Jan saw the lights on the ground beneath her as she came towards the end of a roof. She took her eyes off of the car for a brief moment to gauge her steps. This eight story building came to an end, Jan planted her left leg and leapt across a four lane road like it was an alley as she landed on the roof of the nine story building across the road. She didn't even lose a stride and quickly found the fleeing car again. She smiled and dug down, adding more speed as she saw the carjacker come to an intersection. She had no idea how fast she was running. It was faster than she'd ever gone before, and it was freaking awesome. She saw the target car turn into an office complex. The cops had been giving good chase, but they lost the car and turned the wrong way. That was fine. Jan's calf flexed again as she jumped, this time from a nine story building down to the roof of a six story one. A few more strides from her long muscular legs and she was to the end of this building. She saw the car again, now backing into the bottom level of a parking garage beneath a midrise building. Jan smiled and jumped the six stories to the ground. Her legs were so strong that she barely made a sound as she landed, her calves, quads, and hamstrings taking up most of the shock within themselves. She ran across the lot, keeping to the shadows between the sparse lighting towards the garage. She jumped up to the second floor of the parking garage and heard the carjacker pulling the car towards the back on the ground level.
Tripp got out of the car and listened for anybody coming close. He didn't hear anything except the idling Cadillac and his own breathing. It had been a long time since he'd done a crime like this, he thought as he pulled out and lit a cigarette. The cops would come after him, but right after he'd taken that old couple's car he thought he'd seen something following him up on the rooftops. That had to be paranoia screwing with him. "So far so good", he muttered and took a drag.
"Not exactly", Jan said as she landed behind him.
"Holy shit!", he exclaimed and jumped back into the car. He saw her shadow move, but he was about to get the hell out of there. He slammed the transmission into drive and pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor. The engine revved to the redline, but the car didn't move an inch. He looked up through the windshield and there she was, in her loose blue and purple blouse. He couldn't see any of the rest of her torso except for her arms. He'd never seen biceps that peaked before. Even across the hood he could make out the flexing sinews of those boulders holding up the front of this heavy sedan. Tripp got a good idea and stopped trying to go forward just long enough to put the car in reverse. He pressed the gas again and the woman holding up the front of the stolen car laughed.
"It doesn't work that way. Are we gonna do this all night", that bitch taunted.
Tripp had seen enough. No car was worth this much. His heart was racing and he was sweating like he was in a sauna. He opened the door and jumped out. Jan looked at him running off towards the exit and waited until the wheels stopped spinning to gently put the car back on the ground. The car began rolling away from her. She looked over her shoulder then rushed around and used her foot to set the parking brake, keeping the car in place while she took off after Tripp.
He didn't go to the exit like she'd thought. She saw a door off to the right just as it closed. She didn't like going into something blindly, but she had no choice. She took off towards the door and quickly heard that there really was a person going down some metal steps. Jan went down a couple of steps, then looked down the center of the winding staircase and smiled broadly. She threw her legs over the rails and dropped three stories to the bottom, landing like it had been a simple hop. "Fucking shit!", Tripp exclaimed and went through another door into a mechanical space.
By this point, Jan was tiring of the chase. "Come on man, you can't get away and I have somewhere else to be!"
"Then go and leave me the hell alone", Tripp called out as he worked his way towards the emergency exit that he knew was there. Jan turned her head towards the sound of his voice and was behind him in just a couple of seconds.
"Okay, buddy. That's it now", Jan said and Tripp spun around. He looked off to his right. The door was still a little ways off and he was trapped from moving to his left by some big equipment. Jan saw the fear in his eyes just before he pulled the same gun he'd pulled on that old couple.
"Stay back!", he yelled and pointed the gun at her.
She sighed. "Do you really think that gun's going to stop me? You just saw me lift a Cadillac and jump down thirty-five feet."
"Last warning!", Tripp shouted as he literally backed up against the wall.
Jan's previously somewhat amused expression dropped to one of lethal seriousness. "You shoot me with that fucking thing and ruin my outfit, and the cops will have to scrape what's left of you off the floor with a shovel." His hands began to shake. "Don't try it, buddy. We've both had our fun for one night, but it stops now. Hand me that gun and I promise I won't hurt you."
