The Greens of Jericho

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the television show Jericho or any part of it. The characters are not mine in any way. I am just borrowing them for a bit. I am not affiliated with CBS, the television show Jericho or the writers of Jericho.

Special thanks to Marzee, Nightsky and JT.    They are great to work with.   I don't think I could have gotten this one done without them!!!


**********     **********     **********

An hour passed, Jake and Johnston continued to dig with their bare hands. Jake's fingernails were ripped and broken and his hands were bleeding from small cuts. It seemed for every handful they scooped out two more slid down to fill the hole.

Johnston looked over at Jake. He saw a man in agony. His eyes were red rimmed and full of tears but none fell. Johnston watched Jake continue to grimly scoop mud and rocks.

Finally, they heard horns honking. Johnston looked up and saw an ambulance and three cars driving across the field.

"Thank God," Johnston said in relief, "Jake, hold on, Son, help's almost here."

Jake looked over his shoulder, gave a deep sigh and slumped down on his knees.

Gail, Eric, Jimmy, Bill, Rob Hawkins, Stanley, Roger, Emily, and Dr. Dhuwalia got out of the vehicles. Gail ran over to Jake and put her arms around him. Jake allowed himself to lean into his mother and let his mask of control down, just briefly.

"I can't find them, Mom," he said, with a tear rolling down each side of his face.

She kissed him on the temple and squeezed his shoulder, "We will, Jake. We will."

Jake allowed himself a deep sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, Gail saw dead, guarded eyes ringed in vicious red.

He got up and slowly walked over to Stanley's truck and grabbed a shovel. Johnston was directing the rescue.

Rob Hawkins broke away and walked over, "What happened, Jake?"

"I don't know," Jake answered quietly. "It looks like Heather and Jacob came out here while I was on patrol. We know they were here. Their footprints are everywhere. We don't know for sure, but it looks like a twister came through here. There used to be an entrance to a cave under all that mud. We're thinking they at least tried to get in there."

"You don't know for sure they're in there though, right?"

"No, but that's where Stanley found their jackets and the shoe."

"Has anyone walked down the creek to see if they might be in the woods?"

"No."

"Ok. I'm going to check that out. I'll be back."

Dr. Kenchy Dhuwali had been talking with Gail over by the ambulance. He saw Hawkins leave and walked over to Jake, "Hello, Jake, are you holding up alright?"

"No," he said in a quiet, dead voice.

Kenchy reached out, "Let me look at your hands," he said, taking Jake's hands and examining them. "Why don't you go rest for a while? Let men who are fresh dig for a while. I can give you something to sleep."

Jake had seen him talking to Gail minutes earlier and he knew they trying to get him to leave in case Jacob and Heather were...... "NO"  he wouldn't think about that. There was no way in Hell he was leaving.

"Thanks, Kenchy, but I'm fine," Jake said. He picked up the shovel and walked over to the hill and started digging.

Gail picked the two coats up off the ground and hugged them to her before folding them neatly and placing them on a rock. She bent down and pick up the small shoe. Tears started flowing down her face. Emily walked over and held something out. It was Jacob's ballcap.

"Johnston gave me this to give to you. He didn't want it to get lost."

Gail broke down and started sobbing. Emily put her arm around her and led her away from the digging. She picked the coats and the shoe up.

"Let's put this stuff in the car." Emily said, "They'll need these when we find them."

Robert Hawkins came back into the circle of lantern light. He looked and Jake and shook his head, "There's nothing down that way."

Jake nodded grimly.

Johnston walked over with a bottle of water, "Here, Son, it's time to take a break."

"No, I can't. I'm fine," Jake said, starting to dig again.

"You can and you're going to. It'll do them no good if you kill yourself. Now sit down and drink this."

Jake sat down and bowed his head with exhaustion. Emily came over and sat down beside him. She took his hand and squeezed it lightly.

"How ya holdin' up?" Emily asked.

"I'm OK," Jake said quietly.

"Yeah, right," she said with a sad smile. "Your mother's in the car. Why don't you take her home. Someone will come get you when they find them."

Jake reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and handed Emily two small pictures. One was a grinning, dimpled blonde baby picture of Jacob. The other was a picture of him in a soccer uniform with his foot balanced on a soccer ball.

"That's why. I can feel them, Emily. They need me. They're in trouble and need help. I've disappointed Jacob enough in his eight years. I'm not gonna let him down again.   Jacob and Heather. They're my family.   I can't leave."

Emily looked at him with tears in her eyes and nodded in understanding. She handed him his pictures back.

Jake put the pictures back in his wallet and put the wallet back in his front pocket. He smiled grimly at her, finished his water, picked up the shovel and went back to work.

An hour later, Eric's shovel broke through. There was a yell of triumph from everyone. Jake put his head and chest through the hole and shined the flashlight around. There was no one there. He cursed in frustration. His flashlight picked up two things: a gum wrapper and footprints leading back into the cave.


**********

They followed the footprints until the floor turned to rock and they couldn't see them anymore.

Johnston had been trying to convince Jake that it was time to call a halt, but Jake wasn't listening.

"Jake, we can't explore this cave tonight," Johnston said. "It's after midnight. We're running out of lantern fuel and these flashlights aren't strong enough. We don't want to destroy footprints floundering around in the dark."

Johnston tried to grab Jake's arm but Jake jerked away.

"Dad, this is my family. I can't just leave them. Who know's what might be in there. What if they're hurt."

"Stanley, try to talk some sense into him," Johnston said, tiredly.

"Jake your dad's right. We'll go home and come back in a couple of hours with Jimmy's bloodhound. The trail will still be fresh. If you go in there tonight all you're gonna do is wipe out tracks and confuse the dog. Come on," Stanley said, reaching for Jake's arm.

Jake shoved Stanley back and looked at them both, "You don't understand. This is my kid and my wife. I will not leave here without them," Jake said hoarsely.

He broke away from them and started walking back towards the cave. Stanley and Johnston both tried to grab him. Johnston missed but Stanley caught his shoulder. Jake jerked his arm away, drew back and punched Stanley in the face.

"Leave me alone," Jake said dangerously.

