Whole Once More

WHOLE ONCE MORE

A Novella

By Christine Chianti Smashwords Edition Published by Robin DeMarco Enterprises. Inc.

Copyright 2012 by Christine Chianti

This is a work of fiction. All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to a real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental

Smashwords Edition License Notes Thank you for downloading this free e-book. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy.

Table of Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Author Bio Connect Online Chapter 1 September blew in on a cold west wind as Robyn Flynn walked slowly through the Mount Calvary cemetery. Her shoulder length red hair whipped into a tangled mess that framed her pale face. She hated it here, but pushed on out of love and duty.

Stopping to catch her breath, she peered out over the small town below. Sunderland, Vermont was nestled into a small valley of the Green mountains. The first time John had shown her, the town from a perspective like this, she immediately thought that it looked like something from a Currier and Ives collection. But now gray had replaced all of the colors of her image over the last year-and-a-half.

Silently, tears began to trickle down her cheek and she wiped at them with the back of her hand. Wasn’t this supposed to get easier? This wasn’t the first time she had been here on this date.

Leaves covered the little knoll where she turned left and started through the rows of headstones; her eyes now fixed on one particular stone. It sat at the western most edge of the north plot. Nothing fancy, a simple white marble stone with an arched top. Two urns of faded flowers flanked the headstone. Her heart broke a little more with each step.

She walked slowly over to the stone, holding her hand over mouth, as if trying to hold the sobs that were building in. She could feel the tightness in her chest; the ache of her heart for the man she’d loved. Reaching her hand out to touched the stone her fingers lovingly traced over the inscribed name, John Desmond. It was cool to the touch, yet a further reminder that he was not here. Kneeling down, the tears fall in sharp, heavy sobs.

The bouquet of flowers fell from her hands.

“Hi, John. Happy birthday, honey.” Lovingly, she brushed her hand over the name, as if trying to find some comfort. She shifted her body to tuck her legs under her. “Why is life so unfair?” she asked.

Leaning back with her head resting on the marble, her fingers ran through the grass

and the tears freely flowed. She cried until she could cry no more. At least for now, she hoped. She only came on the important days of their lives, otherwise the trek was simply too painful to warrant it. Never wanting anyone else to see how badly she had been destroyed when he had died as a result of a car accident, she always made the trek alone.

In an instant, she was back there, on that fateful night.

It was Valentine’s Day, and they had been at an engagement party at her best friend Jessica’s place. Tom, Jess’ boyfriend, had worked hard to plan the party so he could propose to her in front of everyone that Jess loved. When the answer was ‘yes’, the real party began. Through the celebratory mood, Robyn had found herself to have several glasses of champagne. John, being the sensible one, had forgone any alcohol and stuck to having only Cokes throughout the night.

As the party started to wane, John had led her back to his little blue Ford Focus. She had been a little too tipsy and hadn’t even been able to work the seatbelt until the third try. John had settled into the seat next to her and they started off.

They were rounding a curve in the road, about a mile from her house talking about how they restore it together after the wedding. Suddenly, there was nothing but the blinding light. Even in her inebriated state, Robyn knew there was a problem well before she felt the car lurch to the side. Her world turned upside down, catapulting her into a dark abyss.

The next thing she could remember was waking up in the hospital and screaming for John. The doctors and nurses worked to calm her down and sedated her. It was later when she found out that John had died in the wreck two weeks before. She had been touch-and-go for the most part of the two weeks, only being upgraded in the last twentyfour hours. Then the long, hard days of therapy began. Harder yet, was the process of trying to rebuild a life once the cornerstone had been decimated.

The trial hadn’t brought any relief either. The driver of the SUV that plowed into them had been drunk. Four times the legal limit! It was an ironic twist of fate that he’d walked away from the accident with barely a scratch. He’d pled guilty, and was now serving his sentence in the state jail. But John, her John, had been planted here while she was still in a coma. She’d never had a chance to say goodbye and therefore hadn’t felt whole since.

Opening her eyes, she decided that her life was still the same troubled mess it was when she’d arrived. “John, I’ve got a problem. Well, lots of them actually.” Leaning her head back further, she whispered “Look at me, will you. Here I am talking to someone who died a year-and-a-half ago and hoping for a response.” A light laugh escaped her mouth, and with a grin she added, “Well, what the hell?”

“When I bought the house, John, I moved right in and set up my business there.

And, as you remember, we were planning on your workshop going in the in-law apartment in back.” She stopped to gather her thoughts, and then continued. “Well, here’s the thing. My business was just barely keeping its head above water, and then the economy took another turn down. Now, it’s in trouble. I’m in trouble. I’ve got an idea that I think will give it new life, and bring in those much needed customers, but I need money.”

She looked away from the stones, and towards the distant town before going on.

“The other problem is that the house is starting to need some minor repairs, all of which require money. And that brings me to where I am now.” Hanging her head down, she

took a deep breath and finished. “I had to clear out your workshop. I’m selling most of the tools that you had in there, and converting it back into an apartment. An acquaintance of mine from church has a nephew who is moving into the area. He’s a writer, apparently, and is looking for a relatively quiet place to work. He’s going to rent the apartment for the next few months.” The tears started falling again. “I’m sorry, John.

So sorry.” She leaned forward so her head rested on her knees, and wept.

The feeling of warmth and comfort came over her slowly. It felt like he was there, so she sat for the better part of an hour, and let herself dream he was comforting her.

Sun glinted off of the windows of the houses of the neighborhood as she turned onto her street. Glancing skyward, she saw the first hint of blue peeking through the clouds.

Perhaps the weatherman would have it right today, and it would turn out to be a nice afternoon. She had to finish up a project that was due out by the end of the week, making it impossible for her to be able to really enjoy it. Besides, the thought of being a landlord and meeting the nephew of Mrs. Wilcox from church had put her stomach in knots.

She pulled into the driveway next to the house and turned the key to the off position.

Unfortunately, her aging Taurus didn’t get the message and continued running for several seconds more. Her head slumped forward; what was she going to do about this? Her budget was already stretched to the breaking point. The car would just have to wait.

Luckily, it wasn’t often needed for her business as a graphic artist.

Climbing out of the car, she leaned back on it and stared at the large blue Victorian that was hers. It had been purchased nearly two years ago, shortly after she and John had gotten engaged. Inside the four bedrooms had held the promise of family and space. The previous owners had added an office over the back porch, which was perfect for her to use to run her business from. The plan had been for them both to be able to work from their home. She sighed. The memories of what were supposed to have been were now marred by what was. And what it was now, was time to go in and get started on her day’s work.

Opening the side door, she stepped into the neat family parlor that was just off the kitchen. Hanging her sweater on a padded hangar and setting her purse on the little table next to the deacon’s bench she sorted the mail on the short walk to the kitchen.

Detouring to the refrigerator on her way to her office, she grabbed a diet Coke and half of a turkey sub before climbing the curved wooden staircase that led almost directly to the door of her office.

Pushing the door open, she used her elbow to flip on the lights. Staring out the picture window on the back wall, towards the woods behind the house, she crossed to the ornate oak desk that took up the corner. Waiting while the aging Macintosh computer wheezed to life, she tried to reassure herself by saying, “Have no regrets, for each decision was the right one at that time.” After a few deep breaths, all of the concerns had been replaced by an inner calm, which allowed her to answer e-mail as she ate her lunch.

Continuing to work long after the sub and Coke were distant memories, Robyn let the project consume her, as it had for much of her time for the last week and a half. The sudden touch on her shoulder made her jump.

Spinning around in her chair, she exclaimed, “Holy cow!” and prepared to bolt from whoever had intruded into her sanctum, only to find herself face to face with Jess.

“I rang the doorbell for five minutes.” Jess explained with her eyes conveying the unspoken apology. “I knew you were home, so when you didn’t answer, I let myself in

with the key you gave me. I knocked on the office door as well, you really do go to your own little world when you work, don’t you?”

“It’s okay, Jess. I just got so caught up, I guess I tuned everything else out.” Robyn paused to look at the little clock on the screen, “Actually, it’s good that you interrupted me. My new tenant should be here shortly. And he wouldn’t have been able to find me here.” Robyn stood, stretched her back, and motioned towards the door. “Why don’t we go down to the kitchen, get a cup of tea and you can tell me what’s new.”

Ryan O’Connor was driving slowly into town in his new Toyota Four Runner after spending the day driving up from Maryland. The doctors at the Bethesda Medical center had finally given him the clearance for him to go home. The problem was, he really didn’t have one. Upon his entering the Naval Academy, his parents had sold the house of his childhood. From that point on it had been either on campus or on base housing for him.

Now his parents lived in a retirement community in Mesa, Arizona, and he was facing the prospects of recovering from losing his leg in Iraq and being a civilian again by himself.

That thought brought him up short. The girl who had professed her undying love to him three years ago, who had been there during his last two leaves and had visited him in the hospital right after he had come back, had left him flat. She didn’t want a cripple.

Mary Ann had only been a banner waver, talking about her ‘hero’. Returning as a decorated soldier, just not whole, was too much. Mary Ann’s departure had delayed his recovery significantly. It had only been the visit by a former commanding officer that had gotten him out of bed. Slowly the pain of rejection had ebbed, and he’d stopped feeling sorry for himself.

Now he was taking his best shot of making his life on his own, and on his own terms.

Observing the quiet neighborhood he steered his car onto the wide avenue. It looked like a nice homey place. His mom and aunt had known him well when they’d recommended this particular setting. Reaching over, he pulled a sheet of paper from the duffel bag on the passenger’s seat and looked at the address. Glancing at the numbers on the passing houses and guessed that it would be about three more blocks to his new apartment. To be honest, all he wanted right now was peace and quiet. All right, a beer.

He wanted to enjoy a beer in that peace and quiet.

His eyes automatically caught sight of the large blue Victorian on the left. Checking the address brought a smile to his face.

The grounds were well kept, but simple. An aura of elegance seemed to radiate from the house. It quietly whispered home to him.

Personal experience of watching his mother had led him to the conclusion that women typically liked to play in their gardens. Apparently, the woman who owned this house either didn’t garden or was too frail to. Perhaps he could lend her a hand. It would make him feel good to help an elderly woman out. Besides, it might be therapeutic.

Ryan climbed out of the car, and had to stretch to grab the rosewood cane that had been thrown in on the other side of the car while packing this morning. He hated using the damn thing, but was still trying to get used to the prosthetic, which caused him to limp slightly. In honesty, he liked having the little extra help with his balance. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

When the door opened, his eyes locked on the redhead before him. Tall, slim with

moss-green eyes that looked like they would bore right through a man and a clear, almost translucent complexion topped with a smile that made his heart skip a beat. “Um, good afternoon. I’m Ryan O’Connor. I’m supposed to meet with a Mrs. Flynn. I’m renting the apartment.”

Robyn smiled at him, “Come in, Mr. O’Connor.” She stepped back so he could navigate the passage into the main parlor and then closed the door behind him. Leading him into the first room on the right, “Please take a seat. I’ll go get the paperwork, and we can get you all set.”

Heading to the office via the kitchen, she said to Jess on the way through, “My new tenant is here. He looks pretty good, and even has an air of mystery to him.”

“Then why are you leaving him down here?” Jess asked.

“He’s walking with a cane, and the paperwork is up in my office. I’ll grab it and bring it down. Why don’t you hang out here, and then we can go out and grab dinner after I get him set.” Robyn said before heading up the stairs.

Walking back into the sitting room a minute later, she found Mr. O’Connor casually hobbling around the room looking at the pictures that hung on the wall. “Here you go Mr. O’Connor. I’ll just need to get your signature on these forms and the deposit.” After handing him the packet from her office, she sat in one of the armchairs.

“Just out of curiosity,” O’Connor said as he took his own seat, “When will I get to meet my landlord?”

“I’m sorry Mr. O’Connor, I never introduced myself. I’m Robyn Flynn, the landlord.” His eyes went nearly as wide as saucers. Obviously, this was a surprise to him.

“Oh.” He visibly gulped, trying to regain his composure, “I’m sorry as well. My mother said that someone who went to church with my aunt owned this house. I just assumed it would be an older woman.”

“I’m sure we can get through this quite well.” Smiling at him, she collected the completed forms, and handed over the keys for the apartment. “Would you like me to take you back and show you the apartment?”

“No, I’m all set. Thanks.” He rose and walked to the door.

She let him out and watched him go towards the back of the house. There was something about the look on his face and his eyes that spoke volumes of a mysterious past that was hidden there. There were few things more fun than solving a good mystery.

********** Chapter 2 Mumbling, Ryan O’Connor tossed in his bed. He had never found a good way to sleep soundly at a new place, and obviously this was no exception. His insomnia was exacerbated by the images of his tight-bodied landlord that wouldn’t get out of his mind.

He was sure that there was something that she was trying to conceal beneath her brave veneer. The dark areas under her eyes told the story to anyone who knew how to interpret it.

Ryan turned the light back on, and reached for the novel that sat on the bedside table.

Hoping to lose himself in the story and lull himself to sleep within an hour, he laid back and began reading. Thirty minutes, with the light still burning bright, Ryan fell asleep.

And plunged into own personal nightmare.

Standing in the sunlight, looking out over the desert, the place was very familiar. It was just a half-kilometer from his barracks on the base in Iraq, just outside the low drab building that housed the intelligence community for this theater of operations.

Walking to the barracks felt wonderful after being hunched over the computer for the last too many hours and it allowed his mind take a mini vacation. With almost thirteen months in country now, and only six more before heading stateside, there was plenty to think about. For one, it was time to settle down with Mary Ann. She always called him ‘her hero’, but he really didn’t feel like much of one. His job as an intelligence officer kept him fairly isolated form the action. But his work allowed the others the best chance of success in their roles. Others gathered the information, he used his skills to interpret it so those on the front line could make use of it. They all had their positions to play on this team.

Walking by the main gate, his subconscious noted the small truck parked just down the way from the sentry. The five men who were gathered around were most likely the trigger that made him stop and look. “Ah, crap! Those look like AK’s.” He took off at a sprint, heading towards the main guard gate.

Approaching the gate he yelled out “Sergeant!”

The sergeant who was in charge of the guards looked up, “What is it, Sir?” He started to respond, but was cut off by the sounds of gunfire. Everybody hit the ground, looking for cover.

