Lee woke up to a noise coming from outside the bedroom. He looked at the spot next to him which was empty. He stood and put his boxers on as he headed out of the room toward the kitchen.
Standing by the fridge was Charlie in his shirt.
She turned and handed him a beer.
"How'd you know I was there?"
"Spatial awareness. You must have heard of it", she answered back smiling.
He smiled back and took the beer.
"I didn't want to wake you. I'm sorry. I was thirsty."
She headed for the sofa and sat down. He joined her and put his arm around her, pulling her in against his chest.
"Why did you join the CIA?" he asked her.
"I wanted to change the world. I wanted to help put the bad guys away but do it on my own terms, unlike in the military where you just follow orders and where sometimes it ends up being very political."
He raised an eyebrow. "I know too well what you mean. How much leeway do you have when on a mission?"
"We get the framework of what we need to do. How we do it, is pretty much up to us. You can't always plan what's going to happen. There is no war plan, no tactical plan. You go in, you improvise and if you get lucky, your mission is a success. One less bad guy walking this planet and you're still alive."
"Sounds pretty much what we do."
"Mercenaries don't always have a good reputation," she said without any judgment.
"That's not what we are about. We do what you do, but we're our own bosses. I guess we make a bit more of a mess than you do, but we always make sure that innocent people don't become collateral damage."
"Who do you guys usually hunt down?"
"War criminals, kidnappers, traffickers. People who won't be missed after they die."
"My father is a good man then."
"Yeah, he is. He's a good boss and leader. He's my closest friend and I'd give my life for his."
"You two are very close."
She pulled away from his chest and looked at him concerned. "Tomorrow everything will change then?"
His face closed. "I don't know. It might. I have the strong impression that me sleeping with you was not on your father's playbook for this mission."
"Do you regret it?" she dared to ask, not sure she really wanted to know the answer to the question.
"No. It's the opposite. I would have regretted if I hadn't. But it's not just about me."
Charlie listened but said nothing. She understood what he meant. It was difficult enough with everything out in the open, Church and meeting her dad for the first time. Yet, she didn't want to let Lee go. Maybe it was presumptuous of her, but she had the unwavering sensation that he was the man she had always been waiting for, like she had told him in Church's quarters.
She put her beer bottle down, took Lee's and did the same as he looked at her inquisitively. She straddled him and removed her shirt. Within seconds his body burned for her.
"We're not morning yet," she said softly as she leaned in and kissed him.
"Lee!" yelled Charlie. His eyes shot open and simultaneously he felt the nuzzle of a gun on his head and saw from his laying position three men grabbing and pulling Charlie toward the door of the house.
Church walked over to Lee and knelt on one knee, so that they were face to face.
"She's my ticket to millions. You really thought I was going to let her out of my sight?" He dangled Charlie's watch in front of Lee's eyes.
Lee's eyes narrowed. The bastard had planted a locating chip in her watch! "You know, I was going to let Barney kill you, but right now I'm not sure I'm going to let him do that. I'm going to take so much pleasure in cutting you to pieces!"
Church laughed. "In order to do that Lee, you're going to have to be alive and I don't think that is planned. But don't worry, you and Charlie will be reunited soon."
Church stood. "Make it last and make sure he suffers before you kill him!" he said to four of his men before grabbing a bag filled with clothes, most probably for Charlie, and walking out the door.
"Lee!" kept yelling Charlie as Church's men led her up the stairs.
Church rolled his eyes. "Shut her up."
The group stopped mid-stairs. One man put his hand over her mouth, and another came toward her with a syringe.
She shook her head in protest and tried to free herself, but Church's men were too strong, and it was useless.
She felt the prick of the needle as it broke the skin of her shoulder, and the stinging sensation as they administered what was in it. Withing seconds, she felt drowsy, and her eyesight got blurry. It was almost as if she was having an out of body experience, she was there without being there.
Seeing she was quieting down, they resumed going up the stairs and brought her over to the Jeep. As it was early morning there was hardly any risk of running into anyone. Church sat down in the passenger seat as his men settled Charlie in the backseat. One of the men joined her and the others headed for the second Jeep, leaving the last Jeep behind for the guys who were going to entertain Lee.
Lee took another blow to the back, right in his kidney. Church's men had been at this beating for 20 minutes and they knew where to hit so it hurt. He was bleeding from several parts of his body, but he didn't care. All he could think about was how he was going to venge them for taking Charlie away.
