Strait of Gibraltar
Takes place within Breakaway
"Just go!" Amy shouted to the pilot who shrugged and gunned the engine, speeding away from the boys who were all shouting at Amy; Dan in the water, Jake and Atticus on the railing of the boat. As the seaplane rose up out of the water, Amy gave one last look down at the boys; This is for the best, I have to do this on my own. I can't let any of you get hurt because of me.
Dan's hands slapped down hard on the surface of the water. He swore loudly before turning and swimming the 30 meters back to the boat. She had left without any of them, with him. What was she thinking? The only comfort Dan had upon reaching the boat was that the purple rage of his face was matched by the fury on Jake's, who leaned down and grabbed onto Dan's forearm, hoisting him back aboard.
"This is my fault." Jake fumed with anger. "It was dad. He got to her. If we had never gone to Atlantis, he would she would never have spoken with him. This never would have happened." Jake said, thinking about his father's words mere hours earlier: I'm not going to let you do to Jake what you did to that Toliver boy.
Atticus was in tears, "What's she doing?"
"She's going to get herself killed," Dan said, pushing past the brothers. Dan started trying to explain to the captain what had happened before he remembered he only spoke Spanish. Jake intervened.
"We need to get Attleboro on the radio, get them to hire a helicopter. Then, once I'm off, you and Atticus need to get to Tunis and intercept those seeds from your father's colleagues." Jake translated as Dan spoke and the captain and crew jumped into action. After Attleboro was contacted and Ian assured them there would be a chopper as soon as possible and they would continue to monitor Amy from the comm center, a lock smith was located and hired to fashion a new key for the fishing boat.
Waiting was torture. Every minute felt like an hour. The three boys milled about on deck waiting for any sign of either an approaching Zodiac or helicopter.
"This is exactly what she hoped would happen." Dan fairly spat as he wore a path along the deck railing.
"I can't believe she left us." Atticus added, deeply hurt. Jake put his arm around his brother's shoulders and pulled him close.
"I can't believe it either, Att. It'll be okay, she's just not thinking clearly, that's all." Jake said, mostly to calm himself, though he knew Amy made the decision with a clear head. He almost added what Amy had said to him right before she dove off the railing: I don't love you, I know you think there's this thing between us, but there isn't, and there never has been. The memory of her words was like a sword to Jake's soul. His greatest fear had been realized; his feelings for Amy were one-sided. She had never loved him.
Tears stung Jake's eyes and he blinked rapidly to vanish them. He stood, walked over to the railing and looked out on the sea. Taking a deep breath, he tried formulating a plan that would still involve Atticus and himself for Dan's sake; there was no way Dan could handle everything now that Amy had gone rogue. Dan was still pacing the railing, wearing a worn patch on the steel of the gunwale. Dan was masking his hurt and worry behind anger.
Jake swallowed his own hurt, took a breath and approached him.
"Dan," Jake started. This got him to stop his pacing.
Jake continued, "Amy said some pretty hurtful things before she, you know—"
He made a swan diving motion with both arms.
"And, she made it very clear that she doesn't want Att or me around anymore, but we know better than anyone what you're up against and unless you want us to leave also, we're going to see this through with you."
Dan looked at both brothers and nodded his head. "Amy's got a lot of explaining to do when I catch up with her. Of course I want you both around. We need you."
Just then the first traces of a propeller engine could be heard and all three turned to see a white blip on the horizon grow larger. The helicopter would be here in minutes.
Jake gave a sad grin, "Okay, then we'll get to Tunis, get the seeds and contact you then." He said, clapping a hand on Dan's shoulder. The boys looked at each other briefly before both gave barely imperceptible nods; Amy was wrong about this one, and Dan was going to get to the bottom of it, hopefully before she died of hypothermia or worse—a bullet.
Within minutes, the helicopter had clipped Dan in to a safety vest and was hauling him up by a winch and then they were gone, off to Svalbard, hot on Amy's heels. The captain sailed back to Tunis with the Rosenbloom brothers, and, despite their father's threats to call the police, no paparazzi, police or Pierce goons awaited them at the dock.
The pilot informed Dan that cell service north of Oslo was spotty at best, so he texted Jake.
Pilot says cell service is bad, so if you get the seeds, get yourselves to Oslo ASAP. I'll meet you at the Hotel Anker.
Jake responded, Got it. Be safe. Find her.
Dan quick placed a call to the hotel and booked rooms; one for Amy, one for the Rosenblooms and one for himself; no way was he sharing a room with his sister when he was this mad. I just hope I find her in time.
Seven hours later
Dan, along with the pilot's help, loaded Amy onto a snowmobile and raced her to the only hospital on Svalbard. The team of doctors in the tiny place were well trained in hypothermia; hypothermia and polar bear attacks. Dan hoped they wouldn't need their services for that. They gave Amy a sedative and put her on a hemodialysis machine to warm her blood, and was also given a humidified oxygen mask.
Several hours later Dan was shaken awake by Amy's nurse who said she was warm enough to move. She had 2nd degree hypothermia on several of her fingertips and she'd have significant bruising not only from falling as she stumbled, but the dialysis machine as well. Dan hated seeing his sister like this. He will still so furious with her, but seeing her covered in bruises and her hand wrapped up made him have pity on her and he was in no mood to show her pity; she had explaining to do. Still feeling the effects of the sedative, Amy was loaded onto the helicopter and the two Cahills made their way to Oslo for the night. It was the longest night of Dan's life.
Jake was having a terrible night as well. He and Atticus had been successful in procuring some of the silphium seeds from Dr. Rosenbloom's colleagues. In fact, it had been downright easy. Jake and Att caught the first flight to Oslo late that evening. It was a red-eye flight. This gave Jake some much-needed time to reflect on his day. He kept coming back to Amy's words: I don't love you. I know you think I do. You think there's this thing between us, but there isn't, there never was, and there never will be. And the look in her eyes; it was a steely determined look. No misreading that.
Fine. Okay. If that's how she wanted it, then that's how she'd have it. Jake opened his laptop and composed an email.
Amy,
I don't think there's much to say, or anything Dan probably hasn't already said but there's one thing I had to get off my chest. First off, Atticus and I are glad you're okay. We were all pretty mad when you took off without us, but that was because we were terrified. None of us know what we'd do if anything happened to you. I want you to know that I'm not going to stop trying to help fight Pierce but I accept what you said before you left and want you to know I agree, there was never anything between either of us and there never will be. Don't waste any more time worrying about feelings that neither of us ever had.
Jake
He read it through once before hitting send. He wanted nothing more than to hear from Amy that it had all been a sick joke, a momentary lapse in judgement, but he knew better. Now, instead of burning anger, he had a dull ache that seemed to seep from his heart itself. It was like a chill that couldn't be warmed. With a sigh of resignation, Jake shut his laptop, glanced at his sleeping brother and flipped off the reading light. A chilly reception awaited them when they landed; both figuratively and literally.