The world around him seemed to erupt. Gunfire echoed throughout the base, shouts of men running to lend aid, the screams of those hit. In the distance, a truck gunned its motor and then came directly at the gate. The screeching metal indicated that the main gate had been breached. More gunfire sounded, with muted explosions as various munitions detonated. Out of reflex, he drew his berretta. Taking on men armed with machine guns with a pistol wasn’t exactly the most intelligent thing, but it was either that or the rocks at his feet.

To his right, the truck he had seen earlier was now sitting on its sides with flames licking the gas tank. The bodies of men he knew were strewn like toys. His training forced him to do the job. As a Marine he would defend his country, or die trying. The first task was to figure what was going on. Rising up enough so that he could see over the edge of the parking barrier he’d taken cover behind he took in the scene before him.

Marines were under cover, shooting outward towards unseen targets. Beside the truck sat a small red car, he couldn’t tell the make, all of the doors were open. Four figures were crouched down shooting wildly at the Marines.

Something didn’t make sense. Looking again at the four gunmen, Ryan wondered why had they parked there? The burning truck did more to cover the Marines than it did for the aggressors? This wasn’t the final part of the attack. This was merely the opening act he realized. What would be the headliner? Finding out became the main priority.

Looking around cautiously, there was no action going on near him at the exact moment. The main gate was too far way to see anything. Taking a deep breath, Ryan pushed up from the ground, took four large, quick steps and rolled onto his shoulder and behind the sandbags that had been lined up to the right of the gate. The four visible

gunmen were just shooting wildly. He was about to take out the man on the left rear of the car, when an approaching sound caught his attention.

Kneeling so that his torso was still behind the sandbags, he peered down the street and saw two things that made him gasp. The truck that was barreling down the street directly towards the smashed gate was covered in what looked to be cases of dynamite.

A little girl, scared stiff, was standing directly in its path. Leaping up with out a thought of his own safety, he darted towards the little girl. New gunfire erupted, coming from the oncoming truck. He leveled his berretta in the direction and loosed the entire clip while running towards the still frozen girl. The truck veered and hit a parked vehicle just as he grabbed the girl. The explosion knocked him back into the concrete dividers. The pain in his leg was searing, and his vision blurred before he screamed.

Ryan woke with a scream in his throat, thrashing in bed and tangled in the sheets.

The phantom pain in his left calf ached as bad as it had right after the explosion.

Reaching down his fingers gently massaged the stump, which ended, just below his left knee. Running his hand across his brow, he wiped the sweat away and hoped that someday this agonizing nightmare would fade to be a faint, unpleasant memory. Until then, all that could be done was to just push through it and survive.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed and he cradled his head in his hands. The novel was laying sprawled open on the floor. Retrieving it and tossing it on to the nightstand, his eyes lingered on the small drawer. Inside were the pills that the doctors had prescribed, and Ryan hated the things. But, on occasion, one was needed to help get him through the night. No, he wouldn’t take one now, maybe in an hour.

Closing his eyes, he sat there on the edge of the bed, forcing himself to take slow deep breaths to cleanse his mind and relax. It took five minutes of concentration to calm down and forget the worst of the memory. The pain in his missing leg had vanished during the time as well.

Picking up the glass of water from the nightstand, his hand still shook noticeably.

“Not as calm as I thought?” he mumbled. The cool water felt good sliding down his raw throat. His mind wandered, thinking through the rest of the nightmare.

It had been nearly eighteen months since that day in Iraq. A year and a half that had been spent almost exclusively in hospitals or recovery units. Waiting for the physical wounds to heal, learning to walk again without the sensation of knowing his footing was secure or not, and dealing with the emotional pain that came from being injured both physically and mentally.

Allowing himself to think back to the time right after the attack and then the first few weeks that he had been back stateside was something that still brought him pain. Pulling on his inner mental strength he called forth the rest of the memory.

Oh, God, don’t let me die here. He took a brief examination of himself as much as possible, trying to ascertain what had happened to him. Please, help me his brain pleaded. He heard screaming in his ears, not realizing that it came from his own mouth.

Looking left his mind relaxed slightly at the sight of the little girl that had caused his reckless behavior running down the street, towards a woman who had her arms open for her. She was alive and, hopefully, well. His mind had a brief moment to rejoice before it succumbed and went under.

His body was being jostled along with an unfamiliar pressure on his side. Squeezing his right hand, rewarded him with the familiar bunch of muscles as he made a fist, his left

hand also moved on command, coming up to rub at his eyes There were tubes and wires attached to him, and he realized that his lower body wasn’t acting right. Oh, no. What does that mean? Rolling over toward his right side, he braced himself on his elbow and tried to push himself up. A firm hand pushed him back down, followed by a stern voice.

“Hang on there, Sir. You’ll be okay in a few minutes. We’re almost to the hospital.”

Rolling his eyes and squinting through the red haze that clouded his sight the beigeand-tan splotches of the desert camouflage that the medic wore came into focus. Letting himself fall back to the stretcher, he asked the question he needed answered, “How bad is it? Give it to me straight, Corporal.”

“You’re in bad shape, Sir. You’ve got several gashes that appear to be from shrapnel. Judging by the bone that is poking through, what looks to be a broken femur on your right leg. And the left one, Sir, is severely mangled. At the moment, everything has been field dressed. The docs at the hospital are ready for you. They’re going to get you ready, and then most likely you’ll be airlifted to a better hospital before you head back stateside.”

The next two weeks were a blur. Only snippets of what happened found their way into his memory. During the five different operations that were done to repair the damage from his wounds, and recovery periods, he’d been kept heavily sedated. There was no memory of arriving at Bethesda Medical Center.

His eyes opened slowly. Sun streamed in the window, heating his arm that lay above the covers directly in the beam. His ears picked up the sounds of machinery; the constant whirring and beeping. There was also the sound of shallow breathing that was coming from his right. The smell of bleach was strong on the sheets that covered him. Forcing his eyes to open further the shapes came into focus. First it was the drab walls that were painted a boring white, then the cheap furniture. Looking towards his right foot, he saw that his mother, Patti, was napping in a chair there.

That had been the highlight of the recovery. Shortly after waking, the doctors had come in and explained what had happened. They had tried several times to save his left foot. Unfortunately, infection had set in and they had to amputate it just below his left knee. There would still be one more operation to come, probably in about a week, where they would actually close the wound, by wrapping the skin around the stump. After this healed, they assured him that a prosthetic would be fitted allowing him to resume a relatively normal life.

The next few weeks were a steady stream of OT and PT, but there was definitely progress being made. There was a constant rotation of visitors: his parents, his sister Donna, and his girlfriend, Mary Ann. Everything fell apart though when it was time to get him up and out of bed. Mary Ann just stared at him; more to the point, stared at where his left leg had been. Her grimace as he tried to maneuver his wheelchair had foretold the future. She had lasted less than a week longer, leaving him with a tale of not being able to be attracted to someone who had been so changed by the war. The emotional pain had been worse than the physical at that point.

The next part of the memory brought a smile to his face. Lying in the hospital bed, refusing to even get out of bed and try any of the exercises that the PT wanted him to do.

That was until a hulking shape came into the room, blocking the light from the window, Ryan remembered.

Colonel Kenneth James, USMC-retired, came into his room and laid the facts out

straight. Essentially, he’d been injured doing exactly what he had promised to do  defend his country’s interest. Nothing to feel bad about, to accept his sacrifice because that was what freedom had demanded as its price. Now it was time to make a new choice; accept what was and take the advantages that were before him or give up. As a Marine there was really only one choice.

Looking back, Ryan agreed that James was correct, and went after recovery with passion. Thriving on the burning feeling in his muscles as they fought to come back to the strength they had once known. He looked forward to going to PT, and the table there turned as well. Instead of fighting him to try, now the therapists fought with him not to overdo. As his body gained strength, so did his mind.

Mary Ann had been forgiven and now here he was in a little town in Vermont.

Ready for a new challenge.

As the memory of what had brought him to Vermont ended, he drained the last of the water from the glass still held in his hand. This was a new challenge to him. Captain O’Connor had traded the life of patient and former intelligence officer for that of a writer named Ryan. Now it was time to begin the process and write out his thoughts and see if they would excise the demons that hid there Robyn had been awoken by a strangled scream. Was it one from her dream, or was it real? Sitting up in her bed, she looked out the window of her second story bedroom, and noticed that the light in the in-law apartment had come on at about the same time.

Either the scream was real, or this was one heck of a coincidence.

Running a hand through her hair her thoughts went to wondering about the man who now lived behind her house. The fates hadn’t really given her much of a chance to him during the day. Rolling out of bed and shrugging into her robe she headed down to the kitchen. Past experience had taught her that once she had woken in a scare like this, her mind would take several hours to settle, meaning that a cup of chamomile tea would be appropriate.

In the kitchen, she filled the pot, turned it on to heat and picked up the paperback that sat on the breakfast bar. Pulling up one of the stools, she eased herself into the novel.

After her tea was brewed she sauntered off to the living room in favor of the large beige wrap-around couch that sat in the corner of the room across from the brick hearth of the fireplace. Immersed in the novel her worries and problems were lost in the story. Sleep came an hour latter.

Sun gleamed in through the east-facing window showering the room with a cascade of colors as it refracted through the various ornaments that hung on the curtain rod.

Robyn opened her eyes slowly, and stretched. She retrieved the paperback from the table and debated the option of reading more before breakfast, but opted that it would be best to get going on the day.

Pushing off of the couch, Robyn headed out to the kitchen for breakfast. As the water heated for her oatmeal and tea, she looked out the window and could see Mr. O’Connor in the little kitchenette of his apartment. In a strange, but distant way, it was interesting that they could share their breakfast at such an early hour, albeit in different places. What was he doing now? Hoping that perhaps they’d actually talk today.

As if Ryan had heard her thoughts, he looked up from his own breakfast and stared back. Their eyes latched onto each other; his gray to her green. Each wondering what the other was thinking about this morning. Her hand came up, and gave a slight wave as

she smiled. He smiled back, nodded and raised a cup.

Perhaps the day would give them the setting to meet and begin the process of perhaps becoming friends. One could only hope. Whatever thoughts that Mr. O’Connor had, Robyn decided it would be up to her to take the first step. Eventually they would get to know each other.

********** Chapter 3 It was mid-October, and the foliage was ablaze in color. Robyn’s had been feeling moody all week, and right now her mind was somewhere else. Thinking about the expansion that was desperately needed for the business to survive was proving to be a full time job. This morning’s presentation local bank’s officers had been right on the mark, she thought. Turning the car into the parking lot of the Price Chopper supermarket things were looking up a bit. Hopefully her money problems were at an end and she could now get back to concentrating on producing high quality products.

Money issues not withstanding, Robyn was still had a plethora of other interruptions that were waiting for her. Jess had called her, yet again. This time, it was with every intention of trying to set her up on a blind date. She liked dating okay, but it was the thought of spending an evening, one that had previously been planned to catch up with work on, then there was the making of small talk with someone that she knew nothing about. It was not something to look forward to. It might be easier, she decided, if she was an extrovert as opposed to being an introvert. Adding to her concerns, she’d tried several times to talk to her tenant, the irascible Ryan O’Connor, and look how far that had gotten her.

Occasionally the elusive Mr. O’Connor would be willing to talk for a few minutes, but usually he was as talkative as a rock. No, she thought, the rock at least told you its history if you knew how to interpret it. She still had little knowledge of O’Connor’s past.

He almost treated his stay here as if he was a prisoner in one of the old war movies her dad liked to watch; name, rank and serial number. That was about as much as she had managed to get out of him over the past month.

Ryan was going into his apartment when she was turning into her driveway. Well, hopefully someday soon she’d manage to crack his secrets. But right now, what was needed was to get her thoughts back on track and make a living.

Opening the door, she dropped everything and rushed to get the ringing phone before the answering machine picked up. You could never know when a big client might call.

Her elation was short lived, only lasting thirty seconds from yanking the receiver up full of hope to finding the bank manager lettering her know that her request had been denied and hang up. Hope had changed into full-blown depression in less than a minute.

They said that it was just too risky.

“Well, now what am I going to do?” she asked the ceiling. In response, the phone rang again. Looking at it with contempt. “Now what? Did they forget to rub extra salt in the wound?” she growled and answered, “Hello?”

“Hey there, Robyn.” the perky voice on the other end greeted her.

“Oh, hey, Jess. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Um, you okay, Robyn? You don’t sound like yourself today.”

Robyn closed her eyes and tried to force herself to be more cheerful. It just wasn’t going to work today. “This isn’t the best time for me right now.” She thought for a moment before going on. Jess was her closest friend, and knew almost everything that was going on in her life. Friends shared the ups and the downs, right? “Actually, Jess, right now my life is a mess. Just before you called, the bank called and let me know that they weren’t going to give me the loan for the expansion that I need to do. So, you’ve just caught me in a bout of self pity.”

“Ah, Honey, that really stinks.” There was a pause and Robyn would’ve sworn that the gears turning in Jess’ head were making an audible sound. “I’ll tell you what, lets meet for lunch in about an hour. I’ll buy, and you can tell me all about it, and perhaps we’ll find an answer that works for you.”

Robyn took a moment to think it through. Why not? “Okay, Jess. It’s about a week early for our monthly lunch date, but what the heck. I don’t think I’m going to get much done here right now anyway.” Checking her watch, she judged that she had about fifty minutes that she could pretend to work for before leaving, and headed for the office.

Jess was just getting out of her sleek red BMW convertible when Robyn pulled into the restaurant lot. To Robyn, the cars were the epitome of the two of them; Jess had come from a long line of money, and had been bred in wealth and sophistication, while she had been middle class all of the way. Robyn checked her makeup in the rear view mirror before getting out, “Hey, Jess. Now that’s what I call timing,” she laughed as she walked over to her friend.

The two women embraced, Jess ran her hands up and down Robyn’s back twice before she turned them both towards the door. “Come on, let’s get lunch and gorge ourselves as we solve the world’s problems over chocolate cake.”

“I’m don’t know about the world’s problems, but I’d settle for just solving mine,” Robyn said following Jess through the door.

They were quickly escorted to a table near the back patio. It was too cool to sit outside, but they could enjoy the view that was provided to them through the French doors. The efficient staff quickly took their orders and then left them alone as soon as their lunches were served. “Okay,” Jess started, “give me the whole story.”

For the next ten minutes, Robyn told Jess about the financial troubles and what needed to be done for the business to continue, a list of new equipment, and how much capital it would take to make it all happen. Jess listened to story attentively, and only interrupted her twice with relevant questions. When Robyn finished, they sat in silence for a few minutes, Jess constantly twirling her fork in a way that conveyed that she was thinking about something.

