Stories by Claudia

Previous Chapters

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“Are you hanging in there?” Alex asked Raz.

“Yes.” Raz gasped.

Colin and Alex wandered the area looking for supplies. Alex continued to pick up rocks while keeping an eye out for boards. Alex whistled to Colin when she saw a set of ten inch wide planks tucked behind a support beam. Setting her rocks in the fire, she went to help Colin with the planks.

“This must have been some kind of ramp to the exit. I bet the hole was a trap door of some kind.” Colin pointed to shatter pieces of what might have been a trap door. Testing the boards, he nodded. “These are perfect.”

Alex took one end of the plank and Colin took the other. One at a time, they carried the planks to where Raz lay. As they had as children, Colin and Alex fell into the natural rhythm of setting up camp.

Alex fed the fire and looked for palm sized stones while Colin put Raz’s back boards together. Using his long sleeved T-shirt, Colin cut the fabric bottom into long strips. Colin laid the boards out together.

“Any wire?” Colin asked.

“I didn’t find any,” Alex said. “Ready?”

“I need your shirt.”

Stripping to her tank top, Alex threw her long sleeved T-shirt to him. He cut additional strips of cloth then began tying them together. In quick, efficient steps, Colin braded the strips together until he had four tight ropes made out of T-shirt material. He made a tight knot at the end to hold the ends together. With Alex’s help, he slipped his ropes under the planks.

“Ok Josh,” Alex said. “We’re ready to roll you over. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Raz grunted.

“One… Two… Three…”

With Alex on one side and Colin on the other, they turned him onto his side. Closing her ears against his cries of pain, they rolled him onto the planks.

“Still with us?” she asked.

“Barely,” he gasped.

One at a time, Colin moved Raz’s legs to the boards then checked for fractures. Raz’s powerful muscles were flaccid and soft but the bones seemed to be intact. Colin nodded and Alex tied his legs to the boards. Colin moved to check Raz’s arms and situate his back. He pointed to Raz’s broken arm. Alex nodded.

While Colin continued to check Raz, Alex centered Raz’s head onto the boards. She moved his left arm onto his chest.

“I’m going to give you something for pain,” Alex said. “We don’t have water. Someone brought vodka.”

“That’s exactly perfect,” Raz said.

She placed two Vicadin in his mouth then gave him a swig of vodka.

“I feel an addiction forming,” Raz said.

“Your right arm is broken, Josh,” Colin said. “We’ll need to brace it to get you out of here effectively. Alex, can you find a…”

Alex smashed a wooden dynamite box. She sorted the pieces into kindling for their fire and to use to brace Raz’s arm. When she brought the wood to Colin, he held up another set of shorter T-shirt ropes.

“You ready?”

“I think so,” Raz said.

Raz passed out from pain. One break at a time, Colin straightened the bones and used the dynamite box as a splint. To keep his arm stable, Colin tucked it next to his side. Alex helped Colin tie his T-shirt ropes around Raz’s body and the injured right arm. Colin used one final strip of T-shirt over his forehead and tied his head to the board.

Colin stood back to evaluate their work.

When Raz’s eyes opened they looked like black pieces of coal in the semi-dark. They searched Alex’s face then ran down her body. He glanced at Colin.

“Are you in pain?” Alex asked.

“Yes, pain… yes,” he whispered. “I’m cold.”

Alex nodded to Colin. Together, they went to the fire where Alex’s rocks had been warming. Using what was left of their T-shirts as gloves, they carried the hot stones to Raz. They set the stones between his legs, along both sides of his torso then one in each hand. He squirmed at first then relaxed into the heat.

“Col, can you find us some water?” Alex asked.

“Water?” Colin’s face registered relief.

“You don’t mind?”

“Better than dealing with…”

His blue eyes traversed the dark tunnel. He shook his head as if to keep the nightmares of another dark tight space, another time from creeping in.

“Go ahead,” Alex said.

Colin smiled his thanks then set to work to find something that would work as a divining rod. She sat down near Raz’s head. She held his left hand between her hands.

“What’s he doing?”

“He’s going to divine water,” Alex said. “Dad had a guy teach me, Max and Colin how to do it when we were kids. He’s really good at it.”

“I thought that was a Fey story… a fairy tale.”

“What was?”

“The Fey ran out of water during his Special Forces field training. Rather than allow his team to go even a day without water, he divined water forming the ‘Fairy Well.’ Colin showed me the well on the map.”

“The ‘he’ part is the only lie in the story. You should rest.”

“I’m too frightened. Alex, what am I going to do? I have no family. I have nothing and now I can’t move… I can’t walk… I can’t work… I’m completely disabled.”

“Shh… You have me. You have Max and John too. We’ll care for you… always. There’s no question that it sucks to be immobile. You’ll get better. You’ll see.”

Even in the semi-dark, her eyes glittered with sincerity.

“I’m going to turn this off to save the rest of the battery.” Alex turned her headlamp off.

“You can use mine.”

“Your headlamp broke in the first blast. It will take a second but my eyes will adjust.”

Alex watched Colin dig through a pile of mine junk for his divining rod. There was a 50/50 chance they would find accessible water in this tunnel. At least, Colin was busy looking for it. She felt a tug on her hand. Looking down at Raz, she noticed that he was staring at her.

“I…”

“What can I do?” she asked.

“Will you kiss me?”

Alex leaned over him and kissed his lips.

“Thank you for saving me,” he whispered. His left hand stroked her face. “I forget how soft your lips are.”

They kissed again. Alex smiled at him.

“Hey you two! Knock it off,” Colin yelled from a junk pile near the wall. “I don’t care what you say. Friends shouldn’t kiss each other on the lips. Or sleep in the same bed. Any third grader knows that!”

Alex laughed.

“Found it!” Colin exclaimed.

Turning, Alex watched Colin pull a piece of rebar from a pile of junk. Raz tugged on her hand.

“How will anyone ever find us? Joseph removed all of our GPS locators. The Boy Scout destroyed the one in your hip. Alex, we are lost and stuck in this hole and I’m…”

“Shh… there is a hole to the outside. They are moving equipment here to dig us out. We’ll be out in a matter of hours. We have to wait.” To distract him from his anxiety, Alex asked, “Tell me about your back. You’ve dealt with so many huge things, why is this such a big deal?”

“You know I played football.”

“Recruited as a running back to play for the Giants.”

“To start for the New York Giants. I was drafted in the second round. Big contract, signing bonus. My future was set,” Raz said. “One false move, my second game in the NFL, and a helmet hit me in the back. I don’t think he did it on purpose. The player was devastated. My vertebrae broke. I lost everything. I had… no one. Momma was dead. The Giants pulled out of the contract. I didn’t even get the signing bonus. I had no money. No family. My high school coach let me stay in his spare bedroom until I was walking. I was supposed to have surgery but I… couldn’t.”

“Why? Why has surgery been so impossible for you?”

“I…” he snorted a laugh. “I didn’t want to be paralyzed. I’m terrified of this… this very thing. Trapped and unable to get out; I have nightmares about being paralyzed and alone.”

“You’re not alone anymore,” Alex said.

“Well hello sweetheart,” Colin yelled. “Bring the empty bottle, Alex.”

Alex hopped up to help. Wandering around an ore cart, she saw that Colin had found a small spring streaming along the wall of the tunnel.

“It was under this junk,” Colin said. “No divining necessary.”

Alex hugged him.

“Take one more swig,” she said.

Colin took a long drink from his vodka then gave her the bottle. While Colin filled Raz’s water bottle, she pour the rest of his vodka onto the ground. He filled his bottle then took a drink.

“Have another Xanax?” he asked.

“You’ve had a lot of alcohol.” Looking up at her six foot five inch brother, she whispered, “I don’t want to lose you.”

He smiled.

“I’m sleepy enough now,” he said. “Do you mind taking care of everything while I nap?”

“Easy,” she said.

Colin lifted her off the ground in a hug.

“You’re the best second sister twin a guy could want,” he said.

“You’re the best bigger little brother a girl could want,” she repeated her usual response.

He kissed her cheek. They walked back to Raz.

“We have water!” Colin said.

Raz gave a weak cheer. While Colin made himself comfortable next to Raz, Alex helped Raz take a drink of water. She watched Colin sigh then fall asleep.

“How does he do that?” Raz asked.

“Childhood training, military training,” she said. “You have to learn to sleep on demand because you never know when you won’t be able to sleep. Would you like some water?”

“I need to urinate,” he said.

“I can help,” she said.

She opened the buttons of his jeans then led his left hand to the gap in his white boxer shorts. She turned her back to give him some privacy.

“Ok,” he said.

Alex helped him button his pants. She held the bottle for Raz to take a drink of water.

“I think I’ve been underground more in the last week than I have in … Well, ever,” Raz said. “Why have we been underground so much?”

“I’ve wondered if it’s supposed to trigger me to the room or maybe to the vault.”

“Before we left Ben said the weirdest thing,” he said.

“And?”

“Right.” Raz laughed. “Much of what he says is strange or obtuse.”

“It’s how he thinks. He says a part of some puzzle he’s working on. I usually ignore him until he has a cogent thought. What did he say?”

“He told me Antigone was buried alive underground. I think he meant you.”

“I’ll do my best not to kill myself,” Alex said.

“We are buried alive.”

“She was buried alive as punishment for burying her brother against the wishes of the king. I haven’t buried anyone.”

“Alexander.”

“An empty grave doesn’t really count,” Alex said.

“I’m stretching back to high school English here, but I thought she was buried because she followed her own moral code. Her defiance of the King is an act of civil disobedience. And she was never sorry she did it. She felt her moral code was more valid than the King’s law.”

“Okay,” Alex said.

“You’re like that,” he said.

Annoyed, Alex rubbed her head creating a dirt smudge across her forehead.

“Who’s the King?”

