Chapter Seven

Jaime opened her eyes several times in the next few hours but felt so groggy and dizzy that she was forced to close them again. She wasn't fully awake until the sound of a fierce struggle at the top of the stairs penetrated the fog and caught her attention. Looking up, she saw the same men who'd thrown her down the stairs, and this time, they had Steve! Jaime was dismayed to find she'd been gagged and handcuffed; she couldn't call out to him or get his attention. She looked beyond Steve and the guards and was shocked to see, from the window behind them, that it was completely light outside. That meant Alex and his pilots were already getting into place, possibly enroute to their assigned destinations, in preparation for making their move. They were very nearly out of time.

Jaime watched as two guards went down, and then a third, and Steve turned, probably to break the window and run, when a gunshot stopped him mid-step. She screamed into her gag as her now-bleeding husband rolled down the stairs. Three men came down the stairs after him, and one put a gun to his temple as the other two began to cuff and gag him.

"Move again and the next one goes straight through your brain," the guard growled. Once Steve was secured, the men went back up the stairs and Jaime and Steve were alone. His eyes were partially open, but he wasn't completely conscious. Jaime slid slowly across the floor toward him by wriggling her hips and pulling with her feet.

When she was as close as she could get, she began looking him over. His face had become very pale, and he seemed to be bleeding from somewhere behind, where Jaime couldn't see, possibly his shoulder or upper back. Not a lot of blood, but it was Steve's blood. Trying to get him to open his eyes, she gently nudged his forehead with her own, then leaned back against the wall, her arm directly touching his, to wait. Very soon, he began to stir and then, sensing her presence, Steve turned and saw his wife sitting next to him. Jaime could read the sadness and dismay in his eyes. She tried to poke the gag from her mouth with her tongue, then leaned toward her husband for help. Understanding immediately, Steve parted his lips and after several tries managed to get a small bit of her gag between his teeth, yanking it out with a sharp turn of his head. She quickly did the same for him.

"How badly were you hit?" she asked fearfully.

"My shoulder; not too bad. Did they hurt you?"

"No. Alex drugged me with something last night, though. Steve, they moved the attacks up to Friday. We've only got twenty-four hours, or less."

"You...must've been out awhile. It's already Friday, Sweetheart," he said quietly.

"Oh God, it can't be! He must've come back down and drugged me again before I woke up!"

"So...it is Alex?"

"Yeah. My instincts failed me this time, I guess. We've gotta get out of here; we have to stop him!" Jaime said in an urgent whisper.

Steve nodded. "I have an idea...listen..."

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When the guards returned to check their prisoners, they found that Steve and Jaime were both exactly where they'd left them, and both appeared to be unconscious. Jaime was lying on her left side, curled up in a near-fetal position. Steve leaned back against the wall, his right side facing outward. As the guards bent down to re-drug them, Jaime and Steve both swung their legs into the air, knocking each man into another like a row of dominoes, then both landed on their feet. They quickly gathered up all of the guns, with Steve working one-handed, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side. Since his arm and shoulder had already been injured by the bullet he'd taken, Steve had chosen to break his cuffs (and, in the process, his arm) in order to free himself and his wife. With guns firing as fast as they could manage, they made their way up the stairs and out the window that the bullets had opened for them.

Jaime and Steve moved stealthily through the foliage, trying to avoid detection. They were halfway to Jaime's cottage, intending to use the phone to call Oscar. Bug or no bug, they needed help. Jaime was suddenly halted by the sound of someone falling to the ground. It was Steve, and Alex was standing over him, the butt of a shotgun poised to hit his skull again.

"I'm sorry, Miss Whatever-Your-Name-Is, but I simply can't let you leave."

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