DRAGONJULS' Storybook
~ All Our Tomorrows ~
J M Dragon
Part Ten
© February 2001
e-mail: jmdragon1@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: See
Part One
Chapter Twenty
“Ms. Devonshire, there doesn’t appear to be anyone on the first floor. We should try the second floor next.” Serena Dusterly whispered to the taller woman, who was glancing around the rooms at a speed that surely couldn’t take in everything, especially with having sight in only one eye.
Catherine turned to face the ex-profiler, who looked composed, confident, and professional with her handgun drawn, ready for any possible altercation.
‘The woman had always appeared to know what she was talking about, even if the facts had been a little twisted. But in the circumstances, she couldn’t in all honesty blame her. Lack of resources and the speed at which they needed to tackle the problem, a telling scenario.’
“Sure, there certainly isn’t anything here.” Catherine smiled briefly at the profiler, moving her arm in the air to indicate Dusterly should go first up the narrow stairs. As they moved away, Catherine caught a sound. A sound so tiny, she wasn’t sure she had heard it at all! Her hearing had always been keen, but when she lost her sight, it had become almost radar like in quality. Jace often remarked she could hear a pin drop.
Stopping suddenly, she listened intently as she placed a restraining hand on Dusterly’s arm to prevent her moving any further. She placed a long tapered finger over her lips to stop the other woman speaking.
Moving her head to one side, she now looked the part of the radar.
Dusterly was at first puzzled by the action of being stopped in mid flight, then saw the concentration on the woman’s face. She waited patiently, her finger balanced on the trigger of her gun as a precaution.
Catherine heard the sound again. It appeared to be a footstep on creaking stairs, undetectable if they had been moving around themselves. Moving slightly, so that she could work out where the sound was emanating from, she gazed intently at the small door that either led to a closet or the basement. She was damn sure it was the basement, hardly ever heard of steps being in closets.
Pointing to the door, Catherine moved towards it. She was suddenly stopped, this time by the firm grip of Dusterly, who shook her head and waived her gun slightly, moving ahead towards the door.
Both women held their breaths as they saw the handle turn. Catherine was dispatched silently to one side, with Dusterly on the side of the wall, near where the door would let the unknown party into the room.
Climbing as silently as possible to the top step that led to the outer room, the kidnapper stopped considering her options.
She could just open the door quickly and send out a couple of shots, should there be anyone in the vicinity. That would give the game away immediately. But, if it were kids as she suspected, that wouldn’t be a problem. Then again, she could go the cautious route, open the door slowly, and look about her first, to see exactly who was in the building with her. Unfortunately, there wasn’t that many choices, except for her ace in the hole, the rear exit that was covered up from the naked eye. She had chosen this place specifically, but at the same time it could be a hindrance to her now!
Considering that there could be no way that the police had followed her, she was confident that it was kids. She finally decided that the best option was to open the door and walk into the room with her gun held back initially.
Turning the handle, she cautiously opened the door a crack or two and listened intently.
Dusterly saw the black glove encased hand on the door handle and wanted to grasp it, but she wasn’t sure what would be held in the other hand. It could be a gun. Then, she certainly would be acting foolish. Her excitement at apparently having realised her theories, which looked as if they were coming to fruition, soared within her. To be finally let off the leash, to take down the monster who had preyed on children for years!
But, might she be wrong?
The woman put a black leather booted foot forward out of the door. It was almost time for Dusterly to take action, when she heard Constance Waverly make an entrance.
“Catherine what are you doing…?” words said expectantly. Catherine turned to her business colleague in surprise and irritation, knowing that their initial attempt at total surprise was now a thing of the past.
The door to the basement crashed open slamming into Catherine, who was standing immediately behind it. Her cry of pain as the door hit her face directly was a mixture of wounded animal and intense anger.
Dusterly looked surprised, as she had been taken momentarily off guard. That was momentarily, as she noticed the gun held in the person’s hand that entered the room from the stairway. Constance was in the line of fire. Knowing that she had no choice, Serena tried a high kick to dislodge the gun. However, to no avail. The person had a finger on the trigger, ready to fire. The shot rang out eerily in the building as it set off for its target.
Dusterly had no time to consider if the bullet had hit a target. She had to disarm the woman and this time, aimed a shot of her own at the hand that held the gun. Her direct hit caused a piercing cry of agony from the person who held it, the gun sliding to the floor in wake of the injury.
