Jonathan Hart was really letting himself have it. He had totally misjudged Mitchell Hayward’s character and now Jennifer was paying for it. He was mad at himself for being so easily deceived by him. He glanced over at his sleeping wife. The effects of whatever drug she had been given were worsening and she was unconscious. It had been hours since their last conversation and Jonathan could no longer get her to wake. He hated this feeling of helplessness. It also scared him to death to see her like this. He had never loved anyone until her. Except for Max, and loving Max wasn’t the same thing, besides, Max hadn’t ever been sick. Every time Jennifer was ill, even if it was just a cold, he became afraid. He couldn’t loose her. She was the most precious thing in existence to him.
Suddenly there was nock on their door. In walked one of the men that had been at Carmen’s house. With him he brought a bag and a tray with what looked like dinner.
"Please, my wife is very sick, she needs to go to a hospital."
"Sure, like I’ve never heard that one before." The man’s French accent was very thick.
"At least could you get her a doctor?"
"I’ll see what I can do." He slammed the door he left. Jonathan could hear as the lock clicked.
"Jonathan, was someone here?" a drowsy Jennifer asked.
"Room service," he said pointing to dinner. He was delighted that she had finally woken up. He tried to get Jennifer to eat, but it was to no avail. The thought of food just made her nauseated. After dinner he sat next to her trying for form a plan of escape. He knew getting out would be much more difficult with Jennifer being this sick.
"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked
"Just trying to figure out how to get us out of here," he replied. "I bet that the goon that was here has a gun, if I can get it from him, then I think we’ll have a chance of getting out of here."
"You’ll have a better chance if…"
"Stop that right now. There is no chance that I’m going to leave with out you, so don’t even try."
"But…"
"No. I’m going to get you to a hospital, where you should be." Jennifer knew that further objections would be useless. As much as she wanted him safe she knew he’d never leave her, and that made her feel much better. As she fell asleep she dreamed of being home in California. She wanted nothing more then to be in her own bed. As she slept, Jonathan went back to planing their escape. He once again searched the room for anything that might lead to their escape. He had almost given up when it hit him. The dinner tray.
Several hours later, he had perfected his plan, all he had to do was sit, wait, and pray nothing went wrong.
It seemed like forever until Jonathan heard footsteps in the hallway. Taking his place behind the door he held his breath. The same man as before entered the room. Jonathan waited until he was sure that there was no one else. As quick as lighting he brought down the dinner tray hard on the man’s head. It was enough to knock him out cold. Jonathan then searched the man’s pockets until he found the prize he was looking for, his gun. Then, wasting no time he went to Jennifer. "Darling, come on we’re getting out of here." All he got was a moan in response. Jennifer tried to stand up, but finally just collapsed on the floor. He gently lifted her in his arms and carried her out of the room, locking the door behind him. Making his way to the front door, Jonathan was careful to be as silent as possible. As he looked out the front window, he saw an expensive car pull up. Several men came to greet the new arrival. It was dark out and it took Jonathan a few seconds to realize that the visitor was none other then Carmen. He would have loved to strangle her for putting Jennifer in her current state, but stayed quiet. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he saw his chance. He went to a window at the side of the house and quickly took off the screen. Then he lowered Jennifer to the ground before climbing out. After quickly surveying the area, he saw some trees that would hopefully offer them cover in the bright moonlight. He knew that they had along night a head of them. He just hoped that there was enough of the darkness left to see them safely away from harm.
"Where is he?" Carmen asked the guards that had gathered around her.
"He’s with them now. He says that Mrs. Hart is sick."
"I know that, that’s why I’m here." She made her way in to the house and up to the room that was suppose to contain the Harts. She found it odd that the door was locked. Entering the room, she found her man unconscious on the floor. At once she knew everything was falling apart. She stormed out of the house with a look on her face that could kill.
"They’re gone," she snapped to the group gathered outside. "Search the house and the surrounding areas. If you don’t find them by morning, disappear to one of the usual spots. I’ll be in touch in a few days. Aldridge and Hayward can go to hell; we are not going to hang for their stupidity. This was a bad idea from the start. I knew we were underestimating the Harts. Make sure there is no trace of anything associated with me left." With that she got in to her car and sped off.
"Your wife has had a very bad reaction to the drug she was given Mr. Hart. We’re running some teat now to try and determine what exactly was given to her, but as of now I’m at a loss to even guess. None of the doctors here has ever seen any thing like this." Jonathan nodded at the doctor. He was grateful to have found an American. After several bouts of miscommunication at the first town they had come to, he had finally gotten Jennifer to a hospital, and then transferred to a better one back in Paris. He had gotten hold of Max, who was on his way. Max would help calm him down. He wanted to kill the people responsible for Jennifer current condition. He looked down at the pale, comatose form of his wife. Holding her hand, he felt utterly helpless. A few hours a go he had given his statement to the police, which had lead to the arrest of Timothy Aldridge, Mitchell Hayward, and several other Aldridge employees. The fact that they were securely behind bars gave him little relief, as one of the monitors Jennifer was hooked up to began beeping uncontrollably, interrupting his thoughts.
