Disclaimer: The usual, some are mine, the ones you could possibly sue me for aren't.
Babble: Thanks so much for the replies I've received they really help the writing process. I'm expanding the story in the next several chapters, widening the characters involved. If you see a name you don't recognize don't worry they're probably mine and will be explained.
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One of Those Days
Part IV
~Airport~
Francis stretched again while he waited in the customs line. Five hours on a plane always took it out of him. Even flying first class, like Sonny always insisted, was rough. He was too tall and broad to fit easily in those seats for that long of a time. And with the blonde viper of a flight attendant ready to pounce every time he moved, he couldn't get up and walk around like he normally did.
It wasn't that he was afraid of women, in his line of work he couldn't have that bias. He had no qualms about dealing with a woman holding a gun on him. But when faced with a woman who wanted nothing more then to get in his pants, and it was another story. Francis shuddered and banished her from his mind as he stepped up to the customs agent.
"Take your break Rosalita." A swarthy looking dark-haired man, with the nametag of Rodrigo tapped her on the shoulder.
"Yes Senor." The diminutive woman hurried away being careful not to look to closely at the man on the other side of the counter. She had worked here for 25 years, she knew when to look at someone and when to look the other way.
Francis set his carryon on the counter and held out his passport.
"Business of pleasure sir?" Rodrigo asked taking the passport and ignoring the bag entirely.
"A little of both," Francis replied easily.
"Enjoy your stay." Rodrigo handed the passport back and turned to the next person in line. His mind was so busy calculating what he would buy with the money he had just earned from Mr. Corinthos that he barely even glanced at the next passport, before stamping it.
Stavros took his passport back and trailed Francis from the terminal. He had to admit that Corinthos paved the way for his employees.
Francis stepped out into the light mist that was falling and his clothes began to stick immediately. It may be November but it was still humid as hell down here. He spotted his ride immediately and headed for the car. "Manny."
"Mr. Carnivale." Manny pushed away from the car and reached for his bag.
"Knock it off Manny, you know my name is Francis." He kept hold of his bag and opened the passenger door. "Let's get going."
"Anything you say Carny." Manny replied with a smirk before shutting the door. Francis hated being teased about his name, of course that meant he always did it.
Francis glanced at his watch it was 11:50 p.m., he could take the time to kick Manny's ass but that might set his schedule back, so he made a mental note to do it before he left town. "What have you found out?" He asked once Manny was settled.
"I've narrowed it down to one airport, the one out on Toronado Lane. Apparently the employees there were very mysteriously given two hours off, from 3:00 to 5:00 today. That's never happened before." Manny checked the rearview out of habit and pulled out into the heavy traffic that was still flowing.
"That sounds promising. Who ordered it?" Francis stayed relaxed even as Manny began the ritual of passing the cars at a breakneck speed. He had been here so many times before, that he knew the only way anyone got anywhere was by driving like a bat out of hell.
"A Mr. Guttroal ordered it, apparently him and most of the employees frequent a bar on the Southside called El Gatto." Manny drove like normal, since he wasn't guarding anyone, and they weren't on any sort of alert, he didn't bother to check for a tail like he normally would.
Francis closed his eyes and said a prayer at the mention of El Gatto. Maybe she wouldn't be there anymore, maybe she had quit, or died, or maybe she would have forgotten. He snorted in disbelief and maybe he could fly. Once he found Jason he was going to kick his ass for making him go to El Gatto to find out about him. He began to work out the kinks in his neck and shoulders, he was going to need to be ready for anything by the time they got to the bar.
~*~*~
"If you lose the car you won't like what will happen." Stavros warned the cabbie.
The Cabbie's eyes went to the rearview mirror and then quickly skittered away and he stepped on the gas. There were some people in this world you just didn't question.
~Puerto Rico~
She frowned at her computer screen in disbelief. The deposit she was expecting still had not arrived in her account. You wouldn't believe it by looking at the classy serene looking brunette, but she was seething mad. No one stiffed her for a job, no one.
"Are you coming to the Casino?"
