Hola! Fast update whoohoo! I'm almost done with this story - I think only 1-2 more chapters after this one. Then I gotta figure out how to somehow print 100 pages for my friend with paying like a bajillion dollars haha. School computer lab, here I come! That'll raise some eyebrows...anyway, I hope you enjoy this latest edition. Kinda lost the humor in this one, sorry, but it's a pretty serious chapter. So please vote and comment, tell me what you think!
Gracias!! <3 vb123321 :D
Chapter Nine
I Hope the Alley Cat Doesn't Have Nine Lives Cuz I Sure Don't
As soon as the man spoke, Dawson froze with his fists in midair. A slow creaking filled the air as Zach's chair seemed to topple over in slow motion, his face bloody and dazed. The sound of wood and body crashing to the floor broke the chilling silence.
I couldn't breathe as the man from the doorway advanced on us, smoothly placing one foot in front of another, his black eyes fixed on my face. His thin graying hair was slicked back on his high forehead, making his face look thin and sharp, and as he stopped just in front of Dawson, I saw that he was about half a foot shorter. Yet there was no doubting the authority in his voice as he said,
"Please step away from our guests, Dawson."
Dawson definitely weighed twice as much as this new guy did, but he backed away from Zach and me as if facing a crocodile. I couldn't stand the penetrating look the guy was giving me, so I looked instead at Zach's motionless body sprawled on the floor.
"I'm so very sorry," said the guy calmly, following my gaze. "I'm afraid Mr. Dawson sometimes can't control himself. It's one of his many faults."
I glanced at Dawson to see that he was clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, but he obviously didn't dare say anything. Ignoring the little smile playing on the guy's mouth, I called Zach's name desperately, fighting against the handcuffs again. No response came from the floor, and his dark hair fell over his face so that I couldn't see if his eyes were open. When I looked back at the new guy to that smile again, something snapped.
"Who are you?" I growled, kicking my heels against the floor in vain. "Where's Christina?"
"My dear," he said in an oily voice, still smiling, "I am the Alley Cat."
My jaw dropped. "But – he said –"
The man actually rolled his black eyes. "Did you really believe that Dawson is the Alley Cat? If he was, we would have been found out years ago."
Dawson cracked his knuckles loudly.
"I knew it," came a hoarse voice from the floor, and my heart jumped to my throat as I looked down to see Zach's eyes peering up at us hazily. "Dawson's too dumb to be the Alley Cat; there was something wrong with that picture."
Snarling, Dawson tried to get to him, but the Alley Cat simply raised a languid hand and his advance halted.
"Zach!" I cried, relieved. "Are you okay?"
He gave me a crooked smile. "Please, you thought that guy could hurt me?" He craned his neck to survey the Alley Cat with critical look. "I gotta say, this guy is even less alarming. Although I can tell where the nickname came from now."
He was right – the Alley Cat was indeed built like a cat: thin and lithe, sharp face, and strangely dark eyes. I expected him to get real pissed off and start beating Zach up again, but he just smiled disconcertingly down at Zach.
"Enjoying the floor?"
Zach shrugged awkwardly. "I've been less comfortable. Can't really think of a moment just now but –"
Without changing expression, the Alley Cat stepped forward, bent down, grabbed the back of his chair, and yanked it into an upright position without so much as a grunt of effort. I felt my eyes widen and even Zach could barely keep a look of surprise off his face. You'd never have expected this small, thin man to have that kind of muscle.
"Well, thanks," said Zach coolly, blowing chestnut-colored hair out of his face. Both his eyes were puffy and spotted brilliantly with purple and blue. His lip was bleeding more than ever, but he didn't look bothered in the slightest. He pulled against his restraints. "How about these handcuffs?"
The Alley Cat shook his head, almost looking regretful. "I'm sorry. Hard to say who you can trust these days, you know."
Why was he being so nice? It made me more nervous when the bad guys were nice than when they were mean. At least the mean ones were predictable – they'd just kill you. Who knew what this guy was planning?
"Where's Christina?" I asked again, my voice trembling a little as those black eyes met mine. "And Rosie?"
"Dawson, Dawson," reproved the Alley Cat, shaking his head. "Didn't I tell you to reassure our guests that their relatives are okay?"
I gave Zach a quick look. Was one of his siblings here, too?
Catching this, he shook his head. "There's no one out there they could bring in here to use against me," he said simply. "Besides, they know I don't know anything about – what they want from us."
By the way he said it, I doubted this was true. The Alley Cat apparently doubted it as well, because he laughed lightly and said, "My dear Zachary, you are very valuable to us. I'm not stupid. But," and he swiveled on the spot to signal to a guard at the door, "I am being very rude. Don't let me prolong your reunion."
The guard disappeared from the room. Apprehension lit on my tongue as Zach and I exchanged nervous glances. The Alley Cat was still smiling creepily as he reached into his pocket and approached me, walking around to the back of my chair.