“Good question,” Raz said.

“Since we’re talking about good questions,” Alex said. “Who called you to tell you the Fey Special Forces Team was killed? Ben never said.”

“Someone who is no longer living,” Raz said.

“That’s what he’s told everyone. I tried to search your phone records but they were deleted when all of the Fey Special Forces Team files were deleted. Why is this a secret?”

“I think Ben’s afraid you will get upset.”

Alex raised her eyebrows in surprise. What could possibly upset her more than the murder of the Fey Special Forces Team?

“Who?”

“Carlos.”

Alex reacted as if he had punched her in the face. Unable to express her horror, she hopped up to put more wood on the fire. Jesse appeared by the fire.

“Sweet Jesus! Carlos?” Jesse asked.

Alex shook her head. Carlos was Ben’s assistant prior to Raz. He was a handsome, sweet talker who used sex to get what he wanted. His test scores and work history spoke of a brilliant operative. But Carlos was incompetent. Because he claimed he and Alex were sexually involved, it took Ben and Alex a year to get rid of him. The last time she saw Carlos, he told her she was the love of his life.

To stall for time, she set about replacing the cool stones around Raz with warm stones from the fire. When she sat down near Raz’s head, she saw his deep concern for her.

“How did he die?”

“He shot himself through the roof of his mouth,” Raz said. “When we were forced to leave you, we went to his home in Amsterdam. The coroner places his death around the time he called us.”

“You’re sure he killed himself?”

“Yes. We intercepted a coded letter he wrote to you.”

“How involved was he?”

“He believed he was a major pipeline of information for the killers,” Raz said.

“That doesn’t mean anything. He was grandiose and delusional.”

“At best,” Raz said. “He knew the Fey Special Forces Team had been killed.”

“He’s not the King,” Alex shrugged. “God, poor Carlos. He was so talented at so many things. He wanted so badly to be a super spy. He just wasn’t.”

Raz smiled at her sweet sentiment. Only Alex could feel sorry for someone who gave her so much grief.

“Shall I call you Antigone from now on?”

“Hey, I might be a bastard child, but my mother is not Ben’s mother.” Alex laughed.

Raz laughed then groaned.

“You should sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

“Will you rest?” he asked.

“I’ll probably talk to Jesse. He’s been commenting on everything we’ve talked about.”

Raz smiled.

“Would you like more pain meds?”

“No, I’ve been fighting sleep,” he said. “I only have to shut my eyes…”

He was sound asleep. Stretching her neck, she heard the sound of large machinery. It wouldn’t be long. Jesse sat down next to her.

“Wanna talk?”

“Not really,” Alex said. “You?”

“Nah. We’ll figure it out.”

“Together.”

Alex held her hand out. Jesse placed his hand over hers.

“Together,” Jesse said.

Holding hands, they sat in silence watching the sleeping men and the fire. Twelve hours later, an earth moving machine broke through the surface. While Alex put the fire out, Colin used a morphine auto injector from the team’s medical pack on Raz. Raz would sleep for the rest of the trip home. Trece and White Boy carried him from the tunnel.

After all those hours of silence in the warm tunnel, the wind, air, noise and people were overwhelming. And very welcome.

They were flying toward the Castiloon parking lot before anyone realized Alex’s arm was in bad shape. She waved off the drama but accepted an actual arm sling. Once back in the Super Hercules, she nestled against Max.

Home was only a short nap away. She fell asleep thinking of John, Maggie and her new fluffy bed.

F

Learning to Stand is the second novel in the Alex the Fey thriller series
written by Claudia Hall Christian.

The novel is available in paperback at Amazon, our store, your local library and bookstore.
Entire chapters are be published at
StoriesbyClaudia.com and AlextheFey.com.

Join the Alex the Fey Facebook Group

Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and ELEVEN

Monday Evening – 7:30 P.M. PDT

“Did you see that?” Jill asked.

“The bright flashes of light?” Jacob asked.

“Like a million sparklers going off all a once,” she said.

“Yes, I saw them.”

“Wow,” Jill said.

She nestled her head in his arms. He kissed her bare neck and shoulders. They were entwined in the back corner of the hotel elevator.

“Are we off the ground?” Jill asked.

“A couple feet,” he said. “Sorry.”

They lowered to the ground. He shifted to disengage and buttoned his jeans. She kissed his lips. For a moment, they were lost in the passion that had levitated them. Jill sighed and he stroked the sheer back of her skimpy dress.

“Did that happen last time?” Jill asked.

“Yes,” he said.

[Read more →]

Previous Chapters

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The force of the explosion blew her forward. Out of training and experience, more than thought, Alex landed in a plank position on her hands and the balls of her feet. Her ears rang in an eerie silence of explosion induced deafness. Falling to her stomach, she belly crawled forward to where Raz lay in a crumpled ball. Colin crawled toward her.

Colin pointed to his ears. Confirming she couldn’t hear either, Alex pointed to her ears. She pointed to Raz then leaned back. A Special Forces trained medic, Colin began looking over Raz. He pointed to Raz’s legs. Raz’s legs pointed in opposite direction.

Raz’s back had gone out.

Using American Sign Language, Alex instructed Colin to help her turn over Raz. Colin was clearing Raz’s mouth when Jesse flew toward them.

“Another bomb! Right here! Go, go, go!”

When Alex grabbed Raz’s arm, Colin looked up at her. She pointed to the side tunnel. Colin shook his head. He didn’t want to move Raz.

“Another bomb!” Alex signed.

Colin’s face registered shock. He grabbed Raz’s other arm. They half carried and half dragged Raz’s body into the side tunnel. They were twenty yards into the tunnel when they were blown off their feet by another bomb.

Alex, Raz and Colin fell forward together. Alex managed to catch herself with her arm cast and elbow. Colin landed on his right shoulder. Raz landed on top of Alex and Colin. They skid forward along the dirt floor until they came to a halt.

Debris rained down on them. The air choked with dust. Alex counted to sixty before daring to look up. Raz groaned when she moved out from under him. Rolling to her side, she saw Colin was checking Raz from his side.

Another earth shattering boom and everything went dark.

FFF

Forty-five minutes later

Saturday morning

March 29 – 3:12 A.M. CDT

Inside the Mariscal Mine

Not quite unconscious, and not awake, Alex groaned. Breathing, she lay face down.

One breath in.

One breath out.

She heard nothing more than the ringing in her ears. Rolling onto her side, she felt a small hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Zack’s girlfriend Bestat Behur.

“Do not move quite yet,” purred Bestat.

Alex pointed to her ears.

“Yes, Alexandra, you cannot hear. We don’t need to speak out loud.” Bestat smiled.

“Did you transport through all this dirt?” Alex asked.

“I am not able to do that,” Bestat said. “There is an opening up ahead. Small, but enough for me to get through. I thought you’d rather see me in my more… familiar form.”

Alex nodded. She had only seen Bestat in her ‘other form’ one time. They were flying fast over Egypt when a ray of sunlight sparkled off this gorgeous purple and yellow flying serpent gliding next to the chopper. The vision was a gift, a thank you, for rescuing someone Bestat cared about deeply. Usually, Alex saw Bestat as she appeared now, a golden skinned beautiful woman with waist length dark hair and large almond-shaped, rust-colored eyes. She was dressed in stylish linen pants and a silk blouse.

“I always thought this shape was an illusion,” Alex said. “Your clothes are never wrinkled.”

“That is an illusion,” Bestat laughed. “I spend most of my time in this form now. Zackery can be so frisky. This form is such fun.”

Alex smiled. Remembering Raz and Colin, Alex jerked up to look. Unconscious, Raz was face down with his right arm underneath him. Colin lay next to him on his side. They were both breathing.

“Your Rasmussen’s vertebrae has compressed his spine. I’ve been able to strengthen him and protect his spine. He will survive. And probably walk. His right arm is also broken near the wrist. He will need your brother’s help.”

Alex moved to get up then groaned.

“Give yourself a moment. I have healed your bleeding.”

“Thank you,” Alex said.

“Your arm is…”

Bestat shook her head. Alex lifted her left arm to look at it. Her fiberglass cast had collapsed near the break. Looking into the cast, she saw her arm had a two inch divot where her ulna had collapsed toward her radius. So much for her simple fracture.

“I don’t think the cast was made for all of this.” Bestat gestured to the tunnel. “I’ve blocked your pain. I am happy to fix this little break but how will you explain it?”

“Better leave it.”

“Alexandra, your brother…”

“Colin? What?” Alex asked. She reached over to touch Colin. He groaned.

“His mind… He will not tolerate being down here,” Bestat said. “I cannot overcome all of the grief… “

“He’s never dealt with being a hostage,” Alex said.

“You will have to watch him. I’m sorry. I wish…”

“I wish I could too,” Alex said.

“Yes, the dragon and the fairy. We are useless against human grief.” Bestat touched Colin and he dropped unconscious. “You have your pills?”

“The ones John always makes me bring?” Alex asked.

Bestat nodded. Alex patted her pockets until she felt the packet of pills.

“You will need them for the men,” Bestat said.

“My arm?” Alex asked.

“As I have before, I will block your pain from a distance,” Bestat said. “There is enough air for fire. After your brother helps your Rasmussen, get him to find water. That will help keep his mind busy.”

“Then what?”

“Use your pills to put him to sleep. He will take them because he doesn’t want to feel.”

Alex nodded.

“They are working to free you,” Bestat said. “But it will be a number of hours. Your little band of men were able to get out with the children. They are very anxious without you.”

Alex nodded.

“I must go,” Bestat said. “Will you be all right here? Can your mind handle the dark? Your Jesse was unsure.”

“I think so,” Alex said.

“Alexandra, this cloud that surrounds you,” Bestat said. “You know what it is, don’t you?”

Alex shook her head.

“Your fairy instincts inform you that you’ve been tragically betrayed.”