The low masculine voice, with a hint of an accent came from behind her and to the right and belonged to her latest paramour. She turned with a sultry smile and studied the dark-haired man who was lounging on her sofa the way only devastatingly rich and handsome men could. Her experienced eye took in the Armani Tux that fit him like a dream. "Not right now." Her voice was low and pleasing to the ear. "I was expecting something from the office and it hasn't arrived yet."
"Pity." With ingrained grace he pushed off the sofa and crossed to her. He had learned early in their relationship never to interfere with her work. He brushed a kiss on her lips. "Join me soon cara."
"Perhaps." She said coyly and turned back to the computer before he could respond. One look at the screen and he was instantly forgotten. The bounty she had earned in retrieving Jason Morgan should have been deposited in her account when the plane had landed in Boston. That was three hours ago, she had given the client an extra two hours grace time, but it still hadn't arrived.
With a sigh she got up from the computer and crossed to her trunk, a few touches and she had trigged the hidden panel, exposing her tools. It was time to remind the client what happened when she wasn't paid. But first of course, she needed to make sure she couldn't be tracked.
~Clearing~
"Elizabeth." Jason finally managed to find his voice about a minute after her outburst. It had taken him that long to recover from her last line. He couldn't remember hearing her curse before. "Are you al…"
"Shut up Jason I'm still talking here," Elizabeth interrupted him with a glare. "Now you have been sleeping for hours and hours, while I have been running around here trying to save your ass." She broke off to yawn. "Now don't get me wrong it's a nice ass, I don't mind saving it, but I really don't feel like talking to you right now." She yawned again and stretched, before peering up at him. "I'm tired, I'm hungry, and all of my muscles feel like they're in revolt because I've been dragging you around forever. So you are just going to have to wait for further explanations."
She ignored his stunned expression and laid back on the ground. "I'll tell you everything later, and when I do you can go back to giving me that look of disapproval and disappointment, that I am unfortunately very familiar with, but for now will you kindly be quiet so I can get some sleep?" Without waiting for his response she rolled on her side away from him and closed her eyes.
Jason rubbed a hand over his face and tried to figure out what the hell had happened. Elizabeth was mad at him that much was obvious, but for what exactly, wasn't entirely clear. But what bothered him the most, was the disapproval and disappointment she seemed to think he was going to use on her. He had never looked at her like that. "Elizabeth."
"Be quiet Rip."
That stopped him. Rip? Maybe she was hurt in someway, he hadn't seen any signs of violence on her, but even though it was a full moon, it still wasn't as clear as daylight so he might have missed some injury. "Elizabeth," he tried again, he wasn't just going to let things drop.
"Elizabeth?" Again there was no response, he shifted closer, heard her deep even breathing, and sat back in surprise. She had fallen asleep already. He needed answers, so he entertained the thought of waking her up and demanding them from her, in fact his hand was already on her shoulder to shake her awake.
She sighed sleepily and drew his attention to her face, the moonlight slanted over it and he could see the dark shadows under her eyes and he dropped his hand. She had looked very pale and thin on the beach earlier today, and for her to fall asleep in less then a minute, meant she was near exhaustion.
For now he'd let her sleep, she wasn't going to be going anywhere without him, so answers to his questions could wait for the morning. He pulled off his jacket and folded it up into a pillow. Then he crouched beside her and carefully slid his hand under her head and lifted it high enough to slide the coat underneath it.
Her breath was warm on his hand, and her skin was soft to the touch and he reluctantly pulled his hand away from her face. Elizabeth sighed and settled more securely on the coat. He couldn't stop himself from running his thumb over her exposed cheek. It was soft to the touch, and warm under his hand. The texture of it was familiar to him almost as familiar as his own. "Goodnight Elizabeth." He whispered finally.
"Night Jason."
Surprised at her response he dropped his hand and moved farther away from her. He stared blindly out at the night and tried to remember just what the hell had happened. Most of it was a blank, and the more he tried to remember the more his head hurt. He could remember flashes of conversations, but they were jumbled and made no sense to him at the moment. It was hard to concentrate because he still felt groggy, no doubt thanks to the drugs he had been given.
