Victor, Impossible is Not in Ben's Vocabulary

"She didn't just disappear into thin air," Ben said incredulously, looking around the basement room that Selene had been kept in. There was no sign of her even though clothes and other evidence indicated that she had been there.

Unbeknownst to Ben and the team he was with (which included Johnny, Frank, Sheila, Maria, and Thomas), Victor had taken Selene away not one hour prior to their arrival. They were currently on the freeway, heading toward the airport where his private jet awaited them. Victor was going to personally escort Selene out of the country to a property owned under a different name, where she would live out the rest of her days in solitude, underground.

Ben and the team had finally managed to track Selene's location early in the morning of the third day of her disappearance. They had formed a plan of attack against the guards that had been left behind at the house, which weren't that many. That was their first hint that something was not right. Then when they subdued the guards, searched the house, and found nothing, they knew Selene would not be there. Finding the basement provided some hope but now Ben was at a loss.

Johnny said, "We must be close. She was definitely here and not that long ago. They haven't had a chance to clean the room yet. They must have just taken her out. Now we need to figure out where and quickly."

Frank jumped in, "If they haven't killed her…sorry Ben for saying so…but if they haven't, then they're heading for the airport. That should be one of our next targets."

Hearing Frank mention Selene being killed stabbed at Ben's heart but he knew he didn't have time to let himself go there right now. Instead he needed to think clearly. He said, "Johnny, contact Jimenez at Traffic Control. He owes me a favor. Ask him if Drakos has filed a flight plan. If yes, tell him to not let Drakos's jet fly out. If he's not working today, have him call someone who is there and call in a favor or something. Whatever it takes. That plane cannot fly out before we get there."

Johnny pulled out his phone and turned away.

Ben continued, "If Drakos is planning to fly Selene out, I'll head over there. Maria, Thomas, you're with me."

Frank jumped in with, "You'll need a team of at least 15 others. I'd suggest all Delta."

Ben considered that for a few moments but then said, "I see where you're going, but I think I have a better plan. We'll still need people from Delta team at the airport but not that many. I'll also need a few from Alpha. I'll fill everybody in on the way. Frank, Johnny, you know what to do. We need alternatives. I'm thinking one is cover the port. Johnny, maybe you can take a team there. We also need to go back to the other houses in case he moved her to one of those. Sheila, you and Max take care of that. And any others I can't think of right now."

All nodded and Johnny said, "We're on it."

They all dispersed, plans settled.

As Frank suspected, Victor and Selene were on the freeway headed to the airport. Selene's hands and feet were bound as she was sitting in the back of the limo, farthest from Victor and next to the guard that had been in the room with her. "Is this really necessary?," she asked, looking in the direction of her hands and feet.

Victor chuckled and said, "Now that you know there's no hope for you, who knows what you might try in here. One cannot be too careful, you know."

"We are in a moving car. What would I try?," Selene countered. "It's not like I'm going to jump out the door on the freeway. I would get hit by a car. Why would I do that? Also, there's this guy next to me. What's his name by the way?"

Victor gave her a sideways glance and replied, "Clever. Don't think you can talk your way out of it. I know you are a genius, so I am not taking any chances. Now just sit there quietly, otherwise, I will have to gag you as well. That's Claude."

Claude looked at Selene with no expression and she visibly shivered. She slumped back into her seat and stared out the window.

He was right. She was thinking of ways to escape. Victor had not told her his plan exactly, but she could tell that they were on their way to the airport given the freeway they were on and how close they were to it. She also figured that he had a private jet so that presented a problem for any escape plan she could come up with. "Think Selene Think," she thought. "There has to be a way out of this. Ok. Let's think options."

She began to formulate different alternatives. For example, if they let her walk on her own to the plane and there are guards on either side, would she be able to kick and scream? Would that draw attention or would everyone there be working for Victor? She would have to assess that first. Could she ask to use the restroom once they arrive at the airport and somehow leave a message there? If they didn't let her and said just use it on the plan, would she be able to pee her pants to get them to let her go immediately?

Selene spent the entire car ride coming up with various scenarios so that she was prepared for all sorts of contingencies, all so she had the slightest chance to escape. She had plenty of time, because an accident was creating a major back up that had reached them, and every car was at a standstill. After half an hour of moving only one mile, Victor was beyond aggravated. He kept looking at the time on his phone because they had a flight plan that they had to abide by.

When the limo that was carrying Selene and Victor finally arrived at his private hangar, most of Selene's plans had to go out the window. As she feared, it appeared that everyone on site worked for Victor. Her hands and feet were unbound. Victor showed her a syringe that he said had a tranquilizer in it and that if she tried anything, he would just inject it into her. He then put his arms around her shoulders as he walked her to the stairs leading up to the jet. Tears started falling down Selene's cheeks as she saw no way out.

There were two guards escorting them on either side that had come in another car. Victor introduced one as Gil Kauf and said he would stay with her in the country they were going to as her personal "keeper." The other one was Claude. When they reached the stairs, there were two guards on either side. Victor eyed them and then said to Claude, "Are they new?"