Serena kicked it automatically further away, thwarted in her attempt to capture the person as the door slammed shut in her face and a lock was turned.
The opportunity to follow the person was lost. She turned anxiously towards the others in the room to see if they had sustained any injuries, rather than pursue the attacker. Obviously, her training had been eroded by compassion these days
* * * * * * * * * *
Grace raced away towards the study as she heard the man go into another room on the upper level. There was no time to waste. Jace had clearly not thought it out, having just walked into the lion’s den, apparently without a care in the world.
She checked about her before she opened the study door. She quickly opened it and slid inside making sure she locked it behind her with the key that was, fortunately for her, in the lock! For god’s sake, they needed some luck some time this side of the century.
“Oh Colin, you would kill me I know for getting into this situation, especially now!” Grace whispered, as she scanned the unfamiliar room, looking for the telephone. It must be in view somewhere!
There, settled between a computer console and a printer, was the instrument she needed. Running over to the desk and picking up the receiver, she wondered what number to call? At home, it was easy! Here, did they use the same number as other countries?
‘I must be dumb. Of course they will. Greece isn’t a backwater of a country. It is probably more sophisticated than home!’ Grace thought as she dialled the international distress number.
Holding a breath, she waited for what seemed to be hours when it was actually only thirty seconds, a voice answered in Greek.
Unable to compose herself, she spoke quickly and breathlessly, but the words echoed ominously in the otherwise silent room.
“We need help! It’s the villa Xianthos. There are intruders with guns and we need help!”
The woman at the other end of the line immediately spoke to her in English. “Please madam, slow down. Take a deep breath and repeat yourself.”
Grace was tempted to tell the other party on the line that they could go to hell, but she stopped herself. Then as calmly as possible, related the story or as much as she knew, her eyes furtively going to the locked door, praying she wasn’t heard.
“I have the information. Please madam, your name?” The woman on the telephone was heard shouting loudly in Greek to others in her vicinity as Grace answered the question, wanting only for her contact to say they would send help.
“Will you have the police here soon?” Grace pleaded with the woman. She needed to know. There wasn’t much time left she was sure. With Hudson in a demonic murderous mood, that woman would have made a good partner to the devil himself.
“Yes, the Captain himself is on the way. They anticipate being with you in ten minutes. We can’t get there any faster, I’m sorry.” The woman explained, obviously aware of the need for speed if the foreigner was correct in her observation of the situation.
“I need to go. I can’t afford to stay in one place. It’s too dangerous. Thanks for your help.” Grace replied, hearing steps in the hall outside the room. She quickly replaced the receiver, without waiting for an answer back.
What to do now? That was the question. One she didn’t have an answer to at this moment, but she had to do something. Ten minutes could be the difference between Jace being dead or alive. She really didn’t want to see Catherine’s face if the worse case scenario should happen. No! It wouldn’t happen, not if she had anything to do with it! She’d made a promise to Catherine and as sure as hell, she was going to keep that promise.
The steps came closer. She watched in fascination as the handle was turned. When resistance was found, the handle was rattled in earnest. Looking around her, she saw a balcony and wondered where it would lead. Only one way to find out!
Walking swiftly over to the doors, she opened them and looked out onto a beautiful grove of vines. The distance made it impossible to define exactly what the vines held. What it did prove though, was that this study was placed directly onto the overhang of the hill. There was a sheer drop onto the landscape below her. A drop she judged to be at least one hundred feet long. No parachute available today, she suspected. To her left was a distance of ten feet at least to the next balcony. There wasn’t anything to hold onto if she tried to get to that side. On the right was another balcony, but that was about thirty feet away. There was a small ledge around a foot wide running along the side of the building. Was this her lucky day?
Grinning to herself, she heard the rattle of the door handle again and a muffled oath from the person on the other side. Taking one look at the ledge then back to the door, she noticed a heavy looking bookcase with lots of books on the shelves. Ideal!
Running as fast as she could towards the bookcase, she pushed most of the volumes onto the floor impelling the bulky furniture along, if only it had been on castors. As she pushed, she felt it move slowly. Gradually, she had the bookcase half covering the door. With one last heave, she put it up at the door, feeling a sharp pain in her abdomen as she did so. A surprised look of pain crossed her face, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. She would do so later. There was no time to dwell on the possibilities, however grim they might be.
