Jacked Up 4

I am so fffft##cked! Sam sighed heavily as he milled around the dingy excuse for a hotel room. He ran his hands through his hair and rested his palms against the back of his neck. He could hear Leon Drake making idle chitchat with the Gillliam's in the area just outside the door. Molly, Molly, Molly, Sam thought as his mind scrambled to factor this little hiccup into his plan. How many times does the colonel have to tell you to stand down before you get it? "Apparently not enough," Sam mumbled as he walked toward the door to employ some damage control.

A minute later, Sam was wishing he was telepathic. Please god just play along or Jonas is going to cut my ass into little pieces with a dull nail file, Sam silently begged. He stared at Molly with a searing glare that hopefully sent the only message that she needed to hear. By some miracle of god, she did exactly what he needed her to do and then some to make it look good in front of the other guards. Whether her actions were genuinely part of his game or just dumb luck, he didn't really care; he needed her to keep it up to stay alive. Drake had already told him that the Gilliam's were a liability that needed to be eliminated. If his new boss ordered him to do anything to Molly Blaine, it would compromise Sam's cover. The colonel ordered me to take whatever steps necessary to complete my mission, but if I have to kill my teammate's wife … I might as well swallow my gun.

Running interference so Drake could concentrate on his original intentions with the Gilliam's proved more difficult that Sam expected. Not only does Molly not follow orders, but she can't seem to stop running her mouth, Sam surmised as he tried again to deflect her revelations about the unit's activities and her involvement on this mission.

"Everyone knows I'm with Susan," Molly said defiantly as she paced in front of Sam. "And that includes my husband," she sneered in his face.

"No," Sam replied drawing out the oh. "I think Jonas is on the other side of the world right now," he added. He played with top of his Zippo lighter, the same lighter the colonel slipped Sam to aide in his escape after his little foray at the car dealership. Jim Ballard, Drake's henchman, leaned against the wall and chuckled. Sam glanced in his direction and then leveled his gaze directly on Molly.

"I'm guessing he has no idea what kind of trouble you've gotten into, does he? In fact, no one does … do they?" Sam questioned her, implying that not even Colonel Ryan was aware that she was still in contact with the Gilliam's. Her moment of hesitation and the flippant shake of her head was all the answer he needed. Despite her attempts to hide her fear, he knew that Molly knew she was in deep shit and like it or not, Sam McBride was her only chance of getting out of there alive.

"Don't be stupid Sam," was her only response. "Just turn yourself in. You can't get away you know. The unit…"

"The unit will track me down? That's what you think?" Sam practically laughed in her face. "They tried and they failed. They aren't as powerful as the US Army makes them out to be."

"We brought you into our family. Let you eat off our plates," Molly countered taking a step back from him. "How could you betray us? How could you betray the unit?" she yelled at him indigently.

"The unit betrayed me," Sam commented tersely. It wasn't a lie. Sam felt betrayed by his team the minute Colonel Ryan had ordered him to attack RedCap. Even now that he was tasked with trying to protect his boss's wife, he felt like he ended up with the raw end of the deal. What the hell's up with Jonas that he can't keep his wife under wraps?

"We all have to make sacrifices Sam," Molly was babbling on the background. "We all know secrets that can't be told."

Sam rolled his eyes and mentally shook his head. God I wish I was wearing a wire! General Heath thinks there's a leak? Yeah, it's standing right in front of me! And as much as Sam wanted to let Molly and her big mouth hang herself, he knew he couldn't do it. He needed to shut her up and quick. He stepped a little closer to Molly and locked his gaze on her with the most evil glare he could muster.

"You know what? I'd like to blow that sanctimonious look right off your face," he informed her. His voice was low and thick, and he delivered the line with an unspoken threat, that he hoped instilled some sense into her head. Before he had a chance to say another word, a scream from Susan Gilliam echoed through the building.

"Wah? What are they doing to her?" Molly gasped as fear washed over her face.

"I imagine they are encouraging her to talk," Sam replied smugly. So shut the hell up before you incriminate yourself dammit! The words zipped through his mind just as they spilled out of Molly's mouth.

"Talk? She doesn't know anything about this operation!" Molly guffawed.

"And how would you know that?" Sam questioned her with a tone that screamed shut the hell up. He turned to look at her with a furrowed brow and tight dark eyes. "What do you know about this operation?" he retorted trying once again to implant a suggestion inside her head.

The door to the room popped open just then and the Gilliam's darted from it. The commotion that ensued was enough distraction to keep Molly from drawing any more attention to herself in front of Drake's number one man. Drake's order to get rid of the bodies and take care of Molly somewhere else gave Sam one true opportunity help her. If he was really the bad guy he was trying to be, he would have hog-tied her and stuffed her in the trunk. As it was, Sam looked back at her and caught her eye with a look that only said run. And she did, following his nonverbal order for once.

Except that he had no clue that she didn't know how to run. Fricken Jonas didn't teach her how to escape and evade? Sam thought as he walked out the front door of the building. She wasn't invisible hiding behind the van. He directed the other guy to head in the opposite way and said it loud enough for Molly to hear. If she darted off in the only direction left open, he could catch her under the train bridge and tell her which way to run to escape. Go Molly, run, he thought as he jumped in the car and started the ignition.

Again, Sam's plan was foiled by Molly's flat out stupidity. Trying to wave down a moving train? Who was she trying to kid? Sam pulled the gun on her because her pure ignorance was starting to piss him off. She's a fricken handful! He thought as he ordered her into the trunk. Geezus! How the hell does Jonas put up with that? He was relieved that for once she complied with his wishes … of course witnessing Sam's carefree attitude about killing the Gilliam's was probably a great motivator. Well, at least it sounded good on paper, until Molly started yelping and banging around in the rear of the car. Sam slammed the car in park and looked over at the other guy with an exasperated expression on his face.

"You got any tape?"

TBC