. 21

For all of her strong words, Senator Chatham was extremely worried. Her daughter, along with twenty-two other girls, including the granddaughter of Vice President Pearson and the daughter of Representative Daniels, were missing. Their bus had simply disappeared. There was no plausible, acceptable explanation.

All of the girls had cell phones, as would the bus driver, the security people, and the four chaperones. The fact that not one of them had placed a call since shortly after they left the school indicated that they could not. Steve and the other chaperones would understand how worried the parents, school officials, and even law enforcement would be. They would certainly have contacted someone if it were possible.

The tension of the situation quickly escalated as it became evident that the bus was nowhere on the route it had been scheduled to take. Helicopters and police patrols had traveled the entire length of the route without finding any trace of the bus. The fact that there were some high profile students making the trip made it even more worrisome. The disappearance was no coincidence.

In less than an hour from the meeting the parents had with the FBI and other law enforcement officials, the media got wind of the situation. The sister of one of the parents had passed the news to her mother-in-law, who had been sworn to secrecy and who quickly told her sister, who then passed it on at her bridge club.

Reporters descended on the FBI headquarters in Washington. It didn't take long for the names of the students to be researched, along with the security personnel, the driver, and the chaperones. Somehow, Steve Hammer's name never came up in the early reports. He was reported simply as Steve Smith and very little was known about him. Senator Chatham knew that it wouldn't take long for the media to learn that he was in the thick of the situation.

With reporters camped outside her residence, as well as her office, Senator Chatham decided not to return to either place. She called her friend and ally, Senator Mason, and quickly explained the situation. Mason promised to find a safe and secure place for her and to call back. Ten minutes later she rang Senator Chatham's cell.

"Naomi Wilson is here and she assured me that you will be welcome to stay in one of the Lady in Red reserved rooms at their hotel. They have an entire floor to themselves and you'd never be bothered. She's offered to escort you there.

"There's one other thing. She feels very strongly that Gwen Anderson needs to know what's going on. She told me that if you didn't call Gwen, she would. You know how tight that whole group is," concluded Senator Mason.

"Please tell Naomi that I'll take her up on her offer, and that I'll also make that call to Gwen right now. I've been so worried that I hadn't given her any thought. My husband is in Tokyo on business and he's trying to catch a flight back, but it'll be another day at least, before he returns. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed about this whole thing. Grace means everything to me," sobbed the normally stoic Chatham.

Gwen and Charlotte were just sitting down in their home to enjoy a salad for an early lunch when Gwen's phone chirped. She looked at the unknown caller ID, shrugged to Charlotte and answered the call. Charlotte listened carefully to Gwen's side of the conversation.

"Hello, Senator. I hope you're having a nice day. No, I haven't been watching the news. We just left a lecture and I'm about to have lunch. What's wrong? Is Steve okay? A chaperone for teen girls? That doesn't sound too dangerous. They disappeared? How? When?"

Gwen fell silent as she listened intently to Senator Chatham's explanation of the situation. Her face tightened as she jotted down some notes.

"I don't have to tell you that Steve will do anything in his power to protect those kids. I'll catch a flight east as soon as possible. Please keep me informed of any new developments. We need to stay calm and think about what we can do to help Steve and those girls. I'll be there this evening!"

"What's going on?" asked Charlotte. "Is Steve in trouble of some kind?"

"He was chaperoning a bus full of teenage girls on a field trip to Philadelphia. Senator Chatham's daughter, Vice President Pearson's granddaughter, and Congressman Daniel's daughter were among the girls on the bus and it's simply disappeared. It's been missing for a few hours and foul play is suspected," revealed Gwen as she searched her phone's contact list and punched a number.

"Hello, Nancy. I need to get to Washington D. C. as fast as possible. The Red Lady is there already, so I can't use it. Call me back when you find a flight for me, and please be aware that this is an emergency. Do whatever it takes."

"Janice and Sybil need to know what's going on. They're on the porch. I'll get them right now," stated Charlotte as she hurried to the door.

Both women turned to Charlotte when she ripped the door open. It was obvious that she was upset. "What's happened?" demanded Sybil. "Is Gwen okay? You don't look too good!"

