CATEGORIES: E, J&J HR, F

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these guys and even if you did sue me all you
would get are my text books for school. Good luck on selling those back.

PERMISSION: Please, please, please archive this. I'm tired of having to rely on
my sister to laugh at me.

SUMMARY: Basically Jessie moves away and Jonny gets in trouble and she comes to
his rescue. Like I said, pretty basic.
 

Jonny watched as Race carried Jessie’s last bag on board the Dragonfly.
Jessie was saying her goodbyes to Dr. Quest.
She was stunning standing there in her blue jeans and t-shirt with the setting
sun on her hair.
Dr. Quest kissed her gently on the cheek and Jessie turned to Jonny with a smile
on her face.
He had barely seen her in the last three years. She had decided to go to college
in California and he had gone to Florida to work on some projects at the Quest
Compound in the Keys.
Jessie had been so busy working on her doctorate that she had barely come back
to Maine at all except at Christmas time and once on Jonny’s birthday when he
had been there. And she hadn’t been to Florida at all. Then again, he hadn’t
been to California either.
She had spent the last three weeks in Maine with Race, Dr. Quest, Hadji, and
Jonny.
Jonny had been ecstatic when he found out Jessie was coming home. He had put all
of his projects on hold and flown home two days before she was supposed to be
there. She was supposed to be there for at least three months, but just a few
days ago she had gotten a phone call asking her if she was interested in a
position at a university in France.
Of course Jessie couldn’t turn it down. It was what she had wanted for a long
time.
Now her things were packed again and in the Dragonfly and her father and Hadji
were ready to fly her halfway around the world.
Jessie closed the distance between her and Jonny quickly with the smile still on
her face.
“I guess this is goodbye again,” Jessie said.
Jonny nodded, forcing a smile.
“It seems that way,” he said.
“I’ll be back at Christmas,” she said.
“You realize that’s seven months away, right?”
“I think I can count,” she said.
Some things never change, Jonny thought.
“I suppose you can,” he said quietly.
Jessie’s smile faded slightly.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Jess, we need to get going,” Race called from the door of the plane.
“Coming Dad.”
She turned back to Jonny.
“I guess I’ll see you at Christmas,” she said.
Jessie put her arms around him and Jonny hugged her tightly.
“I’ll call you on Friday,” she said.
Jonny nodded.
He wanted to say something encouraging, something that would be comforting when
she thought back on it, but for some reason the only thing he could think was:
don’t go.
He knew he couldn’t say that to her. Not now. It was too late for that.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said.

Jonny watched the plane take off, then turned towards the beach.
“I’ll be back for dinner,” he called to his father.
Benton nodded and headed back for the house.
Jonny had intended to just walk to the beach and sit down for a while, but for
some reason he didn’t feel like stopping when he got there, so he turned and
walked parallel to the sand.
Just last week he and Jessie had gone swimming right there. The water was so
cold, but Jessie hadn’t seemed to mind and Jonny wasn’t going to complain as
long as Jessie was happy.
He could remember when she had left to go to college. It had been almost the
same situation as a few moments ago. All of Jessie’s things packed and on the
plane and her telling him goodbye.
Jonny shook his head. He shouldn’t think of those things. He would just get more
and more depressed until he went back to Florida and threw himself into his
work.
He hadn’t had a girlfriend in over two years.
The last one he had, Joanna, had left him because he didn’t pay her enough
attention.
Jonny knew it had been a legitimate complaint. He had cancelled their dates so
many times so he could finish up a part of a project and he had blown her off
waiting for Jessie to call.
He had been sad to see Joanna go, but he knew it was better that way.
By that time he had already admitted to himself that the only one he wanted was
Jessie and no other girl would be able to take that place in his heart.
He had resolved to tell her at Christmas when she came home, but when he had
walked through the doors of the Maine house she was standing arm in arm with a
dark haired man who she introduced as her boyfriend.
Jonny had nearly choked when he heard that, but he just swallowed and shook the
man’s hand with a smile.
The next Christmas when Jonny came home Jessie was there alone. Just the chance
he wanted, but he had spent most of the week leading up to Christmas trying to
comfort Jessie, whose boyfriend had just broken up with her the week before. He
knew he couldn’t catch her on the rebound.
Then, last month when Jessie called to say she was coming home, Jonny had
promised himself that he would tell her once they were back in Maine. It would
be perfect.
Neither of them had a significant other. Neither of them had anything to
preoccupy their time. It would be like when they were kids and it seemed that
they had all the time in the world and everything was ahead of them.
His heart had skipped a beat when Jessie walked through the front door.
He had swept her up in his arms and hugged her and she had laughed like he
hadn’t heard her laugh in a long time.
Jonny stopped suddenly at the edge of the beach.
He had had three whole weeks to tell her. Three weeks and yet he hadn’t.
Couldn’t.
Every time he had opened his mouth to tell her nothing would come out and he
would just sound there staring at her and she would start laughing and ask him
what was wrong. He would just shake his head and go back to what he had been
doing before.
The night before she had gotten the phone call Jonny had decided that he wasn’t
going to wait anymore. If he couldn’t just come out and tell her, then he would
write it down in a letter and give it to her. That way there would be no turning
back.
He had stayed up half the night writing a three-page letter. He had written it
and then refused to read it, just in case he lost his nerve. He sealed it in an
envelope and laid it beside his bed.
It was four in the morning when he was finished. He knew she wouldn’t be awake,
so he had lain down to sleep for a few hours.
When he had finally woken up his clock read nine-thirty.
Jonny had rolled out of bed and grabbed the letter.
He knew Jessie would be awake by then, so he made his way to the kitchen. He
heard Race, Hadji, Jessie, and his father through the door. They had all sounded
happy.
Jonny had pushed open the door.
“Congratulations, Jessie,” Hadji had said.
“I think a celebration may be in order,” Dr. Quest had said.
“What did I miss?” Jonny asked.
“Jessie just got a position at a university in Paris,” Race said. “She’s leaving
on Wednesday.”
Jonny had been stunned.
“That’s great,” he said and managed a smile.
Jessie had beamed.
“I just can’t believe it,” she said.
“Neither can I,” Jonny said.
Jessie stopped suddenly.
“Weren’t you wearing those clothes yesterday?” she asked.
Jonny looked down at the jeans and t-shirt he had fallen asleep in after writing
the letter.
“I just heard the commotion and wanted to see what was up,” Jonny said quickly.
“I’m going to go catch a shower now.”
Jonny had gone back to his room and tucked the letter away in the back of his
desk drawer.
It hadn’t been the time after all.

Jonny stared out at the sea for over an hour, trying to figure out where he had
gone so wrong, but couldn’t come to one definite time.
It was dark by then and the stars reflected on the water.
Jonny looked at his watch and saw that it was after seven and he had told his
father he would be home by dinner.
He stood up and brushed the sand off of his pants and started back towards the
house.

