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When the phone rang early one morning, Paula dreaded answering it. The caller ID showed a European number – it was probably Marcus as he usually called in the mornings. He’d had nothing new to tell them in weeks, she didn’t know why he even bothered to call any more.

“Mama?” The voice at the other end sounded distant and tinny.

“Howard? Howard!” Paula nearly dropped the phone in her excitement. “Hoke! It’s Howard on the phone,” she yelled.

“Mama, it’s me, and I’m ok.” She could hear the tears in his voice, knew he was crying as she was.

“Oh son, are you really ok? When are you coming home?”

“I’m truly fine, mama. I’m in Germany right now but I don’t know when they’re going to let me leave. Nick and Brian are here with me now, AJ and Kevin are in debriefing but will be done later on today…so we might be able to come home tomorrow.”

“Oh thank God,” Paula said, sinking into the chair next to the living room phone. Hoke came running in.

“Did you say Howard is on the phone?” he asked. Paula shoved the phone into his hands; she was trembling too hard to talk any more.

“Son? Are you ok?”

“Hey Dad, yes I’m fine. And the others are too – I’ve talked to them briefly, we’re supposed to all have dinner together tonight. I should know more later on, I’ll call back and let you know the details when I get them.”

“Ok, Howard, be sure and do that. Thank God you’re alright.” Hoke looked over at Paula, a smile creased her face from ear to ear.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. And Dad? Don’t say anything to anyone yet – this will be released to the media in an hour or so but they let me call you so you wouldn’t see it on the news before I talked to you myself.”

“No problem, Howard. Just let us know when to expect you; I’m sure the whole family will want to be here.”

“I’m sure they will,” Howie laughed, imagining his mom’s house full of people waiting for him. “I love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, son.”

****************************

Howie sat on the deck of his townhouse, watching the gulls wheel over the ocean. His homecoming had been very emotional - his mother had wept for an hour at seeing him, his sisters had hugged him until he thought his ribs would break. He'd spent the day with his extended family, telling them stories of his captivity, leaving out the worst parts of course; he didn't want to put his mom through any more trauma. They were all interested in Hira, what she was like and why she had helped him. He hadn't told them about making love to her, of course.

He couldn't get her out of his mind; her face filled his dreams since that night together. Just thinking of her made him hard with desire; he had to fight back all the emotions swirling within him.

Picking up his cell phone, he called a friend in New York who had connections to a politician. He asked him if he could try to find out what was going on with Hira, surely they could find someone who knew something about her. His friend promised to try and would call him back later on.

He hung up the phone and sighed, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. He could picture her perfectly, her face with the high cheekbones, the dark eyes, the luscious lips that had tasted so good. God, she was so beautiful it hurt to think about her.

For several weeks, Howie called everyone he could think of to try to get information, but no one had heard anything or was willing to try. Frustrated, he flew to Washington DC and scheduled an appointment with his state senator. The man of course knew who Howie was and knew how much he and his group had done for his state - he didn't want to piss him off so he promised to do what he could, which sounded rather lame to Howie's ears.

As he was leaving the man's office, his cell phone rang - it was his friend in New York. He had pulled some strings and called in many favors but he finally had something solid for Howie - Hira had been granted asylum but no one knew any more than that. Howie turned around and went back to the Senator's office and told him what he had just found out - the senator promised to make a few calls and see if he could find out if Hira had entered the country, that much he could do.

For two days, Howie sat in the hotel room waiting for a call. He had put his life on hold and cancelled plans because he could focus on nothing until he knew Hira was safe. He had promised her and he didn't make promises lightly.

The senator called late that afternoon. “Mr. Dorough, I have news of your friend.”

“Please tell me she's safely in the US,” Howie said.

“I'm sorry, I wish I could. But my sources tell me that she was indeed granted asylum but she never came into the states at all - she was kidnapped from the military hospital in Baghdad two days after you appeared at the checkpoint.”

“Does anyone know where she is, if she's still alive?” Howie felt his heart drop into his feet.

“No one seems to know anything about her, I'm sorry. I wish I had better news for you.”

“Thank you, Senator Drescher, for looking into that for me. I won't forget this favor.”

“It's the least I could do, Mr. Dorough. The Backstreet Boys have been very accommodating to the state of Florida when we needed help in fundraisers in the past. I know we'll be able to count on you in the future too.”

Howie didn't like the veiled hint to future favors, but he knew it was how things worked. “Of course, whatever we can do to help.”

Disappointment filled him, he felt like it would crush him. He had promised her - it was there for the taking if he could just find her. He picked his cell phone back up and started making more calls.

**********************

“Are you sure you want to do this, Howard?” Hoke asked. “It seems to me a very foolish thing to do, putting yourself back in danger like that.”

“I promised her, Dad. And I’m not going to be able to rest until I know I’ve done everything I could to find her.” He stuffed some clothes into his suitcase and slammed it shut.

“Your mom is worried sick, she doesn’t want you to go,” Hoke said softly.

“I know that, and I don’t mean to worry her. God knows you both have been through enough.” He picked up the small suitcase and laid it on the floor. “But she risked her life to save mine, and I owe her. I’ll stay for a month and if I don’t find her then I’ll come home and get on with my life, ok?”

Hoke pulled him into a bear hug. “Just don’t get yourself killed.”

“I’ll try not to,” Howie said with a smile.

He said his goodbyes to his family, and although his mother’s tears broke his heart he knew he had to go. Before long he joined Marcus at the airport, and they were winging their way back to Baghdad.