Chapter 23

Jake had the trauma room all set up.  As he did so, he thought about all of the times over the years that he’d had to rescue his twin sister from herself and her fits of idiocy.  He was not the happiest camper when he came down the stairs to hear everyone telling his parents the story about the ROPES course.  “You should have seen Jake, David”, Skyler laughed.  “That young man is part monkey.  Him and my son in law, both.”

David laughed.  “What did they do?”

“They took on the rock wall with no feet.  Their feet seriously just hung there and they swung from hand hold to hand hold all the way up the wall.”

“Where did you two learn to do that, Jeremiah?” Brie asked.

“A few years ago, like the summer after you guys moved out to Israel, Jake and I took the families on a joint vacation.  The women stayed near the hotel with the kids while Jake and I went rock climbing.  Free form in the middle of nowhere with no safety gear.  We were living dangerously.  Well, a couple of other climbers that we talked to told us that without gear we wouldn’t want to put our feet on the rock face.  So, we went up with just our upper body strength.”

“WOW!”  Brie was genuinely shock.

“Yeah, after Jake got done”, Marc said, “I had him put on the gun show.”

David and Brie both laughed breathlessly.  “The Gun Show?” David said as he shook from laughter.

“Yeah, it’s where he flexes and shows off.”

“We know what it is”, Brie said as she giggled hysterically, waving her hands in front of her face.  “JACOB!”

“I’m right behind you, Mom”, he laughed.  “Do you need CPR?”

“Did you… did you seriously?”

“Yes, Mom.  I gave them a gun show.  I flexed one at a time and said, ‘Boom, BOOM!  Check out the firah powah’.”

She gasped for breath and hid her face in David’s chest.  “When did your son become so conceded?” she asked.

“No”, David said.  “He’s not my son.  My boys aren’t conceded like that.”

“Last time I checked, Dad, I shared 13 alleles with you.  Not to mention a last name.  I’m your fault too”, Jake added as he took a seat.

“It’s not that, son”, David said.  “Your mother and I agreed a very long time ago that Jordan was my child and you were hers.”

“I don’t get it.”

“You never will, Jake”, Brie told her son.  “Just take it with a grain of salt.”

As they tried to catch their breath, David’s phone started ringing.  He picked it up off of the coffee table.  “Hello?”

“Daddy, they…” he heard Jordan say.  Then a man came over the phone.  “Ah, David Michael Draiman, one of Chicago’s favorite sons.”

“Speaking; and you are?” he said calmly.  The laughter in his voice died.

“That’s not of any importance, Mr. Draiman.  For now, just call me Mr. Griffin.  What is of importance is that your daughter Jordan is in a world of hurt right now.  The only way to make it stop is for you and your wife to turn yourselves into me if you’re in the country.  If not, tell me how to get a hold of Malachai.”

“Well, I hate to burst your bubble, Mr. Griffin, but my wife and I are living out our lives in Israel.  We’re actually in the Cayman Islands right now on one of our many global trips.  As for my son, Malachai, I’m still waiting to hear from him so that I can get his new cell phone number so even if I wanted to tell you how to get in touch with Malachai, I couldn’t.  I don’t keep track of Logan or Caleb, so I can’t help you there either.  So, Mr. Griffin, what is it that I can do for you from the Cayman Islands?”

“Well, Mr. Draiman, as much as I think you’re lying, I had a plan for this as well.  Seeing as you and the beautiful Mrs. Draiman aren’t in town, or in the country, I’m sure you’ll have no problem sending me a little bit of ransom money for your daughter, right?”

“Ransom money?  What’s to say that I don’t pull a few strings, Mr. Griffin, and have the United States Army on your door step in the matter of a couple of hours?”

“You do that and your daughter dies.”

“You see, I don’t think you’ll kill her.”

“Oh no?”

“No, and I’ll tell you why.  You see, I have something you want and you need to further your agenda.  I give you what you want and I never see my daughter again.  So, personally, I see no reason to give you what you’re asking for because my failure to do so from here on out is what keeps my daughter alive.  Am I warm?”