In the Dragonfly Jessie looked out of the window over the Atlantic.
Her father had offered to let her play pilot with Hadji, but Jessie had turned
him down. She just wasn’t really in the mood.
She had been looking forward to spending the summer with Jonny and Hadji. It had
been way too long since they had all been together and she missed them.
But she hadn’t been able to pass up the opportunity to work in Paris.
“You feeling okay, Ponchita?” Race asked.
Jessie looked up at her father who had just emerged from the cockpit.
“I think so,” she said. “Maybe just a little homesick.”
“Already?”
Jessie laughed.
“Just practicing, I suppose.”
Race sat down in the seat next to her.
“You know we can come and get you any time you want,” he said. “It’s only a few
hours.”
Jessie laughed.
“Dad, it’s halfway around the world.”
“World’s not so big.”
Race put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed.
“What’s really wrong?” he asked.
Jessie leaned over and put her head on Race’s shoulder.
“Did Jonny seem strange to you?” she asked.
“You mean more strange than usual?”
Jessie smiled.
“Dad.”
“Sorry.”
“I mean, did it seem like he was uncomfortable around me somehow?”
Race knew exactly what the problem was. He had known for a long time. It wasn’t
hard to figure out. Still, it wasn’t his place to say anything.
“Well, Jess, he hasn’t really gotten to spend time with you in three years,”
Race said. “And three weeks just isn’t a lot of time to get familiar again. I
mean, you guys have both grown up.  All of you guys have. Hadji’s the sultan of
Bangladesh. He was just here on a little vacation to see you. You’re all grown
up and a doctor. How scary is that?”
Jessie playfully punched her Dad in the ribs and Race laughed.
“Just kidding,” he said. “Jonny’s been running the lab in Florida for Benton
going on three years now. He’s been handling all of the military contracts. He’s
grown up now Jessie.”
Jessie said nothing. She knew her father was right.
Still, she wished things had been a little different. More like they were still
teenagers and not adults.

Jonny got up the next morning and packed all of his clothes up before going to
the kitchen for breakfast.
Benton sat at the table reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee.
“Hey Pop!”
“Good morning,” Benton answered, looking up from the paper.
Jonny took a box of cereal out of the cupboard and sat it on the counter, then
produced a bowl and spoon from the drain beside the sink.
He took all of it to the table and poured a bowl of cereal.
“You know, son, there is milk in the refrigerator.”
Jonny shrugged and began eating the cereal.
Benton went back to reading the news and Jonny stared out the window as he
finished his first bowl of cereal and started on the second.
“So, how did you sleep last night?” Benton asked, laying the newspaper to one
side.
“Fine,” Jonny lied.
Truthfully he hadn’t been able to sleep all night and had sat in his window for
several hours watching the waves break on the shore.
“Really?”
Jonny looked up suddenly, his spoon halfway in between the bowl and his mouth.
“I could have sworn I heard you walking around most of the night,” Benton said.
Jonny put the cereal in his mouth and chewed it slowly.
“I guess I’m just ready to get back to those projects,” he lied again.
Benton nodded.
“I think I’m going to fly back to Florida this afternoon.” Jonny said.
“Race will be back this evening if you want to wait.”
Jonny shook his head.
“I’ll just take a commercial flight. It’s no big deal.”

On Friday Jonny was just stepping out of the shower when he heard the signal for
the videophone go off.
He grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around his waist as he made a
run for the computer.
Jonny made it on the fourth ring and hit the voice only button.
“Jonny Quest.”
“Hey. It’s Jessie. Why don’t you have the video on?”
“Hold on a second. I just didn’t know who it was.”
Jonny leaned over and hit the video button and Jessie’s smiling face was
suddenly on the screen.
She suddenly began to laugh.
“What?” Jonny demanded.
“It’s just that from where I sit it looks like you’re not wearing anything.”
Jonny realized he was standing behind the desk chair which covered everything up
to his waist from the position the camera was.
“Actually, I have a towel on,” Jonny said with a smile. “You caught me in the
shower.”
“Well, I was lucky to have caught you at all,” Jessie said. “I tried you at the
house in Maine and my Dad said you went back home yesterday, so I tried your
cell phone and no one answered.”
“It’s getting some modifications put into it. A tracker signal. It should be
done by this afternoon.”
“Well, after the cell phone I tried here, but no answer so I tried the lab and
no one answered. So, I waited an hour and called back.”
“Very persistent,” Jonny said.
“Aren’t I always?”
Jonny just laughed.
They talked for another half an hour before Jessie decided she had to go.
Jonny walked back to the bathroom to get dressed, still thinking of Jessie
laughing at him.

“Did you get all of that conversation?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get to work digitizing it. I want both voices and speech patterns by tomorrow
morning.”
“Yes, sir.”

Jonny was in the lab on Monday morning going over the progress of one of the
projects with one of the researchers when his cell phone rang.
“Jonny Quest.”
“Hey. It’s Jessie. What are you doing?”
“Going over some research,” Jonny said. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to come to Paris.”
Jonny’s heart skipped a beat.
“Come to Paris?” he asked. “When?”
“Well, I was hoping today if you could.”
Jonny knew he had a million things to get done, but Jessie was calling asking
him to come to Paris.
“Sure,” he said. “No problem. I’ll go pack some stuff and call the airline.”
“Actually, I have a plane chartered on the mainland to bring you here.”
Jonny smiled.
“You chartered a plane?”
“Well, I had it on standby just in case you couldn’t come.”
“Wow. You really wanted me in Paris. What’s up?”
“I’ll tell you when you get here.”
That’s strange, Jonny thought.
“Okay,” he said. “Where’s the plane and when can I catch it?”
“It’s down at Key West on that private airstrip just to the west of the main
airport.”
“Why don’t you just have it come pick me up at the airstrip by the house?” Jonny
asked.
There was a pause and then Jessie went on like she hadn’t heard him.
“You can catch it anytime this afternoon. I’ll call and tell them you’re coming.
See you soon.”
The line went dead.
Jonny held the phone to his ear for a few more moments, then slowly lowered it
and turned it off.
“What was that all about?” Mark, the researcher, asked.
“It was Jessie. She wants me to come to Paris.”
“When?”
“Today.”
Mark had been taking a drink of Coca-Cola and almost choked.
“Today?”
“Yeah, she even chartered a plane for me in Key West.”
“Key West? Why didn’t she just have you take your dad’s plane or the company
jet?”
“I don’t know, but Jessie wants me in Paris and I’m going to Paris.”

Jessie was sitting at her computer in her Paris flat when the signal that a
video call was coming through sounded.
She turned to the videophone and hit the transmit button.
“Jessie Bannon.”
“Jess,” it was Jonny’s voice sure enough, but the picture wouldn’t come up.
“Hey Jonny,” Jessie pushed a few buttons on her phone, but still couldn’t get
the picture to come up. “Is there something wrong with your phone?”
“Yeah, I broke the camera. It’s at the lab getting fixed.”
“Okay. I was wondering why I couldn’t get a picture.”
“Well, that would be the reason. Listen, I was calling was to tell you I’m going
on vacation with Mark in Puerto Villarreal for a little while, so you’re
probably not going to be able to reach me.”
“Okay. When are you coming back?”
“I’m not especially sure. I’ll bring you something back.”
Jessie smiled.
“All right.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Jess.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Jessie turned off the videophone.
It was strange that Jonny would be going on vacation so soon after taking time
off to go to Maine, but that really wasn’t her concern.
She stretched, then went back to typing.

Benton was working on his computer when an instant message came up on his
screen.
He clicked the button to accept.
JQuest: Hey Pop!
BQuest: Hello Jonny.
JQuest: How is everything?
BQuest: Everything is coming along nicely.
JQuest: Great. I just wanted to tell you that I have to go to New Mexico on some
military exercises to test that new gun prototype we’ve been working on. I don’t
know when I’ll be back. I’ll call and let you know how it went.
BQuest: That sounds fine. When will you be leaving?
JQuest: Tonight. I’m packing my stuff now. If you talk to Hadji or Race go ahead
and tell them because they’ll wonder why they can’t get in touch with me.
BQuest: I surely will. Did you tell Jessie yet?
JQuest: I talked to her just a few minutes ago. I have to get going though. Like
I said, I’ll call as soon as I get back.
BQuest: Good luck son.
JQuest: Thanks Pop. Talk to you soon.
Benton turned off the instant message.
Jonny usually called him before they went on military maneuvers so they could
discuss the project. It was unusual that he would use the computer to tell his
father he was leaving for New Mexico.
Benton shrugged his shoulders and went back to programming Questworld.