"Will you let me leave?", Tripp tried to negotiate.
Jan shook her head slowly. "I saw the look on that couple's face when you pulled your gun on them. That's what made me decide to come after you in the first place. A car can be replaced, but peace of mind can't. So I figured I'd do a good deed, but you've got to pay for what did. It doesn't have to cost your life though, but if you pull that trigger, I swear I'll rip your body in half."
Tripp looked this tall woman in the eyes and studied her face. And then his gaze swept down to her mostly bare arms. Her biceps still looked so strong and pumped, and realized that those arms couldn't just lift a car, they could probably rip one in half. He lowered the gun and let it drop to the concrete floor.
"Good man", Jan said with her smile returning as stepped past him to pick up the gun, then motioned for him to start walking. "Come on with me."
Tripp stepped towards her. "I didn't really want to hurt nobody. It was just a nice ride."
"I understand", Jan said as the started towards the door. "What's your name?"
"Tripp McKenzie."
"Well let's go upstairs Tripp", Jan said without actually touching him. "I'll get a hold of the cops, but if you behave I'll let you walk out of here like a man."
About halfway up the steps Tripp looked over his shoulder to the beautiful woman behind him. "Could you really rip my body in half?"
"Yeah, I can."
"Were… were really going to?", he asked in a trembling tone.
Jan smiled at him. "Nah. But I would have knocked the crap out of you though."
Brian Pronger grimaced then hung his head as he handed over two hundred of the last three hundred dollars he had to his name. "Thaaank you", LaShaunta said and slipped the bills into her stack as if she wasn't breaking Brian's heart.
"Why can't anybody land on Marvin Gardens?", he exclaimed after surveying his situation.
LaShaunta laughed. "Come on Brian. You know nobody ever lands on the yellows. It's like a universal fact."
"Yeah", ten year old Timmy Rogers agreed as he picked up the dice. "The universe hates yellow. But I tell you what… I'll give you 130 for Reading Railroad."
LaShaunta laughed again. "This kid's a shark. I warned you against Monopoly", she reminded Brian.
"Yeah yeah", he lamented and started reaching for the deed to the first property he'd purchased."
"Nice doing business with ya", Timmy exclaimed and put this card with his collection of others. Brian eyed Timmy's piece and counted the places to Tennessee and New York, which he also owned. Timmy rolled the dice and landed on Free Parking. He looked over at Brian with a big smile on his face. "Imagine that."
"I was starting to worry", Avraham Ben-Ami told his girlfriend as she joined him at the table. He stood up and they kissed before he pulled out her chair.
"Would you have come to rescue me?", she asked as he took his seat.
"Of course I would. I'm not sure what I could do if you couldn't handle a situation, but… I am resourceful." Jan smiled and took a sip of the wine that Avi had ordered. She wasn't yet 21, but if nobody asked, she wouldn't tell. "So what did you do to the guy after you caught him? I lost sight of you once you went down into that basement."
"You saw me that far?"
He smiled and his eyes glinted in the candle light. "I had to keep a watch on my girl."
"Well, he got arrested and the car was recovered. Nobody got hurt."
Avi took another drink and was struck at how nice the wine list was at this place. "You seem to have settled nicely into your role as neighborhood super hero."
Jan laughed. "Some things just piss me off, and scaring those people… that pissed me off."
"Are you still pissed off?"
"No", she declared with a shake of her beautiful head.
"Good", Avi said then reached into his pocket to pull out a gift wrapped in red satin. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Okay Brian, give me the Electric Company and I'll float you for a little while", LaShaunta offered and Brian groaned.
"Wait. I'll give you three hundred for Electric Company", Timmy shouted.
"Hey!", LaShaunta protested.
"You'll have a monopoly, LaShaunta. I can't have that", Timmy explained.
Brian laughed and slapped the deed over to Timmy. LaShaunta was a bit cash poor after putting down a couple of hotels. She had to sit there and take it while Timmy blocked her. "I'm getting something to drink. You guys want anything?", Brian asked as he headed to the kitchen.
