Searching for Love Ch. 01

Here's the sequel to "Fighting for Love" and I hope you enjoy it. The idea for it jumped in my mind while I was trying to sleep and I had to start getting stuff written down first thing. Please give me feedback! I'm hoping to incorporate ideas about my writing style from posts of my other story.

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CHAPTER ONE

-Somewhere in Latin America-

"This is crazy! How are you expected to find anyone in this swam?" Caitlin asked, waving her arms around her head to keep the bugs from flying near her.

"Hold still!" Jake hissed, coming to a stop.

"What's up?" Caitlin asked quietly, halting all movement.

"We aren't alone," Jake whispered. Caitlin looked around carefully.

"There are three armed men, 90 degrees to our left," Caitlin told Jake softly as she consulted her mini laptop. Jake carefully and quietly pulled his gun from it's holster and handed to Caitlin before easing his rifle from it's sling across his back.

"I trust you remember how to use a gun," he said, easing away from Caitlin without waiting for a reply.

Before either of them knew what was happening, Caitlin and Jake were surrounded by camouflaged men pointing very large assault rifles at them. The leader of the group grabbed Caitlin by her pony-tail and pulled her to a standing position next to him.

Jake started to walk towards them and found the barrel of a gun in his face. Jake raised his hands and handed off his weapon before his hands were bound and he was dragged to the enemy's compound. Jake looked around and called out, "Cait, twenty black birds waiting on a pie!" Caitlin looked over her shoulder.

"Two bakers burning the pie," she said.

"Fuck!" Danny exclaimed, tossing his head set onto the desk and grabbing the phone. "This is Danny Storm, get me Cal Hopkins," Danny said when his call was connected.

"Caitlin?" Jake asked softly, sneaking into a tent. Caitlin looked up, surprised to see Jake.

"How did you get past the guard?" Caitlin asked. Jake studied Caitlin's face and his eyes darkened with anger.

"They hit you," Jake said, crawling deeper into the tent, and tracing the bruise with his finger. "Did they do anything else?" Jake wanted to know. Caitlin sighed.

"Can we get out of here?" she asked. Jake nodded and held out his hand.

Caitlin took it without hesitation and followed Jake out of the tent. As they eased their way towards the jungle, a hand reached out and touched Caitlin's shoulder making her jump. They both turned around carefully and Caitlin gasped when she saw a bruised and battered young woman. "Please take me with you," she whispered. Before Caitlin or Jake could answer, the girl's knees buckled and she started to go down; Jake caught her easily and hoisted her into his arms.

"We can't leave her," Jake told Caitlin.

Caitlin sighed, but nodded, remembering everything that had happened to her over the past two weeks.

"How are you feeling?" Jake asked Caitlin as she walked out of the make shift infirmary.

"Better," Caitlin said with a small smile. Jake brushed his fingers down her bruise and the fingers on his other hand clenched in anger. "I'm okay Jake," Caitlin said, taking his hand from her face and squeezing it.

"Hey guys, I hate to break this up, but our guest is waking up," Danny said from the shadows. Jake pulled away from Caitlin and walked into the infirmary and sat by the bed as the girl he had carried woke up.

Sitting up, she gave a small scream.

"Please don't hurt me!" she cried. Jake held up his hands in front of him.

"I won't hurt you. I'm the one that carried you out of there," Jake said gently. "I'm Jake," he added.

She studied him for a moment.

"My name is Marisol."

Jake smiled. "That's a beautiful name. Would you like something to drink, or eat?" Jake murmured. Marisol nodded and Jake looked up at Danny who grabbed a bottle of water from a cooler and walked up to the bed.

Marisol shrank away as Danny held out the bottle. "It's okay Marisol, he won't hurt you. This is Danny, he's a good friend of mine. His girlfriend and son are back home," Jake told her. Marisol took the offered water bottle, opened it and took a long drink.

-Meanwhile-

Claire frowned as she finished examining Jessica. "I'm worried about your blood pressure," she told Jessica. Jessica sighed as she wiped the gel used to amplify the baby's heart beat off of her belly and sat up.

"The baby's heart beat sounds good, nice and strong," Claire murmured, writing something in Jessica's chart before turning around. "How have you been sleeping and eating?" Claire wanted to know.

"Okay. It's getting harder to sleep comfortably," Jessica answered. Claire smiled and jotted another note on the chart. "Claire, has Cal heard from Danny since Jake and Caitlin were taken?" Jessica wanted to know. Claire sighed. She knew that Danny's absence, along with the Jake's and Caitlin's kidnapping had pushed her stress level over the edge.

"Jessica, Danny called Cal this morning, Jake and Caitlin managed to get themselves out, as well as a girl who was being held hostage. They're all fine. We need to talk about your blood pressure," Claire told Jessica, gently but firmly.

Jessica was standing in front of the stove, stirring the chili when she felt a searing pain course through her. Jessica dropped the wooden spoon to the floor and braced herself on the oven door.

"Jess, are you okay?" Paul asked, putting his bowl in the bin designated for dirty dishes.

