"You want me to kidnap you? Is this a joke?"

"I don't have time to joke. I thought I could do it within a limited s.p.a.ce but that's out of the question now."

The man continued to look at her like she was deranged. An Ning sighed.

"I think I need to walk you thru it. By the way, can you give me your name?"

"You're joking, right?" the man chortled.

"Someone hit my head with a plank, dude. Don't worry. Just temporary amnesia. It's just people I don't remember. Everything else, I'm good."

"Who hit you with a plank and lived?" the man was surprised.

"Somebody who doesn't like me, obviously. Anyway, what should I call you?"

"Call me Taey."

"Is that really your real name?" An Ning said, looking at him suspiciously.

"Just as your real name is Sims, right?" the man countered with a snort.

"Hmnnn..."

"We met thru Han," Taey added.

"Han? Who's Han?"

"He was with me in Afghanistan," Taey explained. "Don't tell me you don't remember Han? Really great guy. Anyway, we did one tour together and then I got myself discharged. I heard he ended up working for this big bra.s.s. Really hush, hush stuff."

An Ning frowned.

"Any idea why I was with him?"

"I don't know, dude. You were probably his girlfriend? You were kind of together, together when I ran into you both"

"That kind of together?"

"Oh huh."

"Hmnn..."

"I can't believe you really forgot Han. Han of all people. Anyway, no use remembering him since he's dead now."

An Ning was shocked.

"He died?"

"Died in battle, poor guy."

An Ning suddenly clutched at her heart. Something seemed to be pressing down on her chest. She almost couldn't breath because of the pain.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Taey asked, leading her to a chair. He took out a bottle of water from a cooler, twisted the cap and gave it to her. An Ning swallowed the liquid in large gulps.

"You're sweating," Taey said concernedly as he handed her a face towel. "You must have stayed too long in the sun."

"I'm okay. Heartburn." An Ning said, her hand still pressed against her chest.

"Still hurts? Relax here for a bit. I'll go and shower then let's go somewhere to talk."

He was back in fifteen minutes. They took his car and he drove her to a quiet restaurant next to a park. They bought drinks and sandwiches and ended up eating in one of the open benches. An Ning was wary of spies and bugs listening in to her conversation.

"Okay then. We're out in the woods. You're not carrying a bag besides your wallet and I left my things in the car. No other people here besides us, we're alone. Tell me again what you have in mind, lady."

An Ning didn't know where to begin. She looked at Taey with a hesitant smile.

"This is more complicated than I thought. Anyway, what it all boils down to really is I need to go somewhere. I can't go there because there's going to be a lot of people who will be interested in knowing what I'm up to. I thought of doing it myself but really the easiest thing is for someone to do it for me. Hence, the kidnapping."

"And where am I supposed to take you?"

An Ning took out a map from her back pocket, spread it on the table and pointed to a spot.

"Can you take me there? You're gonna need a bigger boat though. A cargo s.h.i.+p, if you can find one. Something legit and not stolen or borrowed. It would be best if said s.h.i.+p is actually picking up cargo."

Taey tapped on the spot in the map.

"The cargo s.h.i.+p is no problem. I know someone who knows someone. But this, the destination, is kind of problematic."

"Why?"

"The government might not permit us to pa.s.s thru there. It's like an off-limits zone for them. But let's see what happens. I'll talk to someone who'll talk to someone. I'll let you know by tomorrow. How do I contact you?"

"Let's meet at the gym. We can't talk in my place because it's been compromised," An Ning explained.

"Okay. Let's meet at the gym tomorrow at 10 then."

Taey wanted to drive her home but An Ning said no. The less people see them together the better. And that instinct of hers again, that instinct that was screaming at her to walk slow was also telling her to tell no one about her plans. Don't even put it in writing because someone might see and everything will be lost.

An Ning was no superhero but she did feel a tad responsible for the fate of those women her grandmother had once called sisters and comrades. That kind of bond was foreign to her, sisterhood in the thrill of war, the pursuit of total freedom without dependence on men. Completely foreign to her but she understood it, understood the mystery of it because it was, after all, based on equality and trust.

And to see those legendary women fall so low thru no fault of their own was painful for her. It was wicked. It was evil. It was unfair. That rankled most to An Ning. No man or woman should debase an honorable life just because he or she can. There was such a thing as choosing one's way or the high way. Slavery of another human being was a crime, punishable by death in some cultures disgusted by such a barbaric practice. She also knew Hippolyta would have wanted her to do something to help them.

