Until Time Stands Still (18 page)

            “Are we a go Boss man?” Johnny whispered into his com. He, Bryant and Will were stationed in the decontamination room, having just come back from a mission to get Johnny a woman. Surprisingly Chloe had gone with them willingly, enthusiastic to see the future. Unlike Grahams woman Nadia, who had tried to kill him the first night they spent together. He had a fresh new scar above his right eye to add to the one already on his face. Her feisty attitude only seemed to make her all the more enticing to him.

            “It’s a go.” Graham said quietly, silently motioning Mykel forward. The two of them crept out of the bushes of the Generals back yard, making their way like dark phantoms in the night, hiding in the shadows.

            “How is the woman doing?” Jemma asked quietly. She put her book down on the bedside table. Her blonde hair had grown a little grey over the last several months, and she hid the shallow paleness of her skin behind carefully applied rogue. She was still recovering, her eyes still lifeless. The deep ache in her heart stole her vitality.

            “She’s doing well.” The General said, taking off his uniform. He walked to the closet and hung it up, like he did every night.

            “And the baby?”

            “Very healthy. The vitamin drinks are working.” Alexander said. He came back to the bed and crawled in.

            “When can we find out if it’s a boy or a girl?” She asked.

            “In a few more weeks.” He said.

            “I want to name the baby after you.” She said, cuddling up to him.

            “What if it’s a girl?” He asked, smiling.

            “Alex or Alexandra. It makes no difference to me. I just want a baby.” She said.

            “I know sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead. “I promised you a baby, and you’ll get one.” He said. “Sleep now, dear.” They both drifted off to sleep his arms around his wife.

            Mykel placed the stolen print over the lock on the door and the two men slipped inside silently. The house was quiet. They could hear soft snoring from the back of the bedroom. Graham motioned toward the room. Mykel crept silently forward, not making a sound. The bedroom door was closed. They moved together toward the small office off the kitchen. Mykel stood as look out while Graham searched the Generals file cabinet. There was one drawer that was locked. He searched the wide oak desk and found the key taped under the pull out keyboard tray. He quickly went to the drawer and opened it.

            Inside were several large sealed envelopes, about three inches thick. He pulled out the papers and spread them on the desk. “Mykel, these are all dossiers on us, and the women.” He whispered. “Notes on our mental status, medical records, missions…everything.”

            “Any idea where Isabelle is?” He asked.

            “Not yet.” He turned on the laptop. It was password protected. “Shit.”

            “How long will it take to get into his system?” He asked.

            “Without Will…never. We need him to take a crack at it.”

            “We can’t.” Mykel said. “He could be a mole.”

            “We have to.” Graham said. “If he’s got secret files on us, there’s got to be more information on the man’s computer. Take the files. We can go through them tonight and return them tomorrow when we come back for the computer.”

            “What if the General discovers the files missing before then?” Mykel asked.

            “It’s a risk.” Graham shrugged. “But if it means finding your woman, it’s worth it, isn’t it? Let’s go before he wakes up.” Graham whispered.

            They snuck back out of the house and into the night, becoming the ghosts they were trained to be. Mykel took the files back to his house. When they knew they were in the clear, and no alarms were raised at the General’s residence, the boys and their women all gathered at his house to go over their folders.

            Bryant’s woman, who had finally told him her name was Danae, was especially insistent that they be allowed to help in the search, since she had met Isabelle while they had been locked in the cages. Danae was livid that any of the girls had been taken the way they were. Most of them had been released after the raid, but she had chosen to stay with Bryant. It took weeks for her to warm up to Graham, after his performance in front of her. He finally convinced her it had all been a pre-planned act.

            “Go through your own files, and let us know if anything pops.” Graham said, handing out the folders.

            “Pops?” Danae raised an eyebrow at him.

            “Anything at all that will tell us where she could be hiding.”

            “What if she’s not even here anymore?” She asked, frowning. “You all go through time, so what if she was taken off the base to somewhere else entirely?”

            “No. She’s here. I can feel it.” Mykel said.

            “They would want to keep her close.” Johnny agreed. “To monitor the baby.”

            Graham’s woman, Nadia sat quietly listening to all of them. Finally she rolled her eyes. “You all are so stupid.” She stood up, glaring at Graham. “I grew up on military bases around the world. Most of them have secret underground levels no one is supposed to know about. Government contracts, research and all that go on down there. If she’s here, she’s not on the base, she’s under it.”

            “If you all get me some blueprints, I can find it. There’s only so many ways that underground facilities can be built.” A voice said from the doorway. They all turned to find Will leaning against the door frame. He grinned and walked in. “I knew you were all hiding something.”

