The sight that greeted him filled him with dread for he did not see his daughter, only Claire and Conny tied up on the couch. He did not have time to ask where she was for Rothenburg prodded him further into the room with his gun.
"No surprises I see." Rothenburg sounded almost disappointed.
At that moment, Jonathan slammed the door and grabbed Rothenburg’s gun. "I wouldn’t say that, Mr. Rothenburg." He turned to Steven. "Are you all right?"
"I’m fine, Jonathan. Where’s Jennifer?" Steven Edwards asked nervously, almost afraid that he already knew the answer.
"Durenga has her, and your friend here is going to tell us where he has taken her."
"What makes you think I have any idea where that idiot has taken her?" Kyle fumed. "Even if I did have some suggestions, why would I tell you?"
Jonathan leveled his gaze at the man who had turned his life upside-down. "You do know where Durenga would run to, and you are going to tell me or else."
"Or else what? I’m dying, your threats are empty."
At that moment Steven Edwards realized what was the only threat that would make Rothenburg tell him what he needed to know. "Or else we hook you up to every machine the best hospital here has and keep you alive indefinitely. That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? It’s the only thing you are afraid of. Now tell me where I can find my daughter and you can die a natural death."
Rothenburg stared fixedly at Claire. "Ask her. She would remember it as well as I do."
Steven turned to Claire. "Do you have any idea what he is talking about?"
Claire looked confused. She silently thought about what Kyle meant, what should she remember? Finally, it came to her. "The cabin by the cliff. It’s only about a two hour drive from here. That’s where Jennifer is."
Steven nodded his agreement. "Yes, I remember now. Get me a map, Jonathan, and we will start planning our trip."
Jonathan looked surprised. "Our trip? Don’t you think I should do this one alone? I mean, you just came back from being kidnapped yourself."
Steven Edwards gathered himself up to his full height. "I’m fine, it’s Jennifer that I am worried about and I will not rest until she is safe. This is one time I will not have any arguments out of you. I am coming with you. End of discussion."
Jonathan shrugged. "Have it your way, then, I’m calling the police to take care of our friend here. Keep him covered. Claire, use some of that rope and tie him up. I don’t want him to have any chance to get away. He will have to answer for his crimes."
Claire rose from the couch. "Promise me that you will both be very careful. I want all of you to come back in one piece."
Steven gave her a reassuring look. "That’s what we all want Claire. Now where do we find a map? We have to find the fastest way to that cabin, because there is no telling what surprises Durenga will set up given enough time."
Meanwhile, Jennifer Edwards Hart stared silently out the car window. She had never felt so alone in all of her life. This is even worse than the time Jonathan was kidnapped and shot in Paris, she thought hopelessly. Stop it, she told herself, that kind of thinking won’t help now. She looked at Durenga and wondered what he had planned for her. She decided on the direct approach. "What are you going to do to me?"
Durenga smiled evilly at her. "I have all sorts of plans for you, lovely lady."
Jennifer tried unsuccessfully to suppress the shudder his smile gave her. "I hope you realized that my husband is going to come after me. He will follow you all over the earth if he has to. He won’t stop until he gets me back. You won’t get away with this."
Though Jennifer thought it was impossible, Durenga’s face turned even more sinister. "I’m counting on dear old Jonathan coming after you. It’s high time you beloved husband got what’s coming to him, although I never thought this day would come so soon. I have been planning for it and now the day has finally arrived."
Jennifer was horrified. "What are you planning to do to my husband?"
Durenga laughed, a cold, calculating sound that sent shivers down Jennifer’s spine. "All in due time Mrs. Hart, all in due time. Now shut up and watch the scenery. We’ll arrive at our destination before you know it."
Jennifer turned back to the window. She silently prayed that somehow Jonathan would find her and that they would come out of this nightmare together.
As soon as Jonathan hung up from calling the police he turned to Steven. "Ready to go? I want to be on the road before the cops get here and try to keep us from going."
Constantine Wainwright looked toward Jonathan. "Take the gun with you, Jonathan, but use it wisely. I will call my contacts in the CIA and get you some backup." He turned toward Steven, his face full of regret. "Steven, I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am that I dragged you into this. I wish I could change the past, there are so many things that I would do differently if I could."
"Tell me about it later, Conny. I have to go get my little girl." With that he turned, picked the map up off the table and strode out the door.
Jonathan turned to go after him. "We’ll bring her back safely, Claire, I promise."
Claire looked at him with tears in her eyes, "I know you will Jonathan, because you would never lie to me. I can tell that you are a good man who loves his wife very much. Now go get her."
Jonathan smiled and rushed out the door.
Sometime later Jennifer awoke with a start. She realized that the car had stopped. We must be here, she thought, wherever here is.