Pushing the remnants of her desert around, Jess looked at Robyn. “Have you ever considered going to a venture capitalist with your idea?”

“Not really. First, I don’t know anyone that is a venture capitalist; second I really don’t want to give up any control of my business. And lastly, I’m scared of what could happen.”

“I’m asking only because I know that you’d reject my offer of a personal loan to you, just like every other time I’ve offered. I happen to know a VC slightly. My college roommate’s half-brother, and he lives here in town. He might be willing to give you a fair shake, if you are interested.”

Cocking her head, Robyn held an internal debate with herself. The prospect of letting go of any control of her little business nearly drove her to the brink of sanity, but without that money she was probably going to end up losing it all. There really wasn’t much of a choice. “I guess I could sit down and talk to him,” she agreed.

“Great. I’ll call Terri and see if she will help me get you in to see him. His name is Michael. Michael Hertzstein. As soon as I hear anything, I’ll give you a call about it.”

Jess seemed to relax now that she had found a possible solution to Robyn’s problem.

Staring out the window, lost in her own thoughts, Robyn didn’t notice much on the drive back to her house. If things worked out, she would have the money that was needed to upgrade her computers, get a new printer and scanner as well as a few other tools that were needed. Hopefully, the cost to her would be reasonable enough. She still didn’t trust working with a VC, but if it had to be done, at least her best friend knew this one. Well, sort of, she thought. She’d just have to allow herself to do what had to be done.

The miles passed under her wheels, and really too soon ready, she was coming back into the little town. Her mind now focused on the traffic. When driving through an area that was populated with school age children who were just getting out for the day, all it took was one moment of inattention and whole different type of trouble would fall into your lap. But today, the kids were well behaved, and stayed on the sidewalks and let her by with out any darting in front of her.

Minutes later, she made the final turn onto her street, and looked at her house. Her safe hole; the place she felt most secure right now. A small smile creased her face, and a dimple popped out on her right cheek. She was happy that she still smiled when she saw the house. Right after John had died, the thought that she would ever be able to stay there, with the memories all too fresh, seemed outrageous. That had been proven incorrect, and instead the house had become her refuge. The smile widened as she pulled into the driveway.

Parking her car, she sat for a moment and gazed out the window at the house. It hadn’t changed at all in the two years that she had owned it, but there were several areas that improvements should be made. Someday. Maybe she should pickup a few books on landscaping, and study from them over the winter. That way she would have a base to begin with next spring. Of course, that would require time and money; two things that were always a struggle to find.

Glancing around, she saw young Scott Stefani who lived cross the street with his mother and two sisters. And next door to them was the Fitzgeralds’, whose children were grown and only came back to visit occasionally. Looking again at her house; the reasons that she had chosen this house had not changed. Not one iota. It was just the dreams that had changed.

She climbed out of the car, and turned to look down the street. Her eyes focused on someone, or something, that was coming down the street, wobbling unsteadily. It wasn’t possible to tell exactly who it was, but the closer it got it looked like a man. Was that?

Why would he be-?

Robyn watched as her tenant stumbled into clear view. His face was contorted in pain and he was weaving like a drunk. She watched him fight to keep his balance. His gait wasn’t the steady, rhythmic pace that most runners used she noted and wondered what caused his unique stride.

Looking at him, she reviewed what she about him along with her observations she had made. His aunt had said that he was a decorated vet, who had recently left the Marine Corp and was beginning his writing career. Her eyes noted a good build; solid, but perhaps a little underweight, but overall in what looked to be good condition. Was there some other type of condition that caused the staggering? The memory of him using a cane when he first arrived came back to her. “I wonder why he used that?” she asked softly.

Concern suddenly exploded into her throat as she watched him stumble, which broke his incredibly lopsided gait. He spun around, flailing his hands like a traffic cop, trying to keep his balance but then toppled. Her hand shot to cover her mouth, which stymied the worst of the scream that had built in her throat. Dropping her purse by the front of her car she ran to him.

Less than fifteen-seconds later, Robyn was bending down to offer aid to him. He had gone down hard. “Oh, God. Mr. O’Connor, just relax! Please don’t move.”

“Let me up, Ms. Flynn. I’ll be fine,” Ryan panted.

Pointing at his foot that was pointing backward Robyn commented, “I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’ve broken your left leg.”

O’Connor looked down at his leg and then startled her by laughing out loud. “Well that’s easily fixed,” as he reached down and twisted the foot back into position.

She stared, wide mouthed in disbelief, “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“No.” The tone in his voice indicated that this was no joking matter, “I lost the real one almost a year and a half ago.”

She heard her audible gulp. “I’m sorry.” Offering him her hand “Let me help you up.”

Ryan sat and glared at her. “I don’t need your pity, or your help, Ms. Flynn.” He pushed himself back to his feet, and hobbled off towards the house.

Robyn watched him go. Returning to her car, she retrieved her purse, and made her way to the back door. Nearing it, she could hear O’Connor carrying on in his apartment.

The anger in his voice was unmistakable. Her heart felt for the man. It had to be incredibly difficult to make that kind of self-sacrifice, and he appeared to be completely alone. And yet, when she had tried to help, he’d gotten angry.

Alone in his apartment, Ryan slammed the door to the refrigerator after he’d pulled out a can of Coke. His landlord frustrated him; showing a sign of weakness in front of her was horrible. It was only worse since she had tried to ignore it and be helpful.

Popping the top, he sat down in one of the two kitchen chairs, and gazed out the window. He could see her now as she leaned against something, probably the counter he thought. She was waving her hands, gesturing as if she was having a conversation with someone. His eyes swept to the side window that overlooked the driveway. No other cars were there. He returned his attention back to her.

She was now leaning, and had her head bowed down. The shudder of her shoulders seemed to convey that she was crying. He set his drink down. He had snapped at her when she tried to help him. Perhaps she was one of those truly nice people, and wanted to help him because that was the way that she was. Maybe it wasn’t out of pity.

He decided whatever her reason had been, she had not earned his response, and she was at least owed an apology. He downed the last of his coke as he headed towards the shower.

********** Chapter 4 Dusk was taking over the sky when Robyn looked up from the computer screen.

After her run-in with her tenant this afternoon, she decided the best way to get rid of these nagging personal feelings was to submerse herself in work. She was determined that she would get through all of the personal hardships that seemed to be piling up on her right now. If this project was out the door in the next few days, she might just be able to do a little brainstorming in the remaining few days of the month for some ideas that would allow her to get the new equipment that her business demanded. But right now, she felt hollow in her stomach and hoped that maybe food would help her demeanor. She turned off the computer for the night, afraid that she wasn’t really hungry, and that her stomach was the result of being attracted to the good looking man who lived in the apartment behind her house.

Standing, Robyn looked out the office window, and the light from the apartment.

For some reason that she couldn’t understand, she mumbled to herself, “I wondering what you’re doing now, Mr. O’Connor.” She stretched before heading down the stairs to the kitchen.

In the kitchen she rummaged though the cupboards, and found that her mind was not focusing on the task of finding nourishment, but was instead thinking of her tenant.

Again. She hunched over the selection of can goods that she had pulled out and tried to concentrate long enough to pick something for dinner. It wasn’t working; her mind was still too distracted. Perhaps she would just give up on the entire idea and head back up to her office and force herself to work through it.

Shoving all of the cans back into the cupboard, she banged the door closed and started walking towards the stairs. She climbed the stairs, reviewing the projects that she could use tonight to pass the time. There was the project that she was just finishing up; it still needed to be edited. That would take a while, and it had the benefit of requiring all of her concentration. From past experience, she knew that once she got into it, she would be able to work for hours, free from any thoughts of Mr. O’Connor. She entered the office, and was just preparing to turn the computer on when the sound of a door closing drew her attention out the window. She glanced down as she saw him walking towards his car. Stepping back before he could notice her she crossed over to the computer and started the process of firing it up. The sound of her door chimes echoed through the house a moment later and had her swearing.

Chimes rang again, signaling that there was someone at her front door. She looked out the window again. His car was still there, so she had a pretty good idea who it was going to be. “Wonderful! This is all I need now. I’m trying to get my mind off of thinking about him, and now he shows up at my door.” Looking to the ceiling she asked, “Why me?” She quit hoping for an answer, and made her way to the front stairs and headed down. Might was well see what he wanted. But, she decided, if he tried to pull that crap he had earlier she was going give him her own wrath.

As she descended the last few stairs, she could make out his head framed by the windowpane of the front door. Strange, she thought, his head was down. Grabbing the

handle of the door, she yanked it open with enough force that the glass rattled. His head shot up at the noise. “Yes?” she demanded.

Facing her, she noticed his eyes scan her quickly as if they were taking their own readings; trying to feel the emotion in the air. He jutted his chin up and tried to speak.

“I, er, um, hi.”

She was perplexed. Why was he having such a hard time talking to her? This afternoon, he had almost joked with her before he snapped at her. Did he have a multiple personality disorder? “What can I do for you Mr. O’Connor?” she queried.

This time, he closed his eyes, gathered himself and when he opened them he stared straight ahead, not at her but beyond her. “Ma’am, Captain Ryan James O’Connor, United States Marine Corps. I need to formally apologize to you for my abhorrent behavior that occurred this day at fourteen hundred hours. I am truly sorry for any duress that I may have caused you, Ma’am, and would like permission to speak with you in regards to said incident.”

She stared at him, with her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide. He was standing ram-rod straight, at attention, she thought. His eyes were still not focused on her, but she could see by his slightly shaking hands that he was nervous. Stepping to the side, she gestured with a slight wave, “Please come in, Captain. Have a seat. Would you care for a drink?” she hoped that he would understand that she was trying to be a good hostess, and was not trying to play on him.

He was not using his cane, but walked with an almost imperceptible limp. If he had not spoken of his injury this afternoon, she never would have looked for anything. He crossed into the sitting room and took a deep, steadying breath.

He turned to face her then, and she could read the uncertainty in his eyes. “Mr. O’Connor, I’m going to put some water on for tea. Would you care for a cup? Or, perhaps a soda?”

“A soda, please.” As she turned to head to the kitchen, he asked, “Might I join you in the kitchen? It might make what I need to do a little easier.”

She was unsure what he needed to do, but he didn’t look like he wanted to hurt her, so she reluctantly agreed, “Okay,” and led him back to the kitchen. She pulled out the soda, handed it to him and was again struck by how nervous he looked. “Mr. O’Connor, please” “Ryan. Please, just call me Ryan,” he interrupted her.

“Okay, Ryan, I accept your apology for the incident earlier today. But, if you don’t mind my saying, you look like there is something more on your mind.”

“Ms. Flynn “ this time she interrupted.

“It’s Robyn, please.”

“Robyn, this afternoon you did nothing more than to try to help someone who had fallen down. And I took my anger, my frustration and my self-loathing out on you. It was behavior that was unbecoming for a Marine officer. I don’t think I can tell you how sorry I am for hurting you that way.”

He looked down at his foot for a minute and then up to her. His eyes searched for understanding. She recognized the look as something that was on her face not that long ago; one that said ‘I need to talk’. She got a cup of Earl Grey tea for herself, settled onto the stool at the breakfast bar and let him have the time that he needed to organize his thoughts and tell her what he needed to say.

Pulling the top off of the soda, he rolled the cap in his hands, staring at it intently as if it might give him the key to open up. Finally, he looked at the woman who sat across from him, and he started. “Robyn, I’ve never completely told anyone about what happened over there,” he said nervously, “so please bear with me.” He began the story of how he was injured. It was the same as he had told everyone else, so far. “Now, here is the part that I’ve left out until now. The reason that I left the bunker was not to gain better tactical advantage like everyone seems to think. It was because of a little girl.”

His eyes came up and locked onto Robyn’s green eyes. “That little girl was totally innocent; the wrong place at the wrong time and she was going to be killed. I left the relative safety of the bunker I was behind to get her. I pushed her out of the way and managed to prevent her from being hit in the explosion, but it was the explosion that took my leg, and ended my career.”

He paused, and took a long drink before he continued. “When I returned state side, I knew that I had lost my planned future, but I kept thinking that I had done the right thing with saving that little girl. And then Mary Ann came to the hospital. In the years previous, she had constantly called me her ‘hero’, and now as I laid in that hospital bed, I was a decorated soldier. One honored for his heroic actions that saved lives that day, but now all she could see was that I wasn’t whole any more.” His eye began to water, “She stayed for a while, before she said she couldn’t love me anymore and left.”

Robyn had sat quietly and listened to his confessions. Her heart filled with grief for him. They were of a kindred spirit, she thought. She reached out and laid her hand across his, tipped her head slightly to the side and smiled.

He continued, apparently finding the strength from her; either from her touch or her eyes. “It took me a long time to recover. The doctors thought that her departure set me back quite a bit. But, I made it through and came here. I’m still learning to move with the prosthesis, and trying to get my strength back. Running today was probably not the smartest thing I could have done, but I wanted to try. And then I fell down.” His hand balled up, and she could sense the desperation he felt. “And, to top it all off, you came over and discovered my disability. I just reacted very badly today.” He closed his eyes and let his head hang down slightly.

Her heart felt a small tug towards him. Here he was, a decorated Marine, a hero sitting in her little kitchen looking like he wanted to cry. She reached across the breakfast bar and took his big hand into both of hers, and simply held it. His eyes opened, and stared at her.

“Ryan,” she began, “I know that you were hurt both physically and mentally from that attack. And what, what’s-her-name, did hurt you even more. But time will help heal those wounds.” Thinking back to the therapy sessions that she had gone to after John’s death, she tried to dig up some of the words that had helped her get through. “Everything happens for a reason. If you’ve got friends and family to help you through the rough times, you will be able to persevere.” Squeezing his hand, she smiled, “I’d like to be your friend, and be there to help you.”

His eyes closed as the tears began to fall. He nodded his head, and said softly, “I’d like that too.” She rose and walked around the corner of the bar and held him as he cried.

Dinner was almost ready. She had steaks in the broiler, potatoes on the stove and she was finishing up the tossed salad when Ryan came in through the back door into the

kitchen. “Thank you again, Robyn, for the invite to dinner and the shoulder to cry on. I brought a bottle of wine along with the cheese cake that I had promised.”

Robyn smiled, “The cake looks good.” She opened a cupboard and pulled out a single wine glass and handed it to him. Reading the question in his eyes, she simply said, “I don’t drink,” she paused, “anymore.”

