***

   Days turned into weeks, which turned into months, every day I spent watching Miss Aberra. I couldn’t help but feel dirty at times, watching her every move, unknown to her. It was my mission to keep her safe though, I had to watch her and those around her. By now I could predict everything she was about to do, I knew everything about her, from her favorite smoothie to the color she painted her nails. Luckily, I hadn’t had anything to report back to her father or intervene in. The only people she surrounded herself with was that pig of a boyfriend and a few friends. Over these months I’ve been watching her, I still had no clue what she saw in that self-absorbed prick. He didn’t care about her, he only wanted to get into her pants and from what I saw, he would stoop to anything to get it, even making her feel like she was worthless and couldn’t do better than him. If only she could see her worth and beauty.

   General Aberra was coming home anytime now from a mission. I was ready to meet with him and give him the report over the last month since he has been gone. I watched the property through my cameras and listened to the recorders David set up in the home from my RV parked on the dirt road behind the mansion, waiting for him to arrive. I saw him pull up and opened the door to invite him in.

   “How was Ukraine?” I asked as the General walked into my tiny living space.

   “Horrible,” his face dropped, “it is sickening what is going on there. We’ve seen so many war-torn countries, but this one, it hits close to home. Families just like yours and mine, losing everything, being forced underground to live in fear, young men fighting for their families with little to no training. And for what? So the Russians can have more land basically? It’s disgusting.”

   “I wish I could be there to help them.” I empathized with him, seeing the look on his face, knowing what we’ve both seen in the past in Afghanistan, I understood the pain. I wish there was more I could do to help those families.

   “We need you here though, if we can find the Russians responsible for my wife’s death and the threats made on my daughter’s life to get the information they want from me, then we will be closer to taking down the Russian’s responsible for this mess.” General Aberra reassured me. “Anything new?”

   “Unfortunately, no. Nothing has come in through any of the tapped lines and I have seen no one suspicious coming around. However, more intel we have collected shows they may try to act soon, possible within the month.”

   “Okay, keep an eye out and let me know if anything changes. On a personal note, how is she doing?”

   “Honestly General, in all due respect, I can’t stand that creep of a boyfriend. I don’t care that he is Russian, but he is just a pig of a human. No respect for women.” I couldn’t help myself but let it out.

    “Oh, trust me, I don’t like him either.” David sighed, “But I know if I try to push the issue, it will just push her more towards him. Plus, I can’t have her knowing we’ve been watching her. Hopefully she will come to her senses soon and get rid of him.”

   “I hope so.”

   “Well, Officer Hart, if that’s it, I will see my way out. Let me know if anything is out of the ordinary and I will keep an eye out as well.” David stood up and shook my hand on his way out. I know he’s been eager to see his daughter. “Oh and go ahead and take a break for a few hours. You deserve more than that.”

   “Talk to you soon, General. Thank you.” I watched as he made his way to the front of the house and decided I would take a break and get some fresh air and grab some food.

    ***

   I returned to my post about 6pm and decided to see if I had missed anything on the cameras. Regrettably, I did. I watched as the Aberras left the house and 3 strange men approached the property and entered the estate. Listening to the audio, I heard only Russian as they walked through the house, knowing nobody was in there. From what I understood, they were planning on setting the house on fire and kidnapping Scarlett. Over my dead-body would they so much as lay their revolting eyes on her. I watched as they left the property minutes before my return. Immediately, I called General Aberra to inform him of what I saw.

   “Hart, hope you took that break, why are you calling? You should be taking some time for yourself.” The general answered unbeknownst to what I had just seen.

  “Sir, I shouldn’t have taken that fucking break. They were in the house. I just missed them.” I explained everything I had seen on the cameras.

   “For fuck sake! Okay, calm down, we can’t let them know we know, and we can’t warn Scarlett.”

   “What the fuck do you mean we aren’t going to tell her?!” I was confused at his statement, we had to keep her safe.

   “We don’t want them to find out and we don’t want Scarlett to give anything away. After our dinner, meet me in my office and I’ll explain my plan. We are going to catch these sons of bitches and you are going to keep my daughter safe.”

   “Yes sir.”

   “Keep the cameras recording in case they return, and I need you to come down here and watch the perimeter in case they are watching us. Did the cameras get a good look at any of their faces?”

   “No, only their build and their voices. We may be able to run the voices through the database to see if we find a match, but that could take some time.”

   “We will do that, talk to you soon.” The general hung up and I raced to the restaurant to keep an eye out.

   I watched the cameras at the house while circling the country club. Soon enough, I saw the Aberras and Luca exit the building. David walked past my truck and gave me the signal to follow Scarlett and Luca while he went back to the house to clear it.

   I followed far behind; this was very out of the ordinary for them. What were they doing? All my senses were on high alert, knowing the kidnappers could be anywhere. I decided to listen in to Scarlett’s tapped phone just to be safe. “That’s my girl.” I heard that gut-wrenching voice on the other end. Unluckily, this was not my first time hearing the two of them have sex. This time was different though, I felt jealousy rage through my body, my stomach churned as I felt the need to rip that disgusting boy out of the car and beat his face to a pulp. He was taking advantage of her, and I had to fight the urge to kill him. I am supposed to be protecting her, not letting him take her like this. Something felt very off and if the military and CIA has taught me one thing, it’s to follow your gut. I decided to creep closer to the car and place a GPS tracker on it.

   I waited in silence for the car to pull away while I stayed behind them. I figured it was safe to start listening again.

   “I guess this is good-bye” I heard Luca say, which seemed very odd knowing what I know.

   “Well until tomorrow.” Scarlett sounded confused.

   “Right. You better get in there before your dad gets worried.” Luca said with no emotion. This was very out of the norm, and I couldn't help but feel as if he might know what is planned.

   “Love you, Luca. Bye.” I rolled my eyes, if only Scarlett could see what I see.  

   “Goodbye, Scar.” I watched as Luca drove away, no love you back, unsurprisingly.

   I observed Scarlett standing in the front lawn with a look of sadness across her face. No man should ever make a woman feel like that, I wanted to run over to her and hold her in my arms, tell her she is so much better than that piece of shit.

   I waited for David’s signal to enter the home after Scarlett went to bed. Once he waved me inside, I made my way to his office where we discussed the plan. Once the men were in the house, David would lure them to his office after they started the gas leak, to buy time for Scarlett to escape out her window, hopefully. I would then get Scarlett into my truck by any means necessary and take her to a series of safe houses to ensure we were not being followed. Once we were in the clear, I would take her to safety until we get word from David to meet at the coordinates he would specify later.

   “Now promise me, take diligent care of my daughter. I’m counting on you, Mason.” David looked me in the eyes, I could see the fear he was trying to hide.

   “I swear on my own life, sir, she will be protected.” I placed my hand over my heart.

   “I’ll warn you now, she can be incredibly determined and spirited, good luck, son. I’m putting my entire trust in you.”  

   “I won’t let you down.” I shook his hand and made my way to the lookout point.

   Curiously, I checked the GPS tracker I put on Luca’s car while we waited for the men to arrive. It shows he never even left the street. What is he still doing here? I checked the tap on Scarlett’s phone, she wasn’t expecting him. What is going on?