Claude looked at them with eyes squinted and said, "They must be, but they didn't go through me. Please go up sir and I'll check with the captain." As Victor and Selene ascended the stairs with Gil, Claude took out his phone, dialed a number, and after it connected said, "Get me the captain." After a pause, he said, "Ok….You sure it'll only be five minutes….uh-huh…Ok, tell him to call me right back." Then he pointed to the two guards by the stairs and said, "You two, over here." He gestured for them to go stand at a location near him, so he could keep his eyes on them. They looked at each other and obeyed.

Once inside the airplane, Victor and Selene sat across from each other. Victor put the cap on the syringe and gave it to Gil, who put it in a breast pocket. Gil went around the cabin, the back room/bedroom, the kitchen, and bathroom, checking for anything amiss. At the same time, a hostess came by and asked if there was anything she could get Mr. Drakos while they waited for take-off. She had her back to Selene. Victor asked for a glass of champagne. "To celebrate you finally being out of my hair," he said to Selene.

The hostess turned to Selene and said, "And you miss?"

To Selene's astonishment, it was her bodyguard Maria. Maria gave her a look indicating don't act surprised. So, in order to cover up the surprised look that she gave, Selene said, "Oh wow, I didn't expect I would be allowed to have anything on the plane. I thought I was a prisoner." She looked at Victor, squinting her eyes.

Victor sighed and said, "You're right. You are a prisoner. But I'm not going to starve you. I'm not an animal. You won't have caviar and champagne, of course, because you don't deserve luxuries. And who are we kidding? Your taste buds are so low class you wouldn't even be able to appreciate high class foods anyway. Just get her some juice."

"Yes sir," Maria said, bowing her head.

As she was about to leave, Victor turned his head sideways and his eyebrows creased in the middle. He said, "Wait a minute, where is the usual hostess, Kendra?"

Maria turned around and said with a concerned look of sympathy, "She wasn't feeling well and I'm the replacement. I'm new. I hope I won't disappoint you, sir." She looked down shyly for effect as she said the last part.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, love," Victor said, admiring her beauty as he looked at her up and down. But something didn't sit well with him as she walked away behind the curtain, into the kitchen.

Gil had completed his survey and came back to sit on the other side of the plane, just in front of curtain that led to the kitchen.

After a few moments, the Captain came over to tell Victor that traffic control had told them that there would be a delay and they could not fly out on schedule. Victor had had it. He got up out of his seat and started yelling at the Captain, "What do you mean another delay?! Tell them I will pay them however much money they want to put us at the top of the list, do you hear me?! Go on! Tell them!"

The Captain was flustered and his face turned red. Selene was watching the scene, wondering what Maria had planned and if this meant Ben was on his way. Gil had an angry look on his face and was ready to jump into action. The co-pilot came out and said, "What is going on here? Let's all try to calm down."

Victor took a breath and although not yelling, said angrily, "I was just telling the Captain that another delay is unacceptable and that…"

Before Victor could finish, Ben and Thomas came crashing into the seating area with his gun pointed on Victor, while Thomas's gun was trained on Gil. The Captain ducked down, but the co-pilot pulled out a gun as well and aimed it at Victor's head. Gil had pulled out his gun amidst all this and was raising it to point at Selene, but Maria had come out of the kitchen area on the other side with a gun pointing at his head, so he didn't have time to raise it all the way. Everything happened so fast, Victor and Gil had almost no time to react and all they heard was Ben yelling, "Get away from Selene Drakos!," Thomas yelling, "Don't move asshole!" as he pointed his gun at Gil, and Maria saying, "Not so fast my friend" as she held up her gun to Gil's head.

As all this was happening, Selene screamed and put her hands against her ears and her head down on her lap.

Gil was unarmed and made to turn around as his hands and feet were zip-tied.

Victor was stunned and slumped back down in his chair. He said, "How is this possible?"

Ben had gone to Selene and was kneeling in front of her. He said, "Shh, shh, it's ok, baby, it's ok. I'm here, I'm here. It's ok."

She raised her head and looked at him. As she saw it was Ben, she started crying. She undid her seatbelt and flung herself at him. Ben raised her up and they stayed hugging for quite a while as Selene cried and Ben just kept telling her everything would be alright and that he was there.

Finally, she pulled away, looked at Gil and said, "He has a syringe in his front breast pocket that is a tranquilizer they said." Then she looked at Ben and said, "I'm ready to go."

Ben touched her face and said, "Of course, baby. Let's go." He was surprised at how calm she looked, and a little worried about that as well.

Before he led her off of the plane, he turned to Victor and said, "If you ever touch her again, I will kill you. This is a warning because unlike your family, we are not murderers. Don't make me like you. But if I have to be, I will." Then he turned to Thomas and said, "Take care of the clean up." Thomas just nodded.

Thomas zip-tied Victor and the Captain the same way he had Gil and said, "We are going to leave you here but don't worry. I'm sure your men will come find you. Eventually. You're lucky we can't report this to the police given the nature of this extraction operation. But my advice to you is. Don't test him again."

Victor just spit on him and said, "I don't take advice from commoners such as you. And I'm not afraid of Liu. Tell your employer. She will not take what is mine. If she tries. She is the one who will end up dead."

Thomas just shook his head, turned to Maria and then to the Delta team member who had been acting as the co-pilot, and said, "Let's get outta here."

Maria spit on Victor as she was heading out and said, "I hope you rot in here, you piece of shit."