Episode 5: Stranded
With a groan, Nigel clicked off his cell phone and returned it to his pocket. He had only wanted to be a part of the Knights Foundation for his mechanical skills, and now they were planning on sending him out with a couple untrained kids to stop some terrorists?
"Crazy," Nigel muttered to himself as he left his hotel room. "What was Paul Thomas thinking?" There was no doubt in Nigel's mind that Paul was telling the truth. The Knights Foundation was obviously short-handed at the moment, or he wouldn't send a group of rookies to do a Schwarznegger-esque mission.
"I've been watching too many bad American films lately," Nigel thought as he walked out onto the streets. Today wasn't the first time in his life that he wished that he weren't so timid and anxious about everything and that he could just let loose, be brave, and do his best.
As he rounded a corner, searching for a taxi he could flag down, a young woman crashed into him. She quickly looked up at him, her eyes wavering. With his arms around her as he helped her up, he could feel every tremor of her body.
"Sorry!" Nigel shifted uncomfortably, returning his hands to his side.
"You've got to help me!" the girl said frantically, too worried to take notice of Nigel's bumbling.
"Help you?" Nigel studied her. "How can I help you?"
"This man and woman… they have my brother, and they're trying to catch me, and…"
Raven paused at Nigel's puzzled frown. Tears streamed down her cheeks making her round dark eyes look even larger. She brushed the tears away quickly, flicking them from her face.
"Please come with me," Raven said desperately. She clutched Nigel's hand and beckoned him to follow.
Nigel didn't refuse.
Jack Darcy awoke to a throbbing pain, sharp in his left leg. He gave a grunt as he tried to sit up, his body aching with every move.
A heavy sheet of metal pinned his leg to the sands. With effort, Jack managed to raise himself to a sitting position. "Damn," he gasped, deciding he had a few broken ribs. The wreckage of his plane littered the beach.
Prying his leg out from under the debris proved to be more painful than he had anticipated, but he had done it. Now he could see the long, deep gash that ran from his knee to his ankle.
"Nikki!" he said. How could he have forgotten that she was with him? Where was she?
Hobbling, he crossed to beach, looking for any sign of his companion.
"Mackenzie?" Jack heard the hoarse groan from under another pile of his junked plane.
"No, Nikki, it's Jack," he said, toppling the parts off her battered body. She struggled to her feet, slinging an arm around his shoulder. The other hung limp at her side, bent irregularly. Jack winced as he looked at the cut that marred the side of her face.
"I can't believe we made it out of the hunk of junk alive," Nikki said with a smile, though she was in obvious pain.
"Hunk of junk!" Jack retorted. "That was Darcy Air's only plane and it's trashed! I'm out of business!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you have tons of other things to fall back on if I know Jack Darcy: Jack of All Trades." She replied with a wry smile. "You better sit down, that looks like a nasty gash."
Jack sat on the beach, staring silently at the water. "You don't understand. This company was my last chance. The only way I'd be able to pay off my debts…"
"What kind of debts?"
"The kinds that get you beaten to a bloody pulp, or worse," he commented. "Gambling in Reno… Enough said?"
Nikki looked at the sand, wrapping her arm around Jack's shoulder as she joined him on the beach. "What are we going to do now, Jack? What now?"
Evie Raines frowned and looked over at her foster brother, Tony Wolfe. His eyes were hooded matching the bleak, dark expression on his face. She hated to admit it, but she was worried about him.
"You look like you've lost your best friend," she said, packing her few belongings into the waiting cab.
Luck was with them today as a mode of transportation was there and waiting just for them outside the airport. Thank God for Paul Thomas and his many connections.
"I'm fine," he bit back. "Just fine!"
"Oh, right," she said, slowly. "You sound SO fine! So fine that you didn't say two words to me on the flight over here. Look around. We're in Athens, Greece. A beautiful city on the other side of the world." Evie sighed and grabbed Tony's bags which were still dangling from his hands. "You're so fine you've even lost the function of your arms."
Tony didn't find her joke funny.
"Did I mention the whole part about 'the other side of the world?' Without parents?" Her chest heaved and she guided Tony to the open cab door. He was definitely unresponsive. She'd probably have to electroshock him to get him to crack a smile on this trip.
Tony leaned into the cab and pressed his back and shoulders into the uncomfortable seat. His mind was filled with images of his father kissing that woman. He couldn't tear the image of his "perfect" family from his mind. How perfect was it now? His father had fallen off the pedestal he had put him on in one fell swoop. All he could wonder was, would their family survive this? Would his mother?
"Stop that!" Evie said, looking at Tony's grimace. She tried to push up the edges of his mouth to no avail. "Definitely no frowning."
His shoulders gave way and he slunk down into the seat. What was she going to do with him?
"Can you take us to our hotel, please?" she asked the driver.
