This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “Proof of Life”.  No insult or invasion of privacy or infringement of copyright is intended. The story is for readers over the age of 18 only, and contains adult language. The writer is not responsible for any "discomfort" caused to the reader by this language and these situations.

Full Length Of The River

©2008 by: Darrin

Chapter One

The thing Terry Thorne hated most about field work was the actual field.  Dino had had the right idea when he’d said those immortal words at the end of their last “adventure”:  “No more front lines, some long lunches, some policies and we give Ian a heart attack before we open the doors.  And then once a month we go to the Caymans to visit … our … money!”

Six months later it was shaping up to be exactly that.  And they had had a good laugh when they saw Ian’s face go apoplectic red when they made their first announcement regarding the opening of a new Risk Management firm by the name of T&M Global Security.  That had been good.  So had the decidedly long lunches and the actually enjoyable policy writing.

Then Terry had gotten a call that changed all that.

He’d been about to leave the office to chase the tail of a gorgeous red head he knew was always up for a romp a la Thorne as long as he fed her well and cuddled after.  He was okay with cuddling these days, but it had been touch and go for awhile there after Tecala.  Dino had actually dragged him out on a booty run pub crawl because he was, as he so delicately put it, “concerned for the welfare of the Thorne balls and the shade of blue they’re sporting, pal o’ mine!”

“Whaddaya doin’ lookin at my balls, mate?”  Terry had demanded, “and why the fuck should you care?”

“If you don’t get yourself laid and soon, hermano, I’m gonna hafta put up with your grumpy ass for even longer than I have already and Mrs McAlister’s boy, Dean, ain’t fond of grumpy,” Dino replied, sidestepping both issues with his quick retort.

Terry had sighed heavily, given Dino a well-hoisted eyebrow and finally given in.  That night had almost turned into a disaster as sheila after sheila Dino introduced him to turned out to be largely containing air in the cranial region.  In the end though, a sweet little brunette had turned his head and they’d ended up at a nearby hotel and a night of shagging that had served to remind Terry why he loved the female of the species so much.  She was everything Alice hadn’t been and that night had healed a bounty of wounds Terry hadn’t even known he’d buried deep inside him.  He and the brunette were still good mates, even went out now and then whenever she was in town.  Ah, stewardesses… Gotta love ‘em.

But that night he’d had a dangerous red head waiting for him and his BMW Z4 and the last thing he wanted to deal with was the phone.  But it had been his night to stay late and duty called.  Literally.

“Terry Thorne,” he answered crisply, hoping for a quick conversation.

“Terry?  It’s David… David Masters from your old unit?”  The voice had been so familiar that it only took Terry a second or two to place it.

“David!  How’ve you been, mate?  Long time!”

“Yeah, it has been… what?  Ten years?”

“’Bout that, I reckon.  You in town?  Wanna get together for a pint or two?”

“Yeah, but not to reminisce.  I need to hire you, Terry.”  David’s voice had gotten very serious, very quickly and Terry felt that familiar tightening sensation in his gut that said this was anything but good.

“Okay… you wanna make an appointment or…”  Terry had let his voice trail off, hoping against hope that his instincts were fucking about with him.

“Can we meet?  Tonight?  I really need to talk to you straight away.”

Terry had groaned inwardly, immediately shifting his plans around in his head as he answered, “Sure, mate.  Where are you?”

“The Sheraton.  How about we meet at O’Doul’s in a half hour?  Can you make that?”

Checking his watch, Terry answered, trying not to sigh out loud, “Yeah, I can if I leave now.”

They had ended the call and Terry grabbed his case and flipped open his cell to call the red head.  She wouldn’t be happy, but he knew how to make it up to her.

That had been three weeks ago.  Right now, Terry was wishing he had that red head with him.  She could help distract him from the task at hand.  He chuckled, picturing her in camo and face paint next to him, sliding her hand down to his groin and spurring his cock to life.

“Downtown One, you got a twenty on the hut?”

“Yeah, Uptown One, my back door’s clear and I’m ready to rock when you are.”

“Okay, we are a go for extraction.  Uptown Two and Three: execute!”

And then they were on.  When David had explained that his sister was being held hostage, that negotiations had broken down and that the K&R team was getting ready to pull the plug, Terry couldn’t say no.  Dino had thrown a fit later that night when Terry interrupted his date with the news, but as always, had his back.  They’d put a team together, done extensive reconnaissance and now were finally ready to extract their cargo and get the fuck out of there.

It went as smooth as silk… Right up to the point that the cargo started screaming.