He set the glass on the counter, and walked over to her. The look of sorrow on her face was enough to tell him that what she had kept hidden just under the surface was threatening to spew. “You were there an hour ago for me, when I told you about my dark side. Would you let me be a friend now, and tell me what’s wrong?”

She looked at the timer, and judged that there was enough time. Turning towards the window, she began, “I was engaged…” Over the next ten minutes, she told him how she had lost her love, and the struggle back to the level that could almost be called normal.

“After I lost John, even though he hadn’t been drinking, it was the result of someone driving drunk, I haven’t even thought of having an alcoholic drink of any kind. I was never a lush, but I used to have the social drinks. Once and a while I might even have had too many. But now, I won’t touch the stuff. The price for a little bit of fun is just too high.”

“Seems like we both have things we are trying to work through. Baggage that might best be handled with a friend.” He pulled her in and gave her a hug.

She let out a slight moan of pleasure. It had been so long since she had felt the embrace of strong arms around her. She nearly melted into their warmth, her arms reaching up around his neck and her cheek resting on his firm chest. It brought back memories, but this time there was someone to share them with. That made all the difference.

As she served the steaks, he poured two glasses of Coke, deciding that he would not drink in front of her. His life was changing, he realized. When he had left the hospital, he knew that he was going to have to rediscover who he was at his core before he would be able to get on with the process of rebuilding his life. It had been a fluke that his aunt had sent him this direction. Pondering about the coincidences in their lives, he wondered about the statement she had made to him earlier. Did things really happen for a reason?

For the first time in nearly two years, he wondered if God did have a place in his life.

Looking at her reflection in the mirror that night, she noticed that her eyes looked brighter than they had in quite some time. Had she turned the corner on her own personal recovery? She smiled at woman in the mirror before crawling into bed. Lying there, she thought about their impromptu dinner tonight. They had both shared their painful pasts, and had come out supporting each other. Added to that, she mused, Ryan had made the offer to help with some of the maintenance and yard work around the house. Now she could focus on solving the financial crisis she was still in the middle of. Hopefully Jess would come through there and she would find someone to help her on that front as well.

Music from the radio helped to soothe and relax her as she tried to fall asleep. Her body was ready, but it was her mind that was moving at light speed. So she lay there thinking about several possible solutions to her dilemma, before her mind started thinking about the man who was now living in the apartment behind the house.

When he had first arrived, he had been distant. But after dinner tonight, she found that he was a genuinely nice guy. But more surprisingly, he made her feel at peace.

********** Chapter 5 Ryan leaned back in the old wooden desk chair that sat by the computer. He’d been writing straight for the last three hours, and his brain had finally hit its limit. Now it was time for a break. He glanced at the clock on the wall; Robyn would be working for at least another hour before she would even consider taking her lunch break. Walking towards the little kitchen, he thought about how his feelings for her were beginning to change. When he had first arrived, he had tried to keep her away, thinking that she was no different than Mary Ann. But after their spontaneous dinner two weeks ago, he found that he really enjoyed being with her. She didn’t treat him like he was an invalid, instead she accepted his shortcomings and was supportive of him.

As he pulled a Coke from the refrigerator, he looked out the window. There she was, the object of his most current thought, sliding into her car. He looked at her closer now, noticing that she looked worried. As she backed out onto the street, he decided that he would do something for her later in the day just to make her smile.

Nerves had Robyn fidgeting slightly in the seat of her car. She promised herself that she would be fine once this meeting was over. After striking out with all of the traditional methods of securing the financing that she needed for her business, she had taken what she considered the biggest leap of all. She was going to see the brother of an acquaintance, a venture capitalist, hoping that he could help her solve her financial woes without taking over her little company.

Turning onto Maple, she reached over to her purse and extracted the sheet of paper that Jess had given her. Unfolding it, she looked at the neat printing that gave the address and name of her contact. Her eyes scanned ahead and quickly located the correct building. She shook her head. Of course, she mused, a rich venture capitalist would live in the biggest house on the block.

Parking her car in the street in front of the brick mansion, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself before she walked towards the looming house. Walking past the shaped bushes, she climbed the steps leading to the front door, and then tentatively pushed the button for the bell.

Seeing the door open, she glanced up and into the face of a gray haired man who looked old enough to be her grandfather. “Good day, Madam. May I help you?”

“I’m Robyn Flynn. I have a meeting with Mr. Hertzstein.”

“Ah, very well, Ms. Flynn. I am Thompson. Please let me take your coat, and if you’d follow me I’ll take you to the parlor.”

Following Thompson down the hall, she noted the elaborate artwork that hung on the walls and adorned the shelves. A moment latter, Thompson turned into a small room at the end of the hall. Dark green carpeting covered the floor, while the walls were painted off-white.

As Thompson left her alone, she felt her stomach begin to knot. Refusing to let her body get the best of her, she stood in the center of the room and let her eyes focus on the small tree that was visible through the window on the west wall. Then, calmly, she began to take slow breaths in, counting to ten, holding her breath for the same count before exhaling slowly. After a few moments, she began to feel better. Still nervous, but

resigned to the fact that this meeting was her last resort to improve the technology that she depended upon for her livelihood she walked over to inspect the art that was displayed in this room. A noise from behind her startled her, so she spun around.

Standing in the doorway, Michael Hertzstein looked better than the art. He stood six foot- three, with a mop of dark curls on the top of his head, but it was the piercing blue eyes that really caught Robyn. They seemed to stare right through her. He smiled slyly.

For some unknown reason, Robyn’s instincts told her to beware. She looked back at him, more intently, and noticed that he had a slight overbite, but that only added to his appeal. No, she decided, there was something beneath his slick exterior. She knew it, and would now have to be vigilant to find it.

He crossed over to her, extending his hand, “Welcome, Ms. Flynn. Won’t you please join me in my office and we can discuss your proposal.”

Shaking the offered hand, Robyn simply nodded and followed him.

Thankfully, Robyn thought to herself, the meeting went well. She was walking out the door with a check for the much-needed capital in her hand, and was doing so with very little fuss. She was upset at herself about her prior attitude of dealing with a venture capitalist. Her meeting had gone very well, and she had gotten all of her demands on the first try. She couldn’t have been happier.

Reaching her car, Robyn loaded her briefcase into the back seat and got ready to head back home. A quick glance at the clock on the dash indicated that lunch had been missed again. As if to make the point clearer, her stomach growled and she remembered that she had not eaten much today. After a successful meeting like she had just had, Robyn decided she would allow herself to splurge. She’d get a chocolate shake to go with her whopper.

Arriving back at her house, she parked the car and just looked at the faded paint. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to miss John, but then she thought to where she was now. She had finally found a little slice of happiness in her chaos. Slurping the last of her shake, she climbed out of the car and meandered along the walk towards the back door.

She could see the shadow, which she assumed to be Ryan, hunched over and working at the little desk that she had helped him set up earlier.

She unlocked the door, hung her coat and dropped her purse. Standing in her kitchen, she found herself wondering about the potential relationship between her and Ryan. He was a frustrating and confusing man. But, being honest with herself, she enjoyed his company.

She bent down to pick up a glove that had apparently fallen from her pocket, and noticed the folded sheet of paper. “What do we have here?” she asked?

Unfolding the sheet, she found a note from Ryan: RobynWas going to invite you for lunch, but you weren’t back yet. I’ll plan on seeing you later.

-Ryan Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed an apple off of the counter before heading up the stairs to her office, rereading the note. With a little luck, she would continue this

wonderful day by being extremely productive and finish it with Ryan.

Picking up the paper from the printer, Robyn began to proof read the copy that she had come up with. Smiling, she turned to her little hot pot to get a cup of tea. This had turned out to be a great day; the meeting with Michael this morning had set the stage and helped to clear the worries out of her head. That in turn allowed her to concentrate on doing the work. What more could she ask for?

Making a few slight changes as she sipped her tea, had her nodding in approval.

Overall she was happy with what she had come up with. Turning back to her computer, she quickly made the changes and resaved the file. Once she had everything saved and printed, she put together the file that she would send to the customer in the morning.

Another project finished.

Looking at the clock on the computer, she decided that she really didn’t want to get into another project tonight, but would instead look through some of the catalogs that she had been collecting over the past few months and start the process of finalizing her orders. Now that she had the money in hand, there was nothing holding her back from getting the hardware that she needed .

She jumped out of her seat when she heard the voice in the hall, “Are you okay in there?”

“What! Who’s there?” Robyn asked tentatively looking into the dark hallway. She breathed easier a moment later when Ryan came around the corner.

“I saw your light on up here and figured you were home. I knocked for a few minutes, but there was no answer. I called your house phone, but again no answer, so I decided that I had better come up to see if you had fallen unconscious up here.”

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Its almost eight.” Ryan told her. “I was a bit surprised when I looked over and saw that the only light on at your place was the one here in your office.”

“Wow!” Robyn shook her head and pushed the chair away from her desk.

“Apparently I totally lost track of the time. I came back from the meeting this afternoon and got to work on finishing one of the projects that I need to have out by Friday. When that was done, I started to look at some new computers and other hardware that I need to keep myself competitive. That must have been somewhere around four! Were did the time go?”

With a smile Ryan noted, “They always say that women like to shop!” He deftly ducked out of the way of the wadded up paper that she threw at him.

“Thank you for checking on me. But, why don’t you take you and your sexist remarks and go home?”

“I’ve got a better idea,” he countered. “Why don’t I take you down and we’ll make dinner. Then you can tell me about your day.”

She smiled. “That would be nice. Living by yourself you tend to forget how nice it is to have someone to tell your success stories to.”

Ryan’s eyebrows arched, “Had a good one today, Robyn?”

Her smile reached her eyes, “Yeah, I did! The meeting this morning went very well, which means I got the money I needed to do so major upgrades, hence my Mail-Order shopping spree.” She turned to turn out the lights when she was suddenly spinning, “whoa.”

Ryan scoped her up into his arms and gave her a tight bear hug. “I think with a day like that, you deserve to be taken out for dinner. What do you say, Flynn?”

“I think that could be very nice, O’Connor. So where are we going?

“I dunno,” he said after a moment’s thought. “How about this. You pick. If you want to get all dolled up, I’ll take you somewhere fancy, or we could just go as we are and grab a pizza.”

Robyn thought for a very brief moment, “Let’s go get a pizza. Who’s driving?”

Ryan took her hand and walked with her down the stairs, “I’m driving and buying.

How’s that?”

“Works for me.” she said as she pulled on her coat and grabbed her purse.

Stepping out of Mama’s Pizza an hour later, his arm tightly around her waist, Robyn was thoroughly enjoying her evening. She had chuckled when he did a little shuffle jig as they were waiting to be seated, and then he had kept her laughing all night long. She was beginning to treasure the time they spent together. Slowly they walked back to his Four Runner, where he held the door open for her. As she started to get in, he quickly mussed her hair causing her to let out a high-pitched squeal amusing them both. Swiftly, they were on the road, and she discovered that they were heading the wrong direction for the house. “Now where are we going, Ryan?”

“Well, I figure it’s a pretty night, I’ve got a pretty woman sitting next to me, so I thought it would be a great time to go enjoy the lake.”

“It’s mid December and freezing out, but it does sound nice.” She leaned towards him and linked their hands together. When he raised hers to his lips, she blushed and was thrilled that these feelings were rekindling after so much time. All too aware at how fast life could change, she determined that she was going to make the most of each moment.

Stars shone in the pitch-black night sky like small diamonds on black velour. The cold night air bit at their exposed skin as they walked to her back door. “Thank you for the pizza and the walk at the lake, Ryan. The Northern Lights were spectacular. I had a wonderful time.” She turned to face him.

His hands moved and she spun around until she was face to face with him. He let go of her hand, but then firmly held her waist, and pulled her closer. Her chin lifted slightly, and their lips met. First, just a soft brush, but then again in a more passionate embrace.

They stood there, lost in each other and the moment.

He broke away, chuckling “I think that’s enough for tonight, or else we’ll both be carried away.” He set her back on her feet and smiled, “Goodnight, Robyn. Have pleasant dreams tonight.”

Robyn watched as he slowly walked to his own door, and then they both waved and went in.

Sleep was not coming easy tonight for Robyn, and she wondered if Ryan was having similar problems. When she had gone down to the kitchen to get a cup of chamomile tea, she noticed that his lights were still on as well. Walking back upstairs, she detoured into her office and grabbed her laptop. Normally, she only used the laptop for business presentations, but seeing as she was so wound up tonight, she thought that she would take it to her room and see what she might accomplish before she was able to fall asleep.

An hour later, and she had outlined several ideas for projects that she was bidding on. She would review them in the morning, and perhaps begin to take one or more to the next level and begin making the formal proposals. Since sleep was still evading her and

she had finished her work, she began composing an email to her mom.

At first, she kept it to the parts of what was happening in her business and left her personal life out. But then she thought, if she couldn’t tell her mom about Ryan, then whom could she tell? Twenty minutes later, she had revised the letter and sent it.

Powering down the laptop, she placed it on the nightstand and drifted off to sleep.

********** Chapter 6 Snowflakes swirled in the light wind that blew down from the mountains in the first week of February. Taking a much needed, and deserved, break from work, Robyn sat on the bench in the large bay window looking out over her back yard. Winter had finally decided to make its appearance, and over the past two days had buried Sunderland under nearly three feet of snow. Thankfully, the winds had remained relatively calm so there was no drifting to worry about. Taking a sip of her tea, she vowed to make the most of the next few weeks.

The money that Michael had given her had purchased a new computer system and printer, a digital camera and a touch board that let her manipulate the virtual objects on her computer screen like a painter using an easel. Just having the capabilities to do the work had succeeded in landing two new clients, both of which were big accounts. The combination of the new contracts would be enough to repay the money, and still put her ahead this year. Things were looking up.

Movement from below caught her attention. She looked to the left just in time to see a snowball impact the house. Her eyes tracked to the lone figure in the yard. Ryan was dressed in a battered old ski parka, dark gloves and a fluorescent orange hunter’s knit cap snuggled over his ears. He scooped up snow for another snowball as she opened the window, “Hey, don’t break my window, O’Connor!”

She was rewarded with a face full of snow as the current missile impacted with the screen and disintegrated. Wiping the snow from her face she heard the unmistakable laughter coming from the yard. “You are so going to pay for that!” she yelled. Puling the window closed, she headed down to join in the epic snowball battle.

Taking a few minutes at the end of the day to write out her thoughts had been a habit that Robyn had obliged herself in for many years, going back to the time when she was growing up. For that matter, it had only been since John had been killed that she had let the habit go. For the first time since, she sat by the fireplace in her living room and opened the cellophane wrapper on a brand new journal. She wasn’t quite sure what had changed, or when it had, but she now felt ready to get back to writing about her daily life.