"A flavored water would be great", LaShaunta said. "Doesn't matter what flavor." She looked at the board again and realized that very quickly she'd been going one on one with Timmy. That would be fine because this night was turning out to be more fun than any of her recent dates had been anyway. Timmy's mother had to work a double shift to deal with the Valentine's Day crowd so she needed a babysitter. Jan was usually up for the task, but she had a date herself. Sara was out with Armen. Alisha was trying out some guy from Tech, auditioning him for the role as her boyfriend. His odds probably weren't good, but LaShaunta wasn't a killjoy. She'd let Alisha figure that out herself. At first LaShaunta was going to be stuck, babysitting Timmy, a kid she'd never even met, all by herself, but Brian was willing to come over and help. At least Brian and Timmy were already acquainted, plus Brian really was a cool guy, although she probably wouldn't say that to his face.
"I'm starting to think Brian's not very good at Monopoly", Timmy whispered to LaShaunta. She just grinned. "So how long have you known Jan?", he asked.
"Since freshman year."
"And now you're roommates?"
"Yep."
"So you're friends with Alisha and Sara too?"
"I am. I actually met Sara first and then she introduced me to Jan and a bit later I met Alisha", she explained and Timmy looked on with unwavering interest.
"Have you and Jan ever done anything against each other?"
"Like what?", LaShaunta asked.
"You know… played basketball or softball stuff like that."
"A little."
"I didn't ask if you guys sparred because I'm not sure if you can fight and you might be too small to fight Jan anyway." Brian walked back into the room to see LaShaunta laughing pretty hard. "What?", Timmy asked with a shrug.
"I kicked Jan's butt a few days ago, but she doesn't want to admit it. That makes us 1 and 1."
"Wait!", Timmy yelled. "You beat Jan!?!"
LaShaunta smiled. "I want to say I beat her like a rented mule, but that's not true. It was really close this time, just like the first time."
Timmy studied LaShaunta closely. "But how?", he finally asked.
Brian chuckled. "Cause Jan might have the height advantage, but she doesn't have much of a strength advantage."
"No way!", Timmy exclaimed.
Brian looked across the table to LaShaunta. "A demonstration might make a believer out of him."
LaShaunta looked skeptical for a moment then rolled her sleeve way up. He saw the muscles moving around beneath her mocha colored skin, but when she bent her arm and flexed her biceps Timmy's mouth dropped open. Brian's almost did too. He had seen LaShaunta's body hard at work on the track plenty of times, but until this moment he'd never actually seen her flex. It was like a revelation.
Her entire arm thickened first, like it was pressurizing. Everything from her forearms to her shoulder just thickened immediately. A mound began to rise along her upper arm. It grew higher and thicker, swelling as LaShaunta closed her fist. Her forearm was studded with muscle and her biceps seemed to still be taking shape, growing bigger still and harder. A vein throbbed along the inside of her elbow and ran near the dividing line between the still rising double peak of her bicep and the bloated triceps raging below. LaShaunta's bicep finally looked finished building itself. Her outer muscle head looked like the edge of some weathered cliff while the inner head looked like the side of some unscalable mountain.
"Wow", Timmy exclaimed for both he and Brian, but Timmy did something that would have gotten Brian smacked. He leaned over and put both of his hands on LaShaunta's arm and squeezed. "Really hard!", Timmy declared after a couple of attempts to dent LaShaunta's muscle. She reached over and gave her own arm a squeeze, then twisted up her cute face.
"I can get it harder than that", she declared. She straightened her arm and shook it for a moment before curling it again. This time she really put something into it. The single vein was joined by several others, as LaShaunta bore down. The first couple of striations showed near her delts, but soon her biceps was well and truly shredded. "Give it a squeeze now", she told Timmy through clenched teeth. His little hands were eager. His own face screwed up as he really gave her arm a good squeeze.
"Man!", Timmy declared and collapsed back into his seat. "I need to start working out. Girls are getting way too strong for me!" LaShaunta and Brian shared a good laugh.
"Please tell me you have a room", Avi said.
The guy looked like he wasn't sure as he began typing on the computer. "I've got one suite left."
"I'll take it", Avi told him and handed over his credit card. This time the usually long distance couple managed to keep their hands off of each other during the elevator ride and all during the trip down the hall towards their suite, because there was a bellhop with them. "Would you like anything?", the bellhop asked after opening their door and turning on the lights.