“Look you uppity, fucking kike…”

“Kike?”  David’s voice was low and dangerous.  “Let me tell you something, Mr. Griffin.  I may be Jewish, but I also come from a family of soldiers.  My wife comes from a proud tradition of soldiers as well.  We’ve taught our children that same pride and dedication to family and country, as well as pride in where they come from.  There isn’t a single one of my children that wouldn’t die for they believe in.  Are you willing to say the same?  If so, then you can get ready to make that gamble.  I’m not sending you shit.  You got that?  You can kiss my Jewish ass, you’re not getting a penny and I promise you that by sunrise tomorrow I will have my daughter back and you’ll be lucky if you’re still breathing.”  He hung up.  “Jake, call Morbus and all of you meet me and your mother out at the cottage in fifteen.  You’re mother and I need to do some prep work.”  He looked at Brie.  “Come on, we need to go get set up.”

---------------

Grissom was so furious that he reached out and backhanded Jordan with the hand holding the phone.  “You fucking Draiman’s.  You will all learn your place.  Your father doesn’t seem to comprehend the danger you’re in.  But, that’s fine.  I think I’ll send him a picture of what your face looks like to give him the idea that I’m not playing around.”

Jordan spat out the blood that welled up in her mouth.  “You’re a bastard and when I have the opportunity, I’m going to end you.”

“Big talk for the little girl chained to a wall.”

“You don’t know what my family is capable of.  My twin brother is on a first name basis with several members of the Presidential Cabinet.  My baby sister eats lunch with the US Ambassador to Israel.  My father calls the President his close and personal friend even though he lives in Israel.  You have no prayer other than to just let me go.”

“Now, why would I do that, Jordan?”

“Because if you don’t, your world is going to crash down on your head, I promise you that.  This place will not be standing by sunrise.  When my father gives his word on something, he means it.  You will regret ever fucking with the Draiman family by the time this is all said and done.”

“I highly doubt that, Jordan.  Your family can’t have near the connections that you seem to be under the impression that you do.  I, however, am a very well connected man.  If I really wanted to find your father, which I do- don’t get me wrong- but if I really wanted to sink the money into the resources, then I have the resources to do so.”

“And have you given that a shot?”

“Yes.  How do you think I found you?”

“Happenstance”, she said and shrugged.  It was a little awkward in the chains.  “I snuck out of the house.  My wife’s had me under lock and key the past couple of months. I needed to breathe.  Now, if you have the money and the resources to locate my parents and bring them to you, then why haven’t you found them yet?  Better yet, why did you just ask my Dad to, in essence, pay a ransom for me?  You’re a joke, Grissom.  Just admit it to yourself, and your men, and you’ll feel so much better.”

Grissom back handed Jordan again.  “Let me explain something to you, you filthy Jewish whore.  What I have and don’t have financially isn’t important.  What I have in my possession right this moment is what’s important and what I have is something that David Draiman wants.  That’s you.  You’re my bargaining chip.  I’m sure that your father will call back soon and tell me that he wants to negotiate something for your release.  He’ll meet me, my men will kill you and I’ll kill your father.  It’s that simple.”

More blood blossomed from Jordan’s bottom lip.  “Hit me all you want, you twisted fuck.  You’ll never break me and you’ll never get to my father.  You will be lucky to see the light of day tomorrow.  If I could see and I was loose, you’d have a real problem in your hands because I don’t fuck around.  Of course, you can’t fight fair.  Something tells me that you rough people up to make up for certain… inadequacies.”  She was cocky, but that was Jordan.  She knew exactly how to get under a person’s sink.  But, inside, she was beyond pissed.  She was homicidal.  She knew she wasn’t in any condition to do what she wanted to do, so she buried it under the vainer of sarcasm and smart- assery.

“I sincerely doubt that, Jordan.  You’re a spoiled rock star child.  I’m almost positive you know nothing about self- defense.”

“And you’d be sorely mistaken.  Not only can I defend myself, I have a black belt in Hapkido.  You’d think in all of your research you’d have found that.  You’d also think that in all of your research, you’d know that my late Uncle was a Force Recon sniper so you’d figure that there are a few really good shots in my family.  You’ll learn soon enough, Grissom.  And you know something?”

“What might that be, Jordan?”

“I don’t think you’ll live long enough to regret the miscalculation.”

---------------

Once everyone was out at the cottage, David and Brie let everyone in.  Brie had a bottle of Diet Mountain Dew in hand and David had a cup of coffee.  They were both wearing headsets that would allow them to keep in contact with the guys when they went to rescue Jordan.  Everyone that had never been out in the cottage saw the things that had popped out of the walls and stared in awe.  “WOW”, James said.  “I never knew what was going on out here when Jake, Marc, and Morbus were out of the house for hours at a time.”  He looked at Marc.  “You guys were installing this stuff, weren’t you?”

