“I don’t know,” Steve said, smiling as he drove Michele back to his home, “it might be kinda nice to have a roommate now that I think about it.”

She laughed at his lecherous wink.

“It’s all in the name of science, Col. Austin,” she reminded him playfully. “And don’t you forget that.”

“I’ll try my best not to,” Steve said, pulling up in front of his door and turning the car off. “But I ain’t making any promises.”

They exited the vehicle and walked up the front steps where Steve opened the door and stood aside, letting Michele precede him into the residence.

“Hungry?” he asked as he tossed his car keys on the table and headed for the kitchen.

“What’d you have in mind?” Michele asked lasciviously, causing him to laugh out loud.

“Hey now, if I have to be good, then you have to be good too,” he said, as he opened the fridge and peeked inside.

“I’ll try,” Michele said, picking up the T.V. guide and glancing through it, “but I ain’t making any promises.”

“I got cold chicken and left over Chinese,” Steve said, raiding the refrigerator.

“I’ll take the leftovers,” Michele said, kicking off her shoes and walking into the dining room.

“Good choice,” Steve said, turning on the oven and pulling out three white cartons from Saigon’s.

Michele opened the dining room cabinet and asked, “Red or white?”

“White,” Steve said, transferring the food from the cartons and putting it in heavy ovenware. Sliding the ovenware inside and closing the oven door, he walked into the dining room just as Michele was pouring two large glasses of white wine.

“Thank you,” Steve said, as Michele handed him one of the glasses.

“I hope you don’t think this makes up for you standing me up tonight,” she said, sipping her wine.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Steve said, gazing at her over his glass. “I kinda thought I was on the right track to making you forget all about that.”

“Not on your life,” she said, setting her glass down. Steve sat his glass on the table and walked over to her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he gently pulled her against him and kissed her softly as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Michele’s body melted into his as his soft kiss deepened and he slowly ran his hands up and down her back, caressing her sensuously. “Mmmm,” Michele moaned as he explored her mouth intimately with slow, intoxicating kisses. A delicious shiver ran through her tingling body as his long, drugging kisses caused her knees to buckle. “Oh Steve,” she moaned breathlessly as she tried to catch her breath, “we have to stop.”

“Stop what?” Steve asked, his voice thick with desire as his mouth traveled over to her neck.

“Stop……this…..” Michele said huskily, as she leaned her head back to give him better access to her neck. She moaned as she felt his hot mouth on her skin, nipping, licking and tasting her. He groaned sensuously as she dug her nails into his back, holding him tightly. “Don’t stop,” she moaned huskily as he pushed her against the table, “Oh please, don’t stop……”

Suddenly, the oven buzzer went off, startling them out of the heady moment.

“Saved by the bell,” Steve groaned with deep regret as he tried to control his ragged breathing.

“That’s what you get for trying to have your dessert before the main course,” Michele said, her breathing equally labored.

“Well I intend to come back for my dessert,” Steve assured her as he captured her lips in another searing kiss that took her breath away. Reluctantly, he let her go and turned and walked into the kitchen and prepared their meal.

‘Have mercy!’ Michele thought to herself breathlessly as she picked up their glasses and took them into the living room. ‘Talk about a good kisser!’

“You need help in there?” she called as she curled up on the sofa.

“Nope. I got it,” Steve said, walking back into the room with two large plates, both filled up with Chinese food.

“Dinner is served, ma’am,” he said, placing the plates on the coffee table in front of her and sitting down beside her.

“All that, and he cooks too,” Michele laughed. “You’re going to make some lucky lady a very happy wife someday,” she said, picking up her plate.

“Well, I aim to please,” Steve said with a wink. They settled in and watched television as they enjoyed their meal. When the white wine was gone, they started on the bottle of red wine and didn’t stop until that bottle was empty as well.