"We're good", Avi said as he took Jan around her waist. She grinned and opened her little handbag and handed over the first bill that touched her fingers. It happened to be a Benjamin. The bellhop gave a little bow as he began to close the door. "You two have a wonderful evening", he said with extra enthusiasm and closed the door.
"Oh we will", Jan said with a smile as he closed the door. She kissed all around Avi's face before ending up at his lips. He had to keep his neck craned slightly upward even after Jan kicked off her heels. His hands wandered her body from her hips up her back towards her shoulders while Jan's hands went to Avi's ass. With a little hiss of effort her biceps and delts flexed as she lifted him off the floor.
"Oh tonight it's going to be like that", he asked as Jan bounced him a couple of times to get a better grip. He could tell that she wasn't using her gift to hold him up because her arms shook slightly under his weight, and that just turned him on even more.
Jan grinned and lifted all of Avi's 185 pounds higher. "I had no idea how excited that little car chase made me", she said then kissed him again.
"I can tell", Avi breathed as he ran his hands along her arms, tracing each rock hard contour. She took careful steps towards the bed, feeling the burn in her biceps and responding by flexing them even harder. Avi felt his fingers spread apart as his girlfriend's muscles practically burst. She finally set him down at the foot of the bed then reached behind her head and pulled loose her hair, letting it fall across her shoulders.
Avi dropped to his knees and lifted Jan's skirt a couple inches to show off more of her long peerless legs. He took the tips of his fingers and gently touched a spot on her left thigh and he felt her knees quiver. A little growl escaped her lips as she looked down to Avi with passion filled eyes. "Do that again", she said and began unbuttoning her blouse. Avi grinned and did Jan one better. Jan had long ago figured out how he did it, but he used his gift to look just beneath Jan's skin and when he touched a particular nerve the right way she felt like she was going to melt.
She stepped back, letting Avi take in her body as she pulled off her blouse and unfastened her skirt, letting it fall to the floor at her feet. Love and lust hit Avi him like twin hammers. She was so utterly perfect that it was nearly overwhelming. She stood there in red lace for a heartbeat before Avi reached up and pulled her towards him. He kissed her hard toned stomach, worshipping her. She exhaled and flexed lightly, causing her eight pack revealed itself. Avi gave each dense, shredded brick the attention it deserved. He came to her bellybutton and kissed a trail down and down and down to the rim of her low slung panties. He teased with his fingers a bit, then pulled those out of the way too. He stopped and ran his hands down Jan's long legs feeling their beautiful shape and soft smooth skin. Slowly down and up he went, stopping at points just to make Jan tremble as he touched her inner thighs or at little spots along the way. He gripped her ass tightly, the tips of his fingers squeezing her round globes until Jan instinctively tensed her glutes. Avi moaned as Jan's body drove him wild.
She pulled off her bra and he slid the bottoms slowly. He got to his feet and pulled his girlfriend's hot naked body against him. They kissed again and Jan began removing Avi's shirt, showing off his athletic body. He took Jan by the shoulders and laid on the bed as he retrieved the emergency condom that he'd brought with him, just in case.
As he looked down at Jan looking up at him, he saw the dominance from a few moments earlier drift away. Her expression was so eager and yet vulnerable. Avi climbed into the bed, hovering his body above hers as he got lost in her eyes. It never failed to amaze him that a woman so mind boggling powerful and utter fearless in the face of danger could ever be like she was now. A woman who was made of harder stuff than steel had given Avi the tender part of herself, the part that wouldn't heal from any wound. He'd be damned before he ever did anything to hurt her.
"Ok maestro", Brian said then looked down at his hand again. "Give me two cards."
Timmy moved very deliberately and slid two cards off the deck and pushed them over to Brian like he was dealing a hand in an old Western. "Two cards", he said then looked over at LaShaunta.
"I'll take one", she announced and tossed a single card away.
Timmy nodded. "One card for the lady."
"I'll raise twenty", Brian said and dropped a plastic chip into the pile.
"I'll see your twenty and raise ten more", LaShaunta said.
"I call", Timmy said and dropped two chips into the pile. "That's right isn't it… call?"