“By everyone.” Alex’s smile dropped and her face clouded with sorrow.

“This is your error,” Bestat said. “Yes, your friends have been… human. The betrayal is deeper, bigger. Somewhere inside, you know who. You knew this before, and you’ll know it again.”

“You won’t tell me?”

“I will not tell you what you’ve purposely forgotten,” Bestat said. “You will have time, while you wait, to think on this.”

“On what?”

“On the reason you feel powerless to deal directly with this betrayal.”

“I don’t feel powerless. I’ve spoken to every single person. I dealt with John, my parents, Ben. I… Oh.” Alex closed her eyes. Pushing out a frustrated breath, her eyes popped open. “You’re saying the betrayal is someone other than the people around me.”

Bestat smiled. Leaning over, her dark hair brushing Alex’s face, she kissed Alex’s cheek.

”Zackery will come to get you. Look for him. I will keep your brother and your Rasmussen asleep for a while so you may get set up.”

“Can you fix our hearing?” Alex asked.

“It’s done,” Bestat said out loud. Like a loving elder, her dark eyes caressed Alex’s face. Her hand cupped Alex’s chin. “I am saddened that you must suffer all of this.”

“But I must?”

“Yes.”

Bestat stood. Alex watched her walk a few feet away. In a flash, she transformed into her gleaming serpent shape. Bestat laughed and fire jumped onto a tidy stack of wooden boxes. Alex leapt to tend the fire. When the fire burned steady, Alex looked up. The woman who was a dragon was gone.

Alex touched her headlamp. By some miracle, the light flickered then came on. She began exploring their chamber. The main tunnel had collapsed behind them creating a wall of rock and dirt. She went to the wall to check to see if she could hear anything or see any light.

Nothing.

They were not going to get out through the main entrance. Turning in place, she assessed the area they landed in. The mine had used this area for mine trash. Seventy-year-old wooden dynamite boxes, broken ore cars, rebar, and general mine trash littered the space. There were also the piles of newer trash. The boy’s captors had stored their trash here. The FBI would be so very happy.

About a hundred yards from where Colin and Raz lay was another wall of rock, dirt and debris. There was a hole, no bigger than mail slot near the top of the wall. This was where Bestat entered the tunnel. Through the hole, she could hear men yelling. Lights flashed as if vehicle headlights were passing over the hole.

“At least, we’re not completely cut off,” Colin said. “I’d lose it if we were.”

“You’re not alone this time.”

Alex hugged her younger brother. Hearing a Black Hawk fly over the opening, their head jerked to look for the helicopter. Shrugging to Alex, Colin turned away to put a piece of wood on the fire.

“Nice fire,” he said. “Matches?”

“Sure,” she said.

“The fire will keep us toasty in this small space. I found Daniel Joiner over there by that pillar.”

Alex turned to look.

“There’s not much to look at. He had a road ID on his shoe with his name on it.”

“We should cover him,” Alex said.

“I put my jacket over him,” Colin said.

Alex smiled at her kind, thoughtful brother.

“God, Alex, your arm!”

He took her arm to look more closely.

“You’ll need surgery,” he said. “Are you in pain?”

“I’m all right,” she said.

“Your hand is swelling again. How’s your hip? Abdomen?”

Alex swatted him away from her like he was a fly. He raised an eyebrow.

“We don’t have the medical pack. Do we have anything to use for a sling?”

“A sling?”

Alex followed Colin back to where Raz lay.

“Do we have meds?”

“Yep.”

They went through all of their possessions for something to use for a sling. Finally, Alex agreed to let him modify her sports bra. She stripped off her long sleeved T-shirt, tank top, and dragon body armor.

“It’s not like you need the support,” he said. “You should see Julie. Ever since she got pregnant, they’re huge. Now that she’s so close to having the baby?”

She threw the bra at his face at his gesture of how large his pregnant wife’s breasts were now. While Alex dressed, he made a loop out of her sports bra. He hooked her left wrist through one end of the loop and the other around her neck.

“How’s that?”

“Better.” Alex smiled.

Looking around their little cavern, Colin shivered.

“Anxious?”

Colin nodded.

“Would you like a Xanax?”

Alex gave him a pill then reached for her water bottle.

Fuck.

She’d left her water bottle on the floor of the mining office. They drank the last of Raz’s water before they reached the mine. She’d signed that she would ass-ist Raz with her water.

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

“Do you have water?”

“Lime Vodka.” Colin shrugged.

“COLIN!”

“Hey, I’m a civilian on spring break. I know it’s pretty stupid.” He shrugged. Imitating his father’s voice, Colin said, “Preparation beats rescue.”

Alex smiled.

“I don’t have a fucking clue what it means to be a civilian,” Colin said.

He washed the Xanax down with a swig of lime vodka then coughed. Alex laughed at his disgusted face.

Raz groaned. His left arm waved in the air as he tried to find a way to get up.

“ALEX! ALEX!” Raz screamed.

“I’m right here.”

Alex and Colin dropped to either side of Raz. Alex took his left hand. While Colin checked his vitals, Alex cleared the sand and dirt from his mouth.

“I can’t move my legs,” Raz said. “Since the first bomb. Where are we?”

“We’re stuck in the side tunnel, Josh,” Alex said.

“Josh?” Colin asked.

“My name is Joshua Peretz,” Raz grunted.

“Craig. Joshua Craig Peretz,” Alex said. “We found an opening and they know we’re here. We’ll probably be out by morning.”

“Douglas, that’s my middle name. Generals. We all have a General’s first name as our middle name.” Colin continued checking Raz for fractures or injury. “Ironically, none of us took our confirmation saints as our middle name. You’d think we were smorgasbord Catholics.”

“We are smorgasbord Catholics, Colin,” Alex laughed.

“Speak for yourself. I’m a proud member of the C and E Catholic club.”

“C and E?” Raz laughed then yelped with pain. “Fuck Colin.”

“Christmas and Easter,” Colin said. “Now Alex and Max, they share a middle name but it’s spelled…”

“Differently, yes,” Raz laughed. “STOP DOING THAT.”

“What?”

“Making me laugh. It hurts like hell.”

“Identity is important, Mr. Joshua Craig Peretz. Especially to third graders,” Colin said. “This conversation is a show stopper in my classroom.”

Giving Colin the space to work, Alex began collecting fist sized stones from around the cavern. She set the stones along the edge of the fire.

“We need to get you a little more situated. Your back is straight but your legs are a little twisted from when we dragged you,” Colin said. “Alex, can you grab a leg?”

Together, Colin and Alex straightened out Raz’s legs. Raz grunted with every movement.

“How’s your pain?” Colin asked.

“Yes, pain.”

“Well my Daddy always said…” Colin started.

“Safety, first aid, warmth, and water in that order,” Colin and Alex said together.

“What does that mean?” Raz asked.

“We have work to do,” Colin said.

F

Learning to Stand is the second novel in the Alex the Fey thriller series
written by Claudia Hall Christian.

The novel is available in paperback at Amazon, our store, your local library and bookstore.
Entire chapters are be published at
StoriesbyClaudia.com and AlextheFey.com.

Join the Alex the Fey Facebook Group

Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and TEN

One week later
Monday mid-day — 11:30 A.M.

“So you know who I am,” Nash said.

He sat down next to Charlie’s bed at Denver Health.

“You’ve got to be the gym guy’s son,” Charlie said. “You look just like him.”

“The gym guy?”

Nash wrinkled his face. He’d spent the entire bike ride to Denver Health pumping himself up for this conversation. He wasn’t going to take any crap from this Charlie guy. Teddy stood near the door to back him up.

“I don’t know his name,” Charlie shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think Sandy ever told me his name.”

“Aden Norsen,” Nash said. “I’m Nash.”

Nash held out his hand and Charlie shook it.

“My Mom and Dad were talking about you coming to live with us,” Nash said. “Sandy… I mean Mom really wants you to live with us. Dad will do anything for Mom, so…”

“I don’t know anything about it, bro,” Charlie said. “I’m supposed to get out of here today or tomorrow. Seth said I could live with him but Sandy wants me to go to rehab. That’s what I know.”

Nash opened his mouth to say something.

“Wow, you look like the pilot,” Charlie said to Teddy. “Who are you?”

“Ted Jakkman,” Teddy said.

“Yea, Jakkman,” Charlie said. “Sergeant Jakkman. I bet he’s your Dad.”

“My Dad’s a Captain,” Teddy said. “He’s the best pilot in the US Air Force.”

“You must be very proud,” Charlie said with dripping sarcasm.

Defensive, Teddy moved forward to hit Charlie. Nash held him back. The boys shared a long look. Teddy went back to the door and Nash sat down again.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

A half hour later

Saturday early-morning
March 29 – 12:07 A.M. CDT

Rio Grande River

Alex looked out across the water. Mexico and the Santa Elena Canyon Protected Area stretched to her right. They passed small dwellings tucked among the reeds and bushes along the bank of the Rio Grande. On her left, Bend National Park hillside rose in a sage and cactus encrusted hillside.

They crept along the Rio Grande in six canoes. Each canoe held three people: a Texas Ranger, one of her men and either a guide, a United States Border Patrol officer or a Mexican Grupa Beta. Trece sat behind the guide in the first canoe. White Boy rode in the last canoe.

They put in at Castolon Visitor’s Center. Using small outboard motors, they made great time along the Rio Grande. Shortly after passing Woodsons Campground, they shut off the motors to paddle.

Alex wouldn’t begin the mission until every man could recite each boy’s name, his mother’s name, his age, and approximately what he looked like. White Boy and Trece carried backpacks full of supplies. They were prepared for seven missing boys.

Their silenced weapons were prepared for the captors.