"Gwen's headed for D.C. as soon as she can catch a flight. There's hell to pay back there and Steve's involved. She needs security to be ready to go immediately. I know she doesn't think it's necessary, but I'm sure that it is. Way too much bad shit has been happening lately," stated Charlotte.

"We just heard about the bus full of girls that's missing. Steve's involved in that? How is that possible?" asked Sybil rhetorically. "Never mind. We can leave right now and buy anything we need later. What airline is she taking?"

"Oh, shit!" exclaimed Charlotte. "We need to get you two tickets on the same flight. Let me make some calls."

Half an hour later, Janice, Sybil, and Gwen climbed into a limo to take them to the airport. Two back-up agents had already arrived to stay with Charlotte. Gwen, Sybil, and Janice were delivered to a small airport and in another forty minutes were airborne on a corporate jet.

"This jet belongs to Steve's grandfather's company," explained Gwen. "He was in the area on business. When our company people went through the list of possibilities for a quick flight, they found his private jet was nearby. He immediately gave permission to use it, and here we are."

Gwen had already explained the situation on the drive to the airport. "I knew that working for your company would be interesting, but I never expected it to be like this," admitted Sybil. "From what I've seen of Steve, I'd guess someone's going to be sorry they ever messed with those kids. He looks every bit as tough as his reputation indicates."

"You've no idea," replied Gwen. "I was there when he took out those Chechen killers in Moscow with his bare hands, and when he shot those terrorist in our high school. He's gentle and kind most of the time, but he's hell on wheels when it comes to murderers and the like."

Gwen and her security detail hurried to the hotel from the airport. Senator Chatham, Senator Mason, and Representative Daniels and his wife were waiting in her suite with Naomi when she arrived.

"Gwen, you need to hear the latest news. They've just found five of the girls from the school! They were at the King of Prussia Mall above Philadelphia and they were wearing explosives," revealed Senator Mason. "They were terrified, but unharmed. The FBI managed to remove the jackets safely and dispose of them. The five girls are being examined in a local hospital to be sure they're alright."

"Why were they wearing explosives? Did someone make them do it?" asked Gwen immediately.

"The girls told the FBI that four men and a woman killed their security guards and hijacked the bus. They switched to a 'Mayflower' moving truck shortly after that and were taken to a cabin in some woods. They were fitted with the explosives and told they'd be detonated when the girls went into the mall."

"Thank God, that didn't happen!" exclaimed Gwen. "Maybe the bastards didn't know how to make their damn bombs correctly."

"That's where it gets interesting," said Representative Daniels. "The five girls told the FBI that some old guy that was one of the chaperones managed to get alone with them for a couple of minutes. He disconnected the remote wire so they couldn't be set off by someone else."

"An old guy?" asked Gwen. "One of the chaperones was an older man that knew how suicide bombs worked. That sounds fishy to me."

"Not when you know the entire story," stated Senator Chatham. "I told Steve that I was worried about a famous, handsome guy like him being around all of those teen girls. He agreed and said he'd have a disguise on. He knew some people in town that had done some make-up on your movies. He boarded that bus as an overweight, gray bearded man with a limp. He must have been the one to disarm the bombs!"

"That does sound like Steve," acknowledged Gwen. "He'll be much more effective if these criminals think he's a fat slob that can barely walk. Boy, are they in for a shock! Do they have any idea where the rest of the kids are?"

"There's a heavy police presence in the Valley Forge area. They believe that from what the girls told them, the cabin must be in the woods somewhere in the vicinity, but that still leaves a lot of room to hide," reasoned Daniels' wife. "Plus we have to be concerned about what those bastards will do with the other girls. I just hope your boyfriend can live up to his reputation."

"Mrs. Daniels, I realize you're under a great deal of stress. I can assure you that Steve will do everything humanly possible for those kids. He's already saved five of them. That's five more than anyone else has managed. I can't promise that he'll rescue all of the girls, but I can promise you that he will do his very best, and his best is miles ahead of anyone else. That's what he does, and it's who he is.