She opened the new book, listening to the creak of the as-of-yet unstressed binding and rubbed her hand over the new page. A place where she could grieve about things that didn’t go right on any particular day, or rejoice on her successes.

For the first time, she let her feeling of losing John pour out. But they were followed by words that spoke of her feelings of how Ryan was keeping her laughing throughout what she had expected to be the hardest time of the year for her. She wrote of the snowball fight that had lasted a good three hours, and had brought in several of the neighborhood kids as they had chosen sides and fought until no one could stand any

longer. At that point, her yard was nearly devoid of snow, all of it being consumed into making ammunition or bunkers to hide behind. When everyone had gone, she and Ryan had gone into his apartment, where he made the most exquisite hot chocolate that she had ever tasted.

She also lamented that she would not see him for a few days, as she was going to be heading to her parents house in Massachusetts for a mini vacation.

As she closed the journal, she was struck with a sharp realization. She might be falling in love with Ryan. Just the thought of that made her sit up with a quick breath.

Perhaps it was good that she was going to be out of town for the next week. She needed to have a clear head so that she could be sure of her footing as she progressed into anything new.

Shoveling the new fallen snow had made Ryan’s muscles ache. But it was an ache that he welcomed, as he worked to rebuild what he had lost during his recovery.

Shovelful after shovelful, he worked to clear the sidewalk. His personal thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a red BMW Z4 in the driveway. Looking at the car and its driver, he recognized it to be one of Robyn’s friends who frequently stopped by. He started to walk over as the car door opened. “Hi, can I help you?”

The blonde woman looked up, apparently startled, “Oh, hi. You’re Ryan O’Connor, right? I’m Robyn’s friend Jessica Pietro,” she said holding out her hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Pietro. Unfortunately, Robyn’s not back yet. She went to her parents for the last week. Actually, I figured that she would be home yesterday, but something must have come up.” He noticed the smile disappear from Jessica’s face.

“Um, something wrong?”

“What do you mean, ‘Robyn’s not here’? I spoke with her last night around eight.

She was getting onto Route 7. She should have been here by nine!”

Ryan could see the panic in her eyes. His training kicked in, and he took control of the situation. “Ms. Pietro, take a deep breath. Yeah, that’s good,” he said as she gasped for breath. She hadn’t yet broken down, but he could see it was close. “Why don’t we go into my apartment, and we can see if we can sort this all out?”

He guided her through the newly shoveled walks and up the three small steps into the rear apartment. Once through the door, he helped her to a chair in the tiny kitchen and put a kettle of water on to heat before he took the seat across from her. “Okay,” he said looking directly into her eyes, “let’s start at the beginning. Robyn left last week to spend some time at her parents house.”

Jess looked up at him; her mouth moving but no sound came out. Her hands flew to her mouth and she started to bawl. Tears flowed and her shoulders shook, but Ryan sat there and kept a hand on her to help steady her. Finally, she said, “Robyn’s going to miss lunch.”

“Ms. Pietro, I’m not following you. What do you mean about Robyn missing lunch?”

“Please, Mr. O’Connor, can we drop the formalities? I’ll call you Ryan and you can call me Jess, okay?” Ryan just nodded, so she continued, “Robyn and I have had a longstanding lunch date. We always get together on the last Wednesday of the month.

It’s always just the two of us, and we go to a little diner up in Manchester. That was why I came by today.”

“Okay, Jess, that explains some of it. Although, I don’t think Robyn missing lunch

today is her biggest problem. I think we need to do a little bit of backtracking, think about where we know she had been and do some follow up to ascertain where she is now.”

Jess thought for a moment, “I think you are right, Ryan. But where do we start?”

“Let’s start with when we each spoke to her last, and what her known position was at that time. I think the best thing we can do right now is to reconstruct where we expected her to be right now and see what that turns up. That should help us narrow the search area down, and help us find her.” Jess nodded in agreement and they began.

Ryan and Jess had spent the past hour going over what they had. Finally, Ryan had called the state police. Armed with the basics that they had put together, he was able to give the police a rough idea where Robyn would have been when she talked to Jess.

They were going to check any accident reports and hospitals in the area.

Jess had called and talked to Robyn’s parents. They had confirmed what time Robyn had left, had not heard from Robyn either, and were now as worried as Jess and Ryan were. The decision was made that they would come up and everyone would all meet at the house.

Hearing the shrill ring of the phone shot both Ryan and Jess into motion. Snatching the phone off of the wall Ryan nearly snapped, “Hello?”

“Um, hi. Mr. O’Connor?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled.

“This is Detective Janet Trombley, with the State Police. I just wanted to touch base with you. You reported your landlord, uh, Miss Robyn Flynn, as missing. Is this correct?”

Ryan was frustrated. Of course he had reported Robyn missing when it was discovered that she had left her parents around seven-thirty last night, had talked to her best friend around eight and had planned an outing for today. He wanted to respond, well, duh! But it was the Marine who responded, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay, we are just checking up and following up on some information. Could you tell me about the car that she was driving when you last saw her?”

“To the best of my knowledge, it was a tan, run-of-the–mill Ford Taurus. I’d guess it was probably about eight years old, and no idea what the plate number would be.” He stared up at the ceiling, hoping for divine intervention.

He glanced out the window when he heard a car pulling into the driveway. It was a nondescript Chevy, which to his mind just screamed unmarked police car. The driver who got out was a lanky man with short sandy hair.

Detective Trombley continued, “Okay, thank you, sir. That information matches what we had come up with in the computer. Thus far we haven’t located the car or Miss Flynn. An officer is on his way to your apartment now, and will be there to try and coordinate as best he can.”

“Thank you, detective. I think that the officer has just arrived as a matter of fact.

Thanks.” The line went dead, just as there was a series of three short raps on the front door. Jess went to get the door while he replaced the receiver.

Wrenching the door open, Jess stepped to the side to let the new visitor in. Ryan looked at the tall man as he shed his overcoat and turned to face the room. Ryan’s eyes locked on the ruddy face, which mirrored, he was sure, his own in disbelief. “Well son of a gun, Rob Stevens? Is that really you?”

A grin stretched over the officer’s face, as he crossed the room and held his hand out he said, “Captain O’Connor, Sir. I must admit that I am a little shocked to run into you here in Sunderland. Last time I saw you, you were being transported home from Iraq.”

“Rob, this is Jess Pietro, she is my landlord’s best friend, and the one who alerted me to the fact that Robyn is missing. Jess, this is Sergeant Rob Stevens. We served together in the Corps.”

Stevens had noted the look that O’Connor got in his eye when he spoke of Flynn.

He thought that there was likely a new romance there. Meaning he would need to pursue that line a little. You never knew what might tip the scales. The fact that the man who had made the call was an intelligence specialist, as well as a decorated soldier, made Stevens think that the man could be very useful if he didn’t get tied up in emotions.

Leading the group towards his small sitting area, Ryan grabbed another chair so he could be near everyone as well as the phone and door. No sooner had they sat, than another car could be heard pulling into the driveway. Ryan got up and looked out the window; a couple was exiting from a maroon Tahoe. Guessing, he looked to Jess, “I think that Mr. and Mrs. Flynn are here.”

Jess hopped up from the chair, and bolted for the door. Shoving it open, she ran out into the snow to greet them. Ryan watched from the open door as she embraced both of the Flynn’s. His trained eye studied the couple. He was tall, slightly overweight with a shiny baldhead and green eyes that matched Robyn’s. Mrs. Flynn had a head of chestnut hair and the pale complexion that her daughter shared. It was the chocolate colored eyes that kept them from looking like twins.

As the came up to the small porch, Ryan walked out, and extended his hand, “Mr. Flynn. Mrs. Flynn. I’m Ryan O’Connor. Detective Stevens is inside already. Please come right in.”

“Have you heard anything from Robyn?” Mrs. Flynn asked. The lines on her face only emphasized her concern for her baby.

“No, Ma’am. Detective Stevens has just arrived as well, so he may have some news.” Ryan countered.

Breaking bad news was one of the worst parts of his job, Stevens thought, but he had to do it. Looking at the distraught faces that looked to him for comfort, he took a deep breath and began. “After we received your call about Miss Flynn, we started canvassing the area. We’ve had police cruisers out on the route that she most likely took from your home last night. They haven’t found anything out of the ordinary. We have also been checking in at the hospitals in the area, and again we have struck out. That would indicate that she did not admit herself for some unknown reason or that she was admitted under Jane Doe by someone else.” He looked up at the four pairs of eyes. He could feel those eyes boring into him, searching for something that they could hope on.

He continued, “We have aircraft up in the area, checking the side roads to see if there is something that we missed. Most likely, she just pointed her car in a different direction and headed out for a little alone time. We are checking with the local hotels to see if someone checked in last night and used her credit cards or paid cash.” With a slight chuckle he went on, “Well, you can imagine the number of leads we are currently running down there.”

“Rob, what can we do?” Ryan asked.

Stevens looked up at his Marine Corp buddy. The concern for the missing woman

was evident on Ryan’s face. He was sure that there was more here than a simple tenantlandlord relation. “As hard as it is, I think that the best that we can do right now, is to collect information. I’ve got a series of questions, perhaps they will trigger something in your memories which will give us a new lead.”

After answering Rob’s questions, Ryan was frustrated that he could do little more for Robyn. Rather than sit and keep his composure, he decided to go for a walk to try and get his thoughts back in line. Perhaps there was something that she had said to him earlier that would prove to be important. Besides, he reasoned with himself, it had been a little uncomfortable to admit to everyone what he was just beginning to admit to himself; he was falling in love with Robyn.

He asked himself if his feelings for Robyn had clouded his vision on something that he now desperately needed to know to get her back. He was angry at himself, for not paying enough attention to the details. He knew that it was the little things that really made the picture clear. Now, all he could do was push himself through the cold February air, and hope that what he needed to remember would come back.

Turning the last corner, he stopped and looked at the main house. With out Robyn there, it didn’t shine like it once had. He knew that it was only his mind playing a trick on him, but he truly felt that she added the heart to this place. If anything happened to her, he knew he’d have to move on. It wouldn’t matter that he had started feeling that this was home. Without her, it was nothing.

That thought stopped him cold. He had never fully appreciated how much she meant to him. How she had tried so hard to make him feel comfortable, she’d gone out of her way to talk to him when he knew no one, she didn’t make a fuss of his disability. She accepted him for who, and what, he was. No one, besides his immediate family, had ever done that. It was time for him to listen to his heart and do what she needed him to do.

He marched back to the house, and entered his apartment. The other four were currently gathered around the little table in the kitchen. As he stripped off his coat, he asked the room, “Anything new?”

The looks said it all. The sad eyes, the tear stained cheeks and the cold coffee. “I’ve got a thought,” he said as he pulled another chair up. “We’ve made the assumption that Robyn either had mechanical problem or got sidetracked somehow.” This got nods from those around the table. He looked directly into Stevens’ eyes, “What if there was something a bit more sinister involved?”

“Ryan, we’ve looked at the route. There was no evidence that she was abducted. I really think” “Rob,” Ryan cut him off, “what I am thinking here is what if she wasn’t the actual target? She’s had several business meetings in the past two weeks. What if someone was targeting one of them and wanted to use her as a pawn?”

Stevens scratched his chin, “That’s an interesting view. Perhaps we should try to get into her office and see who she has been meeting with.”

Ryan turned and grabbed a set of keys off of the small rack behind him and looked slightly embarrassed, “I’ve got a set of keys here for the main house. She, um, gave them to me last week before she left town.”

“Lets go!” Stevens said while the others nodded.

**********

Chapter 7 Consciousness had been fleeting for Robyn over the past several hours. Her head throbbed, her arms and back were screaming in agony. She tentatively flexed her fingers and could feel the rough rope biting into her wrists. There wasn’t enough slack for her to reach the knots to try to free herself.

Her eyes were covered with a thick cloth, so everything was dark. She concentrated on what she could hear; it sounded like there were trucks rumbling off in the distance, the constant rumble told her that she must not be too far off of the main expressways.

A new sound filtered in. A rattle of keys followed by the click of a lock. She counted the sounds of eight footsteps as they approached her.

“Ah, so you’ve decided to wake up?” a new voice asked.

“Where am I?” Robyn asked, her voice weak and scratchy.

“You don’t need to worry about that right now, Ms. Flynn. As long as we get what we want, you’ll be out of here shortly, no worse for the wear. Of course, if things don’t go as we want, well, let’s say that your stay here won’t be so pleasant.”

“Who are you? What did I do to you? Why are you” “Just shut up, lady! You don’t need that information. This isn’t about you. Now be good, don’t make a fuss,” the voice said. She could hear him moving around behind her.

“I’m going to release your right hand and let you get a drink and something to eat. If you fight me, I’ll tie you up again and that will be the end. Understood.”

Robyn sobbed out, “Yes.” A moment later, the pain in her right wrist disappeared. She wanted to bring it around in front of her to let the feeling come back, but she was afraid of spooking the unseen man. Slowly, she flexed her fingers and let the blood flow return.

“Put your arm out to the side,” the voice commanded. Robyn did what she was told.

“Now down slightly.” Again she followed the instruction, and her forearm touched a wooden table that was set there.

The voice again spoke, “Here.” A glass was set into her hand, her fingers gripping it. Her whole arm wanted to shake, so she fought for control as she lifted the glass.

Thankfully her muscle memory worked fine, and she felt the lip of the glass touch her lips. She sniffed at the contents to determine what she had been given. There was no odor that she could detect. Hoping for the best, she took a sip.

Water trickled down her parched throat. Cool and clean tasting, she took a longer sip this time, attempting to vanquish the thirst. When the glass was empty, she reversed her earlier motions and set the glass back on the table. “Thank you.”

“Here’s a sandwich. Go ahead and eat and I will get you more water. But remember, I can see you all the time, so don’t do anything that will get me upset,” the voice responded.

She took the sandwich and took a bite, and immediately became aware that she was starving. She felt a slight twinge of vertigo, as she moved ever so slightly but without visual cues her equilibrium was a step behind. The footsteps from the unseen voice echoed out, she heard the door open and close. Popping the last bit of the sandwich into her mouth, she concentrated on what she could sense.

The sound of the expressway was obvious and she could hear voices out in the hall.