Durenga looked over at her and noticed that she was awake. "Ah, sleeping beauty is awake. Did your darling husband ever tell you that you are even pretty when you’re asleep? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that I tell you every morning from now on."
Durenga’s implication that she was going to spend the rest of her life with him almost made Jennifer sick. "Don’t be so sure of yourself, I wouldn’t count Jonathan out just yet."
Durenga laughed at her feeble attempt at bravery. "Oh but he will be out in just a little while. You see that cabin over there? Heroic Jonathan will go rushing into it to save you and BOOM!!! No more Jonathan. You will be all mine then. We’ll be so happy, just you wait. In no time at all you will have forgotten all about the late Mr. Hart."
Jennifer was getting angrier by the second. This madman was happily describing the death of her husband and his plans for her. If only she wasn’t tied up, she would love to get her hands on him. "I will never, even in a million years forget Jonathan. And there is a snowball’s chance in hell that I would ever be happy with you. I would kill myself first."
Durenga smiled at her. "Don’t be so quick to dismiss me. I’m very persuasive. Now be a good girl and stay here while I set up my little surprise for your husband."
"I will not just sit here while you prepare a trap for my husband."
"I thought you would say that," Durenga said as he reached into his jacket. He pulled out a small vial and a cloth. Turning toward Jennifer, he was almost sad. "Good night Mrs. Hart," was all he said as he placed the cloth over her nose and mouth.
Jennifer’s last thought before the darkness overtook her was of Jonathan. Please let him be all right, she prayed. Then her world went black.
Stopping the car, Jonathan turned toward his father-in-law. "Steven, are you sure this is the place?"
"It been more years than I care to remember since I’ve been here, but, yes I’m sure that this is the place. It been in Kyle’s family for generations."
"Stay in the car, Steven, you will be more help to me if I know that you are out here. Take the gun and use it if Durenga gets past me." Jonathan handed the weapon to him.
"Jonathan, I was reading Durenga’s file on the way up. Not only is he a sharpshooter, he’s also a demolition’s expert. I think he might try to blow this place up with you inside."
"You are probably right. I’ll be on the lookout for a bomb. Is there a back door?"
"Yes, straight through the cabin. Jonathan, what are you planning?"
Jonathan smiled at him. "We already know that this is a setup, right? Well, I’m not going in there with my eyes closed. I’m going to turn the tables on this guy and make him think that he’s won. Whatever happens in there, let Durenga think that he’s won."
"I was right, we really could have used you in the old OSS. Good luck my boy," Steven said warmly.
Jonathan got out of the car and ran up to the cabin. He pounded on the door and called for Jennifer. He thought he could hear a muffled response. "Jennifer! Are you in there?" he called again before trying the door and finding it unlocked. He threw open the door and ran inside.
Mere seconds later the afternoon quiet was shattered by a tremendous explosion. The cabin was completely destroyed.
From his hiding place in the woods, Durenga leapt with joy. "He’s dead! I did it! I finally got rid of the cursed Jonathan Hart."
Beside him Jennifer stared at the shell of the cabin she had watched her husband run into moments before. There was no way he could have survived the explosion, no matter what part of the cabin he was in. The tears slowly started rolling down her cheeks. She turned to face the man who had killed her husband. "Why?" she screamed at him. "Why was it so important for you to kill Jonathan?"
Durenga smiled evilly at her. "Because, my dear, revenge is always sweet. He took my life away from me and now I’ve taken his."
Jennifer was confused. "What are you talking about? It looks like you are still alive to me."
"Ah, but he took my reason for living away. You see, the woman I loved was sentenced to jail because of him. Unfortunately, instead of going to jail, my love decided to end her life. It was all his fault. I vowed revenge, and now I have it."
At that moment Steven Edwards stepped out from behind a tree. "That’s the last time you will ever harm someone I love again," he shouted.
As Steven raised the gun in his hand to take aim, Durenga shoved Jennifer into him. They both fell onto the ground.
Jennifer embraced her father gratefully. "Dad, are you all right?"
"Yes, darling, how about you? Has he hurt you?" he asked as he looked her over for any obvious signs of harm.
"No, I fine. Oh, Dad, Jonathan’s gone. I saw it. What am I going to do without him?"
Durenga stood over them, holding Steven’s gun. "Now isn’t this just special? A father and daughter reunion. I’m sorry old man, but I’m cutting this short. Your lovely daughter and I have to be moving along."
Steven Edwards was outraged. "What are you planning to do with my daughter? You’ve just killed her husband, what more can you do to hurt her?"
Durenga laughed. "That’s for me to know and you to never find out. Come on Red, we have to get going."
