Acquiring Trouble

and grinned slightly at the memory of her father before starting again. “He was negotiating behind the scenes with several major players in the Middle East, Europe , and Asia to orchestrate a no - fly zone and completely sever monetary and humanitarian aid to the area I was in. It was going to be a first… denying help to specific section s of the region spanning multiple countries without blocking any entire nation .”
    “How could your father get Pakistan and Afghanistan to agree to t his?” Miles couldn’t believe her father could acc omplish such a feat.
    “He threatened to completely blockade the countries of all aid and financial support from t he United States,” Mariah said as she turned around and put her fingers to Cade’s neck.
    “That would never fly. The US depends o n oil exports. I can’t see the P resident agreeing to it.”
    “Privately, the P resident put out that he would back it. It was a bluff, but it worked. It worked so well that the rebels who call these mountains home , kidnapped me . The ransom was a UN Treaty saying US supports the current regimes and , in return for their cooperation during this War on Terror , would ne ver place sanction s on the m . I n fact the treaty would call for an increase in aid with no restrictions. T he US would avoid the black eye of having the Secretary of State’s own daughter kidnapped and then murdered.
    “ They were transporting me to an allied country. The plan was to kill me t here and force the US to spread the War of Terror to a third front, thus spreading out our troops. I don’t know which country they were planning to fram e; I’m guessing Iran or Saudi Arabia since those are two of the top - producing oil companies in tension with the US ’s War on Terror. They’d be blamed and then the US would either attack to save face , or put forth tough sanctions that would harm them through denial of oil sales . ”
    “I see. Either way the heat would be off this area.” Miles nodded as the vehicle started down the side of the mountain.
    “Yes, exactly.” Mariah turned around from the backseat, “You r brother’s fine. He’s not responding when I pinch him, but his breathing is strong and steady.”
    “Thank you . I’m…” Miles slammed on his br ak e s as he rounded a corner. The r oad was already one lane, but the side of it was crumbling from water runoff . He slowed down and pulled as close to the mountain side as he could.
    “Look out!” Mariah screamed and pointed down the road.
    Mil es cursed and slammed on his br ak e s. Ahead of him were five men blocking the road with machine guns. He threw the car into reverse and looked into the review mirror to find five more men blocking the road. They were trapped.
    “Captain, those are the men that kidnapped me!”
    “How do you know?”
    “Their robes, they all had red, green and black trim along the bottom. Those were their colors.”
    Mariah was panicked. He looked at all the men and sure enough they all had the same casual uniform on. He could try to back over them, but he wouldn’t be able to hit them all and they had powerful guns. More and more men appeared from the mountain. When he saw the bazooka he knew they had no options. They were outnumbered and outgunned. He looked around and then down. Down m ight be the only way out.
    “Mariah, we’re trapped. We have two options. We surrender and hope for an escape in the future or…”
    “I’ll take the or.”
    “ Okay, then hold on tight.” Miles turned around and buckled Cade in the best he could before strapping on his seatbelt. “I’d buckle that if I were you.” Miles didn’t hesitate as he pressed on the gas and drove the car off the side of the mountain.
    The runoff had created a path down the mountainside and he just hoped like hell it was clear . The car took to the air and landed head first on the path. Miles’s head slammed against the roof of the car and he heard Mariah scream. He managed to keep his hands on the wheel and the car on the small path created over the seasons.
    The car bounced and picked up speed as it headed down the hill. He pressed on the br ak e s only to find that the car would fishtail at such speeds and on such unstable ground. Mud, slush, and patches of rocks made navigating the car difficult . Ahead of him there was a drop - off. He couldn’t see how big it was b ut they were about to find out.
    He slammed on the bra k e s, the car fishtailed and went over the drop - off