"What are you doing?" snapped Zach, following him with his eyes. "Leave her along. I've told you people that she has nothing to do with –"
He shut up as a little click sounded and the Alley Cat held my handcuffs in front of Zach's face. I pulled my hands back in front of me, rubbing my wrists and wincing as my circulation rushed back ruthlessly. As I tried to stand, my head spun dizzily and I had to grab the chair in order to stay upright. It was then I remembered I hadn't eaten since – what time even was it? I had no idea.
"Are you going to remove this damn tape, too?" demanded Zach with frustration as the Alley Cat walked away from us to speak to Dawson. He received an amused look.
"Didn't I just say I wasn't stupid?"
Zach gritted his teeth, still trying to pull his hands free. I crouched down in back of him and tried to work on the duct tape myself, but it was hopeless without scissors or any kind of spy training. As I stood up and shrugged at Zach helplessly, Dawson let out a malicious guffaw.
"Your girlfriend's pretty dumb, isn't she?"
He smirked as Zach swore and kicked in his direction. At that moment, a knock sounded on the door.
"Dawson," said the Alley Cat calmly, "if you could please leave the room?"
It was Zach's turn to smirk as Dawson glowered at the Alley Cat, not daring to argue but not wanting to leave. "Enjoy yourself," called Zach as he left the room, and Dawson sent him a glare that made me glad looks couldn't kill.
As he left, the guard from before entered. Someone was just behind him, and as he reached out to pull her in front of him, I let out a shriek and ran forward, ignoring for a moment the pounding of my head.
"Christina!"
I knelt and threw my arms around my little niece, relief washing over me as some of the fear that she had been killed finally began to fall away. She buried her face in my chest, murmuring, "Aunt Natalie!" and my heart twisted as I thought of what might have happened.
"Are you okay?" I asked anxiously, looking her over. "Did they hurt you?"
She frowned. "Aunt Natalie, where am I?"
"What?"
I pulled her away from me a little, confused, but her face was honest and open. I glanced back at the Alley Cat, who was watching with that same smile, which was really starting to get on my nerves. Suddenly suspicious, I smiled down at my niece and opened my arms. She jumped into them willingly, and I perched her against my hip. She was heavier than I remembered, but I managed to keep her balanced there as I turned to face the Alley Cat.
"What did you do to her?"
"My dear," he said, shaking his head, "so little trust."
"What did you do to her?"
He spread his hands wide with an innocent look. "I haven't done anything. She showed up here Friday afternoon, yes? For the past twenty-four hours, she's been...sleeping soundly."
"You DRUGGED HER?" I screamed as the pieces clicked together. All I could think about was how dizzy and sick I had felt from the chloroform and wondered if my niece, my little, darling niece, was going through the same thing right that instant. And I wanted to kill him.
"It was a necessity," he said smoothly, though I noticed he gestured to the guard behind me, who made sure I realized he was holding a rifle. "Wouldn't you rather she have been unconscious and not be afraid of where she was?"
I glared at him, breathing heavily and wondering if I could put Christina down safely in order to stab the Alley Cat in the chest. Zach must have seen I was debating this, because he said quickly, "It probably is better, Nat. She doesn't know what happened. She probably thinks she was asleep."
"And what about Rosie Vandenberg?" I demanded. "And the other little girl?"
"I'm sure they're still sleeping soundly," the Alley Cat replied, looking satisfied. "I just thought you might need Christina for a little...persuasion."
I held my niece tighter, feeling defensive. "You're not touching her."
"Nat doesn't know anything," interjected Zach earnestly. "I've already told you. She didn't even know her brother was a spy until yesterday morning."
The Alley Cat's eyes narrowed, making him look even more feline. "Nothing?" And when Zach nodded, he gave him a thoughtful look. "So you're the only one in this room who knows where the CIA is keeping it?"
"Keeping what?" I asked, shifting Christina to my other hip. She was sucking her thumb, her eyes still sleepy as her head drooped on my shoulder, clearly unaware that she should be scared for her life. That was okay, though.
Zach's eyes flitted to me and then back to the Alley Cat. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said evenly. "But why does that matter? Jer's still never going to let you get at it."
"But now I have his sister and his daughter," said the Alley Cat with a smile. "Don't you think that adds a little more incentive to our issue?"
I clutched Christina more tightly, partly to keep my hands from shaking. "Jer will never give into you," I said confidently. "And I know you won't kill us. We're too valuable."
"Jer's probably trying to negotiate with you as we speak," said Zach, giving me a warning look that I assumed meant I should shut up. "Maybe you should listen to him instead of just threatening him all the time."