Not well enough to understand what they were talking about, but enough to know that there were at least two people involved. The sounds of the footsteps made her think of the sound of walking across a tiled floor that had a few tiles that were pulling up. There was also the smell of dust. And perhaps mildew? It was something that had an unpleasant smell, but it was not overwhelming.

A heater turned on. The sound of running water through pipes made her think that it was a radiator heating system. That would fit with an older building.

Concentrating on what she could sense and feel, she was torn about what she should try and do. Did she risk it and try to pry up the blindfold and make an escape? The sound of the door opening again along with approaching footsteps ended any debate on that issue. She accepted the glass of water. When she was done, she was led to the bathroom and then taken to a new room. Her blindfold was removed and she looked at the walls of a windowless room. The short guard grabbed her left arm and held it as one end of a long chain was attached. She followed the chain with her eyes; the other end was attached to the radiator that sat along the wall. That ended any thought about escape.

After the footsteps had faded away and she could feel that she was alone, she started to cry. As the tears fell, she dabbed at them with the cloth that she had been blindfolded with. Her mind flashed pictures of the important people in her life. She watched as the faces appeared: her mom and dad, Jess, John and finally, Ryan.

Ryan’s picture lingered longest. What would he do? How could she let him know how she felt? With his face foremost in her thoughts, she dozed off into a fitful sleep.

Fighting to keep her composure, Robyn was struggling with the chain as well as her emotions. They had fed her, given her water and made sure that she was warm on a winter’s night. They were trying to take care of her, but she was still being held against her will.

As the night had progressed, she had finally cried herself to sleep and only woke up once when she had gotten wrapped up in the combination of the sleeping bag and the chain.

Thus far, no one had made any effort to hurt her. They were not plying her for information, or making any other demands she realized. So, other than being a hostage, she was unharmed. Things could be a whole lot worse. She would just need to keep things that way.

A scraping sound resonated through the little room; a key grinding in an old lock.

With a loud click, the door swung open. She saw a figure, not too tall and slender, wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans enter the room. A black ski mask covered his face, long dyed black hair spilled out the back. A voice, not too high in pitch, but not too deep either broke the silence. “Turn around so I can blindfold you, and then we will escort you to the bathroom so you can freshen up a bit. We have a change of clothes here for you as well.”

Fighting the urge to bolt, Robyn turned as instructed and the figure secured the thick blindfold. Another scraping sound followed by the click of the cuffs and a rattle of the chain told her that she was no longer attached to the heater. Robyn decided that this was probably the best time to try and ask a few questions. “Why am I here?”

The figure stopped moving the chain, “I really don’t know. My boss told me to be here to baby-sit you for a few days. Come on, stand up and I’ll lead you to the restroom.”

Robyn felt the light pressure of a gloved hand on her wrist, and she let herself be

guided through the invisible maze. Letting her other senses work, she could feel heat on her left cheek, and there was a slight lightening under the blindfold. Given the time of year, she assumed that this would indicate that she was near a south-facing window, and heading west. Once she had this position fix, she was able to get a general feel for where she was being taken.

She was led back to the little room when she was done. She dutifully carried her clothes that she had been wearing earlier as she was led back. Once she was secured to the heater, another voice, a bass this time, said “I’ve placed your breakfast on the table. I also left a book that will help pass the time. Please, don’t do anything to hurt yourself.

We have no quarrel with you. With a bit of cooperation from the guilty party, this should all be over very shortly.” With that he removed the blindfold, and exited the small room.

As she ate the food that was left, Robyn tried to remember what had happened.

She’d talked to Jess at around eight, she thought. So people knew that she was on the way home, and she and Jess had confirmed that they were still on for lunch today. So when she didn’t show for lunch, someone would be concerned, and hopefully send out the cavalry looking for her. Just knowing that help would be on the way shortly, let her relax a little. The knot that had been forming in her neck released. She needed to be calm and wait. Of course, that didn’t mean that she couldn’t try to figure out what was going on.

Reading the novel that she had been provided helped. Of course, they had given her a romance novel and she immediately found herself transposing herself in the role of the heroine and Ryan as the love interest.

Time slipped by, as she turned the pages of the book, and was surprised when they brought her lunch. She didn’t realize how much time had elapsed. As she looked at the bowl of soup and the ham sandwich that now sat on the table, her hopes began to swell.

By this time, someone should have realized that she was missing.

Somewhere in the midst of eating, she remembered more of last night. She had stopped off at a diner to pick up a sub before she went home. Dropping the spoon she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. The memory was still foggy, so she started talking aloud to herself. “I stopped to get a sub for dinner before I got home. Wait! I had to go somewhere before I was to go home. But where?”

She stared at the plain wall ahead of her, and wished she could remember something else. If she wasn’t heading home, but heading to meet someone, who would it have been? And where were they supposed to meet? She tried to think; she knew she wasn’t meeting Ryan last night. “I was thinking about calling Ryan when I got home last night.

I just wanted to see him. So he wasn’t who I was going to see. I’d already spoken to Jess, so I know that it wasn’t her either. What else?” She tugged at the chain wishing she could at least get up and pace around the room.

Voices outside the door caused her to stop talking aloud. When they entered, they again blindfolded her and led her to the restroom. As she was brought back to her little room, she noticed that a new book had been placed on the table. “Would there be any chance of getting a deck of cards?” she asked the closest figure?

They hooded figures looked at each other, shrugged before the shorter one answered, “I dunno. We’ll try. Really, we are sorry about this. It’s not you that we are upset at.

The party responsible has been contacted. As long as he plays right, you’ll be let go tomorrow.”

Replaying the conversation after she had been left alone, Robyn started narrowing things down. The short captor had stated that if he played right. That meant that the person that they were aiming for was a man. Currently the only man in her life was Ryan, and he didn’t even know he was starring in that role.

Was it someone she had dealt with in business? That thought brought her up short.

Most of the companies that she dealt with had been small companies, often run by other female entrepreneurs. That was, until she had gotten the new equipment and the two new accounts. Had she done something to annoy someone by getting the new accounts.

“Wait,” she told the darkness, “they said it wasn’t me.” She paused to let her thoughts align, “That means it is either going to be about Ryan…or Michael!

********** Chapter 8 Coffee dripped through into the pot, and Ryan watched each drip. He needed that hit of caffeine like he needed his next breath. The incessant drip only served to accentuate the fact that he was still in his little apartment while Robyn’s parents had escorted the officers from the state police into Robyn’s house. He smiled as he thought how everyone had been surprised when they found that Robyn had given him the keys.

He had a suspicion that this was going to lead to more questioning when this was all resolved. He just hoped that Robyn would be there when he had to answer the questions that her parents were going to ask.

His head turned automatically towards the sound of the opening door. He noticed that Jess, who had cried herself to sleep after the others had headed to the house, was now pushing herself off of the sofa. They watched as Robyn’s parents walked into the house.

Their faces were grim, like they had just had to swallow a very bitter pill.

Ryan broke the silence, “Why don’t you all come on in to the kitchen here. The coffee is just about ready, and then you can fill Jess and I in on what you found.”

Before they could answer, the door opened again. Rob Stevens walked in, “We may have something here. You got coffee on, Captain?”

“Sure do. I was just getting everyone else to come in for a cup.” As they all went and found a seat around the table, Ryan stood to the side and back towards the wall. His leg was starting to bother him, but he just focused on Robyn and let that keep the edge off of it. There was absolutely no way he was going to succumb to taking any pain meds that would knock him out right now.

Pushing back in his chair a bit, Stevens crossed his legs and took a gulp of the hot brew that Jess had just placed in front of him. “We didn’t find much in the general space of the house, however we found something that may be important up in her office.” He pulled out an evidence bag, and Ryan’s heart suddenly felt hollow. Stevens noted the look of discomfort on his friend, but then continued. “This is the appointment book that Robyn had on her desk in her office. A cursory glance shows that she had blocked off much of the last week with the word ‘vacation’. However, when we looked at yesterday’s date, we found a notation that makes it appear that she had an appointment with someone scheduled for nine last night.” He turned the book towards the other.

Ryan could see the notation clearly denoting a meeting.

M. Hertzstein. 9 PM “Unfortunately, we don’t have much to go on with this. Anybody have any thoughts?” he looked around the table hopefully.

No one spoke, so Stevens tried a different track. “Okay, lets try this. Has Robyn been worried about anything recently?”

“When we went to lunch last month something was bothering her. I could tell, but she was very hesitant to talk about it. It took a while, but she finally let on that she was struggling financially. That was one of the reasons that she had decided to rent out the apartment here.”

There were looks around the table. Her parents were surprised that they would hear about her financial problems from someone other than their daughter. “She never said anything to us while she was visiting last week.” Mrs. Flynn pointed out.

“I think she got them resolved them prior to her visit,” Ryan blurted out. Suddenly all eyes were on him. “She had a meeting with someone, a venture something, and he gave her the money to help get her business through and to purchase some hardware.”

“She met with a venture capitalist?” Stevens demanded.

Ryan shrugged his shoulders, “I really don’t know. There was a day a few weeks ago, that when I saw her in the early morning, she had been depressed. I decided to make dinner for her that night, you know, to try and cheer her up. But when I went to her door, she was quite excited. We ended up going out and grabbing a pizza as a little celebration.”

“Ryan, do you have any idea when this would have been?” Stevens asked.

“Ah, let me think for a minute.” He sat still for a few moments, his eyes closed.

“Off hand, I don’t remember the date, but I think I know how to find out.” He stood and walked out of the kitchen down the small hallway with every eye on him.

He came back half a minute later, carrying his laptop computer. “I remember that I was working on writing a few chapters for my book, which I have to admit I’ve only done haphazardly. But I remember roughly which section I was working on when I saw her leaving that morning. Should be able to get a date from there.” The computer sounded as it powered up, and he began to type quickly on the keyboard. “Here it is, it was around December thirteenth.”

Stevens opened the evidence bag, and looked up the date. His eyes fixed on the notation there, neatly circled. “May have something here. She circled the same name, M. Hertzstein, and there is a phone number next to it.” He pulled out his cell phone and while the others tried to get a glimpse of the calendar, he called his office.

“Yeah, its Stevens. I need a reverse trace on a phone number.” He rattled off the number and then closed the phone. Looking at the others, “They are going to look up who that number belongs to, and then they will let me know. It appears we have a place to start.” The shrill beep from the phone cut him off.

“Stevens. Great, thanks.” Putting the phone away, he looked at the apprehensive eyes that were staring at him. “The number belongs to one Michael G. Hertzstein, who has an address over on Maple. His business is listed as being a venture capitalist.

Control has a car that is heading over there now. For the moment, I am going to stay here until we know something.”

“That name sounds like it should mean something to me,” Jess complained.

The shrill phone rang again. “Stevens.” There was a pause, and Stevens rubbed his eyes with the fingers of his left hand. “Okay, thanks. Keep me informed.” He closed the phone and looked at his cup of now cold coffee.

“The other unit arrived, and was met by a butler who informed them that Michael Hertzstein left last night around eight-forty and has not yet returned. We do have full access to the house, as the butler is also concerned about the possibility of foul play.

“I know where I know that name from!” Jess exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at her. “When Robyn and I had lunch that day, I suggested that she contact my friend, Terri Russell and set up a meeting with her step-brother Mike. Terri’s mom married a guy named Adam Hertzstein!”

Mr. Flynn was the first to respond, “Do you think she would have any information on where either Robyn or her bother are?”

“I’ll call her and find out.” Jess stood and left the room.

Standing in the doorway a few minutes later, Jess’s face had lost the look of hope that she had had only a few moments before. In its place was concern. “I talked to Terri.

Everyone there is going a bit crazy too. It seems that Michael called her around eight last night, and told her that he needed to disappear for a little while, and not to worry. She tried to call him back last night and got no answer. When she called his cell this morning It was answered by a stranger who said he had just found the phone at the bus station.”

Stevens sat quietly, and then said, “This has all of the makings for a real disaster.”

He continued a minute later, “I think we need to do a through search into each one of the players here. Excuse me for a few minutes. I need to make a few phone calls.”

After he left, the Flynns and Jess started discussing the predicament. Ryan leaned on the stool in the corner still. His mind was working on something that just didn’t sit right.

There was something that they were all missing, but the question was what was it? He was fairly sure that Robyn had gotten herself involved with something bigger than she realized, and most likely she was totally unaware of what had happened. She was doing what she needed to keep her livelihood going.

The ringing of his phone snapped him out of his personal thoughts. He shifted around until he could reach the phone, “Hello?”

“Ryan?” the sound of Robyn’s voice through the receiver, triggered two very separate responses. First, he was thrilled to hear her voice. She was alive. She sounded scared, but she was alive. The second was to have the intelligence officer in him kick into action. He closed his eyes, concentrating on her voice and listened carefully to pick up any details, gather as much as he could. Subconsciously, he pressed the button on the answering machine to record the call.

“Robyn, Are you okay? Where are you?” he asked, trying to keep the urgency out of his voice.

“I’m okay right now. They haven’t mistreated me  yet.” The pause between the words made Ryan catch his breath. He noticed that Stevens had re-entered the room and signaled him to trace the call. Robyn continued then, “They want Michael Herztstein.

Apparently he took something of theirs, and they want it back.”

“Who is the ‘they’ you are referring to, Robyn? “ “I don’t know.” The faint sound of siren sounded in the earpiece. Ryan grabbed a

sheet of paper and made a notation of the time and the siren. “Ryan,” she continued, “you need to find Herzstein and have him ready. They are going to call you again at eight tonight. If they get Hertzstein, they let me go. If not, I’m going to get hurt.” Her voice started breaking on the last part of the sentence.

“We’ll have him, Robyn. Don’t worry.”

A new voice came on the line, “You heard what we want. Get it, or she gets it. Got it?” Then the line went dead.

Ryan placed the phone back on its hook, and glanced over to the others. “They’ve got her. I don’t know who they are, but they’ve got her. She sounded tired, and scared but otherwise all right.” Looking over at Stevens he asked, “any luck with the trace?”

“Not totally. We’ve isolated it down to a few possibilities, but there wasn’t enough time to get the actual address” “There was a siren that was going off in the distance. It sounded like it was from an emergency response vehicle. Can we find out where someone was responding with lights and sirens at that time?”

Stevens debated for a brief bit of time before he answered. “Most likely we can get a few generalizations. Its going to take a while to do that. Ryan, are you going to have any problem letting a team of electronics detectives in to get that message and run it through our computers?”

“Absolutely no problem. However, I do have a favor to ask you I want to go with you to Herztstein’s residence and be there when you go in.”

