The Lost Princess

“You know damn well you did. You’ll never guess who is in my guest room right now?” “I’ll bite. Who?” ”Your brother. He’s here on some assignment with the consulate and got sick when we went to dinner, so I made him stay with me. Isn’t that a riot?” “Sara, listen to me very carefully. Get out of the house.” Suddenly, Sara was fully awake and reaching into her night table for her 9mm that she kept in the drawer. “What’s up, Cathy?” “Sara, Harry is here with me. He joined me yesterday as a surprise.” Her heart nearly stopped. “Cathy, I’m calling the police. Bye, I’ll call you later.” Turning on the light, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Butler at the door. She dropped her phone and trained the gun on his chest. “So, I guess I need to explain who I am.” CHAPTER 37 The nurse at the Ocean County Correction Center was always on the look-out for ways to make extra money. And this was very lucrative. All he had to do was give Inmate Peterson a little extra something in his juice. The nurse didn't care what it was. He was assured that it was untraceable and that the effects of the juice wouldn't be known for some time. And after what this creep had pulled, the nurse would have done it for free. CHAPTER 38 Shaking her head, she pushed buttons on the phone and was hitting “send” when he knocked the phone from her hand and hit her wrist, forcing her to drop the gun. It was done in one swift move, followed by him knocking her back onto the bed. She tried to scramble to the other side, but he straddled her and pinned her hands over her head with one hand and clamped his other hand over her mouth. She was kicking and trying to buck him off. “Stop for half a second and I’ll let you up. Sara, now! Calm down and I will let you up. Consider, I was standing at your door and if I had meant to do you any harm, I would have by now. I’m going to let you up, then I want you to call your parents and ask them to come over. They are part of this. All right?” Sara looked him in the eyes. Something there told her that he was being honest, despite having her pinned and pretty much at his mercy. She nodded and he slowly released his hand. Sitting up he looked at her warily. He half expected a punch in the groin and was ready for it. He got off of her and handed her the bedside phone. She took it from him and dialed her mother’s number, never taking her eyes from his. “Ma, can you and Daddy come over, right now? No, leave the girls asleep, just come over.” Standing next to the door, Butler had retrieved the gun, unloaded it and had taken it apart. He motioned for her to precede him “I suggest that we go down and put on a pot of coffee. You’re going to need it.” They were hitting the landing when her parents rushed in. They had keys to all of their children’s houses just in case of an emergency. They both were still in their pajamas and slippers. Barry had a baseball bat and Maria was sporting a shotgun. IF Sara hadn’t been so scared, she would have thought the scene funny. Maria raised the gun to her shoulder and aimed it at Butler. “Who the fuck are you, pendejo?” He held his hands up and looked at the older woman “What is it with woman and guns in this family. Mrs. Cohen. I mean no harm to your daughter. As a matter of fact, I am here to protect her. If you could kindly put your gun down, I will explain everything.” Dubiously, both of the Cohen’s followed Sara and Butler toward the kitchen. Silently, Sara started the pot of coffee and everyone took a seat. While the coffee brewed Sara joined them. “It’s going to be a few minutes. So, would you kindly explain who the hell you are.” “My name is Special Agent Butler. I am with Her Majesty’s service, MI-6.” Barry looked shocked “You mean, like that James Bond crap?” Butler gave a small grin “Something like that. I was sent here to investigate Ms. Cohen’s disappearance and achieve her recovery.” It was Sara’s turn to be shocked. “Why the hell would the Brit’s care about me?” “I think that Mrs. Cohen is going to have to explain that. Madame?” He said to Maria, pointedly. Her mother got up and went to the liquor cabinet over the stove and pulled out a bottle of Irish whiskey. Silently, she pulled down coffee mugs from the cupboard and pulled the pot out from under the brewer spout and replaced it with each mug, swapping them as they filled. She also poured a generous helping of the whiskey into each one except for Butler’s. As she passed out the mugs, she looked at Sara. “We’re going to need this.” Taking a sip, Sara wrinkled her nose and added some sugar from the bowl on the lazy Susan. Barry added some sugar to his, then some more. The coffee was really strong, especially since he wasn’t a coffee drinker by habit.