"Just a few minutes more", Carri told Joe.

"Good", Slater exclaimed with an exasperated sigh. "This fucking road sucks."

Carri had a notion to punch a hole in his head, but she kept five of her fingers on the steering wheel, and three more pressed firmly against Joe's neck. Soon a building appeared out of the darkness at the end of the path. The windows were all blacked out and no exterior lights shined either. Slater glanced at his watch while Carri drove towards the side of the big archaic brick building. The limestone minarets on the top were mostly decorative but the guards marching the roof behind them were quite real, and they'd had their eyes on that van for the last several miles.

A wide door clattered up and the van drove inside. A group of security guys were there already waiting. Slater jumped out of the van before Carri'd even brought it to a stop. He had a pistol in his hand, the same pistol he'd used an hour and a half earlier to blow his father's brain all over the hospital floor, but the guards took little notice of it. He shoved it into his waist band and turned to see Carri with her deceptive strength lift Joe out of the van.

"We've got a wounded man here!", she yelled so some men would come around to help save Joe's life. "Don't worry. You'll get to the sawbones. He'll fix you right up. I'll take you there myself."

"No!", Slater yelled. "Let one of these guys handle it. I want you to personally make sure these two assholes are locked up in a dingy fucking room." He pulled the van door open to reveal Ted Matthews and Montez Jefferson.

A slip of anger passed across Carri's cute face as she handed Joe off to a couple buddies who'd known him a lot longer than she had anyway. She came around the van as Slater stood there looking like a conquering hero. "I'm going to talk to Martin", Slater announced and strutted off towards the hall then up the stairs. Carri stood looking at the two still groggy men and reach in. She grabbed Montez with her left hand and took Ted in her bloodstained right hand. Neither man's weight was even enough to make her muscles have to work. She slid them out and draped both men over her shoulders. The other guards parted while the muscle girl carried Slater's prisoners towards the stairs where she'd lock them up, unless Slater change his mind and wanted to kill them now.

Heather Matthews walked into the break room at a secret government office and closed the door behind her, taking care not to slam it. There was no need to add drama to an already tense situation, even if Heather was seething. Taylor looked up when her sister walked in, but her gaze didn't stay up long. She went back to pondering a small crack in the concrete floor, wondering if her activities down in the holding cells had anything to do with it.

"What were you thinking?", Heather demanded, her usually cheerful face flushed and frowning. "Did you somehow think I didn't want to come here and find out what happened to Daddy and Montez? You just stormed out and left me!"

"What do you want me to say?", Taylor asked weakly. An hour ago her great power had surrounded her like an aura and even before that her very presence was enough to make people want to bow, but not with Heather. Taylor's little sister could always cut directly through all of that, especially when she was upset.

"I want you to say you made a mistake! That you shouldn't have gone off like that!", Heather yelled.

"I made a mistake! Okay!", Taylor shot back. "I do make them from time to time, and you of all people have no problem pointing out when I do."

"Even after you sped away and drove here going like top speed, I was dumb enough to believe that you'd go up to the command center and find out what information the organization had. I actually went up there looking for you! Good thing Uncle Jack went down to the holding cells. I don't know how he knew, but he figured you'd be down there working that prisoner over."

"It's what he would have done", Taylor replied.

"Oh no you don't. Uncle Jack kept his head! You lost yours and I'm still not sure why."

Taylor sighed. "This isn't supposed to happen to me… to us. Daddy's not supposed to go out and get in a shootout and get himself hurt. I know you love Montez, whether you're willing to admit it or not doesn't matter, but at least he knows the risks. Not Daddy. He trades currency and commodities. He's got nothing to do with any of this. When I heard what Sara said about him being hurt and abducted, I felt helpless. And I'm not used to feeling helpless, ever."

Heather looked on as tears formed in her sister's eyes, and Taylor was rarely one to cry. "You can't blame yourself for everything, and you can't always put everything on your shoulders no matter how strong you are. We're in this together, all of us! You should have realized that. If Uncle Jack hadn't stopped you then we'd all be helpless."

Taylor looked down at the ground again. "I know."

Heather sat down next to Taylor and put her arm around her slumped shoulders, finally forgiving her sister like she did several times a day. "I just hope Sara's able to get some information from that guy you nearly beat to death."

"Yeah", Taylor began softly. "So do I."

Ken opened his eyes and squinted against the harsh lights. His head throbbed dully and his face felt numb. He remembered his fight with that tall bitch, but it was fuzzy, just like his vision. He rubbed his eyes and moaned as he rolled to a sitting position on the side of the cot. He looked around and saw that he was in the same holding cell as before. They hadn't even put him in a new one. All the broken concrete and crushed steel was gone. The damage was still there where that bitch had ripped the specially made door and all of its machinery out of the reinforced concrete walls. Ken stared at the opening, wondering if there really was nothing between him and the hallway and on to the door leading outside. He knew it couldn't be that easy. He frowned and wondered what sort of trick these people were playing on him when someone spoke.

"Oh you're finally awake", Sara Hewitt drawled pleasantly and smiled. Ken shot his eyes in her direction and saw a pretty blonde sitting behind a steel table a few feet away. "They told me you'd wake up soon, but it's getting so late I thought I might fall asleep first. They offered coffee, but it only makes me jittery. You can have some though. I have a pot over there. Do you want any coffee, Mr…", Sara opened the file on the table. "Henderson?"

Ken's frown deepened and he scowled at Sara. "What if I were to throw the fucking coffee at your head?"

The pleasant smile didn't leave Sara's face. "Oh come on Ken. There's no need for violence. I'm just here to talk. Come on over and have a seat here at the table."

Ken pushed himself up off the cot and looked at the exit before turning to Sara. "I guess they're guys out there waiting to blow me full of holes if I try and make a run for it."

"No of course not", she replied with a chuckle. "I've cleared the floor. There's nobody down here except you and I."

"Then you must be some sort of bleeding heart or just fuckin stupid. Well I ain't stupid. I know if I make a run for it I'll get killed, but right now I don't care. And I know they've got cameras and microphones watching every move I make, but you know what… I don't think help could get here before I snapped your neck like a pencil."

The smile finally fell from Sara's face as Ken's threat hung in the air like a fog. She stood up from the table slowly, putting her palms on the top to help her rise. She walked over to stand directly in front of Ken. The size difference was comical, with Sara being more than a foot shorter and more than two hundred pounds lighter. She looked like a little child standing next to a gorilla, but she stood toe to toe and looked up him.

"Do I look the least bit afraid of anything you could possibly do to me, Mr. Henderson?", Sara asked without a trace of her earlier pleasantness. "I need information from you. I believed it would be better if we could be alone, but I'm not going to play games with you. You've heard about not judging a book by its cover. That saying might as well have been written directly about me. You're very strong, but I'm powerful. There's a big difference. If you knew half of what I could do, you'd run to that chair and answer my questions. I promise to respect you though, if you respect me. I'm fair and honest, but don't you ever dare mistake me for weak or vulnerable", her last words dripped with an open warning. She kept her stare up for several seconds before she let out a long sigh and allowed her smile to return. She turned her back to Ken and walked towards the table. "Now then, have a seat so we can get started", she told him.

Ken's fingers flexed and adrenaline started flowing through his body as he looked at Sara walking away. She'd dismissed him like he was a child, no worse than that. He'd spent years getting bigger and stronger, buying the juice to enhance his muscles, to make him into a superman. It was one thing for that tall bitch to come and win in a fight, it was another for this runt to treat him like a stupid kid. It was more than Ken Henderson could take.

Before he'd even thought what he would do to her, he lunged. His power packed muscles allowed him to move at incredible speeds despite his bulk. His big hands curled into claws aiming for Sara's unprotected neck. He wanted to rip her fucking head off her body and look into her eyes while crushing her fucking skull before the guards came in and shot him full of holes. He didn't give a shit about dying, not if he'd get to feel this little bitch's bones snap before the end.

Ken had barely moved an inch before a pain in his chest brought him to his knees. Instead of grasping Sara's neck, his hands clutched at his own chest. His thick fingers dug into his fleshy pecs as an unbearable pain grew inside him. His vision dimmed and the pain spread through his body.