“Normally, that would not be allowed, but due to your security clearances and your proximity to this case, I think we may be able to make an exception.” He turned back to the rest of the group. “I need you all to stay here. Robyn may call back, so we need to be ready. We’ll keep you in the loop with all of this.”

Ryan appeared, tugging his coat on and they headed for the door.

Taking the phone back, the tall masked man closed it and placed it back in his pocket. “There,” he said to her as he gently stoked her hair in what he perceived as a comforting gesture, “that wasn’t so bad. They’ll get Herzstien and turn him over and you go free. It’s simple.”

Trembling, Robyn looked up with fear in her eyes. There was too much going on here, and too much at stake. “I still don’t know what you want with me. What did I do to you?”

The short one answered, “It’s not something that you did, honey, it’s all Hertzsein.

He had a job to do, and a price had been agreed upon. Then, he double-crossed us. Not good for business if you know what I mean.”

They took her back down the hallway, back to the little room where she had spent the last too many hours. Robyn’s eyes paled when she entered the room. A new book had been set on the makeshift table, next to a meal that had been left. She just wanted to go home; to go home and be with Ryan, to feel his arms tight around her.

Her left arm was suddenly wrenched behind her, and she felt the chain rub against her as she was fastened back into her personal prison. She whispered, “Ryan, I miss you.

I need you right now.” She hoped to gain strength from the sound of his name, but it wasn’t enough to displace the emptiness that she had heard in his voice on that short phone call.

She knew that he would do everything that he could for her. She would just have to

trust him to find her and get her out. She would have to be strong enough to make it through until he found her.

********** Chapter 9 Accompanying Detective Stevens to Hertzstein’s office, Ryan worked to get his mind back into the information-gathering mode that he had relied on during his Marine Corp career. He was going in, not as an equal, but rather as an accepted observer. It was, he mused, similar to the way that while on duty they would accept the presence of a superior officer in their shop. At this stage of the game, he would take anything he could get, provided it gave him information that he could use to ensure that Robyn got home safely.

As he rode with Stevens, his mind continued to circle back to how important his landlord had become in his life. Unfortunately, he had yet to have the chance, or the intelligence, to tell her. When he saw her next, he was determined to rectify that oversight. But right now, he had to find her and bring her home.

When they turned onto Maple, Stevens spoke for the first time, “Okay, Ryan, I know that you are a trained observer, but try to remember that you are not in the law enforcement agency and that you are here as a favor.”

“I’ve got it, Rob. I’m just going to try to back you guys up. But just because I’m playing junior varsity here, doesn’t mean that I’m going to be useless. If I see something, I’ll bring it to you. I hope that you’ll remember that if I do bring you something that it has a high probability of being important.”

“Got it, Captain. Well, here we are.” Stevens said as he guided the car in behind several black and white units that sat at the curb.

Getting out of the car, Ryan noticed that specific senses went from passive to active almost with out any bidding. There were six uniformed officers standing at, or near, the front door. A four-car garage was separate from the main house, with one bay open and empty. They walked up to the group of uniforms, where Stevens flashed a badge and motioned him through.

Inside, the scene was different. There were sounds here that were distinctive; the scratchy voice of a man who was on the brink of tears came out of the first room on the right. As they passed, Ryan noted a man, dressed in the traditional butler’s suit, seated on a settee. His body was folded, elbows on his knees with his head covered by his hands.

From what could be seen of his face, it was evident that he had shed tears at some point very recently. Across from him, sitting in an armchair, was a woman wearing a very conservative suit. A badge was exposed at her hip, and she was talking to the butler in a very soothing tone, trying to reassure him.

The air in the house was stuffy, and it seemed to Ryan as though he was on an elaborate set for a play. There was something that just felt off about the whole scenario.

If he was in a joking mood, he would have said that his ‘spidey senses were tingling’.

Regardless of what he felt, he knew that he had to listen to his senses. They rarely steered him wrong.

Standing in the next doorway, he noted a small group of people, both in uniform and

plainclothes. Stevens led him through the throng of people, and they entered the office.

He stopped just inside the doorway, and took in a visual of the room before him. A carved desk sat just about centered in the room, with a large bay window behind it. On the south wall, stood a small credenza, and the west wall was a bookshelf. Not a small, simple shelf, but a full wall of books. The sheer volume of books made him wonder what exactly this venture capitalist did.

Without saying a word, Ryan walked over to the shelves and started perusing the titles. There was an eclectic mix of books. He found a few that he assumed were collectors editions of volumes by Yeats and Kipling. There were two shelves that were filled with modern day novels, and two more that were overfilled with business books.

He felt someone come up behind him just before he heard Rob’s voice, “Find anything of interest?”

“There is always something interesting. The question is, did I find anything of importance? At this point, I’d have to say no. Yet I’ve got that tingly feeling that tells me that there is something here that is waiting for us.”

Rob chuckled, “The scary thing with that comment is, that I agree. I have a feeling that I can’t describe that is telling me the same thing. I’m going to bring a few of the crew in here to start going through his desk and computer to see if we can find anything.”

“Hey, Rob, what time is it?” Ryan blushed slightly, “I’m just worrying that’s all.

When Robyn called, she said we had until eight tonight to find this guy and be ready for the transfer.”

Stevens looked at his friend, shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his head.

“Ryan, I don’t know how to tell you this. Even if we find this guy, we aren’t going to actually work with the kidnappers. We need to find something here that leads us to them, or will give us enough Intel to make them believe that we have him and get her release.”

“Yeah, I knew that I guess. I’m just really worried about her. She’s more important to me than I realized.”

Scanning the shelves thirty minutes later, Ryan was beginning to lose hope of finding that important clue. He closed his eyes and concentrated on Robyn’s face in his memory. She needed him right now, and he needed to find a way to come through for her. The answer was here in front of him, he just needed to be open to it. He opened his eyes, letting his peripheral vision take in the room again. There was something that he couldn’t place that kept drawing him to the shelves in the corner of the room by the bay window.

He walked over, and looked at the books there again, for what he guessed must have been the seventh time since they had entered the room. He stopped and thought for a minute; if I was trying to hide something here, where would I do it and how would I conceal it?

Turning, he saw the empty chair at the desk, and sat down. Swiveling to his right, he looked at the shelf directly at eye level. It was peppered with a series of business books, with a spectrum of colors represented. It was then that he noticed it. The lone book in a strange shade of yellow looked very out of place on the shelf. It stood out as if a spotlight shone on it amidst the other dull shades of the tomes that shared the shelf.

Jumping out of the chair he lunged over, and pulled the book.

At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary about it, other than the color of the binding. He looked at it closer, there was something off with the title, he thought. He

flipped through the pages, but noted nothing at first. It wasn’t until he stopped that the discrepancy jumped out and struck like a snake. There were no words in this book!

Everything was just gibberish. “Stevens! I think I’ve got something here,” he called out.

Stevens walked back to where Ryan was standing with the open book. “What’s up?”

Holding the book out, Ryan said, “Take a look at this. There are no actual words here. The book is a front.”

Stevens took the book and looked closer. “You seem to be on to something.” He flipped through the book to a different page, and then found a CD wedged between the pages. “Well, well, well, wonder what we have here? Jacobs, get in here and get that computer up and running. We may have found the link that we were looking for.”

Heads from around the room turned to look at the men as a young woman in a blue vest came over to Stevens, “What do you have, Sir?” she asked Stevens.

Holding out the disk, “We’ve just found this. I need to know what is on this disk, and I need that information yesterday.”

Taking the disk, she turned towards the computer on the desk. Ryan was sure that it was only a few seconds, minutes at most, but it seemed that time stopped while they waited for her to upload the disk. Silence echoed in the room while they waited.

“Okay,” Jacobs said, “this is interesting. It appears our friend was working with the Bandits.”

At the name of the gang that was currently causing havoc in the larger towns, Stevens’ mouth dropped open and he turned to the girl. “The Bandits? Are you sure?

Why would he be working with them?

It was Ryan who spoke next, surprising everyone in the room. “I’ll bet he’s laundering their money for them.” All eyes were suddenly on him. Ignoring their stares, he continued, “As a venture capitalist, he needed to have access to large quantities of money. If the Bandits were fronting this venture, they supplied him with money that most likely came from running drugs or weapons. He gives it to unsuspecting business owners who use it to improve their businesses, and then repay the loans using clean money. The gang even gets to make a profit on their money.”

It was then that Jacobs found her voice, “The evidence before me supports your analysis.” With her statement, the attitude of all of the police officers changed. They stood in a semi-circle around her rubbing their hands together while her fingers flew as she worked the computer.

From across the room Ryan watched them. They reminded him of a child on Christmas morning, with the anticipation of pawing through a massive pile of gifts.

While they were all occupied with their computer genius, he walked back to the shelves and wondered if their were any other secrets that were hidden here.

The sound of the printer spitting out pages drew his attention back to the main group.

Stevens grabbed the first sheet and looked puzzled. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“What’s that?” Ryan asked as he walked over to the detective.

Stevens looked up, and held the page out. “It was a hidden file on the disk that Jacobs found. Everything else on the disk had documentation that required no additional programs to open. This appears as a basic text file, yet when you look at it it’s nothing more than a garbled mess.”

Ryan took the page and looked at it carefully. No, this wasn’t a garbled mess like Stevens thought, it was deliberate, which only meant one thing: there was information

hidden on it. “Rob, I think that this is some form of a code. We need to break the code to figure out what it is.”

“Okay. I’ll take it down to headquarters and they can get started on it next week.”

“Rob, that’s too long! This is very likely extremely important information. Robyn’s life may depend on this! It can’t wait, we need on get on this now!”

Stevens turned to look at him. “Look, Ryan, I know this is important to you, but right now the information that we can read on the disk gives us incredible leverage against Hertzstein. This is a coup for us.”

Anger stirred in Ryan as he cycled his hands through opening and closing his fist.

When Stevens turned to look at the others, Ryan made a snap decision.

Setting the paper on the top of the credenza, he pulled his cell phone out and used the camera feature to take a picture of the document. He then made a quick video from it as well before he handed it back to Stevens.

“Look, Rob, obviously you are going to be tied up here for a bit. I’m going to head back to my place. Robyn is supposed to call tonight, and I want to make sure that everything is set up to record things.”

“Yeah, okay. Sure.” Stevens replied without glancing up.

Outside, Ryan pulled out his cell phone again. This time, he dialed his own number and when the machine picked up, he started speaking, “Hey, Jess? Mr. or Mrs. Flynn? Is anybody there? It’s me, Ryan” Suddenly, Jess’s voice came through. “Ryan, what’s up? Aren’t you with that detective?”

“Hey, Jess. Yeah, I was with Stevens. We found something and he’s working on that, but right now I need to get back to the apartment.”

“Tell me where you are, and someone will be there to get you.” He told her where he would meet whoever came to pick him up and hung up.

Looking at the image on his cell phone, he started working through some possible encryptions that a trained cryptographer would most likely use. He was still working on it when the BMW pulled up. Seconds later they were on the way back to his apartment.

Thinking about the things in her life that she was going to change once she got out of here, Robyn was trying to keep herself calm in the dimly lit room. Her eyes had grown tired of reading, so that left her with an endless amount of time that she needed to fill.

Patience was not her forte, so she had to work harder to have it. She reminded herself that when things didn’t work as planed, you had to adapt. You couldn’t spend your time regretting a decision that you made or didn’t make.

Laying back on the bunk Robyn flipped the chain that secured her wrist. She had made a feeble attempt at trying to pick the lock. Of course, she didn’t have any knowledge of how to do that, nor did she have any real tools to help her, but she had tried. If nothing else, it gave her the feeling of not sitting here being passive. Besides, it had been a good way to kill some of the seemingly never-ending time that she was going to be here.

Realizing that she had inadvertently gotten mixed up with a bad deal from Michael, was definitely not going to make her top ten best business decisions. “Not much I can do about it now is there?” she asked the single light bulb.

She recognized the first sign of depression. “Gotta stop that.” It was time to end the pity party here and try to figure a way out of here. If she was right, Ryan and her parents

were going to be doing everything that they could to get her back. Now, she wondered, how could she help them?

When they came to get her for her scheduled bathroom visit, she was nearly shivering with excitement. They had never accompanied her into the bathroom, giving her privacy along with a little freedom. She was gambling on this continuing. It took all of her effort not to literally run to the bathroom, and to instead sit still while her restraints were released. She really hoped that this would work. She didn’t know what else to try.

Inside the bathroom, Robyn locked the stall door. Wadding up some of the toilet paper, she stood on the seat and carefully pried off the light fixture to expose the wires that were normally hidden. Pushing the paper into the space, she carefully pulled the wire out of the socket.

The sudden darkness was disorienting at first, but once her vision cleared she went back to work. She knew that if she touched the two ends of the wires together, that the resulting short would most likely knock the power out. That wouldn’t do much to help her. She needed to find a way to create a short that would provide enough heat to start a fire.

She looked around the little opening around the light, there had to be something that she could use. Her eyes focused on the flimsy material that spanned the crawl space; spider web silk. Carefully, she reached into the small space and collected some of the silk. Wrapping the wad of paper with the silk, she then carefully twisted the end of the first wire into the paper, catching as much of the silk as she could. Taking a deep breath, since she didn’t know how long it would take, she repeated the process with the other wire. Her mind told her that she could sense the increased temperature, but she wasn’t totally convinced.

With a little luck, she would send a message of her own.

********** Chapter 10 Chaos reigned as Jess and Ryan walked back into his apartment. The rooms were crowded with a collection of law-enforcement representatives and civilians. As they weaved their way through, Ryan found himself being ignored by the throng. That was perfectly fine with him.

Entering the kitchen long enough to grab a can of Coke out of the refrigerator, he listened to the talk among the group of uniformed officers.

A short red headed woman commented, “From what I heard, they have already isolated nearly twenty accounts, and the total is over ten-million.”

The tall blonde answered, “Gee, that’d take care of the budget for the department’s supplies for better than a year.”

Ryan shook his head. He could understand the potential from the money. Frankly, though, he didn’t really care about the money. The money didn’t get them any closer to Robyn, and that’s where his thoughts were. He ducked out of the kitchen and started to make his way back to his little office near the back of the house. Right now, what he needed was the caffeine from the soda and a quiet place that he would be able to work.

Closing the door on the room, he settled into the desk chair, and pulled out his cell

phone. Five minutes later he was holding a printed copy of the file that he had copied back at Hertzstein’s office.