They would complete this mission in silence. No one spoke since entering the water. They had complete radio blackout. To avoid temptation, no one brought a radio or walkie talkie. They left Vince’s cell phone with Max at the Visitor’s Center. Even Alex’s pocket computer was off.

They inched their way along the river. The only sound was the soft slap of the paddles in the Rio Grande.

Raising his arm, the guide indicated they were nearing Tally Campground. They would leave the Border Patrol, and guides, at Tally Campground and move forward with the Texas Rangers. Alex and the men would enter the mine while the Texas Rangers subdued the men in the trailer.

At least that was the plan.

Standing at the Tally Campground landing, Alex looked up at the ten mile hike in front of her. Less than two days ago, she’d fought with the Boy Scout and lost her Simon. Her pain ranged from the deep loss in her heart to the dull ache of her broken left arm. She dreaded the hike.

Yet, when Colin and Trece took off jogging up the hill, she fell in place behind them. Raz jogged beside her. Troy and White Boy closed rank. The Texas Rangers followed the soldiers. They ran straight up the hill until they were in sight of the mine complex. They slowed to a quiet walk.

The soldiers crept toward the entrance of the mine. The mine was sealed by a plywood barrier with a padlocked wooden door near the center. Taking a pair of bolt cutters from his pack, Trece watched for Alex’s signal to cut the lock. With weapons drawn, the Texas Rangers moved to cover the trailer’s door and windows.

On her right hand, Alex counted down: Five – Four – Three – Two – One.

On one, Trece clipped the padlock and White Boy bashed the wood at the entrance of the mine.

The soldiers ran into the mine.

Flipping on their headlamps, the men moved at a rapid but silent pace through the tunnel. A half mile into the mine, Trece and White Boy fell back to make sure no one entered or exited the behind them. Alex and Raz took the lead.

The sound of the Texas Rangers gunfire reached them and Alex started running. Troy – a faster more accomplished runner – passed Alex and Raz. Colin ran a foot behind Troy until he turned to investigate a side tunnel.

Alex reached the side tunnel when Colin gave a low whistle.

He’d found a child.

White Boy gave two low whistles indicating he would assist Colin.

With Troy ahead, and Raz at her side, Alex continued forward. Reaching the mine office, Troy skid to a stop and spun in place. Tipping his head to the side, he listened.

The mineshaft was silent. Only the drip from a distant water leak broke the tomb-like stillness. When Alex and Raz reached the mine office, Troy held his fingers to his lips. He shook his head then pointed to his ears.

No sound.

Alex pointed to Raz and Troy. The men moved forward with bright flashlights. Searching in every dark corner outside of the mine office, they shook their heads.

Nothing.

Uneasy, the men retreated to her side. They had expected to meet the captors here.

So far, they saw only dust and silence. Alex crept to the mine office. Pressing herself against the wall, she counted down.

Three – Two – One.

Troy kicked open the office door. The door swung back and forth on its hinges.

Squeak. The door swung into the office.

Squawk. The door swung toward them.

Nothing.

Hearing movement inside the office, Troy and Raz dropped to their stomachs.

Nothing.

Alex pulled her handguns to firing position. In one quick movement, she caught the door with her knee. Troy flipped to standing and drew his weapon to stand behind her. Raz belly crawled forward to cover them from the behind. She waited until the men were in place before stepping into the doorway.

Sensing movement to her right, she turned to fire.

Two-year-old Cory Joiner ran straight toward them. Alex stepped to the side. Troy caught the toddler before he ran into the mine. Alex swept to her left.

Nothing.

Where were the captors?

The child in Troy’s arms screeched in terror. Too young for real words, he flailed at Troy. As if he had done it every day of his life, Troy holstered his weapons, found a Snicker’s bar in his back pocket, unwrapped the candy and held it out all while holding the writhing child. Still screaming, the boy grabbed the candy with both hands.

Raz flicked on the office lights.

They were standing in a makeshift bedroom. Three boys were tucked into fouled blankets toward the edges of the room. Raz bent to the child closest to him then shook his head.

Five-year-old Marvin Joiner was dead.

Kneeling next to a boy, whose face was pressed into the wall, Alex pressed her fingers into his neck. The boy was alive! When she rolled him onto his back, he groaned.

Tristan Joiner’s eyes fluttered. Slits of blue showed through purple, swollen eyes. Dropping to her knees, Alex held her water bottle near his mouth. His broken and bruised lips opened and she poured a tiny amount of water in his mouth.

“I knew you’d come,” Tristan whispered.

He slipped back into unconsciousness.

With care, Alex set his head back onto the ground. Looking up, she saw Raz pull a filthy blanket over ten-year-old Daniel Joiner’s face. They found four boys. Two dead. Two alive.

No captors.

Alex looked up at the sound of a low whistle. Colin and White Boy were close. When White Boy appeared in the door, Alex pointed to Cory. White Boy took Cory from Troy and ran from the mine.

“What did you find?” Using American Sign Language, Alex asked to Colin.

“David Joiner.” Colin signed back. His face was lined with sorrow. “He’s been dead for at least a week, maybe two.”

Alex held up two fingers. They were missing two boys: Kyle and Cody. Colin and Troy nodded.

Raz stood with his hands on his hips in front of what looked like a solid wall. Raz shook his head. He pointed toward the wall. Troy pressed his head against the wall. They had expected a small room there. But there was no sign of a door.

There were quick footfalls moving toward them in the mine. Nudging the door closed, Colin switched off the overhead light. They shut off their headlamps and drew their weapons.

Crouching in the dark of the putrid office, Alex vowed to find the men responsible for this horror. Her rage for Cee Cee Joiner burned in her belly.

The footsteps slowed to walking. The men braced to respond.

The door creaked open.

A flapping white cowboy hat appeared in the doorway. The Texas Rangers moved into the office. Their bright faces broadcast their success. The men in the trailer were neutralized.

Alex pointed to Tristan. The leader of the Rangers nodded his head and pointed his directions to his men. The four men, two on each side, thread their forearms under Tristan. With gentle care, they lifted the boy from the ground and carried him from the office.

While the Rangers worked, Raz ran his hands over the wood panel until he found the edges of a door. Stepping to the side, Raz signaled for Alex, Troy and Colin to move away from the door. He gave swift press and the latch of the door opened. The door swung about half open. Troy, Colin and Alex held their positions.

Nothing.

Alex pointing Troy and Raz to the wall. With Colin at her back, she pulled the door open.

Shock registering on her body. She stopped moving. Colin gasped.

Unconscious, but alive, Cody and Kyle Joiner were duct taped to wooden chairs. The undercarriage of each chair was filled with Tovex 800 explosives. The Tovex sausages were wired and set for explosion. The wires from the explosives went toward a computer, hooked on the opposite wall, for remote detonation. There was enough Tovex to bury them forever in this mine.

Alex held Colin back. She pointed to a corner where a webcam broadcast the children to the Internet. Colin moved again to rescue the children. Alex leaned into him to keep him in one place. She let go of the door and it swung shut.

Alex signaled for Troy, Raz and the two remaining Texas Rangers to follow her into the mine. Once there, she closed the door to the office. She held up one finger for them to wait. Turning on her pocket computer, she weighed her options in her mind.

There was no way to know when they would detonate. Keeping everyone underground was a terrible risk. They would definitely detonate if they thought Alex or her men were inside the room.

“The boys are alive, Alexandra,” Jesse said in Spanish. “The computer is counting down.”

“How long?” she signed to Jesse.

“Eleven minutes. Give or take.”

“Do you know where they are?” Alex set her watch to mark down eleven minutes.

“I’ve been with you,” Jesse said. “If you shut the power it will go off immediately. If you remove the boys, you have two minutes before it blows. There’s also a battery charge… I can’t tell what it will do.”

“More bombs,” Alex signed to Jesse.

Colin pressed passed Troy and Raz. Signing to Alex he asked, “Who the fuck are you talking to?”

Alex made Jesse’s angel sign.

“Oh, you can talk,” Jesse said.

“What about cell phones?” Alex asked out loud in Spanish.

“Ma’am, you will have to go to the surface for a signal,” the leader of the Texas Rangers said.

“What he said,” Jesse said. “I’m going back to the kids. Get going lazy butt.”

“Ok, we have a little less than nine minutes before this blows,” Alex said. “The children are alive. If we cut the power, the bombs will blow. If we move the boys, it blows.”

While her eyes watched the men react, the wheels in her head kept moving.

“Colin, Raz and you guys,” she pointed to the Rangers. “I need you to go to the door – just to the door. Wait for my signal.”

The men started to move.

“Before you go, you should know there’s a risk of explosion.”

“There’s a risk now,” Colin said. “Plus, you’ll get us out of here.”

Alex wished she had his confidence. Nodding to Colin, she looked down at her pocket computer.

“Troy, I need you to get this pocket computer to the top. When there, click the icon marked ‘pulse’ twice. That’s an electromagnetic pulse so be sure to put the cover back on the computer.” Looking at her watch, she said, “You have seven and a half minutes to get there and get to Trece. He’ll know what to do.”

Troy took her pocket computer and sprinted the half mile to the mine entrance. Letting out a breath, Alex entered the mine office.

“We can speak but softly. We aren’t sure what the webcam will pick up,” she said. “We are going to pulse the area. The pulse will disable all electronic equipment including anything you have on your person.”

“We didn’t bring any,” Raz said.

“Good,” she said. “The boys are hooked to the Internet. My guess is they planned to blow them with Joiner watching. I have a lead shielded electromagnetic pulse safe satellite blocker. Raz, you will have to disconnect the children from the battery in the computer.”

“Got it.”

“Colin, grab the boys.”

“Sure,” Colin said.

“Sirs,” Alex addressed the Texas Rangers. “I need you to get in the room. Fast and dirty then help Colin get the children out of the room.”

“Consider it done,” the Rangers gave her a two finger salute.