And wouldn’t stop, let alone allow Terry to touch her.

“Fuck!” Terry cursed and Dino came through in his ear loud and clear.

“What is it?  What the fuck’s going on, Downtown One?  Goddammit, Terry, what the fuck is taking you so long?  Get out of there!”

Instead of answering him, Terry ripped off his backpack and pulled out a morphine kit that was a part of every soldier’s supplies.  Ignoring the screams and the weak punches and scratches, Terry grabbed her foot to keep it from going into his crotch and jabbed the needle into her thigh.

Her eyes went wide and she drew in a deep breath for what Terry knew would be one beaut of a shriek, so he clamped his hand over her mouth and let her take her frustrations out on him until the drug kicked in and rendered her unconscious.

Terry picked up her slumped body and draped her over his shoulders in a fireman’s lift.  He was immediately struck by how light she was and a quick thought, Have they been feeding her at ALL? went through his mind as he made his way back out of the little hut, dodging bullets and headed towards the LZ.

In the helicopter, Terry laid his package out on the floor as one after the other, Uptown and Downtown teams checked in.  Dino shouted at the pilot to, “Go, go, go!” and they were airborne, bullets still headed their way but with every second becoming less of a threat until they were completely away.  Everyone checked for wounds and packed up for the quick transfer from helo to Lear at the airport they were headed to.  You never stuck around for high fives at the end of an extraction, damned straight.

When Terry was ready, he turned to the girl on the floor of the helicopter, still passed out and looking much the worse for wear.  As he’d expected, she was thin as a rail, bruised all over and wearing only the thinnest of clothing, what looked like a long chemise and actually realized there was nothing else.  That’s when he noticed the blood trails from between her legs.

He turned her over gently and saw the back of the chemise was covered in blood too.  One of his team noticed and despite his experience, took in a deep breath.  That got the attention of the rest of the crew and everyone went quiet, swiftly handing Terry items he needed to try and make her a little more comfortable.

“Boss…” Artenza whispered, “she needs help we can’t give her between here and home base.”

“I know mate, I know.  We’re gonna hafta hope she’s tougher than she looks right now.”  The thing of it was, they’d expected the cargo to be at least partially well-taken care of.  But this girl had been anything but.  That was completely unexpected.  All their research had shown the group the K&R guys had been dealing with were “professionals”.  As Terry got a blanket around her, he and Dino exchanged a quick conversation about how they were not equipped with anything but the basics and certainly she needed a lot more than that.  Terry said he’d take care of her until they got her to California and hoped they had enough supplies to get her through the time it took to get her into a hospital’s care.

Dino shook his head.  “Must have been a splinter group got their filthy mitts on her,” he sighed, as angry as Terry was about her treatment.  Terry nodded tightly, completely baffled as to how some men could treat a woman this way.

When they landed, the girl started to wake up, but was still out of it enough to not fight Terry as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the waiting Lear.  There’d be a refuel stop in Panama City and then straight on to California where David was waiting for his sister.  Meantime, Terry settled her into the area near the galley and hoped she’d sleep through the whole trip.

But as the plane taxied and took off, that was when the screams began again.

No matter how tough soldiers are, there are a few things that will break them down without fail.  Defenseless animals, babies and of course sheilas in distress of this magnitude.

Terry tried approaching her but she pushed herself up and off the sofa he’d laid her down on, falling to the floor immediately with how weak she was, blanket forgotten behind her.  Still, she managed to scramble away from him as the others looked on, feeling completely helpless.  She backed herself into a corner of the galley and pulled her knees up in front of her, seemingly attempting to hide from them inside her own body.

Terry stood in the entryway, holding her blanket, trying to seem as inoffensive as possible, which was impossible, he knew, because he was a man.  Men had done these things to her and at the moment she was very likely damaged beyond recognizing the difference between him and her captors.  He walked over to the corner opposite hers and crouched down as well, gesturing for the other blokes to leave them alone for now.

She was whimpering and rocking back and forth, the fight knocked out of her still, thanks to the morphine.  Her brief “rebellion” had simply been because she’d been adrenalized upon waking.  When Terry laid the blanket on the floor near her, she slowly pulled it around herself, watching him with deep mistrust in her eyes, but the need to cover herself was more important.

Terry wasn’t sure if he should try and wait her out or go ahead and speak to her, see if he could break through her terror.  If she put up any kind of fuss in Panama City, there could be trouble with the local authorities who might or might not be on the payroll of who they’d just left with egg on their faces.  That particular group’s influence stretched far and wide, Terry knew.  Though he hoped that if this splinter faction was going against “standard procedure” that they wouldn’t have reported her rescue.