Later that night, the phone rang, waking Steve up as he realized he’d fallen asleep on the sofa. Steve groaned as he shifted and tried to sit up but he found his movements hampered due to the fact that Michele had fallen asleep on top of him. Not wanting to disturb her, he reached up over his head and felt blindly for the phone which was on the end table beside the sofa. After several missed attempts, he finally picked up the headset and placed it to his ear.

“Hello,” he said groggily, trying to clear the fog in his head.

“Steve, its Rudy. I just got your blood test results back.”

“What’s the verdict doc?” Steve asked as he lazily ran his hand up and down Michele’s back.

“Rohypnol,” Rudy said.

“Ro- hy- who?” Steve asked.

“Rohypnol,” Rudy repeated. “It’s a knockout drug. It’s illegal here in the U.S. but it has been approved for usage in Europe. You had enough of it in your system to knock out an elephant.”

“But how?” Steve asked. “I mean, how did it get there?”

“I’m not sure,” Rudy said, “but I don’t think it was an accident.”

“Well it had to be,” Steve said. “I must have ingested it somehow while I was out and I guess it must have kicked in when I got home.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Rudy explained. “With the amount of Rohypnol that was found in your system, you would have felt its effects immediately.”

“But that would mean somebody would have to have given it to me while I was at home,” Steve said. “And I was alone the entire time.”

“Maybe that would explain your disappearance,” Rudy said. “Somebody must have gotten into your house somehow, administered the drug into your bloodstream, taken you out of your home while you were unconscious, and then returned you back home later, after we had all left.”

“That’s plausible,” Steve said thoughtfully, “but there’s only one problem with that theory.”

“What’s that?” Rudy asked.

“The fact that I was returned to my home,” Steve said. “Why take the trouble to knock me out and then bring me back here? Why not kill me or hold me for ransom or something?”

“Those are good questions,” Rudy said, “but I don’t have any answers for them. Not yet anyway.”

“Well, you keep working on it doc, now ya hear?” Steve said, stifling a yawn.

“I’ll do that,” Rudy assured him. “In the meantime, you be very careful pal and watch your back.”

“Will do,” Steve promised.

“I’ll give you a call in the morning,” Rudy said.

“Ok,” Steve said. “And thanks for calling.”

“You’re welcome,” Rudy said. He hung up the phone and sat back in his chair as he thought about the questions Steve had brought up. It just didn’t make any sense for someone to drug Steve and not take advantage of his unconscious state while they had the chance. Sighing tiredly, Rudy closed Steve’s chart and stood up. He needed a couple hours of sleep to clear his head and then he’d work on this mystery some more, first thing in the morning. Locking Steve’s chart in his cabinet, he locked up his office for the night and headed home.

Michele moaned and stretched, sending a delicious tremor through Steve’s body as he held her. Raising her head and looking down at him, she said, “I must have fallen asleep.”

“We both did,” Steve said, smiling up at her. She looked down and realized she was lying on top of him and tried to sit up but was stopped by Steve, who pulled her closer.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“After four,” Steve said, nibbling her earlobe.

“Well, I guess we’d better get to bed and get a couple hours sleep,” she said, finally succeeding in untangling her limbs from his and sitting up.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Steve said, winking at her.

“Separate beds,” Michele said, chuckling.

“I was afraid you’d say that,” he said with a pout that made her heart skip a beat. She had never met anyone as handsome, sexy and adorable as Col. Steve Austin.

Rising from the sofa and taking her hand, Steve said, “Rudy called while you were asleep.”

“He did?” Michele asked in surprise. “What did he say?”

Steve repeated the conversation to her as they made their way up the stairs together.

“I think Rudy has a point,” Michele said. “I don’t believe it was an accident either.”

“You could be right,” Steve said, walking her over to the guest bedroom. “But it still doesn’t explain why someone would go to the trouble of doing it, if they weren’t going to take advantage of the situation.”

“I don’t know,” Michele said thoughtfully. “I guess that’s just the missing piece to this puzzle.”

“You sure you don’t want to reconsider?” Steve asked, hoping she’d change her mind and spend the night with him.

