Again I want to thank everyone who helped get this far; Bill for his encouragement, thanks to Ashleigh for editing and Todd for reading it. I've included an image of her that I feel captures her her spirit in the wild.

Atalanta makes camp and reaches out to an old friend for help.

Chapter 3

Just as darkness closed we burst from the trees and onto a wide expanse of a sandy beach sandwiched between two rocky cliffs where the river made a sweeping turn. Near the turn’s apex a cliff rose several hundred feet and at its base I found a place where the rushing waters had undercut the cliff, offering natural shelter.

The action of the waters left an abundance of firewood scattered around. This would be a bad place during spring flooding, but at this time of the year it was safe.

I picketed the horses before starting a fire to cook something for supper. During this I cast my thoughts over the failed kidnapping attempt today. I suspected it was probably at the direction of one person or one group. The group that I saw was ex military and if today was any indication: paramilitary. They also seemed to know my movements too.

Only a handful of people knew my travel plans well enough to predict my movements. I crossed Mom and Judy off that list. Lindsey only knew that I was going to Whateley, a military school back east and of course the day I was leaving.
I suspected the source had come from someone at Whateley, or from within the government. I knew from Manny’s stories that files and reports were often sidetracked, or copied by unsuspecting clerks.

While I was eating supper my mind began exploring my next steps. As long as I remained hidden and with nobody knowing my plans or destination I could formulate an offensive strike. Or at least cast doubts among the opposing troops.

I had just one person who I could trust and that could help me. Retrieving my phone I scrolled down the contacts until I came to the B’s and then I dialed.

Chapter 4

He stared out the window of the trailer he had called home for almost two years. The interior had taken on aspects of field trainings he had received over the last dozen years with tools, trappings, and materials piling up. The whiteboard too, reminded him of mission logistics. Construction supplies and personnel were eerily similar when they were mapped out.

This construction was all but finished and he was considering what was next up, another job with Franklin Construction, take Judy up on her offer at the ranch, or re-enlist. As he mused about his future, the images of Liz and Atalanta jumped forefront in his mind. He liked Liz and he felt with some effort they might have a future together.

But would that drive a wedge between him and Atalanta?

Manny wasn’t sure how Atalanta felt about him. But he questioned whether he wanted to settle down in one place. He had called and talked with Liz at two separate times since he had left in August. The last he had heard from Liz, Atalanta was complaining about going to school. Imagine that - a teenager who found school boring. Manny felt he had a responsibility to Atalanta for training her at her age, and not being there to answer questions and guide her through difficult decisions was sure to come up.

But he needed to make a decision in the next year if he wanted to enlist at his old level as he had no desire to work his way back to his current grade. Manny admitted to himself that he missed the camaraderie, the excitement, and yes - the danger that the Navy, and in particular the Seal's offered. But as he watched the sun set on the Pacific his mind traveled back in time to yesterday and last night.

He had three phone numbers all routed to one phone and the number that was called last night was the one he had given out to Judy, Liz, and Atalanta. He had been surprised and pleased to hear from Atalanta.

As she told him of the train assault he felt a surge of anger followed quickly by a sense of pride in her ability to thwart the attack, and later in the interview process with police. He knew from experience that most people when confronted by authority talked too much.

Though he considered the train attempt a one off event, he agreed with Atalanta that having a plan B for Boston was a sensible precaution. He was concerned when Atalanta and later Mark had called him with the details of the MCO’s attempt at an arrest in the hotel. Later that night when she called him back about the double-cross in Mark’s team, his mind went into mission mode. He assessed her situation giving it the same consideration he would if she was overseas on a covert operation and facing trained assassins. His instructions to her were the same as he had given many times before. Only now he was handing those out to an inexperienced 14 year old-girl.

The 15 minutes spent trying to raise Mark on the phone felt like a week, while the almost an hour until Mark called back went by painfully slow. He jabbed the phone hard when it finally did ring, “What in hell is going on out there?”

