Ozark Mountains

The Cabin

Elizabeth awakened with a start and a sound of her fast-beating heart drumming in her ears. She was dreaming about Anna again. Her sister was being kidnapped, and she couldn't help her. That accounted for the cold sweat, soaking Michael’s shirt. To ease her fears, she quickly went to the next room and opened the door, only to see Anna peacefully sleeping in the queen-sized bed. She is safe.

Elizabeth quietly closed the door, not wanting to disturb her and then took a quick shower. The feeling of warm water on her body was cathartic, washing away her deepest fears and that constant sense of hopelessness.

Last night was so stressful. First, not knowing if Anna would wake up at all, and then having to tell her an incomplete version of her ordeal. Thank God she did not remember the gruesome parts, it would have extinguished that spark of innocence still burning in her sister.

She went to the kitchen and started making breakfast. If there was one thing that could wake up her sister, it was the smell of bacon and eggs. It worked like a charm, the smell of frying strips of delicious meat spread throughout the house and a few minutes later Anna came downstairs, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Ah, bacon and eggs, the breakfast of champions,” she said as she stole one of the crisp strips, drying on a paper towel.

“So, you and Michael… is there something… going on?” Anna asked while setting the table.

Elizabeth almost dropped a piece of toast she was transferring to the plate. “What? No, nothing, why would you think that?”

“Well, the way you look at him, the same looks he gives you, it’s the vibes sis, the vibes never lie,” Anna said and evaded a kitchen towel her sister had thrown in her direction.

“Stop with your matchmaking, and start eating, the eggs are getting cold.”

Elizabeth didn't consciously think about Michael in that way, not until now. But she could see how comfortable and unforced she felt in his company. She was no shrinking violet, but her experience with men and personal relationships was not too extensive. Anna and her job were taking the first two positions of the most important things in her life. No man ever liked being in third place, so those few relationships petered out fast. However, it was too soon to think about that, despite his intensity, she had just recently met the man.

“Let’s go into the town, we need to buy new clothes, and you can obviously see that this is a single man's cabin, not a tampon in sight,” Anna said with a smile after they were finished with breakfast.

They took Elizabeth’s car and navigated down the mountain road. She drove very slowly, due to the road’s conditions, yet, she felt that the bad road made the cabin much more secluded, safer. Nobody would accidentally come up the mountain as a result of missing their turn.

They spent most of the day in the city. She wanted Anna to have a fun day out, something they often did together when her sister was younger, spending the whole day shopping, going to the movies and hanging out. It was a guaranteed recipe to make Anna happy, and it worked. As the day progressed, a smile could be often seen on her sister’s face.

By the time they finished the second movie of the day it was almost dark outside, so they got in Elizabeth’s car, with the backseat filled with all their purchases, and set out towards Michael’s cabin.

Anna was just retelling the best jokes of the comedy they saw when Elizabeth noticed something suspicious. Three cars were following her, and all of her instincts honed by the FBI instructors told her that they were a threat. It was not so difficult to spot them, since there were no other cars on the road, and they did take the last four turns the same as she did. Now, they were all on the long straight stretch of the road, and there were no more turns she could take.

She didn’t believe this was about Michael. Max and he covered their tracks really well, that was her professional opinion. Therefore, that left only her and Anna. The only thing that would cause someone to follow them was the events that happened in that warehouse. How would anyone connect her with that was unclear, Michael has burned the entire place to the ground, leaving no evidence.

Trying to outrun them would not work. Her Prius was a hybrid, built for fuel-efficiency not speed, and the people that followed them were driving cars that were both heavier and faster. Even so, she increased her speed, but it was to no avail as they were keeping up without any effort.

Anna must have somehow read her body language; she stopped talking and turned around to see why Elizabeth was so focused on a rear-view mirror.

“They’re following us, aren’t they?” her sister said in a small voice.

“Yes, they are,” she admitted, knowing there was no point in hiding it.

“Liz, I’m scared,” Anna whispered, panic showing in her wide-open eyes.

They were in trouble, and it was too late to do anything about it, she hoped Michael could pull out another miracle from the hat, for he was her only hope now.

“Don’t worry little sis, it is going to be okay…”

She flinched when Max’s voice sounded from her telephone speakers. “All right girls, I know you’re scared, but we will get you out of this.”

“Max! How…”

“I am tracking you using your phone’s GPS, and have two surveillance drones on the way; they will shortly be above your position. Michael knows what’s happening and will be coming after you very soon.”

“How… how long?” Elizabeth asked, knowing deep inside that it will not be fast enough.