He didn't answer. He merely started up the car and stepped on the gas petal.
"Oh, come on, he's your dad, not a saint. I know that's what has you in the deep depression blues. He made a mistake. Let's call him on it and tell him not to do it again."
The light came on in Tony's eyes, it was lit with a fire. "Man, I can't take back the fact that it happened! I mean, he could have made love to the woman for all we know."
"Let's not go there -- please! We only saw kissing. Innocent kissing. Let's just give him the benefit of the doubt. Your dad is a good man."
"Yeah," he said. "That's what I thought too."
Evie watched the buildings pass by her window and noticed that their hotel was disappearing in the distance. "Hey, driver, you passed our hotel!"
The driver turned toward the two teens and revealed a gun. It's long black nozzle glinted with each passing light.
"Okay," she said calmly. "Don't take us to our hotel. Just stop and let us out."
"Sorry," he said in a thick Greek accent. "I cannot do that."
As he held the gun, Evie noticed a familiar black tattoo on his wrist. Paul Thomas had warned them about people with tattoos exactly like that. Their driver in fact wasn't a driver at all. He was an assassin for the Black Council!
Nikki winced as she wrapped the cloth around her arm, creating a makeshift sling from her tank top.
She washed her cuts at the edge of the beach with stinging saltwater and returned to find Jack sleeping on the sand. "Wake up!" she said, fearful that he might have been unconscious from his wounds.
He stirred and waved a groggy hand at her, telling her to buzz off.
"What a big help!" Nikki said, angrily, storming off to the trees. Nikki decided they must be on a small island in the Mediterranean somewhere. "How will anyone ever find us?"
She considered making an air signal on the beach to attract the site of some pilot, but she couldn't move any rocks with her broken arm.
Jack rolled over, and an idea struck Nikki when she saw the gleaming watch on his wrist.
As she pried it from his hands, Jack sat up. "I must be dreaming," Jack said, seeing Nikki's face hovering over him.
"Can it, Jack. I'm trying to save our lives. Do you want to help or not?"
"Anything to make you happy, Nik," Jack said. Nikki directed him to gathering some dry twigs and leaves and he was happy to oblige.
"Do you think maybe you could leave me here when the help arrives?" Jack frowned. "Maybe it would be better for them to think I was dead. I'd be better off that way."
Nikki grimaced. She had forgotten all about Darcy Air and the gambling debts. "I'm sure someone can help you out. You don't have to worry about them, nobody's going to hurt you. You'll eventually get the money to them."
"It's not that big of a deal. I don't want any help from you or the Knights Foundation. It's your fault my plane's crashed anyway. If I didn't have to run you half way across the world in the worst storm of the year…" he trailed off.
Nikki was taken aback. She snatched the pile of kindling from him, and using Jack's watch, tried to get the flames going.
Raphael Martinez hated letting Darien Wolfe pull his strings, but that's exactly what was happening. He watched the man kiss Alicia Scott with a ferocious intensitythat it scared him. That angered him enough, but knowing he had a doting wife at home was the straw that broke the camel's back.
He rose to stalk out after Darien's retreating figure, but something stopped him. He had no right to feel this way. He had no claims on Alicia Scott. She could cavort with whomever she chose. Hell, the woman didn't know him from Adam. So, why did he feel so protective toward her?
Raphael glanced at the clock. It was getting late and his children, Raven and Angel, would be home from camp soon. He was about to make his way home when his cell phone rang. An instant of panic gripped his throat, but he shoved the instinct away. Everything was fine. This was probably only his mother calling to check in and annoy him further about his unmarried status and how that reflected badly on his children. He really wasn't in the mood for another lecture.
As he connected the call and listened to the woman on the other end of the line, Rafe felt that original panic leap back into his throat.
"I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner," the young woman said. She identified herself as the director of Camp Lightfoot. "But we have a situation here."
The panic settled around his heart and squeezed.
"Situation?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "What sort of situation?"
Then the words came spewing forth. Words no parent should have to hear.
"I regret to inform you that ..." The young woman's tone changed to one of terror. She was afraid to tell him the truth. Rafe knew this was going to be bad. "That... Your children have disappeared."
Raphael nearly dropped the phone. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had sent them to camp to keep them safe, not put them in danger. She had to be wrong. His children were coming home today -- probably already were home.
"You're wrong," he said, gulping down a mouthful of air.
Silence spanned the distance between them for a few seconds.
"This is no joke, Mr. Martinez. We've been searching for two days...."
Rafe failed to hear the remainder of the conversation. He felt like he'd just been sucker punched. Two days? Two days his children had been missing and they only now had the decency to tell him?
"I'll be up at first light," he said in a clipped tone. He snapped the cell phone closed and it fell forgotten into his pocket. Then the reality set in. His children had been kidnapped!
