Return of the Phoenix - 01 by Heath Stallcup Read Free Book Online Page A

is about, but I’ve been stonewalled. All I can tell you is that we have been strongly urged by the office of the governor to see to it that you accept this offer.” Rodgers was not smiling.
    “Wait a moment.” Sanchez was still trying to piece this t ogether in her mind, “ Someone , but we don’t know who, wants me, but we don’t know why, to come work for them, but we don’t know what it is.”
    “Correct.”
    “Well, doesn’t that make a fuck load of a lot of sense?” Sanchez exclaimed.
    “I couldn’t agree more,” Rodgers stated. “However, let me say this...although you don’t have to accept this offer, when the governor’s office strongly suggests you take something…” Rodgers let that hang for a moment. Sanchez digested the ramifications of going against the governor’s office. “And who knows? Girl, this could be the job of a lifetime!” Rodgers said with a smile.
    “I suppose it could be,” Sanchez said, thinking to herself.
    Rodgers leaned forward on her desk, “You know, this all seems rather ‘cloak & dagger’ to me.” Sanchez raised her eyebrows on that one. “Either way, you are expected to catch this military flight tomorrow morning at LAX at 6AM.” Rodgers handed a sticky note to her with a flight number and gate on it.
    “Well,” Sanchez replied, “I guess I have some packing to do.”
     

 
    4
     
     
     
    Jack Thompson opened his eyes and looked around the darkened room. His wounds had been bandaged and he was co vered in an ornate, silken throw. As his eyes slowly came into focus and adjusted to the low light, he began to notice very old looking tapestries on the walls, plush pillows and throws scattered across a divan and European style antique furniture. He felt like he had been transported back in time to 17 th Century France or England.
    Jack tried to sit up, and pain shot through his lower back. He hadn’t realized he moaned until he heard it with his own ears. The sound had shattered the deafening quiet of the room. He lay there in the overstuffed bed almost panting from the pain, liste ning to his own heartbeat reverberate through his head. Opening his eyes again, he took stock of the room. One small candle flickering in the corner, a bedside table with a bowl of clear broth and a spoon, a side table covered in a lacey material. An upright chair sat at the far end of the room. He couldn’t find anything other than maybe the spoon to form into a makeshift weapon. Perhaps he could break a leg off the side table.
    The four-post bed had a heavy canopy over it made of dark red material. Perhaps velvet?
    Jack’s mind spun as pain shot through his body. He tried again to pull himself to a sitting position, but this time, he moved more slowly and deliberately. He felt the sweat pop out on his forehead from trying to overcome the pain and a sitting position in this overstuffed bed was more than uncomfortable. Taking a mental assessment of his injuries, Thompson figured his ribs were broken on both sides because each breath felt as if a crushing weight was sitting on his chest. His forearm may have been broken, but was now set with splints and wrapped in thick gauze. His legs felt heavy, and when he lifted the silken throw, he saw that they, too, were splinted.
    Damn. I’m messed up , he thought. No quick escape anytime soon .
    Jack heard footsteps approaching the door. Light in weight and echoing on a hard floor. They stopped outside his door, and he could hear the tinkling of flatware or glass as if a tray was set aside. The sound of a solid bolt being released and the heavy oak door opened slightly. More tinkling as the tray was picked up again and the door opened.
    In the murk of the room, he couldn’t see who was approaching his bed, but he could tell the form was small and fragile in appearance. A woman, most likely. As the visitor approached the bed, the small candle brightened her features and Jack could just make out her face. Most striking, indeed. Large