“Damn, man back off that ledge you’re on will you?”

“Knock it off,” Manny growled, “Did you get there in time?”

“Yeah, man we did. It was all over by then though.”

“Tell me what happened.” Mark did.

From Mark’s description of the aftermath and the fight with Pete, Manny knew Atalanta had changed in the months since he had seen her. She seemed to have developed an edge to her.

He also had to rethink his assumption that these were one off events but rather a series of planned tactics orchestrated by unknown parties. Manny was confident that in time he would find out who was behind these strikes. But did he - and more to the point - did Atalanta have that time? At least at Whateley she should be safe until he could figure it out.

He felt a weight lift from his shoulders when he decided to quit Franklin Construction after the LA gig was finished. Considering Atalanta’s situation the military was out too; a two year contract tied his hands to help her.

Manny had saved a considerable nest egg while in the military and Mr. Franklin paid even better. He didn’t need to work if he didn’t want to for several years yet. With his background and contacts he could consult or open his own security firm. The decision made, he felt lighter in spirit than he had in the last six months or so. It wasn’t in his nature to be indecisive and now that he had made that decision he could look at other options.

He felt a responsibility to Atalanta. He looked at his watch; she should be settling into her room.

His phone rang.

Chapter 5

“Hello Atalanta, I didn’t expect to hear from you this soon. Is everything all right?”

“Hi Manny,” I replied smiling, “I didn’t think I’d be calling either. I need your help.”

“Sure thing kiddo, tell me what’s going on.” I did, starting with getting off at the train station and finishing with leaving the car up a logging road. I also told him my conclusions.

“I think you’re right Atalanta this leak - although I guess technically it wasn’t a state secret, came through official channels. Now give me their names, the address of their safe house and that phone number that called them.”
Luckily I had extracted the time the would-be kidnappers had received their assignment and that number was easily deduced.

“What about your Mom?”

“I called her just before we got to Dunwich,” I replied adding, “She’s not expecting a call from me until tomorrow night. But I don’t know if the school will call her.”

“Okay, leave your Mom to me. I’ll call her and tell her what happened; that Mark and the boys followed you to Dunwich and foiled the attempt, but that they have you in another safe house. And that we have to maintain radio silence for 24 hours while we set up a trap.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you Manny.”

“Sure thing kiddo, are you going to stay where you’re at?”

“I think so, I’d like to be farther away from the road but this place doesn’t seem to get a lot of foot traffic and there is only one approach.”

“There is only one exit, too,” he cautioned.

“That’s true,” I admitted, “but I can cross the river.”

“Those phones you confiscated have a data link?”

“Yeah, they do.” Manny talked me through how to set up a phone-to-phone connection and in minutes I had transferred the contents of the three phones over to Manny’s.

After finishing that he asked me if I could set up a warning system. “I did buy a couple of trail cams and I have my laptop.” I then listed some of the items that I had confiscated.

“Whew,” he whistled, “That’s some high grade military stuff. Here’s what you’re gonna do,” and he described how to properly set up a perimeter.

“Think you can handle that?”

“Piece of cake,” I declared snapping my fingers.

“That’s what I like about you Atalanta; your humility,” he laughed.

“No I’m just the can-do girl.”

“That you are. I’m going to run these names, phone numbers, and addresses through my contacts. That should tell us something about who’s behind this. I’m also going to contact Mark and have his guys stake the house out and see who comes and goes there. I believe too, I need to do my civic duty and report three suspicious characters.”

I grinned through the phone with him, “Manny I just had a thought, whoever hired those three is supposed call them tomorrow with further instructions. If I forward their calls to your number …”

“Brilliant,” he intoned the Guinness Beer commercial, “but nix on my number I know a better alternative,” and he rattled off an eleven digit number that I immediately entered into the phones.

“Have we forgotten anything?”

“Don’t forget to call Mom,” I reminded him.

“I won’t, but what about you, what are you going to do beside lay around in the sun?” he teased.

