Page 14 of Protection for Nichole

Nichole’s emotions rose, and her eyes stung. She refused to cry, though, at least not here. “Thank you.”

Pamela stepped out, and Nichole moved to her computer and opened it. The battery was dead, so she looked through her bag on the table, finding a plug at the bottom. She plugged in her computer first, then her phone.

While both started charging, she looked through her bag, glad to see that everything seemed to be in place. She had her passport and IDs now, along with her credit card and even the money she’d had in her wallet when she’d arrived at the medical compound. No one had taken anything. That’s how it should be, but she’d learned early in her career that people stole, and she had to lock up her purse in the newsroom.

When her computer flicked on, she typed in the password and opened the email immediately. After stepping out into the hall to get the password for the Wi-Fi, she connected and let her emails download. It took a few minutes, long enough for her to see she had more than a hundred text messages as people learned that she’d been abducted. Most of the messages were positive, but she did receive a few hate messages from anonymous numbers. She rolled her eyes at one of the texts that wished her dead.

“That didn’t happen,” she said to herself, not hearing the door open.

“What was that?” Pamela asked.

Nichole shook her head. “Nothing. Just going through messages.”

“Oh, yes. We’ve received requests from news shows asking for your information.”

“Oh, that’s interesting.”

“Yes, well, it is news. I guess one of your friends put it together where you were and hypothesized that you were taken captive. It has been all over social media.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure if she was happy or upset about all the attention.

“Were Angie, Cara, or Elizabeth named?”

Pamela shook her head. “We haven’t released their names, though I’m sure someone will post about it soon.”

Nichole shook her head. “Well, I have no desire to expose them.”

“That’s good to hear.” Pamela’s phone buzzed, and she checked it. “Ah, the CEO flew over from America, and he’s on his way here. He would like to meet with you.”

She nodded. “Sure. I could do that.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it. What do you say, twenty minutes? Will that be good for you?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Pamela stepped out, and Nichole looked at her computer, seeing that she had more than a thousand emails. The sigh that escaped was heavy and her shoulders dropped. There was only one email she really wanted to check on so she typed Jesse’s name into the search bar. Two emails showed in the list. Her hand shook as she moved to click it open.

She held her breath as she read the first line.

Dear Nichole, I wish I hadn’t seen you this week.

The words shocked her, and her breath froze in her lungs. But she read on.

Not because I didn’t want to see you but because my work involves things that aren’t good, and you deserve only good in your life. I wouldn’t wish what happened to you on my worst enemy. You deserve to be celebrated and treated well. I’m very glad that we were there to bring you home. At least I hope you’re home, but if not home, at least safe.

I want to see you. I want to spend time with you, but I know you have work, and I’m tied to my base, which is in San Diego. If you want to come out and visit, I have a sleeper couch I can crash on while you take my room. You don’t have to, though. I know you need to recover. I’m here if you want to talk. I usually leave the base close to three in the afternoon California time.

Nichole checked her phone, seeing that it was about one in the morning in San Diego. He would be busy for hours. By the time he got off work she would probably be asleep. She hated being in a different time zone.

I’ve included my phone number and other contact information. If you want to come see me in San Diego, just send a note. Since we just came home, I shouldn’t have to leave on another mission any time soon. I’m glad you’re safe. Call or text me anytime. Seriously, anytime.

No way would she call him right now, but she would reply to this email. She had about ten minutes before she was set to meet the CEO and needed to use the restroom first. She closed her computer and slid it into her bag, carrying it to the restroom. Not that she didn’t trust the people here, but habits were hard to break.

It was close to noon by the time she finished with the meetings and interviews. The company was worried about what she planned on writing, but she had gone through the trauma just like everyone else, and she wasn’t going to screw them over. The doctors and nurses didn’t deserve to be treated badly or harassed.

Her thoughts on the article were congealing. The focus would be her experiences and how it affected available medical treatment for people in the area. Hopefully there could be something good come from this. Maybe more donations, better security, more countries that condemned terrorists attacking medical facilities. The problems existed in many areas, and her main hope was that she could help make a difference.

She had a flight out to Chicago, where she was based. When she arrived at the airport, she headed to the airline’s desk and asked if she could change her flight. She wasn’t able to change it, but they booked her on a flight to San Diego the morning after she got back to Chicago, giving her one day to go home, wash clothes, dust her tiny apartment, and then head out to see Jesse.

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