“This is the order of things, electromagnetic pulse, disable satellite, grab the boys, and hope for the best. I will wait in the tunnel for the signal.”

Alex stood facing the entrance of the mine. The eerie silence and damp wind sent shivers up her spine. The dark seemed to surround her.

“Don’t go there,” Jesse said. He appeared at her side. “You’re not in the room.”

“I’m in a mine in Texas. My name is Alexandra Hargreaves.” She began the technique she used to keep herself from going into PTSD flashbacks. “I’m a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army.”

A loud catcall echoed through the tunnel. Trece’s signal. She flicked the satellite blocker and ran into the office.

“GO!”

The Rangers smashed the door. Raz ran to the computer and Colin rushed to the boys. Dropping to her knees, Alex grabbed the wires which connected the boys to the computer and cut through them with her Leatherman Freestyle knife. By the time she had cut the last wire, Colin and the men were lifting the boys from the chairs. The Texas Ranger’s carried the boys out of the mine. Colin helped Alex to her feet.

“Got it,” Raz said.

“Let’s get out of here,” Alex said. “We have three minutes until original detonation. I don’t want to risk it blowing.”

They raced through the mine. With Colin ahead, and Raz in the middle, Alex followed as fast as her grinding hip would allow. They were almost to the second mine shaft when Raz turned, as if to catch a football, to look for her.

A large explosion rocked the mine shaft.

F

Learning to Stand is the second novel in the Alex the Fey thriller series
written by Claudia Hall Christian.

The novel is available in paperback at Amazon, our store, your local library and bookstore.
Entire chapters are be published at
StoriesbyClaudia.com and AlextheFey.com.

Join the Alex the Fey Facebook Group

Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and NINE

Monday evening — 6:45 P.M.

“You’re his…” the Emergency Room resident said.

Sandy, Jill and Jill’s mother, Anjelika, were sitting in a family waiting area at Denver Health when the resident approached. He was looking for Charlie’s mother. Sandy jumped to her feet to speak with the resident, but he recognized her from the newspaper stories about her father. The resident didn’t want anything to do with her. Sandy wrapped her arms around herself for comfort.

“Sister,” Sandy said.

“Where is his mother?” the resident asked.

“She’s out of the picture,” Sandy said. “I’m all he has.”

“I don’t think I can give you an update. I…” the resident started.

“Listen,” Anjelika smiled her beautiful smile. “The mother doesn’t want her children. And we are paying your bill. In order to pay that bill, we need information to make decisions.”

Taken back by Angelika’s beauty and elegance, the resident stumbled over words.

“Uh… We could get in real trouble. We’re only supposed to release information to legal guardians or…”

“I see,” Anjelika smiled again. “May I speak with your supervisor? We were told that we needed to make decisions right away. That is, of course, after my daughter guaranteed payment.”

“He’s sixteen,” Seth’s deep voice came from the door. “You don’t need a guardian to make his medical decisions. Since I assume he’s unconscious, his next of kin will have to decide for him.”

“Seth!” Sandy said.

Seth hugged her.

“How is Charlie?” he asked.

“We don’t know,” Sandy said. “This… doctor won’t tell us.”

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Previous Chapters

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Three hours later
Friday night
March 28 – 11:34 P.M. CDT
Somewhere over central Texas

