Chapter Two
Less than an hour later, Jaime was on a small transport plane bound for an overseas destination she'd never heard of, to parachute in the dark into an area just outside a compound for which she had no map. She'd checked and then double and triple-checked a parachute that had already passed a thorough safety inspection. Her mind scrambled back to the last time she'd strapped on a parachute...
Steve smiled at her as they approached the open hatch. "There's no other feeling like it, Sweetheart. The wind - it's like you've grown wings. And the freedom...it's incredible." They'd kissed, and she'd jumped exitedly, with no fear or hesitation.
And then...
Jaime forced her thoughts back to the present, to focus on a single thought: Find Steve.
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Somehow, Jaime managed to quiet her mind enough to allow a little bit of sleep. It wasn't the restful release she'd hoped for, though; dreaming merely brought her subconscious mind closer to the surface, allowing her no escape.
"It might not be so bad, being the Bride of Frankenstein..."
"Will you let me try? Will you trust me...Jaime?"
"So, will ya?" "Will I what?" "Marry me?"
"Marry me..."
The pilot's voice startled Jaime back to wakefulness. "Thirty minutes, Ma'am."
"Ok," she said, reaching for the thermos of coffee. "Thank you." She blanked all thoughts from her mind and concentrated on deep, steady breathing to calm herself.
"Fifteen minutes."
"She's still slipping, Rudy..."
"Doctor, we're losing her..."
Alright, she told herself, blanking out is not a good idea. Focus. Have to focus.
"Five minutes."
I can do this, she thought. I will do this - for Steve. But God, it's dark out there. Slowly, she moved to the hatch and slid it open. As the pilot began counting down seconds, Jaime remembered the warm, happy feeling she used to get in Steve's arms, and when the pilot reached zero, she pushed outward, held her breath and jumped. She jumped away from the safety of the plane, jumped into the dark, threatening unknown and jumped toward Steve.
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Oscar paced the floor of his office, stared out the window and then paced some more. He'd come incredibly close to defying a presidential directive. Every fiber of his being had screamed 'Don't let her go; she isn't ready!' Jaime had over two years of OSI experience and training to guide her, but this was far more dangerous - life-threateningly dangerous - than anything she'd done before, with virtually no backround intelligence to lead the way. Her newly-restored memory was another unknown factor; hell, the entire mission was one huge question mark. Oscar was sure of only one thing: if any harm came to Jaime, it would be more than he could handle.
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Jaime could see the lights of a huge main building, as well as four or five smaller outbuildings, and as she moved closer, she noted that the entire compound was surrounded by a wicked-looking electrified fence. It was at least two stories high, with rolls of spiky barbed wire at the top. She saw no gate, and thus assumed she was at the rear of the complex.
There appeared to be no searchlights, but the place was heavily guarded. In the short time she stood there, she'd had to duck behind a tree twice as guards passed by. A third set of two men stopped nearby to rest and she sank to the ground, leaning against the huge tree trunk, trying to breathe in complete silence.
When the men spoke, it was in a language she didn't recognize, but she was able to make out one word: "American".
Steve is here, she thought to herself. It was torture for her to wait until the guards had moved on. With no clue where to start, she took a deep, steadying breath and jumped the fence. The instant she hit the ground, Jaime knew she was in trouble. Bright lights suddenly illuminated the entire compound, courtesy of motion detectors covering all ground within six feet of the fence. She felt a sudden, burning pain in her right side but there was no time to check it out. She could hear guards running toward her from every direction. Hoping to gain at least a few seconds to think, Jaime ducked into the nearest outbuilding before any of them could see her. She knew how bad this was; she was trapped, completely surrounded, and quickly losing strength from what she now discovered was a freely bleeding bullet wound. It seemed that Oscar's worst fears were about to come true.
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Oscar's fear was escalating dramatically. While it was still only a 'feeling', his gut (which he'd long ago learned to trust) was heavy with the sensation that something was horribly wrong. Minutes later, Oscar's 'gut feeling' turned into an awful, wrenching certainty, and his fear to mortal terror.
Steve, unharmed and completely unaware, walked into the office.
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