Rock Her(54)

“Where do I find him?” Jack demanded.

The old man slowly backed behind the desk again, shaking his head.

“You won’t have any trouble. Just tell me where he is!” Kip demanded again.

Then the old man did something that would haunt Kip for the rest of his life. His hands disappeared behind the desk and came back up holding an AK-47. Kip pulled the trigger and the man fell back behind the desk.

“God damnit!” Kip yelled. Then he took tactical position again. The rifle shot would draw curious innocents and determined not so innocents. Kip moved forward and rounded a corner into a hallway. He remembered that every time he cleared this building he ended up routing Taliban from the basement. He decided he would start there and work his way up. He bolted to the end of the hall and took the door on the left. The stairs led down to a false landing, turned and went down more to the basement door.

Something was wrong. There was no one guarding the stairwell. Perhaps he was wrong about the basement? Or even wrong about the building? If that was the case, he was a civilian who just murdered an Afghan citizen. Shit! I could have just started an international incident!

Kip started to doubt himself then shook the thought out of his head. NO!

Jack was here. He had to be here. And so what if he did start an international incident? Friends are friends. He’d clear this up later.

Kip crept down the stairs slowly until he was at the basement door. He slowly pushed it open and peeped between the door jamb and door. What he saw made him cringe and gave him relief all at the same time.

Jack was there, tied to a bed frame. The memories came flooding back to him of his own torture. He blinked them away, taking heartfelt relief in the fact that he hadn’t just killed an innocent man upstairs.

He pushed the door open further and pointed his rifle through. He scanned the room. Only Jack was visible. But he knew from experience that he would never be left completely alone down here. Someone had to be nearby.

Kip cautiously entered in a crouched position, pointing his rifle in all directions. He crossed the floor to where Jack was tied up.

“Jacky?” Kip whispered. Jack did not answer. Kip reached out and touched his chin, shook his face slightly. “Jacky, wake up.”

Jack’s eyes were swollen. He had been beaten. But he stirred and tried to open them without success.

“Kip?” Jack croaked. “Is that you?”

“It’s me, Jacky. I am going to get you out of here.”

“Oh, shit, Kip,” Jack said. “You shouldn’t have come. They knew you’d come.”

“What?”

“That’s right, Mr. Jones.” A voice sounded off from behind. Kip whirled around to see three men staring at him from a dark shadow. The voice was in perfect English. American English.

“Step forward, show your hands!” Kip shouted.

“Wow, he knows the drill,” a second voice said.

“I’m not kidding,” Kip said. “Step forward now, or I’ll spray the dark with bullets and drop you.”

“Relax, Mr. Jones. We’re coming. Or should I call you Mr. Parker?”

Kip stepped back in shock. Whoever this was in the dark knew his real name.

“Stephen James Parker, do I have that right?”

What the hell is going on?

“He should know the drill, Reynolds,” The first voice came again. “This is not his first time in this situation. We have us a real bonafide war hero here.”

Reynolds. Kip knew that name. He had heard it recently. Didn’t Sparks mention that he thought he saw a Reynolds when they stopped in Germany? Reynolds is the cop that was watching our room the other night. What the fuck is going on!!!

Then another voice echoed in the dark as they stopped forward. The voice spoke Pashto, and Kip would never forget the voice as long as he lived. The doctor that tortured him during his captivity! Kip felt as if he had just stepped into the twilight zone.

It took all of Kip’s discipline not to squeeze the trigger on his M-16 and spray the area with rounds. But his curiosity overwhelmed his hatred.

“Who, the fuck are you!” Kip yelled. “And, God damnit, I told you to step forward into the light! Hands where I can see them!”

“We’re doing as you asked, Mr. Parker. Just have patience.” Then, there they were. All three of them. The doctor drew his gaze first, and Kip resisted the urge to spit when he first laid eyes upon him.

Then he saw Reynolds, slightly taller than the doctor but shorter than the third man, who Kip had never seen before in his life.

“I know, you and you,” Kip said, “But who the fuck are you?”

“My name is unimportant, Mr. Parker. Let’s just say that Senator Murphy send his regards.”