Marc nodded.  “Yep, and I was hacking military software.  Thankfully, military software is relatively easy to hack these days.  They don’t change protocol very often so I installed auto hackers for the satellites and stuff like that.”

“Well, Marc, you Dad and I need you to hack one more thing for us.  The jack ass that has Jordan has cameras installed at the cameras.  We need you to hack the secure feed.”

Marc nodded solemnly.  “You got it, Mom.”  He made his way over to the screen where the ISP was up and started working his magic.

“Jacob, you’ll need to put together an emergency medical kit.  The bastard said that Jordan is in a world of hurt.  Have everything you may possible need to treat her.  Bandages, splints, wraps, gauze, you name it.  You might also want to make sure that you have a scalpel on hand just in case you have it”, David said as he sipped his coffee.

Jacob nodded.  “You got it, Dad.  Anything else?”

“I’ll let you know once I have an idea of what Jordan’s looking like.  As I’m sure you’ve all gathered, you’re going to have to go rescue her.  It will be more prudent to do this in the dead of night rather than the light of day.  Get plenty of rest today.  Jordan has gotten herself into a situation that she can’t get out of.  When I answered my phone earlier, it was her number but I heard two seconds of her voice before a man started spewing his garbage.  Morbus, I want you to draw up a plan and let me know what you’re thinking about doing.  This way Brie and I will know how to direct you from here.  Skyler, I hope you up for this, brother.”

“Oh, I am.  The Utopians didn’t call me Bonfire Skyler during the Occupation for nothing.  I have no problem lighting things up to protect my family.  I consider all of you family.”

Jeremiah looked at his father in law in shock.  “Bonfire Skyler?  Really?  What did you do to earn that nickname?”

“I’ll have to sit you and Jona down at a later date and explain it all to you.  But, I used to have a serious bloodlust in me and I loved to fuck with the Utopians.  It settled down after Jona was born because I had other things to think about, but it’s coming back in full force.  I think it might be from being around Morbus too much.”

Morbus laughed.  “Bonfire Skyler, huh?  Nice nickname.  I’ll see if I can figure out a way for you to make that literal.  And I’ll take the spending too much time around me as a complement.”

“It wasn’t an insult.”

Morbus just nodded.  The wheels were turning and once they started, there was no way to stop them.  David knew this because he’d known Morbus for far too long.  He knew that once Morbus started planning something the only way to stop him was to let him do what he was planning.  Morbus looked at David, his crimson eyes cold.  “Do I have free reign, David?”

“You know the limitations of your team.  You know what they’re capable of.  Do what you feel is necessary; just bring my daughter home.”  He looked at everyone else.  “Go make whatever preparations you need to make and above all, get plenty of rest.  Reconvene out here at sun set.”

Everyone dispersed.  Morbus went to go plan, Jake went to go put together the medical kit together and make sure that the room was equipped the way he needed it to be so that he could properly assess Jordan’s injuries before sending her to the hospital.  He still had privileges  at the two hospitals he used to be Chief of Medicine at, so he knew that if he insisted on being informed of every step of Jordan’s treatment, he would be.

The rest the boys went to go get some rest and let their wives know what was going on.  The only one that stuck around was Marc.  He was still trying to hack the feed to the cameras.  His parents had busied themselves checking other things around the room.  David was checking the link to the satellite and Brie was cross checking the address that had come up with Jordan’s GPS signal with real estate and court records.  “Finally!” Marc shouted.

David and Brie looked at their youngest son.  “You got it?” David asked.

“Yep.  Every camera.  He has four, and it’s obviously a warehouse from the lay out.  Just let me make a few more adjustments and I’ll show you how to toggle between cameras.”  His fingers flew furiously over the keys for a few more moments.  “Presto!  I am a magician.  You don’t have to say it, though any and all compliments are appreciated.”

“Why don’t you stop gloating and show us how to switch camera views, Christopher, before I smack you up side your head?” his mother growled.

“Yes ma’am, sorry.”  He turned back to the screen.  “This is camera one.  It’s at the front entrance to the warehouse externally.”  He hit a couple buttons.  “Camera two is internal at the warehouse.  Camera Three is above and relatively low hanging.  It’s pointed directly at Jordan at the moment and she’s a mess.  She’s holding her weight on one leg which tells me that she more than likely has a broken fibula.  Anyway, Camera 4 is positioned in a loft office area and does sweeps every 5 minutes.  It’s all on a CCTV feed traced to the office.  This guy, whoever he is, isn’t too careful.  He didn’t protect any of it in any way.  Maybe a firewall and a simple password.  I found a back door through the firewall and the password was easy enough to hack.”