“Sir, do you think it wise to tell them all different stories?”
“It keeps them from calling each other looking for the boy and by the time they
figure out that something is wrong it will be too late.”

Jonny packed only one suitcase. Jessie hadn’t told him how long she wanted him
to stay in Paris.
He put it in his car and made the drive to Key West. He found the airport
easily. They had used it before for testing a new radar Jonny’s lab had created.
Jonny left his car near one of the metal hangars and carried his suitcase across
the tarmac to a small Lear jet waiting.
There was a man standing beside the open doorway.
“You must be Jonny,” the man said, reaching out for Jonny’s bag.
Jonny handed it over willingly.
“That’s right,” he said.
“Well, I guess we can get going now.”
Jonny climbed into the airplane and took a seat in the passenger compartment.
The man was right behind him. He put Jonny’s bag in a compartment to the left of
the door, then nodded and stepped into the cockpit.
Jonny settled back in his seat and closed his eyes. He knew it was going to be a
long flight and he was insane to make it, but all Jonny could think of was
Jessie.

Once they were in the air and turning out over the ocean, the pilot smiled at
the girl sitting in the seat next to him.
She pushed a button on her headset and spoke into the microphone.
“Package has been picked up. Delivery imminent.”
“Copy that,” a voice came back. “Proceed to drop off point.”

Jonny was on the verge of sleep when he suddenly realized that he hadn’t been
tired ten minutes ago.
The thought upset him. He knew that he hated to sleep on planes.
He tried to wake himself up, but his eyelids continued to close slowly and just
as he fell past the edge of consciousness he heard the soft hiss of the gas.

The phone rang at the Quest Compound in Maine at six in the morning.
Race rolled over in bed and picked up the phone.
“Quest residence,” he said sleepily.
“Mr. Bannon?”
It was Mark’s voice and it seemed panicked.
Race was awake instantly.
“Yes. Is this Mark?”
“Yes, sir. I was wondering if you had a number in Paris where I could reach
Jonny. It’s very important.”
“Paris? Jonny isn’t in Paris. He’s supposed to be in New Mexico with the
military.”
“New Mexico? He said he was going to Paris. Jessie called him the other day.”
Race was out of bed with the cordless phone, getting dressed.
“How do you know Jessie called him?” he asked.
“I was in the office with him. She called his cell phone and asked him to come
to Paris. She even had a plane waiting for him at Key West. He left yesterday
afternoon and now all Hell’s broken out at the lab and I need to get in touch
with him.”
“Okay. Calm down and we’ll get this straightened out.”

Fifteen minutes later Benton and Race were in the library.
Benton was on the phone with Mark helping him straighten out the situation at
the lab, which hadn’t been so bad after all, but merely a misunderstanding.
Race was talking to Jessie on the videophone.
“No, Jonny isn’t here with me,” Jessie said. “Why would he be?”
“Mark said you called yesterday and asked Jonny to come to Paris,” Race said.
“No, I didn’t. In fact Jonny called me yesterday and said he was going to Puerto
Villarreal with Mark.”
“Puerto Villarreal? He sent a message to Benton yesterday saying he was going to
New Mexico to run some tests on that new gun with the military.”
Jessie was suddenly worried. She knew that this was entirely unlike the boy she
had grown up with.
“Dad, I think something’s wrong. Did you try his cell phone?”
Race nodded.
“No answer.”
“But it rang?”
“Yes, about four times, then his voice mail came on.”
“Race?”  Benton asked from across the room. “Did you ask Jessie about the
plane?”
“No, good idea.”
Race turned back to Jessie.
“Mark said that Jonny went to catch a plane in Key West, but not at the
commercial airport. He said that you ordered it.”
Jessie thought for a moment.
“There’s a small airport close to the commercial airport in Key West, but that’s
the only one I can think of,” she said. “Can you let me talk to Mark for a
minute?”
“Sure. Let me patch his call over.”
Jessie talked to Mark a few moments, then went back to her father.
“Okay, Dad, I talked to Mark. Just a few days ago Jonny had his phone fitted
with a tracking device. As long as his phone is somewhere near him then we can
track him. Mark said he’s going to start the search and send me the results.
I’ll call you back when I get something.”
“Fine,” Race said. “I’m going to get in touch with that airport in Key West and
see if they have any information we can use. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Jonny woke up with a splitting headache.
He was laying on a metal cot in the corner of what at one time had been a jail
cell. There had been some bathroom fixtures, but they had been removed.
Jonny tried to move, but couldn’t. His hands and feet had been bound.
Outside the cell Jonny could hear approaching footsteps.
He shook his head, trying to clear his double vision and suddenly two figures
appeared in the doorway.
“Good morning, Mr. Quest,” a woman‘s voice said.
Jonny’s vision cleared long enough to see Dr. Surd’s two henchman, Julia and
Lorenzo, standing in the doorway.
“Where am I?” Jonny asked.
Lorenzo and Julia both laughed.
“Now why would we tell you that?” Lorenzo asked.
Jonny was suddenly very angry.
“Then how about what do you want with me?”
“Actually we just want access to your labs,” Julia said. “Or rather, Jeremiah
does.”
It was Jonny’s turn to laugh.
“Good luck,” he said.
“Oh, I don’t think we’ll need too much luck,” Julia said, producing a vial from
her coat pocket.
“What is that?” Jonny demanded.
“Something new we’ve been working on,” Julia said.
She took a syringe from her pocket and filled it.
“It paralyzes all of your skeletal muscles, but leaves you totally conscious so
you can feel the beating you’re getting,” she said.
Lorenzo smiled and produced a short metal pipe from behind his back.
“It’s an evolved form of what we gave your girlfriend a few years back,” he
said. “Except it works much faster.”
Jonny was suddenly more angry than he could remember being in a long time. The
memory of Jessie under the effects of the poison Surd had given her chilled
Jonny. He remembered how helpless he had felt and how afraid he had been that
Jessie was going to die.
“If I’m not mistaken the three of you haven’t been paid back for that one,” he
growled.
Julia laughed.
“I suppose we haven’t,” she said.
Jonny knew it would be useless to struggle when she injected him.
Julia withdrew the needle from his arm and stood up.
“Let’s go,” she said to Lorenzo. “We need to give it time to take effect.”

“Did you inject him?” Surd demanded as soon as Julia was back in the room.
“Of course,” she said.
Julia sat the empty vial down on the table.
“We’ll go back in a half an hour and it should be completely in effect,” she
said.
“Just remember that you have to inject him again in three hours or the effects
will wear off.”
Julia nodded.
“Do you have any idea what wonderful weapons he must have in that lab?” Surd
asked. “They’ve been on contract with the military for years now. If we can just
make him give us access then no one would be able to stop us.”
Julia smiled as Surd began to laugh.

