"Are you all right?" Karen tried to slide closer to Kermit on the floor. "How are you feeling?"

Kermit focused his eyes on Karen slowly and with difficulty. "Fine ...... Just fine, sweetcakes." Then, without warning or reason, he changed the subject as he smiled and stared at her intently. "Did you know that you grow more beautiful every day. Even in here, you're beautiful."

Karen sighed. "Kermit, come on. Try to think clearly. We need to think of a way to get out of here."

Shaking his head to get rid of the drug-induced haze, he replied, "There is no way out. Straker is usually pretty thorough in designing his traps." His head started to loll to the side before he brought his head back up slowly. "It's useless."

"You escaped from him before. You can do it again. We have to try, Kermit." Karen spoke the words, but in her heart she knew she would have to engineer their escape. Kermit was in no condition to mastermind a plan. *Think, Karen, think.*

She was going to say something further but she heard the bolts of their cell door open and Straker again came in alone.

"How's the patient doing, pretty lady?"

"Call me Karen. He's doing okay, but I could use a trip to the bathroom. Surely, you can wait 5 minutes to interrogate him?"

"Of course, Karen. I can let you loose for five minutes. But what's in it for me?"

"A clean prison cell and a thank you."

Straker laughed. "Good enough." He squatted down beside her, took out his keys out from his pocket and unfastened the handcuffs on her ankles. Then he undid the chain holding her to the pipe but made certain to keep her hands handcuffed behind her.

"How can I go to the bathroom without the use of my hands?

"You'll manage. I promise to help you with your clothes when we get there."

"Thanks." She replied sarcastically.

They had walked a few steps from the door, when Karen fell to one knee. As Straker bent down to help her, she quickly struck out backwards with her leg and kicked him hard in the groin.

When he doubled over in surprise and pain she landed a sharp kick to his head, making sure that her three inch heels landed squarely on his temple. While Straker was stunned, she turned her back to the keys that he had dropped on the floor, grabbed at them with her still shackled hands, fiddled with the set until she found the smallest key she could find and with some difficulty, managed to turn the key in the tumbler.

With one hand free, she kneeled over Straker and gave him a right cross, just to make sure he stayed down. *I've got to thank Peter for that advanced self-defense class he gave last year.* Dragging her captor's limp body back into the cell, she quickly shackled him to a bar with his handcuffs, grabbed his gun, and went to free Kermit.

She undid the manacles from around Kermit's ankles and then pushed him to one side to free his hands from the accursed pipe. He was still out for the count, so Karen did the only thing she could think of. She slapped him. Hard. "Wake up, Kermit."

His head snapped up with a start. "What?" He shook his head and looked at her, with eyes a little more lucid. "How'd you get free?" he asked while flexing his suddenly free arms and standing to his feet.

"Never mind that. Let's go."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am."

They locked Straker in their cell, walked to the door, and looked each way down the long dark corridor.

"Okay, which way, Kermit? Karen asked while warily watching for Straker's guards.

"The stairs. We have to get up to ground level."

Together, they walked up the flights of stairs until they reached the landing. Hearing footsteps in front of them, Kermit gestured silently atKaren to move to one side of the vestibule while he took the other. Heslammed the door in front of him forward into the head of one guard. Whenthe other guard came to help his partner, Karen came up behind him and slammed her gun butt to side of the man's head. He slid to the floor without a sound.

Kermit looked up from relieving his subdued prisoner of his gun and ammo to admire Karen. "Remind me to marry you if we get out of this."

"What?" Karen stared at him for a second before she turned her attentionto the next set of passageways. Chalking up Kermit's comment to the sodiumpenathol, she took a peep around the corner at what looked like the front entrance. "Now, what?" She asked as Kermit came up behind her to look at the group of low-lifes in front of the main entrance playing cards. "We can't take on all of them. We'll have to find a side entrance orsomething."

Just then, they heard a familiar voice saying to the guards, "Excuse me, but my friend and I really need to get into this building, could you let us by?"

"I don't know, Pete. I don't think that they want us going in there." said the voice of Frank Strenlich as the group of men surrounded them.

"You should listen to your friend. This place is off limits." replied one of the guards.

"Looks like the calvary's here," Kermit remarked, shaking his head in disbelief. "Why don't we go help them?"

They silently sneaked up behind the group of toughs who were being distracted by Peter Caine's flying fists and joined the fray. Strenlich took out one guard with a right hook that sent the man flying. Kermit brought his arm around another guard's neck and choked him into submission. Karen tapped on a third guy's shoulder and then punched him out.

A call of 'Freeze! Police!' rang out in the night as a swarm of uniformed policemen came rushing in to subdue the other guards. Peter and Strenlich walked up to the bedraggled couple.

"Have a nice time at Le Miz?" Peter said with a grin.

"Save the comedy, Peter. Straker's tied up downstairs." Kermit replied.

"Straker. What'd he want with you two?"

"Some mysterious thing of Blaisdell's that I know nothing about."

While Kermit told the uniforms how to find Straker, Strenlich came up to Karen. 'You okay, Captain."

"Oh fine, Chief. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Did Teri call? How's Holly?"

"She's fine, Captain. She called Peter and told him that you & Kermit were missing and that she would stay with Holly until you got back."

Karen nodded her head gratefully. "Good. We need to take Kermit to the hospital. Straker injected him with some kind of truth serum. Who knows what else was in that needle."

"Are you sure you want to do that, Captain? We could ask Kermit all about his past."

"What past, Strenlich?" Kermit walked up behind Karen and planted a kiss on her neck as his arms came up around her.

Karen laughed as she covered Kermit's hands with his. "I think he's back to normal, Chief. But we'd better take him in anyway. Besides, I have other ways to make his confess. Where's your car? I have a child and a warm bed waiting for me back home. Let's go. I'll make a full report at the office after I've slept for like 20 hours."

******************

After an hour at the hospital, a half hour thanking Teri and re-tucking in Holly, who woke up at the first sound of Karen's voice, and another hour spent giving Frank and Peter the rough details of their night out, Karen and Kermit were finally ensconced on her fireplace rug, sipping scotch and watching the flames rise up from the logs and kindling.

"We could always call the box office, explain that you had a police emergency, and ask for tickets to tonight's show." Kermit said in between kisses to Karen's ears, neck, and shoulders.

"Or we could just stay home. I don't think that Teri is up to watching our little girl for another consecutive night. Unless you plan on asking Peter to baby-sit."

"You have a point." He slipped one of the straps of her gown off of her shoulder and turned her around to kiss her collarbone.

"Kermit," She protested weakly as he pushed her firmly onto the rug then moved back up to kiss her lips again. "I meant what I said earlier," he said softly as he kissed her temple.

"Meant what earlier?" answered Karen as she closed her eyes and let him kiss her eyelids.

"That I want to marry you."

Her eyes flew open and she stared at him intently. "What did you say?"

"Marry me."

"You're not serious. That doctor didn't give you enough antidote to that sodium penathol." She tried to lift herself up on her elbows, but he kept her pinned beneath him.

"I've never been so serious in my life. I love you, Karen Simms. I want to be your husband and the father of your child. Marry me." He raised his hand up to brush a strand of hair from her face then pulled back to look into her eyes and await her decision.

"Do I get hazard pay every time one of your old mercenary colleagues kidnaps us?"

Kermit laughed. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

THE END

Next Story: Sunday at the Mercenary Encampment with George

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