Sara stopped walking and turned slowly. Her face was calm, even placid as she stared at him with uncaring blue-grey eyes. A stab of pain caused a sharp cry. The two were on a level now that Ken was on his knees. He might have seen a bit of strain showing on Sara's cute young face. It showed in the corners of her eyes and there was just the tiniest trembling of her lips, but as panic grew inside him it didn't matter. She'd bested him without even breaking a sweat, while sweat poured down his purple face. Fear hit him like tsunami waves. He wordlessly pleaded with Sara to make it stop, but the pain increased. He lost feeling in his extremities. A cold chill crept up his spine, but as suddenly as it had come, the pain vanished. Ken fell to his hands and relished in the feelings of life returning to his body.

"The heart is the strongest muscle in the body, and I just stopped yours from beating", the petite blonde told the recovering strong man. "I don't enjoy inflicting pain. You could have avoided this completely if you'd listened to me. Are you ready to listen?"

"Yes", Ken reluctantly croaked.

"Good", Sara said and sat down on her side of the metal table. "Let's not have any more confrontation. There's been enough of that for one night. Please come have a seat." Ken struggled to stay upright once he got to his feet. He staggered towards the table, but was so dizzy he nearly fell twice. The chair slid his way quickly, skidding across the floor after being moved by the interrogator's invisible power. He used the back of the chair to steady himself as he sat down across from Sara.

She flashed him a businesslike smile and opened a notebook. "Okay, now we can begin. Mr. Henderson, tell me about your activities at the hospital."

Ted Matthews groaned as two arms lifted him effortlessly. He felt the steely hardness of her biceps and delts, but her feminine hands grasped him gently. She sat him on the floor propping his shoulders against the wall. He woke up with a start and jerked out of her grip, but only managed to bump his head against the hard walls.

"Relax, Mr. Matthews", a blonde woman with a cut on her forehead told him. "I'm not going to hurt you", she assured, but Ted didn't believe her.

"You're the one who helped kill Hugh! I saw you kill Montez!", Ted yelled and scrambled to his feet. He backed into a corner even though he towered over the five and half foot tall woman in front of him. He'd seen her in action, and knew there was nothing he could do if she wanted him dead.

"Your friend's alive. He's in the cell next door to you, although the walls are such that you won't be able to signal each other. Mr. Matthews please relax. I have already finished dressing your wounds, why would I do that if I was just going to kill you anyway?", she asked and tilted her head to the side.

Ted looked at the bandages on his forearms and only after taking a few breaths realized that his arm was in a sling to protect the shoulder that had already been set. "What do you want with me?"

"I don't want anything", she replied. "Slater wanted you dead, and I reasoned that the man I work for didn't, so I convinced Slater to allow you to live. That's why you and First Sergeant Jefferson are captives instead of corpses."

"There are things worse than death, young lady."

"You can call me Carri, and I'm aware of that."

"So Carri you don't work for Slater. Who do you work for? DeBraya?"

"Nominally I do, but I'm simply here to make sure my true boss' wishes and plans are carried out."

"A double agent huh? Who's your true boss?", Ted asked and looked around the room.

"I can't tell you that."

"Then why are you telling me anything at all!", Ted lashed out.

"Because I want you to trust that I'm telling you the truth. So you won't do something stupid like try to escape and end up getting yourself killed."

"I'm still not convinced that you even care if I live."

"I don't", she replied quickly. "But the man I work for does, so it's my job to keep you alive if I can. I'm strong, as you have already seen, and I'm fearless, but I'm only one against many who would do you harm."

"What about Slater? Are you going to stop him?"

"I've already told you. I'll try to keep you alive, yes even from him. But I won't reveal my true intent because that would put my true master at risk and I won't trade his safety for yours. Do you understand?"

Ted nodded. "Yeah I get it. I'll be a good boy", he said with a huff and sat down against the wall. "Will you attempt to save Montez… Sergeant Jefferson as well?", Ted begged, hoping this woman would agree.

She paused for a moment before looking back to Ted. "I'll try to get him to agree to the same conditions that you've agreed to. If he does I believe I can keep you both safe. If he doesn't then his life's outta my hands."

"Fair enough", Ted said with a bit of relief. "Thank you", he said as she opened the door to walk out. Ted's teeth clattered when the heavy locking mechanism turned sealing him inside his dank cell. He wanted to cry or to at least wallow in self pity, but he couldn't. Visions of his wife's smiling face kept popping into his head. He remembered a day on the beach from the week before when she'd been running towards him with the bright sun shining through her long ginger locks. As he'd watched Katherine frolic like a child he'd remembered what a lucky man he was for his wife, for his children, and for the life he'd been blessed to have lead. He realized as a pain went through his shoulder that those thoughts were more than enough to keep his spirits up.

"The ones that are locked", Carri replied coolly.

"Give me the key", he ordered and held out his hand.

"Now why in the hell would I do that? These are Slater's prisoners and unless he gave you the okay to go in, I think I'll keep them locked away."

"Joe said that one of those fuckers shot him. Me and the boys here want to show them what we think about what they did."

Carri chuckled and put a puppy dog look on her face. "Aww, I didn't know you guys actually had thoughts. It must have hurt to have the same one all at the same time like that. Maybe you should leave the thinking to people who're experienced with that sort of thing." She started walking away while the three men ran over her words in their heads a second and then third time before Will realized that they'd been insulted.

"Hey", he shouted and took Carri by the shoulder. He spun her round roughly.

Carri sprung towards him and pointed her index finger inches from his face. "Touch me again and I'll fucking end you!"

Will didn't look deterred. "Are you going to give me the key?"

"No", Carri stated. Will sighed and gave the smallest of nods. Gunner and Blaine rushed up from behind, grabbed Carri's wrists with both of their hands, and stretched her arms behind her. "What the hell", she exclaimed and looked at Will.

He just smirked and leaned in. He put his hands at her hips and patted for the key, but didn't feel it. He kept his hands on her body and slid them back towards her ass even if her pants didn't have back pockets. He grabbed two handfuls of her hard muscular ass before sliding his hand down her powerful tights. He rubbed all the way down her legs, feeling the contours and tracing the lines of her quads and calves before sliding his hands back up this time along her inner thighs. He slid them slowly, savoring the feeling of her body quaking ever so slightly at his touch. He fooled himself into thinking they were from pleasure. Instead it was anger.

"Oh you like this little game don't you?", Will said and quickly slid his right hand up until it stopped at her crotch. Carri didn't say a word. Gunner and Blaine looked over Carri's shoulder and salivated as their boss touched Carri's crotch again. This time rubbing his thumb over the front of her pants. "I bet you're wet", he taunted and rubbed again. Carri didn't attempt anything until he lowered his hands a few inches. Then in a flash she clamped her legs shut. "Fuck!", Will yelled and tried to pull his hands free, but they were caught between her thick legs.

Gunner and Blaine gripped Carri tighter, hoping to cause her enough pain to make her let go of their friend, instead they felt themselves being drawn forward. Carri thrust her chest out for leverage as she began pulling her arms forward. "My God", Gunner breathed as he watched the muscles in Carri's arms flex bigger and higher by the second, like muscle was being infused under her taunt skin. Gunner's heels slid across the floor, bowing to her unstoppable muscle even has every ounce of his strength was tasked with stopping just one of her arms from moving.

Blaine reset his stance, widening it like a baseball batter, but Carri's arms were like pistons in a machine with a bottomless reserve of strength. He watched her biceps knot and her chest grow outward as her pecs gained both thickness and depth. He nearly pissed his pants when he realized that Carri's right arm was stronger than his entire body. Gunner cursed and fought to keep his ground, but she just kept drawing them both towards the front.

Carri's eyes stared straight ahead, over top of Will's head. Her cheeks were sucked hollow and her body vibrated from their straining, not from her own. Her arms were all angles of hot muscle jutting and flexing sharply with tiny veins criss-crossing atop the bulging masses. Her pectorals though were on another level beyond her arms. Her biceps simply resisted the pulls of the strong men pulling at them. It was her pecs that forced them forward against their will. Carri's legs were always her first body part noticed, because they were so thick and strong looking, but her upper body was just as jacked.