Alicia Scott prepared to make the first incision into the body of the dead woman lying on her table. As she gazed around the small morgue, the walls began to close in on her. It wasn't an unusual sensation but Alicia still found it disconcerting. Here she was alone in the morgue in the middle of the night with only the security guard and the night receptionist in the building.
Tonight, every sound made her jump. Her hands shook as the knife descended toward the fleshy area at the base of the woman's skull. Then an amazing thing happened, the pulse at the woman's throat throbbed. Alicia pulled the knife away and closed her eyes. She had to be imaging things. This woman was dead.
Coffee. She needed coffee. Alicia knew she wasn't going to make it through this dissection without it. She hurried down the hall as if demons nipped at her heels.
"How's the little genius doing?" John Ellison asked in a singsong voice. He pushed open the stripped wood door to Angel's closet.
The kid didn't respond to anything except the digital characters flashing across the laptop. John didn't mind. He could handle the silence. Angel's face was expressionless, as always, fingers typing away numbly at as he stared through the screen.
Just thinking about the kid gave John the creeps. How could it be that the only person who could break the Immortal Code, the most deeply encrypted code imaginable, was a boy barely old enough to be in grade school?
The world works in mysterious ways sometimes, John thought. The beeping of John's cell phone interrupted the silence.
Only two people had the number to that phone, Teryl and Victor. John was sure he knew who the caller was.
His hands were covered in a cold sweat as he murmured, "Hello?"
A deep voice sounded from the line. "John, John, John… What am I going to do with you?" Victor Cross sounded angry. "I give you the task of watching over two children and what happens… one of them escapes. These kids don't have the brains of a potato sack! What does that say about Teryl and yourself!"
"She slipped away, Sir. Teryl's out looking for her now. There's really nothing to worry about! We have this situation under control. Raven couldn't have made it that far. Teryl will find her. She isn't called 'The Huntress' for nothing, you know."
"She'd better do her job! I don't have the time to play games with the two of you. You're expendable. I'll cut to the chase: Do your job right, and you'll be highly rewarded, but if you should fail again…"
"You don't have to say it, Mr. Cross." John said with mock authority. "Teryl will be back any minute with the sister, and the kid's been working on the damned code all day. Everything will go according to plan."
"You'd better make sure there are no more slip-ups."
John listened for a few more seconds. Cross had hung up on him. John grasped the sides of his head in frustration. He could feel a migraine coming on.
Noticing an odd quiet, John listened intently. No clicking of the keyboard. No sound at all. He turned around and looked into the open closet.
Angel was gone.
Teryl smiled to herself as she stared across the street. It felt so good to be right, she thought to herself as she saw Raven approaching with Nigel Bennett. Of course their first instincts would be to go to the police. She was poised near some buildings by the station, as she had been for the last ten minutes, waiting for them to show up.
She strode out from between the buildings, one hand hidden inside her brown leather trench coat. She laughed to herself, as she moved closer to the two, both of them talking so intently that they didn't notice her approach.
Finally, Raven and Nigel turned. Teryl stood right before them and removed her hand from her coat. A pistol was pressed against Nigel's chest before he knew what was happening.
"If you move or say a word… you die," Teryl said, her cold eyes trained on Nigel's face.
Raven looked on in shock, gazing up and down the empty street for help. Acting instinctively, she heaved her knee into Teryl's stomach, forcing the Huntress to double over and drop her gun.
The Huntress scrambled for the gun furiously, her long locks raining over her face. Nigel tried to hit the woman, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Without hesitation, he raced into an alley after Raven.
Teryl clutched her middle. She grasped the gun and raced after the pair.
Mackenzie Gray leveled the 9mm Beretta at pilot, Stone Jacobs, and repeated, "Take me to Nikki!" Mac's voice was so low, Stone had a hard time hearing it, but the evil glint in his eye was unmistakable.
"Whoa there, partner. Remember. Me friend." Stone held up his hands in surrender but that didn't make Mac's gun budge one iota. He held the firearm in a firm grip that said, 'don't mess with me." Stone didn't plan on doing anything to tick off Mackenzie Gray. He'd seen what this lone wolf could do when left to his own devices. He didn't want to make the same mistake twice.
"Didn't you hear me?" Mac's patience was wearing thin. "TAKE ME TO NIKKI!
Stone did as instructed and angled the helicopter toward the aircraft's last known location. Silence hung thick in the air that separated them. It seemed to almost hold the gun in an eerie state of suspended animation. Mac lost himself in thought as the buzz of the craft became a dull roar. Somehow, even in his state of inattention, the Beretta still remained trained on him -- with the safety released. Stone knew he was thinking of Nikki and hoping her fate wasn't the same as Theresa's. Even with his thoughts turned inward Mac didn't let down his guard completely. He never lost control.
And maybe that's what he needed to do, Stone thought. Lose control. For once in his life, let his destiny meet him.
