Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Thanks to Sweatergirl for the awesome betaing, D for the encouragement and the wonderful people at Maple Street who are a true inspiration. Thanks again for the reviews!
It felt so surreal to Samantha. First she was shot, then Jack decided to give his marriage a second try, next she found herself searching Yellowstone for him, and now she was pulling a gag off his wife's mouth.
"Marie, are you okay?"
"The girls! Where are the girls?" She managed to say in between gasps of breath.
Sam bit her lip. "Jack's looking for them."
"Jack's okay?" Marie's relief was evident.
Sam nodded. "He's fine." She paused, thinking. "Marie, how did you end up here?"
Marie swallowed air. "Those men dropped me off. Put me into the back of a truck and then tied me to this tree. It was light out then." Her body shivered. Samantha instinctively put her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "They wouldn't tell what they did with Jack or the kids. They put the gag into my mouth to shut me up. I…I was so scared." Tears streamed down her face and Sam couldn't help but feel sorry for her. No matter what, those were Marie's kids that were missing and Sam knew that must have been a horrible feeling.
"We will find them Marie. There is no reason to be scared, I'll get you out of here." Sam looked the way she came; no way a truck could fit. "Marie, which way did they drive here?"
"Behind me."
Sam moved behind the large tree, a wide-open path lay ahead. Tire tracks were present. Sam's eyes gazed up to the mountainous terrain where Jack was, searching for his children and where Addison wasn't far behind. She looked back down at the crying woman still leaning against the tree. She didn't hate her, at first when she realized the extent of her feelings, she thought she did. But now she knew that she didn't have any real ill feelings toward her instead she envied her, being Jack's wife and the mother of his children. She wanted desperately to be trudging through the terrain with Jack but she knew what she had to do first- get Marie to safety.
"Come on, Marie, let me help you up. I'm getting you out of here."
Marie carefully stood. "But the kids…"
"Jack will find them."
Marie just nodded.
Off they went, leaning on each other, two women with much in common but who would never be friends.
Jack had managed to find a hidden spot where he could expel the emotions that had surfaced when he had finally reached the area the men had pointed towards. He lost a few days worth of lunch, it seemed.
When Jack had first come upon the clearing he felt his heart clinch; time was suspended. He had encountered a lot in all his years on the job but nothing as horrifying as this. There were bodies all in a heap as if they were leaves that had fallen from a tree. Blood streamed around them and a great stench filled the air. Jack had pushed back one body after another, searching for his girls. Tears streaming down his face, stomach twisting, a burning sensation in his mouth. When he saw earth, he knew his daughters were not at least in the pile of dead bodies. These were freshly dead. There were upwards of twenty people, different ages, and races.
It all made sense now. Hanna had run off to go on her own little adventure. She had come back soon after, white faced and unable to speak. Soon the two men had approached, guns drawn. A shot was fired, Kate was nicked. Over Marie's screaming, Jack had rushed the men, knocking them both to the ground and sending them into pain. He yelled for his family to run but they stood there motionless. So he left the two men and pulling his daughters and coaxing Marie took off. He was able to find a hiding spot where he dialed 911 and then Sam. If he were to die, he needed to hear her voice once again. Just one last time. The men had somehow found their location and soon Kate was being dragged out. When Jack went to take the offense he found something banging into his forehead and then stars. The next thing he knew he was tied up with the two men in front of a fire.
Hanna must have witnessed one the murders, Jack assumed, thus accounting for her expression and the men's chase. Why these people were dead, Jack was not sure. But he knew one thing he had to reach his kids before Addison did.
Just then a familiar voice reached his eardrums, "No!"
"Hanna…"
To be continued…
