Author's Note: This was just a quick chapter I whipped up to pass a little time () and to get all all the funnies I seem to have stored up inside me today.
Chapter Fifteen
Sydney stared at the large man standing shoulder to shoulder with her on her right and then looked over at the man of equal size on her left. “Okay,” she thought, assuring herself. “True, they are rather large and intimidating and probably armed with at least half a dozen guns a piece. But you’re Sydney Bristow. You should be able to handle this.”
Before she could make a move, there was a slight sting around her neck as the metal collar rubbed her the wrong way. She groaned and gave it a good yank. It didn’t budge.
“Don’t you think that you guys could take this off for just a minute?” she inquired.
“The boss says there’s no way you’re supposed to get that thing off. I’m not some stupid thug,” the man on her right said.
Sydney nodded in exasperation and turned to the guy on her left. “I don’t suppose you are?” When the man just stared her down, she shrugged. “I thought not. So what are we supposed to do now, boys? I really haven’t had a good escape plan since you put this stupid accessory on me a week ago. There’s nothing to keep us on our toes.”
Neither man answered. Sighing, she walked to the other side of her cell and sat down on the small bunk she had slept in for every night for the two months she had been cooped up in wherever she was. Days had just flown by like mad as she tried time after time to get herself out of this predicament. Every time, though, it seemed like the others were one step ahead of her. Honestly, it didn’t surprise her when she thought of who had taken her and put her in this hellhole.
“What’s on the agenda today?” she asked, lying down and folding her hands back behind her head. “Your boss seems to always have some kind of work for me to do. Helps keep it real to know what’s going on in the world, I guess.”
“We haven’t gotten word.”
“Okay. So, does anyone know any show tunes?”
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“Your dad’s on the phone, squirt,” Will screamed from downstairs.
Hope paused in working the punching bag to give a small smile before vaulting down the stairs and into the kitchen. As she reached for the phone, Will pulled it up high out of her reach. “You’re getting serious about those workouts, Hope.”
“Now is not the time for an intervention,” Hope said, jumping up and grabbing the phone. Sticking her tongue out at Will as a final act of defiance, she said, “Hi, Dad. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to hear your voice. It’s hard to get you on the line these days.”
“I’m busy. Uncle Will has been making sure that I get all A’s in my tutorials for school.”
“Good. Your mom would kill me if she found out you were flunking when she gets back.”
Hope smiled at his comment. “Still optimistic after two months?”
“Your mother is coming home, kid.”
“I know. I don’t doubt it. No one can really keep you two apart from what Will tells me. Seems like amnesia and gunshot wounds are your usual thing. How much you want to bet that Mom has either one or another?”
“That’s not funny,” he scolded.
“Humor helps you through the tough times. That’s what Grandpa Jack has been telling me non-stop for the past sixty-four days.”
“Your grandpa has no idea what humor is.”
“You should have heard him when he came up to visit last weekend. I think there might have been an actual laugh like noise coming from his lips.” Hope could hear Sark shuffling through some papers on the other end of the phone. “Are you busy?”
“Anna just brought me a lead she had on your mother. I’m going to have to talk with you more later.”
“No problem. I have stuff to get back to.” Hope hung up the phone and jogged back up the stairs.
Will was standing in the middle of the gym, cutting air idly with a sword.
“You didn’t tell me the Geenata blade came in!” she screamed running up to him. “Let me touch.”
“You have your father’s enthusiasm for painful weapons.”
Hope flipped the sword out of his hand and into hers. “And my mother’s efficiency. Now arm yourself before I cut you again like I did last time you were too slow.”
“Your father is going to kill me,” Will said before picking a sword from off the wall to his left.
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Sydney hummed the chorus of Oklahoma as she hit her hundredth push-up. Her arms were beginning to get sore, but this was pretty much the only exercise she could get when shoved into a two by two cell with a pair of big, burly men. “No jogging for me,” she mumbled, standing up and dusting off her hands. She turned to the man closest to her. “Okay. Thug #1, I guess it’s high time I learned your name. You’ve been guarding me during the weekday afternoon shift pretty consistently. So, do you have a name? Are you married? What are your hobbies? How did you start working for such a psychopath?”
“We’re really not allowed to converse with you,” the other man said.
“So says Thug #2.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re new. And I don’t like you.”
“He’s right, Sydney. Boss would kill us if we keep talking to you.”