Well, they were in the galley and she sure as fuck had to be hungry, so Terry put a quick meal together for her, bread, slices of ham and turkey, some carrot sticks and water, then put the tray on the floor and slid it slowly across towards her, letting her notice what he was doing and then get used to the idea that he wasn’t going to touch her.

The tray had made it to about a foot in front of her when she stretched out a shaking hand and pulled it the rest of the way, watching Terry warily all the while.

“Good girl,” he whispered and sat back in his corner, watching her devour everything like she hadn’t seen real food in weeks.  From the looks of her, she probably hadn’t.  He desperately wanted to help her clean up, knowing it would do her a world of good, but knew also she’d wouldn't let him near her.

When she’d begun slowing down he tried her name to see if she knew who she was.  “Daphne?” he said, in just the softest of whispers, the one he reserved for sheilas who needed extra tender care.

She looked up at him with that wide-eyed look again and began to cry.

“We’re taking you home, luv, to your brother, David, he’s waiting for you in California, that’s where we’re going, back to David.”

She shook her head vigorously and cried harder.  “D-D-D-” she began to stutter.

“Yes, Daphne.  That’s you, luv.”

“N-n-nuh-no…”

Terry’s brow furrowed but he continued.  “Yes, luv, you.  You’re Daphne.  Remember?  David, your brother, he sent us to bring you home.  You’re going home now.”

“D-d-d-” she looked over at him, still shaking her head, her eyes showing fear and frustration.

Terry wasn’t sure if she was just completely disassociated or if she was trying to tell him something he didn’t want to hear.  “What, luv?  Slow down, tell me one thing at a time.  You’re safe now, you can tell me.”

“D-d-d-dead,” she finally managed.

“Oh, no, luv.  You’re not dead.  You’re very much alive.  We’re gonna get you all fixed up and you’ll go home with David, your brother.”

She shook her head again, her straggly, filthy black hair shaking about her shoulders.

“D-D-D-Daph… d-d-dead.  S-s-s-saw.”

Terry’s gut tightened again.  Yeah, this was what he didn’t want to hear but something deep inside him told him it was true.  Even as thin and dirty as she was, she didn’t quite look like the photo David had provided.

He dropped his voice to a very soft whisper, trying to keep her calm.  “Then who are you, luv?”

“S-S-S-S-Ste- Steph.”

“Steph?  Short for Stephanie, maybe?”  She nodded her head.  “And what’s your last name, luv?  Can you tell me?  It’s very important.”  She was definitely American and had to be in the system somehow.

“J-J-J-Jas…” she took a deep breath and let it out slowly then tried again.  “Jas-Jasper.”

“Okie dokie, that’s very good.  I’m Terry,” he added, then got up slowly and fetched an individual serving ice cream bucket from the freezer and put it down near her with a spoon, smiling as kindly as he could.  She watched him, her deep brown eyes following his every movement until he backed up into the galley entryway again.  “I’ll be back in a bit, luv.  You enjoy your sweet.”

Stephanie nodded and reached out for the ice cream as Terry went back to where Dino and the others were.

He spoke low.  “Dino, we got a problem.  She says Daphne’s dead.  Said she saw her being killed.”  He then turned to the comm man and continued, “Check all the missing persons databases in the U.S. for a Stephanie Jasper.  Hell, check everywhere.  We’ve got to figure out who this sheila is.”

“Christ, what a mess,” Dino replied.  “Are you sure, Terry?  No way she’s having split personality or something?  Fuck, after being done like that, I’d wanna be someone else.”

“Thought crossed my mind, but she seems too lucid to be fucking about.  She’s fucking scared out of her mind, though, I’ll grant you.”

“What the fuck do we tell David, man?”

“Let’s cross that bridge –”

“Found her!”

“–when we come to it, shit.  Who is she, mate?”

“Stephanie Jasper, 27, missing since March 20^th this year from a South American cruise ship out of San Diego Harbour.  Resides Manhattan, reported missing by her employer, no known relatives.  Here’s her picture, boss.  That’s a lot more what our cargo looks like than the photo of Ms Masters.”

Terry checked out the screen and saw a beautiful smiling girl with thick long black hair, looking far healthier than she did now, but definitely the same sheila who was currently devouring ice cream in the galley.

