Chapter XXIV Many, many years ago but no one knows how many

She thought he would have been excited.  But judging from his silence she was wrong.  She thought when she told him about the baby, he would elevate her into his world.  Again, she was wrong.  Instead, his first question seemingly burned a hole in her heart.

“You sure it’s mine?” he asked in such a low tone it took a moment for her to process his words.  They sat on a park bench in the dark.  Nothing new there, the only time he met her was in the dark of the night.

“Of course,” she forced a laugh.  What a silly question.  “Who else would it be?”

He shrugged his shoulders.  “Could be anyone’s really.”  He didn’t even look at her.

Chapter XXIII December

“You done yet?” Cooper asked.

“This is not easy,” Al said her hands working quickly behind her back.  She was working a piece of wire sewn into her sleeve out.  They had anticipated being bound in some fashion and she was relieved when her hands were bound together.  It made the task of escaping much easier than if her hands would have been tied separately to a chair. It was a gamble, but they had figured – and hoped – their captors would choose hands together in handcuffs. Which, to the benefit of Al and Cooper, they did.

Chapter XXII A few years ago

Al sat in the surveillance van waiting for her partner to return.  A fresh graduate of the academy, she wanted to do a good job.  People had invested time and effort in her to complete her training and she didn’t want to let anyone down.  For the first time in her life, she felt the pull of other people guiding her life.  She had never known that feeling of people depending on her before.  Never in a million years would she have guessed the current path her life was on but now that it was on that path, she was going to make the most of it.  Maybe now she would find a place she belonged.  Maybe even a home, if such things existed for girls like her.  But first things first, this was her first assignment and she was not going to fail. She absolutely would not allow herself to fail.

XX.  November

Ant leaned on his cane for support.  It irritated him that he even had to use a cane but he also recognized as much as he fussed about using one he still needed it.  He had been out of commission for far too long and was anxious to get back to work.  The general didn’t clear him for active duty so he decided this was a perfect time to initiate his plan.  He had painstakingly assembled his team for one specific mission.  Now it was time to implement it.

He walked into the room where his team patiently waited for him. 

Cooper stood in the corner and nodded at him.  While he was in the hospital, they had worked out this presentation.  The time had come to lay the cards out on the table and get everyone on the same page.