A tear started at the neck of her already ruined shirt. Her swollen traps, delts, and pecs were just too much for it. The speed of the tearing increased as she put on her final surge of strength. A her twin pecs shot out from her chest like punches. Skeins of muscle like a thousand straining men flexed along the fan of her pecs until her shirt ripped all the way down to her cobblestone abs. Blaine and Gunner were almost to the front now even though they still fought tooth and nail to pull her arms backwards, but nothing they did even slowed her down.

When they were about a foot from the front, she stopped and just held them steady. They scuffled their feet and pulled with all the power in their legs, hoping to regain ground and pull her hands away from her front, but she didn't let him. She kept her arms right where she wanted them as if she'd momentarily forgotten about them. The two men had no idea what Carri was doing until they heard Will scream.

From this angle both Gunner and Blaine could see their friend writhing. She wasn't content to just trap his hands, now she crushed them. She hadn't crossed her ankles or made any discernible movement, but Will reacted like his hands were going through a meat grinder. He kicked his boots against the floor and tugged and pulled and cursed even though Carri didn't seem to be moving. Then Gunner noticed her thighs. She was flexing them, making them grow. They were noticeably bigger than before and still growing thicker. "Fuck me", he mumbled as he watched Carri pour more strength into her flex. If her biceps had flexed like muscle was being injected, her thighs swelled like a rising tide, slowly and inexorably. The sweep of her quads would have made a bodybuilder weep and the dense fibers would have put a powerlifter to shame. Even with the madness of her Carri's thighs, hamstrings, and calves, it was her inner thighs that were doing the damage to Will's hands. Her adductors might as well have been crushers or pinchers pouring tons of pressure on Will's relatively delicate hand bones.

The nerves in his hands felt the pain and pressure of her thighs, but also the fibers of the muscles contracting to cause him that pain and create that pressure. He was as aroused as he was tortured as Carri continued to flex her legs. She looked down to see what her efforts had done, and saw Will's face with its mix of awe, pain, and lust and realized that she hadn't gone far enough. Carri's lip curled into a snarl and her eyes narrowed to beads as she pushed her body. A surge of muscle burst under her skin from her calves up to her neck, but her legs got most of the attention.

"Aaarrrhhh!", Carri threw her head back and yelled as she flexed her legs to the max. Her skin tight stretchy pants could no longer contain her muscles. They burst open at the seams exposing her steamy muscle beneath. Blaine and Gunner knew they had to do something. They needed to stop her. Will was beyond pride now and openly begged for Carri to stop. Even over his screaming everyone heard the SNAP as a bone in Will's hand finally succumb. Gunner was half a second from throwing a punch to Carri's unprotected face when her arms moved again, this time quickly. She snatched both men off their feet and slammed them together in front of her. They fell to the floor in a daze.

She pulled her legs apart and the release of the vacuum sounded like an industrial seal breaking as Will pulled his hands back. He fell to the floor next to his friends and cradled his injured digits.

"This isn't a game", she told them and looked each man in the eyes. "We can't afford to fight among ourselves, not if want to live to the end of this."

"You fuckin destroyed my hands", Will cried with real tears rolling down his face.

"Ah, I didn't hurt you that bad. Just enough to let you assholes know that you shouldn't cross me. I'm not like you, and I don't go on personal vendettas when I should be doing my job. If there is a next time, I will kill all of you. It'll be no great loss. I'm stronger than the three of you combined anyway."

Carri left the men in the hall and waited until she was out of sight to put a hand to the wall and let her fatigue show. Her chest rose and fell quickly as her awesome body tried to regain strength. Carri could look perfectly normal, but she was beat up and tired. She just had to make sure no one knew just how tired she was, least of all Slater.

"I didn't know you saw that", Slater said and reached behind his back to pull out the 9mm. The guard just smirked and took the gun. Slater didn't feel the least bit diminished without his firearm. He marched to Martin's door and knocked. "Are you awake?", he asked through the thick door.

"Yeah", Martin answered curtly. Slater walked in to see Martin in a robe and boxers. A bottle of whiskey was close at hand, but Martin wasn't quite drunk. He poured liquor over ice in a glass before taking a drink. "Since you're in here I guess your father's dead."

"Yep, I thought I'd killed the old bastard the first time. This time I got him good", Slater said.

Martin poured Slater a drink. "You know I think I misjudged you. I thought you might just be a spoiled ungrateful piece of shit. And you are, but you don't lack for conviction. Hell I don't even know if I could have pulled the trigger on my old man. He's old as fuck and he still scares the hell out of me", Martin admitted with a chuckle.

"Well my dad was just a fucking loser. No great loss. I blew his fucking brains all over the hospital floor, but you know what… that wasn't even the most interesting part of the night."

"Oh do tell", Martin said with a bit of mock excitement.

Slater grinned and said, "I found out that Heather Matthews is alive."

"What? She's alive?"

"Yeah I went to the Cook-Out and saw Heather fucking Matthews dancing with the asshole that I paid to kill her!"

"You're shittin me!"

"No, they were all over each other. I think they're boyfriend and girlfriend or something, but it gets better. He's a Fed! But I didn't find that out until later. Anyway, I saw the fake hitman talk to Ted Matthews for a while then they drove to the hospital to visit my father. Seems they went way back. Well, I hope they had a good conversation because it was my father's last and Ted's second to last.

"You plan to kill him?", Martin asked as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Eventually. Since I can't kill Heather I have to get my point across somehow. But I want to have some fun with him first, just like Taylor had with me. That's what she told me you know, beating me up would be fun. I'm going to make this fun for me."

"And your point?"

"Huh?"

"You said you had to get your point across."

"Don't fuck with me! Nobody can fuck with me! I went to the Cook-Out to see how miserable that family was. I wanted to see Taylor brought down!"

"I know that girl busted up your face and gave you some legal troubles, but you have a vendetta."

"You're right I do. I'd hoped to make Heather's death my parting gift and let them know who they were fucking with, but her father will have to do just fine."

Martin finished his drink and poured another all while looking at Slater. "I still don't get it. What is it between you and Taylor Matthews?"

Slater sighed. "She's so damned untouchable, so goddamned perfect. You've met her. She's beautiful and she knows it. She makes every man who sees her boil but she doesn't give a shit. She's good at everything and she's always in control. Nobody tells Taylor what to do. Her lackeys hang on her every word. The easiest way to get into the A-crowd down here is to get Taylor to talk to you at a club. I want to burst her bubble, to make her understand pain." Slater stopped and laughed at something that popped into his head. He took a long drink of whiskey.

"You know to be honest she intimidates me. You said how you don't think you could kill your dad, well I couldn't kill Taylor. I tried", he exclaimed. "I put a gun to her ribs and that tall bitch punked me just by talking. I was such a pussy that I couldn't pull the trigger. And I won't feel like that ever again. Shooting her old man between his fucking eyes and dumping his beat up body on the highway will probably make up for that feeling."

"So what's on your agenda for tonight? Going to have your fun then finish him off?"

"Fuck no!", Slater began with a laugh. "I'm so tired I can't even think straight. I'd shoot the bastard and not even remember it in the morning. I'm going to let his ass sit in the hole for a night. He can stew and worry while I sleep. Then I've got all day tomorrow to have fun with Ted and the fake hitman. Cause we aren't leaving for another couple of days right?"

"That's right, when the authorities' search will be the weakest."

"Good! I can't wait to hear those assholes screaming and begging me to live", Slater exclaimed and put his hand on the knob to leave until Martin stopped him.

"Oh Slater one more thing… when were you going to tell me about the two men you lost on this little mission of yours and the fact that a third one might not survive his wounds?"

Slater turned and shrugged. "The chick they had protecting my father was tougher than she looked. She kept coming back no matter how much of a beating she took. Then her partner, the fake hitman, came and helped. It wasn't a perfect job, but it was my first."

"You can't lose good men like Ken and Mike and expect to fight off a threat. Because there will be more threats."

