DRAGONJULS Storybook
Disclaimer and Acknowledgements: See Part One
Part 14
Chapter Twenty-three
Colin was shaken at the news that had been related to him about the bastards that had taken Jace and beaten Jake. In many ways, he felt responsible, that had he been on the ranch it wouldn't have happened; but the truth was he would probably be in the same condition as Jake or worse he suspected.
Detective Armstrong looked at the ranch foreman and stroked his chin as he considered telling him the worse news. "Actually, Mr Montgomery did you have anyone out in the northern pasture this evening for any reason?"
Colin raised his grey eyes to the detective and nodded his head. "Yeah, Daniel Otaga, he was keeping a patrol on the boundary. The security system had been breached by a horse we think and I didn't want to take any chances......." Colin trailed off as he looked at the serious expression on the detective's face.
"I'm afraid we found Mr Otaga's body about a mile from the breached fence; it appears that he was in some altercation with another party. Furthermore, we believe that party to be the same that unlawfully entered the house tonight. He was shot twice in the head, I'm sorry." The detective saw the tall man blink back tears that threatened to fall and clear his voice fractionally.
"I see. Dan was a good man, I will have to go and see his family; they live in Dunedin, he was their youngest son, a credit to them. So, it wasn't a horse and I was right to be worried." Colin rambled softly to no one in particular, it should have been him not young Dan!
"Why did you have to enhance the security here on the ranch? Did you expect trouble?" Armstrong asked him seriously.
"Mrs Warriorson wanted to put in extra protection after the shooting on her business premises in New York. She wasn't sure if there would be further action against her family, obviously she was right." Colin told him. All he wanted to do now was hold Grace and look into her gentle brown eyes and see the comfort and compassion she had in difficult situations.
"Ah yes, the renowned Mrs Warriorson has become quite a celebrity in the past few weeks hasn't she? Has she been informed of the situation here?" Armstrong would like to meet her. He had heard that she had a formidable reputation and her beauty was legendary in the area.
"Grace my.......Catherine and Jace's close friend will call her shortly. She's gone to the hospital first to check on Jake's condition. Why did they do that to a boy for god's sake?" Colin asked, his voice breaking with the anguish he felt.
"People who shoot in cold blood Mr Montgomery never need a reason, and unfortunately I fear for Ms Bardley's life too in these circumstances. We have only the two words spoken to the housekeeper that have any possible relevance, but to whom? That is the question?" Armstrong said matter of factly.
"Can you tell me the two words and why to Judy?" Colin pondered the question of Judy himself.
"Revenge and Maria! Does that make any connection to you? We will talk to Judy Schmidt shortly, she's new here I believe?" Armstrong waited for the man to reply with interest.
"Yes Judy arrived a couple of months ago, we obviously know very little about her background. Perhaps that was an oversight when she was employed, I would have to ask Grace, she and Jace employed her." Colin considered the implication of the words.
"I'll take what you have said in consideration. Strange that the security in the house wasn't switched on, who would be responsible for that?" Armstrong asked him quietly.
"Usually I check all the house security as everyone goes to bed, I was in town as you know. Often Jace will put on the temporary security sensors for the porch and the drive; she obviously didn't for some reason." Colin was puzzled; Jace was normally so efficient about the house.
"So effectively Ms Bardley was in part responsible for her own kidnapping, if you look at in black and white?" Armstrong shook his head at the thought himself.
"If you put it like that yes." Colin decided that Jace being blamed in anyway for the kidnapping would not benefit anyone including herself, so he answered the first part of the detective's question.
"I suspect Catherine will know what the message means; I'll contact Grace now and inform her on what's happening. Grace will call Catherine immediately. Have you got any leads as to their whereabouts?"
"The tracks are being followed as we speak, but the weather is changing and in about an hour, another heavy snow storm is forecast, which will most likely obliterate the tracks. So, it's now or never, they certainly chose the right conditions for kidnapping without trace." Armstrong looked out of the kitchen window and saw the flakes of snow begin to fall; maybe he was optimistic with an hour.
