“Yes, sir. ”
* * * * * The smell of ammonia brought Jenni to wakefulness sharply and painfully. Her temple was throbbing and she felt like throwing up. She was sitting on a cot and a soldier was leaning over her. The woman in the army fatigues with short cropped blond hair looked at her kindly.
“How you feeling?” she asked Jenni.
Jenni promptly slugged the woman in the face. Diving off the cot, she rushed toward the nearest door.
“Grab her!” the army nurse shouted.
One of the guards managed to grab Jenni around the waist and hoist her off the ground.
“Let me go!” Jenni kicked her legs and twisted frantically.
There was a sharp prick in her arm, then the world swam and went dark.
* * * * * “Tell me you had success this time. ”
“I would like to, sir, but she fought back the second she was awake. Sir, I seriously believe we should question the man first. ”
“The woman is the weaker link. Try again. Restrain her this time. ”
“Yes, sir. ”
* * * * * Jenni jerked away as the smell of ammonia assaulted her senses again.
She found herself sitting in a chair before a table, her hands restrained behind her with plastic cuffs. Trying to move, she found her ankles were also cuffed.
“Shit!”
Across from her sat a very handsome black man with the kindest green eyes she had ever seen. He was staring at her curiously, his expression quite intense.
“Fuck you. ”
“We hardly know each other,” the man answered, flashing a brilliant smile.
Jenni set her jaw, her gaze steely.
“You know, we’re just trying to get to know you. ”
“You fucking kidnapped me!” Jenni nearly growled the words. She was so pissed she wasn’t even sure why she was so angry. Thoughts of Juan were jumbled with the disaster at the hospital and then the bright light blinding her and Bill. “Where the hell is Bill?”
“Is that his name?”
Jenni clamped her mouth shut.
“We’ve met before. You and I,” the man said. “On a road, long ago. You were in a pink bathrobe and you had this dog that looked exactly like my dog when I was a kid. And there was a blond woman with you. I have a photographic memory. I remember people. I remember you. ”
Taking a deep breath, Jenni glared at him and said nothing.
“I told you to come here. To Madison. But you didn’t. You went somewhere else. ”
The man opened up a folder and began to show her photos of the fort.
Then the photos became more personal, showing people. Obviously the photos had been taken with a telescopic lens. She saw herself and Juan in one. The sight of the man she loved brought tears to her eyes.
“Tell me about your home, Genevieve,” the man said in a soft, warm voice.
“Fuck you, puto. ”