No one paid attention to Dr. Dhuwalia. He slowly and quietly walked behind Jake and quickly and matter of factly sunk a hypodermic needle into Jake's upper arm.

********** ********** **********

Jacob looked at Heather with a big smile on his face and reached for a bottle of water. A buzzing rattle came from behind the case.

Heather gasped. She knew what that sound was.....a rattlesnake.

"Jacob, don't move. Don't even breathe," Heather whispered.

Suddenly out of the darkness of the passage a voice yelled, "Jesus, Kid, don't move."

Jacob was suddenly yanked into the air and a gun went off.

The shot echoed loudly, their ears ringing with the sound. When the smoke cleared, Heather saw a man that she thought she should recognize examining Jacob's arms and hands for a snakebite. Heather ran over and grabbed Jacob in a hug.

"Oh my God, did it bite you? Are you OK?" Heather asked hysterically.

"I don't think it got him. I can't find a bit mark anywhere," the man answered. "I think this cast might have saved him from a bite." He stared up at her with a harsh look on his face, "Now, who the Hell are you? What are you doing with Jake Green's kid? and how did you get in here?"

Suddenly it hit Heather. She knew who he was. "Your Emily's father, right?"

"You know my daughter?" Jonah looked closely at Heather, "Wait, your Jake's woman. Haley? Hannah? Something like that."

Heather had heard lots of things about Jonah...mostly bad. She knew he was the reason Jake got into so much trouble before he left town.

"Heather. Yes, I'm Jake's fiance. How did you know this was Jake's son?" Heather asked standing behind Jacob with her hands resting lightly but possessively on his shoulders.

"Honey, I've known Jake Green since he was six years old, you can't look like that without belonging to Jake," he said, pointing at Jacob. "Now, what're you doin' here? I know you didn't come in past me."

"We were caught in the storm. We took shelter in a cave over at the Green ranch. The entrance collapsed and we started walking," Heather said.

Jonah looked at her incredulously, "You walked all the way here. Lady, that's miles."

Jacob pulled away from Heather and walked over to look around the supplies.

Heather laughed quietly, "Yeah, we know. We've been walking awhile. We kept hoping there would be a way out but there wasn't. Jake's got to be worried to death. He'll probably kill me when we get back home."

"Kid, don't go near that snake," Jonah said sharply, "it's still dangerous. Get away from it."

"Don't have a cow, I wasn't gonna touch it," Jacob said indignantly, "I'm not stupid ya know."

"Gotta mouth on him, don't he. Just like Jake," Jonah smiled, "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do, because I'm such a generous person. I'll take you and the wonder kid back to the ranch in the morning. I'm assuming you have a car there?"

"My truck's there. Is there any way you can take us now? I'm sure everyone is worried."

"No, I can't go tonight. I have a meeting here shortly. I'll take you where you can sit down. There's a cot. Try to get some sleep. It's almost 2 o'clock. You need to be quiet...these ain't exactly the kind of people who we want knowing there's a young woman here. Understand?"

"What kind of people would that be, Jonah?" A voice rumbled out of the darkness.

Jonah jumped ever so slightly. Heather was sure she was the only one to see it. The sound of that voice made her blood run cold.

"Commander Goetz," Jonah said, turning around, "you're early." He reached for Jacob's arm and pulled him over behind him.

Commander Goetz of Ravenwood smiled a dangerously. "So very fortunate for us," he said, looking at the dead snake with a raised eyebrow and then started to poke around in the boxes, "now we get to meet....." Goetz looked at Heather and Jacob with his eyebrows raised in question.

Jonah glanced back at Heather silently telling her to go along with what he said. She pulled Jacob to her and squeezed his shoulders, hoping he understood that she wanted him to be quiet.

"This is my woman and our son."

Jacob started to move but Heather pushed down on his shoulders, praying he understood.

Goetz smiled wickedly, "Like 'em young, huh? You got you a pretty one."

Heather's skin crawled.

"Ya know, Prowse, that boy looks nothing like you. I mean nothing. You sure he's yours?"

"I'm sure," Jonah said. He turned and walked to Heather, bent down, brushed his lips across her cheek and without moving his lips, whispered, "The one to the right."

He smiled at Jacob and ruffled his hair. "Why don't you two go grab something to eat. I'm gonna finish my business then we'll go home," he said.

"No....I'd like for them to stay right here," Goetz said, menacingly, "family always makes business friendlier."

Goetz signaled 2 of his men in to start removing the stolen goods. "Now, what was our agreed on payment? There's not as much here as I thought there would be...I'm thinkin' we need to talk about the price."

"I don't renegotiate," Jonah said.

"Is that right? Are you sure about that?" Goetz said, dangerously. He reached behind him, pulled a pistol and pointed it at Jonah's chest. "I think renegotiation is the way to go."

Heather slowly ran her hand down Jacob's arm until she was squeezing his hand. When it looked like Goetz wasn't paying attention, she jerked Jacob's arm and took off running down the passageway to the right.

Without ever taking his eyes off Jonah, Goetz snapped his finger and said, "Get 'em."

***********

Heather and Jacob raced down the dimly lit passage. They passed thru Jonah's campsite and kept on running.

Jacob groaned in pain but continued jogging along side Heather, limping.  He had stepped on something sharp and his foot was in agony. He could feel the heel of his sock getting warm and damp.

Heather stopped, "What's wrong?" she asked, breathing hard.

"Nothing, I'm ok. I just got a cramp or something. Let's keep going."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, let's go," Jacob said.

They took off again. They could hear the Ravenwood men now. They were getting closer. Jacob was slowing down. Heather stopped again.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Nothing. Let's go. I'll run faster." It was like there was a razor in the bottom of his foot. "Don't think about it," he told himself.

He started his limping run again, but had to stop, "Heather I can't. It hurts too bad."

She squatted down in front of him, "What's wrong?"

He held up his foot. In the dim light given off by the torches in the wall, Heather could see a sock dripping blood. There was a large piece of glass in the bottom of his sock.

The men from Ravenwood came around the corner.

"Alright, don't move," the man in front said, drawing a pistol.

"We can't," Heather said, "he's hurt."

The first man knelt in front of Jacob, tucking his pistol in the back of his pants and looked at Jacob's foot. He looked at Heather, "Hold him down."