“Unfortunately, it’ll take him a little more than three hours to reach you. That means you two will be taken. I am sorry, but there is nothing we can do about it. I need you girls to keep calm and do everything in your power to stay safe. Do not make it easy for them to capture you, but don’t resist too much either. Comply with all of their demands, don’t give them a reason to hurt you,” Max said with a caring, but at the same time, assertive voice.

Two of the cars put on considerable speed, passing her in no time. They boxed her in, using the same technique she learned herself for safely apprehending a suspect without hurting them. The first car’s parking lights turned on, and he started slowing down. She did too, not wanting to collide with him. The window of the car beside her rolled down, and an evil-looking man, holding a gun in his hand, signaled her to stop with his other hand.

“Remember, do as they say and don’t resist. Michael and his friends will get you out in a few hours.”

Elizabeth stopped the car and looked at her sister.

“We will get through this,” she said and grasped Anna’s hand. “I know it’s going to be scary, but I need you to be strong for me. In a few hours, we will be free, and they will be really sorry for messing with us. Okay?”

“Okay,” Anna whispered, wiping off her tears.

The brutish looking man was beside her door’s window, knocking on it with the barrel of his gun.

Michael, please come soon, Elizabeth thought and opened the door.

***

Michael felt that this had been one long and tiring day, but he had accomplished so much. Colonel Jack and the team will be joining him very soon, and after seeing the spaceship, his father would surely jump on the wagon.

A cold shiver ran down his spine by thinking about what would have happened to his father if they didn’t have the ship and medical nanites. There would not be a thing he or modern medicine could do to save him, and that was a very sobering thought.

Everything was coming together nicely, and he couldn’t wait to go home and tell Elizabeth about this day.

That thought hit him like a ton of bricks, it has been so long since he had a desire to rush home and share the news with anyone, as he wanted to share them with her. The logical part of his mind told him that it was too soon, that he had just met her and was rushing into things. In spite of that, there was something about Elizabeth, something in her eyes, a strength he has rarely seen. Still, he had been burned too many times to jump into a new relationship, so he decided not to push or instigate anything, and let things sort themselves out by themselves.

He was still a long way from the cabin when Max interrupted his musings.

“Michael, something is happening,” the AI said, in a rushed voice.

“What?”

“Elizabeth and Anna are being taken.”

“How can they be taken! Nobody should know where the cabin is, what the hell happened?!” Michael shouted as his mind went into a crisis mode, and his foot pressed harder on the gas pedal.

“They are not in the cabin, the girls wanted to shop for some things in the town; they drove this morning in Elizabeth’s car. Right now they are on the highway, returning, but three cars have them boxed in.”

The dashboard speedometer showed that he was way past the speed limit, but he didn’t care. Getting to the girls that were under his care was the only thing that mattered.

“How far am I from them?”

“You need at least three hours… I’m sorry Michael,” the AI sorrowfully answered.

“Can you track them?”

“Yes, there are plenty of nanites inside both of them and I am still actively monitoring Anna’s vitals. Plus, I have diverted two mining drones that are now closing on their position, they can see perfectly in the dark and I will have a visual within a few minutes.”

Michael’s hands squeezed the steering wheel so tightly that the skin on his knuckles turned white. It was Murphy’s Law in action, just as things were starting to go smoothly, fate throws you a curve-ball. He didn’t have time right now to get angry, that would not help the girls, but thinking tactically would.

Max was giving him play-by-play of how Elizabeth and Anna were forced to stop the car. And how were they transferred to the kidnapper's vehicles.

“Max, get me the team on the line.” He ordered after those vehicles drove away from Elizabeth’s abandoned car. By that time, Max was streaming a live video feed from the drones' cameras, directly to Michael’s implant. He could see the girls being dragged out of the Prius and transferred into one of the kidnappers' cars. One of the kidnappers got in Elizabeth's Prius and drove after the three cars. This was a well-planned operation, but he will make sure the kidnappers regretted every second of it.

In the next few minutes, he made a plan and arranged for Pete, Al, and Tyron to meet him… and to bring weapons.

***

An hour later, he received a message from Elizabeth's phone. There was a picture of her and Anna, bound with duct tape, sitting on a bare concrete floor. Even mistreated like this, there was a look of fierce defiance in her eyes, which made him respect her even more.

The text under the picture said: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM ALIVE AGAIN YOU DO AS WE SAY. TOMORROW, YOU WILL RECEIVE LOCATION, AND YOU HAVE ONE HOUR TO BE THERE. FOR ANY MINUTE YOU ARE LATE, ONE OF THEM WILL LOSE A FINGER. IF YOU CALL THE POLICE, THEY BOTH DIE.

If his phone hadn't been upgraded by Max, it would have cracked from the pressure Michael's hand was exerting.

Oh, I am coming all right, sooner than you expect.