Jessie called her father back thirty minutes later.
“I’ve got him,” she said excitedly. “Well, his phone at least.”
“Great,” Race said. “Where is he?”
Benton leaned over behind Race to look at the screen.
Jessie was typing furiously.
“Here,” she said as a map appeared in the left half of the screen.
Race leaned closer. It was a large scale map of Switzerland with a small red
circle flashing on it.
“Apparently there is a small village here,” Jessie said as another circle
appeared not far away from the first, “about forty miles from Zurich. The signal
from Jonny’s phone is coming up about ten miles outside of the village.
Apparently there’s a small ski resort there that’s closed for the season right
now.”
“You’ve certainly been busy,” Race said.
“You’re the one always telling me to know what I’m up against,” Jessie said with
a smile. “I still have some more checking to do though. I’ve made arrangements
for you to land at the Zurich airport sometime between eight and ten hours from
now.”
“Great,” Benton said. “We will be leaving shortly then.”
“I’ll meet you there,” Jessie said.
“Wait a minute,” Race said. “Who said you were going?”
“Who said I wasn’t?”
Jessie had that tone in her voice that Race had heard so often, mostly coming
from himself. It was the tone that said ‘I’d like to see you stop me.’ He knew
it was useless to argue.
“Just be careful,” Race said. “And don’t you dare go in until we get there.”
“Fine.”
“Fine,” Race agreed.
“I’ll see you soon.,” Jessie said, then the screen went blank.

Jonny tried to work at his bonds, but it didn’t take too long before he started
feeling the effects of the poison.
It started out slowly, leaving him feeling weak, then suddenly he couldn’t move
anything except his eyes.
He was left there staring at the ceiling, knowing that Julia and Lorenzo would
be back anytime and he was defenseless.
Jonny closed his eyes.
He could still hear Jessie’s voice asking him to come to Paris.
It had all been a trick. Somehow they had been able to replicate Jessie’s voice
and trick him into getting on that plane in Key West.
How stupid could he be?
Jessie would never have called and asked him to come to Paris in the first
place, much less without telling him what for.
It wasn’t like it was the first time that his feelings for her had gotten in his
way, but now no one knew where he was.
He would never give them access to the lab. He couldn’t do it. With the weapons
inside Surd could unleash mass destruction on the world and Jonny couldn’t let
that happen.
He would rather die than let Surd have those things.

Julia stepped into the room first, followed by Lorenzo who was still wielding
the metal bar.
Jonny’s eyes flew open.
“Well, Mr. Quest. Feeling relaxed I hope,” Julia said.
Lorenzo laughed.
“Let’s play a game,” Julia said. “I’ll ask you a question. Blink twice for yes
don’t blink at all for no. Do you understand?”
Jonny blinked twice.
“Great. Will you grant us access to your labs in Florida?”
Jonny stared at her without blinking.
“Fine.”
She turned to Lorenzo and nodded.
Lorenzo stepped forward with a smile on his face and lifted the bar.

Jessie’s plane touched down and taxied to the gate.
She left as fast as she could, passing by the baggage claim. The only thing she
had brought was a carry on bag with a change of clothes, her passport, and her
laptop.
Outside the terminal Jessie caught a cab and told the driver to take her to the
small village she had pointed out to her father just a few hours before.
As soon as the cab pulled away from the curb, Jessie produced her laptop from
her bag and punched up the map of Switzerland. The circle was still in the same
place.
That was good. At least she could find his phone if nothing else and that might
give her a lead as to where he was.
Jessie produced a small box that looked similar to a pager and pushed a button
on the side.
There was a short beep and then Jessie pushed a button on her computer and held
the box to the side.
After a few moments there was another small beep.
On the screen of the box was a map of the area with the circle on it.
It would be much easier to track the signal if she didn’t have to keep checking
her laptop.

“How much longer?” Benton asked from the co-pilot’s seat.
“About two more hours to Zurich,” Race said. “Jess should already be there.”
The two men sat in silence.
Benton was worried about his son and Race was worried about his daughter.
He hoped that Jessie would keep her word and not go in without them.
Race had called from aboard the plane and spoke with a military officer named
Jean Borden, who was a friend of his in Switzerland. He had promised to get some
more information on the resort, but couldn’t promise any other help as it wasn’t
a military matter.
Race looked over to Benton who was staring off into space, then quickly turned
back to his instruments as one of the lights went off.
He pushed a button and Jessie’s voice came over the speakers.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, ponchita?”
“I’m in Switzerland. The signal is still coming from the same place. I’m going
out to check on some things.”
“Remember what you promised.”
“I’m just going to look around,” Jessie insisted.  “I’m going to get a car in
the little town and have a look at the layout of the resort, then I’m heading
back to the airport to meet you. I was calling to see how much longer until I
need to be there.”
“About two hours would be ideal,” Benton said.
“Great,” Jessie said. “I’ll see you in two hours.”
“Jess?” Race tried to get her attention.
There was a click and they were disconnected.
“I was going to tell her about Jean getting us that information,” Race said.
“We can tell her at the airport when Jean meets us,” Benton said.
“Somehow I don’t think Jess is going to be at the airport.”
“What do you mean?”
“When have any of the kids listened to us when we told them not to rush into
something? Especially when it was one of them in trouble?”
Benton looked at Race.
“You had better contact Jean then and see if he can intercept her before she
reaches the resort.,” Benton suggested. “I believe that would be the only way to
stop her.”
“Benton, how did we raise such stubborn children?” Race asked as he started
putting through the call to Borden.

Jonny woke up again.
He was in immense pain.
He had lost count of how many times he had been beaten and how many times he had
lost consciousness.
Reality and his dreams had become confused somehow and he couldn’t remember what
was real and what wasn’t.
He just remembered over and over refusing to blink and then Lorenzo stepping
forward with that sadistic grin on his face.
But sometimes he thought he saw his family standing there with him. And
sometimes he thought he saw Jessie and Race. And sometimes he thought he was in
Questworld or Florida or Maine or Bangladesh.
Yet somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he was lying in a cell
waiting to be beaten again or that he was being beaten or that Julia was putting
a needle in his arm.
Jonny closed his eyes and lost consciousness again.

The taxi let Jessie out in front of a local hotel where she secured a car that
she could rent for the day.
She climbed inside and placed the small box on the dash so she could watch it
while she drove.
The circle was still in the same place when she started up the road to the
resort.
Jessie had presented her Parisian driver’s license and asked in fluent French
how she could reach the resort.
The man at the hotel had told her the road she needed to take, but warned her
that the roads were closed near the resort, but there was a private landing
strip nearby that she could reach that afforded a view of the main house on the
resort, but that she should be careful because it was unoccupied at that time of
year.
Jessie had thanked him and told him she would have the car back by evening.
The road turned to the east through a mountain pass and Jessie lost sight of the
village quickly.
The man had said it was only a few miles through the mountains to reach the
airport, but she had to go slowly on the small road.
She glanced at her watch. She hoped she would have time to make it back to
Zurich in time.

“What do you mean he still refuses?”
Surd was very angry. The boy should have given in by then and yet Surd was still
waiting for him to agree to give them access to the lab.
“He just stares at us,” Lorenzo said. “It’s kind of creepy.”
“Creepy?!”
If Surd could have gotten his hands around Lorenzo’s neck he would have
strangled him to death.
“What about when you ask him other questions?” he asked.
“He still just stares at us,” Julia said.
“Did either of you ever think you might have administered too much of the poison
and it is affecting things other than his skeletal muscles?”
Julia and Lorenzo looked at each other.
“Why the Hell do I keep the two of you around?!” Surd thundered.
“He’s due for another dose in an hour,” Julia said quietly. “I’ll just wait two
hours and see what happens when the effect wears off.”
“I am going into the lab. Don’t either of you disturb me until he has given in.
Do you understand?”
Without waiting for an answer, Surd spun his wheelchair around and left the
room.