Heather's eyes got big but she did as she was told.

The man looked at Jacob, "Kid, I gotta pull this out. Hold still."

The man pulled the glass shard out in one quick motion. Jacob moaned quietly. The mercenary pulled the sock off to reveal a jagged cut crossing the width of Jacob's heel.

He picked Jacob up and turned his back on Heather. She hesitated only a second, drawing a deep breath, she jerked the gun from where he had tucked it in his pants.

"STOP!" she screamed, "put him down and step away."

The mercenary stopped and turned around, using Jacob as a human shield, "How far are you willing to go?" he said in a quiet voice.

Heather could see Jacob start to shake as the mercenary pulled him tighter and turned him so that gun's laser beam was pointed at his chest.

"Put him down," she said, trying to keep the quiver from her voice.

The man emitted a cold harsh laugh, "Make your move."

When she didn't do anything he looked over his should at the blonde man beside him and said mockingly, "Go get that gun before she hurts herself."

The blonde man stepped forward and grinned, "Goetz'll make you pay for this," and reached towards her.

Reflex took over and two shots were fired. The shots echoed over and over and her ears rang. Jacob threw his hands over his ears to block the noise. On the ground the blonde mercenary was dead. There was blood coming from his chest and neck. She knew she had done it but she never, ever remembered firing those shots. It was buried so deep in her subconscious that the only time it came out was in the nightmares that haunted her til the day she died. "No, I won't think about it," she thought, turning her eyes away from the dead man. The only thing she could think about right now was getting Jacob away from the mercenary.

He looked as stunned as she felt. Three new Ravenwood soldiers ran up then, guns drawn and pointed at Heather.

"Drop the gun! Now!"

She knew there was no way out of this now. She did as she was told.

The man holding Jacob looked at her and quietly and matter of factly said, "We're going back now. If you want to see your cub again you better come with us and not cause any more trouble."

One of the other men looked at the dead man and then back at the man holding Jacob, "What about Tommy? We can't just leave him."

"Pick him up and bring him."

He walked back down the passageway without looking back at Heather. Jacob looked back at her with pain and fear on his face.

"Heather?" he whispered, in panic, when she didn't move immediately.

He started fighting the man holding him, trying to get back to Heather. The soldier tightened his grip, "Be still!"

Jacob held out his hand and hysterically screamed, "Mama, please!"

Heather ran after them.

When they got back to the main room, Heather saw Jonah lying on the floor. He wasn't moving. She couldn't tell if he was dead or alive. The man holding Jacob was talking to Goetz. Goetz nodded his head and looked at Heather, "Put'em in the back of the truck. I'll decide what to do with 'em later."

As Heather walked past Goetz, he grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her to him. He bent down and whispered, "You killed one of my men. I promise you, you will wish you were dead after I'm done."

********** ********** **********

Jake woke up totally disoriented. He laid there quietly for a minute without opening his eyes. "This is the most uncomfortable couch in the world. I'm gonna have to tell Kate to buy a new one," he thought. He opened his eyes and saw his parent's living room. "How the hell? What am I doin' here?"  he thought. Everything came flooding back in a tidal wave. Jacob and Heather were missing. He sat up slowly and put his head in his hands. His whole body ached.

He heard someone in the kitchen and looked over his shoulder. Gail walked towards him with a big cup of coffee.

"What time is it?" Jake asked quietly.

"About 9:30," she said, handing him a cup of coffee.

"Where is everyone?" Jake asked quietly, taking a drink.

"Still out at the ranch. They never left last night. Jimmy took his dog out there after the sun came up."

"How did I get here?"

"Jimmy and Bill brought you home. It got a little ugly this morning, Jake. Don't you remember?" she asked. Seeing a look of total confusion on his face, she explained,

"Jake, when your dad and Stanley tried to get you to leave you lost it. You shoved your father and punched Stanley in the face. Dr. Dhuwalia gave you a sedative. You don't remember any of that?"

"No, I don't. Is Stanley OK?"

"He's had black eyes before. I think he'll make it. How are you this morning?"

"Numb, dead, worried, scared...take your pick."

"Are you ready to go back out there?" Gail asked, laying her hand on the back of Jake's head, lovingly.

"No. Mom, I'm scared of what we're going to find, or not find," he said hesitantly. He squeezed her hand and got up, "Let me take a shower and put on some clean clothes and we'll leave." Jake took a deep breath and Gail watched the veil of control come over his face.

When they got back out to the ranch, Jake saw that a lot of work had been done.

Someone had brought their tractor and moved all the dirt and mud out of the cave entrance. There were lanterns strung up inside the cave. Jake saw that someone had taken spray paint and sprayed arrows down the direction Jacob and Heather had taken. He was impressed at everything that had been done.

Johnston walked over to them, "How you feeling this morning, Son?"

"I'm OK. Dad, about last night, I'm..." Jake started to say.

Johnston held up his hand, "No need to say it. I understand."

"Do you know where Stanley is?" Jake asked, looking down at his feet.

"He's inside. He's been working all night. He's the one who cleared out the opening."

Stanley came walking towards them. Jake saw that the left side of his face was a deep purple. He felt sick to his stomach.

Stanley stopped and looked at Jake and hesitantly asked, "How you feeling?"

"I guess I'm OK. Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't myself."

Stanley's grin was open and friendly, like always, "I'm sure I had it comin' for somethin'."

"So, has anyone found anything yet?" Jake asked, embarrassed and trying to get down to business.

"Yeah, actually we have," Stanley said. They all started walking back to the cave.

"Did you know this isn't a cave? It's part of an old coal mine and with more light you can see the old wooden support beams. We've followed their footprints a long way. It was a good thing we had Jimmy's dog. There's a lot of places that's rock and if it hadn't been for Daisy's nose we would have lost the trail altogether."

Stanley led them back into the mine. Gail was happy for the arrows drawn on the floor. She was lost after the first turn. They came out into a large room. It looked like a lot of stuff had been in there. There were pallets and empty containers.

"Wait here. Let me see where everyone is," Stanley said, walking down one of the tunnels.

"What is this place?" Gail asked, looking at Johnston.