            Mykel stood and walked over to him. “Are you here to spy on us?” He growled.

            “No.” He snorted. “I don’t know what all is going on here, but I want in. I’m part of the team. I’ve never done anything to make you suspicious of me, have I?”

No one said a word. “Let me show you that I’m loyal.” He said.

            “Fine.” Graham said. “We need you to sneak into the Generals home office and crack the code on his computer. Copy the hard drive and any other evidence you find. Bring it back to us. If you’re caught, we will tell the General you acted alone and know nothing.”

            “What about the others?” Johnny’s woman, Chloe said quietly.

            “What others?” Johnny asked.

            “Well…what if the General doesn’t actually know anything? Could it be one of the other men, Captain?” She asked Graham.

            “He knows something.” Mykel said.

            “She’s got a point though.” Graham said. “Colonel Davis and Major Ruiz have to know something about all this too.” He sighed. “We have to investigate all of them.”

            “I just want Isabelle back.” He sighed and went to the window. “I have to find her.” These last several months without her had been hell on him. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. Most nights he stayed up working out, because it was the only thing he could do that didn’t remind him of her in some way. When he did sleep, he crashed on the couch because he couldn’t stand the idea of sleeping in the same bed she had slept in. Every time he looked to her side of the bed, her pillow, he was filled with rage, guilt and grief. Most nights he didn’t even come home, because even looking at his dishes reminded him of the night they buried Jacob and the way she had given herself over to him, made love to him until nothing else mattered, and finally admitted that she loved him. No matter how mad she got at him, he knew she loved him.

            He barely ate. He had lost thirty pounds in the last couple of weeks and he looked haggard. Johnny was constantly trying to force food on him, but he threw up most of it from stress. Apparently he had an ulcer. Not knowing if she was eating well, or if she was okay ate him up inside. Literally. He would never be whole again, until he had her in his arms again and knew that she and his baby were safe from harm. “We have to find her and bring her home.”

            “We will man.” Bryant came up behind him and put his arm on his shoulder.

**********

            Isabelle paced her glass cage in irritation. Every day someone came to give her more of those awful green drinks, but they stopped answering her questions whenever she asked about Mykel. Eventually she stopped asking and started noticing the patterns. The same nurse at the same time each day came to check her blood pressure and temperature and ask her how she was feeling. An hour later, someone else brought her breakfast. Oatmeal, fruit and nuts, a slice of ham, scrambled eggs with spinach and mushrooms and peppers in it, and milk. Eventually she was able to eat without puking.

At noon, they brought her lunch of vegetable soup, an apple, and a sandwich. Sometimes they added a salad with chicken or turkey in it. In the afternoons, she got a snack. Usually it was carrots and celery with peanut butter, and more fruit. Dinner was usually chicken or beef, with a baked potato or rice, with some kind of vegetable and a roll. For dessert they gave her yogurt and berries, or peaches and cottage cheese. What she really wanted was a brownie or a piece of cheesecake, but the nurse scolded her and told her it wasn’t healthy for the baby. There was always a bottle of water or a container of milk or apple juice.

There was always a vitamin pill at each meal, which she was suspicious of. They told her it was a prenatal vitamin and it would help make the baby healthy. When she questioned taking it so many times a day, with the green drink, the nurse got mad and yelled at her, calling her ungrateful and told her she was selfish and not thinking of her baby. Every time she saw the woman, she felt like crying.

She didn’t say anything to the woman, but after that she only took the pill once a day. She flushed the rest of them when the guards changed shifts. Something about it seemed too weird, so she only took the morning dose when the mean nurse was watching her. The rest of the time, she was alone and no one spoke to her. She spent days and weeks trying to talk to the guards that monitored the video feeds, but none of them ever spoke to her. They rarely ever looked up at all. Eventually she stopped trying to talk to them.

            The nights were the worst. She missed Mykel fiercely. Sometimes she just laid in bed and cried, wishing he could hold her at night. She missed his smell, the way he laughed, the way he teased her and joked around, the intense look in his eyes when she knew he wanted her. She missed the body heat that radiated off him in the cold of the night, and the way he would spoon up against her with his hands all over her. He knew she was his, and he touched her in a way that left no doubt in her mind that she belonged to him. She even missed his snoring. Sometimes she would just lay awake at night and wonder if he was even looking for her. He had told her one time that if she ever left him, he wouldn’t come for her. Maybe he just thought she left him. Who knows what they had told him. She’d have to find a way to come back to him herself. She was determined to get free, before the baby was born and find Mykel. She wanted him to be there to see his child born. She needed him to be there. She needed him to keep them both safe and to help her raise the baby.