"Thanks. If you need me I'll be in the study calling Grace and then with the rest of the family until you leave." Colin didn't wait for any reply. He left the detective starring out at the worsening weather, within ten minutes you couldn't see a hand in front of you with the blanket of snow falling.
**********
Constance called Clare to ask if she wouldn't mind coming to visit for the evening, she had something she needed help with.
"Will Danni be around?" Clare asked cautiously.
"Usually she is, but if that's a problem I will ask her to leave for the evening." Constance couldn't understand the friction between the two of them, but it was there so she had to deal with it.
"No, it's okay. She doesn't have anywhere else to go anyway does she; now that Catherine has left the country?" Clare said quietly.
"She doesn't. However, if you're not comfortable with the arrangement I'm sure she can go see a movie or a show, there must be something in the city she still hasn't done yet." Constance gave the young woman a chance to reverse her original decision.
"I can try again, if she can." Clare replied finally. "What time do you want me to come by?"
"Do you want to join me for dinner?" Constance hopefully asked not really expecting her to agree. They hadn't shared a meal since she'd left the hospital over two weeks ago, and Danni just wasn't Clare. Danni didn't have the same interests and she certainly didn't have the same sparkling fire in green-flecked eyes that Clare had when she talked about a subject with gusto.
"No, thanks for the offer, but I need to do some extra work tonight. Mr Garcia is a little stressed with the arrangements in the building, I promised to help him, but I can come by afterwards, say around eight?" Clare didn't really have to help Garcia, but she didn't want to have dinner with Danni either, although she missed her chats with Constance and the genuine friendship they had developed.
"I can understand that and it's very commendable of you Clare, I'll see you at eight then; don't work too hard." Constance finished feebly.
"Bye Constance see you later," Clare replaced the receiver and quickly walked over to the coffee machine in the hall and bought a strong expresso.
Constance replaced her instrument on the cradle and walked slowly back to her armchair and sat down in a defeated fashion. 'Oh well, at least she's coming over later, that's an improvement; now to tackle Danni, that should be fun.'
**********
Grace watched the boy being settled comfortable in the bed in a private room in the local hospital that only a few weeks earlier she had visited Jace and Elena in.
"Are you Jake's mother?" the young doctor asked, as he glanced in her direction.
"No, my best friend is his guardian. She is currently abroad and I want to know his condition prior to calling her, she will want to know the facts." Grace answered him quietly.
"Who's his guardian?" The doctor inclined his head as he examined Jake again now that he was settled in the bed.
"Mrs Warriorson at 'Destiny' ranch; she will be home within twenty-four hours of the call." Grace supplied the barest of details.
"Ah, the recluse that isn't really a recluse but seems to dominate the papers almost everyday, remarkable. Well, in that case Jake here is a very lucky boy. He has a hairline fracture of the skull and will have a massive headache when he wakes but hopefully nothing else from that injury. We will obviously know more when he wakes properly. His leg has been broken in two places. I wouldn't like to say how, but the bruising indicates some physical force almost as if it was done by hand, but that seems unlikely; must have been the way he fell. He will have a cast for six weeks. Then hopefully, if it knits together without a problem; he will be walking around within a few weeks of that without aide." The doctor looked at her pale face and smiled. "He looks like a strong boy, he's going to be fine."
"He loves to play soccer, wants to do that for a living one day or at least that's his dream." Grace whispered as she sat by the bed and stroked the black hair out of his eyes.
The doctor looked at her with compassion, playing football for fun and professionally was a different question altogether. "It's too early to say, but I think he's got a good chance of following that dream." He walked out of the room leaving her alone with the boy.
"Catherine will be home soon Jake, and when she does, she'll want to see that shy smile of yours, you know the one you always give just for her and then she'll ruffle your hair as she always does afterwards." Grace softly whispered to the boy, knowing that the drugs he had been given would make it impossible for him to hear her.
Grace stroked his hair and gently traced the forehead and the eyelids in tender concern. "You know Jake, Lisa was crying like a baby, when you got hurt. This means she's going to smother you with love for ages, so the quicker you get better and leave the hospital the sooner you get away from her into your own room, what do you say?"