"Mike was a goddamned idiot. Joe's loyal and useful. Ken was probably the biggest loss out of the three. The Fed chick electrocuted him, but it doesn't matter. That new girl, Carri is better than all of them put together. She's stronger, smarter, and loyal. Honestly, I'd either be dead or arrested without her. If some shit goes down before we all make our escape, I'd keep that girl close."

"I'll keep that in mind", Martin said.

"I'll see ya later", Slater said as he walked out.

Martin chuckled. "Yeah, I'll be here", he said with a grin and watched Slater leave the room. He waited a few seconds before picking up his phone. He quickly dialed the first number in the memory.

"Hello Dad, I'm going to have to get out of here soon, like tomorrow night. Yeah I know we're supposed to wait for New Year's night, but I can't. There's been a development. Hugh Hastings' little shit of a son just brought Ted Matthews back here! You know Ted, we thought about picking him as the money manager instead of Hugh. Anyway, Pop his daughters and his niece are going to come looking for him. I don't want to be around when they get here. I know they'll find him! I don't know how I know, but I do. This place won't stay hidden for very long and all the guards in the world won't stop them from getting to their father. I'm not being dramatic! You haven't met them. I was there when Taylor and Heather wiped through my guards and they weren't even using their powers!

"No I haven't seen Morgen since last night. He said he had something to take care of. But I don't have to talk to him. I have to go before they get here, or I'll never leave. Morgen would agree with me. No, Dad you shouldn't come here. I might be able to see you at the airstrip to say good-bye. It's pretty secluded. That way nobody will see us together. I know you have to keep your distance for deniability purposes. Yeah I'll keep the traveling party small, very small. That little asshole Slater can be here to greet those girls cause I'll be long gone."

Morgen Stern stopped his Aston Martin at the edge of the service road, shut off the engine and flipped on the light to check the map. Every good general must know his battlefield and prepare for it. Morgen had been knee deep in preparations for the last day and a half. He had to be ready when that battle came, but not to fight. Morgen rarely let himself get in the middle of pitched battles if he could help it, rather he was preparing his escape. Morgen had sent Slater to kill his father. The kid was impressionable, and cruel. Those two traits were useful to a man like Morgen who manipulated people like a potter manipulated clay. Morgen needed Hugh and his financial knowledge to disappear. Using an estranged son to do the dirty work was simply an elegant coincidence. If he was successful then the Feds would find their way to DeBraya's hideout sooner or later. Carri had seen to that. She'd left behind just enough evidence for the top notch investigators to find what Morgen wanted them to find. He wanted to bring down Martin DeBraya and his entire organization. Despite Morgen's inflated sense of himself and his personal importance, he hated seeing people he respected hurt or misused.

A month ago one of DeBraya's men had tortured and tried to kill a professor named Moira Kelly.  Dr. Kelly had been working for Morgen at the time, making her one of his, whether she knew it or not. The man who'd tried to kill Moira had paid for that act with his life. Morgen had used his ability to control a person's will to make a man named Spencer slit his own throat. Later Martin DeBraya had ordered Jan Caufield dropped from a helicopter. He didn't know that Miss Caufield was incredibly hard to kill, but to Morgen it didn't matter. He'd helped save Jan's life some months ago, and DeBraya had no right trying to kill her. If Jan was going to meet her fate, at least it should be at the hands of somebody worthy of the honor, not some bottom feeding fungus like Martin DeBraya.

Morgen held the map closer to the light and studied it for a moment before his passenger shifted in her seat and took his mind off the map and his plans. Her bare legs made his heart start to thump in his chest. The sleek muscles beneath her silky smooth ebony skin made Morgen's loins ache. He watched her muscles flex lightly as she shifted in the seat to see the map. Morgen put his hand on her sweeping neck and ran his hands down to her shoulders and around to her breasts. Few women had every had this effect on him, but this Femme, this programmed thing turned Morgen into a wild man with only her presence. Part of his mind knew that she was just programming. Her body was real and it had once belonged to a real person, but that person was long gone, erased completely from existence by the scientists who had created them. The programming allowed them to pretend to have personalities, emotions, and thoughts, but they weren't real even if they were convincing. Morgen didn't need X-417 to pretend to be real anymore. He just needed her close to arouse him.

"We are close to the bunker door", she said in her emotionless voice, bringing Morgen's mind back to the task. "The shifting banks of this canal have obscured the position as it is marked here."

"This map is from 1919, just before the Army abandoned this place."

"This would be easier with a gps device", the Femme observed.

Morgen chuckled and ran his hand up her legs. "It's the middle of the night and not one store is open."

X-417 looked up from the map to Morgen. He just took in the regal structure of her face as she replied, "That is hardly a problem for me. I could procure you one despite the business hours of the retail establishment."

Morgen laughed loudly and opened the car door. "I know you could. But we're already here. Let's just look around, shall we." The two of them walked along the banks of the abandoned canal looking for anything out of the ordinary. The map had the armory's water entrance located right near here somewhere, but Morgen didn't have to remind himself that the map he'd looked at was nearly ninety years old. Morgen and X-417 walked for more than twenty minutes before they saw something too rectangular to be completely natural. Morgen grabbed a piece of wood and poked around. "This is what we're looking for.", Morgen said in his native tongue.

"Gut", X-417 replied in perfect German and began clearing the opening. The concrete lining of the entranceway was set back in a small rise. It took only a few minutes for X-417 and Morgen to clear decades of debris back to the door. The massive armored door was set back a few feet from the beginning of the opening, completely hidden from casual view. The door was extremely rusted from exposure to the swamp and from neglect.

"This mechanism hasn't been operated in decades", X-417 said. "It will not function as designed."

"I'm sure you can open it", Morgen told X-417 then grinned. He stepped back while the Femme soldier walked up to the heavy door. Without a moment's hesitation X-417 put both hands on the left side of the door and pulled. Flecks of rusty steel fell from above her head as her fingers dug into the old steel. For a moment or two nothing happened. It was scientifically enhanced muscles against a prideful piece of decades old technology. Her back was a changing mosaic of muscle as she poured on the power. Morgen almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw the door move. Then he heard it. The grating sound of aged metal grinding against more metal sounded through the swamp. A flock of birds took flight, startled by the noise. Morgen knew that no people were behind him in the swamp, he only hoped that Martin didn't have any guards stationed anywhere near this door.

X-417's expressionless face hid the strain her body was under. After a surge of strength, the door opened by nearly a foot at once. A rush of air escaped through the gap. After that it seemed easier for her to open the door the rest of the way, although Morgen was sure he couldn't have moved the door at all. A pile of debris built up behind the door as it swung, but she didn't seem to notice that either. Morgen shined his flashlight through the opening and saw a pitch black hall that looked to lead to nowhere. He shined the light inside but it barely broke up the darkness. Morgen reached down and grabbed a stick to combat the only danger he actually could see, spider webs, lots of them. He cleared a path just beyond the door and started inside. X-417 followed closely. For her it was duty, but for Morgen it was something of an adventure like when he was a child. He ducked his head, the flashlight doing a poor job of illuminating the entire space. Morgen glanced at the concrete floor for anything that might stab him or make him fall. The tunnel finally opened into a large room. The shadows told Morgen that he was surrounded by stuff, but he kept his light shining on his path not willing to risk walking into something until he was well into the large room. Only then did he stop and look around. He was surrounded by crates. They were stacked about chin high and stretched as far back as his light would shine. He knew that this used to be an old armory and these boxes might be filled with vintage ammo or weapons. It really didn't matter to for his purposes, but he couldn't help his curiosity. He stepped to a stack of crates and used his hand to brush the dust away. Morgen was rarely a man who showed wonder, but when he leaned in and read, Glenlivet Single Malt Whisky, he actually whistled.