Picking up as many volumes as she could, she haphazardly put them back on the shelves. She heard the footsteps recede as she went back a couple of times at her task. The more there was, the better chance there would be that the door would be harder to open and then she had a chance to get away unseen. The volumes were now placed on the shelves as Grace heard the footsteps again. This time, she didn’t hesitate running out of the door. Another sharp pain made her suck in her breath at its ferocity.
Her mission now, was to climb over the balcony onto the ledge and make it to the next room. She would do it, she would. Her in-built instinct for adventure was kicking in. It was almost as much fun as driving fast! Even if she did have the slight disadvantage of her limp, she was sure that could be controlled to get her over to the other balcony. What else was there for her to do? Die?
* * * * * * * * * *
Faith looked at the solemn boy sitting at the kitchen table, lost in thought. Thoughts not of what a boy of twelve should be experiencing. No, it should be going over what the newest computer games were, what school team he wanted to join in the new term, what the teachers were going to be like. Not to mention, the new boys he would meet in the new school.
Deep down Faith knew the boy, who was using his spoon to drown his cornflakes as opposed to placing them on the utensil and eating the cereal, wasn’t thinking those thoughts at all.
Making a decision, she went over to the silent child as Judy walked in from the laundry room. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder to attract his attention without startling him.
“Jake, how would it be if you helped Colin with the foals today? He will be hard pushed to do that himself. All the hands will be needed out in the pastures with this weather?” Her voice softly coaxed the boy. She knew he hated to miss school, not like his sister. That thought made her frown in sadness as she thought of that wonderful plucky child, who literally railroaded her way into your heart.
Judy smiled at the boy. That was a good idea. She didn’t condone parents keeping their children away from school, but these were special circumstances. The boy had become even more silent now that Jace wasn’t on the property either.
Alison chose that moment to enter the kitchen area with Elena, who was staring around the room, squealing as her green eyes rested on her favourite brother. “I think you have a fan, Jake.” Jace’s mother laughed as she handed over the toddler to the boy, who smiled warmly as he hugged his baby sister to him.
“I will Grandma Faith. Thank you.” Jake finally replied to his grandma’s question.
“You finish up your breakfast Jake and then play with Elena. I will go and see Colin and tell him you will help him today. She didn’t wait for a reply and left the kitchen by the side door and was accompanied by Rio, who slid out from under the porch as they walked side by side.
Her son-in-law would welcome the boy’s help. He did say that he was a natural on the ranch and it was clear to anyone that Colin loved the boy as a son. Mounting the stairs to the decking at the back of the house, she knocked on the door and without waiting for a reply, she opened the side door and stepped inside.
“Morning Colin. Making breakfast, I see? You should have come over to the house. Judy loves to cook for you, especially when you’re on your own. I have a favour to ask.” Faith breezed a good morning and then went into the reason for her visit.
Her eyes strayed to the amount of food Colin was preparing and then they moved towards the pine table and the two place settings. ‘Surely Grace wasn’t home?’
“Good morning Faith. Sure, what’s the favour?” The man smiled at his mother-in-law and then turned back to his preparation of breakfast, not noticing where her eyes flickered.
“Jake…I was hoping that Jake could help you today. He’s kind of sad with Jace gone too.” Her voice held hesitation as she wondered what was going on here.
“Sure, that will be great. I could do with his help.” Colin happily agreed. It would do the boy good too.
“Colin why have you…” She didn’t finish as the internal door opened suddenly as a redheaded young woman appeared.
“Good morning Colin, breakfast too…” Danni trailed off as dark brown eyes pierced her own. They looked vaguely familiar at that!
Colin turned and smiled at Danni. “ Yeah, nearly done. Take a seat. You want coffee or tea? Faith this is Danni O’Neil. She came over last evening with news for Jace.”
Faith bristled with anger and jealousy on behalf of her daughter. She considered it improper for Colin to have a young woman stay in his home, and over night as well! Whatever was he thinking, without his wife being here?
“Does Grace know?” Faith asked her son-in-law in a low, less than friendly tone.
Danni dipped her head at the tone. So, here was another misdemeanour on her part. Although this time, she was innocent.