Grace watched the eyelids flicker indicating a dreamlike state in Jake; Grace laid her cheek next to his and placed a light kiss on his nose. "You're going to have a black eye, by the looks of the bridge of your nose, and a busted nose too. That will put you on a par with Colin, when he got punched that time and broke his nose, you can trade stories the two of you when you next go riding."
Moving slowly and carefully hopefully not to disturb him, she picked up his left hand and traced her finger over his palm then laced their fingers together. "You know something Jake, you're the first one to know but Colin said he loved me tonight for the first time, what do you think of that one huh?" Grace held onto his hand for a few minutes more and then disengaged it and went to the furthest corner of the room as her cell phone rang; it would be Colin with her update for her call to Catherine.
**********
Jace became disorientated with a blanket over her head to obstruct her view and it was damn cold too, her heavy coat, not a match for the blizzard conditions and the freezing temperature. 'Thank God Judy had chosen this one and not one of her others, by now I would be hypothermic and that wouldn't help my cause any. What did these people want with me? I know it has something to do with Catherine but what?'
The leader of the three masked kidnappers pushed her forward and into a wall, it was cold and wet. The way her sense of smell was working, although with difficulty as her nose was running with the cold, she would guess they were in a cave of some description or other. Although she wasn't aware of how much time had elapsed since being taken from the ranch. She was certain it was well over two hours; that could mean they might be a hundred or so miles from home and in this weather who would be in a position to trace them? Her shoulder hurt where she'd been roughly handled and wanted nothing more than to see her home, family and especially Catherine. 'I'm not going to die here, I will not do that without having seen her, I refuse to give these monsters that satisfaction!'
Jace tried to listen to the conversation between the three of them, it was muffled and one of them the leader had a definite accent.
"You go and keep watch outside for any movement, if it runs, walks or crawls kill it," the heavily accented voice demanded coldly.
"Okay, but who the hell could have tracked us in this weather?" a distinctly male voice replied.
Jace still wasn't to sure about the leader the accent and the low level of the tones used had rendered it neutral to her hearing.
"Give our guest another blanket and then tie her hands and feet up, I don't want her moving around in here at anytime, got me?" The leader spoke to the men without respect.
"She's not likely to wander around out there, she'd kill herself by falling into a ravine most likely," another male voice ventured an opinion.
"I don't care what you think, just do what I say, and you're being paid enough for the privilege," aggression surfacing in the leader with little prompting.
"What are you going to do?" the man obviously hadn't heard the tone of his leader. Hearing a shuffle and a sharp intake of breath, Jace took a guess that it was the man asking the question not the leader.
"What I do is my concern, you need to do what I say and that's all you need to know. If you ask me again, I'll kill you, just like I did that little runt on the ranch," the leader's voice bearing no compassion at all, just evil intent.
Jace heard the reference to a killing on the ranch and she closed her eyes as tears spilled, it could only be Jake. He hadn't looked alive when she'd walked past him in the hall it wasn't fair! He was only a boy! Her sobs silent, racking her slim shoulders and she managed to control herself with difficulty as she heard someone approach her position. No way would she let the bastards know she was upset or frightened or angry, she needed to look calm and composed, her very existence may depend on it.
"Move over bitch, I'll take the blanket off your head now, but you're going to be tied up so you don't leave our gracious company," the man said, freeing the rope that held the blanket over her head in place.
Jace looked around her as her eyes quickly focused in the dim light, it certainly was a cave and there were icicles forming above her head and on almost every flat surface. It wouldn't be the ideal place to spend an evening; in fact, it could be the final place you ended up if you didn't keep warm. Jace looked at the man before her who still had the black ski mask over his head, his eyes were a pale green and held nothing but contempt in them for her; it puzzled Jace, whatever had she done to deserve that look. The man pushed her back against the wall and she winced as once again her back was subjected to the impact of the rock wall. Eventually, the man had tied Jace's feet and hands and she noticed the eyes smile wickedly at her as he tightened the ropes around her wrists tighter than they needed to be, she didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her wince at the pain it caused. 'Well, I'm going to die three ways here at the moment, by exposure, loss of circulation or a gun!' Jace looked down at her bound feet and a trace of a smile passed over her face 'Well, at least I can't get into any trouble now can I?' The darkness of the tremendously cold cave abounded as they extinguished the meagre light that had been surrounding them. Except for the faint sounds emanating from the far recesses of the cave, she felt entirely alone in this dank and simply appalling place. 'God help me, but I want to go home,' her mind screamed out to her reminding her of one of Lisa's outbursts, she was an adult, not a child, she could handle this; couldn't she?