"Oh my", he breathed and turned to look at other crates. He found other scotch whiskeys and an entire section with crates of Irish whiskey and another section of assorted rum. Morgen cracked open a case of the Glenlivet and pulled out a perfectly intact bottle packed in straw. "I do believe I've struck gold", he said to X-417 who didn't seem to have his level of appreciation of the bottle and its contents. Morgen knew that his purpose here was as serious as life and death, but in he firmly believed that he was going to live through this, and so he turned to his Femme companion and said with a grin, "Dear, I would never think to treat you like a simple beast of burden, but I need you load cases of each type of liquor into my boot until its full." He tossed her the keys. "I'll search the tunnel to find the way to the main building."

Thirty minutes later Morgen was lost in the dark with only a pinprick of illumination coming from the flashlight. He knew the tunnel was long, over a mile and a half, but he didn't know that there were chambers leading off of it. Any one of those could have lead to the old armory building, but he took his chances and kept going straight. He trekked through lost of dust and spider webs thicker than yarn until he finally came to a set of stairs. The journey had been long enough and he hoped this was the right spot. With his gift, Morgen could feel people. He could feel their wills and he knew there were no people close to this door. It led to an area where DeBraya nor his goons went. That was good news for Morgen, but he knew he'd have to wait a few minutes for X-417 to catch up for her to open the door. It wasn't quite as substantial as the first door, but Morgen was going to break a sweat attempting to pry it open. That was a job for his lovely assistant. She came up out of the darkness and Morgen smiled.

"Are you ready to use those beautiful muscles again?", he asked. She simply stepped past him and in a matter of seconds had ripped the entire door and frame from its moorings.

"I wonder if Sara has gotten any information out that guy yet", Taylor mused.

Heather shrugged. "Jan says Sara's pretty amazing." She went to the small fridge and got two bottles of water. She opened one and tossed the other to Taylor.

"Uncle Jack said the same thing", Taylor agreed, trying to build up hope inside herself.

"Mom's on the way with everybody else", Heather announced after reading the text she'd just gotten. "She's probably going to be hysterical. Of course I'm a second or two from being hysterical myself."

Taylor gave a weak grin and jumped down from the table. "Tonight I've been hysterical enough for the both of us." She felt a tinge of shame as she thought back to how she'd acted when she first arrived here at the facility. The she rolled her eyes. "I need to move my car so they'll have a place to park."

"Yeah", Heather agreed. "You're in like three places. You parked like a toddler."

"Or an old person", Taylor said and shook her head as she walked out of the break room with her keys swinging from her finger. A black clad security officer walking the other way actually jumped when he saw the six foot one inch beauty emerge from her seclusion. Taylor sighed when she saw him and could hardly meet his gaze. He turned away to go about his business, and Taylor headed towards the exit. She stepped out into the cool early morning air. It felt good against her skin, but the lingering fear and anger were still too strong inside for her to enjoy it. She sat down in her Porsche and started it's highly tuned engine just to move it a few feet into a parking place. She turned it off again once she set the parking brake. She quickly jumped out of her car managing to bump her head against the top of her windshield. It just one more little misfortune in a night filled with them. Her head knocked the sun visor to the side and a bracelet fell to the floorboard. It was the one she'd bought from the Seminole gentleman who'd helped Jan. Instead of putting it back over the visor she slipped it onto her wrist and headed into the facility.

Guilt rose up in her again when she saw another security officer in the main hall. He was going to join some others in master control and Taylor followed him rather than go back to the break room. The men were all glued to the monitors looking at Sara working with Ken until Taylor walked in. It was as if all the air left the room. The statuesque beauty didn't quite come all the way in. She put her hands on the sides of the door frame and just leaned in. "I'm sorry", she said. "I was pretty upset when I first came in, but I promise I wasn't going to hurt any of you guys."

"You could have fooled me", one the guys said.

"I know. I don't have an excuse. I just promise that next time I'll try not to lose my cool."

Another guard laughed. "Yeah and next time I promise to open the fucking door when you ask." The group laughed then, including Taylor.

"Probably a good idea. But honestly, I wasn't really out of control."

"Uh huh", a security officer began with a sideways smirk. "I'll believe it if you say so. So how strong are you anyway, cause I saw videos of the testing process for those doors and they were blast grade. You ripped through them with no sweat."

"I don't really know how I could put numbers to my strength", Taylor said after a moment's thought.

"How much do you bench?", the youngest officer called out. The others chuckled.

Taylor grinned and shook her head. "They don't make bars thick enough to hold enough weight for me to even warm up bench pressing", Taylor answered and noticed that the guys' fear of her was being replaced with something she usually imparted on men, lust.

"I was at the gym and they loaded some special bar with 2000 pounds of weight just for fun. It bent the damn squat rack it was so heavy, but the bar didn't bend at all."

Taylor chuckled. "I can curl a ton." The men's mouths dropped open. "With one arm", she added. The security guys were nearly panting.

"No way", the young officer said. "I'd like to see that", said another. Taylor just winked and sauntered back to the break room. For some reason she felt better now, maybe it was apologizing to the staff or maybe it was getting an unexpected laugh. Either way the relief wouldn't last long if Sara didn't come up with something soon.

Sara yawned and wrote some notes after Ken's latest answer. He was a little evasive, and Sara was getting annoyed. She was getting sleepier by the minute and this was going too slowly. She wasn't the only one annoyed. Ken couldn't believe that he was answering her questions at all. He hadn't given her anything meaty, but he was thinking that enough was enough.

"What are DeBraya's plans for escaping? Did he ask for hostages to help in negotiations if he's cornered?" Ken was silent.

"Answer the question!", Sara yelled suddenly, unable to keep her emotions hidden any longer.

"Fuck you!", Ken shouted across the relatively small table. Once again Sara didn't flinch. "I'm not telling you another goddamned thing."

Sara sat back in her seat and exhaled. Ken watched the muscles in her jaw flexing while she tried to get a handle on her anger. Unlike Jan and her cousins, anger didn't help Sara. She needed to be in control. She put her pen down and looked Ken directly in the eye. He smirked. "Gonna ask me another question?", he taunted. Sara didn't say a word. She just sat there.

"Given up I guess", Ken said with a laugh. "Or are you going to do your little heart crushing trick again. Go ahead, I don't give a fuck. My life isn't worth shit now anyway."

"I think I'll try something else", Sara spoke for the first time in almost a minute. She sat up very straight in her chair and folded her hands across her lap. "Before I do this, I want you to know that you've left me no choice. Well, I should actually thank you. Barging my way inside people's heads and tearing their minds apart is a perishable skill and I need some practice." Sara closed her eyes and her face got calmer until she looked serene. Ken's face got concerned.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?", Ken asked and leaned away from her. "What the hell are you doing!" A chill went through Ken when Sara opened her eyes and looked at him. "What the fuck?!?" He could see the power now and feel it gathering around her, coalescing like a storm. Then Ken felt a tickle inside his head, in a place where a tickle had never been before. That tickle quickly became a pressure.

"Get out of my head!", Ken yelled and put his hands on his head as Sara probed deeper into the structure of his mind. "I'll tell you what you want to know. I'll tell you who was with me. I'll tell you everything!"

"It's too late", he heard Sara's voice outside and inside his head.

"What are you going to do to me?", Ken asked and tried to get up from his seat, to run away from this woman, but his body didn't answer his commands. No matter how much he tried, his big strong muscles were no longer under his control.

"Imagine your brain is a book, Ken. I'm going to rip out every single page to find the information you could have freely given me. Unfortunately for you, now I'm just going to take what I want, and it's going to really suck for you."

"No! Wait!", Ken wailed in the moment before Sara slammed into him with the full weight of her telepathic power. His body flailed like a dying fish on a dock. The look of utter terror in his wide open eyes made everybody watching the monitors in the security stations uncomfortable. They didn't know that the expression on Ken's face was a weak indication of the devastation going onside Ken's brain. Sara's power was like an atom bomb that exploded, obliterating Ken's consciousness and merging his sense of self with one she created for him. He was nothing now, just a collection of memories and impulses that Sara controlled. His brain didn't tell his heart to beat; it beat in time with hers, and it didn't tell him to breathe. He breathed in when she breathed in and he exhaled when she exhaled.

"What the hell's going on down there", Special Agent Kevin Bechet asked as he looked on in awe from the safety of the security office on facility's top floor.