Colin turned surprised eyes to Faith, shaking his head. If he’d had a hat on, he would have nervously pushed it back in reaction to the tone from Grace’s mother. “I don’t understand Faith. Does Grace know what?”
Faith muttered something under her breath then turned pointing a finger at Danni, remarking acidly. “That woman stayed overnight with you! Does she know that?”
Colin was shocked at the tone, looking apologetically at Danni, then back to Faith. His grey eyes were solemn, puzzled at the comment.
“No. Grace won’t know Danni stayed the night, until I tell her when she next calls home. When I talked with her yesterday, that decision hadn’t been made.”
“You think she will understand? I’ve heard about this woman.” Faith caustically replied. Her eyes spitting fire towards the down turned redhead.
“Grace will understand.” Colin stated calmly and confidently. It never crossed his mind until now that Grace would have a problem. Why would she?
“I hope you’re right Colin, I certainly do!” Faith turned on her heel, heading out the door calling Rio along with her. Her anger at the situation was evident in her strides back towards the main house.
“I’m sorry Colin.” Danni said sincerely. She really was. This man had been wonderful to her in everyway. He certainly didn’t deserve any trouble because of her.
Colin shrugged his shoulders, smiling at her, “No problem, she will get over it. Ready for breakfast?” He returned to his task of dishing out the early morning meal.
“Thanks Colin, I’m famished. By the way, who is she?” Danni asked, smiling as she picked up a glass of orange juice.
“Oh, that’s Faith, my mother-in-law.”
Danni almost spit out the mouthful of orange
juice at those words. ‘My god, could it get any worse?’
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter Twenty-one
Serena ran to aid Constance Waverly, who was lying awkwardly on the floor. Had she been hit by the single shot fired? It certainly looked like it!
Making her way towards her, she looked at the tall figure leaning apparently negligently against the wall. Though she didn’t see anything amiss, she knelt down beside the woman lying on the floor. “Are you okay, Ms. Waverly?” Serena gently touched her shoulder to move her body over to check for injuries.
As she did so, Constance groaned. Moving of her own volition and with a wry brief smile, nodded her head. “Yeah, thanks. The shot scared the hell out of me. I went down on the floor, but slipped. I think I’ve pulled something in my leg. Otherwise, no damage.”
Serena let out a heavily relieved sigh then turned towards Catherine Devonshire with a slight smile, which immediately changed to an expression of concern when she saw blood pouring down all over her face.
“My God, Ms. Devonshire! Are you hurt?” Serena couldn’t believe she just said that! Of course the woman must be hurt. She was bleeding.
Catherine turned her ice blue eyes to the voice and mumbled something unintelligible as she tried to stem the flow of blood on her face with her hand.
“I’m sorry Ms. Devonshire, what was that?” Serena enquired as she left Constance for a moment to check on the woman leaning against the wall.
Serena gazed into the ice blue eyes, tentatively bringing her hand up to check exactly what the problem was. “Let me.”
Catherine’s eyes were smarting. She winced as Dusterly touched her nose. “You need a cold compress on that Ms. Devonshire, to stop the blood. When we get back to the city, I think you might need some medical attention. It looks broken to me." Serena apologetically verified Catherine’s original assumption. The door had hit her hard in the face and she heard a crack. Not only that, she’d seen stars. They weren’t the ones that you saw when you looked up into the night sky.
“ I guessed that Dusterly. I’ll worry about it later. Constance, can you get up and walk?” Catherine shrugged off her own pain, looking at the pale-cheeked woman on the floor, who was gingerly trying to stand.
“Go help her Dusterly. I want the bastard who is down there with my daughter. If necessary, I will tear the bloody door down with my bare hands.” Serena knew there was no arguing with the incredibly focused woman. She must be in agony with the broken nose and the swelling along the cheekbones. She would end up with a couple of black eyes too.
Serena held out a hand for Constance to grasp as she hauled the woman up. Constance had to clench her teeth as the pain shot through her left ankle and knee. “I think you might need some extra support Ms. Waverly. Give me a minute. I’ll get something for you.”
“Clare? Go check the front of the house. Find out if there are any outlets for the basement, now!” Catherine spoke into the radio transmitter and then changed frequency.
“Rita, call the police. Tell them we have an intruder who might be the New York serial kidnapper. They need to get here now!” She didn’t wait for any reply as she shut off the transmitter. Serena walked back into the area with a pole of some description, handing it to Constance for her to lean on.