A man pulled up in front of the hotel and climbed out. He wore a military
uniform and carried a gun at his hip.
He walked directly to the car rental desk.
“I need your cooperation,” he said in French. “I am looking for a woman who may
have come here.”
The man behind the desk nodded.
“I would be happy to help,” he said.
“I am looking for an American woman,” the soldier said. “She has red hair and is
about this tall.”
He held up his hand.
The man shook his head.
“There was a woman in here who had red hair and was that height, but she wasn’t
American,” he said. “She was French.”
“French?”
The man nodded.
“She had a driving permit from Paris,” he said.
“What was her name?”
“Jessie Bannon.”
“That is her,” the soldier said. “Did you give her a car?”
The man nodded.
“She was going to the ski resort, but I told her it was closed. She said she
only wanted a look at the main house, so I told her about the landing strip.”
The soldier nodded.
“How long ago did she leave?”
The man looked at the clock on the wall.
“About twenty minutes ago.”
 

Jessie knew that she was going to be a little late getting back to the airport.
It had taken her nearly half an hour to negotiate the mountain roads and make it
to the landing strip, but she was finally there.
She stopped the car near one of the metal hangars at the edge of the landing
strip and stepped out of the car.
The signal from Jonny’s phone had suddenly gotten stronger when she had neared
the airport. Jessie had assumed that the signal was coming from the resort
itself, but now it seemed to be coming from the hangar itself.
Slowly she walked around to the small Judas gate set in the hangar doors,
keeping watch to make sure no one was around her.
Jessie pushed the door open cautiously and looked inside.
There was a small Lear jet inside.
It seemed quiet enough and so Jessie stepped inside, pulling the door closed
behind her.
She stood in the near darkness for a few moments listening for a sound.
On the other side of the hangar she could see a door half open with a light
burning inside.
As she stood there she could hear a television being turned on.
“Henry, turn that down,” a woman’s voice said. “I’m trying to get some sleep.”
The television was turned down.
“Is that better your royal highness?” a man’s voice asked.
Jessie made a face.
Why were there two people speaking English in the middle of Switzerland?
“Shut up Henry. You were the one who agreed to stay here instead of heading back
to the states.”
“Hey it’s an easy half a mil just to wait for a day or two and then take the
three of them and that other guy back with us to Florida,” the man’s voice said.
“Besides you always wanted a European vacation.”
“Yeah, I can see several problems with that. First, I’m with you. Second, we
can’t even leave this airport, and third, I’m tired of eating frozen dinners.”
Jessie walked towards the plane slowly, still listening to the argument going on
inside the small room.
The signal kept getting stronger and stronger.
Somehow she knew that Jonny was probably not in the plane, but according to the
conversation she had heard he was close.

Benton answered the call from the passenger cabin.
It was Jean Borden.
“My man just called,” he informed Benton in perfect English. “He tracked Jessie
to a village near the resort where she rented a car, but he was twenty minutes
behind her. He is going to try to catch her before she reaches the resort.”
“Very good,” Benton answered, although he really wasn’t happy.
“I have gotten the information on the resort that Race asked me for. I will
bring you a copy of the building plans when I meet you at the airport, but I did
find out that the main house is actually a renovated prison and most of the
basement remains intact including tunnels that connect to the other buildings. I
have spoken with some friends of mine who have offered to help you.”
“Thank you,” Benton said.
“You are very welcome. I will have them at the airport with me. I must go now.”
Jean ended the connection and Benton stood up to go to the cockpit.
Race was talking with the air traffic controller at the Zurich airport who was
telling him which runway to use and what order to land in.
Benton sat down in the co-pilot seat and waited for Race to be finished.
Finally Race turned to look at him.
“Was that Jean?” he asked.
Benton nodded, then filled him in on the current situation.
When he was finished Race let out a frustrated sigh.
“She’s going to go in there and she doesn’t have all the facts,” he said. “In
fact she’s probably already in there.”
“She has been in worse situations, I think,” Benton said.
“Yes, except we don’t know who’s behind this or how many men they have or even
what they want Jonny for,” Race said. “What if it’s a trap? If they’ve even done
a little research they’ll know that when one of the kids are in trouble the
others will show up.”

Lorenzo pulled the cell door closed behind him and followed Julia up the hall.
“This is about to wear me out,” he said. “I’ve never had to beat someone so
much.”
“The effects should be worn off within thirty minutes and then we’ll see what
happens,” she said. “Jeremiah may be right. After all we haven’t done much
testing on this particular solution.”
She opened the doorway on a stairwell and they both went up them, ending up in
the kitchen.
Lorenzo got a glass of water from the tap and downed it quickly.
“Do you think the others will show up?” he asked.
“What others?”
“Dr. Quest, Bannon, the girl, and the Hindu guy.”
“Well they shouldn’t have figured it out yet. But just to be sure why don’t you
start making patrols in between out visits with Mr. Quest?”
Lorenzo rolled his eyes.
“I get the point,” he said.
“No, I don’t think you do,” Julia said. “I actually want you to start making
rounds. We don’t want anyone snooping around here anyway.”
Lorenzo cursed himself. Why had he even opened his mouth?

The door on the jet was open and Jessie climbed the steps quietly, losing the
sound of the argument still going on in the office.
There was no one on the plane, but the signal picked up even more. There was a
small closet where the signal hit its height.
Jessie opened it and Jonny’s bag was in there, his initials right along the top.
She pulled it out and opened it.
His phone was right on top.
Jessie picked it up and opened it. In the bottom right hand corner of the
display a small box blinked on and off. It was the signal that the tracking
device was on. She and Jonny had started work on it just before she had gone off
the college. Jonny had always sent her the latest plans for it for feedback.
Jessie laid the phone on the floor and put her hand back in the bag.
There were a couple sets of clothes, Jonny’s laptop, some odds and ends. Jessie
paused as her hand encountered one of the guns Jonny’s lab had been working on.
It was a new weapon which would only stun the person hit with it. Depending on
what level the gun was set at, the person could be stunned for only a few
seconds up to being knocked unconscious for several days.
Jessie leaned over the check the setting the gun was on when she suddenly heard
a voice behind her.
“Well, what do we have here?”
Jessie dropped the gun back into the bag and stood up, turning slowly.
A man was standing there with a semi-automatic rifle slung across his chest, the
barrel pointed directly at her.
A woman was standing behind him with a hand gun pointed at Jessie.
“Who are you?” the woman demanded in English.
“I don’t speak any English,” Jessie replied in French.
‘What did she say?” the man asked.
The woman shrugged.
“I don’t know. I think she was speaking French.”
The man pointed with the gun.
“Get out of there.”
“What?” Jessie asked in French.
“Out,” the man repeated, motioning for he to come down the steps.
Behind them Jessie saw a man slip inside the door wearing the uniform of the
Swiss military. He looked the situation over and pulled his gun.
“They speak no French,” Jessie said in French.
She said it for the benefit of the man, but directed it towards the two at the
bottom of the steps.
“They are American,” she continued. “Do you speak English?”
Behind them the man nodded.
The man and woman at the bottom of the steps were looking at each other.
“What is she saying?” the man asked.
“I already told you I don’t know.”
The officer approached them until he was within fifteen feet, but at a point
where he could take cover if need be.
“Ready?” Jessie asked in French.
He nodded.
“I said they are American and speak no French,” she said in English to the two
at the bottom of the steps. “Then I asked do you speak English.”
Their eyes widened.
“Then I answered yes I do,” the man said in English behind them.
They spun around.
“Now put down those guns,” he said.