“Believe it or not I’m going to curl up with a good book.”

“One of those Twilight books,” he accused.

“Actually no, a book that someone gave me today. The Art of War, ever hear of it?”

“Really?”

“Yeah really, this woman gave it to me today.”

“Not that it matters,” Manny replied, “but The Art of War is a book I am ashamed to say that I forgot. There is a lot more than War in that book.”

“That’s what she said.”

We talked a few minutes longer before we hung up, with his reminder to set up the trip wires and secure the camp perimeter. First though I set up my tent and sleeping bag, dragging some of the gear inside where I separated what I needed.

Then I went and set up the wires and cams in a semicircle 50 yards out. Back inside the tent I powered up my laptop and initialized the cameras. Satisfied that I had done all I could to prepare I removed my clothing down to my underclothes. Rummaging through my duffel I found and donned the flannel shirt that Mom griped about, and that I found comforting. Sitting cross legged I reached back into the duffel for the parts and assembled my Ruger pistols.
I placed one under my pillow and the other in my sleeping bag. My knife, I left in its scabbard lashed to my boot but nearby. Suddenly tired, I turned off the lantern and crawled into the sleeping bag.

Chapter 6

As soon as he hung the phone up Manny called Mark in Boston, telling him what almost happened at Dunwich.

“Damn,” he whistled appreciatively, “Who is this girl anyway?”

“Hell on wheels, I reckon.”

“She’s all that and more,” Mark agreed, “You want us to fetch her.”

“Negative, I talked her through a thorough perimeter setting and she has a small arsenal with her. Take it from me, she’s damned accurate. Anybody coming looking for her there will have their ass handed to them.”

What do you need from us?"

Manny told him of the house that the abductors were planning to take Atalanta to. “Watch it for me, and see who comes and goes.”

Mark eagerly agreed because first it pissed him off that Atalanta was being targeted, and second he always welcomed gathering intelligence on a potential enemy since this was a house he was not aware of until now.

His next call was to a clinic in New Mexico, “Hello this is Doctor Reid. How may I help you?”

Manny knew that calls to the clinic after hours were forwarded to Liz’s home phone. He knew because he had set the phone network up that way. “Hello Liz, Manny.”

“Manny, it's good to hear your voice, but why are you using this number?”

He knew the school hadn’t her called yet.

“Something came up Liz.”

He heard her sharp intake of breath, “Something happened to Atalanta.”

“No our girl is fine, but something did almost happen. You know Mark drove Atalanta to Berlin train station, and you know the reasons why they didn’t take her all the way to Dunwich.”

Yes, she knew the damned requirements placed on travel restrictions with a temporary MMID card.

“What?” she interjected forcing herself back into the present.

“I need your attention Liz. After Mark dropped Atalanta off at Berlin he began having second thoughts, and they drove up to Dunwich to make certain she got to Whateley safely. It was a good thing they did because somebody tried to kidnap her from the train depot.”

“What happened, is she all right?”

“She’s fine and at a safe house; the bad guys were captured. We have put a plan in motion from what we learned from them. That plan calls for radio silence for 24 to 36 hours. You know what that means.”

Liz knew what it meant, “But why?”

“Look whoever took out the contract probably has a connection inside the Academy, or it could be as simple as forwarding the names of new students or anything unusual. The likelihood of active sabotage is low; it’s more likely a pencil pusher somewhere making a few extra bucks a month.”

“I understand that …”

“The contractor thinks his guys' succeeded and he will call them tomorrow with more instructions. We also know the address of the house they were going to take Atalanta to. Bottom line is, we are monitoring e-mails out of Whateley, surveillance at the Boston house, and the phones the contractor calls. This time tomorrow we should have a name at Whateley, who owns that house in Boston, at least an area code for the contractor, and last but not least, background information on the three that we are holding.”

After Manny hung up from talking with Liz he dialed a number he knew from his days at San Diego.