Jennifer looked up with a fire in her eyes. "Don’t ever call me that again."
"I’ll call you anything I want, and one day you’ll come to like it."
"Never!"
"Let’s discuss this later, when I have you in a more comfortable position. Now get in the car," Durenga prodded her with the gun.
Jennifer had no choice but to comply. With a tearful glance at her father, she got into the passenger side of the car. Durenga walked around the front end to the driver’s side. As reached to open the door, Jonathan grabbed him from behind. "Nobody calls my wife Red. Nobody!" he screamed in his ear.
"You! You’re alive! How! There was enough explosive in that cabin to take out a tank."
"You didn’t count on me running straight through the cabin and out the back door without stopping, did you? I knew that you would try something, so I turned the tables on you."
Durenga laughed. "You think you’re so smart, anticipating my every move. Do you expect this?" he asked as he elbowed Jonathan in the stomach.
As Jonathan doubled over, Durenga slipped free and started running. In a heartbeat, Jonathan was up and chasing after him.
"You’re not getting away that easily, Durenga." Jonathan followed him, wondering why he was going toward the cliff.
As he got near the cliff, Durenga called over his shoulder "You always win, don’t you Hart? I’m not going to let you take me in alive. My old man will have me killed in my jail cell before the night is over. I’d much rather go out on my own terms. It’s a shame I never got to finish what I started with your lovely Mrs. Another time, another place, perhaps." With that he took a flying leap off of the cliff, his body bouncing off the rocks as it fell.
Jonathan looked over the edge. "Goodbye, Durenga, thanks for nothing."
He turned and raced back to Jennifer. When he got back to the remains of the cabin, Jennifer was crying on her father’s shoulder, for she had not seen or heard Jonathan’s fight with Durenga.
"Oh, Dad, what do we do now?" she cried.
Jonathan quietly stepped up behind her. "Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?" he asked with a smile.
The second she heard him, Jennifer’s heart soared. She rushed into his arms. "Jonathan! You’re alive! Thank God." she murmured into his neck.
"You had doubt’s? I promised you that it would all work out, and I’ve never broken a promise to you, have I?" He tried to make light of the situation, but Jennifer could see in his eyes that he was as relived as she was.
Steven hated to break up the happy couple, but he needed answers. "Jonathan, where’s Durenga? You took off after him like a shot, what happened?"
Jonathan never let go of Jennifer as he answered. "He couldn’t let himself be caught, so he took a dive off of the cliff. It’s finally over. Rothenburg is in jail and Durenga is dead. We can finally put this whole mess behind us and get back to our normal lives."
Jennifer sighed happily, her arms wrapped around her husband. "It’s about time we got off of this merry go round. How are Conny and Aunt Claire?"
"They’re both fine. Let’s get to a phone and let them know that we are all OK and that Durenga’s dead. It’s going to be hard on Conny, finding out he has a son and then finding out that he’s dead all in the same day," Jonathan said sympathetically.
"He’ll be fine, given enough time. I just hope that he and Claire can find a way to work through what has happened to them."
Two months later, Jonathan awoke to find Jennifer staring down at him.
"Hey sleepyhead," she said, "are you ever going to get up?"
Jonathan smiled up at her. "Only if you come back to bed."
"Jonathan Hart, after all these years you are still incorrigible" she laughed as she fell back into the bed and her husband’s waiting arms. "We only have a few hours before we have to meet Conny and Claire."
"That’s plenty of time" Jonathan said nuzzling her neck.
"Oh Jonathan" Jennifer replied, forgetting about everything but him for the rest of the morning.
Later that afternoon, Jonathan raised his champagne glass to make a toast. "I would like to propose a toast to the happy couple. Conny, Claire, I wish you all of the happiness that I have found with Jennifer. No one could ask for anything more in a marriage."
Jennifer looked up at her husband, "You’ve got that right." She turned to the happy couple, "Welcome to the family Conny. I hope we’ll be seeing a lot more of you and Aunt Claire now that you’re married."
Claire smiled happily at her new husband. "You can bet on it, my dear."
Steven Edwards raised his glass for a toast. "To my old friend and his new bride, I wish you only happiness and joy for the rest of your lives."
As everyone raised their glasses, Jonathan wrapped his free arm around Jennifer and drew her near. He looked deep into her eyes and told her what he was thinking. "Thank you."
She smiled up at him, slightly confused. "Thank you for what?"
"Saying yes all those years ago. I wouldn’t trade it for all the money in the world," he replied, giving her a lingering kiss. "I love you Mrs. Hart."
"And I love you, Mr. Hart," Jennifer replied with a smile that still took Jonathan’s breath away. "I’m glad I said yes, too" she said as she kissed him again.