“Fine. I’ll go back to amusing myself. Got to do something to pass the time before my husband shows up and kills you all.” She flung herself back onto the bed. “I’m thinking of a number between one and one hundred. Oh wait. You can’t talk to me. This game is going to really suck.” She paused while continuing to stare at the ceiling. “Fifty-two? Nope. Twenty-nine? So close. Fifteen?”
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“Anna, is this true?” Sark said, holding up the files she had given him a few minutes earlier.
“I’ve had multiple sources confirming. Your wife is safely tucked away in Puerto Deseado.”
Sark pushed himself to his feet and ran over to Anna. “You are a goddess.” Unable to control his joy, he picked her up and swung her in a few circles before planting a kiss on her lips.
“I’ve been told that by many men,” Anna said with a smile. “Do you want me to assemble a team?”
“Call Irina. I’m sure she’ll want to go. We have to keep it quiet which means no CIA. Since Sydney left them, they can’t seem to do anything right.”
Anna smirked. “You didn’t even have to tell me that. I’ve fought the CIA for years. Listen. You should probably call Hope back and tell her the news.”
He shook his head emphatically. “No way. Hope does not know about this until we get Sydney back. I don’t want to get her hopes up just to shatter them a few hours later.”
“My sources aren’t wrong,” Anna insisted.
“I hope they’re not, but I can’t risk it.”
“I guess this means Will stays in the dark, too.”
“He has to. I can’t chance that he’ll let something slip or even look a little too preoccupied while we’re going in to get my wife. Hope’s extremely perceptive. She always knows where I hid her Christmas presents almost before I hid them.”
“Understood. But just remember, the only reason I’m taking orders from you is that it’s convenient for me. You’re one of the few people I respect.” Anna held up her finger and pointed at him as she backed out of the room. “But don’t push me, Julian. Even I have boundaries.”
As she was about to close the door behind her, she paused and poked her head back inside. “You should probably call Michael Vaughn in Fiji. He’s been going crazy worrying about Sydney.”
“I thought there wasn’t supposed to be any contact between my life and his. Wasn’t that made clear to everyone?”
“Lines are starting to get a little hazy.” Anna gave him one last wicked smile before disappearing from sight.
“That man always had a hero complex when it came to my wife,” Sark muttered. The second she was out of the room, he picked up the phone and started dialing. There were quite a few things to arrange before he could break up his wife’s little impromptu vacation.
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Sydney looked at the cement floor. “I think I might try to the tunneling option again. I haven’t done that in a few weeks.” She looked over at the men. “Or if you want, I can try to sever the bars again. That was fun times.”
“How do you expect to sever the bars when you have no weapon?” the new thug asked her.
“Aren’t you, Mister Chatty?” Sydney said walking over to him. “Not afraid of losing your job all the sudden?”
“My curiosity is getting the best of me, Mrs. Lazarey.”
“Come on now. Why the formality all of the sudden?” She smiled widely at him. “You can call me Sydney. And now to answer your question, there are plenty of weapons for me to use. Last time, I knocked both the guards unconscious and used the knife one of them foolishly had on his person to break through four of the bars before the higher ups got wise to my ways.”
“We aren’t allowed to carry knives.”
“And now you know why.” Sydney rolled her eyes. “You think they could have gotten me thugs that were at least on my level with the clever deductions.” She turned her attention to the other man. “How about you? Got any stories you want to hear?”
“The one where you ended up handcuffed to your bed with the guard’s clothing on for two days before someone realized that you had tried another one of your crazy escape plans and failed is pretty funny.”
“You were there for that one. There’s no need for me to retell it.”
“But it is rather funny.”
“Speaking of that day, how are the bruises on your neck?”
“Healing. I still don’t understand why you had to strangle me instead of just knocking me unconscious with the hammer. How you got a hammer I’ll never know.”
“I’ve got skills,” Sydney said, shrugging. She was about to start goading the rookie again when she heard a strange sound coming from down the hall. “Are those footsteps? I thought the changing of the guard wasn’t for at least four more hours.” She shrugged and made herself comfortable.
About a minute later, she got her answer.
“Hello, Syd,” the woman said, leering at her through the cell bars. “Sorry I couldn’t come see you earlier.”
Sydney waved off her concern. “Not a problem. I didn’t know you existed for the first thirty-something years of my life. I didn’t mind the wait. But can I ask you one thing? I still don’t understand why you felt the need to kidnap me, Nadia.”