He smothered another yawn and leaned back on his elbows to study the sky. It was strangely peaceful here, even though he didn't know where here was, he didn't feel uneasy and that surprised him. He glanced at his watch, the illuminated dial read 12:15 he had lost over 8 hours of time. He yawned again and sat back up trying to stay alert. Peaceful or not, he shouldn't let his guard down, especially because he wasn't alone here.
Elizabeth rolled over in her sleep so she was facing him. Whatever happened he needed to make sure that she got out of this safely. From her earlier ramblings it was clear that some things had happened, that she seemed to blame him for. He could also tell from what she hadn't said that something had happened that had scared her. The knowledge of the fact that she had been scared while he was unable to do anything to help her, made him angry, angry enough that he was going to be damned sure that nothing else happened to her.
Jason was surprised to find himself lying on the ground next to her, he didn't even remember moving. One of her hands was shoved under his jacket, the other was on the ground a little in front of her face. He rolled on his side and mimicked her position. He knew he needed to stay away from her, that she had the power to hurt him even when she wasn't aware of it. But she looked so vulnerable and beautiful in her sleep that his defenses crashed down.
It wouldn't be that bad to just let go of the hurt and the anger for the rest of the night, and instead focus on being near her again. His eyes drifted closed and his last conscious thought before sleep claimed him was how nice her hand felt under his.
~Puerto Rico~
"Darling what are you doing?"
"Sorry Anton but I need to leave." She brushed past him into the bathroom to get her makeup bag.
"Just like that?" Anton was stunned. He was the one that left, he was never the one being left. He had pursued her since the moment he had seen her in Monte Carlo two months ago. That in itself was unusual. Normally women flocked to him, he was very rarely the pursuer, and she had led him on a merry chase as well. She had only agreed to see him last week.
"I'm afraid so." Mentally she ran through her checklist, she could see the surprise on his face but that was easy to dismiss.
"Marie if you leave now I can't promise that I will be here when you return." He used the line on her that many a woman had used on him, confident that it would work.
The woman he called Marie flicked her brown hair off her shoulder and stared at him through narrowed blue eyes. Anton was easy on the eyes, tall, of course with her height he had to be, the dark hair and dark eyes set off his tanned skin, his body was well conditioned thanks to the frequent trips he made to the gym. He was also wealthy, single, and interesting enough that he didn't bore her after a single date. In short he met her criteria for a lover, he was young, handsome, single, and dynamite in bed. None of that helped him now however, because he had just crossed a line with her that had no return.
"Anton I don't deal well with ultimatums." The words came out in her clipped British accent. "But since for the most part I have enjoyed our two week interlude, I've decided to overlook your ill-advised ultimatum." She moved closer and placed a hand on the cool silk of his shirt. "But don't pretend this meant anything more to you then it did to me, a little affair between two willing adults."
"Is that all this was?"
"Yes and thankfully all affairs run their course." She pressed a kiss to his lips and drew away quickly. "And ours has ended, so goodbye Anton."
Anton was so stunned by her words that she had almost reached the door before he spoke. "I think I lov…"
"Anton don't be trite." She never even paused. "Time to move on dear," and with that she was gone. Only to be followed by a very amused porter with her luggage.
~El Gatto~
"Are you okay?" Manny asked. "I'm only asking because you've been staring at the door for the last five minutes now."
"I'm fine." Francis snapped and reluctantly got out of the car. He'd seen her car in the parking lot. Even in the garish streetlights, the hot pink VW Bug was easily recognizable, she was still here. He took a deep breath trying to prepare himself for what was sure to come. "Here's what were going to do. We find Guttroal and get him out of there."
"You don't want to question him inside?"
"No." Francis reply was vehement.
"What about other employees?"
"No Guttroal and get out, if we're quick enough she'll never even know were here, I mean no one will ever know that we were here." Francis cracked his knuckles for the third time in 15 minutes and fidgeted in place. "So are you clear on what were doing?"
"Yeah." Manny eyed him warily. He had never seen Francis look ruffled before, seeing it now was making him uneasy.
"Then lets go." Francis reached for the door handle then let his hand fall away. He took a breath, made the sign of the cross, then pulled it open and disappeared into the dark.