The Alley Cat opened his mouth, probably to deliver a death sentence, but at that moment another knock sounded on the door. We all froze, my heartbeat suddenly jumping to high speed as I wondered if it could be Jer – or Coach Alan – and we were going to get out of there – but then another guard strode into the room, his face stressed.
"Yes?" snapped the Alley Cat. "What is it?"
The guard glanced over his shoulder nervously, and because the door was still open I realized for the first time that quite the commotion was going on somewhere else in the building: pounding footsteps, yells, crackling of walkie-talkies, and – my mouth went dry – gunshots. I looked over Christina's head to meet Zach's eyes and saw the same flicker of hope there.
"Sir," said the guard, his eyes darting around, "we're having a penetration issue."
"WHAT?" The Alley Cat lost a bit of his cool composure for the first time, his eyes widening. "Is it the CIA?"
"I believe so, sir."
My breath caught in my throat and I had to force myself to keep a straight face. Was it Jer? Had they somehow found us?"
The Alley Cat was staring at me with narrowed eyes. "How?" he muttered. "How did he find you so fast?" Then he looked at the guard, snapping, "Why are you still standing there? You know my orders! Move!"
The guard turned on his heel and left the room rapidly, as if he were more afraid of the Alley Cat then a bunch of CIA agents out to get his head. I held Zach's eyes, excitement sparking in my stomach, but I was too scared to say anything. The Alley Cat glanced between Zach and I shrewdly, and then he said in a smooth voice,
"How did they find us?"
I shook my head wordlessly, trying to look as clueless as possible, which wasn't really that hard, seeing as I didn't know. Zach's face remained blank as well, but I guess the Alley Cat was less inclined to trust him because he turned to face Zach with a dangerous look.
"I said, how did they find you?"
Zach smiled at him, eyes vague. "Who knows?"
The Alley Cat's smile fell away to be replaced for the first time by an angry look. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun, which he pressed against Zach's forehead. I cried out, stepping forward but then stopping, not daring to bring Christina any closer. Pressing her face against my shoulder so that she couldn't see what was going on, I glared at the Alley Cat.
"Put that away," I snapped. "She doesn't need to see anything like that."
Zach laughed a little despite the barrel against his temple. "I'm glad to see you're also concerned about me getting my brains blown out."
"Don't say things like that in front of her!" I gave Christina a worried glance, but her eyes were closed and she seemed to be falling asleep again.
"Aunt Natalie," she mumbled around her thumb, "I'm sleepy."
I stroked her hair. "I know, baby. Go to sleep on my shoulder, it's okay." I gave the Alley Cat my best authoritative look. "Take her out of here if you want to be violent. I don't want her to see it."
He smiled. "I thought you wanted to see her so badly? What do you think could happen to her if she left the room?"
"Leave her alone," said Zach roughly, trying and failing for the umpteenth time to loosen the tape around his hands. "Just let them both get out of here. It's me you want to interrogate."
The Alley Cat nodded thoughtfully, removing the gun from Zach's forehead. I breathed a silent sigh of relief, patting Christina's back as she made little snuffling noises. The chloroform was still strong in her system and she was basically knocked out on my shoulder again. Maybe he would just put us in a cell somewhere and forget about us – at least it would be easier to escape from there; Zach had done it before and I didn't doubt he could do it again.
"That's true," said the Alley Cat, looking at me with eyes like a snake's. "It is you who has the answers, Zachary. However, I don't think you'd be very willing to tell me them, would you now? So, I think the thing to do..."
And he raised his arm slowly so that the gun was pointed directly between my eyes.
"No!" shouted Zach, his eyes flying wide open. "No, that's not what I meant!"
"One should always say what they mean, my dear."
I wrapped my arms more tightly around Christina, my heart pounding so rapidly that I thought I might pass out. Fear bubbled like pop in my stomach as my eyes focused on that cold metal barrel that in an instant could spell death for Christina or myself – there was no way out of this place – where was Jer?
The Alley Cat's eyes flickered insanely. "Well, Zachary? Where is it?"
"Where is what?" I asked, confused. I thought we had been talking about how the CIA had found this place.
Zach shot me a deathly look, warning me to shut up. "I don't know," he said calmly, but the way his eyes darted between the gun fixed on my face and the Alley Cat gave him away.
"Don't lie to me."
And the sound of a gun cocking filled the room. My palms began to sweat, my mind jumping into overdrive, concocting wild ideas of how to get away. Zach was thrashing so violently in his bonds, desperate to get out, that his whole chair was rocking. I met his eyes, saw the indecision there, knew the choice he would make. His chest was heaving, desperation flashing in his eyes, and even before he spoke I was turning away, putting my back to the Alley Cat so that maybe the bullet would hit me and miss Christina.
"Three seconds, Zachary," came the Alley Cat's oily voice. "Three..."
"Jer never told me, I swear!"
"Two..."
"Damn it, I don't know!"