"Sara's doing her thing", Alisha replied while looking at the monitor. "Sara's reading his mind, and she's not being very polite about it."

"So what happens now?", he asked.

"We wait. When she's finished we'll have all the answers we need."

Jack Caufield met his family in the hall when they came in through the door. He saw Drew first and their mother Joyce was there with Thomas and Brice, Carol was there and so was a distraught looking Katherine. "Do you know anything Jack?", Carol asked as she hurried towards her husband.

"No", he replied sadly as he leaned down and quickly kissed her. "Sara's still down there with the only suspect."

Carol nodded because she understood what that meant, but Kat didn't. Jack stepped out of his wife's arms to embrace his only sister. She looked a mess. "Please tell me Ted's okay."

"He's captured and alive, but that's all I know right now. Jan's friend Sara is down there interrogating the prisoner."

"Sara? I know she has a gift to talk to people and stuff, but doesn't the government have people to do this sort of thing?", Katherine asked, trying to keep herself from breaking into pieces.

Jack took her by the shoulders and tried to calm her. "Yeah, and Sara used to be one. She's young but she's good. Trust me, she'll get the truth out of him… all of it. Why don't I take you to the break room upstairs? Taylor and Heather are already in there. Brice help your mom.

Carol pressed her head tightly against Jack's side as they walked, hoping and praying that her brother would be safe. Carol knew that she would be coming apart like Kat was if she hadn't seen her husband in action once. It had only taken one time for her to understand that his reputation within the special forces and intelligence community had been well earned. So even with her fears, she had hope.

"What if Sara can't get any information?", Kat asked as Jack right before he opened the door to the break room.

Jack opened his mouth to speak but Carol beat him to the punch. "Sara's as skilled as she is powerful. She won't rest until she has every piece of information we need." Kat was still skeptical, but thankfully she went into the room where Taylor and Heather were both waiting with hugs and love. Jack stood at the doorway, ready to turn and go to security office to observe Sara and wait, but he watched his sister break down and have to be seated by Taylor who tried to comfort her. Jack wanted to clear his mind and his emotions so he could think clearly and try to plan a rescue, but as he saw his wife's face finally beginning to succumb to her own fear and hurt he walked back into the room and joined them. They needed him.

Morgen and X-417 walked into the sub-basement room of the armory and looked around at the vast dusty emptiness. They were careful still because they needed to keep their activities secret from all of DeBraya's guards. As they left the first room and came to other another and another they began to hear a humming. Morgen turned his ear quizzically, wondering what the noise was. "They are diesel generators", X-417 answered. "They must be that way", she pointed off to their right.

"Good", Morgen said and turned back the way they'd come. "I know how to get to the generators, and I think I can find my way back. It's time to go." The two of them went down the tunnel and past the liquor to Morgen's waiting car. He drove carefully through the swamp and back to the highway, staying far away from the watch of DeBraya's guards. He headed to his seldom used penthouse in Boca Raton to shower, change, and to leave X-417. She had things to prepare while he had to drive all the way back to DeBraya's hideout to show his face and seem like he was on top of the task he'd been hired for. This time though he drove in through the front entrance so they'd see him coming before he got there. The guards all gave him proper deference as he walked inside the compound. They didn't really know how he fit in the hierarchy, but they knew enough to leave him alone. He was probably the best dressed most handsome guy any of them had ever seen. He always looked like a million bucks. There was one person in the building who didn't defer to Morgen however.

As Morgen walked up a door opened and one of Judge Alphonse DeBraya's personal guards stepped into Morgen's path. Morgen stopped and looked to his left. He saw a frowning Alphonse pacing. "Morgen I need to speak to you in private, quickly." Morgen walked in and the guard shut the door and stayed outside the room. Alphonse's face twisted into a scowl and he turned to Morgen. "What the fuck are you doing!", he fumed. "I told you I wanted my son dead, and that human disappointment is still breathing."

"Everything is under control, Your Honor", Morgen replied smoothly, but Alphonse was having none of it.

"Don't give me that shit. Martin called me and said that Hugh Hastings' son killed his father."

"I'm aware of that", Morgen replied to show his employer that was indeed on top of things.

"Oh good. I'm glad you're aware of that Morgen, well did you know the little bastard also brought back Ted Matthews and a tier one Spec Ops sergeant named Montez Jefferson?" Morgen's face froze in surprise. "No, I didn't think you knew. Well, Martin wants to leave early to avoid the Matthews sisters and their fucking cousin coming here and ending his life, when you're supposed to be the one ending his life and stopping this fucking mess before it happens."

"This isn't all bad, Your Honor", Morgen began but didn't get to continue.

"Don't Your Honor me! This is bullshit. My son's fall from grace and death cannot implicate me or the company. His actions have to be his own, and I want to keep the organization up and running while the government and media thinks that all illegal activity died with my son."

"I have it under control, sir. Even if there are a few unforeseen happenings."

"You'd better, Morgen. My son can't live another 24 hours", Alphonse stated, then seemed to clear his mind. "Now that we understand each other. Come with me and make this look natural." The men left together and walked towards Martin's room. Morgen's mind was hard at work the entire time, but he didn't have time to finish this thoughts. He knocked on the door and came inside.

"I was on my way to come speak to you, Martin, but look who I found on the way in", Morgen said with his trademark smoothness and looked over his shoulder.

Alphonse walked in with his arms open. "I know you asked me not to come, but I couldn't just let you leave the country without at least spending some time with you", Alphonse told his son, and it nearly made Morgen choke although he wasn't sure why. He deceived people all the time. There was nothing unusual about this one, or at least there shouldn't be. He listened to Martin and Alphonse talk for a while before excusing himself. He went down the halls hoping to see Carri and finally he did. They stepped off the normal pathway so they could talk.

"What happened to your head?", he asked with genuine concern and leaned down to get a good look at the gash near her hairline.

"A Federal Agent named Angeline James opened this cut", she reported.

"She must be some hell of a woman to open a cut on your skin. Aren't you supposed to be hard to cut or puncture?"

"We are, but she was enhanced and quite tenacious. She hit me with a blow sufficient to knock my systems off line for a time, but I recovered."

"Benny is not going to be happy. I promised him that I wouldn't damage either of the Femmes he let me borrow."

"This wound will heal", X-411 told Morgen. The persona of Carri had disappeared completely.

Morgen sighed and put his mind back on track. "Why did you allow Ted Matthews and Montez Jefferson to be taken hostage?"

"It was either their capture or their deaths, unless you wanted me to break cover."

"No of course not. We'll work through this, but it moves our time table up. Everything in the plan is going to happen faster than it should have."

"I will be ready", the Femme stated, as her programming went over every single detail of the plan that Morgen had explained to her two days earlier. "Should there be changes made?"

"No", Morgen answered after some thought. "You just keep being Carri. Keep up the charade which means you need to dress that wound even if it will heal, and get some time in a room to regenerate. Fighting Special Agent James must have taken a lot out of you because you look like shit."

"Understood", was all X-411 said and started walking away. Step by step Carri returned to her movements and to her attitude. Morgen realized just how amazing these Femmes were, but he had other things to think about. He went back to the sleeping area of this building, but didn't go in with Martin and Alphonse. He went to a room set up for his own use. He had to stay close now and keep an eye on things. Any more surprises could mean disaster.

In the stillness of Ken's cell, Sara opened her eyes after a few moments of rapid blinking. She rubbed the backs of her hands into her eyes as they adjusted to the lights while at the same time pulling her mind from Ken's. He sat in his seat across the table with his eyes wide open, unblinking and staring into nothingness. His mouth was open with his lips pulled taunt and downward in a mask of frozen horror like he wanted to cry or to scream, but could do neither. His big muscles were useless.

Sara gave the quickest of cursory glances in Ken's direction before gathering the loose papers on the desk. She looked at the camera and motioned for the security officers to come. A team of five armed officers rushed in quickly, quicker than Sara had expected. Three of them surrounded Ken's chair with their weapons aimed.

"You don't have to worry about him", Sara told them in her aristocratic Mississippi accent. The officers looked at Ken and felt a wave of unease at being this close, even if he looked like a dread filled statue. "I took it easy on him."

