Background
While Col. Joe Barnes visited his parents, he was reacquainted with his best friend's baby sister, Sara. Sara became pregnant during her senior year and raised her daughter, Cassie by herself. His best friend, Josh, was killed during Desert Storm.
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Dani turned on the computer as Joe watched over her shoulder. She turned toward him, while waiting for it to boot-up. "Sara needs time to think things through. She's scared."
"She looked at me as if she's afraid of me. Did I scare her?"
"She knew you worked for the Task Force, but she wasn't prepared to see ...."
"What does POS mean?" Joe interrupted as Sara walked into the room. He squeezed Dani's shoulder.
"Parent over shoulder."
"So they have their own language." Shaking his head, he said, "Pretty clever, aren't they?"
Sara stood beside Dani, but opposite Joe. "Can the computer tell you what happened to Cassie?"
"It tells me Cassie was instant messaging someone who describes himself as a fifteen year old boy," she said, reading the monitor. "I need to search further. It won't be easy finding out who this guy is. It'll take time. I'm guessing he's a professional. Would it be all right if I take the computer back to the Task Force? I'll bring it back in a few days."
"Go ahead. This is the computer Cassie uses, and she won't be using it ...." She stopped and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
When Jim and Derek walked through the front door, Matt said, "Sara, I want you to meet Jim Bookman and Derek Holmes. They'll be assisting Joe to find Cassie." He stared toward the door. "Where's George?"
Jim offered his hand to Sara. "Glad to meet you. Sorry it has to be under these circumstances." He turned and answered Matt, "He's organizing the supplies in the rental car. He'll be here in a few minutes."
As Jim spoke, George entered. "Hi, sorry I'm late. I'm George Wright, Joe's partner." After greeting Sara, he turned to Matt. "I need to speak privately with you and Joe." The men walked outside.
Derek shook Sara's hand. "Hi, I'm glad to meet you." He glanced at Dani. "Have you found anything?"
"Maybe. Will you help me carry this to the car?" She pointed at the computer. "I'm taking it back." She reached behind the desk and unplugged the cords.
As Derek and Jim helped Dani, Joe returned with Matt and George.
Joe scratched his head. "I knew something was wrong. We have Steven's team, but no Steven."
Matt grinned. "Leya's final trimester doesn't start for another three weeks, but those twins seem to think Steven's needed close to home."
*****
Sara went into the kitchen and sipped water. Joe almost killed a man in my living room and they're discussing a pregnancy like everything's normal. What's wrong with them?
She overheard Dani teasing Matt, "You know if it was me in the same situation you wouldn't leave my side until you felt the babies and I were safe."
When Sara heard this, she ran cold water in her hands and splashed it on her face. With the towel still in her hands, Sara walked back into the room. She swallowed. "Joe, why are these people helping me?"
"Joe's part of our family," said Matt before Joe could answer. "He loves you and Cassie, that makes you part of our family. Our team takes care of each other."
"But, you don't know me."
"We don't need to know you." Dani stood beside Sara and touched her arm. "Joe thinks you're special and that's good enough for us. We trust his judgment."
"I thought." Sara hesitated. "I thought The Task Force fought drugs, not missing children."
Matt ran his fingers through his short brown hair. "You're right, but in certain situations we make exceptions. This is one of those occasions."
Jim teased, "The real reason is when we joined the Task Force we pledged our allegiance to the United States, and then to come to the aid of beautiful women."
Matt rubbed the back of his neck. "Of course, that's it." He shook his head.
Dani answered her cell and sighed. "Emily won't take a bottle. I need to hurry back." Glancing toward Sara, she said, "Emily's my six month old daughter. I nurse her so she's very opinionated about bottles."
Matt took Dani's arm. "We better hurry. I'm sure your daughter isn't objecting silently."
Dani touched Sara's arm. "I'll bring the computer back in a few days. Emily has her father's temper."
"And a mind of her own like her mother," teased Matt. "We need to hurry. There's nothing worse than being around a hungry baby." He took out his cell and called the pilot. "We'll be ready to leave within thirty minutes."
Sara watched Matt and Dani exit the front door and said under her breath, "I know. I nursed Cassie and she wouldn't take a bottle, either."
She listened, as Joe said to the men, "There's a nice hotel on Maple Ave. It's the second right off Main St. I think it'll be comfortable. First light we'll check out the area around The Burger Palace and see if there are any clues I've missed. So far all we know is we're looking for a white SUV."
After the men left, Sara took some clean sheets from a closet. When she turned around, Joe stood behind her. "I'll change the sheets on Cassie's bed and you can stay in there. She won't be using it tonight."
Taking the sheets from her, he said, "I can change my own sheets." He looked toward Cassie's room, then back at Sara. "I'd like to know why you're suddenly afraid of me."
She stared at her feet. "You're a trained killer."
"I'm a trained officer in the United States Army who works for Task Force 385. My job's to stop drug traffic within the borders of the United States. Sometimes I am forced to kill, but that's not who I am. Why is this suddenly an issue? You knew about my job before tonight."
Sara stared at the wall Joe had thrown Roy against. "Would you have killed him? What if Cassie or I make you angry?"
He dropped the sheets as he tried to put his arms around her. When she backed away, he stopped. "I'd never hurt either of you. I wouldn't have killed Roy, either, but I did want to cause the same amount of pain he's caused you that Sunday morning in that church parking lot." He released a deep breath. "Or the prom night when he raped you."
Sara walked silently toward her room. After she shut the door, she leaned against it. I want to believe Joe isn't capable of harming Cassie or me, but can I?
Author Notes
Thank you Captain Terrible for the beautiful artwork; I'm There For You Always. I know Cassie is a teenager, but for some reason, this artwork told me it was the one I should use. My main computer got a nasty virus and it down for a few days. I am using a laptop that I am not used to. Luckily I had saved my novel to a thumb drive. I can't even turn my computer on, right now. I will return to work on Monday. So far, it looks like I begin chemo in two weeks, around the 21st of October. I will keep you posted.
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