“Don’t tempt me Colonel,” she said, standing on her toes and kissing him goodnight. She laughed as he gave her his best-wounded puppy dog look and turned and walked down the hall. “I’ll be right here, if you change your mind,” Steve said, opening his door.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Michele said as she opened the door to the guest bedroom and stepped inside. She smiled as she got ready for bed and thanked the powers that be for sending her someone as loving and considerate as Col. Steve Austin. She fell asleep thinking of him with a smile on her face.

Michele woke up later that morning and immediately sat up in bed, looking around at her unfamiliar surroundings. Realizing that she was in Steve’s guest bedroom, she threw back the covers and got out of bed as she walked over to the bedroom door. Opening the door, she walked down the hall and quietly opened Steve’s bedroom door, peeking inside. A smile came to her lips as she saw him lying there in bed, sleeping deeply and hugging his pillow. His dark hair was tousled over his forehead and his handsome face was relaxed and innocent looking without the carefully guarded mask that he sometimes wore during the day. He looked so adorable at that moment, that she wanted to walk over and take him in her arms and run her fingers through his hair, but she didn’t want to wake him. Closing the door, she went down the hall and showered and dressed and then went down to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Stretching and yawning, Steve woke up with a smile on his face as he remembered the romantic dream he’d just had about Michele. He wanted to go down to the guest bedroom and make that dream come true but then he remembered her words from the night before: “it’s all in the name of science”. Groaning miserably, he got out of bed, went down the hall and took a cold shower.

By the time Steve came downstairs, Michele had breakfast ready and waiting for him on the table.

“Mmmmm, something smells good,” Steve said, walking into the kitchen and giving her a kiss.

“I didn’t have much to work with,” Michele told him. “You and I are going to have to do some grocery shopping later.”

“Sounds good,” Steve said as they both sat down and started eating their bacon and eggs. Michele had also made fresh coffee and Steve reached for his cup as Michele picked up a piece of paper and a pen and began working on a shopping list.

“Hmm….let me see….” she said thoughtfully. “You’re out of everything so we may as well go for broke,” she stated as she started writing on the paper. “We’ll need eggs, bacon, chicken, hamburger……”

Steve sat there, still holding the cup in his hand with a far away look in his blue eyes.

“Mr. Hyde,” the voice inside his head said. “I know you can hear me. Stop whatever it is you are doing and walk out of your front door where I can see you.”

Setting his coffee cup on the table, Steve stood up without a word and walked out of the kitchen as Michele continued working on the list.

“Bread, mayo, mustard…..hey!” she shouted at his retreating back. “Where are you going?”

Steve walked down the hall and opened the front door.

“Steve!” Michele called as she stood up and watched him step out onto his front porch. “What’s the matter?”

“Excellent, Mr. Hyde,” Dr. Jekyll’s voice said. He was in a dark van, parked across the street a few doors down from Steve’s house. “Now, walk down the stairs and over to the curb,” Dr. Jekyll instructed.

Steve slowly walked down his front steps and over to the curb and stood there.

“Steve!” Michele called from the front door. “Steve what’s the matter?”

When he didn’t answer, she ran down the steps and grabbed his arm. “Are you alright?” she asked concerned.

“Who is that?” Dr. Jekyll hissed.

“Michele,” Steve said without emotion.

“Yes?” Michele asked. “What is it darling? You’re really scaring me.”

“Is she staying with you?” Dr. Jekyll asked.

“Yes,” Steve said in the same monotone as before.

“Yes, what?” Michele asked in confusion.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Dr. Jekyll asked.

“Yes she is,” Steve said, staring straight ahead with a blank expression on his face.

“Yes who is?” Michele asked, growing more frightened. “Steve what are you talking about?”

“Hmm….this is an interesting development,” Dr. Jekyll said as a pleased smile graced his lips. “I may be able to use it to my advantage. Turn around and go back inside, Mr. Hyde,” he told Steve.