“Thanks.” Constance accepted the help from Dusterly then moved slowly over to her boss.
“Better get this door open, hadn’t we?” Catherine spoke quietly to the two women.
“That might not be a good idea Ms Devonshire.” Serena challenged the question.
Catherine looked at her with an icy gaze, her face covered in blood that refused to stop. The bruises on her face were now becoming more prominent, giving her a look of a fighter, who had come off the worst in a bout. “Why might it not be a good idea, Ms. Dusterly?”
Serena swallowed hard as she traded glance for glance. This could cause the person, who potentially still had Lisa to kill the child, to stop them from being captured. They still didn’t know if Lisa was here.
“If Lisa is down there, she’s at the mercy of the gun person, and we don’t know what they will do. It’s risky to attempt to go down into the basement after them. It might cost Lisa her life.”
“You expect me to wait? Whoever it is? You said you knew who it was, didn’t you? Assuming you know your facts Dusterly, do you think she will kill my child?” Catherine replied solemnly. If there was just this door between her and Lisa, then by god, it wasn’t going to keep her from the child any longer than it took her to break it down.
Serena pondered the questions for a few minutes as the other two women waited, their eyes boring into her.
“Ms. Devonshire? It’s Clare. There is another way out. I don’t think it’s been used for some time. The cobwebs haven’t been disturbed. The police will be here shortly, according to Rita.” Clare breathlessly broke the silence over the radio. It’s static making the silence in the room that much more poignant.
Catherine pressed her reply button. “Thanks Clare. Ask Rita to bring the car to the front of the house. The two of you watch the exit, but don’t stop anyone. If they use it, they might have a gun.”
“Are you all okay?” Clare asked desperately in reply to the instructions.
“Yes, all present and correct.” Catherine responded, knowing that Clare would think the worse.
“I’ll do as you say.” Clare finished the transmission.
“She won’t kill the child. She will use her as a bargaining chip.” Serena Dusterly quietly answered.
“That’s all I needed to know. Use your weapon Dusterly and shoot the bloody lock out. Do it now!”
“Do you both know who has taken Lisa?” Constance was astonished that these two were talking as if they knew the identity of the person here. How could they?
“Perhaps.” Catherine idly answered as she wiped away the profusion of blood. It flicked into the air, splashing onto the wooden floorboards.
Serena aimed at the lock, shooting out the lock with ease. After all, it was old and it wasn’t exactly a security lock.
Satisfied at the result, she pulled off her jacket and placed it over her hands as she pushed at the heated metal of the door handle. It gave way immediately. The door opened, allowing them the view of narrow dark stairs that would be tricky. They were going to be sitting ducks if the person below had another gun. That was quite possible.
“Clare has a gun, Catherine.” Constance pointed out as they hovered near the entrance, knowing that to walk down into the bowels of the building might be a little rash in the circumstances.
Catherine spun around, giving Constance an accusing glare. Was there a reason for not letting her have that piece of decisive information immediately?
“Why have you kept that a secret Constance?” her voice barely civil.
Constance looked down at her scuffed shoes then back up at Catherine. “I don’t want her hurt.”
Serena Dusterly knew it was none of her business,, but this was getting them nowhere fast. “Well she can go in by the back entrance then can’t she? We might have a chance then!”
Catherine placed a bloody hand through her hair, now matted with the red substance as well as unruly. “I think Clare should make that choice Dusterly.”
“She made the damn choice when she volunteered to help. If she has a gun, she must be in a position to use it surely?” Serena was getting impatient at the delay. That was just the edge they needed.
“Dusterly, let me handle this!” Catherine rounded on the woman, who looked none too happy at the delay. Nor was she, but this was different. This was how she would have felt had it been Jace that was going into the lion’s den. She would have done anything to stop that. Thank god there wasn’t that chance of her partner being in this kind of position. She was relatively safe on Xianspiros.
Dusterly stood, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other as Catherine radioed Clare and calmly asked her if she had her firearm with her.
“Of course Catherine. I thought we might need it. I was a crack shot at the self-defence classes I attended. I’m not afraid to use it if I have to.” Clare stated emphatically, having been surprised when Catherine had told her to let anyone go if they came out of that entrance earlier.