Richard was already home when she arrived. He was frowning and looked extremely angry when he saw her. An Ning wasn't really in the mood to be scolded by him so she brushed him off and went to the kitchen without answering his questions.

Richard was annoyed and wanted to scold her some more but stopped when he saw An Ning's expression. An Ning had a solemn, deep look as if she was turning inward and wasn't even aware of her surroundings. She was wearing a simple white t-s.h.i.+rt and an A line skirt that fell below her knees. On her long, slender feet were white sandals that bared her unpolished toenails. Her b.u.mp was barely visible. She looked like a single girl about to go out and meet her sweetheart in the park.

An Ning pulled out a steno notebook and a pen from her bag. She started doodling on the paper, almost absent-mindedly. She always did this when she's extremely agitated and needed to calm down. She was actually worried about the far-reaching impact of that bug someone had left in her office. The sophistication of its technology, the speed in which someone had decided to move the goal post in spying on her was unnerving. The enemy was already showing its hand and there really was no time to dilly dally anymore.

She started when a gla.s.s of milk appeared before her. She looked up startled to meet Richard's eyes.

"Had a rough day today?" he asked.

"I told everybody to go home. There was a break in and someone took the pair of mechanical wings we were studying."

"Someone broke in? Did they take anything else?"

"No, just the wings."

"Trade secrets, so to speak. That drone was weapon after all. Worth a lot of money in the arms business."

"Precisely."

"So, where did you went off to all morning?"

"Shopping. I just needed to walk around and relax."

"So what did you buy?"

"Nothing. I told you I just walked around in the mall and tried to relax. That break in thing sort of got me a little jumpy," An Ning said with a smile, drinking the milk.

"It took you the whole day to walk leisurely around?"

An Ning slowly put down the gla.s.s and looked at Richard.

"I don't like being interrogated when I've done nothing wrong," she said, quite calmly.

Richard met her eyes. They were clear and open but a hint of steel had appeared in them.

"I was worried about you," Richard said, backing off. "Gan couldn't find you and we were getting frantic."

"Why would I tell Gan where I'm going? It's not like he's my husband or something. Do I need to ask permission from him or you or anyone else to go out and do something I want to do?" An Ning's voice was quietly sarcastic.

Richard raked a frustrated hand through his hair.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Baby, stop needling me, okay? You know I worry when I can't find you. You were attacked twice and Yu Yan is still out there making trouble. I can't help but worry, that's all. It's part of me just making sure you're okay."

An Ning's eyes softened and she leaned against him with a sigh. Richard held her, inhaling the unique fragrance of her hair. She always smelled like flowers, the fragrance forever branded in his consciousness. An Ning raised her face to his for a kiss. Richard captured her mouth with a needy moan, angling her head so that he could get to her lips that much deeper, his tongue entangling with hers in escalating desire.

He lifted her up and sat her on the edge of the table, his hand under her skirt ripping her panties without effort. His fingers tangled with the soft hair between her legs, his thumb teasing the small nub he found there until moisture coated his fingers.

"Richard," An Ning moaned. "Not here."

"Yes, here."

Her gasps and moans became more labored as Richard's mouth fastened on a bared nipple and sucked while two of his fingers started a pulling out and putting in motion inside her. An Ning's hands gripped the table when Richard's head went down and buried itself between her thighs. Soft, mewling sounds filled the kitchen when Richard started licking the cream oozing from her depths.

"Richard, stop," An Ning moaned feebly, one of her hands clutching at his hair. Richard gave a loud satisfied groan and stood up, his hand freeing his erect manhood from his jeans. He touched the tip to her wetness, coating it with her moisture before plunging deep with a single thrust of his strong hips.

An Ning's body shuddered with pleasure, her nails digging deep into Richard's back. Richard groaned at the slight stinging pain and buried himself deeper into her, deeper and deeper until he was almost nailing her sweet and tight on the table. When the end neared, Richard captured her mouth again and sucked on her tongue, the motion of his hips driving her mad with its strength.

An Ning could feel her wetness dribble down her thighs onto the hard wood but she didn't care. She clutched at Richard as the tide of unbelievable pleasure washed over her. Her body stiffened and shuddered, her breathy moans and gasps egging him on until he, too, fell into the abyss with a single, strong thrust of his hips. They stayed still joined together for several minutes, their breathing hard and raspy.

