J Saint - Collateral Damage

Jack blinked, sucked in air. She'd stirred up things inside of him that he didn't want to remember, much less examine.

His emotional reaction to Lauren's exposure to danger wasn't too far from the fears his ex-wife had expressed, fears that had begun with her pregnancy with Livy. Fears he'd acknowledged, understood, even empathized with, or so he'd thought he had. But fears he'd refused to let rule his life.

Now that the shoe was on his foot, he found the fit really uncomfortable. Maybe he hadn't been as empathetic as he should have been. It was somewhat different. He had years of training and experience. Still, the hypocrisy tried to nail him to the wall, but he side stepped it. She didn't have what it would physically take to get out of the CIA holding area undetected.

Disgusted with himself, Jack moved over to the French doors leading out to a sundeck three stories above the ground. The windows on the first and second levels of the house had been security wired, but third hadn't. Likely because there was no outside access to the third story from lower floors. Staying deep in the night shadows, he aligned his body with a deck post, gained the railing then the shingled roof. The pitch wasn't ideal, but doable, given he stayed flat against it.

Halfway around he froze in place as men's voices from below reached him. Orienting himself, he pegged them as coming from the deck outside the kitchen. Rashid and the SOO who called himself director were the talkers.

"I'm not buying her act, Rash. You know how these SOBs are brainwashing blond-blue-eyed American's for their cause. She's got what it takes to get past any profile barrier. And there are just too many coincidences for her to be as innocent of Collins's dealings as she claims. Connect the dots going back even just a year. Her brother goes MIA outside of Kabul, within weeks the majority of our camps are ferreted out by al-Qaeda-not the Taliban-then al-Qaeda attacked two supply convoys, all of which he had knowledge of. Add that to the fact that her husband is in Lebanon when radical al-Qaeda's number two man happens to show up? There's no way Qassem just happened to stop by for a visit. He was there to collect the Ambassador James and Prime Minister Shalev's daughters from Collins. Collins, her husband and her brother, all blond-blue-eyed Americans are as thick as thieves with al-Qaeda. Where do you think the millions in the bank account came from?"

"Doesn't matter what we think, we don't have a confession, and we can't prove anything against Menendez."

"You want her to talk? I say we isolate her from the sap who's bought into her act. Then we get our hands on her children and we keep them from her until she spills. It might take a week or so, but she'll cave."

Fuck. Jack rested his forehead against the rough shingles took several deep breaths and made his way back to Lauren. Surely he wasn't a deluded sap?

Lauren woke to the sound of the TV and the pungent smell of pickles. She sat upright with a start, shocked that she'd given in to any sort of weakness when her children were in danger. She saw someone had bought them food, but the thought of putting anything on her churning stomach made her feel ill. Rising, she moved away from the food and headed toward the bathroom, thinking Jack must be in there washing his hands to eat.

The bathroom was empty.

The bedroom was empty.

The balcony door was open but the balcony was empty with no steps leading downward.

Her heart hammered and sank.

Surely he wouldn't have just left without her?

When are you going to wise up about men, Lauren? You suck when it comes to character.

No! She almost covered her ears to shut out her thoughts.

Maybe he was in the hallway talking to the guards. She moved across the room, had her hand on the door knob then froze. If Jack had left, then she'd be the one to sound the alarm and he might get shot running way.

Gritting her teeth against the frustration and hurt, she paced across the room twice. Was Jack going to go after Matt and Mitch without her? Not that she wouldn't want him not to go if she wasn't with him, but dear lord, he could at least take her to Peru, let her be close so she could see her sons sooner.

If Jack could escape what was stopping her from doing so? What would be the worst that could happen? They'd catch her? They weren't likely to shoot her, because they really thought she knew more than she was telling. Going about the room, she gathered her purse and few things she might need. The heavy cord tie-backs to the curtains might work for something. And she pocketed the mini-air freshener. They'd confiscated her mace along with her cell phone.

Outside, she determined the only way to escape was to go up first. She thanked God it was too dark to see the ground as she climbed onto the rail and searched for a hand hold. She hated heights and had to keep reminding herself that this was the only way to reach her sons. Unfortunately, that first step proved to be harder than she thought it would be; she wasn't tall enough to gain a good grip onto the roof. Heart pounding, she wavered for a dizzying moment. Then, through the shadows, she made out the drain spout in the corner of the deck and moved her position to reach it. She wrapped a curtain tie back around the spout above the bracket anchoring the metal to the brick, stretching on her tip-toes to reach it, but soon had a decent knot and an intermediate step to the roof. It wasn't a set up she'd trust with her whole weight for a long time, but it would do.

Seconds later she had her hips at the roof line and enough leverage to shimmy up until her toes locked against the overlapped shingles nailed around the roof's edge.

She'd done it! Breathing heavy, she contemplated her next move, which could only be to the right or to the left. The roof was warm. The air was cool. The night was quiet. SheA hard body slid into place next to her and a heavy hand on her back pressed her stomach against the roof.

"Don't move."

"Jack!" Lauren whispered, recognizing his scent and touch. Turning her head to see him was more than she could manage at the moment, though. "Thank God. You didn't leave me after all. I was so-"

"Your brother, Lauren. Tell me about your brother."

She exhaled as if punched. "Jason? He went MIA a year ago in Afghanistan."

"Don't forget to whisper. Why would Rash and the NCS bozo be talking about him?"

"They know something about Jason?" Hope filled Lauren and she reared up in shock and would have tumbled from the roof if Jack hadn't anchored her by rolling his body half over hers. "Oh, God. Can we get on the ground first? I really hate heights."

"Yet you're on the roof."

"Only because it's too dark to see the ground."

His chest heaved. Had he laughed at her?

"It's not funny. Please. Hurry. I've waited so long. What did they say?"

"Only that he was MIA and wondered if he was involved with your husband's activities."

"No. Jason and Bill didn't even speak to each other." Lauren's spark of hope fizzled.

"Rash and the SOO bastard are to the right. We'll go left. Stay with me."

Jack led Lauren to where the roof of the garage and its attic slanted upward, making it easier to drop to the ground. She no sooner gained her footing then Jack swung her around into the shadows and pressed a hand over her mouth as he slid his body flush to hers against the trunk of a nearby tree. She understood why when the sound of steps through leaves reached her ears.

The patrolling guard didn't waver, but kept coming, directly at them. The sound of a zipper, a man urinating followed. Then came the gasping cry of, "What the hell-?"

The guard didn't get the chance to say more, Jack pivoted into a crouch and swung low. The man doubled over and Lauren air-freshened his eyes with the spray from her pocket before Jack chopped the back of the man's neck and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Lauren handed Jack two of the curtain cords from her purse. Jack cuffed and gagged the man then propped him against the tree.