**********
Chapter twenty-four
Dave the steward gently pushing her shoulder to get her attention awakened Catherine. She looked at him in surprise shook her head to clear her thoughts and smiled briefly at him.
"Got a problem?" Catherine asked quietly, Rio beside her had one eye open and the other closed, hoping to continue his nap.
"You have a call Ms Devonshire, do you want to take it or shall the pilot take a message and you will return it later?" Dave asked her politely.
"Who's on the line, I'm surprised that anyone would try to get me in flight?" Catherine gave him a puzzled look and arched her left eyebrow in question.
"A Ms Thornton," Dave answered the question.
"Grace? Jesus how did she know where I was? It was going to be a surprise. Get me the link Dave and leave me alone, okay?" Catherine immediately had all her senses working overtime.
"Yes ma'am," he left her to connect the link.
Seconds later Catherine was handed the link phone and she waited for Dave to leave the cabin before she switched to speak.
"Grace? What's the problem?" Catherine asked sharply, her nerves on edge.
"Hi Catherine. Sorry to bother you in flight." Grace replied softly, her eyes tracking to the peaceful form sleeping soundly in the hospital bed.
"Grace, don't prevaricate what's going on?" Catherine asked again, this time her voice raised an octave to give more meaning to the question.
"You're sitting down I assume Catherine, well, yeah you would be wouldn't you. There's been some trouble at the ranch." Grace finally finished her rambling with at least a smidgen of information.
Grace heard the sharp intake of breath at the other end of the line and waited, she didn't have to wait long.
"Trouble?" Catherine finally asked shortly.
"Three masked gunmen breached the property and entered the main house." Grace told her quietly.
"Go on, are you trying to torture me here Grace, for god's sake get to the bloody point will you?" Catherine replied in agitation.
"They killed one of the ranch hands, injured Jake, he's in the hospital I'm with him now........" Catherine interrupted her.
"What did they do to my son?" Catherine's voice held menace aimed directly at the unknown perpetrators.
"They beat him over the head, he has a hairline fracture of the skull and they broke his leg in two places, but the doctor assures me he's in no danger now!" Grace tried desperately to send that re-assuring message to Catherine.
"When he wakes you tell him I'm going to be there soon?" Catherine choked back a sob at the condition of the boy; the bastards would pay, that was for sure.
"I'll tell him. Catherine that isn't the end of it I'm afraid!" Grace had dreaded this part most of all.
"Go on." Catherine felt her gut tighten at the words, she knew already that it involved Jace, why else would Grace be calling, surely Jace would have contacted her unless she couldn't; she hoped in her heart that it didn't mean that!
"They kidnapped Jace and have left you a message," Grace whispered through tears, that she could no longer hold back.
If Catherine had needed her fears realised and brought from a shimmering illusion to reality and total clarity, she just had her wish with that one stark sentence. "What was the message?" Catherine managed to say though her voice cracked with the strain of the moment.
"Revenge and Maria? The leader of the kidnappers spoke in German to Judy, though how they knew she could speak German amazes me!" Grace pondered her own words as she spoke them, she should have checked Judy out fully as soon as she'd returned to 'Destiny', but oh no her own selfish needs had been gratified instead. "Do you think Judy had anything to do with it?"
"Let the police work on that one, have they any other leads other than the message?" Catherine asked her emotions in turmoil but her mind analysing everything that Grace said to her, losing her head in a fit of emotional un-stability wasn't going to get Jace back!
