Homeward Bound

Parker woke up to the sound of his cellphone ringing. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Drew.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I just got word. Morrison put a bulletin out on Sam,” he said. “Damn, all right. Do you know anything else?”
“No, but Jack has been camped out at the penthouse. He put the

word out to bring her to him alive and then he said he’d take care of her. He wants her for himself and wants everyone to keep their eyes out for her.”

“Son of a bitch.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll let you know. I have a feeling we’ll be back in the city soon.

We have to make this end once and for all.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s the only way I can keep what ismine. It’s the only way…”

Sam slowly sat up. “Was that the phone?”
“Yeah, it was Drew. There’s a problem,” he sighed. “What?”
“I don’t know how to tell you this,” he said, as he got out of bed

and started to get dressed.
“Just say it,” she said, as she got out of bed.
He took her hands and they sat on the bed. “Morrison put a hit

“He wants you brought to him alive so he can take care of you himself.”
“Oh, where is he?”
“Drew said he’s been camped out at our penthouse.”
“What?”
“I guess he’s waiting to see if you’ll show back up. I don’t think he just wants to kill you. I think…”
“I think so, too. He never does the dirty work himself, unless it’s personal.”
“Nope. I’m sorry. I think we should go back to the city and take care of him once and for all. I just don’t know how to go about doing it.”
“Oh, we could use me as bait.”
“I don’t want him to hurt you again. The last time he knocked you out.”
“Yeah, but after that I didn’t realize what he was going to do, so I didn’t fight as hard as I should’ve.”
“Don’t blame yourself.”
“I don’t. I know what we have to do. First, we have to take out his men. Then, we’ll deal with Jack ourselves.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Kind of. We’ll need a list of all his places, you know, where all his men are located.”
“I’ll have Drew get that to us. I know of a few places. At the bar, it’s usually Steve, Lloyd, Cal, and Tom. There are others that come in and out but only to drink.”
“We hit the barfirst,” she said.
“OK. What’re you thinking?”
“We need to take them by surprise. I have an idea and I’ll need your help.”
“Whatever you need,” he said.
“I’m going to take a shower. Can you call Luke and tell him we’ll be in the city this evening?”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, we’ll eat and pack up the car. We’ll be heading back to the safe house.”
“I’ll call him. You take your time,” he kissed her cheek as she headed into the bathroom.
“Oh, tell him I’ll need mybackup supplies,” she said, as she stood in the doorway.
“Backup supplies?”
“He’ll know what I mean,” she smiled, as she closed the door behind her.
“Hmm, this is going to be interesting,” he said, as he picked up his cellphone.

Sam looked over at Parker, who was driving. “Do you think you’re ready?”
“Yeah, you taught me a lot. I can now use my hand. Don’t worry. I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t, and I’ll try to not let you down,” she leaned back in the seat.
“You never could,” he said, as he patted her leg. “So, what’s these backup supplies?”
“Nothing much. A few grenades, three automatic weapons, and some C-4.”
“You’re going to blow up something?”
“Only if I have to. First, we’ll focus on the bar and the building behind it. We also have to make sure that Jack is at the penthouse when this all goes down.”
“How do we do that?”
“I’ll call him and tell him I want to meet him,” she smiled.
“Sam?”
“I have to do this. We will also need to cut communications off at the penthouse after I make the call.”
“I think Drew can do that remotely.”
“Good. You know, someday, I’ll have to meet this Drew.”
“Yeah, you’ll like him, but not as much as you like me,” he laughed.
“He’s your partner?”
“Has been for ten years. He’s a level 3 with the bureau. He knows almost everything that goes on. His specialty is communications, all that electronic and computer stuff, but he knows how Morrison’s organization works.”
“Sounds like you have a great partner. I haven’t had a partner in a long time. You know … I really miss being a cop. I wish…”
“I know. You wish you could go back to it, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but no more undercover work. I’m tired of trying to be something I’m not. I wouldn’t mind working with Special Victims or something.”
“You’d be perfect for the job. How come you never worked under Luke?”
“Computers and I aren’t exactly on a first name basis. I barely know how to check my email. Yeah, I know weapons and people, but computers aren’t my thing. I always try to con Emily to type up my reports for me.”
“Emily?”
“She’s the clerk at the station. She just can do it much faster,” she laughed, as he pulled into the parking garage.
“Did she always do it for you?”
“No,” she shook her head. “I had to learn to do it myself,” she said, as they got out of the car.
“We can unpack later. Let’s go upstairs and wait for Luke,” he said.
“What time did he say he’d be here?” she asked.
“Around six. It’s only four now,” he took her hand and led her upstairs to the safe house.