I do not own any of the characters and am just taking them out to play.

Sorry about the delay, but I have been over in The Netherlands helping my son get settled into his apartment.

Chapter 13

For the next three days, Cait got similar phone calls from Hawke although they came at different times. Each day she saw that Nicky was doing all right and was pleased with that fact.

Today, Cait was anxious for Hawke to call her. She had cleaned the house completely once and was going back to do it a second time when Dom stopped her.

"Cait, you need to sit down and relax for a while," Dom told her from a distance. "He'll call as soon as he can."

Cait paused and sat down with a big sigh. "I know, Dom. It's just that something is bothering me and I can't put my finger on what it is! I've got so much energy and cleaning helps to work some of it off."

Dom thought for a minute before he suggested, "Why don't you go and fix something for supper. That would give you something to do."

Cait glanced at him and laughed, "Yeah, you're right. That would give me something to do. I'll go and make us some chicken salad sandwiches for supper."

Dom wasn't really happy with chicken salad sandwiches for supper, but it was better than watching Cait move restlessly around the apartment.

Cait went into the kitchen to start supper when her computer started making a noise. She ran back into the living room and logged onto Skype to see Hawke and Nicky staring back at her.

"I didn't think you'd call," she breathed out as she pulled up a chair in front of the computer.

"Sorry I'm so late, but this is the first chance that I was given to call you," Hawke apologized quickly. "It's been a busy day around here."

The conversation continued until just a couple of seconds was left. Hawke had some Cheerios in his hand which he was feeding to Nicky. Hawke pulled something out of his hand, held it so Cait could see it, and then fed it to Nicky. Cait saw it and gasped, then Hawke surprised Cait by saying, "Cait, I love you. Take care."

"What…?" as the screen went blank. "Hawke, Hawke!" Cait screamed as she stood up.

Dom reached out and grabbed a hold of Cait. "Cait, what's wrong?"

"Hawke ended the transmission differently than he usually does. Something is going to happen today," she sobbed.

"What do you mean?" Dom asked.

Cait turned to face Dom and said, "He usually ends the conversation by telling me that Nicky is fine. Today he ended it by saying something different. He was feeding Nicky Cheerios and then he fed him the homing device. Something is going to happen today! We need to contact Michael right away!"

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW

Michael hung up the phone after talking with Cait and Dom. He reached over and pressed the intercom summoning Marella into his office.

"Marella, I just got off the phone with Cait and Dom," Michael started telling her. "They said that Hawke gave the homing device to Nicky so we should be able to find out where they are and go in. Get the Zebra Squad ready to move down in New Mexico."

As Marella was leaving the office, the phone rang. Michael reached over and answered the phone. "Yes," he paused. "All right. Send in Zebra Squad right away." Then he hung up the phone and turned to Marella. "They've located where they are. They're just outside of Artesia, New Mexico. You ready to go?"

"Yes sir," she responded as she turned to leave the room, but stopped and turned back towards Michael when she got to the door. "Sir, should I arrange transportation to New Mexico for everyone?"

Michael thought for a moment and then said, "Yes. Send a chopper down to pick up Dom and Cait, then arrange something for us to fly down there."

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW

Cait and Dom arrived just outside of Artesia just after 7 p.m. When they landed, they immediately went to where Michael and Marella were standing.

"What's going on?" Dom asked quickly.

Michael turned to them and said, "The Zebra Squad moved in about 15 minutes ago. We should hear something from them soon. We just need to wait."

"All right."

The next five minutes went by like five hours, but then Michael's communication link sounded. When he answered it, he listened for about a minute then turned to Cait and Dom. "Everything's secure. They have Nicky and he's safe. They're bringing him here."

Cait turned to Dom and hugged him—holding on for his support while they waited. A couple of minutes went by before they saw a Jeep heading towards where they were. When the Jeep came to a halt, Cpt. Smeltz leapt out holding Nicky. Cait immediately ran to him and took Nicky in her arms.

"Is he all right?" Dom wanted to know.

Cait looked him over carefully and smiled, "I think so," she said as she hugged him to her, hanging on as if her life depended upon it.

Dom stood beside her, rubbing Nicky's back when he suddenly thought about Hawke. "Where's Hawke?" he asked of anyone who'd listen.

Cpt. Smeltz came forward again and reported to Michael, "There was no sign of Cpt. Hawke in the building near the baby. We only had the one signal to locate on, sir. There was no other signal."

"Well, then where is he?" Dom demanded.

"I don't know."

Michael was puzzled as to where Hawke was, but he needed to complete the mission here before he worried about that. "Cait, Nicky needs to go back to the clinic to be checked out by the doctors. Dom, we're going to go up to the compound and see if we can find out where Hawke is. Do you want to go with Cait or with us?"

Dom looked over at Cait waiting for her decision. "Go with Michael and see if you can find Hawke. We'll see you back in Van Nuys," she said as she came over to Dom to give him a quick hug and a kiss before heading back to the helicopter with Cpt. Smeltz.

Dom turned to Michael and stated, "Okay. Let's get up there and see what's going on!"

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW

An hour later, Dom, Michael, and Marella met together in the living room of the house.

"From what we can tell, Horn was basing his operations out of this house up until a short time ago. We found an underground passage that he probably used to escape when we got here." Michael turned to Dom as he said, "There was no sign of Hawke anywhere on the property. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, sorry doesn't cut it. Where is he?"

"I don't know, but we're questioning some of Horn's people and maybe one of them will know something," Michael reassured Dom. "Let's get going with the questioning."