Chapter 2

Jake’s head was still buried in the pillow when he reached out to grab his beeping phone. He was not very sure his answer was intelligible, even for him. It did not seem to matter because the frantic and panicking little squealer on the other end probably did not notice anyway. It took a second for Jake to even realize who it was that was squawking away. In fact, Danni’s babbling was so non stop that Jake figured he could probably sleep for at least another hour before she noticed.

Jake actually sat the phone aside on his night stand as he sat up. He rubbed his face in the palms of his hand. He looked over at the phone, and then he finally picked it back up. He then told Danni, “could you please start from the beginning. I think I missed some part of it, like, everything between your first and last word.”

“Oh my god,” the twenty something lashed out in disbelief. “Jake! Amy got arrested!”

Jake pulled the phone away and cleaned out his ear. When he put it back, “say that again. I think you meant to say Tony got arrested.”

“NO,” Danni snarled on the phone. “She didn’t do anything Jake. They just arrested her.”

“All right Danni, calm down,” Jake told the girl. “Where is she at? Oh wait one,” He rubbed his forehead and then after sweeping his hand over his balding head he asked, “let’s start with where are you at?”

“Um,” Danni suddenly became very cautious, “why does that matter?”

Jake changed his angle, “are you safe? That’s the point here.”

“Oh,” she perked up at the sound of that, “yeah I’m fine. I can even get to my car now.”

“That’s good,” Jake told his running partner. So far, she was the only one he could get to join him on the morning runs. He checked the time on his phone and wondered how she always managed that when she kept these hours. Then he told her, “you, get your ass back here, asap. I’ll go bail out our little lost sheep. Where is she, the city jail?”

“Um,” once again Jake could practically see Danni squirming through the phone as the she nervously replied, “no?”

Jake’s head fell because he knew what she was going to say next. He said it for her, “don’t tell me. She’s at Riggins Field, right?”

“It’s not her fault Jake, honest to god,” the girl started babbling again only, this time, Jake was actually listening as she said, “the Germans raided the clu.. place we were at. I was outside on the phone and then they had everybody lining up on a wall. They kept them there for a few hours but, then they just let most of them go. They took Amy and a few others! They just shoved then in one of those armored cars and took off.”

When Jake looked at the time on his screen, this time, he called up the calendar. He confirmed the date that he thought it was and then told her, “I think I might know why they did. Was Horst there?”

Danni seemed confused for a moment but then said, “I don’t think so. I didn’t see him but, I mean, Jake I didn’t want to get that close.”

With a heavy sigh, Jake told the girl, “all right Danni. I’ll call Norm and…”

Her voice snapped like a whip, “NO! Oh god Jake! Please don’t do that.” Danni even tossed in another, “please,” for good measure.

What was wrong with this girl? Jake groaned, “whatever! All right, just get your ass back here.”

A few moments later, Jake was in the bathroom down the hall, standing under a stream of hot water as he tried to wake. He had his head tilted back, his mouth wide open, and his eyes closed tight. He woke back up when he heard a voice talking to him.

It was Kent Gold. The guy was standing over by the sinks washing his hands. He asked Jake, “I don’t mean to pry into your personal life Mister Barton but, are you always in the habit of taking a shower with your night clothes on?”

Jake did not bother opening his eyes when he groaned a reply, “cuts down on wash day.” Jake then reached out and knocked off the water. He almost fell as he stepped over the showers water break and into the little changing space. Only then did he realize that he had not bothered to bring a towel either.

Kent seemed amused as he pulled down a fresh towel, from a cabinet, and tossed it to Jake who thanked the man and then added, “not much of a morning person.”

Kent crossed his arms, leaned on the sink, and then he said, “I suppose it’s a good thing it isn’t quite morning yet then. I only saw you stumble back to your room a few hours ago. What got you back up so quickly?”

Jake did not particularly feel like telling this guy anything. He kind of considered the conversation with Danni as one that was taken in confidence. As Jake dried off he told the guy, “I have to go run an errand that I forgot about.”

Kent stayed right where he was and did not quite take the brush off in the spirit that it was meant. Instead, he struck a thoughtful pose and said, “let me see if I can put the pieces of the puzzle together myself, for the practice.”

“I wish you wouldn’t,” Jake told him sourly as he left the changing area and stomped past Kent. He also tossed him the towel back. Kent quickly tossed into an empty hamper like it was diseased.

That did not stop the medic from going on with his theories though, “let me see. Mister Tippet and O’Rouke are still here and they’re the most likely suspects. Ah wait,” he looked bright, “Miss Nguyen was going out dressed in her rather snazzy attire. I do believe she was going to pick up Agent Hiller.”

Jake stopped at the door and it told Kent he had hit the mark so he continued, “Miss Nguyen would probably call Agent Scoggins but, if she called you instead that means she’s probably at that French sounding club she likes so much.”

Why was it that Jake was not aware of any of that and this guy was?! He slowly turned back around, and still half asleep, he said, “Amy got arrested by the Wehrmacht. I’m going to go down to the airport and bail her out.”

Kent had been acting amused or, at least, as amused as he got. Most of the time his entertainment seemed to be in the area of making other people look as if they were less than he was. Past that, he and his quasi sounding Scottish accent usually acted proper or, maybe, just because he really did think everyone else was beneath him. The only good thing that Jake really had to say about the guy was, he was one of only two people left at the station that still called him ‘Mister Barton.’ The other one was Barbara. At least when Kent did it, the words didn’t sound like ‘eat shit and die.”

Something changed in the guy when he heard the latest news on the red headed, freckle faced, Amy. Jake was not sure exactly what was going on in Kent’s mind. He was a pretty hard read. The one thing that Jake was certain of was, the guy was now pretty serious.

Kent even asked for clarification, “are you absolutely certain we’re talking about Agent Hiller?”

Jake waved it off, “I already made sure it wasn’t Tony.”

Suddenly the guy was acting pleasant, “let me get my things Mister Barton. I think I had better go with you.”

“I don’t think she’s going to need a doctor, Kent,” then Jake back pedaled a bit when he realized who they were dealing with, “well let’s hope not anyway.”

“I don’t need my medical things Mister Barton,” Kent replied as he walked to the door and past Jake. The guy was waiting at the station owned car when Jake finally made it there. Kent even commented as he slipped in the passenger side, “well you certainly took your time.”

Before Jake started up the car, and using a metal key was something that he was certain would never come natural to him, he looked over to Gold and said, “why is it, all of the sudden, you got all this concern?”

Kent was still pleasant, “why do you think so ill of me Mister Barton? Miss Hiller is one of us after all, isn’t she? Did you ever think that just maybe I don’t like the thought of her sitting alone, in a German interrogation room, not knowing if anyone is coming to help?”

“No,” Jake replied without blinking an eye, “not really.”