"I don't know for sure but it looks like a holding place for stolen supplies," Eric said walking up behind them. "We found where there was a campsite down there and it looks like they were there. They didn't go all the way to end but they were down there."

Jake turned to walk down the tunnel but Eric blocked him. Jake tried to go around him but Eric blocked him again.

"Jake, you don't want to go down there. They're not there. That's all that matters, right?"

"What's are you trying to hide, Eric?"

"Nothing you need to see. They're not there. That's all you need to know. We're looking at the other tunnels out of this area for them but no luck yet."

"Eric, I'm going. You can either move or I'll move you," Jake said, very matter of factly.

Jake picked up a large flashlight and walked around Eric.    Someone had put torches along the wall that gave off just enough light to keep from falling.  He walked past the campsite. There wasn't much there, just a sleeping bag, some water and a few cans of soup. So far Jake couldn't figure out what Eric was trying to keep him from seeing. He walked on and shined the flashlight around the ground as he walked. Jake noticed a dark stain. He bent down and examined it. He wet his finger and touched it. It looked like blood. He followed the trail. It went from a small drop to a large circle and then to a small footprint. Jake turned a corner and saw a small sock on the floor. The bottom of the sock was saturated with blood. Beside the sock was large triangle of glass, also covered in blood. There was small handprint in the dust beside the sock. A few feet further down Jake could see blood spatters on the wall and blood all over the floor. "Oh my God," he thought. "What went on here? Whose blood is that?"  Jake slid down the wall. He drew his knees up under his chin and stared at sock and the glass without making a sound. His eyes were filled with tears that wouldn't fall.

Stanley came running down the tunnel, followed by Eric. He stopped when he saw Jake. He balled his fist up and hit the wall.

"Damn it, Eric. I told you not to let him come down here."

"I couldn't stop him, Stanley."

Stanley knelt down beside Jake and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Jake, this doesn't mean anything except he had a cut foot. We don't even know if it was them. It could have been someone from that campsite," Stanley said.

"No, that's Jacob's sock. Look at the cuff. That's his school crest. Those were the socks he was wearing the day I picked him up from school and we left San Diego. No one in Kansas is going to have socks with that on them," Jake said with a dead voice. He leaned his head against the wall and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, why did they come out here yesterday? Why!?"

"I don't know," Stanley said, squeezing Jake's shoulder. "There's nothing else out this way. Let's go back and see if anyone has found anything else."

Jake picked the sock up and put it in his jacket pocket. It wasn't stiff yet. Jake wondered how long ago they had been here. It couldn't have been that long. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He and Stanley got up and slowly walked back up the tunnel. Right before the campsite, Jake saw a lavender hair band in the dirt. It looked like one of Heather's. He bent down and picked it up.

Gail looked up from the pallet she was sitting on when Eric, Stanley and Jake walked back in. Stanley was holding Jake's upper arm, leading him. She had never seen Jake like that and it scared her.

"Well?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"They're not down there," Jake said, pulling away from Stanley. He staggered slightly and walked towards a dark tunnel, "I'll be back in a minute."

Gail started to follow him but Johnston pulled her back, "No, Gail. Leave him be. He's grievin'."

"Why is he grieving?" Gail asked in a high pitched voice. "They're just lost. There is no reason to grieve. What was down that tunnel, Johnston Green."

"It looks like someone was hurt, pretty bad."

Gail buried her face in her hands and started to cry. Johnston pulled her into his arms. "We've already lost one daughter and grandchild. Johnston, we can't lose them too."

"We'll find them, Gail," Johnston said, hugging her and kissing her temple. "We have to," Johnston thought, "If we lose them, we lose Jake. He'll never hold it together. It'll kill him."

Stanley had been looking around the perimeters of the room, trying not to hear what was being said. "Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt but who shot this snake?"

Johnston pulled away from Gail and walked over to Stanley. "What snake, Stanley?"

"There's a dead rattlesnake over here. From the looks of the blood around it, it looks like it hasn't been dead but a few hours. Did one of our guys kill it?"

"No, no one's said anything about a snake."

Jake came back into the room. He looked broken. Gail went to him and put her arms around him. He hugged her back.

Robert Hawkins came into the room, "We've found something outside."

Everyone walked down the tunnel and out into the bright morning sunshine. Jake was amazed that it was still morning. It seemed like days had passed since he had woken up.

"We didn't see anything when we first came out but Roger started looking in the weeds over by the road. He found two dead bodies and these," Hawkins said, picking up a small red and white Nike, several gauze packages and some bloody gauze. "Jimmy says they're men from the compound out by the old airstrip. There are also some tracks from what looks like big trucks. They lead back to the main road and turn away from Jericho.   I drove all the way out to the interstate but with all the dirt roads out here...there's no way to track them."

********** ********** **********


The ride in the back of the cargo truck seemed like hours. Once, the flap on the back had blown open long enough for Heather to see them pass the Black Jack Fairgrounds. Not long after that they had stopped at some sort of military style building surrounded by a tall fence and razor wire. Jacob had slept almost the entire way with his head in her lap. The men in the back of the truck with them never said a word. One had been kind enough to cover Jacob with his jacket.

When the truck pulled to a stop, Heather shook Jacob, "Baby, it's time to wake up."
Goetz came around to the back of the truck, "Take them inside, put them in the interrogation room and get 'em some food. I need to figure out what to do with them."

They were locked in a room that was 12 x 12. The windows were thick safety glass with wire mesh inside.

"Where are we? Who are those men?" Jacob asked.

"I don't know, Baby, I don't know. Here sit down and let me look at your foot."

They sat down and Jacob held his foot up for inspection. The Ravenwood medic had put a pressure bandage on it back in Jericho but it was starting to bleed thru.

A man in fatigues opened the door and brought in a tray with two cheeseburgers with all the fixins, french fries, Cokes and a plate with grapes and orange slices. "Where did they get food like this," Heather wondered.

Jacob's eyes were big at the sight of all the food. He reached for a handful of grapes.

"No, wait. I don't know if that food's OK. Let me taste it first."

Heather picked up a grape, hesitated for just a second and then popped it in her mouth. It was cold and crisp and absolutely heavenly. She closed her eyes and savored it. It tasted perfectly fine. She looked at Jacob. His eyes were big and scared.

"It tastes fine to me."