"I can't believe we did that here," An Ning chuckled, her eyes soft and dreamy as she met his darkening gaze. "What would Sarai think?"

Richard didn't answer. He was hardening again inside her, his entire body tightening to give and receive pleasure from her. An Ning's eyes rounded in surprise. She gave a little moan of protest but Richard ignored her. He lifted her up into his embrace, his arms supporting her legs and started walking to their bedroom, his manhood still buried deep inside her.

An Ning tightened her arms and legs around him, deeply embarra.s.sed by the unexpected pa.s.sion that flared up between them in the kitchen and the way he took her and pleasured her like he didn't care about anything else except being with her. And now this.

Richard's manhood suddenly thrust into her with each step he took, frying An Ning's brains until she couldn't think but feel, the pleasure building up inside her again. Richard opened the door, unerringly finding her mouth as he slammed the door behind them. His hips restarted the swift motion of loving as they both fell to the bed, ravenous with hunger for each other.

When An Ning woke up the following morning, Richard was gone. She checked the time on her phone. Eight o'clock. She took a shower and changed and went into the kitchen. Sarai put fluffy eggs and hash browns on her plate. An Ning started eating, not meeting the other woman's eyes. Sarai poured her a gla.s.s of orange juice which An Ning accepted with a thanks.

"I talked to my daughter and she said she'll be here tomorrow," Sarai said, wiping the counter until they were spotless. "My grandson is going with her."

"Okay, that's good to hear. I need to run some errands today," An Ning said casually. "Richard might not be able to contact me so if he calls here can you tell him I'll be back after lunch?"

"Why won't he be able to contact you?" Sarai asked suspiciously.

"I'll be doing some research in the city library. I might have to turn off my phone or something."

Sarai was still suspicious but finally nodded her head.

"Mind the dust," she cautioned An Ning. "Might not be good for the baby."

An Ning nodded. She went to her room to brush her teeth, put some things in her duffel bag then tiptoed outside, making sure that the door closed silently behind her. She could hear Gan and Sarai talking in the living room, their voices hushed conspiratorially.

An Ning went around a corridor that led to the outside pool. She had noticed before that the building next to them was of the same height and that the distance between the penthouse and the other building's rooftop was about three yards. It was not much of a jump if one was not afraid to take the chance of falling down. But An Ning was not afraid so she gripped her duffel bag, took a deep breath and jumped.

Her body sailed over the other building in one easy and fluid move. It was as if she was weightless, as if she had been doing this thing for a long time. Her pregnant body was primed for battle. She landed on the rooftop on her feet and dashed to the door. She took several flights down to the back elevator. She was on the street and hailing a cab in less than three minutes.

Taey was waiting for her when she arrived. They took his car and again drove with her to the park, choosing the west side this time as they sat on a bench.

"I told our cook that I'm doing research in the city library until lunch today. I think that would be a nice place to do the kidnapping. It's quiet, not a lot of people inside and outside and it's not out of the ordinary."

"Who goes to a library nowadays?" Taey sniffed. "Only you would think that."

"I a.s.sure you, friend, that a lot of people still go to see a library. There's lots of good stuff in there. It's like an internet café. You can even watch p.o.r.n."

Taey looked at her disdainfully.

"Old men in their Pampers, right?"

An Ning laughed.

"So, how go things at your side?" she asked.

"Cargo s.h.i.+p and permit acquired," he said with a smug smile.

"That fast?" An Ning was surprised.

"At $50 million? I should give you the best service, lady."

"Tell me if you need more," she said quietly. "I'll have it transferred to your account immediately."

"Hey, I'm not about to scam you," Taey protested. "I run a legitimate s.h.i.+p, lady."

"I know but just in case. You don't know the s.h.i.+t that we're dealing with here. You might find yourself at rock bottom if we make even one mistake."

"That serious?"

"That f.u.c.king serious," An Ning said. "Hey, what about those barrels of water I told you about?"

"They're picking them up as we speak. I don't get it though. Why that particular water? You can't take a bath with other water?"

An Ning laughed but refused to explain.

"Okay, time for me to go to the library. They're probably getting suspicious already and sent someone to find me. Let's go.