"This is easy?"

Sara chuckled. "Yeah, trust me. I wanted him to think I was going to do my worst, but he'll suffer no permanent damage from this. I didn't really intend to lobotomize him or anything. He'll work his way back to normal in about twenty minutes or so." Sara pushed her chair back from the table and rose up about halfway before the room began to spin wildly.

"Easy there", the security team leader cautioned as he caught Sara by the elbow to keep her from falling.

"Thank you", she told the officer and used the table to hold herself up while her head stopped spinning. "I guess that interrogation took more out of me than I thought." She gathered the papers again then smiled at the officer to tell him that she was okay.

"Miss Hewitt, what should we do with the prisoner now?"

Sara turned slowly, not wanting to get dizzy again. "Move him into a cell with a door", she quipped.

The team leader grinned the turned to one of his men. "Go get the restraints!"

"Oh that won't be necessary", Sara said quickly. Fatigue was evident in her voice, but she looked plenty powerful as she walked to Ken's chair. She leaned over that frozen face and down into those wide open terror filled eyes. "He may look lost, but he's not. He can hear and understand everything we're saying. He can't move yet, but he can see me right now too. Can't you Ken?", she asked and the officers saw a twitch in his neck but no other movement.

"He's going to be a model inmate from now on. He's going to follow your commands without any hesitation or resistance because if I have to come back I'll be very, very upset." Sara leaned closer and Ken's pupils narrowed to focus on Sara's blue-grey eyes as she slipped her mind back into his. "No, Ken doesn't want to be punished again. Do you Ken?" A tear rolled down Ken's cheek. The muscles of Sara's jaw flexed as she pressed her teeth together while digging her power into his mind and twisted its proverbial blade before exhaling and walking out of the room.

It took Sara a while to find Jack. She'd finally asked a facility staffer who pointed her towards the break room. As soon as she opened the door and walked in, Kat jumped up from her seat. "Why did they take Ted? What do they want?!?", she pleaded. Her face was streaked with tears and full of worry. "Do they want money!?! We can get them money!"

"Oh no Ma'am", Sara replied in her normal genteel manner. "That man downstairs had never even heard of Mr. Matthews. Montez tried to prevent Hugh Hastings' murder and when that failed he tried to apprehend the killers. Sometime during that process Mr. Matthews came to Montez's aid. The prisoner's memory has large gaps in it because he was unconscious during large periods of the fight. But I'm sure the captives were not the targets at all. Hugh Hastings was the only target."

"What they are going to do with them?", Heather wanted to know.

"The prisoner doesn't know."

"That means that they might just kill them to get rid of dead weight", Carol uttered and couldn't believe she had even said those words.

"Both of them are still alive and are conscious", Sara told the assembled family.

"You could speak to them if you wanted?"

"Yes, Ma'am, but I've never spoken to them with thoughts and in this case it might do more harm than good. When the time is right and we know when we're going to strike I can get a message to both of them."

"We're going right now!", Taylor said and stepped forward, but Jack stopped her.

"No right now we have to come up with a plan. You or Heather or Jan can rush into a situation without regard because the chances are high that you'd walk out again, but once this enemy figures out what you're after they might kill Ted and Montez just to keep you getting what you want."

A sob escaped Taylor's lips and she put her hand to her mouth in shock that she'd been so short sighted. Jack just took his niece by her shaking shoulders and held her close. "We have to do this right to guarantee that this rescue is successful. We have to assault that place the right way."

"None of us have ever been there Uncle Jack."

"But that prisoner has. He probably knows the place backwards and forwards."

"Yes he does", Sara affirmed. "I think I'll go down and get him to give us the complete layout." Sara turned and hurried out the door despite her fatigue.

"I'm coming with you", Jack said and got behind her.

"Can I come too?", Taylor asked. Jack grinned and nodded. The three of them went down the stairs to the holding cells. Ken was on his cot too amped up to sleep after what Sara had done to him. He saw people through the clear plastic but took no real notice until the cell door slid open.

"Oh no!", Ken exclaimed when he saw Sara. "I did what they told me!", he yelled. "I did everything they told me!!", he screamed, but his words caught in his throat when he saw Taylor walk in next. The once fearsome tough guy jumped up from his cot and fled to the corner of the cell, shivering and cowering. Taylor looked on, not quite knowing how to feel. She thought back to what her uncle had said about Sara and her awesome power. With her tremendous strength Taylor'd beaten Ken into a messy pulp, and she could have killed him a hundred different times without even breaking a sweat, but it had been Sara who'd broken him.

"Straighten up would you", Sara urged and Ken reluctantly obeyed. "We're not here to hurt you. We want to know all the details about Martin DeBraya's hideout and the security arrangements." The words started spilling out of Ken's mouth before Sara had even finished her question. He told them everything down to the routes for security patrols and times for shift changes. He told them the names and aptitude of every member of the security guards at the hideout and what every area of the compound was used for.

Sara, Jack, and Taylor had all been taking notes and they'd each just about filled up a legal sized notepad in the time it took for Ken to explain everything he knew. "So now we can get to planning", Taylor said once they were out of the cell.

Jack stopped walking. "No, now is when you girls go get some rest."

"What? Uncle Jack we have to go and…"

"Yeah, Taylor I know what we have to do. You guys are going to be the shock troops on this rescue mission and I don't need zombies. You look exhausted Taylor, and Sara you look like you'd fall asleep standing there if I let you."

"I can keep going", she told Jan's father, but he just smiled.

"I'm proud of both of you, but we're going to need your powers at full strength when we go in. I can't have any of you running on fumes."

"But Uncle Jack", Taylor whined.

"No buts. Go get Heather and get to the dormitories they have here. I'm going to get Jan and Alisha. Now go." He kissed Taylor on the forehead and watched her drag herself up the stairs to get Heather. Then he looked down at Sara. "That goes for you too. You've done a lot tonight, Sara. I don't even know if you realize how special and important you are. But as Jan is fond of saying, even you have limits. Go get some sleep." Sara handed Jack her notebook and followed Taylor up the stairs. Jack sighed then and looked at his watch realizing that he probably wasn't going to get a wink of sleep.

Sleep was coming hard for Morgen. He tossed and turned for about an hour before he sat up and decided to go to the roof. It was the only place to get fresh air without walking around the grounds and that could be dangerous for various reasons. When he got there he found more than the guards up there. In low light of the partially obscured moon, he saw Martin leaning against the wall.

Martin's guards had cautioned him against being exposed outside the walls of the armory, but Martin just couldn't be cooped up in there just like those prisoners that Slater had locked away. It wasn't much, but he just looked out over the swamp. It had a dangerous mysterious beauty to it. Not beautiful in the way a pristine waterfall was beautiful, but in the way a silent sultry woman was. Martin didn't see Morgen, but he wasn't expecting company. He lit up a cigarette and flicked some ashes over side, watching them disappear into the darkness four stories below.

DeBraya looked to his right when a man came next to him. A quick glance told him who it was. Only Morgen would wear a perfectly tailored Italian suit in the middle of the night. "You know a long time ago all this was an Army base", Martin said mostly to say something. "My great-grandfather engineered this building. It was one of his first big jobs out of school. This place helped launch his career."

"Doesn't look much now", Morgen commented as he stood there looking out into the distance trying to imagine a dozen buildings neatly lined up in rows with parade grounds and roads going in every direction.

"The Indians took this place over. They said its existence violated a peace treaty. You know I don't even think any of them set foot in this place after they took it over. They just let all of this go to hell. This building is the last one left cause it was built so well. I heard a rumor that they used this place for bootlegging liquor back in the old days, but I haven't found any evidence. Just a stupid legend I guess."

Morgen knew different, but he wasn't about to tell Martin about long forgotten tunnels. "Thanks for the history lesson", he finally said.

"Sometimes I get the feeling I'm about to be history too", Martin mused and took a long drag, making the cigarette burn cherry red before exhaling a ball of smoke.

"Nonsense. You're going to be living like a king once you get out of the United States", Morgen repeated the party line.

