Chapter Two
"So, what's the battle plan?" Jaime asked. "I assume I'm not waving a banner that says 'Come and get me' so how do we get their attention?"
"Just be visible," Oscar told her. "I guarantee they'll be around. Work in your garden, hang out on your porch - just stay visible and available. Steve will be stationed in your basement, ready to move the second anything happens. Shouldn't take long at all."
Oscar was right; it wasn't long. Jaime sat in a lawn chair on the grass, pretending to be thoroughly engrossed in her magazine while actually remaining alert to every sound, every slight change in her surroundings. She was expecting to hear quiet footsteps coming up behind her, though, and what she actually heard sent her into near-panic mode. THUD! - as though a body had hit the floor, coming from inside the building. Jaime broke from the plan and flew into the basement. In the spot where she'd left Steve, all she found was a note:
We're not stupid, Goldman!
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Steve woke up and squinted in the total darkness, trying to get his bearings. "Jaime?" he whispered, unsure if they'd grabbed her, too. He found he was locked in a metal box or cell of some kind. He reached to either side and found little room for movement. When he tried to break the wall out, his arm throbbed with pain and refused to move the way he'd intended. Damn, he cursed in his head, they've already got at least one computer chip. He tried to kick the wall, and found it unyielding, telling him the metal was reinforced with thick cement or brick, but at least his legs still worked. Steve felt his upper arm and was relieved that the power source was still safely under wraps. He had no choice but to sit back and wait for whatever happened next.
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"Steve's tracking implant is active," Oscar told Jaime. "I'll have a general area within the next few minutes, and I'll send a team out in that direction. An exact location should only be a couple minutes more. We'll get him, Babe."
"A team?" Jaime repeated. "Oscar, that's not the plan."
"I don't want to send you in there alone -"
"Oscar, I can do this. And we don't know if they've already taken his power source. There might not be time to get a team in there. We have to assume we have less than 90 minutes. Now, one person - me - I could slip in unnoticed -"
"No, Jaime."
"If you try to send a whole team in, the second they see them, Steve's dead."
"I'm not sending you in and having both of you at risk."
"Oscar, it was ok to risk us both when it was the other way around. I'm going in whether you're backing me or not, and I'm gonna get Steve."
"Miss Sommers, this is highly insubordinate. I'm still your boss."
"Like I said, with or without you," Jaime said stubbornly. "Now, do you have a location for me or not?"
Oscar sighed, and gave her the address that had just popped up on the screen. "Is Rudy still there?" Jaime asked. "Can I talk to him a second?"
Oscar handed the phone to his friend. "Jaime? Are you having pain?" Rudy asked quickly.
"No, not really. Rudy - can I hear the frequency of Steve's implant?"
Rudy thought for a second. "Actually, yes. It would be a very high-pitched buzzing noise, louder as you get closer. But you won't hear it at all until you're right in the area; it's that subtle."
"Thanks, Rudy. Do me a favor - tell Oscar I don't have time to argue right now, and I'll talk to him later."
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Jaime reached the address and wondered if Oscar had been wrong. The rickety old building bore no resemblence to the bustling complex of buildings she and Steve had encountered on their last run-in with New Destiny. She listened closely, though, and definitely picked up the buzz Rudy had described. It was very faint but grew in intensity as she rounded the side of the building. It seemed to be coming from somewhere near a large room on the second floor. Jaime jumped up to the window ledge, winced in pain as the leg with the implant hit concrete, but quickly gained her footing. Yes, the buzzing was definitely getting louder. The room appeared empty, so she kicked in the window and followed the buzzing noise down the hall, stopping in front of a door that looked like it led to a broom closet.
Jaime tore the door off its hinges in one solid motion and was greeted by a very large man with an extremely large gun. Sitting beside him on the floor was Steve's leg, the one with the tracking implant.
"Hello, Miss Sommers," he said, leering at her. "Like we told your boss, we are not stupid."