“Open the door Clare, then press the bleeper on the radio. When I press the bleeper back, count to three and then set off. We will do the same, but wait until we advise you before you finally enter the room, okay?”
“Sure, will do that right away.” The radio went dead.
“I guess that answered all our questions, right Constance?” Catherine turned to the woman at her side.
“Yeah…yeah, I guess it did.” She replied quietly, her heart thumping at the chance her lover was taking.
Catherine squeezed her shoulder in sympathy. “Time to get this show on the road Dusterly. Constance, you stay here. You’re not going to be able to make the stairs, but you might use that pole in defence or attack, if the need arises.”
Constance nodded. She had wondered how she was going to negotiate those steps.
“Are we ready Dusterly?” Serena smiled briefly, acknowledging the question positively.
Catherine pressed the bleeper on her radio, “One, two, three.” They started their decent to the basement. * * * * * * * * * *
“So, the indomitable Jace Bardley. You decided to join us, without prompting too?” Clarissa Hudson smiled evilly as the blonde walked into the room, seemingly oblivious of the situation.
Jace feigned a look of astonishment as she came face to face with Hudson, her old boss. “What are you doing here Ms. Hudson? In a disguise as well.”
Jace had time to scan the room. Her first concern was for Catherine’s aunt, who was sitting so pale in her wheelchair. At the foot of it was a prostrate form. Knowing immediately who it was, she sucked a breath in as she saw the blood that pooled around the still body of Sara Rogers.
Sending a look of concern and sympathy to the woman in the chair she gazed at Hudson in question.
“Ah, the ever naive Ms. Bardley. How would that be exactly? I have always wanted to know, especially since you live with one of the most experienced women in the world! Tell me, has Catherine shown you all her talents?” Hudson cackled with laughter, watching a red tinge appear on the blonde’s cheeks at the comment.
“What are you doing Hudson? I know you have always wanted Catherine, but if you think….” She wasn’t allowed to finish as Hudson shouted.
“No! You listen up Bardley. Whatever I might have wanted with the esteemed Ms. Devonshire is now a thing of the past. This,” Hudson waved her gun around the room in an exaggerated show of power.” This is what I want. You are the icing on the cake.” Hudson turned to Fatama who was seated at the small breakfast table, surveying the events as they unfolded before her.
“You think you’re going to get away with it?” Jace persisted, shaken of her bravado as Hudson moved with blinding speed to come face to face with her, peering into the green troubled eyes of her prey.
Hudson snarled. Her lip curled at the comment. She moved a fraction away, but placed the gun under Jace’s chin. She pressed it into the thin layer of skin, making her captive wince at the pain this caused.
“I have been very careful, trust me. No one will know it was me. How could they? I have all my ducks in a row, ready to shoot. Who will care? Tell me, who will care?”
Jace sucked in a sharp painful breath. As she slowly expelled the air in her lungs, a surge of energy encompassed her. As the final air left her lungs, she spit out at the woman. “I will care!”
Hudson laughed at the shorter woman’s stupid comment. Didn’t she realise she was a trigger finger away from dying? And die she would, but not yet.
“Jace, for god’s sake don’t rile her.” James Thompson spoke from his position at the wall. His hands and feet were bound, making it impossible for him to move to help his friend.
Hudson turned her attention to the handsome man who now had her position at UCP. Perhaps it was time to divest him of that for good? Yes, what a wonderful idea.
“Mr. Thompson, defending the innocent I see, would you also have defended your colleague Detective Kelsey so well?”
Thompson looked at the evil glint in the eyes that moved rapidly around the room, completely aware of the position of each party in the room. He didn’t like the way she said that about Kelsey.
“Where is Kelsey?” he asked quietly. As he did so, he saw the excitement flash in her eyes. A look of satisfaction crossed the woman’s face.
“Let’s put it this way Thompson, the amorous detective will no longer be part of the dating game.” Hudson turned to the shallow breathing of the blonde, smiling cruelly at her. “You think I would let that slime ball touch me without retribution? No, no I’m afraid I don’t let slime into my bed. Not like you appear to do, Jace my dear.”
Jace looked at her closely. Did she mean Catherine? Or did she mean…Kelsey dead? “Peter?”
