed us with that stunt?" Jonny asked.
Race glanced back at the young man. The smirk he expected wasn't on Jonny's face. The teen's expression was all business.
"Let's hope I didn't," Race shot back. "And it was still better than letting those goons see our guys sneaking up on them. One yell of warning, one shot would have given us away."
And killed Jessie.
The conversation was brought to an end when Kulhanek and Beran joined Jonny and Race. The two Czech men had dragged the guards they'd immobilized with them. Reznicek's men were still unconscious, and the Czech soldiers had bound their hands with zip ties. Race tried the back door of the van and found it unlocked. Jonny helped open the doors and the Czech soldiers threw Reznicek's men inside.
After securing the unconscious men's ankles to their wrists with a few more zip ties, Kulhanek and Beran stepped back and crouched down, positioning themselves to be as concealed as possible behind the meager cover the van afforded. Race and Jonny closed the doors as quietly as possible, but to Race the slam still echoed through the cold winter air.
"What's the report from the other two?" Race asked, edgy to be on the move again. He couldn't show it. He had to stay calm.
"They are on reconnaissance, but should join us shortly," Kulhanek replied. "They will radio if they find anything."
"As soon as they arrive, we make our entrance," Race commanded.
Jessie sat in the middle of a trio of close growing pine trees. She faced the widest opening between the trees, the easiest access Reznicek had to her if he found her. Even then she'd had to push through a couple of scratchy, leafless bushes to get within the protection of the evergreens. Each step had been a painful reminder of her broken arm.
Jessie had walked a good fifteen minutes, by her estimation, away from the baron before finding a slope gentle enough to pull herself out of the ravine. It had still been an ordeal. If there had been no trees for her to hold onto—and rest against—she wasn't sure she'd have ever made it.
Once out of the ravine, Jessie had walked another twenty minutes or so, as best as she could guess, before discovering her hiding place. It was the best position she'd found for caring for her broken arm. And she was reaching the point where she needed to do something about her injury or risk losing consciousness from the pain.
Jessie breathed, steeling herself for what was going to be a very painful process. There wasn't much she was going to be able to do for her arm, but she couldn't walk around holding it with her good hand. She needed to be able to hold her gun or her knife or else be completely defenseless against Reznicek.
The gun currently sat on the ground in easy reach in case she needed it, the knife next to it. She really hoped she didn't need it. She was already extremely vulnerable and about to become more so.
With one last deep breath, Jessie used her good hand to unbutton the jacket. It had been hard enough with two cold hands. It took twice as long working with one. She hoped she'd be able to button it up again when she was done. If she managed to make this all work.
Once the buttons were loose, Jessie's first obstacle was getting the thing off. She shrugged and wiggled her good arm out of its sleeve, doing her best to keep the jostling to her broken arm to a minimum with still plenty of pain. There were tears in her eyes by the time her good arm was freed.
Jessie stopped to breath, each huff turning to mist as she exhaled. She tried to focus on anything else but the pain, another of Hadji's tricks. He always made it look so easy. Then again, she'd never seen him do it with a broken arm.
Knowing she could no longer put it off any longer, Jessie clenched her teeth and propped her broken arm as best she could on her leg. She grabbed the top of the sleeve of her injured arm, counted to three in her head, then began to pull the fabric down.
It hurt almost as bad as the news of her parents' divorce. Ha! I'll have to remember that one for Jonny! Every inch was a battle between the pain and Jessie's will. Once or twice she couldn't help the cries that tore from her throat. When the sleeve was finally piled at her elbow, Jessie took another break. She wiped at her tears with her good hand while she examined her broken arm. It was covered in bruises—more bruises than had already been inflicted—and had a little kink in it.
It could be worse. I could be dealing with a compound fracture.
And the cold was already working to numb the pain. Thank goodness for little miracles, Abuelita always said.
Time to go again. Jessie gritted her teeth once more and began to work the sleeve off her lower arm. It went much smoother and faster, with less pain and discomfort, though it still wasn't the easiest task.
When the jacket was free of her body, Jessie spread it on her lap, hoping to conserve and preserve the body heat built up in it. The wind on her bare skin sent an involuntary shiver through Jessie's body that jolted her arm and Jessie bit back a grunt of pain.
Gotta make this fast, Bannon.
Time for the hardest part. The part that made her the most vulnerable.
Please don't let Reznicek find me now.
Jessie bunched the coat under her arm to help with keeping it stabilized. Then with another deep breath, she grabbed the strap of her dress and pulled it down over her broken arm. The process was harder than the jacket and more painful. Jessie had to push the top of her dress down to her waist as she also worked the single strap over her injured arm. What little body heat the top of her dress was conserving was whipped away as soon as the wind blew across her skin.
But Jessie didn't stop this time until her broken arm was completely free of the strap.
She sat for a few moments, muttering prayers in Spanish, her good arm across her exposed chest. Despite the cold, she was covered in sweat from the pain and the process. Which was just another way for her to lose body heat that much faster.
Just get it done, girl, and be on your way.
Gingerly, Jessie positioned her broken arm with her forearm across her waist. She wished she had some way of splinting her break, but she'd never be able to do it one-handed. She'd just have to stick to her plan and hope it was good enough.
With her arm in place, Jessie pulled the top of her dress back up. She still managed to jostle her injury and spark pain, but it was much easier than taking the dress off had been. Once Jessie had the strap back on her shoulder she breathed a little easier. The top of her dress was tight enough now that it should keep her arm in place as long as she wasn't too active.
I just have to avoid Reznicek long enough for dad to come.
The dress top didn't cover her as well with her arm shoved into the bodice, but Jessie wasn't worried about that. She still had the jacket to put on. Jessie picked up the garment and swung it over her shoulder holding the strap up, then pulled it around so she could put her good arm through the sleeve again. It took a few tries, and the jacket kept falling off her bum shoulder, but eventually she got her good arm in and her other shoulder covered.
Buttoning the thing up was the last obstacle. That took Jessie longer than she would have liked, longer than she would have guessed. She promised herself when she was home again she wasn't going to wear a button up shirt until she could use both arms again.
Once every button on the jacket was secured again, Jessie picked up the knife and shoved it into her pocket, ignoring the sound of ripping fabric. She picked up the gun and gripped it tightly in her good hand. With all the work she'd just used it for, the fingers were fairly warm and limber as they tightened around the grip of the gun.
Jessie had never gotten the chance to check how much ammo the gun still had. She would have to preserve whatever was left, shoot only when she had a high chance of hitting the bastard Reznicek.
Final, final obstacle. Jessie repositioned her legs, extended her good arm for balance, and pushed herself to her feet. She lost her equilibrium once, but managed to keep herself from toppling over. There was some jostling to her broken arm, and some accompanying pain, but her stabilization effort seemed to work.
Jessie looked around, reminding herself where she'd come from. She pushed out through the bushes once more, looking in the direction Reznicek would appear if he'd followed her. There was no sign of him. The forest was still and quiet in the midday sunlight.
Without wasting another moment, Jessie turned in the opposite direction and took up a steady pace. Avoid Reznicek. That was the name of the game. Just like she'd told Jonny at the party the night before.
At all costs.