Without ever looking at Michele, Steve turned and walked back up the stairs and went into his house, leaving Michele on the sidewalk dumbfounded.

“You may resume your normal activities now until I contact you again,” Dr. Jekyll informed him as he turned off the microchip.

“Hey, where did you go?” Steve asked looking up from his meal as Michele walked slowly back into the kitchen.

“I could ask the same of you,” she said hesitantly, as the blood drained from her face. She watched him closely. He was looking up at her in concern and the blank, empty expression that had been on his face only moments ago was now gone.

“Hey, what’s the matter, pretty lady?” Steve asked worriedly as he stood up and walked over to her. “Are you all right?”

“You don’t remember, do you?” she asked, looking up into his troubled blue eyes.

“Remember what?” Steve asked.

“You just got up and walked out the front door,” she told him. “When I tried to talk to you, it was as if you didn’t even hear me.”

“What?” Steve asked in confusion.

“It’s like you were sleep walking or something,” Michele told him. “And then you turned and came back in here and by the time I got back in here, you were back to your old self again.”

Steve looked at her skeptically, thinking she was pulling his leg, but the fear and concern he saw in her eyes told him that she wasn’t just making this up. Something had happened and he didn’t remember any of it. ‘Just like the other night,’ he thought to himself.

“I’m gonna call Rudy,” he said, reaching for the phone.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Michele said in a shaky voice. Something was definitely wrong with Steve and they needed to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.

“The first test was a success,” Dr. Jekyll said to Hans as he arrived back at his lab. “Austin was under my total control the entire time, until I released him. I intend to stage a few more small tests for him in the next few days and if they are as successful as today’s test, I see no reason why we can’t proceed with our plans for the SSJ-106 at the end of next week.”

“There’s one thing you didn’t count on,” Hans reminded him.

“Oh? And what’s that?” Dr. Jekyll asked.

“The girl,” Hans said.

“Ah, Michele,” Dr. Jekyll said. “You’re right. Her appearance was unforeseen, but I think I can use it to my advantage.”

“How so?” Hans asked.

“She’s Austin’s girlfriend,” Dr. Jekyll said. “And she’s living with him. I think I can use her in some of the upcoming tests I plan to schedule for Austin, just to see how far he’ll really go for me.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Hans asked. “I mean, he could really hurt her.”

“This is war, my dear Hans,” Dr. Jekyll said sinisterly. “And in war, there are bound to be a few casualties. Michele will just be one of those unfortunate casualties of war and what better way to test the strength of the microchip than to use it to make Colonel Austin hurt the ones he loves.” He cackled and walked away as Hans watched him leave the lab. Hans felt sorry for Michele, but Dr. Jekyll was right, this was war.

Rudy and Oscar listened intently as Steve and Michele recounted the morning’s events to them. The four of them were in Rudy’s office, having met up there after Steve called Rudy and told him he needed to see him.

“Sounds like some type of hypnosis,” Oscar mused.

“Yes it does,” Rudy agreed. “And if that’s so, the question is, who has the most to gain by putting Steve under hypnosis?”

“Well, that’s easy, Oscar said. “Our old enemies from the KGB.”

“But they would have to have sent out some kind of sound wave to trigger it,” Steve said. “And if that’s the case, Michele should have heard it too.”

“You’re right,” Oscar said. “They must be using some sort of advanced technology where you’re the only one capable of responding to their signal.”

“If that’s the case,” Rudy said, “then we need to do a sweep of your home Steve and find that device before they trigger it again.”

“That’s a good idea,” Oscar said. “We’ll take the two of you back home so you can pack a few things. I want you to spend the rest of the weekend up at the cabin where no one else can get to you. While you’re there, we’re going to go over your home with a fine tooth comb, pal.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Steve said, as he and Michele stood up.

“Then you don’t think it’s his mind?” Michele asked skeptically. “I mean, the look on his face while he was under really frightened me.”