“At last! The intelligence your résumé alluded to, alas too late. I must hand it to you though Bardley, trapping the wily Ms. Devonshire into a relationship because of a kid was brilliant. Pity I didn’t think of that. Still, she gets to keep the kid and I get to have the pleasure of removing you as well as her only blood relative from the face of the earth. Excellent days work. You never know where I’ll end up next, might even be her bed.” The peel of laughter that rang in the room made everyone, including Fatama Spiros, cringe at its monstrous tone.
“Over my dead body!” Jace hissed out as Hudson viciously slapped her in the face for her rejoinder.
“With pleasure.” Hudson squeezed on the trigger under Jace’s chin.
* * * * * * * * * *
Dusterly reached the bottom step and flashed her torch around the dark area before her. She saw nothing, but another door, that obviously led to the hiding place of the person who had bolted back down here. Where else could they go? Clare Fallon had the other exit covered.
Catherine came down the steps closely behind the woman who had the weapon. It would have been foolish of her to go first. Their main concern was to find Lisa and bring her out safe, if indeed she was here at all.
“Time to crash that party, wouldn’t you say Dusterly?” Catherine whispered as her finger touched the talk button on her radio.
“Yeah, I think this party is about to end for all time.” Dusterly heard sounds above them, surmising it was the police, she knew it would be so easy to stop now and wait for backup. So easy, but something she wasn’t going to do! Not this time! This time, she was in charge! She was going to make it count!
“Clare, ready to go?” Catherine spoke softly into the radio mic.
“Yes, on your mark.” Clare answered briefly.
Catherine placed a hand on Dusterly’s shoulder, pressed it in encouragement. “Mark.”
Dusterly rattled the door handle. It gave immediately, letting them into a small dingy room with nothing but dirt on the floor and some rags scattered in the corner. As Dusterly went forward, she shouted to the person who was close to the wall several feet away holding what appeared to be a small body to her. The body wasn’t moving.
“You have nowhere to go. Give up now.” Dusterly spoke confidently at the tall figure. She was unable to see properly because of the sparse light.
A choked laugh was the only response. ‘Damn, the woman had a second weapon!’ Serena thought, realising that she shouldn’t have been surprised in the circumstances. Then Dusterly and Catherine heard the click of the gun arm being cocked, ready to shoot. But shoot whom?
“Please, let go of whoever you have there. Let’s leave here peacefully. It’s over!” Dusterly tried again as this time Catherine moved into view of the gun person, much to Serena’s dismay.
“Over? No, not over, just the beginning! I want safe passage out of here. This little bundle of joy is going to be my ticket to freedom. What are you going to do stop me, possibly hurt the kid?” The voice of the gun person was clearly that of a woman, a nervous one at that. Anything could happen. Serena sighed heavily.
Not wanting to appear too eager, she turned to Catherine, who pierced the gun woman with a glacial stare, if she was able to see it in the gloom. “You will not take my daughter anywhere!” her voice loud emotionally charged.
“How do you know it’s your daughter?” the woman scathingly dismissed the comment.
Catherine didn’t give the woman the satisfaction of an answer. Her eyes were watching, hawk-like, the still silent body that was being held upright with the bloody hand that had been shot by Dusterly.
“The police are above us and will be here in a few minutes. If you leave the child behind, we’ll give you a chance to leave by the exit to your left. It brings you out at the side of the house, your vehicle is a few feet away.” Dusterly spoke quickly.
“You think I trust you? Then again, you always were weak-willed Agent Dusterly, I’m happy to say. How can I trust you?” The woman looked at the ex-agent then to the tall woman, who was about to pounce on her, she was sure.
“Catherine, give me the radio.” Serena asked, forcibly taking the radio without waiting for the reply. Therefore, she had been right all along. It really was who she thought it was. How else would they know her name?
“What?” Catherine burst out angrily. What the hell was Dusterly up to? They hadn’t discussed this!
“Clare, whoever comes out at your exit, don’t shoot them.” Serena said decisively. She had to hold Catherine back from wrenching the radio from her grasp to countermand the instruction.
“If anything happens to my daughter Dusterly because of this cowardice on your part, I’ll kill you myself.” Catherine spat out with venom.
“I know you will.” Serena replied sadly.
“Dissension in the ranks as always with you in charge Dusterly. Another master plan ground to ashes.” The woman said with loathing. Then, she turned her eyes to the open doorway behind Catherine. She could hear voices.
