Chapter Five

It took Steve just over ten minutes to reach the massive office/warehouse complex that currently hid Fortress from the world. Steve knew this group all too well; he'd sent several of its members, including one of the leaders, to prison in the past. They were vicious, not hesitating to kill anyone who caused them the smallest bit of trouble. They dealt in whatever government secrets they could squeeze out of their victims, selling them to the highest bidder. He guessed they wouldn't be holding Jaime in any of the offices, all of which had large plate-glass windows. But - which warehouse? Where are you, Jaime? he wondered silently. His answer came in the form of gunfire from one of the buildings. At least that narrowed it down to one huge building, instead of three. He'd thought about calling his teams in to help, but if the planes came early or the men didn't watch the time closely...

The gunshots appeared to have come from a lower floor, so Steve decided to start in the basement and work his way up.

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Meanwhile, Jaime was cornered. She'd found a stairway that led to the first floor, but the door at the top had a guard on the other side. Judging from what she'd seen so far, she assumed he, too, was armed. She couldn't go back the way she came, because she could hear the man who'd questioned her coming down the hall. She chose the first floor, and, bracing herself against the wall, she kicked the door with her good leg, trapping the guard between the door and the wall. She heard men coming up the stairs, yelling 'Stop her!'. The man caught by the door freed himself and began to fire his weapon just as Jaime turned a corner. She still couldn't find an exit, but was now in a huge storage room. Ducking behind a large stack of boxes, she paused for a moment to figure out her next move.

An arm snaked around her neck from behind, so violently that Jaime was nearly pulled off her feet. With one arm holding her in a literal choke-hold, the person behind her pressed what could only be a gun to the back of her head. "Don't move, or you're dead."

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Steve looked at his watch. Five more minutes. He knew it was time to get out, but there was no way he was leaving without Jaime. He heard more gunfire, and it seemed to keep moving, always one floor above him. Four more minutes. She wasn't in the basement, or on the first floor, either, but she had been. Steve saw the kicked-open door and knew he was on the right track, but he was quickly running out of time.

Three minutes. More gunshots, then a scream - Jaime's scream - and the slam of a heavy door, both outside the building. Steve figured they'd probably dragged her by force from one building to the next, possibly hurting her if she resisted. He headed outside and looked in every direction but saw no trace of her. Two more minutes. A car screeched to a stop beside him. It was Rudy and Oscar.

"Steve! Get in!"

"I'm not leaving without Jaime!"

"There's no more time!" Oscar insisted, his voice breaking. "I'm not losing both of you!" Oscar leaned out of the car, grabbed Steve's left arm and yanked with all the strength he had left. Steve was only half-way in the car when Rudy floored the accelerator, roaring off the property as the first planes appeared on the horizon.

They were a mile and a half away when the bombing began, and the concussive force still shook the car. Three grown men had tears in their eyes as multiple fireballs made the night sky as light as day.

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Jaime's memorial service (there was nothing left to have an actual burial for) was held the following Sunday in front of the Tranquility Fountain she'd loved so much. There was a harp, a flute and an acoustic guitar, and Steve and Oscar had actually cooperated in choosing Jaime's favorite music to be played. Silent tears flowed down Oscar's face. They'd professed their love for each other for the first time on the morning she died, so they'd never had a chance to find out where they could've gone from there.

Steve, too, was crying streams of silent tears. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he hadn't loved her. He had never been able to let go of the hope that maybe, just maybe, one day they'd reunite - for good. Now, one day could never come.

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