“I think that’s typical with hypnosis,” Rudy said. “Right now, I think our best chance of finding out what caused it is in sweeping Steve’s home for some type of device and then if that doesn’t pan out, we’ll move on from there.”

“All right,” Michele agreed reluctantly.

“In the meantime,” Oscar said, “Rudy and I will take you both home so that you can pack a few things and then we’ll drive you up to the cabin. I feel better already knowing that you won’t be at home where they may have planted that device.”

“Well, I have to admit, I’m looking forward to it myself,” Steve said, wrapping his arm around Michele’s waist and winking at her.

“You’re incorrigible,” she said with a laugh as the four of them left the office and headed over to Steve and Michele’s homes.

“Just lay low for a while pal,” Oscar said, as they carried the groceries into the cabin. Michele had insisted that after packing some clothes, they be allowed to shop for groceries on the way up to the cabin. Now that they had arrived, the four of them carried the groceries inside and started putting them away. They had arrived in two cars, Rudy and Oscar riding in one car, and Steve and Michele riding in the other so that the couple would still have access to a vehicle after Oscar and Rudy left.

“That’s exactly what I intend to do,” Steve said. “Is there any way you can get word to us quickly once the sweep is done?”

“Unfortunately there isn’t,” Oscar said. “This cabin is in total isolation, no phones, no CB radios or anything else,” he said. “Once the sweep is done, if we don’t find anything, we’ll have Russ drive up here to let you know.”

“And if you do find something?” Steve asked.

“Then we want you to stay put,” Oscar said. “If someone has planted some kind of device in your home to hypnotize you, then the farther you stay away from them, the better. They won’t be able to use the device against you as long as you’re out of its range.”

“Yeah but we don’t know how far their range reaches,” Steve said.

“No, but I’m pretty confident we’ve put enough distance between you and it,” Oscar said. “Even the most high tech devices are only good for a few hundred miles or so and we’ve put what, about six hundred miles between you and them?”

“Exactly five hundred and fifty five miles,” Rudy corrected.

“And the latest model we intercepted from the Soviets was only good for how many miles?” Oscar asked Rudy.

“Approximately two hundred and seventy five miles,” Rudy said, “and that’s with state-of-the-art equipment.”

“See that pal,” Oscar said, smiling and slapping Steve on the back. “The two of you have nothing to worry about the next two days. Just sit back, relax and enjoy yourselves. We’ll start the sweep as soon as we get back and we’ll get word out to you as soon as we can.”

“Don’t hurry,” Steve said with a sly grin as he looked over at Michele, who was across the room, still putting groceries away.

Chuckling, Oscar said, “We’ll take our time and do it right.”

“I appreciate that,” Steve said with a wink.

“Well, I guess we’ve stalled long enough,” Rudy said. “It’s a long drive back so I think we’d better get started,” he said to Oscar.

Nodding in agreement, Oscar shook Steve’s hand and said, “Take care pal. You’ll be hearing from us.”

“You too,” Steve said, shaking first Oscar’s hand and then Rudy’s. “And thanks.”

“Any time,” Oscar said. Rudy and Oscar said goodbye to Michele and the couple walked them to the door. They stood on the wraparound porch of the small, but cozy cabin as their friends climbed in the car. Rudy beeped the horn and he and Oscar waved goodbye to Steve and Michele who were standing arm-n-arm waving goodbye to them. They watched until the car was out of eyesight and taking Michele’s hand in his, Steve said, “Finally, I get you all to myself, no visitors, no phones and no interruptions.”

Grinning up at him, “Michele said, “This weekend is really starting to shape up, huh?”

“Do tell,” Steve said with a wink as they walked inside and he closed the door behind them.

“Well?” Dr. Jekyll asked, having just received a phone call from Hans.

“They’re holed up in a cabin,” Hans said. “In upstate D.C.”

“And you’re sure they didn’t see you?” Dr. Jekyll asked.