Race landed the plane at the Zurich airport on the runway farthest from the
terminals and parked on the tarmac beside several other private aircraft.
Jean Borden and his men were waiting for them.
Jean greeted Race and Benton with handshakes as they exited the plane.
“I’ll leave two men here to watch over your aircraft,” Jean said in English,
then led them towards a jeep parked nearby.
“Where’s Jessie?” Race asked.
“She hasn’t arrived,” Jean said. “I spoke with my man on the radio and he is
with her at a landing strip near the resort. He has taken two Americans into
custody who are in the country illegally. I have instructed him to stay there
until we arrive.”
“Is she okay?” Race asked.
Jean nodded.
“Perfectly. She is a little angry that I sent someone after her.”
They reached the jeep and Jean motioned for Race and Benton to climb inside.
Several yards away the soldiers climbed into two more jeeps.
Once everyone was inside, the jeeps started and began to move away from the
airport.
“How did you get so many men to come with us?” Benton asked.
“Since we found the two Americans in the country illegally it has become a
military matter,” Jean said with a smile. “I have fifteen men at your disposal,
including myself.”

After he had restrained the man and woman and put them in the back of his car,
the officer turned to Jessie.
“Lucky I came,” he said in English.
“Yes, I suppose so,” she said. “Why did Jean send you after me?”
“As a favor to your father, I believe.”
“Figures.”
“Pardon me?”
Jessie shook her head.
“Never mind.”
She looked at the two in the backseat. They had refused to talk until they had a
lawyer.
The young officer, who had introduced himself as Alain, had merely laughed at
them and closed the door.
“Do you have field glasses?” Jessie asked.
“Of course.”
Alain produced a pair from his vest and handed them over.
Jessie walked to the edge of the hangar and looked toward the main house of the
resort.
As she focused on it someone came around the corner of the house.
Jessie gasped when she saw who it was.
“Can you get Jean on your radio?” she called to Alain. “I need to speak with my
father right away.”

“You mean Surd’s henchman Lorenzo?” Race asked.
Jessie’s voice was fuzzy through the radio.
“Yes,” she said. “I overheard a conversation from the two people Alain picked
up. Apparently there are only four people inside including Jonny.”
“Did they say who the others were?”
“Actually, no. They keep insisting they have the right to a lawyer.”
“Well, I guess we’ll have to see about that.”
“How long until you get here?” Jessie asked.
“You’re looking at another half an hour,” Race said. “But Jean has loaned us
quite a few men.”
“Alright. I’ll see you when you get here.”

Jessie handed the phone back to Alain and went to look at the house again with
the field glasses.
“They’re on their way,” she said when Alain joined her. “They said another half
an hour.”
Alain nodded.
“So you know the man down there?” he asked, nodding towards the house.
Jessie handed the field glasses over so Alain could have a look.
“Yes, we’ve met before. Quite a few times actually.”
“He’s gone inside,” Alain said.
“That’s where I need to be,” Jessie said.
“Borden made me promise not to let you out of my sight,” Alain protested.
“Well, looks like you’re going with me then.”
“But what about them?” Alain asked.
Jessie looked back at the two figures in the back of Alain’s car.
“I don’t think they’re going anywhere,” she said.

Julia slapped Jonny across the face again and laughed.
“You know, this is pretty nice,” she said.
Jonny stared at her.
He knew that the effects of the poison had begun to wear off because he could
move his fingers, but he didn’t want Julia and Lorenzo to know. Besides he was
too lightheaded to do much of anything.
Jonny thought a few of his ribs were probably broken at the very least and he
probably had a concussion.
Julia slapped him again. Jonny didn’t even flinch.
“I thought you said it should have worn off by now,” Lorenzo said from behind
her.
“It should have,” Julia said. “But it might take a little longer since we’ve
given him so much. We’ll just give it a little more time.”
“As long as I don’t have to go back outside,” Lorenzo muttered.
Julia scowled at him.
“You’ll do as your told,” she said. “Now let’s go back upstairs.”
The two of them left the room, pulling the door closed behind them.
As soon as he heard their footsteps fading away, Jonny moved his fingers again.
They were responding fairly well. He knew he couldn’t try his wrists since they
were bound, so he bent his arms and straightened them again. They hurt, but he
didn’t think anything was broken.
Jonny did the same thing with his legs. He winced when he moved his right knee.
It hurt badly. Then, why wouldn’t it? That’s where Lorenzo had hit him the most.
His wrists were bound with rope and Jonny started trying to loosen the bonds a
little, but he got tired rather quickly and had to stop.
He wondered if his family knew he was in trouble.
Well, he couldn’t assume that they did. If they didn’t then it was up to him to
get out of this.

Jessie went back inside the hangar and took the gun out of Jonny’s bag.
She hated using guns, but she always knew that sometimes it came down to it and
Lorenzo had been armed with a semi-automatic rifle.
Almost as an after thought she took his phone and slipped it into her pocket so
that she could be tracked by her father and Dr. Quest if need be.
“What are you doing?” Alain asked from outside the jet.
“Just getting something.,” Jessie called.
She slipped the gun into her waistband and covered it with her t-shirt, then
went out to where Alain was waiting.
“I don’t think you understand the trouble you could get me in,” Alain was
saying.
“What were your exact orders?” Jessie asked.
“I was to find you - Jessie Bannon - and keep you secure until either your
father or Borden arrived,” Alain repeated what he had been told.
“No one told you that I couldn’t go into the house,” Jessie said. “Now, let’s
get going.”
Alain didn’t like it, but he really didn’t know what to do.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you go in there,” he said.
“How are you going to stop me?” Jessie asked. “I know that you’re not going to
shoot me and I really doubt you can detain me without force. Wouldn’t that be
something if Borden and my father showed up and you were trying to wrestle me to
the ground?”
Alain’s eyes grew wide thinking of the trouble he would be in.
“Look,” Jessie said. “If you want me to I can knock you unconscious and you
don’t have to come with me.”
“Knock me unconscious?”
Any other time Alain would have laughed, but somehow he knew that she was quite
capable of doing just what she said.
“I’ll come,” he submitted.
Jessie nodded.
She hadn’t really wanted to hurt him anyway and she knew that she could keep him
out of trouble with Borden.
She started down the small hill that the airport sat on and soon disappeared
into the trees, heading towards the house.
Alain had to hurry to keep up.
They moved through the trees quickly, stopping every now and again to regain
their bearings. The undergrowth was thick and it was hard not to make noise when
they moved through.
Jessie only hoped that Lorenzo had not come back outside.
When they were within one hundred feet of the house the trees stopped.
Jessie and Alain paused to survey the house closer.
“Do you know anything about this house?” Jessie asked quietly.
“Actually I take my vacations in the village down the road,” Alain said. “I
often come here to do some skiing. The house used to be a prison, but they
remodeled it to use as the main house of a ski resort some time ago. I’ve had
the public tour. There are still cells and things like that under the house, but
the ground floor and the top floor are offices and guest rooms.”
Jessie nodded.
She was getting happier by the second that she hadn’t knocked Alain unconscious.
Alain continued.
“I haven’t been here in two years, though. The resort has been closed. In the
village they said its under new ownership now. I asked if they were going to
reopen the resort, but general consensus is that there is some kind of weapons
research going on there.”
Jessie looked at him.
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
“There have been a lot of deliveries of equipment from all over the world.”
“How do you know all of this?”
Alain smiled.
“My brother-in-law is the chief of police.”