“Fuck,” was all he could think to say and gave Dino a “what the fuck do we do now?” look.  Dino shook his head.  Terry shrugged.  “Okay, David will have some hard news when we get back State-side, we should contact the Manhattan FBI field office now though and go from there.  Right now we’ve got forty-five minutes until touch down for refueling, so everyone get some rest but stay sharp.  I’ll try and take care of Ms Jasper, get her calmed down for the stop.  Nothing happens in Panama City, okie dokie?”  Everyone nodded and Terry went back to the galley as Dino took over and gave more specific orders.  Just before Terry entered the galley he saw Dino pulling out his cell phone and knew all the calls to be made were going to get done.

Terry found Stephanie still in her corner, holding her knees in front of her again, still rocking and looking warily from side to side.  Her eyes held nothing but terror and Terry hoped that the brief skirmish in the camp had taken a few of the arseholes who had hurt her out with gut shots.  Better yet, shot their dicks off.  These fucks had never had any notion of ransoming Stephanie.  And once they’d been charged with keeping Daphne, they knew they had to kill her.  The whole negotiation had probably been some sort of ruse when they were contacted by the original K&R team David had hired.  What they must not have realized was that David would go beyond negotiation and that was Stephanie’s good fortune.

Terry sat down across from her again, at the other end of the galley.  Stephanie watched him closely, still unconvinced this wasn’t just a different version of what she’d been going through since March.  Fucking over a month of torture, those twats had better’ve died fucking slow.

He softly cleared his throat and spoke quietly, trying to appear as inoffensive as possible.  “Steph?  Luv, no one’s going to hurt you anymore.  You’re safe now.  I just need to get you cleaned up so you’re more comfortable.  Will you let me do that for you?  Make you feel better?”

Steph shook her head, but Terry could see the longing in her eyes for what he was offering.  She really did seem to have a good grasp on reality, just was fucking scared out of her mind.  The level of inner strength she must possess to survive this ordeal impressed Terry deeply.  He hoped now that it was over she’d survive completely.  He knew of cases where once the PTSD set in, they had given up despite surviving.  It was going to be touch and go for her right now and Terry knew he was going to play a role in her recovery.  He took a deep breath and tried again.

“I promise to be as gentle as I can, luv.  I won’t hurt you and you tell me if we need to stop for a bit.  You’re in charge, okay, luv?”  He smiled again at her, hoping a little charm would help.

Stephanie stared at him for long minutes, crying silently as she wrestled with her fear.  Something deep inside Terry still wanted to turn the Lear around and find the fuckwits who had hurt her and ram red-hot pokers up their arseholes so they could get an inkling of what they’d done to her.  He breathed slowly, calming himself, watching her reach a decision.  And good thing too, because the nod that finally came was almost imperceptible.

“Good girl,” he whispered to her again and got up to get the items he’d need to wash her and bandage her up as much as he could.  She watched him intently the entire time, and though he could hear her breathing speed up a little, he simply continued on with his tasks, making sure she could see each item he brought out so she would know there was nothing that was going to hurt her.  When he was ready, having placed everything out by the little sofa at the rear of the jet, he put out his hand to her.  “Let’s go where you can be more comfortable, luv.”

Her bottom lip trembled, tears still trailing through the dirt on her cheeks and it was another set of long minutes before she reached out a trembling hand to him.  He took it gratefully and gently picked her up in his strong arms, carrying her out to where he’d made a little triage area for her.  Dino saw him and gave him a thumbs up upon seeing his success.  Terry wasn’t sure congratulations were in order just yet.  She was shaking like the last leaf on the tree, her eyes were still filled with terror and with each exhale he could hear her whimpers increasing to dangerous proportions.  He didn’t know what was keeping her from leaping out of his hold on her.

He set her down as gently as he could, but she still let out a small cry as the sofa cushions came in contact with her back.  He sat her up and put a couple of pillows behind her to try and ease the pain.  He wanted to give her another shot of morphine but knew he’d have to negotiate that with her, especially after seeing the track marks along the inside of her elbows.  They’d used a lot of drugs on her from the looks of it and giving her another needle was going to need to be with her permission.  So as he wet a cloth and began the task of getting the dirt and blood off her legs, he started talking her into it.

“That feel better, luv?”  Steph’s eyes were following his hands as they moved along her feet, shins and calves.  The look in her eyes said she couldn’t believe someone was touching her and it didn’t hurt.  That made Terry’s heart ache, despite his training.  When he spoke, she looked up at him and gave a small nod.  “That’s good,” he replied and rinsed her off before fetching fresh soapy water and a new flannel to start work on her hands and arms.  Her thighs he would leave for now, until he could get the morphine into her.

