Bourbon And Control

A Luxury Hotel In Boston

Natalie sat upright sometime after three in the morning.  She was covered in sweat, and her heart rate started to decrease.  The dream she just experienced was about an experience that happened to her long ago.  Through the years, she had never thought of the day. She knew the incident existed, but if a thought about that day crept in, she shut it down and never let it replay.

The day she had just dreamed about was almost thirty years ago. Natalie lay in the king-size bed with the oversized mattress. She counted the years on her fingers to be sure of the time that had elapsed since that day. As her heart rate slowed, she filled a heavy glass with ice, a little cola, and a good amount of Kentucky goodness.

Then she sat at a table looking over the city, sipped her drink, and marveled at the clarity she had just experienced. 

Each second of that day long ago had replayed, and she recalled every detail.  The visualization in the dream was amazing, she thought. There was the red logo, the company's name, the names of the two men, the strong scent of camel cigarettes, and the smell of something else.

It began to unfold. Not slowly, but all of a sudden.

Nat hyperventilated as she sat. She picked up the thick glass tumbler to feel the whiskey, which shook in her hand.

She felt his odor in her nostrils and brain. She could almost taste it now as she took a long sip to wash it away.

She knew who stabbed her in the parking lot in Maine, and she knew why he tried to kill her.

Natalie had a big problem to contend with.

28 Years Ago - I 40 West Somewhere in Missouri

Natalie was awakened from a very good bit of quality sleep as Frankie pulled the rig over to the shoulder of the road.

"Stay right there," he said 

My brother and I are going to switch right now.

Young Natalie sat in the cab's passenger side as Frankie entered the space between the driver's side and her seat. He moved to the back, and she could hear two men speaking with each other in a low tone. 

The generator continued to run to keep the refrigerated trailer cold, so it was noisy.  She could not make out what they were saying. She sat for a minute, waiting for a new face to appear in the cab. 

A man's hand reached the top behind her and grasped her by her hair and neck. Another hand was under her armpit, and she was pulled to the inside of the seat and then into the back of the truck. This happened so fast and in what felt like an easy maneuver. 

She fought wildly. Natalie was young and strong for her small size. She was cornered but not yet desperate. At some point, one man held her down as the other tried to work her pants off.

"Stop fighting bitch"

"Stop fighting."

"This will be over, and then you can go."

At that statement, the other man laughed, and it was then that Nat realized they would never let her go. She knew too much about them and the truck. They would not let her live to call the police. Their story did not add up.

Natalie sat up and then began to undress for them; she put them at ease and calculated the space between them and the space to the front of the cab. She needed to get to the front of the cab to get out of the truck.

She needed to keep her shoes on and her pants. 

She slowed down as she looked at the two hungry-looking men. A dim light was on, and she looked at them as she unbuttoned her shirt. She showed fear, which was what they craved. She gave that to them.

She said, "My tits are nice. You are going to love them." "It's what you want, right?"

"Is it what you want, Frankie?" she asked.

The other man started giggling when she said, "Frankie."

Natalie started thinking of the move she would have to make to get out of the truck. She played it over in her head a few times. She would go between the seats but needed half a second to avoid their immediate tackles. 

She needed to open the door, get out, grab her pack, and run. She was sure that she could outrun them.  

She tried to remember the door handle, where it was, and how it worked, but she could not.

"You will love these, but will you be gentle with me?" "Please be gentle with me."

Again, Frankie's brother started laughing, but Frankie's eyes were affixed to her as she unbuttoned her top. 

She did not look in control as she shook and unbuttoned some more. Look scared, Natalie; look scared, she thought. In truth, she was scared, but now she was playing a part. 

She needed to be partially nude to build their confidence in her that she would stay, would please them, and join them without resistance.

"I love big, strong men like you." "It's my thing." She said.

She took her top off, and they were both looking at her bra.

She tossed her shirt toward the bed, and when both men looked at it, she moved toward the space between the two cab seats. GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT, she thought.

Then she made her move.

Her eyes focused on the passenger-side handle as the second man, Steve, began to fill the cabin from the back.

At first, she fumbled with the latch, then fumbled some more while pushing Steve back. He was coming in to grab her again when she got the door open.

He was pulling her back from the door. He was strong, and Natalie fought him. She scratched his left eye in the struggle, and he pulled back.

"Bitch" He yelled while holding his hands at his eye.

GET OUT, GET OUT

Natalie jumped out of the cab, skipping the rungs and the running board. She turned and started pulling her pack out of the truck when he reached down and pulled Natalie's hair.

"You fucking bitch he screamed."

She was pulled up to the running board outside the truck by her hair. She was now at eye level with her backpack.

She pulled her hunting knife out of the side pocket in one move. And then stabbed up into Steve's gut. She let loose three times. He let go and fell back into the rear of the cab. 

Natalie grabbed her pack and ran for nearly a mile. She stopped and carefully slipped into a cornfield.

She was scared now but stayed quiet, listening for signs of the truck or the two occupants. She put on a light jacket she had. She did not fall asleep.

She stayed until it got light out.

New York, New York - The Golden Dish Food Court.

Yeaun Bao sat in the dim corner of the Food Court. His agent reported to him and told him about their efforts to recover Chinese technology on American soil. She was one of his best agents.

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Yeaung Bao was adding things up. The operation to recover the site security electronics was partially successful. A well-trained team from the mainland crossed into what was now American territory. Their only job was to get the ground sensors and perimeter cameras that guarded the location. These were advanced Chinese products and their presence would tie the base to China. The Americans had not discovered them yet.

That trouble-making fool, Thomas Allston, found and took two of them, but they were recovered at his house.

Bao's team went to each location where a camera should be. They should have sixteen cameras and thirty-two ground units.. When they were finished, they had fourteen cameras and twenty-eight sensors. Two sets were missing. 

Compounding this problem was the report that the hardware transfer was compromised by an unknown in the parking lot of a donut store. His trusted agent was sure that she was made.

Was there a leak in the Ministry Of State Security that alerted the Americans to this simple operation?

Yeaung Bao was starting to look like a fuck up again.

He must not lose the confidence that the chairman has in him.