Nerves were a catchy thing, Manny made a sign of the cross before following Francis into the smoke and the base that was El Gatto.
~*~*~
"Move the car so it has a view of the alley and the front door." Stavros ordered. There was no way that Francis would leave the building without him knowing it.
The Cabbie sighed and did as he was ordered. So much for getting rid of his fare.
~Airport~
"Business or pleasure miss?" Rodrigo sucked in a breath trying to make his chest expand, and his gut shrink, it never seemed to work out in quite that way, but he still tried it.
The blonde practically cooed at him and handed him her passport. "Pleasure honey," she drawled the words in her thick west Texas accent. "And if all the men here on the island look like you I'm going to have a lot of pleasure."
Rosalita nearly gagged trying to hold back her laughter. Rodrigo was a balding 50 year old weighing about 300lbs, with an extra large palate. The blonde must be smuggling something.
Rodrigo beamed and pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth to lock his dentures back in place. "Well Miss Rabbitt I can't guarantee that but I," he paused long enough to work his wedding band off his fat stubby finger, "get off in two hours."
"Really?" She reached for her passport, and her eyes lit with anticipation. "Then you better call me Jessica, and call me at my hotel when you get off."
Rodrigo goggled at her, so stunned that she had agreed that he could only stare after her as she left. Too late the knowledge hit him. "Wait Jessica, what hotel?" He yelled after her but the blonde was long gone.
Rosalita chortled in glee at the devastated look on her boss's face. Men were all the same the only way they could think was through their pants.
"That was fast even for you boss."
The woman now called Jessica paused to study the cowboy who had fallen into step beside her. She craned her neck and looked up at the dark-haired man in the beat-up cowboy hat. "Well that one was more clueless then most." Her honeyed accent was gone, and the farther out of the terminal she got, the less her walk looked like a leisurely sashay and the more it resembled a cat stalking her prey.
"You sure know how to ruin a guys vacation plans." He groused taking the bag from her resisting hand, and earning a glare in the process. As usual he smiled at her iced irritation, the dimples flashing in his cheeks.
"Cheer up Hawk, if you've had one blonde bimbo, you've had them all." Feeling no pity at all she stepped out into the night.
"That's cynical boss, what happened did the Prima Donna try to claim ownership?" He moved past her to a Land Rover that was illegally parked in front of the doors.
"He wasn't a Prima Donna," she growled before following him. "Anton was a very nice diversion."
"Anton?" He said with a jeer. "I was hoping you would have found the time to get laid before coming back here, it would put you in such a better mood." Hawk opened the car door for her and grinned at her livid expression. "Be careful now Jessica doesn't know how to fight." He warned her, recognizing the martial gleam in her brown eyes.
Her eyes narrowed as she considered her options. He was the only man she worked with on a continued basis, the only one in her organization, and why she put up with him was a mystery. He was easy to look at, dark black hair that spilled over his collar, his light green eyes were set off by his tan chiseled face. His rugged 6'2" frame was made of muscles that came from real labor and not a gym. His angelic face won the women over in a flash, and his easy affable charm won over the men so they let their guard down, and that was when he struck. Most never even knew what hit them.
She shook her head and ran a finger down his cheek. "Why Hawk," she drawled slowly. "Women of Texas don't fight they castrate."
Hawk swallowed hard and shut the door after she slid in the car. Working with her was never boring.
"So what did you find out?" She reached immediately for the radio and turned off the big band music she knew he was listening to.
"Well after your call and interruption, did I happen to mention I was in a hot tub with a little cutie and the things she said she could do with her…"
"Hawk how many times must I tell you that I don't want to hear about your conquests?" She interrupted with a snap. "Now what about the plane?"
"The client was right, it never showed in Boston, in fact it never even got to Florida. It went down about an hour and fifteen minutes after take-off."
"Damn," she drummed her fingers on her thighs. "Any survivors?"
"Well." Hank drawled taking off from the curb right before the parking police could put the ticket on his jeep. "Apparently it had been strewing debris for at least fifty miles before it finally went down. Everything that was in the cargo hold of the plane was long gone before it went down."
She has a momentary flash of an unconscious Jason Morgan strapped in a seat in the cargo hold. "Anything else?"