After pitching a major fit, the Jakker agreed to allow a Super Hercules team to fly them to Texas. While everyone conceded that Zack could fly the Super Hercules, a feat he proved at take off and again while they were in the air, the Air Force pilots wanted to fly the Fey some place, any place. The Jakker huffed and puffed. But when Zack arrived in the passenger compartment, he laughed about Alex’s video enhanced notoriety.
“Do we know where we’re going?” Zack asked Alex.
“Big Bend National Park, that’s all I know,” Alex said.
“I’ll head to the cockpit,” Zack said. “You haven’t heard from GPSOC?”
“I have. Just nothing certain. It’s not a huge park, but we have to cover a lot of territory in a short amount of time. They want to be sure.”
“You’ll let me know.”
Zack moved toward the cockpit. As if on cue, Vince’s cell phone rang when Raz stood to use the restroom.
“This is my call,” Alex said.
The men looked up. No one knew where they were going and they had little idea of what they were involved in. Max stood to use the restroom. Alex opened the cell phone and held it to her ear.
“Fey,” Alex said. She waited for voice recognition to confirm her identity.
“Lieutenant Colonel?” Alex’s Sergeant asked.
“Yes Sergeant.”
“I have Sergeant Flagg, Captain Vardee of the Texas Rangers and our intelligence friend on the line. I also have a full update from GPSOC.”
Alex smiled at her Sergeant’s use of ‘our intelligence friend’ instead of naming Ben.
“Texas Rangers first, sir,” her Sergeant said.
“Ma’am, this is Captain Vardee. I’m in charge of Texas Ranger Midland Company.” Captain Vardee’s deep voice spoke with a thick Texas accent. “We’d like to thank you for involving us at this stage. We’re usually included in these activities as they are going down. We appreciate the heads up.”
“We’ll need your help, Captain Vardee,” Alex replied.
“Yes ma’am,” he said. “We’ve been working with the National Park Service. They have records of a party entering the park near Maverick Junction.”
Feeling movement near her, Alex looked up when Raz sat down. He pointed to the National Park Service Map of Big Bend National Park on his laptop. Alex smiled her thanks. She pointed toward the east end of the park.
“That’s the east end of the park, ma’am. Do you have a map?” Captain Vardee asked.
“Yes sir, I’m looking at the National Park Service Map,” Alex said.
“Sir,” Alex’s Sergeant said, “I put the topos and satellite maps to your project area.”
“Thank you Sergeant. We’ll pull them down. Please continue Captain Vardee.”
“Ma’am, the Park Service says five men and two boys entered the park near the end of last year. There’s no evidence they ever left the park. They were supposed to clean up in the area around the Mariscal Mine. The Park Service has checked for them a couple of times and has never interacted with them. They have a trailer and equipment near the mine, but the park ranger says they disappear when anyone gets near their location. We have no verification that any work has been done at the location.”
Alex pointed toward the tip of the national park. Raz reoriented the map.
“This area of the park isn’t well monitored. There’s not a lot of visitor traffic and frankly, there’s a lot of border related crime. We’ve spoken with the border patrol agents in charge of the region. They’ve received a report of a few boys swimming in Rio Grande near Tally Campground, near the tip of the park, about two months ago. When they approached, the boys were clearly United States citizens so they did not intervene.”
Closing her eyes, Alex paused. It never ceased to amaze her how many times people see hostages, and know something isn’t quite right, but never think to intervene.
“Captain Vardee? Does the border patrol state how many boys?”
“Ma’am, how ‘bout I call the officer and find out?”
“That would be very helpful. We’re not certain the number of boys. It could be two or as many as nine boys. A date and a number would help.”
“Ma’am, we’ve moved a team of men into the park. They’re waiting for your command at the Castolon Visitor’s center, down river from the sighting. You won’t be able to use a chopper or motorized vehicles in any area of this park. Sound echoes in this terrain. These villains will hear you from miles away. We have canoes and river guides for waiting you. Once you’re near, you’ll need to walk.”
“Thank you, Captain Vardee,” Alex said.
“I’ll get the information for you.” Captain Vardee clicked off the connection.
“Sergeant Flagg? Can you hold a minute?”
Turning to Raz, she said, “Can you get into my project area? My Sergeant has sent us some more maps.”
“Got it,” Raz said.
“Ok, Sergeant Flagg. What do you have?”
“We’ve contacted all of Joiner’s ex-wives, girlfriends, and miscellaneous mothers of his children.” Larry stumbled over a few words then stopped talking. Vince said something encouraging in the background. “Sir, we believe the mothers are lying to us.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Alex said.
“Oh. Oh. Okay. Um… We researched the missing persons report for Tristan Joiner. It was filed in Long Beach right after Christmas. The Long Beach police canceled the investigation after Tristan’s mother, Buffy Joiner, assured them that Tristan was with her. We telephoned the person who filed the report and spoke with… Uh… Beth Ann Lopez and her father, Robert Lopez.
“Bear with me a moment, sir. This is where it gets complicated. Tristan was living with the Lopezes in Long Beach until two days prior to Christmas. He left Long Beach to visit with his mother for three days. He was to return to Long Beach. Sir? He was enrolled at Long Beach High School last fall as a transfer student. The school records state that Robert Lopez and his wife, Estefanie, are Tristan’s legal guardians.”
“Are they?”
“Not legally.”
“Sergeant?”
“Yes sir?” Larry and her assistant asked in unison.
“Not you Larry.”
“Yes sir,” her assistant said.
“Can you make certain the girl and her family gets into protective custody? You know what? Can you arrange travel for them to Denver? I need to speak with them in person.”
“Yes sir,” Alex’s Sergeant said.
“Please continue, Larry.”
“That’s about all we have.”
“In a nutshell, we don’t know how many kids are missing but we think the mothers know more than they are saying.”
“We’re guessing that there are seven boys missing,” Larry said.
“But that’s a guess.” Vince said in the background.
“Just in case, I’ve emailed you photos, descriptions and pertinent information for the boys,” Alex’s Sergeant said.
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Alex said. “We’ll use them. Is there anything else Sergeant Flagg?”
“Um… sir? One more thing, I spoke with one boy. He answered the phone. Um… Lance Joiner. He’s the oldest of the illegitimate children. I heard a child in the background but I couldn’t tell you if it was a boy or a girl.”
“Did you speak with his mother?” Alex asked.
“Krystal Joiner? Captain Hutchins spoke with her.”
“Alex,” Vince said taking the phone from Larry. “Krystal Joiner was surprised we were calling, shocked even. She seemed legitimately confused as to missing children. She assured me that her two boys were present. In fact, she put the other boy, Jason, on the phone to speak with me.”
“Two boys weren’t taken?”
“Only two and the unborn child,” Vince said. “Oh, and Alex? Krystal Joiner was much sharper than the other women. She wouldn’t speak to Larry. She insisted on calling us back. She called a few people before she was sure we were on the up and up. The other mothers? They acted like they almost expected our call.”
“I wonder what that means,” Alex said.
“No idea,” Vince said. “We’ll keep working.”
Vince clicked off the line.
“Well that’s confusing. Benji, what do you have?” Knowing her Sergeant was fluent in French, she spoke French.
“Nothing nice,” Ben replied in French. “We’ve been reviewing off shore accounts with potential Joiner connections and consistent activity. These accounts show patterns that match Cee Cee Joiner’s usual level of activity.”
“Hookers and fried food,” Alex said.
“They prefer the term escort. But yes, we found the accounts through some of his regular vendors. They’ve been very friendly with immunity granting Federals. We’re about ninety percent certain these accounts belong to Cee Cee Joiner. A member of the security team will be at the bank when they open. We are hoping to find him through these accounts.”
“And the children?”
“Nothing. Larry and Vince have worked their butts off. And they have nothing. We’ve found nothing.”
“Do we know what Joiner was up to before he disappeared?”
“Shady oil deal?”
“Any idea who was involved or where the oil deal took place?” Alex asked.
“No. I was trying to be funny,” Ben said.
Alex didn’t state the obvious. Ben was a lot of things, but funny was not one of them.
“Patrick is working his contacts,” Ben said. “Almost everyone in South American hates Joiner. Did you know he was jailed in Venezuela?”
“Which time?” Alex asked. “You’re saying: We don’t know who; we have no idea why; and Joiner is off the map.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying,” Ben said. “Your Sensei wants to speak with Olivas.”
“Thanks Ben,” Alex said.
“How are you feeling?”
“Worried,” Alex said.
She avoided mentioning the obvious pain, swelling, bruising. She was even bleeding. Again.
“Yes, hostages first. We’ve got your back.”
Alex closed her eyes at his usual assurance. These simple words said from mentor to student told her he was worried about her. She nodded to herself. That’s good. She was worried too.
“Sergeant? Any word on where we’re going?”
“Yes sir. The Mariscal Mine. It is an abandoned mercury mine. It’s in the portion of the park Captain Vardee mentioned. Do you see it? It’s between Tally Mountain and Mariscal Mountain.”
“I see it.” Alex pointed to the topo map and Raz opened the topo map for the region.
“The Park Service received notification that a non-profit environmental group was going to clean up the Mariscal Mine with new mercury abatement technology. About four months ago, a crew arrived to begin work. The Park Service has copies of what looks like legitimate paperwork. However, the IRS has no record of this non-profit or anyone related to this project.”
“Bingo.”
“The men Captain Vardee referenced? They were supposed to be working on the clean up crew. Fake IDs, fake credentials. “
“What do you get from the satellite heat imaging?” Alex asked.
“GPSOC found five faint GPS signals. Cell phones, they think. The satellite heat reading shows… well… I’ll send you the latest pictures. Agent Rasmussen is skilled at reading heat scans. Can you ask him to confirm what he sees?”
“He’s right here.” Pointing to a new email, Alex said, “That’s for you.”
Raz opened the heat reading for the abandoned mine. Raz looked at the picture and puzzled. Pointing at the distinct blurry blobs, he counted. His finger hovered over one set of images.
“May I have the phone?” Raz asked.
Alex nodded.
“Sergeant,” Raz said. He listened to something the Sergeant said. “Yes, I confirm your findings. Yes, that’s correct.”
Raz gave the phone back to Alex.
“I think that’s it, sir,” her Sergeant said. “Call me when you get to the park.”
“What about the heat reading?”
“Agent Rasmussen will tell you. Oh sir, I received a message from Captain Vardee. He says the border patrol saw five boys.”
“Only boys?”
“Only boys,” he said.
“Thank you Sergeant.”
Alex closed Vince’s phone. Looking up, she discovered the men had been watching this entire time.
“We have a location!” Alex said.
The men cheered.
“We’ll brief in five minutes,” Joseph said.
Joseph tapped Matthew’s shoulder. Joseph gave Alex an Ensure shake to drink. Distracted by the ringing cell phone, she opened the drink then set it down.
“Troy, can you take this call? Steve wants to talk to you about possible South American ties to Joiner.”
Surprised, Troy looked up from his cards. He took the phone from Alex then walked toward the back of the plane.
“What’s on the heat, Raz?”
“Two dead people, one dying,” Raz said. His eyes searched her face.
“People?”
“Small people.”
“Children,” Alex said. “Your theory?”
“I assume they are killing them one at a time to get to Joiner.”
Alex closed her eyes for a moment. There was nothing was worse than finding a dead hostage. A dead child? Rather than think the next thought, she asked her next question.
“Do we believe any of the children are alive?”
“Yes. There are three, maybe four other children, five at the most. Two adults have a child between them. No way to tell what they are doing.”
“That matches Larry and Vince’s guess of seven boys,” Alex said. “They’re in a mine?”
“Maybe a mine office or the opening to a tunnel. They are not deep, less than a mile from the surface.”
“Anything else?”
“The second picture shows four adults in a building or a trailer near the tunnel. I assume the adults are in the trailer. You can see the trailer on the satellite imaging. What is our intel?”
“Captain Vardee of the Texas Rangers confirms the location of a trailer. Outside of vague satellite image, we don’t have great information. The Space Shuttle is on the other side of the globe and U-2’s don’t fly over the continental United States.”
“We’re acting on what we have,” Raz said.
“We can’t risk not acting,” Alex said.
“No matter how much information we have, we always end up walking in the dark,” Joseph said.
Joseph picked up the Ensure and gave it to Alex. Alex looked up into the face of her old friend, her Fey Special Forces teammate. She took a drink of Ensure then set it down.
“Charlie said that before every mission.”
“Kill plan?” Joseph asked. “I’m not aware of a policy.”
“We don’t have one,” Alex said. “Not yet. I prefer the no-kill policy of the Fey Special Forces Team.”
“Leadership needs to decide,” Matthew said. “We’ll communicate our decision to the mean.”
Again, Matthew words sounded confident but his voice betrayed his uncertainty. He did not want to offend her.
“Same thing,” Alex shrugged. Her mind had moved on to how they were going to get there.
Matthew sighed out the breath he’d been holding. Glancing at Raz, he saw he was not fooling Raz. When Raz wagged his eyebrows, Matthew almost laughed out loud.
“What do you want Matthew?” Alex asked.
“I think we kill when we need to. We should not shackle the men with arbitrary policies,” Matthew said.
“Raz?”
“I’ve never been in this situation, Alex.” Raz shrugged. “I don’t really know what it’s like to be in battle. That said, as a cop, we shot as the last resort. Period. Every shooting is reviewed. Our job was to protect life, even the lives of the people who were criminals. No bad guys.”
Alex nodded.
“Joseph?”
“I like what Raz said. I know we struggled to keep to ‘no kill.’ In the long run, it made us trustworthy to captors. They could trust us to deal with them, not kill them out of hand.”
“That kind of policy only works where there’s a governing body that will prosecute. Raz took the criminals to jail,” Matthew said. “There’s no real international jail to take criminals too.”
“Well… captors aren’t really criminals,” Alex said. “Yes, taking a hostage is a very bad thing. But captors are mostly desperate people trying to make a point.”
“Maybe we decide for this mission,” Joseph said. “We haven’t agreed to do extraction full time. We haven’t signed these men onto our team. We’ve only committed to this single mission.”
Alex nodded.
“Shoot to protect your life or the life of a hostage or teammate. Do not shoot to kill unless absolutely necessary,” Alex said. “We’ll review each shooting.”
“Agreed,” Raz said.
“Agreed,” Joseph said.
Matthew’s face clouded with anger and worry. Folding his arms across his chest, he put himself somewhere away from them. He looked up when Alex touched his arm.
“What do you need?” Alex asked Matthew.
“To know someone has my back, I guess. If I kill someone, I’m not hung out to dry.”
“That’s what it means to be on a team, Matthew. We’re in it together. Every kill is a team kill, not a personal kill,” Alex said. “At least that’s how we worked under Charlie. He used to say, ‘Who had more control over monitoring the men than the team? Who knew exactly what happened? We share responsibility.’ It’s one of the things the Boy Scout hated.”
Matthew nodded.
“Ok, who goes?” Alex asked. “We’ll need someone to connect us to base. Joseph can take care of that.”
“Why not have Colin connect to base? The men respect Joseph and I appreciate his support.”
“It’s okay, Alex.” Joseph looked at Matthew. He put his hand on Matthew’s shoulder. “I have limited vision. It’s worse at night. I had Lasik surgery and got something called ‘The Sands of the Sahara.’ I’m not supposed to carry a weapon.”
“How did you stay in the field?” Matthew asked.
“We keep telling you this. That’s what it means to be on a team,” Joseph said. “We had marksmen and metal winners in every category. I wasn’t needed in that capacity.”
Matthew nodded.
“We’re going speed hike at least ten miles,” Alex said. “Uphill. Can you do the walk, Matthew?”
“Can you?” Matthew asked.
“I have to,” she said. To emphasize the point, she took another drink of Ensure. “He called me, Matthew. I have to go.”
“I’ll stay with Joseph. Trece and White Boy will go with you. We’d have to shoot Troy to keep him from going. Max?”
“He can function as our connection to law enforcement,” Alex said. “We’re going to need that. If something happens to us, we have you, Joseph and Max, to kick some ass. That’s good.”
“What about Colin? Yes, we need a medic. But he’s still a civilian.”
“Only sort of,” Alex said. “The way we were raised? Only Erin is a true civilian. Plus Colin is wonderful with children. Kids trust him. If any of these boys are still alive, Colin will know what they need.”
“Drunk or sober, Colin Hargreaves is handy in a fight,” Joseph said.
“Raz?” Matthew asked. “Will you keep an eye on Alex?”
“I’m assigned to ass-ist her in all things,” Raz said. “If I receive a contract for the team, I’ll request to continue as her partner.”
“Then we’re set,” Joseph said. “After you finish your Ensure, Matthew and I will update the men.”
Grumbling, Alex drank the meal replacement. She gave Joseph the empty container.
“We’ll wait for your action plan,” he said.
“Half hour,” she replied.
Joseph and Matthew moved to talk to the men.
Alex walked toward the cockpit to check in with Zack. The pilots of the Super Hercules confirmed receipt of coordinates for the Castolon Visitor’s Center from Military Intelligence. Blushing and ‘ah shucks’-ing at the Fey’s thanks, the pilots said they would land in an open parking lot where the Texas Rangers waited. Zack would stay with the plane in case he needed to come and get them. When she turned to move to the back of the plane, she heard Zack request a helicopter from Lackland Air Force Base.
Turning back to the passenger compartment, Alex saw Troy waiting for her in the hallway. Troy nodded to a corner of the plane. Before updating her on his conversation with Steve Pershing, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a thermos of hot coffee with milk. Like a young child, Alex squealed when he poured her a cup. When she had enough coffee, and enough news, they shared a Snickers bar. Restored by the coffee and candy, she went back to her seat to work out the mission strategy.