"I'm going to arrange to have a car drive me to Valley Forge. You're all welcome to use our facilities here at the hotel," added Gwen.

"The FBI told us to stay away from the area, and that's what we should do," insisted Mrs. Daniels.

"Suit yourself," replied Gwen calmly before turning to her two security personnel. "You'll be riding with me. If there's anything that you need before we leave, you'd better get it now. We're headed to Pennsylvania."

"If you have room, I'd like to ride with you," declared Senator Chatham. "I'm not going to sit around and wait to learn my daughter's fate."

A few blocks away, President Hanson was meeting with Homeland Security, the FBI, and his national security team. He was as irate as anyone in the room had ever seen him.

"How in hell do these things happen?" demanded Hanson. "The granddaughter of the vice president of the United States has gone missing, along with Senator Chatham's daughter and Congressman Daniel's daughter, plus twenty other girls, four chaperones, a driver, and the two security men that we believe to be dead. If there are foreign nationals involved in this, Homeland Security will be wading in some deep shit. This is exactly what you're tasked to prevent!

"Do we have any more information on this cluster-fuck?" growled Hanson as he watched the Secretary of Homeland Security speak quietly with an aide.

"We've located the two security men. I'm sorry to report that they're both dead from gunshot wounds to the head. We're questioning the five girls that were strapped with explosives at that mall. They're pretty upset, but each of them insists that an 'older man' that was a chaperone disconnected a wire and promised them they wouldn't explode.

"They're all very familiar with Steve Hammer and they all deny he was the man that saved them. My people are trying to determine just who helped these girls and why none of them have seen Hammer. Senator Chatham insists he was on the bus," concluded the Secretary.

"Get Chatham on the phone!" directed Hanson to an aide. "I'll get to the bottom of this!"

A few moments later, Senator Chatham's voice spoke over the speaker. "Hello, Mr. President. Do you have any news about my daughter?"

"Nothing new, Senator," replied Hanson. "You're on speaker phone with my security people. I'm told that you had Steve Hammer go on that bus trip as a chaperone, but the five girls that were recovered at that shopping mall never saw him on the bus. Do you have an explanation for that?"

"I have you on speaker was well. Congressman Daniels and his wife, Congresswoman Anderson, and two of her security team are present. I asked Steve to disguise himself so he wouldn't be too much of a distraction to a bus load of teen girls. He's probably the man that disconnected the remote detonators to those vest bombs."

"Goddamn it!" spat Hanson. "My team had no idea he was in disguise. They don't have any idea about anything! Can you tell me anything else that I should know? I can't rely on my people to get anything right."

"Mr. President?" spoke Gwen softly in an attempt to calm President Hanson. "The most important thing you need to know is that Steve is working to save those kids. Please be certain that law enforcement knows that he's disguised as an older man with a gray beard, a bit of a beer belly, and a noticeable limp.

"We're on route to Valley Forge as we speak. I intend to be there when Steve manages to put an end to this nightmare. You've got your best man on the inside, so I'd say you're handling this right. You need to be patient and wait for Steve to use what he's learned with the SEALs, and from his father."

"Thank you, Gwen," responded a calmer Hanson. "We did stumble into some luck when Steve boarded that bus. You must be worried sick. I apologize for flying off the handle. This entire episode is extremely upsetting. We appropriate a lot of money to prevent this sort of thing."

"When it's all over, everyone can sit down and determine what needs to be done differently. Right now, we need to do everything possible to find those kids," pointed out Gwen. "If we learn anything new, we'll let you know immediately, Sir. Please do the same for us."

"Okay, and thanks again, Gwen," replied Hanson as the connection was terminated.

"Was that so damn difficult?" demanded President Hanson as he berated his security team. "If you don't know what's going on, ask Chatham and Anderson. They seem to have a system that actually works!"

As he rode in the back of the moving truck, Steve considered the situation. The three female chaperones were doing a good job of reassuring the girls. There were still some whimpers, but for the most part, the girls were silent as they sat toward the front of the cargo compartment, huddled together.