"Colin can't believe it, he had the final system working as you directed and he put Otaga at the breach in the fence to keep everything safe; he wished it had been him and not Otaga!" Grace said, her emotional state less than balanced with all the events and the reactions of others around her. She wanted to scream her own anger and frustration to someone, but there wasn't anyone!
"It's not Colin's fault you tell him that Grace? He did what I asked, I should have done it earlier in light of Adamson arriving and getting on the ranch so easily, and it just wasn't to be. Anyway if he had done that, he would be dead now instead of Otaga!" Catherine stated simply.
"I wouldn't have been happy about that point myself." Grace said ruefully, her expression lightened slightly in the darkness shrouding her.
"No, I guess you wouldn't, how are my daughters?" Catherine tried to focus on the things that were known and not the unknown that Jace was now encompassed in.
"Lisa is upset. She'd argued with Jake prior to him being hurt and she thought he was dead. I'm going to bring her here tomorrow to see him. My mother is caring for Elena, fortunately the baby has had processed milk before; Mom's coping with that aspect as well as she can in the circumstances," Grace volunteered, knowing that each facet that had to be changed regarding Elena, fully illustrated Jace was no longer resident on the ranch.
"I'm glad!" Catherine this time couldn't help the sob that refused to be subjugated into silence, her pain at the situation finally breaching all her barriers of restraint.
"Catherine do you know who has done this, with the message they left?" Grace knew that having Catherine break down now wasn't what the stoic woman would want, she would expect more control over her emotions especially in public.
Catherine wiped her hand over her eyes and was surprised to find that Rio had laid his head on her lap in uncanny canine comfort. "Yes!"
"Do you want to share? I can ring the detective in charge and get him to apprehend them or at least have their pictures out as suspects?" Grace said quickly, her heart racing in the knowledge that the identity of the kidnappers would bring about a quick result to an already tragic situation.
"Katia!" Catherine said the name slowly, but filled with so much bitterness.
"I'm sorry Catherine but Katia? Who is that?" Grace looked over to the bed in the room and noticed Jake moving around thrashing at images in his dreamscape. Moving over to his side, she gently placed her free hand on his arm and stroked it in a comforting way, he eventually settled down, she listened intently to what Catherine said to her.
"Do you remember I told you about my time in prison and the altercation I had that resulted in my friend's death?" Catherine replied softly, her thoughts back to that fateful day and it's events.
"Yes, yes I remember, your friend was Maria and the other woman was Katia?" Grace was astounded.
"Yeah, that's right, she must be out of prison. In all the furrow of the last few weeks I didn't check that one small point, Jesus Christ Grace, my life is coming full circle!" Catherine cried out in anguish.
"Will she hurt Jace, Catherine?" Grace asked her knowing the stress that was building in the jet that still had several hours to go before it landed in the country.
"Katia Schmidt is a cold blooded killer; she will play with Jace first and make me suffer knowing she will do that! Then she will kill her, there are no half measures with the woman, none at all!" Catherine said solemnly, knowing that her time was short to work this particular problem out, it might already be too late!
"What does she want?" Grace finally asked her hand gently soothing the sleeping boy at her side.
"Want? Oh Grace that's the easy one here, she wants me!" Catherine pressed her steward's bell and waited for Dave to appear.
"Are you going to let that happen?" Grace cautiously asked.
"Hold on a minute Grace?" Catherine asked Dave to highlight to the pilot that she needed to get to her destination faster than the original flight plan what were the possibilities?
"He will want to know why Ms Devonshire?" Dave anxiously avoided her blind glance.
"Tell him he can fucking well do as I say and get this tin can to Christchurch early," shaking her head in frustration at her inability to control her volatile temper. "No, Dave I'm sorry, tell him it's a life and death situation, and please ask him to consider that, okay?" Catherine gave the steward a brief smile.
"Will do; sounds better the second time around." The steward tried to make a joke out of it but retreated quickly with his task not waiting to find out if his joke had been received or ignored; the woman was definitely under strain, that must be some phone call she was having.