Barney and the guys arrived in front of the address Lee had sent the night before. They told Callum, who they had brought along, to follow them. As they went down the stairs, they heard the all too familiar sound of someone being beaten. Gunnar stopped short of the window and had a look inside.
Lee's hands had been tied up and were held by a wooden beam in the living room. Three men were taking rounds punching him.
Gunnar motioned to Barney and indicated that there were three men.
"There's a window on the other side. If I shoot from this one and someone at the door, we're good," said Gunnar.
TollRoad nodded and indicated to Barney and the others that he was going to go to the other window.
Gunnar and TollRoad looked at each other as Cesar prepped himself at the door. Gunnar mouthed silently. "1, 2, 3!"
Cesar opened the door and identified his assailant and took him down as Gunnar and TollRoad did the same.
Barney walked in, followed by Gunnar and Callum, TollRoad in tow.
Cesar, untied Lee.
Barney walked up to him. "You alright?"
"Yeah. Church has Charlie, they left 20 minutes ago" said Lee as he grabbed a bag from the floor stash, grabbed a pair of tactical pants, shirt, socks, and shoes and dressed quickly.
"Cesar, you go check the bedroom and bathroom for any clues." Said Barney as he looked at Lee getting dressed.
"What the hell happened?"
"That son of bitch had placed a geolocating chip in her watch. He must have placed it there when he took her, and she was unconscious. I'm sorry, I should have thought of it."
Cesar exited the bathroom and walked into the bedroom. He raised an eyebrow and gave a side smile as he noticed the disrupted bedsheets and their clothes spread out at the end of the bed.
"There was no way you could have known. Getting her out of the plane is already incredible. We were just a bit too late. We'll find her," said Barney as he put a hand on Lee's shoulder.
Lee said nothing but grabbed the guns, ammo, and bowie knife.
"Gunnar, reach out to Hernandez at the airfield, and have him keep an eye out for Church's plane. Just because we didn't see it, doesn't mean that it's not there. He could have hidden it in a hangar. Also make sure that he makes sure that if the plane is there that it remains grounded."
Gunnar nodded and took the phone out of his pocket and headed outside.
"Lee, this is Callum Schleck," said Barney as he pointed to the businessman standing in the corner of the room, apparently not at ease with dead people being in the same room as him.
Lee walked up to him. "Where do you keep the chip?"
Callum pointed to his arm.
"Good," said Lee, "just in case we need to get it out."
Barney looked at Lee. "Are you crazy? We're not letting Church get the chip."
"It might be the only way to get close enough to him and rescue Charlie."
"That is the last resort. If he gets that chip, not only will he kill Charlie but agents around the world will die," said Barney.
Lee looked at Barney. "He's going to kill her no matter what the outcome is. I don't think you want to bury her before you've gotten a chance to know her."
Barney scratched the side of his neck.
"Barney, I've spent time with Charlie. She's an amazing woman. She's so much like you. I won't let it end before it's even had a chance to start!"
Barney looked at Lee and what he said sank in. "Alright then, let's go get Charlie!"
They all headed out the door and piled up in the two jeeps, one of them belonging to Church.
Cesar looked at Lee as he drove and followed the jeep where Barney, TollRoad, and Callum were driving.
"Tell me, how close did you get to knowing Charlie?"
Lee's eyes remained on the road. "What do you mean?"
"I know what a bed looks like after two people have been intimate…"
Lee said nothing.
"You slept with her?! You slept with Barney's daughter! It's always the same, you smooth talking son of bitch. You can't keep your hands off the merchandise!"
Lee's head spun in Cesar's direction and Cesar noticed something in Lee's eyes that he had never seen before. Generally, Lee would have joked around about having had some of "that", but this time there was anger in his eyes.
"It's not like that," he said. "This time around, it's different."
"Yeah, I can sense and see that. You're falling for her."
"You're damn bloody right I am, and I let Church get her."
"Look, we're going to deal with Church and get Charlie back, but at some point, you're going to have to face Barney. If this is not a one-time deal, then you're going to have to tell him. And right now, I don't know how protective of his daughter he could be, even though it's you we're talking about."
"I'll jump that hurdle when I get to it. If we don't get her back, there will be no need for me to tell Barney I'm falling in love with the daughter he never knew."
Cesar looked at him wide eyed. "Love? Whoa is that even a word in your vocabulary?"
"It is now, and I plan on keeping it there," said Lee.