Thus far, his disguise had worked as intended. No one seemed to pay him much attention. When he climbed into the truck, he had struggled mightily. He hoped that the gunmen felt he was a minimal threat and were less like to pay him much attention.

Steve knew that the teen girls were looking at him with a certain amount of disgust. He was assigned to help keep them safe and he appeared to be barely able to move his fat ass from one place to the next. He fought the feelings of guilt and continued to play his part. He had little hope that his captors would release anyone alive. The brutal murder of the two security people indicated that these people didn't expect to walk away from their venture.

It was dark inside the back of the truck when they finally rolled to a stop and the back doors swung open. Steve was able to see an old cabin nestled in a heavily wooded area off to the side. Everyone was told to climb out of the truck. For his part, Steve dropped to the bed and sort of rolled off, feet-first. He appeared to struggle to keep his footing when he hit the ground, as he lurched a few steps to regain his balance.

One of the gunmen made a derogatory remark as he prodded Steve in the back with his gun. Limping along, Steve was the last person to enter the cabin. He immediately saw a fifth terrorist sitting at a table stacked with explosives! He was meticulously attaching wires to vests, as well as the explosives. He had a schematic diagram sitting to his left as he carefully assembled what appeared to be vest bombs.

The entire group was ushered into a large, sparsely furnished room. They were only in the room for a few minutes when a gunman entered, grabbed the nearest girl and dragged her out of the room. About ten minutes later, he pushed her back into the room, but with an explosive laden vest! The other girls squealed and moved to the other side of the room, away from the unlucky girl with the vest. The man randomly grabbed another girl and dragged her into the front room.

The young girl wearing the vest was sobbing dreadfully, and began bawling her eyes out when her friends abandoned her. Steve slowly made his way over to the girl and kneeled down in front of her.

"You need to trust me," he began. "I was sent by the school to keep you safe. I know how to neutralize the switch on this vest so it won't explode. Can you be really brave and let me work on it?"

The girl was still trembling when she nodded to Steve. He studied the device for a long minute before carefully taking a thin wire between his thumb and forefinger and tugging it. It pulled away from a small terminal as the girl gasped. When nothing else happened, she gave Steve a grin.

"They may try to send you into a crowd to set off the explosives and kill a lot of people. Don't worry about it. I'll tuck this wire under this buckle and no one will ever notice it's not connected. Once you're dropped off, don't panic or cry, but find a policeman, or even a fireman if possible, and ask for help. They'll know what to do. I promise you this bomb will not explode, okay? But don't tell anyone what I did. They need to think that it'll work."

Steve repeated his efforts with each girl that was returned wearing a vest. When the fifth girl was pushed back into the room, the gunman chuckled as he looked over the group. The girls without any explosives on them were as far from the five with explosives as they could get. He moved back into the front room and closed the door. That allowed Steve to disconnect the fifth girl's device. He barely managed to return to the far corner when the gunman reappeared and ordered the five girls to leave the room.

Steve heard a vehicle start up and drive away. It seemed likely that the girls were being taken somewhere to create havoc. He found himself working to calm his nerves as he thought about how frightened the girls must be. An hour and a half later, he heard a vehicle pull back into the driveway.

Soon there was yelling and angry rebukes echoing throughout the cabin. Everyone in the room with Steve was very quiet. Suddenly there was a gunshot! A few seconds later there was another and then silence.

Although they weren't speaking in Farsi, Steve had been able to gain the gist of the conversation that ended with the gunshots. A man was very angry at the bomb maker because not one of them had detonated. The man making the bombs insisted he had put them together properly, but the idiot entrusted to detonate them must have screwed up. That's when the gunshot rang out. Steve knew the second shot was simply to make certain the man was dead.

The woman that had killed the two security men came angrily into the room followed by one of her henchmen. She walked over to the group of girls and pointed out three of them. Her goon grabbed two of them by their arm, while she grabbed a handful of hair belonging to Senator Chatham's daughter and dragged her from the room with the man towing the other two girls.

Once the door was closed, Steve quietly moved close to it and listened intently. Again, he was only able to follow the gist of the conversation. There were many words and expressions he was unable to follow, but he understood enough to be very concerned.