Martin scoffed. "I don't know if I want that. Sure I like all the bitches and the booze, but like a king in olden days I'll always be looking over my shoulder to see if somebody's about to plunge a knife in my back."

"The hazards of command."

"I probably shouldn't be in command. I'm just my father's only child, so as he got older he had no choice but to turn over the keys to the family's business and the family's legacy to me." Martin paused to snuff out the cigarette butt on the bricks before flicking it to the ground. "What do you think?" Morgen looked at him but didn't answer right away. "Be honest."

Morgen inhaled slowly through his nose before he spoke. "The trappings of power make any man lose focus from time to time, and you're no different, but your mistake was not keeping an eye on your enemies."

"I didn't have any enemies! Everything was fine until that fucking scientist stumbled onto the Great Recipe. My father became a douche after that, and I became paranoid. If my father had just let me handle things my way I'd still be in Palm Beach getting ready to go to a New Year's party and Spencer…" Martin's voice trailed off for moment. "My best friend wouldn't be dead. He'd be getting fuckin dressed to have a good time and a bang some chicks right there with me. Instead I couldn't even go to the funeral when they buried him next to his dead mother and sister back in Manchester. You ever thought you had the world in your hands Morgen, only to realize that what you're really holding is a lump of shit?"

"Can't say I've been there exactly Martin."

"You know between my father's disguised megalomania and my family's obsession with the Great Recipe, I never really had a chance. It's not his fault though. Pops deserved better than me. Maybe you should have been his son", Martin said with a chuckle before lighting up another smoke. "I bet your father shouts about you from the mountain tops."

Morgen helped himself to one of Martin's cigarettes even though he'd quit more than a decade ago. "My father and I don't speak", Morgen said simply.

"Probably better that way. Especially if you don't get along. My father just spent all that time trying to act like he loves me, and maybe he does in his own twisted way, but I'll never be good enough for him. Not that it matters, right?" He laughed and lit up another cigarette. He smoked it in silence before he leaned over to Morgen.

"I don't know if I'm going to make it out of this place. I feel like the whole world's coming to get me. And to be honest, I know there's no safety from these people. There's no place to run and hiding only buys time. Anyway, I want to say thank you, in case I never get the chance. You've been honest to me and you've helped more than I probably give you credit for. If all of this blows up in my face Morgen at least I'll know that you tried your best. You're a fucking jerk, but you're the closest thing to a friend I've had since Spencer killed himself."

Morgen was stunned into silence. He kept his emotions off his face long enough for Martin to walk down the stairs out of sight then he bowed his head and leaned against the wall feeling suddenly weak. Spencer hadn't slit his own throat by choice. Morgen had forced him to do it. Spencer had resisted with all he had, but Morgen's gift was undeniable. Killing Spencer had been the first step in Morgen's plan to dismantle the DeBraya organization. The plan always ended with Martin and his father dead, but not now. Now Morgen didn't know what he wanted, and that was dangerous because soon they'd be coming, and he'd have a choice to make.

It was several hours later, but Jack had been there all night anyway. He was working on fourth cup of black coffee as he leaned over a table studying every shred of information they had on DeBraya's hideout. Ted and Montez were being held somewhere inside that huge building. Jack had worked out three possible locations that could be used as holding cells, but he couldn't keep his mind on task. A strange fear kept entering his mind, not fear of dying or even fear or complete failure, but fear of letting his sister down. Jack was only a couple of days into a reconciliation with Kat that was two decades overdue, and if anything happened to Ted Jack wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He was so afraid of destroying the fragile relationship with his sister that he could hardly think of anything else, which was why he didn't even notice the door slowly opening behind him.

"You've been here all night haven't you?", Jan asked as she strolled into the room wearing a pair of short jogging shorts that barely covered any of her long legs and a t-shirt that would have been tight on a kid. On her though it showed off her painfully manicured body. The six foot tall beauty kissed her father on the cheek then stretched as she walked around to stand next to him. Jack gave her attire a quick once over, but knew it was useless to comment.

"Did you sleep well?", Jack asked.

Jan twisted up her mouth. "The mattresses are made of hardwood and the sheets are burlap", she answered then showed a big smile. Both of them felt the tension of the moment, though neither wanted to give in to it. Hope is often the only thing a person can hold on to, but hope's a powerful thing. Jan twisted the cap off a bottle of water and settled in next to the table. "Do you have a plan yet Daddy?", she asked.

"Part of one", he answered with a sigh. "I'm counting on getting them out early. The best chance we have depends on Montez. He'll give us another serious operator on the inside. But that depends on how injured he is. Have you asked Sara to check on them yet?"

"I couldn't. She was out like a light. She went really deep into that prisoner's mind. Usually two or even three telepaths work in tandem to do something like that. She did it herself because we didn't have time to wait. She didn't want to tell you how hard it is for her to do alone."

"Sara's a trooper, no doubt about it."

"Yeah, and she knows if the situation was reversed that we'd be doing all of this for her loved ones too."

"Oh sure thing", Jack began then pulled his daughter in close with a big one armed hug. He squeezed Jan tightly and shook her back and forth. "If it wasn't for Sara I wouldn't have my Pumpkin to squeeze", he told Jan who just grimaced.

"Daddy I know we'll finally get a plan together, but do you really think we can get Uncle Ted out alive?", Jan asked while trying to fight back tears.

Jack exhaled and held his child close. "I think so Jan, but that Hastings kid worries me. He's the variable that I can't account for, so a lot of this depends on him."

Slater just couldn't sleep. He put some clothes on and went searching for Carri. She had the keys to the cells, and he needed those. He'd told Martin that he would wait for the morning, but he couldn't wait. He needed to inflict some pain now. Her sleeping chamber was an old boiler room. He banged on the door loudly until it was snatched open. "What!", Carri demanded and looked at Slater before leaning her head out to search up and down the hallway.

Slater's eyes widened as he got his first real look at the tight bodied blonde powerhouse. She was naked from the waist up. Her tits seemed to shout at Slater. Her prickly pink nipples looked like they wanted to be sucked, but her tensed muscles told Slater not to even think about touching.

"What do you want banging on my door like that?", Carri asked as she focused on Slater's face. "I thought something was wrong. The damned building was on fire or something!", she exclaimed and turned around. Slater nearly fainted from a dump of hormones at seeing Carri's nearly naked body from behind. Her panties bit between her perfectly rounded bulbous ass cheeks. The aggressive muscular shapes of her body made Slater more than aroused. She was the epitome of tomboy hotness. She grabbed a halter top and wiggled her body into it before turning around again. The tight little shirt did little to hide her impressive body, and Slater didn't bother to hide the erection in his pants. "What do you want?", she asked again, this time more slowly.

"I need the keys to the cells. I want to have some quality time with Ted Matthews. Maybe I'll make him feel a little like Taylor makes me feel."

"That's so touching, but you're going to have to wait", Carri said and put her hand on the door. "You'll have to wait until I come with you, and I'm not doing anything else tonight. I'm beat."

"Fuck that", Slater exclaimed and put his shoulder against the door to keep it open. "I've been able to open all the other doors. What makes these special?"

Carri grinned. "I just might have chosen the hardest locks on purpose. Who knows?", she taunted and started closing the door with a single arm despite the fact that Slater's entire body was in the way. A wave of flexing started at the lats under and continued to her obliques as the door closed. Slater knew how strong she was. Using all his strength seemed to have no effect, although he did try even harder just to see her muscles working. "Come back later and you can have all the quality time you want", she said as the door was about to close.

"Wait! Just give me the keys. There're other guys around who can open the locks I'm sure. They may not be as strong as you, but they're strong enough."

The door was an inch from closed when she paused. "I had to keep three guys from killing your prisoners before you even got a chance to talk to them. But if you want to trust one of them with the keys, sure I'll give 'em to you." She saw the decision on his face and smiled, content to have delayed Slater for at least a little while.

"Damn it!", Slater swore and stepped back as the door closed in his face. Carri damn well knew that she was the only one of these goons he trusted. He looked at the closed door then shrugged. "Fuck it. I guess I'll get something to eat."

to be continued...

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