Brian smiled and nodded. Timmy smiled back. "Ok. The house has two pairs. Kings and Jacks!"
LaShaunta looked disappointed and Brian simply laid his hand down on the table and admitted defeat. Timmy cheered and used his little arms to rake in his haul. Brian didn't have to tell LaShaunta that he was letting Timmy win. He really had a full house. "Hey you guys want to teach me that Texas poker game. I think I've got this draw poker down."
Brian shrugged. "Sure. I'll deal this time to show you how it goes."
"Okay", Timmy agreed and pushed the deck over.
"Me too", Jan whispered and pulled closer to him. "We have to get back though."
"Yeah I know. I remember what you told me." He spun until he was on top of her again. Her skin was so amazingly soft, and her body so amazingly hard and fit that he was getting excited all over again. He pushed up, giving himself some distance to admire Jan's naked body, and a grin slowly spread across his face. "We've got a little more time", he said then planted a kiss.
"But Avi, we can't. You said you didn't bring anymore, you know condoms."
Avi's grin grew into a smile. "Don't need one for what I've got in mind." He pulled the covers over his head and kissed his way down Jan's long body until he reached his goal. He pulled her legs apart and went to work.
Never in a million years would Jan have considered herself a scream, but Avi was trying to prove to his girlfriend that she hadn't seen even half of the tricks in his bag. Jan gripped Avi by his hair and her hips moved as if on their own. Her entire body flushed crimson and she looked like she was drowning in a river of pure bliss. Wave after wave of pleasure broke against the shore of Jan's mind. Avi picked up his pace and Jan's shuddered. He gripped Jan's hips, holding her tightly and brought her to a thundering climax. She bit her lip and arched her back, forcing Avi up. "Mmmm", she moaned. "Move your head!", she squealed and Avi moved his head before her trembling legs crushed together hard enough to have sent Avi to the ER with a fractured skull. Her gift stayed right where it was supposed to be, but even without her super strength Jan's legs were plenty strong.
Avi didn't move his hand though, and when Jan's orgasm started to abate, Avi started again and brought Jan to back to back earthshaking orgasms. He kept her in a state of euphoria. He was excited again too just watching Jan's naked body flex and writhe in ecstasy. He buried his face between her legs and again brought Jan to the pinnacle of pleasure.
Avi took Jan to the brink of pleasure induced madness before finally stopping. He'd wanted to make sure that his girl was well and truly satisfied before he stopped. This was repayment for her patience during his long absences. "Okay", she pleaded breathlessly and wiped some sweat from her brow. "You have certainly proven your point. Oh man you have proven your point", she exclaimed before falling back to the bed of cushions.
"You liked it eh?"
"Liked it? This is the first time I ever wished I smoked." They lay there for a time in each other arms before Jan stood up, taking the cover with her.
"Where're you going?", Avi asked and rolled over to his side.
"I have to take a shower and then we have to go."
"But why are you taking the covers? Anybody looking has already seen you, and if they didn't, then they certainly heard you", Avi teased with a sideways grin.
Jan looked down at him with a smirk and then to his amazement, she simply dropped the blanket and stood on the deck, stark naked and as beautiful as anything that could be imagined by a human brain. She just let him stare, watching his eyes dart from place to place, seeing her like no one else ever could. She didn't care at all if anybody else was looking either because this moment, like this night, belonged to the two of them. Jan turned then and walked back into the hotel room, the city lights bathing her body in multicolored light. She stopped at the unused bed and reached into the little purse and retrieved something. She turned around to face Avi and said, "Look at what I found."
Avi's expression changed. "You were holding out on me!" Jan grinned as she put the edge of the condom package between her teeth. She turned her back and tore it open on the way to the shower. She didn't have to look back because she heard Avi's rushing footsteps behind her.
The trip back to Jan's apartment was too quick. Avi had managed to come on this date without his security, so it really was just the two of them talking and laughing the entire way. A song came on the radio and Jan just had to sing along with it. She was a great musician, and her singing voice was okay so long as she stayed in her lane. This song was completely out of her lane, but she belted it out anyway. Avi tried to keep it together but by the time she got to the chorus, he completely lost it, laughing so hard the car swerved a little bit. Jan just 'sang' even louder.