“Positive,” Hans said. “I stayed well behind them on the drive up here.”

“Where are you now?” Dr. Jekyll asked.

“I’m at a phone booth,” Hans told him. “About a hundred miles south of the cabin.”

“And what about their neighbors?” Dr. Jekyll asked.

“There aren’t any,” Hans informed him. “They’re totally isolated up there.”

“Perfect!” Dr. Jekyll exclaimed. “Give me the directions and I’ll head right up there.”

Hans gave him the directions to the cabin and then hung up the phone. Dr. Jekyll sat back in his chair and smiled to himself. Things couldn’t have worked out better for him if he had planned it. Steve Austin was up in a cabin, hundreds of miles away from his closest neighbors and therefore, Dr. Jekyll could test the microchip as much as he wanted, without drawing suspicion from anybody. “You’re in for one hell of a weekend, Col. Austin,” he said, laughing darkly as he stood and pulled out the sound wave device. “It’s going to take me several hours to reach you and while I’m driving up there, I’m going to use that time to think of some of the most creative tests you can imagine. Turning out the lights and locking up the lab, he headed down the hall to the elevator as he began to concoct the first series of tests he wanted to try on Steve.

“How about some fishin’ tomorrow,” Steve suggested as Michele washed the dinner dishes and he dried.

“Sounds great,” Michele said. “It’s been years since I’ve done any fishing.”

“You’ll love it,” Steve told her. “I go every chance I get.”

“Then you’ll have to give me a few pointers,” she said, handing him the last dish.

“I’ll give you all the pointers you want,” Steve said, grinning down at her.

Drying the last dish and putting it away, Steve took Michele in his arms and kissed her softly.

Michele was about to wrap her arms around him when suddenly, he pulled back and looked straight ahead.

“What is it?” Michele asked, turning in his arms to see what he was looking at. Seeing nothing behind her, she turned back and looked up at him. Fear immediately gripped her and her heart went cold as she saw the same blank look on his face that was there before.

“Steve?” she asked fearfully, as his empty blue eyes looked right through her. “Steve, what is it?” she asked, trying to pull out of his tight embrace.

“Now, place your hands around her throat,” the voice in Steve’s head said, “and squeeze her lovely little neck.”

Michele screamed in terror as Steve’s hands went to her neck and he began to strangle her.

Dr. Jekyll watched intensely through his high powered binoculars as Steve strangled Michele. He watched as her frightened eyes glazed over and her body went limp and then he said, “Release her.”

Steve’s hands immediately released her and she slumped to the floor as Steve stood staring straight ahead. Dr. Jekyll threw his head back and cackled with glee at the complete success of his microchip. There was now, no doubt in his mind that as long as the chip was implanted in Steve’s head, the Astronaut would be at his beck and call whenever he wanted and would do whatever he commanded. Wiping tears of joy from his eyes, he said, “You may now resume your normal activities, Col. Austin.” He started up his car and drove away, unconcerned with Steve’s reaction to Michele’s death.

Steve rapidly blinked his eyes and cleared his head as he tried to figure out what just happened. One second he was standing there kissing Michele and the next second, he was standing there alone with no memory of them parting or of her leaving the room. He looked around and looking down, he panicked as he saw her lying at his feet.

“Michele!” he yelled, his heart pounding in his chest as he dropped to the floor beside her and took her in his arms. “Michele! What happened?” he cried. He felt her neck for a pulse and when he saw the handprints on her delicate throat, he felt as if someone had hit him in the chest with a sledgehammer. “Oh God No!” he cried as he clutched her tightly and held her to his chest. “Oh God please! No!”

“I don’t understand it,” Oscar said to Rudy as the OSI Technicians packed up their equipment and put it in the van. “I thought for sure that device was somewhere in Steve’s house.”

“And the neighbors were kind enough to let us sweep their homes as well,” Rudy said thoughtfully, “and they were all bug free too.”

“Then how can they be controlling him?” Oscar asked in puzzlement.

