Chapter 10

Hope experienced a moment of déjà vu. Watching Bobby's hands on the steering wheel as he drove reminded her how excited, how remembered how hopeful she'd felt just the other day. Everything that had happened this morning had done much to erase that pleasant memory to be replaced with the harsh, painful ones from her past. Now she was feeling angry, fearful and hurt. And, it was all his fault, once again she was in a situation where she had no control.

Allowing herself the small luxury of venting some of her frustration, she harshly spit out, "I'm going to guess we're not going back to the apartment, so would you be so kind to tell me where you are taking me?"

"I'm not 'taking you' - we're going - somewhere where we can sit and talk." Bobby forced out through gritted teeth. Bobby realized he might have underestimated Hope. Though she projected an aura of fragility and vulnerability, there was also hidden strength. He imagined it to be a hard-won strength. The sort born from the ashes of adversity; the sort earned by not becoming adversity's victim.

Hope jumped at his sharp tone and merely nodded. Honestly, she knew he didn't deserve her anger - the situation did - but then neither did she deserve his. She had begun to think there might be a future for her, after all.

He took his eyes off the road and glanced over at her. She had moved as far from him as she could and was now leaning against the passenger door. He regretted his harsh reply, "I'm sorry," He breathed in deeply before addressing her again, "Lewis and Gina have a little house at Lake Hill up in the Catskills. I think it might be a good place for us to figure this out, for you to figure out what you want to do. To give you the time you need to figure this out before whoever you're hiding from finds you. What your next move is ..."

"I'm not hiding from anyone." she insisted. "No one is looking for me. Some... some one may be watching out for me, but no one is looking for me."

"Who's watching out for you then?"

She was silent for several heartbeats, before reluctantly admitting, "My... my father-in-law."

Bobby felt blindsided. He hadn't seen that coming. "So... so you're married?"

"I was... David, he ... he died almost five years ago." Her anger was quickly being replaced by a tiredness so powerful, she didn't want to continue this conversation; she leaned back against the headrest and she fell silent. Several minutes passed before she continued, "I'd... I don't want to talk about this anymore." She turned to stare out the window.

Still reeling from her revelation, he mutely nodded, determined to allow her the time to pull herself together. After several minutes of quiet, he reached out and turned on the radio. He smiled and shook his head as he recognized the song that was playing. Lewis was a freak for the oldies radio stations. The song playing was an old Jackson 5 song,

You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back

Where there is love, I'll be there…

I'll reach out my hand to you, I'll have faith in all you do

Just call my name and I'll be there…

They drove on, the music of the 60's and 70's softly playing in the background for nearly an hour. They had just passed Woodstock when Bobby cautiously broke the silence, "Just up ahead, there's a small little grocery, and we can stop there and pick up a few things."

Arms crossed across her chest, she turned to look at him, slowly nodding. He couldn't remember a time that he'd ever seen such an expressionless on a living person.


The image Hope had conjured up upon hearing the words 'grocery store' was very different from the reality. The small roadside building was a combination of grocery, deli, gas station and rest stop. Slowing long enough to take possession of one of the small carts at the front of the store, Bobby quickly began trolling through the aisles. There was a small selection of fresh fruit and he grabbed apples, bananas and tomatoes. There were boxes of pasta and bottles of sauce and two of each went into the cart. Eggs, bread, cheese, butter and some sliced ham were thrown in as where toothbrushes and toothpaste. Hope followed behind him, still feeling overwhelmed and Bobby had to repeat a request for her to check to see if there was any clothing thing they could use.

She nodded vaguely and wandered off toward a display of souvenir sweatshirts and hats to see if there was anything that would work for them. She held up a sweatshirt with the wording 'Woodstock Revisited' emblazoned across the front, wondering if it would fit him - deciding it probably would at least until the first washing, she picked up one for herself and hurried to the counter where Bobby was loading several bags that had already been rung up. He reached out for the sweatshirts as he said, "We'll take these too, please."