I closed my eyes, hugging Christina to my chest, and waited for the bullet to slam into my heart, terror suddenly washing over me. Let it end quickly, I begged silently, my heart pounding so quickly only to stop so soon. Even though my back was turned, I could almost feel the Alley Cat's mouth opening to form that last number, his finger tightening on the trigger...I was suddenly vividly aware that I had possibly a second to live...
...a second in which everything happened at once.
Crash.
The sound of the door banging open was so unlike the gunshot I had been expecting that I jumped, instinctively stepping to one side. This movement unwittingly saved my life: The Alley Cat's bullet, which he had fired a second before, flew less than an inch in front of my nose, burying itself in the opposite wall.
Before I could even see what had happened, an arm locked around my waist, pulling me backwards rapidly. Something hard pressed through my sweatshirt into my back, and without thinking, I screamed, "Jer!" and thrust Christina away from me.
The Alley Cat had his arms wrapped around me in an instant, pinning me against his body with the gun tight against my spine. By the time Jer rushed forward and caught Christina, dropping his gun in the process, the scene before me had completely changed, all of it happening before my brain had a chance to kick in.
Jer scooped his gun off the floor and stood in the center of the room, holding Christina to his chest and pointing the gun steadily in my direction. The Alley Cat's back was up against the back wall with me as a shield. I could feel the tension in his body as he looked around for a way to escape; it was impossible to try and move away from him.
Three other agents fanned out across the room, their guns all pointed at us. One of them stopped next to Zach, who was still thrashing in his chair, his eyes wild. I looked at him, my heart pounding so hard that I thought it might explode, knowing that death was squashed against my spine and that my life depended solely upon a few muscles.
"Let go of her," said Jer in a tone I had never before heard and never wanted to hear again. "We won't kill you if you just let her go."
The Alley Cat let out an insane laugh, his breath tickling my ear. "You expect me to believe that?"
Jer looked back at one of the other agents, handing him Christina with a tender look. The moment his eyes moved back to the Alley Cat's face, they were like stone. "If you kill her," he said menacingly, "you know you'll never be able to sleep with both eyes closed."
I let out a cry of pain as the Alley Cat snatched at my hair with one hand, jerking my head back and moving the gun up so that it was pressed against my neck. Jer stepped forward, his eyes afire, but the Alley Cat snapped, "No closer! Or I'll fire!"
My brother's face held more death than the gun against my neck, but he stopped in his tracks, his chest heaving and hatred gleaming in his eyes. Slowly the Alley Cat began sliding across the wall, the gun still fixed firmly on my skin.
"I'll just take the back door," he said. "And I must request that you call your guard dogs off, please. A clean getaway would be nice. I'll release your lovely sister once I'm safe."
Jer's voice shook with anger. "You bastard," he gritted out between tightly clenched teeth. "I'll kill you."
I couldn't breathe, my lungs frozen with terror, and as the Alley Cat drew nearer to the door, his hand still tight on my hair, I suddenly realized that he wasn't going to let me go. Not then, not ever. I was his leverage against Jer to make sure he got what he wanted, and if he didn't, he would have no qualms about killing me.
I was never going to see these people – the people I loved – again.
My adrenaline shot up to full level, my brain shutting down and animal instinct taking over. Almost subconsciously, one foot jerked up, slamming into the one place that would cause pain no man could withstand. His grip on my hair slackened in a natural response of shock and agony, the gun slipping a little down my neck.
In a flash I tore away from him, dashing forward more quickly than any rush I had made for any finish line. Everything was roaring in my ears, the room and everyone in it spinning before my eyes, my only thought of that shiny, cold metal and the bullet that could spit from it and end my life mid-heartbeat –
Dimly I heard Jer screaming, "DUCK!" and somehow I knew that the agents were going to fire at the Alley Cat, except I was in their way. I threw myself forward, preparing to crash against the cold stone ground, but something fiery pierced my shoulder before the hard fall came, something that set my entire chest ablaze as I lay there, motionless, on the floor.
Paralyzed, only my ears knew what was going on around me: screaming and a round of gunshots and voices yelling and screaming and screaming – why were they screaming? Had someone been killed? And my fear for Jer and Christina and Zach spiked, my heart pumping blood so quickly that it was leaking through my shirt, my imagination creating a warm puddle underneath me.
My face brushed the stone floor, my chest moving raggedly as I struggled to breathe. The voices were fading now, someone still screaming in the back of my mind, and when I parted my lips to taste air, I tasted blood instead. It was everywhere – coating my neck and chest and spreading up to my face – I was drowning in it – lights were dancing in the darkness in front of my eyes and the fire was traveling through my body –
"Get an ambulance here, now!" someone was shouting just above me, someone that sounded so familiar, and I just wanted to reach out to touch him but my arm was frozen in place.
"Jer," I mumbled, but my mouth formed around blood.
And the blackness swamped my mind.