Chapter 10
Down at the edge of the woods...their very first 'break'. While Security had been unable to reach Jaime in time before she'd been spirited away - and unable to reach their cars quickly enough to give chase - several had caught sight of the vehicle after it had left the ditch, just as it was rounding the next curve and speeding off. No one had gotten a full plate number (it had happened far too quickly) but there were several partial numbers and they were plugging those in, in various combinations, as fast as the system could process them. With any luck, they might soon have an address.
After the first jolt, Jaime went completely limp...and Steve's heart was breaking. His mind scrambled for a way to save her and he very nearly had it...but just as quickly, tossed the thought aside. He longed to plead - or bargain - with their captors, to let them know that he too had the power pack they sought...and that he'd even pinpoint it's location for them...once they had let Jaime go. He'd have done it - and gladly - but he knew the terrorists' plans for them would notchange. Regardless of any so-called bargains, once they had the components they sought, these people's intentions were that none of the three of them would be leaving this house alive.
Steve felt Jaime's fingers clasp his own, one more time - and he knew that she was still conscious...and 'with' him as much as she could be. Their hoped-for 'well-oiled-machine' of teamwork would need to perform in perfect synchronicity - like they had never performed before - and they had to do it now! Jaime's body arched again, with seizure-like intensity, as another jolt surged through her system. The sudden violence of the motion pulled her left arm away from his right...tearing the rope. It was a small break for them - very small, considering what they were up against. Steve had no choice but to act; their window of opportunity was about to close without ever truly being open. He wasn't sure if Jaime was aware of it...or if she was even able to move anymore.
In one fluid, bionically-fast motion, Steve tore off his hood, freed their arms on the other side then snapped off a piece of the chair that he began swinging at their attackers. It wasn't enough on its own, but would Jaime follow his lead? Was she too thoroughly terrorized (and too badly injured)...or could she still do what needed to be done?
She could...and she did. At the exact moment the drill was lowered to begin boring a third hole, Jaime swung her legs sideways and up - breaking the last rope binding herself to Steve. What one leg now lacked in strength, she made up for with the other...and with sheer determination. Momentum drove the drill bit straight into her leg (where it broke off and stayed) and she cried out but kept on moving, sending the heavy tool itself pounding into the face of her tormentor as her legs continued their kick for freedom. Finally, she tore off her hood. Both Steve and Jaime kicked their legs out to trip the advancing group of men, knocking them into each other even harder with the remaining chunks of the chair. Guns began firing wildly, missing their targets as the men were sent sprawling - all at once - into the far corners of the attic.
Steve rose to his feet, pulling Jaime along with him and leaning into her, supporting her with his back as she struggled to find solid footing of her own. They continued to throw whatever they could grab onto, to disable the last of their attackers, until the attic fell silent. It had taken mere seconds (seconds that felt like eternity) - and what they had accomplished staggered the mind. Then Steve noticed that Jaime was staggering...and they weren't home free just yet.
''C'mon, Partner; let's go,'' he signaled.
''We have to...to...'' Jaime was trying to say secure them but shock and trauma were taking their toll. Steve took her arm and led her to the hole in the floor - the attic door - and began descending the steps himself so he could help Jaime down. As she took her first tentative step down, out of the attic, Steve winced inwardly at the sight of the drill bit protruding angrily from her leg. She took the first step (on her good leg) steadily but her other leg gave out on its turn...and Jaime toppled several steps straight down, with Steve's right arm breaking her fall. Almost automatically, he used that momentum and continued the downward motion as - with a turn of his waist - he deposited her safely at the bottom of the stairs. Moving at bionic speed once again, he led Jaime out of the way...and winked at her.
''Watch this,'' he said softly. He was nearly a blur as he raced back to the top of the attic steps and gave a good, hard stomp to the old, rickety wood. Faster than the wood could crumble, he leaped back down to the floor and swung the breaking stairs - and the attached attic door - upward into the ceiling, trapping their attackers at least temporarily. Steve wrapped his right arm around Jaime's waist, both to steady her and to keep her from seeing his left arm (hanging limply at his side). They made their way down another flight of stairs and found Russ exactly where Jaime had said he was. Their friend was lying on the floor, bloodied and battered...but still alive!
''Think you can walk on your own?'' Steve asked Jaime. ''I have to get him out of here.''
''No...gonna help...you!'' Together, they reached down to gather up their fallen comrade...and Jaime gasped. ''Steve...your arm!''
''I've had worse,'' he said with honest simplicity. ''This is kind of 'deja vu', isn't it - your leg and my arm, like the Walking Wounded,'' he suggested, remembering just a month earlier when they'd helped each other out of a hospital that had been under siege.
''Yeah...but this time...opposite sides...for...both of us.''
Steve had to chuckle; she was right. Working as a single unit, they carried Russ between them, out into the front yard and laid him carefully in the grass - just as an entire fleet of government cars roared up the driveway and a chopper flew in to loom directly overhead.
After everything she had just endured...Jaime began to laugh. ''Now? The Cavalry...shows up...now? Really...Seriously?''
Oscar was the first one out of the lead vehicle, his gun drawn and ready until he saw his three friends - with no one following them. ''Bring in that chopper!'' he called, rushing to help Steve catch Jaime...as she collapsed without another word onto the ground.