"I don't think so, can you take me to the infirmary?" Jessica asked, her eyes wide. Paul nodded, lifted Jessica into his arms and carried her quickly to the infirmary.

"Welcome back guys," Cal said as Danny, Jake, Caitlin and Marisol climbed out of the van. "Danny, you need to go to the infirmary right away," he added. Danny and Jake exchanged glances and Danny took off at a run towards the compound.

"Cal this is Marisol Santiago. We rescued her from the enemy camp sight," Jake introduced. "He won't hurt you," Jake told Marisol, feeling her shrink back away from Cal. Cal gave Marisol a warm smile and led them into the compound.

"Claire!" Danny exclaimed, bursting into the infirmary. Claire looked up from her paperwork and stood up from the desk. "What happened? Where's Jessica?" Danny wanted to know.

Claire laid a comforting hand on Danny's arm.

"Jessica's blood pressure was very high and she had a condition called preeclampsia," Claire began. Claire quickly told him the causes and effects of the condition and Danny paled visibly.

"Is Jess okay?" Danny asked, fearing the worst. Claire smiled and nodded.

"She's going to be just fine," Claire told Danny.

"How did you cure the preeclampsia?" Danny asked. Claire smiled again.

"There's only one way to stop preeclampsia and that is to deliver the baby. Now before you start panicking, Jessica was at thirty-seven weeks, and full term. Jess and the baby are both doing very well," Claire began.

Danny breathed a sigh of relief. "We had to do a C-section, but Jessica's blood pressure is back to normal and the baby is beautiful," Claire added, leading Danny towards one of the rooms. "Go on in and meet your new baby," Claire said, opening the door a little before returning to her paperwork. Danny stepped into the room to find Jessica and the baby sleeping. Danny peered into the bassinet and smiled before sitting down next to the bed. Danny brushed his knuckle across Jessica's cheek. Jessica's eyes fluttered open and zeroed in on Danny's face.

"Hey beautiful," Danny murmured with a smile.

"Danny? When did you get back?" Jessica asked, surprised to see him sitting by her bed.

"Just a few minutes ago," Danny answered as Jessica pulled herself into a sitting position with a wince.

"I missed you!" Jessica exclaimed as Danny wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight but gentle hug. "I was so scared for you," she murmured.

"I'm alright, and I'm home now," Danny soothed. "I'm so sorry I didn't get back in time," Danny said. Jessica smiled a little.

"It's okay. I know you wanted to be," Jessica told him. "Have you seen her?" Jessica asked.

Danny grinned, but nodded. "Her?"

Jessica nodded. "I named her Kylie Rose," Jessica said. Danny smiled.

"She's beautiful, like her mom," Danny said, kissing Jessica gently as Kylie started fussing. Danny scooped Kylie out of the bassinet and cradled her gently in his arms, turning at the knock on the door.

"Come in," Jessica called. The door opened and Jake poked his head in the doorway. "I'm glad to see you made it back okay," Jessica told Jake as he walked into the room and gave Jessica a gentle hug. Jake glanced over at Danny who was holding a now calm Kylie. "Meet Kylie Rose Storm," Jessica added.

Jake grinned. "She's beautiful." Jessica looked over Jake's shoulder at Marisol. "Jess, this is Marisol. It's a long story, and I don't want to go into it now," Jake introduced.

Jessica smiled kindly at Marisol who was looking at Kylie with a strange expression on her face.

"Do you like babies Marisol?" Jessica asked. Marisol nodded slowly and looked away.

"She reminds me of my little sister," Marisol murmured. Danny handed Kylie over to Jessica as Claire walked into the room.

"Hi Marisol, my name is Claire, and I'm the physician here," Claire introduced herself. Marisol smiled slightly and shook Claire's hand. "I was told you went through a lot. If it's okay with you, I'd like to examen you," Claire said gently. Marisol looked at Jake who gave her an encouraging smile and Marisol nodded. "Follow me into another room," Claire murmured, leading Marisol into the exam room next door.

"Jake?" Caitlin called, knocking on his door. Jake opened the door.

"What's going on?" Jake asked, his brown hair tousled.

"I woke you up didn't I?" Caitlin murmured. Jake nodded, but let her in.

"It's okay, I wasn't sleeping well anyway," Jake said. "What's up?" he wanted to know.

"I needed to talk to you about what happened during the gun op," Caitlin began.

Jake shook his head. "No Caitlin, you don't. You slept around, you got pregnant, and had an abortion, what else is there for you say? That you love me?" Jake sneered. Caitlin sighed and played with her hands.

"I didn't sleep around, I just told you that because I was afraid," Caitlin told Jake.

"Afraid of what?" Jake demanded.

"You know the childhood I had Jake. It wasn't great," Caitlin murmured. Jake nodded.

"Not everyone has a good childhood," Jake reminded her. Caitlin nodded and hesitated for a moment. She hadn't told anyone about her past, but she knew she had to tell Jake.

"I was raped Jake. When my mother had a miscarriage and had to have an emergency hysterectomy, my step father decided I would be a surrogate mother for their child. He raped me every night until I was pregnant," Caitlin told him.