“What was the password?” David asked.

“D-R-A-I-M-A-N.”

“Really?  This man is obsessed.”

“Seriously.  I got it on the first try.”

“So how do we toggle camera views?” Brie asked.

“Just hit Control and T to toggle between cameras.  They’ll jump in order.  Add the camera number for the view you need immediately.”

“Is there any way for you to put each view on different screens?  I might make things easier?”

“Yeah.  Just drag and throw the view in the direction of the screen you want it on.”

“Then do it, Christopher.  You mother and I have work to do and you have a rescue mission to get ready for.  We don’t have the rest of our lives, you know”, David barked.

“Yes sir”, Marc said and did what he was asked.  “I’m going to go let Mercedes know what’s going on.  I’ll see you at sunset.”

Once Marc was gone, Brie looked at her husband.  “What’s wrong, David?”

He looked at the screen that had Jordan’s bruised and beaten form.  “That’s what’s wrong.  Look at what that son of a bitch has done to our daughter.  Her eyes are swollen shut, Brie.  Some of her teeth are in the dirt around her feet.  Look at what he’s done to our daughter.”  He’d started to shake visibly.

She took his hand and sat down with him on the couch.  “I see what they’ve done.  I’m doing my best not to fall apart because seeing Jordan like that hurts my heart.  I know it’s hard for you to see her like that.  She’s your first born child, not to mention your first born daughter.  I understand that you want that bastard dead.  Imagine how I feel?  I carried her for nine months.  I’m sure that the thought of having to treat her injuries doesn’t appeal to Jacob either.  I’m sure none of the boys are looking forward to this.  I hate to say that we have to compartmentalize this fiasco until Jordan’s out of that warehouse, but we do.  You can hold me while I fall apart or we can go into the house and hit the gym or whatever.  Whatever you want to do.  But, for right now, we have to focus to get her out of there.”  By the end, she was fighting off tears and her voice sounded choked.

David sighed.  “I’m sorry, baby.  I just can’t stand seeing that.  That pisses me off to no end.”

“I know.  Neither can I.  But, we have to be able to take ourselves out of it for now and think objectively.  It will be hard, but I know we can do this.  Now, let’s get back to monitoring these bastards and what they’re doing to Jordan so that we can work with Morbus to get her out of there.”

---------------

Jake had a leather satchel in his hand as he tore through his office looking for all of the supplies he’d need.  He had bandages, pressure wraps, gauze and tape.  What he was having trouble finding was a scalpel blade.  He had the handle, but he couldn’t find any blade.

Delilah came in, having heard all of the commotion in his office.  “HEY!” she shouted over the noise.  When he looked at her, she spoke softly.  “What are you looking for, Jacob?”

“Scalpel blades.”

“Have you looked in the triage room?”

“No.”

“Why don’t we go look in the triage room for your scalpel blades?”  She held a hand out to him.

He took her hand and they walked down the stairs to the triage room that had been set up.  “Did you move my blades?”

“No, I think I saw you put them in here, baby.  Just settle down.  I’m here if you need me, you know that.”

“Lilah, I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Do what?  Go rescue your sister or be stone faced while you do so?”

“Both.”

“Jake, you’re a doctor.  You have to separate yourself no matter how personal it is for you.”

“But this is my twin.  I should have known.  We used to be so close.”

“You’re 35.  You two were bound to grow apart.”

“But, she’s my twin.  I shared a womb with her.  I used to be able to tell if she was sick or hurt.  Now, I can’t anymore.”

“It happens with twins, especially fraternal twins.  I’m sure that Jessi and Marc are the same way.”

“I wonder if Meagan and Makayla can still do that.  Or James and Jeremiah.”

“More than likely not.  James are Jeremiah are more likely to hurt each other than feel each other’s pain.”

Jake smiled.  “How can you separate yourself from this like this?”

“It’s what I do.  I’m a body mind therapist.  I have to be able to separate myself.  You have the same ability, Jake.  Take Jacob Jordan’s twin out of it and be Dr. Jacob Draiman.”

He took a deep breath and nodded.  “You’re right.  I’ve got to stop thinking of her as my twin sister and remember that she’s going to be a patient as soon as we extract her from that warehouse.”

“Exactly.  If you need me, I’m here.  Ok?”

“Yeah.  Thank you.  I needed someone who could keep me objective.”

“That’s what I’m here for.  Now, let's find those scalpel blades.”