"Grace, there is nothing left in my life if I don't get Jace back alive, haven't you realised that yet? I can't live the rest of this sorry existence I have without her in it! I'm already a partial shell. I would not be of any use without her light to lead me from this darkness I live within my soul." Catherine beseeched her best friend to understand.
"What about the children? Jace wouldn't want you to sacrifice yourself for her and leave them alone, especially Elena, you know that Catherine?" Grace's words demanded her friend to pull out of her depressive spiral.
"The children still have you and Colin, Elena is a baby she would never know if I left! Jace would forgive me, I can't keep these haunting shadows at bay without her Grace." Catherine let another racking sob escape her lips at her admission; she just didn't have the heart to fight any more demons on her own.
"I think you underestimate the power of your children and what it would mean to them if anything happened to you both! When you get here you and I will talk about this again. If you want my shoulder to cry on you have it, but don't you dare give up on the rest of us! Because I know Jace wouldn't want that, she would see you in hell first!" Grace exploded adamantly and had to stifle a sob of her own, it was hard enough having one of them crying like a baby.
"I love you Grace." Catherine responded softly trying to get her battered emotional state under control.
"And I love you too Catherine, always remember that! We are going to get her back safe and sound. You always taught me to think like that and I'm going to, and if I have to do it for you also, then I will! Do you hear me Catherine, I'll believe for us both!" Grace spoke her voice filled with emotion.
Catherine placed the phone link to her lips and crushed it to them in an anguished response. Finally answering, "I'll remember Grace."
"That's all I need. You better get some rest, if you can. I will arrange for Colin to be at the local airport to collect you when you arrive, your helicopter is already on standby waiting for your plane to touch down."
"What would I do without you Grace?" Catherine's voice broke at her end.
"Who knows, but I want you both at my wedding so that should be incentive enough." Grace tried to bring what she hoped would be some lightness to the conversation.
"Has Colin asked you?" Catherine asked in disbelief, rather fast work of her normally romantically slow ranch foreman.
"Well no! But I can always ask him and I think I might just do that, it's not always the man's prerogative Catherine." Grace chuckled softly.
"Yeah, sorry about that Grace, I forgot you're probably more dominant than he is, otherwise you'd be too old for children waiting for him to ask, I guess." Catherine gave a weak chuckle of her own at the thought of Grace kneeling before Colin and asking that special question.
"That's me alright, dominate and then sit back and see how it goes. You might like to have that particular question as an incentive in the back of your mind Catherine." Grace knew that the time sucked for this conversation but between them they had never exactly pulled punches with each other, regardless of sensitive situations.
"Can I say something about you Grace?" Catherine said slowly.
"Sure go ahead, you know me!" Grace smiled at the question.
"I'm glad I'm not married to you! You'd scare the shit out of me!" Catherine exhaled a heavy sigh and looked over at Dave as he re-entered the cabin. Speaking quietly he indicated a thirty-minute speed up of their flight plan. Catherine thanked him and the pilot.
"Thanks very much Catherine, let's face it you wouldn't exactly be Snow White in any partnership either!" Grace snorted in playful displeasure.
"Touché Grace, I'm going to be back in Christchurch within the next seven hours. I'll see you around lunchtime Grace; take care of the rest of my family and be careful." Catherine stated as she ended the phone call. She wanted to have some time to think, to think and wait!
"Sure my friend, safe journey and I'll see you later today." Grace punched the end call on her cell and looked down at Jake. "Well, I told her Jake, but I swear I don't know what will happen next." Grace continued to watch the boy in silent thought.
Catherine laid her head on the backrest and idly stroked Rio's ears, her tears cascading down her cheeks. "I'm getting her back Rio, there just can't be any other option. Now, who the hell gave Katia the details, and the money to finance this type of operation? If it was Gareth, I will personally kill him and face the consequences later." Her own gut feeling told her otherwise, but the facts pointed to him clearly, maybe her gut was just so tied up in knots now it wasn't making any sense.
**********
Hudson smiled as she watched the report on her TV screen about the attack on the home of Catherine Devonshire in New Zealand; the reports could not confirm the exact events or if anyone had been injured. The report then went onto the events previously at the New York offices of Xianthos and speculated on a connection.
