Samantha opened her front door and looked up at Kate. “Why do you tall people insist on wearing heels? Heels should only be for us short people.”
“Ah,” Kate smiled and patted her cousin’s head. Her nose scrunched up.
“Relax, I just burned dinner.” Samantha said noticing Kate’s face expression. “The smell is not back.”
“Good to know,” Kate said walking into the house and doing a quick glance. Everything still seemed to be in order like when she left a week ago.
Continue readingSamantha could hear a faint knocking. She wasn’t sure if it was part of her dream or an actual knocking. Again, the knocking. She forced her left eye to open and then her right.
Knock, knock.
It must be real. She groaned. Who would have the audacity to come and visit? Don’t they know she is wallowing?
Knock, knock.
Continue readingThis was the best day of her life!
Samantha rolled over to turn off her alarm. She had been awake for thirty minutes just waiting for the alarm to go off so that she could start her day. While getting ready she couldn’t keep the smile from off her face. Things were going her way. She was winning, actually winning, in this game called life. It was just like she wrote in her book – releasing today – if you will it, it will work.
Continue readingShe 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.
Continue reading“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.
Continue readingAl 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.
Continue readingCooper clicked his tongue behind his teeth. More waiting. He hated waiting. If it were up to him, there would have been no waiting. In fact, if it had been up to him, the deed would already be done and the team would be sitting around the table toasting their accomplishment. Or they would be behind bars since his way consisted of many illegal acts. Or they would be dead because his way was a little rash based on instinct and very little thought. He could see the logic in Ant’s plan. It was a solid plan. Well thought out, many years in the making. Cooper could recognize the value in it when his thoughts of revenge didn’t overtake him. He conceded actual revenge was better than dying without bringing his mother’s murderer to justice. So, he waited.
Continue readingAnt 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.
Continue readingThe next few minutes passed as a blur for Cooper. Al called for assistance to help with Ant. A bomb squad was dispatched to the hotel room to inspect the bomb. Another team arrived to apprehend the suspect. Through it all, Cooper stayed with Ant. He even insisted on riding in the ambulance with him. The connection he felt with the man couldn’t be explained and it even surprised him. All he knew is Ant had to be okay. He just had to be.
And so, when he overheard a couple of agents talking about how the suspect had gotten away and was no where to be found, he didn’t register his disappointment in losing the opportunity to look for the notebook. For the first time since he knew its name, the Samson Pill was far from his thoughts.
Continue readingCooper stood very still. “Okay, what’s the plan?” he asked.
“I’d very much like to not die here,” Al sized him up and refrained from adding with present company. Since those might be her last words she thought she should at least die with the pretense of being nice.
“Yeah, it would be a bummer if we were the last people we each saw,” Cooper said finishing her thought. He scanned the room. “Are you sure about this?”
She rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure, yeah.”
“Okay, I’ll just call for help,” he took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Ant’s number. “Ant’s not answering.” He dialed another number. “Actually, my phone doesn’t seem to be working.” He shook it to see if that would fix it.
“I’m sure they jammed all communication,” she said. “Look what they did to the hotel’s phone.” The phone was ripped out from the wall.
Continue reading
