Nothing Ordinary by M J Marlow (best ereader for academics txt) 📕

Nothing Ordinary Prologue Winter had a hold on the land now as evidenced by the crystal sheen on the trees and the white blanket on the ground and roads. There was a chill in the air as he watched Major Karl Weber that November night as got behind the wheel of the car and pulled away from the curb of the restaurant with his wife and his pregnant and maybe-widowed teenaged daughter. The girl, Anneke, had just graduated from college and they were on their way home from a celebration dinner. Pretty girl, he thought idly as he got ahead of them and sped along the road to this vantage point above the road and the river. Too bad she and her parents weren’t going to live past midnight. On the ground beside him he had the camera. He already had pictures of the family at dinner enjoying their last night together. He would use it afterwards to take photographs to document the crash. He could see the grief on the old man’s face now and it excited him. Barnabas Weber should never have betrayed his employers. He had been warned there would be repercussions. The fact that this event would also be used to break his old comrade, the girl’s husband; who after three months was still being remarkably resistant to torture, was an added bonus. He passed them and sped up the road that led up the hill so he could take his position. The brakes should do the job, but he was not a man to leave anything to chance. Karl Weber was a man who would overcome at all costs to protect those he cared for. He had just gotten into position with his sniper rifle when the car came into sight. “No!” Karl hissed as he crested the hill and tapped on his brakes to slow down. “What’s wrong, Karl?” Monica Schneider Weber, his beautiful blond wife asked as she caught the worry in his voice. “The brakes,” Karl replied and turned to their daughter, who was sitting cross-legged in back with headphones on. Married that May, pregnant since August, his eighteen-year old daughter glowed with health but was locked in uncertainty. Anneke had been married just after her eighteenth birthday in May and her husband, James Owens had been reported Missing in Action that September. His daughter had no idea if she was a widow or not. He wished he could tell her that her missing husband was coming home, but his inquiries had yielded news he was afraid to share with her. He reached back and tapped her on the knee. She smiled at him and removed the headphones. “Anneke, liebchen. I need you to do something for me.” “Ja, Vater?” Despite the fact that she was an American by birth, Anneke had been raised here in Germany. She tended to slip into German automatically, especially when she was upset or angry. Damn, he thought as he saw her expression; she had picked up on his worry. He tried to calm down as he felt the car picking up speed. “I want you and your mother to open your doors,” he said as he moved the car towards the softer shoulder, hoping the ground would slow them down. He looked at his beloved wife, “and jump.” “No, Karl!” Monica cried and shook her head. “We aren’t leaving you!” “I will be jumping, too,” Karl assured her. “The car has no brakes,” he told them honestly now. “We have to get out before it is moving too fast.” As he said this there was a loud pop and he felt the wheel buck out of his control. Anneke opened her door and rolled out as the vehicle swerved while her father wrestled to get it back under control. She got to her feet, ignoring her own injuries, and watched in horror as the car left the road and headed down the hill towards the river. “No!” she screamed as she stumbled down the hillside after it. She saw the car slam into the water near where a couple soldiers from the base where her father was stationed were sharing a keg. One of them held her back as others dove into the water. “Mutter! Vater!” “You can’t help them, Anneke,” Sergeant Preston said as he held the struggling girl tight. “Let the boys handle this.” Long moments passed as the soldiers came back to the surface for air. Annie was shaking now as the shock wore off and pain lanced up her arm. She went white as Preston helped her sit down and examined her. He was not looking happy at what he saw. He ran to his car and got out his aid kit. When the authorities arrived, her arm had been put in a splint and was in a sling. “No,” she protested as the paramedics tried to get her to the ambulance. “I am not leaving until they are safe!” He watched from the top of the hill as the paramedics gave the girl a shot and guided her up the hill carefully. He saw the sling and smiled as he took a shot. She was hurt. That particular shot, with the girl injured and grief-stricken, should make Weber cringe. He debated taking a shot, but that would spoil the fiction that this was just a tragic accident. The fact that she was still alive meant the game wasn’t quite over. There was still a family member who could be harmed if Weber did not give them what they asked for. “Annie!” Lieutenant Jeffrey Owens cried out as he met the ambulance at the base hospital. He went with Annie every step of the way and was relieved when his sister-in-law finally opened her eyes as she was put into a room. She went white as she tried to get up and put pressure on her broken arm and passed out cold again. The nurse pushed