“My God!” Rudy said, looking up abruptly at Oscar.

“What is it Rudy?” Oscar asked.

“I’ve just had the most incredible thought,” Rudy said in amazement.

“And what might that be,” Oscar inquired.

“Maybe they did plant a device after all,” Rudy stated.

“But we just swept…..”

“Not here in the house,” Rudy said excitedly, cutting him off. “But on Steve himself!”

“What?” Oscar asked.

“That would explain everything!” Rudy exclaimed.

“Explain what?" Oscar asked.

“Remember when Steve disappeared the other night and yet, he insisted he was in his house the entire time?” Rudy asked.

“Of course I remember,” Oscar said, impatiently.

“That must have been when they did it,” Rudy said. “Someone must have been in Steve’s house after all and administered that shot of Rohypnol to him. Once he was unconscious, they moved him and implanted the device somewhere on his body and when they were done, they brought him back here, not realizing we had already searched the entire house looking for him.”

“Then if the device is on Steve himself…….,” Oscar said, and the blood drained from both their faces as the full impact of the situation hit them.

“Michele!” they said, simultaneously.

“She’s up there alone with him!” Rudy exclaimed.

“Start the car!” Oscar yelled, rushing over to the phone. “I’ll get Russ and tell him to meet us up there!”

Michele slowly regained consciousness. The darkness around her faded to grey and then she felt herself gently being rocked back and forth. She heard someone sobbing and saying something, but she couldn’t stay focused. Finally, as she became more and more alert, she realized her throat was sore and coming fully conscious, she suddenly remembered what happened and she screamed.

“Michele?” Steve sobbed as she frantically pushed away from him.

“Michele I, I’m so sorry,” Steve cried as he tried to calm her, but she struck out at him in a wild panic, hitting him several times in the face and in the chest and she pushed violently against him as he finally released her.

“Stay away from me!” she cried, terrified as she backed away from him. “Just stay away from me!”

“Michele I, I didn’t mean to……” Steve sobbed, tears running down his face. “I don’t know what happened,” he said, reaching out to her.

“Just keep away!” she screamed in terror as she jumped up and ran over to the table and grabbed the car keys. She ran to the front door, flung it open, and ran outside and jumped in the car. Crying hysterically and trying desperately to start the car, she looked over at the front door and saw Steve standing there sobbing. The car finally started and she slammed her foot down on the pedal as she put it in gear, kicking up gravel and dust as she sped away from the cabin.

Steve’s heart broke as he slid down the door and put his head in his hands. “I’m sorry, Michele,” he sobbed regretfully. “Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

Michele pulled up at a phone booth, a hundred miles south of the cabin she’d been sharing with Steve. Sobs wracked her body as she laid her head on the steering wheel and cried.

“Oh God, what happened back there?” she cried. “Steve must be out of his mind! But he would never hurt me," she reasoned, "not intentionally. Steve loves me. Even though he’s never told me he does, I know he loves me and he would never hurt me on purpose. There’s got to be a logical explanation for what he did.” Getting out of the car, she walked over to the phone booth and called the OSI office.

“You know you’re breaking the speed limit,” Oscar said, clutching the handle of his door with one hand and the leather seat with the other as he pressed his feet down on the floor of the car, thinking that would make Rudy slow down.

“To hell with the speed limit!” Rudy said, uncharacteristically. “If that device is implanted on Steve as we suspect it is, and Michele is there alone with him, there’s no telling what might happen or what may have already happened. Until we find that device and remove it, Steve has to be considered armed and extremely dangerous to anyone around him, including himself.”

Oscar nodded grimly, agreeing with Rudy’s assessment. His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the car phone.

“Oscar Goldman,” he said, answering the phone.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Mr. Goldman,” his secretary said, “but I have an urgent phone call from Michele Bradford. Would you like me to patch it through?”

“Yes! Please!” Oscar said. Covering the mouth piece, he looked over at Rudy and said, “It’s Michelel!”