The jeeps pulled onto the tarmac and everyone was out of them within a few
seconds.
Five men went into the hangar, five went to make sure the rest of the airstrip
was secure, and three went to check on Alain’s car and Jessie’s rented car.
Within a few minutes a man was back from each group reporting to Borden.
Borden gathered the information and went back to Race and Benton who had found
Jessie’s laptop and tracker in the front seat of her car.
Benton was reading the information on the computer screen.
“Race, my men have just reported,” Borden said. “The entire airstrip is empty
except the two American’s in my officer’s car. However, there is no sign of
either him or Jessie.”
“That’s because they’re in the house,” Benton said.
“What?” Race asked.
“Well, at least someone carrying Jonny’s phone is moving into the house right
now,” Benton said.
Race and Borden rushed to the edge of the hangar. Borden handed over his field
glasses and Race focused on the two small figures running across the lawn
towards the side door of the house.
Before he had even zoomed in, he knew it was Jessie. Her red hair gave her away.
“Is it Jessie?” Benton’s voice came from behind him.
“Dammit, yes!” Race was angry. “I told her to wait!”
Race watched as Jessie picked the lock on the door and she and Alain slipped
inside.
Sighing, he handed the field glasses back to Borden.
“Give her ten minutes, then we’ll go in,” Race said reluctantly. “If we try to
use force to get in now it might put her in danger.”
Benton was already going back to the computer and the tracker.

Jessie paused inside the door and waited for Alain to pull it closed behind
them.
I will follow you, Jessie military hand signals to tell him. I want downstairs.
She could see that Alain was a little surprised, but he merely nodded and
started down the hall in a crouching position, stopping at the corner and
looking both ways.
The corridor was empty and he stepped into it, turning to the right. Jessie was
right behind him.
He half-ran in a crouched position for about twenty feet, then suddenly stopped.
Jessie stopped too.
He turned to her.
I hear something, he signed.
Jessie listened for a moment and heard voices. She knew them instantly. It was
Julia and Lorenzo arguing over who was going to tell Surd that Jonny still
hadn’t agreed.
Jessie wondered what they wanted him to agree to, but she would have time for
that later.
What’s through that door, she signed, indicating the direction from which the
voices came.
Kitchen, Alain answered.
Keep going, Jessie signed. Downstairs.
Alain nodded and just a few minutes later they had made it across the length of
the house and to a door paneled in dark wood. Alain pulled on it and it swung
open easily. Jessie stepped inside and Alain was right behind her.
There was a flight of stairs lit by only one light bulb which reflected on the
concrete walls.
“This is the basement,” Alain said quietly. “When I came on the tour they took
us in through the kitchen, but  . . .”
Jessie nodded.
“That’s okay.”
“I saw this door when they took us to see the library and I asked the guide what
it was and she told me. The cells are down here.”
Jessie nodded.
“I figure what I need is down here,” Jessie said, starting down the stairs.
“What exactly are you after?” Alain asked.
Jessie ignored him, instead running through her mind all of the different
scenarios that could happen when she reached the bottom.

Jonny was still trying to free himself with little success. His arms were tired
and he couldn’t work at the bonds on his ankles because of his knee.
He didn’t know how long he had been at it, but he was afraid that Lorenzo and
Julia might come back soon.
He had yet to see Surd, but knew that he must be around somewhere.
Jonny stopped to rest again.
He closed his eyes for a moment and thought he heard voices at the far end of
the hall, but wasn’t sure if they were real or imagined.
Jonny listened for a few more moments, but could hear no more. He went back to
work on his bonds.

Jessie led the way down the hall with Alain close behind, his gun ready.
She had been very surprised when no one was standing in the hall and there were
no cameras mounted anywhere.
Jessie slowly walked down the hall, checking each cell.
There were ten unoccupied and only three left to check.
She was getting frustrated. If Jonny wasn’t down here, then they would have to
search the entire house and possibly the rest of the resort.
Jessie looked in the eleventh cell, but it was empty too.
She crept forward and looked in the next cell.
Her eyes widened.
There was Jonny, laying on a cot in the cell. He was bound at his ankles and
wrists and bruised and swollen all over.
“Jonny!” she whispered urgently.
Jonny looked up and his eyes were filled with relief.
“Jess!”
Jessie tried the door and found it locked.
Alain stepped forward.
“Is he what you were looking for?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Alain nodded and produced a small black object from his pocket. He put it up to
the lock and pushed in on the back of it.
There was a small hiss. When he removed it the lock was melted.
Jessie looked up at him.
“Where did you get that?” she asked.
“I made that,” Jonny said with a smile. “Dad wouldn’t let me patent it, but I
see that didn‘t keep him from giving it away.”
Alain shrugged.
Jessie pushed the door open and went inside. Alain stayed at the door with his
gun drawn in case someone came.
“What’s going on?” Jessie asked Jonny as she began untying him.
“They want access to the Florida lab,” he said.
Jessie didn’t have to ask why.
She freed his wrists and moved to his ankles.
Jonny tried to sit up, but couldn’t.
“You going to be okay?” Jess asked.
“They’ve been giving me something. It makes my skeletal muscles paralyzed.”
“Injecting it?” Jessie asked.
Jonny nodded. His eyes were closed, trying to clear his vision.
“They said it was an evolved form of what they gave you a few years ago,” he
said.
“Do you think you can walk?”
“Julia said it was wearing off, but my knee hurts really bad.”
Jessie could see that his knee was swollen even through his jeans.
Alain stuck his head in the door.
“Voices are getting closer,” he said quietly.
Jessie pulled the rope from Jonny’s ankles.
“Well, you’re going to have to try,” she said. “Come on.”
Jessie helped him sit up. Jonny put his arm across her shoulders.
They tried to stand up, but Jonny’s knee gave out and he fell back onto the cot.
“Alain, I’m going to need your help,” Jessie called.
Finally they got Jonny out of the cell and into the hall with one arm across
Jessie’s shoulders and one across Alain’s.
“Let’s go back out the door we came in,” Jessie said.
They started back down the hall.
They were almost to the stairs when they heard the door at the opposite end open
and Lorenzo’s voice floated down to them.
“I told you I didn’t want to be the one to tell him,” he complained.
“Quick,” Jessie whispered.
They crossed the last few feet as quickly as they could and made it to the steps
just as Lorenzo stepped out of the stairwell at the opposite end.
He saw that the door to the cell was open almost immediately and rushed to it.
“What’s wrong?” Julia asked from the stairs.
“He’s gone!”
“Gone? What do you mean gone?”
Julia came to stand beside Lorenzo who was examining the melted lock on the cell
door.
“I know he didn’t do this,” Lorenzo said. “We searched him when we took him off
the jet.”
“Find him!” Julia said, turning back to the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Lorenzo asked.
“To tell Jeremiah,” she called over her shoulder. “You might want to arm
yourself.”

Race watched the house through field glasses. There was still no sign of Jessie
and Borden’s man.
He glanced at the watch. She had four minutes to show up.
Borden was going over the floor plans of the house with his men and making plans
in case they had to go in.
Race had already looked at them and memorized them. If they went in, he would go
first.
Benton approached him holding the small tracker in his hand.
“I think they may be coming out,” he said.
Race leaned over and looked at the tracker. It did look like they were moving
back the way they had come.
“I hope so, but I’m still going in after three minutes,” Race said.
“I wonder if they found Jonny inside.”
Race didn’t have anything to say.