They both dug in and ate like they hadn't eaten in months.

When their plates were empty Heather looked over at Jacob and smiled, "Are you full?"

"Yeah, it wasn't as good as In N Out but it was OK."

The door opened. Goetz and three more men came in. He looked at the plates and nodded.

"OK, now that you're done, lets get down to business." He reached out, grabbed Heather's left hand and pulled her engagement ring off. "You won't be needing this anymore."

"Hey," Jacob yelled, "my dad gave that to her! It ain't yours. Give it back."

He smiled dangerously, and quietly said, "Well now, this cub's got a mouth." He looked at his men and nodded and said, "Ok, take her to her new home. I'm gonna chat with the little man here."

"No!" Heather screamed, trying to get to Jacob. "Leave him alone. He's just little boy. Leave him alone." One of the men grabbed Heather around the waist and pulled her back. Jacob jumped up and tried to run after her but Goetz grabbed and held him.

"Get her outta here."

They pulled Heather out of the room kicking and screaming, hysterically trying to get away from the man holding her. When they finally had her out in the hallway, Goetz kicked the door shut.

When Jacob saw there was no way out of the room, he slumped down in a chair, laid his head down and went silent.

"Ok, my little friend, you're with me now...be good, you'll be home in a day or two....be bad, you won't ever see home again."

When Goetz was sure that had sunken in, he continued.

"What's your name?"

"Brody Prowse."

"Um, hmm.... what's your name?"

"Brody Prowse."

Goetz got down eye level with Jacob. "I am not stupid. Please never think that. I know who Brody Prowse is, and you ain't him. What is your name?

"Woody Taylor."

"Alright, Woody. Here's what we're gonna do. You are going to give me your clothes and put these on." He threw him a pair of sweatpants and a tshirt with the Ravenwood logo across the chest. Jacob didn't move. "NOW!" Goetz said, slamming his fist down on the table.

Jacob slowly pulled his jeans off....behind cover of the chair. When he had his shirt off, Goetz reached over and yanked the St. Michael medal off his neck. He turned it over and looked at the inscription on the back: Jacob Green, 12/31/1998.

"Well, well, well, Woody. How is it you're wearing Jacob Green's medal. You wouldn't happen to be related to Mayor Johnston Green would you?"

"Who?" Jacob said, trying to sound brave.

"We're going to write a little note to your father and put this in there," Goetz said, holding the medal up for Jacob to see.

A man in green scrubs walked in the room, "OK, Commander, where is this patient I need to see."

He pointed at Jacob, "Right there. Check his foot. The last thing I need is it getting infected and the kid dyin'." Goetz snapped his fingers at one of his men, "Take him down to the treatment room. When the doc's done put him in a cell. Don't put him in the same one as the woman. Oh, and buzz that mess off his head. I hate long hair on a kid."

"Hey," the doctor said, "how long ago did the cut happen?"

"I don't know. About five hours ago," Goetz replied.

"Are you sure? I can't stitch that if it happened over six hours ago."

"I'm sure."

The mercenary put Jacob down on the treatment table. The doctor removed the pressure bandage. "Damn it, Goetz, you couldn't even clean it before putting the field dressing on. This is a mess," the doctor muttered under his breath. He looked up at Jacob, "Son, this is gonna hurt for a minute. I want you to be perfectly still. I have to clean this cut out so it doesn't get infected."

Jacob remembered when he broke his arm. When the doctor said it was going to hurt he meant it. He immediately started struggling and trying to get off the table.

"I will not deal with this," the doctor said, picking up a syringe and container of medicine, "I want you to drink this. When you wake up everything will be done."

Jacob clamped his hand over his mouth and shook his head. "Goetz!" the doctor yelled, "get in here."

Goetz walked in and saw what was going on. He motioned more men in. "Hold him down." He looked down at Jacob, "Boy, this can go easy or hard... take your pick."

Jacob didn't move his hand and shook his head again.

Goetz smiled, "Fine." He reached over and pinched Jacob's nose and waited. When Jacob gasped for breath he squirted the medicine in, clamped his hand over his mouth and blew in his face. "Swallow. If you want to breath again, swallow."

Goetz jerked his hand away. It was pouring blood. "Damn brat bit me. What did you give him?"

"Just some Demerol. He'll wake up in a few hours and be fine."

An hour later the doctor carried Jacob down the hall followed by the medic. After he put Jacob on the bed in the cell he turned around and looked at the medic and gruffly said, "Change the dressing on that at least twice a day. It was too much of a mess to be able to stitch. It's got to heal from the inside out. Put the antibiotic on it with every dressing change. And don't mess with the new cast. It's not completely dry yet. Watch his fingers. If they turn blue or swell come get me. Understood?" The medic nodded.

**********

Heather continued to fight the men in the hall. She could hear Jacob trying to get away from Goetz. For just a second she felt their grip loosen but it only lasted for a second.

A voice whispered in her ear, "If you want this to go well you better behave and do what he says. If you fight I guarantee it will go bad for both of you."

She stopped struggling and barely nodded her head. When she thought they had relaxed their guard she tried to break free and get back to Jacob. The men closed ranks around her, grabbed her upper arms and forcefully marched her to a cell. They shoved her in and slammed the door closed.

She started pacing. "What's going on?" she wondered. "What do they have planned?"

She climbed up on the concrete slab that served as a bed and looked out the window. All she could see were corn fields. The cells must be at the back of the building. Suddenly she remembered that there were hair pins in her pocket. She fished one out and went over to the door. There was no one in the hall or in any of the other cells. She put the bobby pin in the lock and started trying to jimmy it open. She could feel the lock starting to slip when she heard voices. She quickly ran back to the bench and sat down. The guards continued their conversation without paying her any attention.

"He's gonna ransom that kid and then sell him to the highest bidder. He's got some kinda big deal name. Goetz thinks he can get something for him. He took his clothes and some kinda necklace. Somebody is supposed to deliver it to his daddy with a note. He's talkin to the trader guy, Kane, from out at the BlackJack right now. He said he's going to sell the woman to him in the next day or two but he wants that kid kept under close watch."

"Where's the kid at now?"