"There's a witness who saw a parachute." Hawk pulled a map off the dash, and tossed it to her. "It came out of the plane about 15 minutes before it went down. So while the Coast Guard are at the crash site, the parachute went down about fifty miles from there."
"Don't they know that?"
"No." He grinned and whipped around a police cruiser that was only doing 50. "This witness isn't very forthcoming."
"Good." She reached past him to turn on the dome light.
"Mm-mm," he sniffed deeply. "New perfume? The Prima Donna had good taste."
She deliberately elbowed his ribs when she leaned back against the seat, satisfied with his muttered oath, she moved on. "Where about?" She asked looking at the map.
"Near that five island chain called Devils Dream. I got a plane ready to take us to the one on the fringe, it's the only one with an airport, the others we'll have to search by boat."
"Good." She grabbed the handle in concern when he took a curve at about 30 miles over the posted limit.
"Do you think Morgan is the one who survived?"
"Of the three people on the plane, he would be my guess." She leaned back and marshaled her thoughts on what she knew of Jason Morgan. She knew almost everything one person could know about him. When she took on a bounty she was nothing if not thorough. "The only reason I took this bounty was the appeal of tracking him. Even in our circles he's very elusive."
"I know, I spent three months trying to get a line on the guy." Hawk commented.
"I have to admit finding him was even more difficult then I had thought it would be." She reached for her bag in the backseat. The bag that the customs agent had been too blinded by lust to search. "But once we did find him, catching him was pathetically easy. There was no challenge at all." She was still disappointed in that.
"I noticed that." He kept one eye on the rearview mirror when she pulled out a long barreled gun. "It was a surprise, given his reputation I was expecting it to be harder too."
"I know that reputation is what made me look forward in matching wits with him." She pulled the clip from the gun and checked the rounds. The feathers of the tranquilizer darts stood out in the dim light. "But apparently he is better than that. I have to believe that he was the one who made it out of the plane, and probably the reason it crashed. The other two don't have the survival instincts."
With a frown she held up a dart and studied it. "When we get home remind me to see Winston he must have gotten the load wrong in these darts. With someone Morgan's height and weight, this should have knocked him out for over 8 hours, more like 9, there was no reason for him to wake up mid-transport."
He could hear the excitement in her voice, and couldn't help but be drawn too it. That excitement was part of the thrill that he got every time he worked with her. "So are we going after him?"
"Of course." She put the gun back in her bag. "I don't get paid until I deliver him," she peered over at him. "Alive Hawk."
"Spoilsport." He grumbled and stepped on the gas, they had a plane to catch, the Devils Dream was waiting for them.
~El Gatto – Alley~
The side door burst open and Manny ran out of it so fast he couldn't stop his momentum and crashed into some boxes on the other side of it. Francis emerged after him and immediately turned to press on the door trying to close it. "Manny get off your ass and help me."
Manny got groggily to his feet.
"Get the trash bin." Francis ordered, turning around and pressing his back against the door, trying to find more traction with his feet to keep it closed. He pitched forward when someone shoved hard on the other side of the door. "Move it."
Manny hurried to the overflowing green bin and pushed on its side, shoving it towards the door. As soon as it was in range, Francis grabbed one of the bars and pulled it into position in front of the door.
"Jesus Christ Francis what the hell was that?" Manny demanded trying to suck in some much needed air.
"That was Bad Betty." Francis explained, trying to tuck in his shirt. He frowned down in surprise and pulled it out when he noticed a piece of his shirt was missing. It was jagged on the sides, it looked like someone had bit his shirt off of him.
"Bad Betty?" Manny asked, rubbing at the blood on his forehead. "Why the hell didn't you warn me about her? I would have brought in my gun, no I would have taken in my shotgun."
"I thought she might have calmed down by now." Francis said defensively.
"Francis she tried to rip your spleen out through your throat, if that is her calmed down, I don't want to see her pissed." Manny looked warily down the alley, hoping no one would appear at the front of it, trying to finish the job they had started in the bar. "What did you do to piss her off?"
"We don't have time to talk about that." Francis tried to change the subject. "Now about what Guttroal said."