Avi paused at the gate to the apartment complex and put in the visitor's code that he'd memorized a while back. They were leaning against each other as they came up the steps. Jan reached into her little hand bag to get the key. They both straightened their clothes before Jan opened the door. When she did, she realized that nobody inside was actually paying attention to them anyway.
Brian was using his phone camera to take pictures of Timmy hanging from LaShaunta's left arm, trying with all of his weight to make her arm drop. The strain showed on the track star's face, but her arm was still perfectly level with the floor despite Timmy's weight and his efforts. Shaunie's muscles were as big and pumped as Jan had ever seen them, and for Avi, this was the first time seeing her period. Her shirt was slight up with the bottom of her hard six pack showing while her deltoids were flexed so hard that a wave of ripped muscle undulated from the front of her shoulder, to the back. Her biceps were flexed so hard that its usual graceful sweep had been hardened into that striated dual headed cliff again.
"Do all of your friends have muscles that put most people's to shame?", Avi asked and the group looked over at the two people standing in the doorway.
"Jan!", Timmy yelled and thankfully jumped off of LaShaunta's arm to run over, hugging her around the waist.
"I think I was about to tire her out. That arm was coming down", Timmy declared.
"No it wasn't!", LaShaunta said back, then shook out her shoulder. "Oh you must be Avi", she said and walked over.
"Nice to finally meet you", he said. "Jan talks about you often."
"What about me?", Timmy asked.
"And you too", Avi said and ran his hand through the kid's hair. "Brian, good to see you again."
"Likewise."
"Well Timmy, I guess you found somebody else's muscles to test", Jan said and looked at LaShaunta.
The boy looked mortified. "No, I just wanted to see. I mean, yours are still the best", he stumbled over himself to say. Jan chuckled, but then he looked back to LaShaunta with some worry still on his face.
"It's okay Timmy", LaShaunta let him off the hook with a laugh. "I'm not the jealous type."
Jan walked into the room and saw the Monopoly board over to the side and poker chips on the table instead. "Brian, did you teach Timmy poker?", she accused.
"We both did", Brian attempted to deflect. "It was her idea!"
"That's because you suck at Monopoly. I figured I'd pick a game that you're actually good at."
Jan looked down to Timmy. "It's he said she said. You've got to break the tie."
"Oh it's true", Timmy said emphatically. "Brian's no good at Monopoly at all. I mean he bought the yellows!" Everyone was laughing, including Brian, when there was a soft knock at the door.
"I'm so sorry I'm late", Mary Rogers said as she hurried into the apartment. "I hope it wasn't a problem."
"No, Timmy's awesome", LaShaunta told his mother.
Mary looked so thankful that she was actually about to tear up. "Jan, I have no idea what I would do without you and your friends."
"Well, you don't have to", Jan said and put her arm around Mary.
"Bye Jan", Timmy yelled and broke away from his mother to hug Jan around the waist again.
"Good night Timmy."
Then he ran away from Jan and hugged LaShaunta extra tight to see if her abs had any give. "Bye", he told her after giving up. She leaned down and hugged him back.
After Mary left, Avi was about to leave, too but then LaShaunta asked if he wanted a nightcap. In this case that meant a big bowl of ice cream. He accepted nonetheless. LaShaunta said that she would go crazy if she didn't eat some ice cream at least once a week, and that his qualified as depressed eating since she was babysitting on Valentine's Day instead of going out with a Valentine.
Brian laughed. "Oh come on Shaunie! I'll be your Valentine."
"Really?!?", LaShaunta squealed and drew her hands together with mock joy, but then she leaned over and planted a very real kiss on his lips. Just like what usually happens, this joke kiss lingered longer than she'd intended. "Wow", she said after a moment. "Heather was right. You really are good at that."
Brian slapped the sofa arm. "Does everybody gossip about me?", he wondered.
"Hey", Avi began and leaned over. "If it gets beautiful women to kiss you, don't complain."