"In the treatment room with the doc. They had to force some medicine in him to make sleep so the doc could fix his foot," the guard laughed, "little brat bit a chunk outta Goetz's hand. He'll pay for the that."

Heather froze in terror. She remembered the room in the back of the trader's shop.

The iron beds with handcuffs and bloody mattresses were etched forever in her memory. What if they sent Jacob there too? The thought of Jacob in the hands of that man made tears come to her eyes. The things that could and would happen to a child there were terrifying to think about. "My baby will NOT go there. I'll get us outta here," she thought.

She heard men coming down the hall. Commander Goetz and Lucien Kane, the BlackJack trader, stopped at her cell door. Kane looked at Heather with an appraising eye. He smiled in approval. Heather's skin crawled.

"She should do well, Commander. Very well. The next auction is Thursday. Do you think she'll be ready?"

"Definitely," he said with a calm, deadly voice.

They turned and walked back down the hall. Heather pulled the hair pin out of her pocket and went back to work on the door again.

Minutes later she heard people coming down the hall again. She slid the hair pin into her pocket but didn't leave the door.

A man in green scrubs was carrying Jacob. He was followed by two Ravenwood men.

Jacob was asleep. His foot was wrapped in white gauze and there was a different cast on his arm. Heather saw that the guards had been right. Jacob was wearing different clothes. They walked into the cell across the hall from hers and laid Jacob down on the concrete slab.

As soon as the men left, Heather started trying to wake Jacob up, calling to him softly, to make sure he was OK. His back was to her. She could see he was breathing deeply but got no response. "What did they give him?" she wondered.

The day passed slowly with Heather trying to figure out how to get them back to Jericho. "If only I had watched more MacGyver," she thought to herself, in a moment of despair, trying to turn it to laughter.

After a few hours, Jacob woke up. He sat up, looked around and not realizing he wasn't alone, started to cry. He spotted Heather and said, "I thought it was a bad dream."

"No, Baby, it's real. I'm trying to think of a way to get us outta here. I promise."

She looked at him and saw that he needed to get his mind somewhere else, now. "Come over to your door and sit down. Let's talk about something so we don't have to think about this place."

She sat down. Jacob slowly limped over to his door and sat down. He had large black circles under his eyes.

"If you were at home what would you be doing right now?" Heather asked, aching to touch him, to reassure him.

"What day is it?" he asked, very quietly.

"Monday."

"Monday. On Mondays I go to karate," Jacob said.

"No, Baby, I mean in J..." she didn't finish. At this point what did it matter if he thought she was talking about San Diego.

"Huh?" he said, coming out of a memory.

"Nothing. Sorry to interrupt. So, Monday was karate?" she asked.

"Yeah, karate and then soccer. Me and Nana had snack and then went to baseball practice," Jacob said, smiling faintly.

"That sounds pretty busy."

"Yeah, but it was fun."

"Did you take any other lessons?"

"I went to riding, soccer and baseball on Tuesday and Thursday. Mrs. Koger brunged me home that night though. That was Nana's TV night. She liked Luka on ER. I didn't have to do anything on Friday. I got to play on the beach with my friends."

"That sounds like fun."

"It was," Jacob said. He sat quietly for a minute, the looked up at Heather, "Is it true about steps?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. What about a step?"

"You know, not your real kid. A step. My friends said when you and dad get married, I'm gonna be a step and you won't love me or want me there when you have other kids.    They said you'll make me do all the chores at the house and that nobody else would have to. Is that true?"

"Oh, Honey," Heather said, wanting to hug him. "No, it's not true at all. No matter how many other kids your dad and I have, I will always love you just a little bit more because you're my oldest."

He smiled shyly at her and nodded.

"Well ain't this just a Hallmark moment."

Neither Heather or Jacob had noticed Goetz walk up.

Jacob gasped in fear and scrambled back from the door.

Goetz and two other men walked towards Jacob's cell.

"Goetz, leave him alone," Heather screamed. "He's a child. A baby. Don't hurt him. If you do anything to him, I'll see to it that every day, the rest of your life, is miserable."

Goetz looked back at her, "Oh, shut up. I am tired of hearing you."

They went into the cell and shut the door. One man stood at the door so Heather couldn't see in.

"Hello, Little Man. Is your foot and arm all fixed up?"

Jacob looked at him in silence.

"You know, politeness counts. If you can't at least be civil, I might have to take your mother away so you never see her again. Now, is your foot and arm fixed?"

Jacob looked at him with wide eyed fear, "Yes, Sir."

"That's better. Good. Look at me," Goetz commanded.

Heather had continued yelling the whole time.

Goetz looked at the man guarding the door, "Shut her up. Whatever it takes."

The guard walked to the door of Heather's cell, pulled his pistol and aimed the laser light at Heather's chest, "Commander Goetz kindly asks that you be quiet."

Heather walked to the concrete slab, sat down and watched the door to Jacob's cell.

Back in Jacob's cell Commander Goetz pulled out a digital camera and took several pictures. He handed Jacob a note pad and Sharpie.

"We're going to write a little note now. "Dear Dad", go ahead, write it....."

********** ********** **********

They continued to search the mine and surrounding area even though they knew it was futile. It looked like Heather and Jacob had disappeared into thin air. Hawkins and Jimmy drove up Route 40 until they hit the interstate. There was no trace of them.

At dusk everyone decided to stop searching for the night. Johnston took Jake aside and talked to him about it, afraid of a repeat of the night before. With a totally defeated look, he nodded his head and walked away. There was one thing he knew for sure.... Jacob and Heather weren't to be found. Not in the mine, not at the ranch and not in Jericho.

Back at the cars, Gail started walking towards Jake's Roadrunner. Jake need family and she was going to see to it that she and Johnston were at his side.

Jake saw his mother. He looked at his father, "Dad," he said, quietly, glancing towards his mother, "I don't want to hurt her, but...."

"Don't worry about it, Jake. I'll take care of it. You're not gonna be driving, right?"

"Only to Bailey's," Jake said.

Johnston walked over to Gail and whispered in her ear. She looked at Jake, nodded and gave him a tight smile. He got in the car and slowly drove away. Eric and Stanley climbed in Stanley's truck. Eric made eye contact with his father. They nodded at each other. After a few minutes they slowly followed Jake back to Jericho.