Jess had seen him walking into the secluded back room while she had been talking to Robyn’s parents. Everyone here was worried, including Ryan, but he had disappeared.

Knocking on the door then hearing nothing, she quietly eased the knob on the door and pushed through. He was hunched over the desk, scribbling on a paper.

“Ryan, are you okay?”

His head snapped up as if he had been electrocuted and he spun around to face the door. “Jess, sorry, I didn’t hear you,” propping his left leg on the edge of a drawer that was sticking out, “I guess you could say it’s an occupational hazard. I get so engrossed in my work and the world may end around me and I wouldn’t know it.”

Jess nodded her head in understanding. “All of the cops out there are talking about a whole bunch of money that has been discovered. But no one seems to be talking about finding Robyn, except for her parents and I.” Ryan grinned at her, “Sorry I’m not out there talking, but I think I’m of more use here,” he said as he pointed to the sheets of paper.

“What are you working on?”

“Not one hundred percent sure. I found it when I was in Hertzstein’s office. The cops that were there didn’t seem to be too interested in it. But, because of what it was in with, I think that it is a coded set of notes. From past experience, if there is several pieces of information together, the more important the information is, the more likely it is to be coded. This was the only piece of evidence that we found that was coded.”

So, you think this is the most important piece of the puzzle?”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah. I’m hoping that this guy wasn’t into any super-secret crap that is going to make this nearly impossible to crack. Most likely, it is a simple algorithm that once I can decipher, will only take a few minutes to totally decode.”

Jess’s eyes widen, “You’ve lost me, but is sounds intriguing. Can I watch?”

“Sure, pull up a chair.”

Noise from the group outside the door seemed to rise and fall, but he never showed any sign that he heard it. His head was locked down, and the pencil he held in his left hand scribbled furiously on the scrap paper. Jess sat quietly while he worked, wondering what he was doing. She had noted that over the past hour, his mutterings had gone from mild oaths to more inventive phrases. Suddenly she jumped. “Bingo! Got you now you bloody bastard!” Ryan shouted, “You broke it?” she asked.

“Yep. All we need to do now is put the equation into the computer, and let it do the work.” His fingers were flying over the keyboard of the computer. He was scanning the originals in when he turned to Jess, “Would you go grab one of the uniformed officers? I want someone here when we look at the raw data.”

Comparing the output from the computer minutes later, Ryan was puzzled. He had assumed that this file would give more information about Hertzstein’s whereabouts, which he had intended to use to get to the venture capitalist. Once he was in hand, Ryan figured that he would be able to barter to get Robyn released. What he found on the file was not going to tell him where Herzstein had gone under to, but it was actually a note from the Bandits to Hertzstein.

Transcribing the message had taken more than ten minutes, but what they had was more evidence that linked Hertzstien and the gang. The letter gave explicit directions to

Hertzstien on where he was to go, what he was to bring, and what time he was to be there. The letter included a detailed explanation of how if he failed, he would be framed for the murder of the young woman they were holding there. Ryan’s heart nearly stopped. They only had a few hours until the deadline.

Grabbing his cell phone, he dialed the number that he had for Stevens. Rob’s voice came on. “Hello?”

“Rob, it’s Ryan. I know that one of your officers sent you a message that we had cracked the code on that message. It really is important to getting Robyn home. I‘ve got the coordinates of where they are. I need you to meet you at my place in fifteen.”

“Ryan,” Rob’s voice sounded tired, “There is no way I can break away from what is going on here. I know that the woman is important to you, but my supervisors are here, telling me to only worry about following the money.”

“Damnit, Rob, are you really willing to sacrifice someone over the money?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for what seemed to be an inordinate length of time. “Ryan, you know as well as I do that this was most likely a way to get Hertzstein into a position where they wanted him. I’m truly sorry. But dealing with this gang doesn’t usually have a happy ending. I’ve got to do what I can to get the people responsible for this.”

Ryan sat back in the chair, shell-shocked. He hung up the phone without any further conversation. The police had already written Robyn off! Furor filled him, and again he was thankful for his training in the Corps. He set his feelings aside, and let the Marine take care of the plans. He would have preferred some help, but he had no idea where to start. The only person he could count on right now was himself.

Slamming the door to his office, Ryan stormed out and headed into the bedroom.

Reaching up to the top shelf, he pulled down an ornate wooden box, and opened the lid.

Inside laid the Berretta 9mm that he had been given from the Corps. Carefully he pulled it out of the box, checked the slide from habit, then hit the clip release button on the side.

Without taking the time to consider what he was doing, he loaded the clip along with a spare one. He slapped the clip into place, then racked the slide and set the safety. With the pancake holster set at the small of his back, he holstered the gun and secured the spare clip in its protective case to his belt.

Stripping off his sweatshirt, he threw it into the corner and pulled out a long heavy button-down shirt and shrugged into it. He checked carefully that the back of the shirt covered the gun, and that it would not impede his movement. Casually as he could, he walked to the door, took a deep breath and went out to find Robyn.

Standing at the door, with her hands on her hips and her face in a scowl was Jess.

“What’s going on, Ryan?” she demanded.

He frowned at her, “I called Stevens. The police are too tied up with the money that they have found through Hertzstien. With the information that we got from that coded message, I know where to start looking for Robyn. The letter also makes it clear that they are going to kill her if we miss the deadline. I’m going to do everything that I can to get her back. I’m…uh,” he shook his head, “fact is, I’m falling in love with her. Right now, she needs me. So I’m going to lock the worry up, and go do what I can to bring her home.”

Jess looked at him, gave a slight smile, “Let’s go. I’ll call my fiancé, Tom. He can help us.”

“Jess, I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I don’t want to get anyone else hurt or in trouble.”

She put her hands on his arms, “Ryan, look, Robyn has been my best friend for years. Since you’ve been here, I’ve started to see a spark in her that got lost when John was killed. I can’t give up on her. As for Tom, I think the two of you will get along well, if you don’t try to argue which service is best. He is in the Reserves, an Army Ranger medic. He works at Parkside Memorial hospital, and cares for Robyn like he would a sister. He said to call if we needed him. I think we do.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Sitting in Tom’s SUV, they were parked across the street from what had every impression of being an abandoned six story building. Graffiti covered the plywood that had been secured over the doors and windows on the first two floors. The only entrance that gave the slightest possibility of being used was in the rear, where the snow had been removed. There had been no movement in any of the windows from floors three or up, but for some reason, all of the shades were pulled on the top floor.

“Is it me, or is that smoke coming from the vent on the roof?” Ryan asked.

“Not really sure. Looks like it could be.” Jess replied, leaning over from the back seat.

“It looks like its getting thicker. I wonder if someone is trying to send a message.

We’ll need to keep an eye on that. We don’t want to get trapped by it,” Ryan noted.

“How do you want to play this, Captain?” Tom asked.

Ryan grinned at Tom. Jess had been right. He did like this guy. “I think the best answer is, we leave Jess here in the car. You can go cover the back door, and I’m going to take the fire escape up and see if we can get any Intel. I think for communications, if we all use the hands free sets with our cell phones and a conference call, that should do.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Moments later, Ryan’s earpiece crackled, “In position at the rear, no movement. All secured.”

“Okay, folks, I’m starting up the fire escape.” Ryan carefully swung his body as he pulled himself up relying totally on his arm strength. Sweat was pouring down his face when he finally reached the first platform.

As quietly as he could manage, he crept up the stairs, peering into the window on each level. Everything looked quiet until he got the top floor. As soon as he looked in, he could see at least two people dressed in what appeared to be oversized shirts and jeans.

They were standing right by a door, never moving more than a few feet away from it.

“Think I’ve got something here. Looks like two guards on six.”

He slowly headed back down the stairs, being as quiet as he could. He stopped on the fifth platform. “Okay, folks, here’s the plan. I’m going to try to finesse the window on five open and then go in. Tom, move on the door in the basement. Get in and get yourself to the fifth floor, east stairwell, we’ll meet there. After we get Robyn out, Jess, bring the car to the back entrance. Have the first aid kit ready. We’ll be making tracks.”

He heard the responses, “Roger.” “Okay.” Ryan took a few deep breaths and worked the window open. He climbed through, crouched down, and drew the gun. Holding the Berretta in a two-handed hold, he moved towards the stairwell, clearing each room as he went.

Two minutes later, Tom met him. Both men now had pistols out and were ready.

“Okay, Tom, here’s the next phase. You’re going to stay in this stairwell,” Ryan whispered, “and count to one-hundred. Then, you are going to break the window here.

While you are doing that, I’m going to go up the west stairs, when I hear the window, I’ll make the move on the room that they are guarding. We shoot only if we have no other options. With a little luck, I can have her out in less than sixty seconds.”

Tom looked concerned, “What if they aren’t guarding her, and it’s one of their higher ups?”

“Then we’ll have a bargaining chip. Let’s move” Chuckling amongst themselves, the two guards were getting tired of this duty. They had been told that they were going to be relived in about two hours. But that was two hours too late. The sound of breaking glass caught their attention. “Go see what that is,” the short one said.

“Okay,” the taller one responded. He pulled out his Glock and headed towards the stairs.

Ryan watched as the tall one turned into the stairwell, and then headed down the stairs. He wasn’t the only one who was watching the tall guard head down. The accomplice had his head turned and was paying too much attention to notice the figure sneaking up form behind. Ryan struck with no warning, bringing the butt of the Beretta down hard on the guard’s temple. Luckily, he had thought to wrap an arm around the guard prior to hitting him, so he was able to catch the body and lower him soundlessly to the floor. He heard a slight commotion in the stairwell, but ignored it concentrating on the guard at his feet. Pulling out some zip ties, he secured the guard’s hands and did a quick search of the unconscious man’s pockets. He found what he was looking for- a set of keys.

Quietly, Ryan let himself through the door and did a quick sweep of the room. His eyes focused on a single locked door at the back of the room. He could hear a faint cry, “Who’s there?”

He fought to keep his emotions in check. “Robyn, it’s me, Ryan!” he yelled as he rushed he door. His fingers shook as he tried to find the correct key. It took nearly all of his effort, to get the lock opened and wrenched the door open.

She was still chained to the fixtures in the room, tears streaming down her face, but she was alive. “I’m here, Robyn. Take it easy. We’ll have you out in a minute.” He squeezed her in his arms and fought back his own tears. He released the cuff that trapped her in this prison, and lifted her into his arms.

“Let’s go guys,” Jess’s voice broke through on the earpiece. “It looks like we may be getting a bit of company. I’ve got two black cars that just pulled into the lot.”

“Jess,” Tom shouted, “don’t sit there!”

“Don’t worry, Tom, as soon as they came in, I pulled around to the side by the fire escape. By the way, it looks like the smoke is getting thicker. Maybe we should call the fire department.” Jess said.

“Good idea,” Ryan said as he set Robyn down. Looking into her eyes he continued, “I’ve got so much to say to you, Robyn, but first we need to get out of here.” He pulled her as he retraced his steps from earlier. “Tom, heading for your stairwell.”

“Roger. Listen, we may want to take the escape off of five. I hear voices and footsteps coming up.”

“Roger. Good call.” Ryan said as they skidded out of the stairs and met up with

Tom. The three headed towards the fire escape. Tom headed down first, Robyn followed and then Ryan. He had just reached the ground when there was a shout and a series of shots rang out.

Ryan felt the hot sting in his left shoulder, but continued to push Robyn into the SUV before he turned and fired a single shot at the figure leaning over the railing of the escape.

As the figure fell back onto the platform, Ryan dived into the SUV and shouted, “Go!” Tom noticed the blood that was staining Ryan’s shoulder as well as the stain on Robyn’s calf. “Jess, head for the hospital.” Using his cell, he called ahead and prepped them for two gunshot victims.

She peeled out of the lot just as the first fire truck turned onto the road. The only sounds Robyn could hear were the wailing of the siren, the beating of her own heart and the soft sobs coming from the man who cradled her in his arms.

Waking up Robyn felt a throbbing pain in her lower right leg. As she tried to move, a series of alarms sounded. Her eyes shot wide open as two nurse rushed in. “I didn’t do it!”

The nurses laughed, “I’ll let the doctor know that you are awake,” the younger one said as she left. The older nurse checked her vitals and reset the alarms before she left.

Slowly, Robyn took in where she was. It was obvious that she was at a hospital, but she didn’t know which one. Suddenly, the last conscious memory she had flooded back to her. Where was Ryan? Was he okay? Just then a familiar figure came in.

“How are you feeling, Robyn?” Tom asked?

“I think I’m okay. How is Ryan?” she couldn’t hide the distress. The flashback to when she had woken from the accident with John left her shivering. She looked up at Tom, who just smiled and then stepped to the side.

Ryan walked through the door. He was standing erect, had a big smile on his face.

He looked to be fine, except for the sling that his left arm was in. “I’m fine, Robyn.

How are you?” He leaned down to kiss her.

“Now that I’ve seen you, I’m okay. Drawing herself up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. Her lips met his again, not for a quick kiss, but one that made her toes shake. “Ryan,” she said when they finally separated a bit, “I need to say a few things to you. First, thank you for coming to get me. I don’t think I will ever forget the sight of seeing you there on the other side of that door, with your gun out.

You rescued me. You will be my personal hero for the rest of eternity. Second, I need to let you know, I think you’re going to have to move from the apartment.” She looked at his face, and laughed at the shock that was sprawled over it, “Once I marry you, I think we should live in the main house.”

He was stunned! “Well, that sure beats me to the punch.” He locked his eyes onto hers, “Over the last few days, I realized that I was hopelessly in love with you, and was going to work my way up to a proposal. I’ve been playing with a rhyme like, ‘Be Mine, My Valentine, Be My Wife, and Share My Life’. I know, pretty corny. I think I like your way better. I’ll start packing when I get home!” He gave her another kiss. “I wanted to tell you that I loved you earlier, but we needed to get out first.”

“You may never have said the words, but you showed me in no uncertain terms.

You came and got me. That says it all.” They kissed again, and she snuggled into his arms. She had come full circle.

She had it all she decided. She had found love and her personal hero. While her

personal demons would always be there to haunt her, Ryan would be there to fight them back. She decided that today was definitely the best Valentines Day of her life; she was whole once more.

About Christine Christine Chianti was born and raised in a small town in Western New York, where she still resides today with her family. She spent 19 years teaching high school science in a neighboring city.

She is a member of the Write Touch Writing Group, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America and Mystery Writers of America.

Connect with Christine online: Website http://www.christinechianti.com Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Chianti/377951548885329 Twitter: http://twitter.com/CChianti