"The redhead who paid him off jives with what the Webber girl said." Manny moved towards the car. "Did you date Betty? Because that would explain the hostility."
Francis ignored the comment and moved to the car. "I didn't like his description of her, it sounded familiar to me."
"Yeah, but I believe him when he says that he didn't hang around to see what she was doing. We need to find someone who was at the airport then." He jerked to a halt when a redheaded guy stumbled out of the bar and cut in front of them.
Manny peered after him then turned back to Francis. "So is Betty allergic to the outdoors? I mean why didn't she come chasing us from the front?"
Francis ignored him by focusing on the drunk guy who was trying to climb on a motorcycle. His eyes sharpened in interest when he recognized the bike. He was beside the bike before the drunk could figure out how to sling his leg over the side. "Where did you get this motorcycle?"
Ray turned bleary bloodshot eyes on the man talking to him. "Hey man."
"Whoa he's tanked." Manny waved the alcohol fumes from his face.
"Where did you get the bike?" Francis repeated.
Ray turned and looked at the bike. "I found it."
"Where did you find it?"
Ray belched. "What?"
Patience gone Francis grabbed Ray by his collar and slammed him against the wall. "Where did you get the bike?"
"Easy Francis." Manny looked around for any onlookers.
"This is Jason's bike." Francis explained. "So where did you get it?"
"The airport." Ray cried. "Damn man take it easy, the owner won't be using it again."
"What do you mean by that?" Uneasiness entered his system.
"Because the owner is dead. His plane crashed man, you can't drive if you're dead." Ray stated obviously.
Dead? Jason was dead? That couldn't be right. The words Jason and dead just didn't go together. Besides if Jason was dead what did that mean for Elizabeth?
"What the hell are you talking about?" Manny demanded angrily all humor gone.
"Dead as in corpse, as in pushing up daisies." Ray explained. "What are you drunk?"
"Look pal you don't want to get stupid with me." Manny snarled gripping Ray by the shirtfront.
"Ease off." Francis ordered and pulled a photo from his pocket. "Is this the guy who's dead?" He asked holding up a photo of Jason.
Ray squinted blearily at the photo but it kept moving on him. Finally he grabbed his head in his hands to hold it still. "Yep that's the guy I wasn't supposed to see."
"He was on the plane?"
"Yep, two guys carried him on the plane, but we weren't supposed to notice that. Gary said we were being paid to load crates and not notice things. So I tried to do that, but looking at that redhead made me see him." He put a hand over his heart. "The redhead was so stacked."
Francis pulled another picture from his pocket. "Was she on the plane too?" He demanded holding the photo of Elizabeth in front of the drunk.
Ray grabbed his head again and looked at the photo, bringing the brown haired girl into focus. "She's cute."
Manny smacked him on the head. "Was she on the plane?"
"Nope only three people were on the plane and the crates and now they're all at the bottom of the ocean." Ray began to laugh. "Wonder if they can swim."
Infuriated Francis decked him, sending Ray to the ground and into unconsciousness.
"He's drunk he might be wrong." Manny spoke quickly trying to calm Francis. "I mean I would've heard." He stopped himself with a wince.
"What?" Francis demanded.
"I caught the tail end of a news report, while I was waiting for you, it was about a plane crash that happened a few hundred miles from here." Manny explained reluctantly.
Francis still didn't want to believe it, and he wouldn't until he saw Jason's body. "Wait if Jason was snatched at the house how did his bike get to the airport?"
Manny ran a hand through his hair. "Well I heard a strange story while I was looking for information. At the time I didn't give it much thought, but now."
"What is it?"
"Apparently, there was a motorcycle that raised a little hell in town today. It sideswiped two vendor carts before careening after a black car, the person driving it was a brown haired girl.
Francis couldn't help but grin. That sounded like the Elizabeth he had once guarded. "Let's go to the airport, maybe we can find a ghost there, that knows what happened."
"A ghost?" A confused Manny asked following him to the car.
~*~*~
"Wake up." Stavros smacked the Cabbie in the back of the head. "They're leaving."