Sara and Armen came after a while. There were some introductions since he and Avi had never met. Although it wasn't her cheating day either, Sara got a bowl of ice cream too but only after Armen offered to eat her bowl too. It was quite late when Alisha came home, but not because her date had been successful. Her date had insisted on taking her to dinner in Athens, which was a charming little town that also didn't mitigate the disaster that the Valentine's date became. Alisha had promised herself that she wouldn't spill her guts about her miserable night, but not five minutes after entering the apartment and accepting a bowl of pralines and cream than she began recounting her story.
CIA Officer Luisa Santiago had gone to bed early, but her sleep hadn't been smooth. She'd been much too excited to rest easily. Over the last several days, she'd been forced to sit and watch Jack Caufield breeze through the written portion of his evaluations, and all the physical tests so far too. He'd passed the firearms training eval so easily that he and the instructors had just swapped notes after the tests. It wasn't that Jack was the best marksman they'd ever seen, but his target determination and acquisition skills were excellent. The hand to hand tests had been barely a warm up for Jack. He'd been training again seriously for quite a while and the young officers he'd gone up against had no chance at all. Jack had tossed them around until they'd gotten frustrated, but then he'd become the teacher, explaining how to apply the skills they'd learned out in the real world. By the end of that evaluation session, Jack and the senior hand to hand instructors had been telling stories about their old days in the field
If Luisa heard one more story about the exploits of the legendary 1st Special Operations Group she might puke. She'd heard from some CIA people about things 1st SOG had done in Iran or what they'd done in North Korea. She had heard the same story about a 1st SOG's mission in East German from about five different people, and one of those people hadn't even been born when that mission had taken place. The truth was that there was an entire generation of spies who measured themselves against the things that Jack Caufield, Billy Granger, Boons Lee, Birdman Etheridge, and Rainbow Brite Grant had done during the Cold War. To be fair though, Luisa had met Rainbow Brite personally and he was pretty much the scariest man she'd ever seen.
Back before Jack's evals had begun, and only for a minute or two, Luisa had actually felt sorry for Jack. He was a legend in his own time in both the Special Forces and Intelligence communities, and that legend was going to be tested. Truth rarely matched up to the fiction. Now though, Luisa didn't feel any sympathy at all. Jack had exceeded everybody's expectations of what he might have left in his tank. The evaluation process was enhancing Jack's legend rather than tearing it down, but not it was Luisa's turn.
She pulled some people she'd worked with in the field and set up a real world scenario because it was time to see how Jack would function out in the field. This test was right in Luisa's wheelhouse. The premise of this test was simple. They were in Alexandria, Virginia and Jack was out on the street. He was being followed by an unknown number of CIA officers that he'd never seen. He had to evade them and figure out who was following him. Luisa and her assistant were posted up in a soon to be leased office space just off of downtown. She looked through her binoculars, picking out one of her operatives in the crowd.
"We lost the visual", he reported with a bit of annoyance in his tone.
"How the hell do you lose a guy whose head is above most of the crowd?", Luisa demanded.
"If we knew that we wouldn't have lost him", another operative reported.
Luisa squeezed the radio hard before saying, "He's probably in some spot trying to pick out who's following him."
"You're exactly right", she heard a voice from behind her say.
The assistant was too stunned to react and Luisa turned around so fast that she actually fell out of her chair. "How! How in the hell did you get in here!?!"
Jack's grin made Luisa fire breathing mad. "By being a sneaky bastard, ma'am", he quoted from one his favorite movies.
"Test concluded", Luisa reported to the team.
"What?", a voice asked. "Where's the target."
"He's here in HQ", she growled.
"Damn", one officer said with admiration. "Fuckin' Bear", another one exclaimed. To make matters worse, when they made it back to Langley, the story had already circulated. When Jack hopped out of the van, he got a standing ovation. To his credit, he didn't seem to soak in the applauds. He just walked into the changing area with a bemused smile on his face. He wasn't even thinking about this latest feat or whether it would join some of his others in CIA lore. Instead he was thinking about what he could possibly do to repay Amaris for making him look like a genius today.