Jessie and Alain got Jonny up the stairs and out of the door.
They had heard what Julia had told Lorenzo.
“We have to get out of here,” Jessie said. “Let’s go for the front door.”
Alain nodded and they turned down another hallway.
Jonny had been trying very hard to walk with the help of Alain and Jessie, but
when they entered the second hallway his knee gave out.
Alain went down to one knee under the sudden weight and Jessie fell, trying to
catch herself with her free hand.
Both of them stifled the words that came to their mouths.
Jessie looked at Jonny.
His eyes were closed.
Alain was trying to get him back to his feet.
“Set him down,” Jessie whispered. “I think he’s passed out.”
With Alain’s help, Jessie got Jonny to the wall and propped him up against it.
“Jonny?” she asked.
There was no response.
She felt at his neck for a pulse and found one instantly.
“He’s alive?” Alain asked.
“Yeah.”
Jessie looked up and down the hall. It was still quite a way to the front door
and  she knew that they wouldn’t be able to carry Jonny across the lawn and
through the trees anyway.
“What are we going to do?” Alain asked.
“You’re going to have to go for help,” Jessie said. “Borden and my dad should
have made it by now.”
“I can’t leave you here,” Alain said. “I was under orders -”
“Alain, need I remind you that by being in here you’ve already broken your
orders!”
“But, you said -”
“Forget what I said. I lied.”
Jessie looked back the way they had come. Any minute now Lorenzo might come
around that corner with a gun. As much as she didn’t like him, she really didn’t
want to see Alain kill him.
“Listen to me,” she said, turning back to Alain. “You have to get help. Bring
them in through the front door. My guess is when Surd and the other two in this
house see them they’ll try to escape which means we’ll all be out of danger. Do
you understand?”
Alain nodded.
“It’s up to you,” Jessie said. “Get going.”
Alain looked at her for a moment, then turned and hurried for the door.
As soon as he was through it, Jessie turned back to Jonny. He was still
breathing okay.
She tried once again to wake him up by gently shaking his shoulder and saying
his name, but it did no good.
There was a recessed doorway nearby. Jessie made her way to it and tried the
handle. It was locked, but maybe the doorway itself could provide a little
shelter for her and Jonny.
She went back to Jonny and hooked her hands under his arms and began to slowly
pull him down the hall.

Alain burst from the door and made a mad sprint across the yard.
Race, along with Benton, Borden, and his men were at the edge of the trees
waiting for Race to give the signal to go.
When someone suddenly burst out of the door everyone raised their weapons.
“Wait, it’s Alain,” Borden called to his men in French.
They lowered their guns.
Alain saw them and made a beeline for the trees.
Borden stepped forward and Alain stopped in front of him and saluted.
“What’s happened?” Borden asked.
“The girl sent me for help. She’s in the front hall with a blond man. We were
trying to bring him out, but he collapsed.”
Borden began to question the man in French, finally getting all of the details.
He turned to Race.
“He says there are at least two people inside, a man and a woman, and they
suspect at least one more. The boy’s been beaten severely and has lost
consciousness, but he is still alive.”
Race looked over at Benton who at flinched at the mention of his son being
beaten.
“We’re going in,” Race said.

Jessie had almost pulled Jonny to the doorway when Lorenzo suddenly appeared at
the end of the hallway. He had been walking past the end of the hallway when he
caught sight of Jessie and Jonny and stopped.
Lorenzo raised the semi-automatic rifle he was carrying and pointed it at Jessie
who was now still.
“Why don’t you just go ahead and put him down,” Lorenzo said.
Jessie laid Jonny on the ground gently. He moaned softly when she laid his head
down.
She stood back up and faced Lorenzo.
“What do you want with him?” she asked.
Jessie already knew, of course, but she needed to stall for time.
Julia suddenly appeared behind Lorenzo, holding a handgun.
“Take a guess,” she said.
“The lab?” Jessie asked.
“You’ve got it,” Julia said with a smile. “Step forward.”
Jessie took a few steps forward.
“What do you want me to do with her?” Lorenzo asked.
Julia shrugged.
“Jeremiah said we didn’t need her for anything. Go ahead and shoot her.”
“What about him?” Lorenzo asked, nodding towards Jonny.
“We’ll tell him it was just a side effect of the poison. No big deal. I‘ll go
tell Jeremiah the problem has been dealt with.”
Julia turned and started down the hallway. Lorenzo turned his head to watch her
go.
That’s when Jessie pulled the gun prototype from her waistband.
As Lorenzo turned back to her she shot him in the dead center of his chest. The
gun made a soft coughing sound like a silenced handgun and Lorenzo fell to the
floor. Julia turned when she heard the sound and Jessie shot her in the same
place she had shot Lorenzo. Julia’s eyes grew wide, then she hit the floor.
Behind Jessie the door burst open. She turned, the gun raised.
Race was standing there.
Jessie breathed a sigh of relief and put the gun down.

“Jonny?”
Jonny’s eyes snapped open. For a moment he couldn’t remember where he was, then
realized he was in his room at the Quest Compound in Maine.
He turned his head and Jessie was standing in the doorway.
“I didn’t mean to wake you up,” she said.
“I wasn’t asleep,” Jonny lied. “Just resting my eyes.”
Jessie smiled.
“You’ve always been a bad liar. Almost as bad as Hadji.”
Jonny couldn’t help but laugh.
He was feeling much better than when he had first woken up in the hospital in
Switzerland. He had a concussion, a couple of bruised ribs, and a sprained knee
not to mention numerous cuts and bruises.
But that had been two weeks ago. He had flown home with his father and Race and
Jessie had come the next day and he had begun to recuperate at home with his
family.
Hadji had called when he found out what happened and wanted to come, but Jonny
had told him not to.
“Can I sit beside you?” Jessie asked.
“No,” Jonny said. “But you can lay down if you want.”
Jessie crossed the room and laid down on the bed next to him, propped up on one
elbow.
“Feeling better?” she asked.
“You ask me that every time you see me,” Jonny said.
“Maybe it’s because I want to know,” she said.
“Yeah, I’m feeling okay. I’m still a little tired, but what do you expect?”
They just looked at each other for a few moments, both smiling.
“So did you just feel the need to be around me?” Jonny asked.
“Actually I was coming to tell you that Lorenzo and Julia weren’t able to fight
their extradition to the United States,” Jessie said. “They’re bringing them to
trial in a federal court.”
“That’s good. Did they ever find Surd?”
Jessie shook her head.
“They think he sent Julia and Lorenzo to occupy us while he made an escape.
Unbeknownst to them, of course.”
“You’ve been around my Dad too much,” Jonny said.
“What do you mean?”
“Unbeknownst. That’s one of his words.”
Jessie laughed.
“It’s called a vocabulary. You should get yourself one.”
Jonny laughed too.
Jessie stifled a yawn.
“Tired?” Jonny asked.
“A little.”
Jonny put his arm across the pillow Jessie was laying on and she put her head
down on his chest. Jonny started running his fingers through her hair gently.
Jessie stifled another yawn and closed her eyes.
“There was one more thing I was going to tell you,” she said. “Well, ask you
anyway.”
“What’s that?”
“Dr. Quest was telling me you might have an opening in Florida for me to come
work with you when you go home.”
“I thought you had a job in Paris.”
“That’s too far away,” she said. “I want to come back home. In fact, they’re
shipping my stuff back over right now.”
Jonny was smiling. He could hardly believe what she was saying.
“There’s always a spot for you,” he said, trying to keep the excitement out of
his voice.
“Of course I want my room back at the house in Florida,” Jessie said. “Would you
be willing to have me live with you?”
Jonny leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
“Jess, you can have anything you want.”