Chapter Four

April 25, 1996

The bed is somewhere between warm and hot. The coolness of the white sheets dissipated from the friction of their bodies. The heat, the sweat, their passion took over the room. The comforter, blanket and top sheet all pushed down onto the floor. It was just them and the mattress below.

They had been every which way and back again, before Henry flipped her and pinned her down. She smiled underneath him, the sweat beading down a bit from her hairline. Her blonde tresses splayed out around her head. The softness of it grazing the side of his left hand as he held her down.

She looked up at him. His face glowing from the sweat that formed on his chiseled cheek bones. She giggled at him as he smiled back at her. Their eyes locking as they became one and time stood still.

"Uhhhh…" the warm mattress turned to a freezing cold floor as Henry remembered where he was when he woke up. He desperately wanted to look at the photo of his family. He missed his wife. He missed his baby girl. But, he didn't dare move the photo.

"Whaa" Elizabeth sat up, the glow of them was gone and the room was pitch black. She was hot under the covers and sweating. She pushed them off as she listened to the baby cry. Making an effort to not look at his empty side of the bed.

She shook off the dream and slowly made her way to the nursery.

The stench was beginning to fill the room and Henry knew he had to get out soon before he got sick from the decomposition of his best friend.

The stench hit her as soon as she entered the room. "5am blowout…great!" she sighed.

It had been two days since Henry was taken hostage. She knew they were getting closer to finding him. In these private moments alone with their daughter, she prayed he was still alive. Usually past the 48 hours, hope would fade that they would find him alive. There was no video yet and that scared her! The bug she planted informed them that McWilliams moved into Turkey late last night. She was hoping it would lead them to him.

She changed the baby. Threw the diaper in the basket along with the pajamas, tied the bag tight and pulled it out of the basket. She walked downstairs carrying Stevie on her shoulder and the bag in her other hand. She threw the bag in the trash bin in the garage and then snuggled Stevie closer. Pulling the soft pink blanket up around her to keep her warm. She sleepily carried her back upstairs, plopped herself down back in the rocker and began to feed her. She put her head back against the soft comforting blanket.

He leaned himself up against the wall. That's when he realized it. The smell lingered in the room but it wasn't as strong. He brought his eyes to the spot. Greg was gone. This was when the panic started to set in.

The door opened with a "new guy" bringing in his morning meal. He didn't say much…just slid the tray under the bar and walked away in a hurry. Almost like he didn't want to be there. He was tall, slim with a flash of red hair. Henry recognized the look anywhere. Irish. "What the hell?" he thought to himself.

He took the piece of bread and the water off the tray. Smelling both to make sure there were no substances on them. "Nope, still stupid," he thought to himself. He hasn't spoken any words at all in the days he has been here. Not through the interrogations, the beatings, the frigid cold. His stomach hurt to eat. His sides ached. He was sure they broke a rib. But, still he has given them nothing. They haven't been smart enough to strip search him. His dog tags and the family photo are still tucked into their secret spots. From bathroom and beating trips he knew he was in a shelled out restaurant. His cell room must have been the refrigerator/freezer room. The perfect place for a dead body.

The door opens again. This time he's back with a lock cutter. Same new guy. "Where are the others?" he thinks to himself. He helps him get to his feet easily but then forces him out of the room.

She watches her eyes flutter, struggling to stay awake. "Just a little more, baby girl. Then, Mommy will put you back down. I know you love your sleep. Just like your Daddy."

Her long eyelashes close down and she unlatches from her mother. "Oh goodness, sweetheart. You and I both need to be eating more. It's almost like you know." She fixes herself, puts her on her shoulder and a little burp comes out.

She can't bear to go back to their bed so there they stay in the rocker. Stevie's little arm wrapped around the front of her with her tiny hand curled and resting at the base of her neck. The warmth of her comforting her mother's heart as a tear rolls down Elizabeth's cheek. Then another and another. As the days pass, she knows the ending all too well. But, she won't go there. She has to keep believing he's alive. She closes her eyes and falls back asleep. Their child giving her the comfort she needs.

He's being led to a place in the building he hadn't been before by the new guy that is bigger than him but not stronger. Henry says nothing but takes everything in wondering what the hell was going on since his captors changed. He counted them all as he was dragged by, he eyed the open area of the restaurant that once held happier days of diners and waiters and bartenders. The walls are dirty yellow, the floor made of rusted orange tiles that were no longer shiny. The small windows darkened by dust that gave a bleak look at the city street outside. Daylight. Nobody outside could see in at the two guards that sat there now. The broken mirror by the door. They kept moving down the hallway, the restroom was on the left. He had eyed all of this already. His backup escape route if he needed it. The small window above the stall could be accessed by jumping off the toilet seat. This was as far as he had previously gone. On their right was a staircase, the guard practically pulled him down the flight as he felt every step in his cracked ribs.

They immediately turned into a small gray room, but not before he noticed the long, dark tunnel. The camera sat on top of an olive green metal desk. He almost smirked to himself as he would sit in a chair with no table in front of him. "Dummies," he thought.

"Here we go," Henry thought, knowing his escape would be imminent. What he didn't know was that a bug planted by his wife gave his location earlier today when McWilliams and his thugs showed up. But they were missing the interior infrastructure of the building. He was about to plan a raid and his own rescue. He had been working on this for days.

The ringing of the house phone startles her awake. She stands and wraps her robe around herself while carrying Stevie into the master suite to answer the secure line. "Yeah," she answers, still partly asleep. Holding the baby in one arm and the phone with the other hand. She was exhausted as she wasn't sleeping much at all. The time she didn't sleep at night she pumped and froze breastmilk so if something happened there was enough for Marie and Patrick to feed Stevie. She would then review her files and review them again, until she fell asleep with them on their bed.

"Bess, are you by yourself?" Isabelle soft voice coming from Turkey woke her up.

"Well, it's 6am here and Stevie doesn't understand much yet so almost alone," she answered.

Ignoring her snarky comment, Isabelle says "Conrad's on his way over. Greg's body was dropped outside the embassy in Ankara this morning," Isabelle's voice cracked and grew softer.

"Excuse me. Did you just tell me Greg is dead?" she asked.

"Yes, I am so sorry." Isabelle's voice cracked thinking of the fun times they have had with Greg and his wife Judy.

The clear tear fell down her cheek but she again didn't realize it was there. She sat herself down on the bed, still holding Stevie up on her shoulder. Time stood still.

"Bess, listen go downstairs so you can let Conrad in," she said calmly.

With that, she felt a presence in the room, Patrick stepped in and said, "I'll take the baby. Your boss is here. Coffee's all made."

Patrick stepped out with Stevie. A little while later she took her back from him, hugged their daughter tight. She handed her back to Patrick with a clear tear falling.

Marie stepped out of the kitchen, tears in her green eyes. She handed Elizabeth a white envelope. The nine letters of her name written in blue ink on the front. Henry's handwriting. "Only open this if you need to."

Elizabeth stared back at her, "I won't need to, but thank you!"

She kissed the top of Stevie's head and headed for Conrad's car.

It would be days before they would see Elizabeth again.