Sebastian Howell had stopped in London after hearing the tale the Ekholms had spun. It was far too much to keep to himself so he went to the only person who might understand. Sebastian and his father had talked for a while and the information was indeed serious enough to draw Eddie Howell's brow together. He told his son to get back to his post and wait for guidance from the Ministry. Sebastian had no idea that after leaving the office, his father had called for his car to be brought around. Eddie had the driver head straight for London's famed Financial District. The car stopped in front of a gleaming office tower and Eddie's personal valet walked to the front desk. "Madam", he said respectfully. "Could you please tell Mr. Ndiema that Edward Howell is here to see him?"
"But sir, Mr. Ndiema isn't taking visitors today."
The man was undaunted. "I was told that he would make an exception."
The receptionist made a call up to her counterpart on the proper floor and looked up after only a few seconds of explaining the request. "Yes, he can go right up."
"Thanks for your help", the valet said and went out to the car. A couple of minutes later, an impeccably dressed man walked through the lobby and towards the elevator with the valet and a personal security officer in tow. The receptionist was used to seeing rich businessmen and bankers walk past her, but this guy was something else.
The elevator opened and Jomo Ndiema was standing there with a big genuine smile. "It has been a long time, old friend", Jomo greeted Eddie warmly. The two men were born in the same year, but Jomo's dark skin looked almost ageless.
The two shook vigorously and then both threw arms over the other's shoulder, completely breaking the etiquette both had learned in their young years. "Yes. Far too long," Eddie agreed.
They went to Jomo's spacious office. "So what brings you across town?"
The smile fell from Eddie's face. "Some information I recently received from my oldest son."
"Sebastian?" Eddie nodded. "How's the young man doing?"
"Quite well. He's stumbled onto something that he probably doesn't fully grasp however." Eddie sighed as he and Jomo sat down. "You see, my friend", Eddie began then took a deep breath. "Somebody has kidnapped the Northern Node." Jomo dropped his tea.
Sebastian was back in Poland in a few hours, and slightly stiff from the plane ride. "So how did it go with the parents?", Norma asked Sebastian once they were back in his quarters.
"Not to plan", he admitted. "The mother can sense lies and I was covered in them when I arrived. I wasn't even wearing my own clothes for goodness sakes. Anyway, I had to come clean and give she and her husband the facts."
"You told them that you're a spy and all that?", Norma asked excitedly.
"I had to", Sebastian said just after popping the top on a couple of beers. He took a sip from one bottle and handed Norma the other. "I wanted that info and I was going to get it one way or the other."
"So what did they tell you?"
Sebastian drew in a breath. "They told me that their son is quite gifted. He can do what they can do and much more." He went on to explain some of the particulars. "The kid's even helped the cops in Denmark before. That's probably how he got found out in the first place."
"Maybe", Norma allowed with a shrug. "Are you sure it wasn't a family member that sold the kid out? More often than not any assholes are close by."
Sebastian looked over at Norma and smiled. A few weeks ago that thought would never have even entered her mind. "The family's small and close-knit from all indications. Mum's an only child as is the father. Plus the grandparents are gifted too, which leads into the last part." Sebastian took another drink from his bottle. "There are stories going back more than a thousand years in both families that some of their ancestors could channel and control vast powers, wielding them at will. According to them nobody in generations has had even a fraction of that power, but these kidnappers must believe that young Mathias does.
"Poor kid", Norma said, really meaning it. She was sure Mathias was happy with his life, but now he was locked up in a box alone. "Why is he in a shipping container?"
"Ah", Sebastian said. "I forgot that part. His abilities are strengthened by people, by the energy that we give off. If he stays away from people long enough, his powers simply become dormant. His parents are certain that the only reason Mathias displays his powers so strongly is because his entire little family is quite gifted. Gifted people give off more energy apparently."
"They've been feeding the kid super powered steroids his whole life."
"Yes, but now they are powerless to get back their loved one."
Norma stood up and finished her beer. "That's where you come in. You'll figure this out."
Sebastian shook his head. "I'm not so sure."
"I have complete faith in you. By the time I get back, you'll probably already have him."
Sebastian almost asked if Norma and her team were about to go on another mission when he remembered that no, Norma and her team were due for some R&R. "Have a good trip home", he told her and she turned around with a smile.
"And don't you think too hard while I'm gone." That brought a welcomed smile to Sebastian's handsome face just before Norma closed the door, leaving him alone with his thoughts and problems yet again.
more on the way soon...
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