Lessons Learned

Untitled Part 19

John stepped through the door feeling the press of the man's pistol vanish for a moment only to reappear between his shoulder blades. "Move quickly, Dr. Watson. Your friends await you."

"I'm not entirely sure they're my friends," John said before he could stop himself.

The man behind him grunted in surprised amusement and John felt a little heartened by the sound. His abductor couldn't be all bad if he could find something in this situation humorous. But the instant passed quickly when John saw the scene laid out before him in the ship's small lounge. Two men sat on opposite sides of the room in wooden armchairs. The ship's furniture tended toward the utilitarian rather than the opulent, and both men were lashed tightly to their respective chairs. Moriarty, it seemed, warranted a garrote-style collar tying this neck to the back of the chair to limit movement as well as cause no small amount of uncomfortableness. John wasn't sure the man would be able to draw a proper breath in that position and in fact, and when John looked a bit closer, he noticed with a doctor's alarm that Moriarty's lips had a blue tinge around them. He'd already suffered some asphyxiation. His eyes had a glassy stare to them as he drew in tight, constricted breaths.

John noted with some relief that Sherlock had escaped a similar fate and only seemed to have his feet, arms, and wrists tied firmly to the chair. Both chairs had been affixed to stout pillars on opposite sides of the room. John was surprised to see Sherlock still tied up as he was very skilled at getting out of his bounds. But, then he saw the complex and expertly tied knots and decided his captor not only knew how to handle a prisoner but know how to keep one captive as well.

"I've been waiting all day for you, Doctor," said the man. "Your partner, of course, didn't tell me you'd be on your way. But I sussed it out of him." The man waved his pistol at the bound form of Moriarty.

John had stumbled into the middle of something intense, and he wasn't sure exactly what to expect from the man holding the gun. "You know my name, but you have me at a disadvantage,"

"I'm Wells," he said shortly. "Stand there," he ordered pointing to another column placed evenly between the two geniuses. He tossed the doctor a pair of handcuffs and said, "Hug the pillar and put the cuffs on."

John sighed, and did as he was told. He couldn't see any way out at the moment and didn't want to set Wells off in any way. Once the cuffs were in place, Wells stepped forward, keeping the gun pointed evenly and made sure the cuffs fit snugly against his wrists. Once he felt John was secure, he stepped back.

"Now that we're all here, what do you intend to do with us?" John asked evenly. From his peripheral vision, he saw Sherlock huff out a snort and roll his eyes.

"I only wanted him," he said pointing at the nearly unconscious Moriarty "But, I ended up with Sherlock bloody Holmes and now you as well. He sounded petulant and surly. "And, I don't know how you've managed it all these years," the man said keeping his pistol pointed firmly at the center of John's chest. "I've been trying to hunt this... filth down for the past two years," nodding his head in the Moriarty's direction. He'd nearly spit out the word "filth" and John knew from the emotion he held barely in check the man wanted to kill Moriarty very badly. "I finally found out about this little getaway boat, and I've been watching it for six months now hoping he'd need it to escape someday. My waiting game finally paid off, it seems. But, I got more than I bargained for with you two."

How did you know I was coming. John was sure Sherlock would have rather put out his own eyes than give him away. So, it must have been Jim trying to bargain his way out of a tight spot.