him aside and checked Annie out. “Is she all right?” “Annie?” The Nurse said softly as she patted Annie’s cheek. “Come on, baby. You need to wake up now.” Annie’s eyes opened and she looked at the nurse in confusion. “Are you all right, Mrs. Owens?” “I don’t know you,” Annie frowned and looked past her. “Jeffrey? Where are my parents? “ She bit her lip as he went white. “There was an accident,” she remembered. “Mutter and Vater were in the car.” She tried to get up and her arm protested the pressure. “Are they here?” she asked him, her eyes wide with terror. “Please tell me they got out of the car.” “I’m sorry, Streudel,” he said as he held her hand. “The Major and your Mom…” “No,” Annie broke in, moaning as she realized what he was going to say. “It’s not true!” She was growing frightened now. “I can’t lose someone else! Not after James!” She gripped his arm tight and looked at him in despair. “Where are my parents, Jeffrey? I want my parents!” “Wait outside, Lieutenant,” Major “Doc” Stafford said as he came into the room. “If you want to help, call her Grandfather. He needs to be here for her.” Jeffrey left and Doc looked at Anneke with his kind eyes and worried expression. “Let’s see how your baby handled this accident, shall we?” 1 It was a cool clear February night. Moonlight streamed over the river and bathed the buildings alongside it in its cool touch. The town downriver from the clinic and private residences of the medical complex founded by Oscar Bayer was silent. Half the town, at least, could be found at the Bayer family home celebrating the twenty-first birthday of his daughter, Eliza. Laughter and music filled the home as Anneke Weber Owens moved across the yard on her way to the Clinic just downhill from the main house. She had no interest in what was happening inside of the house; despite the fact that it was her cousin celebrating her birthday, it had nothing to do with Annie. She was just the granddaughter of the night security guard for the Clinic, as far as she was concerned. The man standing in the shadows did not say a word for a few moments as he took in the sight of the golden-haired angel who seemed to glow as the moonlight found her on the way across the grounds towards the Clinic. She had a basket over her arm and a look of purpose on her face that he found intriguing. He had met her the other day when Barney Weber had brought the five months pregnant girl in for a doctor’s appointment with his father. Anneke Leisel Weber Owens was his granddaughter, his last living relative. She had married last May, had her husband reported MIA that September, and then lost her parents in a freak accident two months ago and was here to get her bearings. “Annie?” he called as he moved away from the building. She froze and turned, looking like a rabbit that had just come face to face with a predator. The relief that entered her eyes as she recognized him was quite evident. He found himself wondering why she was so terrified. “Oh,” she laughed softly as she struggled to get her composure back, “Captain Ryan. How are you this evening?” “Just fine, Annie,” Ryan smiled. He nodded towards the basket. “That for your grandfather?” “Yes,” Annie nodded. “He wouldn’t remember to feed himself. He is too single-minded for his own good.” Her slight smiled died. “Like Father.” Ryan wished he could say something to make things better for her, but he knew it would just be words. How could you make things better when she had been forced to watch as her parents drowned? And she had to go through that, pregnant and uncertain whether she had a husband. He could feel her on the verge of a break that she was struggling every moment not to suffer. She suddenly went quite pale as they got within sight of the building. “Something is wrong, Captain,” she cried softly. “Grandfather!” Before Ryan could stop her, she was running. He saw the broken security pad on the wall next to the open door as he followed her and whipped out his cell phone. Annie was in the security office kneeling next to Barney, who was lying on the floor unconscious. She looked up at him briefly and he saw the grief on her face. Ryan called for an ambulance and checked the man out. “He’s all right, Annie,” he said as he laid his hand on her shoulder. “It’s Ryan,” he continued as he called the station next. “Break in at the Phoenix Clinic. Get the investigators here.” “Grandfather?” Annie called out softly as she stroked his hand. “Please wake up.” Barney moaned and opened his eyes. “Oh thank God!” “What happened, Barney?” Ryan asked as he helped the man sit up. “I was on my rounds when I saw the alarm lights going off,” Barney told him. He nodded towards the wall where red lights were flashing. “I hurried back here to call the station and someone struck me down.” He patted Anneke’s hand. “I’m fine, girl. Your grandfather has a very hard head. This little blow isn’t going to stop me.” “Did you see anything before the lights went out?” Ryan asked him. Barney shook his head and then winced as Annie examined him thoroughly. She found the first aid kit and tended the injury as competently as a doctor. She shrugged when Ryan looked impressed. “My father insisted I learn first aid skills,” Annie told him. “I worked part-time as an emergency technician while I was in college.” She checked her grandfather’s pulse and looked