Jake parked in front of Bailey's. He gripped the steering so tightly his knuckles turned white. He softly banged his head against it and whispered, "Why? I don't understand. Why?" He walked into the bar, told Mary to keep the drinks coming and grimly went about the business of becoming totally numb.

Minutes later, Eric and Stanley walked in. They saw Jake in the far back booth.

Stanley looked at Eric, took a deep breath and walked to the booth. He came back shortly and shook his head, "He doesn't want any company." They took seats at the end of the bar. Mary went and refilled his glass frequently. Finally she returned without the jar. As it got darker they could just make out the glint of the glass and the end of a cigarette.

The night passed with excruciating slowness. Finally dawn quietly crept into the bar. Stanley poured two cups of coffee and walked to the booth. Jake's haggard appearance scared him. He handed Jake the coffee and sat down. "Are you ready to go home?"

Jake nodded, got up, picked up his glass and the jar and walked to the bar. He squeezed Eric's shoulder. Eric looked at him and nodded slightly. Stanley took Jake's upper arm and led him to the truck.

"Thanks, Stanley."

Stanley nodded at Jake and drove him home.

Johnston was waiting on the porch when Stanley and Jake came up the sidewalk. They helped Jake to the kitchen table. Gail put a cup of coffee in front of him, cupped the back of his head and kissed his temple. She followed Johnston and Stanley into the living room. Jake could hear them talking quietly. He knew it was about him but he couldn't have cared less what they were saying. He stared into his coffee cup without moving.

Someone knocked on the back door. Jake turned around. It was Jonah Prowse. Jake motioned him in.

"Hi Jake," Jonah said, sitting down at the table.

"Jonah. They'll put you in jail if they catch in town. What's wrong?" Jake asked emotionlessly, staring into his coffee again.

"I know who has your woman and your kid. I might have an idea of where they're at."

Jake's head snapped up. He grabbed the front of Jonah's jacket and pulled him out of his chair.

"What are you talking about?"

Johnston, Stanley and Gail came running in the kitchen.

"Jonah what are you doing here?" Johnston asked.

"Johnston, I know who has Jake's woman and the kid. I have an idea of where they are. The woman and the kid showed up at my campsite Monday morning about 1 o'clock. I was going to bring them home but Ravenwood showed up. They knocked me out and took them. I woulda told you yesterday but I just stopped seeing two of everything a little while ago."

"The "woman" and the "kid" have names. They are Heather and Jacob," Gail said, indignantly.

Jonah looked at Gail, held up his hand and nodded his head, "Sorry if I offended you. I haven't been around people in a while. My company manners are little rusty."

There was a knock at the front door. Stanley left to answer it. He came quickly back.

"Mayor, I think you need to come in here."

Johnston followed him, "I'm not Mayor, Stanley."

Harry Carmichael stood in the foyer with a box. "Johnston, this was delivered to the checkpoint out on Route 40 about half an hour ago. The man who brought it was one of those Ravenwood men. He's in jail now."

"Thanks, Harry. I appreciate you bringing it out," Johnston said, "We'll come down and talk to the man a little later." He turned around and brought the box into the kitchen and sat it on the table.

"This was just delivered by Ravenwood. You want me to open it?"

Jake slowly nodded his head.

Johnston carefully pulled the tape off the top. He was scared of what he might find. It was a large box. It could hold anything. Inside was a sealed envelope and a bag.

Johnston pulled the bag out and opened it. He looked first...in case there was something in there Jake didn't need to see. He pulled out pieces of a cast, hair that was bound in the middle with a rubber band, a St. Michael medal and Jacob's clothes.

He opened the envelope. Inside were five pictures and Heather's engagement ring. One of Jacob in some sort of treatment room, asleep and three in a jail cell. One of them showed a shackle around his ankle. There was one picture of Heather, standing behind the door of her cell.

There were two pieces of paper. One was written by Jacob.

Dear Dad,
These men say I can leave if you
will give them salt. I want to come
home. I'm scared.
Jacob

Johnston read the second note aloud:

Dear Green Family,
We seem to have found a valued member
of your family. He would really like
to come home. There are lots of people
who would pay a lot for him to be their special
boy. If you want to see him again have
1000 pounds of salt on the Tacoma Bridge
Wednesday at 3pm. I realize you probably
kept my delivery man. If the salt is where it
is supposed to be, we will do a prisoner
exchange. Don't be late.
Commander Goetz
P.S. Don't try to find them. If I have any
suspicion of it....I will kill the woman.

Jake kicked the chair across the room and growled an animal sound deep down in his throat. The look on his face was terrifying. He would get his family back. He walked over to the wall, turned away from everyone and pounded his fist once. For the first time since Sunday night, Jake broke down and cried.

********** ********** **********

Tuesday morning dawned clear and cold. It took a minute for Heather to realize what had woken her up. It was the medic changing the dressing on Jacob's foot. He was trying to talk to Jacob but Jacob had his head turned to the wall, ignoring him.

He soon gave up and finished the dressing change in silence.

"Alright, I'll be back this afternoon. I was just trying to be nice. That's all." He gathered up his supplies and left the cellblock.

Heather walked over to the door and smiled at him. "Morning, Sweetheart."

Jacob looked at her with dark, haunted eyes that held no recognition. He turned his back to her and attempted to go back to sleep.

"No," Heather thought. "I can't let him lose himself trying to escape. I have to bring him back."

"Jacob," Heather said, louder, "don't do that. Don't lose hope. Come on. Come over here. Talk to me. Jacob, turn over and look at me!"

She saw him take a deep breath and heard a very low, "Why?"

"Because we are going to get out of here and go home and see your Dad. We are going to have a wedding.     And I'm going to be your Mom, and you're going to be my kid.   Not a step.   My kid.    What about Dreyfuss?   Where will he sleep?    Grandpa needs someone to share his coffee with. Please look at me," Heather pleaded. She was suddenly very nauseated . She couldn't let this happen.

The door at the end of the cell block opened. A guard came in carrying two plates of food. He handed one to Heather and opened the door to Jacob's cell and put his on the table in the middle of the room. He left without uttering one word.