“Would you like something to help ease the pain?  It’ll sting a little, but it’s just quick and then you’ll be able to rest a little easier, not in pain so much?  Then I can clean and bandage your back without hurting you.  How does that sound?”

Her breathing increased when she understood what he was asking her.  Her head shook from side to side in negation and she began to get a little agitated as he reached across her to her other arm.  Terry sat back and smiled at her.  “Let’s take a little break, okay?  You look like you could use one.”

Terry could see relief flood her body as he stood up and took a seat on the couch opposite from her.  “It’s okay, Steph.  I’m not gonna hurt you.  We can go however you want to.  There’s no rush.”

Except of course there was.  Panama City was looming before them and he needed her out, preferably, but at the very least, extremely calm.  Terry steeled himself against wanting to make sure everything was locked down tight as was his habit and looked into her eyes to keep him focused on her being a highly traumatized girl, not cargo he needed to deliver.  Dino always said Terry’s heart got him into more trouble than his cock and Terry knew it was true.  That’s why he always distanced himself, or tried to, but missions like this, which had thankfully been few, were as dangerous for him afterwards as during.

Dino came and stopped a few rows from where they were and gestured to Terry that he needed to talk.  Terry waited until he caught Stephanie’s eye and smiled.  “I’ll be right back, luv.  Just gonna go talk to my partner and then maybe we can get back to it when I come back?  Sound like a plan?”  Steph looked terrified at the prospect, but nodded, slowly pulling her legs towards her, the stark freshness of the lower halves in strange contrast to her thighs.  As her chin rested on top of her knees and slow tears began to fall again, Terry stood and walked to the front where Dino and his crew were readying for landing.

“Ter, we gotta land soon.  Is she gonna be able to be buckled in?  Poor thing looks terrified worse than a half-drowned kitten!”

“I dunno, mate.  I’m trying to talk her into letting me give her more morphine and if I can, she’ll be apples.  But you know as well as I do, I gotta go slow.”

Dino nodded.  They’d both gone to all the PTSD seminars and knew they were handling a very fragile situation.  “Yeah, man, I know.  Do what you can.  We gotta refuel in P.C. and we’re about ten minutes out now.”

Terry nodded and headed back to where Stephanie was sitting, having begun rocking again.  As he passed by Artenza in the third row, he stopped Terry and handed him a little stuffed animal.  Terry chuckled.  “From your nephew?”

“Yeah, he always packs a ‘surprise’ in my kit for me to find.  Thought it might help our passenger.”

“It just might at that, mate.  Ta.”  Terry returned to Stephanie and held out the little bear to her.  “One of my blokes thought you might like this,” he said with a grin.

He almost laughed out loud when a ghost of a smile passed over her face and she reached for the toy with no hesitation.  She swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and actually kissed the little guy before clutching him to her chest and looking up at Terry with a look of gratitude.  Terry heard Artenza’s quiet, “All right!” behind him and crouched down next to her again, hoping he could finish negotiations.

“So, luv… Ya reckon you might let me give you that medicine?”

Stephanie stared into his eyes, seemingly calculating all his past actions against his suggestion and nodded.  Her body began trembling, but she didn’t fight him as he prepared the syringe and swabbed at her arm with the alcohol rub.  As he injected her, she cried out softly and began crying again, but Terry definitely felt a lessening of fear from her.  He rubbed the injection site gently with the alcohol-soaked cotton until her tears reduced themselves to little whimpers and then watched as her eyes slowly slid closed.

“P-p-p-ple-please,” was all she managed to whisper before sinking into sleep, but Terry knew what she meant.

“No worries, luv.  I’m not gonna let anything hurt you.  Ever again.”  He hoped she heard him.

Dino had come up behind him and overheard the whispered promise.  “That’s a little dangerous, hermano.”

“I know,” Terry replied without turning around, brushing Stephanie’s hair from her face, “but I can’t not promise that, Dino.”

Dino patted Terry’s shoulder, sighing.  “Yeah, pal, I know.  You’re a sucker for strays and damsels in distress.”

Terry worked on getting Stephanie strapped in for the landing in Panama City.  “You telling me you aren’t?  Cuz I know better.”

Dino chuckled.  “Not as bad as you, Thorne.  But I’ve got your back to make up for it.”

Terry was finishing his task, using the remaining minutes before they landed to give her thighs a cursory once over so it wouldn’t be as intrusive when he could finish cleaning her properly before they arrived in California.  “You do, mate,” was all he said and Dino went back up front, leaving Terry to put everything away and get himself buckled in as the pilot announced their landing.

Chapter Two