Rudy almost lost control of the car but quickly got back on track as he listened to Oscar speak with Michele.

“Mr. Goldman?” Michele said.

“Yes Michele,” Oscar said, taking notice of the distress in her voice. “What is it?”

“There’s something wrong with Steve,” she said, fighting back tears.

“What happened, Michele?” Oscar asked.

“He……he tried to kill me,” Michele said, no longer able to hold back the sobs that had been threatening.

“Oh my God!” Oscar said. “Where are you? Are you alright?”

“What happened?” Rudy asked, pressing down harder on the gas.

“I left the cabin and drove to a phone booth,” she sobbed. “It’s the first phone booth that you come to driving south from the cabin.”

“I know the one,” Oscar said, and looking over at Rudy, he said, “Steve tried to kill her.”

“My God,” Rudy exhaled. “Is she alright?”

“She got away from him and drove to the phone booth a hundred miles from the cabin,” Oscar told him.

“We’ll be coming up on that phone booth within the next few minutes,” Rudy said. “Where’s Steve?”

“Where’s Steve now?” Oscar asked Michele.

“He’s, he’s at the cabin. That’s where I left him,” Michele said through tears.

“How was he when you left him?” Oscar asked.

“Oh, Mr. Goldman,” Michele cried. “He was so upset. Even more so than I am, now that I think about it. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me but I was so frightened at the time that I couldn’t think clearly. Something’s wrong with him, Mr. Goldman. It’s as if he has no control over what he’s doing.”

“That’s exactly what’s happening, Michele,” Oscar said.

“What do you mean?” Michele asked.

“The sweep of Steve’s home and of his neighbor’s homes produced nothing,” Oscar told her. “That means somebody must have planted some kind of mind control device on Steve himself,” he said.

“Oh thank God,” Michele said, with a heavy sigh of relief.

“I beg your pardon?” Oscar said, confused at her response.

“Mr. Goldman, if someone has planted a mind control device on Steve, that means he’s being controlled by an outside agent and that he didn’t really try to kill me on his own. If there’s a mind control device involved, then that means someone is making Steve do the things he’s been doing lately and he has no control over his actions and that he’s not losing his mind,” she explained.

“Yes, I see what you mean,” Oscar said.

“That means Steve never intentionally meant to hurt me and that someone made him do it,” Michele said.

“That’s right,” Oscar agreed. “Steve would never deliberately hurt anyone, let alone someone he cares about as much as he cares about you.”

“I believe that,” Michele said, as she calmed down and let Oscar’s words sink in. “Who do you think it is? Who would use this type of device on him?” she asked.

“It has to be the KGB,” Oscar said. “They’ve been trying to infiltrate the OSI for years and this is just another attempt to undermine our work.”

“But what about Steve?” Michele asked. “How are we going to help him?”

“Rudy and I are a few minutes away from you,” Oscar said. “Russ and a few other agents are right behind us. We’ll pick you up and then we’ll head up to the cabin where Steve is. Rudy brought a strong sedative with him to inject Steve with to make sure who’s ever controlling him won’t be able to issue any more commands to him while we’re there. We’re going to sedate him and then we’re going to take him back to the lab where Rudy will take x-rays to see if he can locate the device. After that, we’ll remove the device and make sure they can’t get to Steve again and tell him what to do.”

“It all sounds so complicated,” Michele said. “Will Steve be all right once you remove the device?”

“He’ll be his old self again,” Oscar assured her, “and you won’t have to worry about them making him attack you again.”

“I just hope it works out the way you’ve explained it,” Michele said. “I love Steve and I couldn’t bear it if I had to walk around being afraid of him all the time.”

“Don’t worry,” Oscar said. “Once we remove that device, Steve will be the same person you fell in love with months ago. I guarantee you.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Michele said, optimistically.

“Just wait for us,” Oscar said. “We’ll be there shortly.”

“I won’t budge,” Michele said.

...Continued