"Oh, I love the media, it's so deliciously obvious about it's reporting." Hudson chuckled, as she watching several pictures of the New York building and it's shocking aftermath of the shooting and a distance shot of Catherine Devonshire with her guide dog at the scene several days later.
"I wonder if I should look into what really happened regarding her blindness. She's been so very secretive about that event, I wonder if it has a shady basis? Wouldn't that be a simply wonderful end to a messy life?" Hudson considered that point as she smirked at the screen and the beautiful woman on camera. "Catherine you should have taken up my offer, now you can suffer and suffer you will. The really marvellous thing about all this is that I get to sit here in LA and watch the events I've engineered roll by and no one can touch me, absolutely no one. Oh, I swear my talents are lost on you Catherine. But you are only the first, I'm sure there are others out there begging for my particular services; what a fitting vocation for me?" Hudson's cackling laughter drowned out the sound on the TV.
**********
Constance couldn't believe the news report, she and Danni had watched in silence as the TV gave the very basic information it had gleaned from New Zealand. Clare was due anytime and she might know more, with that the doorbell rang.
Danni walked over and opened the door and gave Clare a brief glance but no smile of welcome. "Clare."
"Danni." Clare said cautiously, her face flushed at the speed she'd moved across town after hearing about the new turn of events.
Moving inside the hall and towards the open plan lounge and where she expected Constance to be, removing her coat as she walked rapidly forward. "Constance have you heard?" Clare said in a tone bordering on distress.
"Yeah, we just saw it on the news, have you any more information?" Constance smiled at the younger woman, she was really pleased to see her it had been too long!
"Enricho refused to comment to the reporters, but I know he got a call from Ms Devonshire about an hour ago, he went tight as a drum after the call. I told him I was coming to see you, but he didn't say anything to that." Clare finished breathlessly; it was so good to see her friend again.
"Danni, can you get Clare a coffee and I'll have water if you don't mind?" Constance asked, having already gone through the physio's cool mood after she requested the younger woman go out or watch TV in her room when Clare came over. It was very obvious they didn't get alone together.
"Sure." Danni answered in a clipped voice and ventured into the small kitchen.
Clare sat opposite her friend and smiled her eyes taking on a sparkle in the green flecks. "You feeling okay?"
"Yes, I'm hoping that in a couple of weeks I can get Enricho to send me some work over. It's going to be another couple of months before they let me go back to the office full time," Constance said ruefully.
"You miss the office and the work don't you?" Clare asked gently.
"Yes Clare, I do. It gets lonely here," Constance informed her.
"Danni is here, I thought that would help?" Clare gave her an interested look.
"She's good at her job that's for sure, I can understand why Catherine improved at a rapid pace with her, after the injuries Danni told me she suffered." Constance smiled at the memory of the day, Danni talked none stop about her boss and how she'd sustained the injuries, seems Catherine is quite the heroine.
"But you still get lonely?" Clare asked again.
"Yes, well she's not you for a start!" Constance felt as if she'd put her foot in her mouth at the startled look in Clare's face.
"Me? But that's....... well that's nice of you Constance, I miss you in the office too!" Clare flushed slightly and gave her a shy smile.
"Does that mean you're going to come and visit me more often now we have that point clear?" Constance smiled at the younger woman's embarrassment.
"Yeah, I think I can do that; especially if you keep Danni off my case." Clare grinned at her.
"Oh, I'll do that alright, trust me!" Constance grinned back and she felt better than she had been feeling for two weeks now, just at the simple pleasure of having her friend near.
"I do trust you. So, what do you need me to do for you?" Clare changed the subject to the original reason Constance had called.
"In light of the current events, which Ms Devonshire didn't know at the time she talked to me, we have a traitor or perhaps traitors to nail and nail them good and now!" Constance's tone held nothing but contempt for the man or possible men.
"Okay boss, what do we do?" Clare smiled happily it was so good to work with her friend again.
Constance leaned forward in her chair and they discussed plans to catch Gareth Cuthbert, with a little help from some friends or even accomplices.
Continued in Part 15
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