“It’s now or never.” Dusterly proclaimed, watching as the woman sidled towards another part of the wall placing her hand on what must have been a well-hidden switch as the exit appeared.
Catherine wanted to hit Dusterly, take the gun, and shoot the smirk off the kidnapper’s face. She was being held back by a strong vice like grip from the woman she had thought she could trust. Maybe she was in league with them after all?
“You need to let the child go.” Dusterly announced, stepping towards the other woman, immediately staring at the handgun. At this range, she wouldn’t have a chance to avoid a bullet.
The kidnapper looked at the small still body, gave it a disparaging glance and without hesitation, pushed the bundle forcibly towards the two other women. Opening the door, she was shocked when a black booted foot came at her full in the face. She reeled from the blow, which sent her tumbling back into the room, sprawling on the concrete surface.
Catherine ignored everything that was going on around her except the need to save her daughter from any further injury. She broke Lisa’s fall as she was collapsing in a heap on the floor, only yards from the kidnapper.
Several pairs of feet descended the basement stairs. Then, the room filled with police officers, or it appeared that way. Dusterly was standing on the woman’s hand that held the gun to prevent her from discharging the weapon.
Clare was standing with a satisfied smile on her face at the foot of the second exit’s steps, watching the commotion.
Catherine tenderly opened the blanket that held the small body. She peered into blue eyes that were brimming with tears. Catherine had thought she might never see those eyes again. Tears slid unchecked down her own bloody face. Gently placing her fingers over the tape that was effectively gagging her child, she removed it slowly, as painless as possible. After removing the offending obstruction from the child, she carefully took off the straps that restrained Lisa’s hands and feet.
“Lisa?” Catherine whispered into the grubby child’s dirty hair, hugging her fiercely to her chest.
Lisa squirmed in the embrace as Catherine moved away slightly to look into the distressed face. “It’s going to be okay now Lisa. I’m here darling, I’m here!”
Lisa looked up into a familiar face of a person she loved and recognised. Her frail arms clinging to the neck of the tall figure holding her warm and safe against her body, “Mom? You came, you really did come to get me?” the voice was hesitant as if the words were being spoken to an apparition.
Catherine couldn’t stop the sob that escaped her lips as she gazed lovingly down into the child’s distressed and anxious features. Without heed to anyone else in the room with them, she kissed the top of the child’s red hair, rocking her tenderly. Saying indistinctly over and over again, that she would never leave her again, never ever and that was a promise.
Dusterly watched in silence as the previously angry woman was heartrendingly soothing her child. Whatever happened next in this life, just to see that picture would be worth dying for.
“Officer would you please cuff this…this woman and read her, her rights.” Dusterly calmly announced as she allowed two of the officers to take over the captive.
“Do you know who it is Miss…?” One of the officers asked as he cuffed the woman, without regard for her injured hand. If this was who they thought it was, she didn’t deserve to be handled any better. Who was she going to complain to anyway? Who the hell would listen?
“Dusterly, my name is Dusterly. Yes, I know who it is.” Serena Dusterly placed a hand on the facemask that the woman was wearing and pulled it up none too gently to reveal the identity of the kidnapper.
As she did so, Catherine picked up her daughter and pulled her into her shoulder shakily. Ignoring all offers of help, she walked slowly up the stairs passing Constance without a second look, out into the bright glare of the morning. Her body focused on one thing only, her daughter’s safety and taking her home. Home wasn’t here in this country. It was several thousand miles away. If it were up to her, they would never leave Destiny ever again. Her lips crushed the matted hair as tears continued to cascade down her cheeks. She was met at the car by Rita, who looked at them with compassionate eyes, brimming with her own unshed tears at the sight. She quickly opened the door, allowing her boss to settle in the rear of the car, again refusing any help with her child.
“Take us home Rita.” Catherine finally responded, her voice exhausted in the extreme.
“Sure thing.” Rita closed the door. Speaking into the radio, she informed Clare that they were leaving and asked her to relate the message to Dusterly and Constance.
Rita opened the driver’s door, settled in and reversed out of the yard area. A police vehicle followed discreetly behind at the instruction of the woman they now knew to be an ex-FBI agent.
All hell was breaking loose at headquarters. This was a coup for them, even if it had all been over by the time they got there.
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