F

Learning to Stand is the second novel in the Alex the Fey thriller series
written by Claudia Hall Christian.

The novel is available in paperback at Amazon, our store, your local library and bookstore.
Entire chapters are be published at
StoriesbyClaudia.com and AlextheFey.com.

Join the Alex the Fey Facebook Group

Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHT

Monday early morning — 5:25 A.M.

Jill woke with a start. She wasn’t sure what had startled her, but Jacob wasn’t in bed. She lay there for a moment before remembering that he wasn’t working at Lipson Construction anymore.

“Jacob?”

Hearing an odd sound, she got out of bed to find him.

“Jacob?”

Jill checked Katy’s room. Sometimes when Katy had a vision, Jacob would stay with her until she was settled.

No Jacob.

Wandering out into the main loft area, she turned off a light in the kitchen. Jacob wasn’t in any of their living areas. She turned to look at the rooms. He’d been so excited to have another child. Maybe he was planning a nursery. She stuck her head in the empty room.

No Jacob.

She heard the sound again. Thump, thump, thump.

The door to her office was closed. She always closed her office when she was done with work or school work. Standing at the door, she paused.

What if he was doing something she didn’t want to know about? She’d heard all kinds of stories about men who went to chat rooms or played games on the Internet or maybe he was downloading porn.

She heard the sound again and smiled. The sound was Sarah, Jacob’s Labrador’s tail hitting the floor when she wagged. Thump, thump, thump. Jill opened the door.

Jacob was working on her computer with Sarah under his feet.