~Clearing AM~
Jason woke up slowly and groggily realized that he wasn't alone. He opened his eyes and saw brown hair. It took him a minute to realize he was holding Elizabeth, it seemed like one of them had moved during the night. He shifted slightly and the jacket under his head crinkled and he realized that it had been him that had moved towards her. His leg was over hers, his right arm was around her waist, and she was snug against him and still asleep.
He closed his eyes and let himself breathe in the strawberry scent of her shampoo. He had never held her like this before, and he was surprised at how well they fit together. Surprised and unnerved, because for months now he had been trying not to think about how he would like to hold her like this. He moved slowly and carefully away from her, afraid that if he lingered to long he wouldn't be able to leave her at all. He stretched and got to his feet. His right knee twinged a little in pain, and he wondered again what had happened yesterday.
He crossed to the stream and drank some water, the water was ice cold and woke him all the way up. He glanced at his watch, it was 8:00 am, he decided to let her sleep for a while longer, while he scouted around. He took a careful look around the clearing but didn't see anything that bothered him. Jason sighed and started to walk, he wouldn't go far, if she needed him he would still be in earshot.
~*~
Jason frowned up at the parachute, and empty harness that was hanging from a tree. It hadn't taken him long to find it, his only concern was it was the only parachute that he had found. He studied the ground and saw grooves in the soft dirt, it looked like someone, more then likely him had been dragged away from the parachute. He shifted and his knee tweaked again. At least he knew what happened to his knee now.
Part of Elizabeth's ramble from the night before came back to him. "So then we fell out of the plane and then of course you were still unconscious so I fell away from you and hit the water." She looked at her sweater, which had shrunk. "And this was new, now it's small, all because you wouldn't wake up."
He had scanned the area but he hadn't seen any body of water that would have been deep enough for her to hit and get drenched enough to shrink her sweater. He frowned up at the parachute again, besides if they parachuted out of a plane, how the hell had his chute opened?
"So I fell away from you and hit the water."
What the hell did she mean by that, she fell away from him? Concern and anger were gradually working through him along with fear. It was the fear that worried him, he wasn't used to feeling like that, especially over something that he couldn't change. It was time to wake her up and get some answers. He had only taken a step when he heard a rustling coming from his right.
Instantly alert, he bent down and pulled a switchblade from his boot, flicking it open. He had allowed himself to forget that there was a good chance they weren't alone in this place. He looked back in the direction of the clearing, he didn't want to take a chance of her waking up alone. The noise sounded again and was louder. He couldn't risk her being hurt.
Decision made Jason stepped to his right his hand gripping the knife tightly. He pushed at a branch and moved carefully in the brush trying to be as quiet as he could. About 10 yards off the path he heard the noise again directly in front of him. He shifted his grip on the knife, turning it into a slashing position and moved closer. He pushed by a branch and took another step and then everything went black.
Quiet surrounded the bushes for another minute, before the animal life of the forest began to make noises again.
~Clearing~
"Jason." Elizabeth sat up with a scream. She had been falling again, and this time she knew she wasn't going to hit water. She looked around and saw the trees and realized she was on the ground. She moaned lightly and rested her head on her knees trying to control her breathing. The falling off the cliff dream suddenly had a whole new dose of reality for her.
Once she could breathe normally she opened her eyes and looked for Jason, expecting to see him asleep beside her, but he was gone. "Jason?" Her eyes searched the small clearing but he was nowhere to be found. Afraid she shot to her feet. "Jason." Her scream echoed around the clearing, stilling the sound of the birds in the trees.
Where was he? He was here wasn't he? Her eyes fell on his jacket on the ground, and she sighed in relief, he had been here. But where was he now?
"Jason." She yelled again and listened in vain for a response.
"Don't do this to me." Her voice sounded husky to her ears, but she spoke trying to hold the fear off. What if the people who had taken Jason the first time had found them and took him while she was asleep? She knew he wouldn't leave her here alone, but he wasn't here. That had to mean…. "Jason."
Through all of the insanity of the last day she knew she would be okay as long as she kept in sight of Jason. She knew he would be okay, because she would be here for him. But now he was gone, he was gone and she was alone.
"Jason where are you?" She called out again, but no one answered her not even the birds.