An hour flew by before Mac acknowledged his existence. He didn't mind being ignored. He was used to it. In his line of work he was considered a servant, a glorifiedchauffeur. Silence came with the job. When he could stand it no longer, Stone blew out a breath and confronted Mac with the demons he'd been trying to avoid the entire flight.
"I know what you're thinking," Mac said, before Stone could come up with a good argument.
"Into mind reading now, are you? Why don't I read your mind for a change?" Stone regarded him in the twilight as it gleamed across the horizon. They had maybe an hour or two left of light. "You have been sitting there for over an hour talking yourself into the fact that you believe Nikki is alive. How am I doing so far?"
"She is alive, dammit!"
"What about Mr. Knight and his order for you to meet him?" Stone wasn't going to let Mac turn tail and run away from responsibility, but he knew that making him admit to his feelings for Nikki Carpenter had priority over any high-class one-on-one board meeting.
"I'll deal with the flack from the tower. Apparently, Mr. Knight has something important he wants to discuss with me. As you well know, I'm not much into discussing. So, whatever he has planned isn't as important as this. Nikki needs me."
"Well, God bless America!" Stone sighed with relief. "The man bought a clue."
"Don't blow this out of proportion, Stone. She's my partner. I'd do this for anyone. Even you."
"Oh, thanks so much for your kind words, Obi Wan. But I don't think I could put a frown that deep on your face. I'm just a friend. Nikki's more than that, and we both know it."
Mac fumed as Stone checked his instruments and charted a new course toward a different stretch of land south of their previous position.
"This is taking too long. Where are they!"
"I think you should prepare yourself for the fact that they both could be dead when and if we find the wreckage."
Raphael's hands were still shaking. He tried to grip the steering wheel but found it hard to keep a hold of. He swore and pulled into the parking area outside the Legacy infirmary. He had to tell his mother about this and he wasn't going to do it on the phone.
He stalked inside and lumbered into her office only to find it empty. Where was she? Why was it when you had important news to tell someone they were conveniently missing? Rafe exhaled a frustrated breath. If she wasn't here, he'd have to look for her.
He walked down hall after endless hall and only found more emptiness. This was an infirmary. Where the hell were all the patients? And where was his mother?
It was only in the basement he found a body. The only problem was, this body was dead. He surveyed the woman lying on the slab in the morgue and gave up a heavy sigh. It was a damn shame. Such a beautiful woman. Then the woman's face became Raven's and he swore, kicking the morgue door with his steel-toed boots.
"Dammit, mother. I'm wasting time here. Where are you?" Raphael's words exploded and echoed down the hallway.
They were answered by a faint mumble from beside him. The woman on the table. Her lips were moving. Rafe jumped back a foot.
"What in the hell?"
"Everything will be fine," the woman said in a scratchy voice.
"Everything is NOT fine and ... and ... you're dead, lady." Rafe jammed a hand through his jet black hair. Things like this just didn't happen.
"Where's Mac?" she asked, obviously unaware of where she was. She turned onto her side and attempted to bring her body to an upright position.
Raphael knew she didn't have on any clothes under that white sheet and he wasn't ready to be gazing at a naked woman so he stepped forward and kept the sheet up while she rose.
"What are you doing?" she asked, still groggy.
"I don't know if you realize this, but, you don't have any clothes on." Rafe chewed frantically at the piece of gum in his mouth. 'And by the way, who is Mac? And who are you for that matter?"
"Theresa Shea."
She jumped down from the high table and stumbled into Raphael's arms. He held her steady as she swooned. An unfamiliar ache erupted in his stomach as if the strings of passion inside him were being licked. This was no time to be getting romantic. He berated himself for the heat generating inside himself. There was obviously something wrong with her if she was dead only minutes earlier. Her pale face started to take on a more peachy tone and he sighed with relief.
"You look a little better than before. At least you have a little color now."
"You're sweet," she said and started to press her lips to his cheek. His head turned at the exact same moment and suddenly they found themselves kissing. The flames that had licked him before were now an inferno. He knew this was not the place to be kissing on a helpless woman but his mind flew out of his brain as her lips feathered a kiss across his mouth. He growled and pushed her away from him. God. What was wrong with him? He put distance between them and stayed on the other side of the room. When he turned around again, she was gone.
"Theresa?" His voice was a strangled shout. First his children were missing and now Theresa? God, there he went again, being protective when he had no right to be. He ran into the hallway and saw her retreating figure open a door that led down to the Mississippi River.
"NO! Don't open that door." He ran down the hall but didn't make it in time. He heard the splash before he saw the woman. She'd just fallen into the Mississippi River!
There was no time to think. He had to save her. He didn't know why. He just knew he did. Then he raced out the door and dove into the murky blackness. The water enveloped him and pulled him downstream.
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