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Previous Chapters

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Who is this?” Alex asked.
“Tristan Joiner. I stole a phone…” The boy said. “I’m hiding in the office.”
The boy stopped talking and Alex heard screaming as if a child was dragged past where the caller was standing.
“Please Fey. We have no one else. They said they will kill us tomorrow if they don’t hear from my Dad. But he’s… He told them…to kill us.”
Alex put her hand over her mouth in horror.
“Where are you?”
Alex heard a door open. The thump of blows came as the child screamed ‘NO!’
The phone was silent.
Alex held the phone away from her head to look at it. She blinked. Without a thought to leaving the Army, Alex’s mind began clicking through information.
“Are you all right? Did you get drugged again?” Helene put her hand on Alex’s arm.
Alex smiled at Helene then drained the beer bottle in her hand.
“I need to work,” Alex said.
“What should I do?” Helene whispered. Her eyes flicked to Larry.
“Be your beautiful self,” Alex smiled. She kissed the girl’s cheek.
Stepping away, Alex’s mind transitioned into the cold, calculating intelligence officer they called ‘The Fey.’ As she walked toward the door, people instinctively shifted away from her. She dialed her Sergeant’s private cell number. Touching Raz’s shoulder, she raised her hand to Troy waving him to the hallway. Matthew got up from the end of the table.
“Fey,” Alex said.
“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel,” Alex’s Sergeant said.
“Sorry to bug you at home.”
“I’m available whenever, wherever you need me,” he said.
“I need you.”
“Go.”
“I need a trace on the call that came into this phone. Can you call me when you get the number and location of the phone? The phone may have been destroyed.”
“Yes sir.”
Disconnecting the phone, she walked into John’s embrace. She sighed into him.
“Thank you for my ring,” she whispered. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
“As are you,” he said into her ear.
Alex brushed his lips with hers. Stepping back, she pressed her hand against the dog tag hanging over his heart. He covered her hand with his. His gesture confirmed that the dog tag marked the heart she owned. Their eyes held.
She gave him a soft smile before continuing toward the door. At the door, she turned to see who had followed her. Colin and Max? She shook her head and moved toward the living room. The men followed her.
“Yes Sergeant,” Alex said into her cell phone. She raised her arm drawing the men into the large shared living room.
“The cell phone is either a Movistar or a Vivo.”
“South America?”
“We cannot connect directly with non-US cellular phones. But, the phone has a GPS locator. Colonel Gordon has the GPS Operations Center at Schriever Air Force Base working on triangulating the signal. Even if the phone is broken, they might be able to find a signal.”
“Schriever?”
“The Second SOPS. You know, their GPS Operations Center? We called in some of your GPS favors.”
“Good thinking! Thanks,” Alex said. “Sergeant, I believe at least one boy’s life depends on us finding him tonight.”
She heard his Sergeant’s involuntary gasp. His wife delivered their first child, a beautiful boy, two weeks ago.
“Yes sir. Shall I return to post?”
“I think you’re needed at home, Sergeant.”
“My mother-in-law is staying with us this week, sir.”
“Ah, yes, then it’s an order. You’re to return and stay at post until this crisis is over.”
“Thank you, sir. I will call as soon as I know anything.”
Alex clicked off the cell phone and looked up to the men’s expectant faces. She motioned for everyone to sit down. She pushed away the nausea their expectant eyes brought. She opened her mouth to speak, but was unable to come up with words.
Joseph moved to her side. He had seen Alex caught in the complex web of thoughts, memories and analysis. He signaled for Matthew to take her other side then touched her arm.
“Facts,” Joseph said.
“I received a phone call from Tristan Joiner. He spoke of an ‘us’ saying they would be killed tomorrow if someone didn’t get something from Joiner. He said Joiner told their captors to kill them. I assume the ‘them’ is the missing children. What do you have on the missing children?”
“We know there are at least two missing children, probably more,” Matthew said.
Alex nodded.
“Do we know where?”
Alex shook her head.
“Let’s just go,” Troy said. “If we get the Jakker moving now, he’ll be ready when we need to go.”
Alex shook her head again.
“Something’s not right. I’m sorry but I need think. I can’t lead and…”
Joseph held a yellow pencil and a tablet of paper for her. She smiled her thanks. Taking the paper and pencil from him, she sat down at the piano bench. While the men watched, she began writing, humming, and tapping her yellow pencil to Breaking Benjamin’s ‘Diary of Jane’ playing in her head.
“We need to be ready when she’s done. We’ll use this project to see if you can function as a team,“ Joseph said to the group. “You should consider yourselves on probation. Succeed here? And you may have a spot. Fail? You will receive other placement. At this point, you’ve been informed of what we see as your strengths and your weaknesses. Now is your time to shine. MacClenaghan, you need to decide who goes and who stays.”
Matthew nodded.
“Who will design the action?”
Joseph nodded toward Alex. Matthew looked confused.
“She’s one hundred percent better than anyone I’ve ever met. She thinks of details that would never occur to a normal person. Those details have saved my life more than once.”
Matthew looked doubtful.
“You’ll see,” Joseph said. “Now go on.”
With one last glace at Alex, Matthew stepped into his new role.
“Time to get ready to roll. I want body armor on everyone. I need a compiled report on the missing kids. Vince? Make certain everyone has loaded weapons. Joseph, call the Jakker. We need something fast that will hold at least ten men. Trece? Get Pershing. Also Ben… and Patrick. We’ll need their intel.
“Get moving,” Matthew barked. “We’ll be ready to go when she’s done.”
Troy winked at Matthew then jumped to his feet. The rest of the men followed his lead. They moved from the room to do what they were told.
“Well done, Matthew,” Joseph said. He put his hand on Matthew’s arm, “That’s what we talked about. And look…”
They turned to find Alex lost in her world of humming, tapping and writing.
“This kind of undisturbed quiet and space is exactly what she needs.”
Matthew flushed at the compliment then cleared his throat.
“She’s special, Matthew. No one can do what she does. In the entire history of the US military, she’s the only one who can do this. We need to create the structure to allow her to do what she does well. That’s our job.”
Matthew nodded.
“Excuse me,” Joseph said. “I have a phone call to make.”
When Joseph left the room, Matthew sagged with relief. First orders given and received with ease.
Looking up, he saw Trece return with Steve Pershing, Patrick Hargreaves and Ben. He adjusted his stance then pointed toward a couch and the men sat down. Max came back in the room holding a dragon body armor body suit. He gave the body armor to Matthew then sat down next to Steve Pershing. Colin sat down next to Max.
“Put it on,” Trece said.
“But… I don’t own…”
Matthew’s hand lovingly brushed the body armor. Designed with 5 mm body armor protection, the dragon body armor fit like a comfortable T-shirt. Alex and the Fey Special Forces Team wore them exclusively. But Alex was also a Senator’s daughter.
“It’s a gift,” Troy said. “Everyone has one. You’ve been on drugs and stuff so you didn’t get yours. Joseph made a deal with the company.”
The men trickled back into the room. Vince went from person to person making sure they had weapons while Troy checked for body armor.
Clutching a few sheets of paper, Larry ran into the room. He offered the report to Matthew but Matthew pointed to Alex. Alex looked up at Larry when he held the sheets of paper to her. She took the sheets of paper. Smiling at the pages, she went back to her work.
Larry stood in front of Alex for a moment. Matthew motioned him away from Alex. Shrugging, Larry walked to where the rest of the men stood.
Vince’s cell phone rang. After a short conversation, he brought the phone to Alex.
“Yes,” Alex said.
“Sir, we have a region but not a location.”
“You can’t be certain?”
“Exactly. Schriever’s team said something funny. They said: ‘See what the Fey can give us.’ Do they want money or…?”
“That’s got to be Hougah.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’ve worked with her before. Listen, can you patch me through but stay on the line?”
“Yes sir.”
“Alex?” A woman’s tinny voice asked. She was speaking on a speaker phone.
“How many watching?”
“Fourteen,” Hougah said.
“It’s nice to have fans,” Alex laughed. “You ready, Dani?”
“Go.”
“I’ve got Texas,” Alex said, “but maybe not Texas.”
“Yep, we’ve got that. South?”
“Um… Southern. I think they call it West Texas near Mexico. But I don’t think Mexico.”
“Why not Mexico? Mexico fits our data.”
“Mexican nationals blend into the background in Mexico… even with a bunch of white kids. The captors are South American. They wouldn’t risk Mexico.”
Steve Pershing stood from the couch and left the room.
“That’s helpful.”
“I don’t know Texas, Dani,” Alex said.
“We’re working the border, Alex.” Speaking to her co-workers and the crowd of viewers, Dani asked, “Anyone from Texas? Vacationed as a kid? Great. Ok, Alex, they aren’t in the gulf. We have a triangle in Mexico. You sure about Mexico, Alex?”
“Mostly,” Alex chewed the inside of her lip. “It has to be some place without a lot of eyes.”
“The phone is moving,” Dani said. “God, Alex. You have the best luck on the planet. Damn….”
“I know where that is,” a female voice said.
“It’s one of those translators you used, Alex. What’s your name Marine?
“Private First Class Margaret Peaches.”
“They are here from the sand.” Dani’s voice turned away from the speaker, “What?”
The voices spoke. Alex heard them speak back and forth but couldn’t tell what they were saying.
“Alex, we’ve got it down to the area around Big Bend National Park.”
“A National Park? That’s got to be it.”
“I’ll be in touch,” Dani said.
“Sir?” Alex’s Sergeant asked.
“Yes Sergeant?”
“I’ll be here as long as you need me.”
“Thanks.”
Closing the phone, Alex looked up to see the men watching her. She blushed. She looked at Matthew then each person in the room. They were ready to go.
“I need to talk to these guys.” Alex pointed to Ben and her father. “Where’s Steve? Oh Mattie? Joseph? Can you come too?”
Steve Pershing walked back into the room. Ben signaled for him to join them.
“What is it, Pumpkin?” Patrick put his arm around Alex’s shoulder.
“Remember when we met Tristan Joiner? He was at one of those rallies for Army Veterans. 2004 or so…”
“He knew the Fey was my daughter. He wanted to meet you.” Patrick nodded. “You and Max were there. That was in… Texas some place?”
“Colin was there too. We were doing Army PR to get a chance to hang out together. Can you remember where we were?”
“Odessa,” Patrick said. “We went to El Paso, Odessa…”
“San Antonio. I couldn’t remember if it was San Antonio or Odessa.”
“Why?”
“I received a telephone call from Tristan Joiner asking me to help him. He said ‘they’ were going to kill ‘us’ tomorrow. He was screaming when he got off and…”
Alex shook her head.
“What?” Ben asked.
“Someone was hitting him,” Alex swallowed hard. “GPSOC thinks they can get a lock on the phone. Ben? Steve? Where the hell is Joiner?”
“No one knows,” Steve Pershing said. “Not a soul. People are asking us where he is. It’s bizarre.”
“We’ve checked intel from every source, Alex,” Ben said. “There’ve been times when I’m sure they are not telling us something. This time? We aren’t the only people looking for him.”
“Do we have any idea what he’s into? Tristan said Joiner told his captors to kill his children rather than… I don’t know what.”
“Cee Cee Joiner has been off the radar for at least a year,” Steve said. “In fact…”
Steve glanced at Ben. Ben nodded.
“What?” Alex asked.
“We believe he might have been involved in the murder of…”
“My team?” Alex nodded. “I’d hoped everyone was wrong.”
“We don’t think so, Alex,” Ben said. “That’s why you don’t know. The Boy Scout is not talking… except for this rubbish about you assaulting him.”
“There’s a confirmed connection between Robert Powell and Joiner,” Steve Pershing said. “But South Americans? There’s no way to narrow the field. Joiner pissed off almost everyone on the continent.”
“Maybe Troy can help,” Alex said.
A helicopter flew overhead. Zack.
“That’s our ride. Anything else to add?”
“We’ll work from here, Alex,” Ben said.
“Larry and Vince will stay here. They’ve been working on Joiner,” Matthew said. “Max and Colin?”
“Max works for me,” Steve said. “He can be very useful.”
Matthew nodded.
“Colin?”
“I think we’d have to kill him to keep him from coming,” Alex said. “He can be very handy in a fight.”
“He’s a medic,” Matthew said. “God knows we need a medic.”
“Pack it up,” Joseph said to the men.
“I don’t think you should go,” Alex said to Matthew.
“That’s my call, Alex.”
Matthew’s voice was firm but his eyes betrayed his nervousness. Joseph patted Matthew’s back with his hand then moved away. Alex shrugged and Matthew let out an anxious breath. She didn’t fire him.
“Trece and White Boy come with us,” Alex said. “We need the Texas Rangers, Border Patrol, Park Service and whoever else patrols the region.”
“We’ll take care of it, Lieutenant Colonel,” Vince said.
Turning to her fathers, she said, “Dad? Benji? You’ll tell everyone right? We should be back by morning.”
Ben nodded as Patrick hugged her.
“Yes, Pumpkin, we’ll tell everyone. You feel okay to go?”
Alex smiled slightly.
“Life comes to us, Daddy,” she said. “We have only to respond with honor.”
Patrick hugged his favorite child as she repeated one of his favorite sayings. With a pat on her back, he let go. Ben hugged her then kissed on her cheek.
“We’ll be here when you need us,” Ben said.
Looking up, Alex saw Trece and White Boy waiting for her. While she walked, she checked the handgun holster at her sacrum for ammunition. Taking a second handgun and clips from Trece, she followed the men out of the house.
She stopped walking when she saw the Black Hawk Helicopter in the narrow street in front of their house. Shaking her head at Zack, she stepped into the chopper. White Boy closed the door. Alex sat in the spot Raz saved for her near the middle of the helicopter.
“Now is the time for rest,” Joseph said. “If you can sleep, do it. If you want to read or write, that’s fine. When we hit the ground, we work until we’re done. Get your rest while we’re in the air. That is an order.”
‘Yes sir’ was the men’s immediate response.
Alex raised her eyebrows at their compliance. Maybe, just maybe, these men could become a team. She nodded to herself. Raz slipped his arm around her.
. “You should sleep while you can,” Raz said. “Really, you should have stayed home. You just had major surgery…”
Alex held up her hand for him to stop speaking.
“I know you’re trying to care for me. I don’t feel like I have a choice this time.”
“Just ass-isting.”
They laughed. She rested her head on his shoulder. In the safety of his arms, and the rocking sensation of the helicopter, Alex gave in to her exhaustion. She was asleep in moments.

F

Learning to Stand is the second novel in the Alex the Fey thriller series
written by Claudia Hall Christian.

The novel is available in paperback at Amazon, our store, your local library and bookstore.
Entire chapters are be published at
StoriesbyClaudia.com and AlextheFey.com.

Join the Alex the Fey Facebook Group

Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and SEVEN

Sunday morning — 6:25 A.M.

“You don’t mind?” Aden asked.

They were riding the Hotel Teatro elevator down to the lobby.

“No, I’ll get the car,” Sandy said. “You have to be there by eight, right?”

“Sorry about that,” he said.

“I’m not,” Sandy said. “Last night was…”

Unable to find the right word, Sandy sighed.

“Yeah,” he said. “Totally worth today’s bullshit.”

The elevator stopped at the Lobby. Taking her hand, they walked to the front desk.

“I’ll be right there,” Aden said.

Nodding, Sandy walked through the lobby. She gave their valet ticket to the doorman. Because Aden was on house arrest, he needed to check in and check out of every location. He would check out of the hotel and check in with the Department of Corrections. He would then be given an hour of travel time. He had to get Sandy home and get back to the Department of Corrections by eight. If he was late, even one minute, they could arrest him and he’d go back to prison. Neither Aden nor Sandy wanted to take that risk. Sandy gave him a little wave and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

The morning was cool but not cold. The air was moist with spring expectation. The street was deserted and quiet. A cab slowed by in front of her to see if she needed a ride. Sandy blushed. Did she look like a prostitute after a long night? She pulled her overcoat close and turned away from the street.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of teenage boys moving in her direction. Tracking their motion, Sandy turned to her face them. The boys were laughing and weaving down the street. They looked as if they’d been out all night. One boy pointed, said something then laughed.

Sandy blushed. This had happened before. Strangers knew exactly who she was from all the press about her father and Aden. She was about to go back into the hotel when she heard a boy call her name. Turning toward the sound, she saw the boys push at each other. While the one boy slowed, the group of jeering boys walked by.

“Sandy!” the boy said.

Taking a martial arts stance, Sandy turned toward the sound.

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