"Unexpected trip?" The smiling girl behind the counter asked as she folded up the two shirts before ringing them.

"You could say that, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. What's it all come to?" Bobby asked.

"$126.87." Bobby started to hand her his credit card and then stopped. He turned to Hope and asked, "How much cash do you have on you?" Turning back to the cashier, he explained, "I just got the damn thing paid off and I'd like to keep it that way, ya know?"

The girl nodded and smiled back at him. It was off-season, the middle of the week, and these two had been the first customers she'd had since starting over two hours ago. "No hurry."

"I've got $74.00, no make that $84.00. You have any cash, honey?" Bobby asked as he turned back to Hope. "It's those sweatshirts, I wasn't planning on those, but... well, she just loves stuff like that. What am I gonna do, ya know?"

"I wish my husband was as understanding as you." When they walked in, she'd seemed angry. She guessed he was trying to make up for something.

Surprised at the endearment, Hope fumbled with her bag, "Ah... let me check. I ... I think so." Hope pulled out her wallet and found three $20.00 dollar bills. "Here... here you go." As she handed him the bills, she dropped her bag; pen, car keys and lipstick flew out. Bending down, she quickly gathered up her things and dropped them back inside the open bag. She joined Bobby at the door and followed him out.

Bobby finished loading their bags into the trunk and let the trunk lid clunk down. Looking up he noticed the old payphone across the parking lot. Hope had already gotten back inside the car and he leaned down and pointed to the phone, "I'm going to make a quick call, I'll be right back."


He dialed the operator, asked to make a collect call, and gave the operator the number. On the third ring it was answered, "Eames." He'd called her at 1PP, hoping she was there.

"It's me. Call me back at... "he leaned down and read the number off to her. "845-555-1923."

Thirty seconds after hanging up, Bobby picked up the ringing handset. Without preamble, Alex blurted out, "Bobby, where are you?"

"Upstate... with Hope, Lewis has a place.... I'm going to need a couple of days, if you could tell the Capt..."

"You're going to need more than that, Bobby. There are four people in the Captain's office, demanding to know where Hope Thornton is and where you are. Two of them are from the State Department and the other two, well I think they might be from the British Embassy.

Bobby swore as he turned back to look at Hope. What had he gotten himself involved in now? "Look Eames, I have to find out what's going on, before we come in. I'm not just going to hand her over to…. Anything you can do..."

"Bobby, I... I..." Alex knew she bore some of the blame in this, but this was ... a lot.

"Eames I know, it's not fair to drag you into this, I just need a little time to get the story from Hope. She's … well, she's kind of shut down..."

"I'll ... I'll do what I can." Alex was trapped. She had no choice. She knew as well as he, that she would do everything she could to buy him the time he needed. "It probably won't be long though before…"

"I know." Bobby said, realizing he was going to have to work quickly. "Look, my cell is off, Hope's is off. If the phone is working up at Lewis' I'll call you in a couple of hours."

"Bobby, just be careful. We don't ... we don't really know what this is all about."

"I know. But I'm going to find out." Bobby said before hanging up.

Alex stared at the phone in her hand for a minute, before realizing she'd heard her name. Turning quickly, she saw Captain Ross standing in his doorway, "Detective, we need a moment..."


Special Agents Danforth-Hayes and Richardson had come straight from New York's One Police Plaza to the airport at Teterboro. They exchanged unreadable looks as they watched the private Gulfstream jet as it taxied toward them and the waiting limousine. The doors opened and Sir Nigel Whitledge exited, followed by several assistants. The Home Secretary noticed the two agents and they came forward.

"Sir, she's left..."

"Not here agent. Wait until we get inside the car." Sir Nigel looked around cautiously. This was an unofficial visit and he was determined to keep it a secret visit. Sir Nigel, his chief of staff and the two agents climbed into the back of the limo, leaving the others to follow in another car. As soon as the door closed, the driver pulled away.

"Now, tell me about this New York City detective...."


........... Be on the lookout for Chapter 11 ......... Coming soon!