Heather looked at her plate. It was scrambled eggs, bacon and a biscuit. She knew she should eat it but her stomach churned so much she didn't dare. She went back to the door and looked at Jacob. He was still laying down but he was at least looking at her.

"Honey, you need to get up and eat. It looks really good. Come on. Sit up."

"I'm not hungry."

"Just try. Try to eat a few bites," she said trying to set an example by biting into the biscuit.   Her stomach was churning so bad the bite stuck in her throat and she had to take a big gulp of orange juice so that she didn't choke.

Jacob hopped on one foot over to the table. He ate one piece of bacon and no more.

Heather could see he was going to go back to bed. She couldn't let him. "Ok, wait. It's a school day. We need to do some math."

He stopped and looked at her incredulously, "Math?"

"Ok, spelling."

"I don't like spelling. We can do math."

"Ok, tell me your 12 times tables."

Jacob hopped over to the door and settled himself on the floor. Heather sat down and they faced each other. They passed the morning doing mindless school work.

After lunch, mostly left untouched by both Jacob and Heather, they heard people walking towards them. Goetz, Kane and 3 Ravenwood mercenaries walked down the hall. They stopped in front of Heather.

"It looks like your time here is done. Meet Mr. Kane. You will be leaving with him now," Goetz said, smiling evilly.

"No, I'm not leaving my son. Mr. Kane can go back where he came from,"  Heather said, taking a step back to get as far away further away from Kane.

All the men laughed. "That wasn't a request," Goetz said.

The cell door was opened. Heather tried to run away but the men surrounded her and marched her out into the hall.

Jacob held out his hand, "Nooooooo. Please."

Heather was able to touch his hand for a second before she was dragged away.

********** ********** **********

Heather was handcuffed and placed in the front seat of Kane's red El Dorado.   The windows were tinted, and Heather realized that while she could see out, there was no way anyone could see in.   She watched as Kane and Goetz shook hands.

"It's been nice doing business with you, Commander."

Kane got in and started the car. He looked Heather up and down appraisingly and then smiled in approval.

"I'm gonna make you one of my high price girls. Only the best for you."

Heather's skin crawled. Tears were running down her face. She kept hearing Jacob's last plea. She trembled uncontrollably. Her head was pounding. The overwhelming stench of cologne on Kane was making her sick. They pulled into the Black Jack. The guards recognized his car and waved it through without a search. Kane parked the car beside his store. He smiled at her, reached over and put his hand high up on inside of her thigh. Her nerves couldn't take it anymore, she threw up all over him.

Kane shoved her into a room filled with showers.

"Get that slimy, stinkin' mess off of you. Then put on some different clothes," he said pointing at a closet.

Heather took a shower and changed into a clean pair of jeans and a sweater. She tried the door but found it locked. Kane opened it several minutes later, grabbed her arm and walked her to a hidden room in the back of his store.

"Get some rest. You'll be in business at opening tomorrow."

The door slammed with a dull thud. She used up the last of the daylight searching the room, but found no way out.   Finally, exhausted, Heather lay down on the bed. The light faded completely away. Very faintly she felt a breeze touch her cheek. After an hour of very slow searching she found the source. There was a skylight about her bed. It was painted black and almost impossible to see. For the first time in days Heather found a reason to hope. She pulled the hair pins out of her pocket and was able to unscrew the skylight. She piled pillows in the bed to make it look like someone was sleeping and then climbed out the skylight onto the roof. The slightly warped skylight was quickly and quietly replaced. When she was sure no one had heard her, Heather slowly made her way to the red El Dorado. She got in the car and eased the door closed. Thank God Kane had cleaned the car, she thought. A few twists of wire and the El Dorado was running. The guards, recognizing the car, didn't stop her. Heather drove back towards the Ravenwood compound.

Heather turned off the headlights when she started seeing the lights from the compound blinking thru the trees. She got out of the car and walked to avoid being seen. Her plan was to get Jacob. Heather was so afraid he was slipping into some kind of traumatic shock. He had to get out of that place. She bit her bottom lip and felt despair take over. There was no way for her to get in there. The compound blazed with lights and there were armed guards everywhere.

Fifteen minutes later, the El Dorado was heading east on Route 40

********** ********** **********

Johnston had sent for Hawkins after reading Ravenwood's note. Jonah knew where one of their stronghold's was. He was more than willing to sell them out after finding out they had killed his two best men. Unfortunately, it was another dead end. The building had been burned to the ground.

Johnston, Jake and Hawkins spent the day formulating a plan on how to handle the prisoner exchange.

Eric went to talk to Gray about the salt.     Gray was the only one in his office.   For once none of his enforcers were there.    

"Gray, I need to talk to you.   It's important," Eric said.

Gray waved him in, "What's going on, Eric?"

"We got a ransom note this morning.    Ravenwood will give us Jacob back if we give them 1000 pounds of salt and their man back.    The exchange is supposed to be at the Tacoma Bridge tomorrow afternoon.    We need the salt, Gray."

"Eric, I'm sorry about your nephew, but I can't do that.   I don't make deals with terrorists.   I have enough going on here in town without having to bring on an added problem like that.   Do you realize that if I made that kind of deal, I would have every two bit hood out there trying to do the same thing?    I'm sorry.   You're gonna have to figure something else out."

"Gray, this is my nephew we're talking about.   Not some stranger.    Ravenwood can't get away with this.   Right now, Dad, Jake and Hawkins are working on how to deal with exchange and take care of these guys once and for all.    I came to you because you have a family and grandchildren.   Your grandson plays with Jacob for God's sake.   How are you going to explain to him that you let his friend get killed for salt?   I could have gone to Dale and Skylar but I didn't.   I came to you.   This is an eight year old boy.    Please, Gray."

"Eric, look, I'm sorry.   If it were Lucas out there instead of Jacob, I would have to do the same thing.   I just can't do it.   These people are like vermin.   If you give them one inch they'll be back."

"Gray," Eric said, walking around the desk and leaning into Gray's face and looking him in the eyes, "I am going to get that salt.   If I have to go out there and dig it myself.   For once in your life, do the right thing.    Stop being a pain in the ass, SOB and do what you know you would do if this were your family.    Take Dad out of the picture.   Don't let a little boy get sold into God knows what