American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (18 page)

He was very casual and raised no alarm with either Cydney or Kyle.  Cydney nodded, going to her brother and giving him a big hug.

“Thanks again, Kyle,” she said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“All right,” Kyle cast a long glance at Ethan before moving to his car. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Cydney waved at him as he walked off. “Okay.”

Ethan watched the tall blond man climb into his turbo-charged Mustang. When Kyle gunned the engine and pealed out of the parking lot, he looked at Cydney.

“Like I said before,” he commented. “He’s very protective of you.”

Cydney turned to him. “We’ve always taken care of each other. And he doesn’t like other guys around me; he feels like he needs to protect me from anyone of the male species.”

“Is that so?” Ethan grinned. “How did he handle your husband?”

She laughed softly. “Brad was a lot shorter than Kyle but built like a bulldog. In high school, he was a linebacker and a wrestler. His nickname was “Mad Dog”. It didn’t take long for Kyle to figure out he couldn’t beat him up or intimidate him, so you know what they say; if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

“How long do you think it will take him to realize that he can’t beat me up, either?”

“He’s probably already realized it,” she chuckled. “Did you have any crazy nicknames in school? Anything to scare him off with?”

He wriggled his eyebrows. “Nothing I would repeat to you.”

Her soft laughter joined Ethan’s. After the chuckles died down, he nodded his head in the direction of the upper parking lot. “Shall we?”

Cydney returned his smile and took his hand as they trekked across the lower parking lot towards the stairs that led to the upper lot.  Ethan kissed her hand before letting it go as they mounted the stairs. She had no idea what she was really walking in to until a few minutes later.

CHAPTER TEN

Olivia woke up in Joseph’s arms.

Her first awareness was of lights passing over head, one after the other. She could hear noise and echoes of voices around her, like she was in a big room. It was bright and harsh.  Stirring slightly, she turned to see that that they were in some sort of public place. She didn’t recognize it. But the second she moved, Nat leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“If you scream or make any cry for help, your mother will be dead by morning,” he hissed. “Do you understand?”

Instinctively, she recoiled from the man, putting her hands over her ears and dissolving into tears. Joseph told Nat to back off and the man put some distance between himself and the girl.  But Olivia was still upset, disoriented and not feeling particularly well. She had no idea where she was or what had happened. She wiped at her eyes, noticing that there were signs over head.  She saw the word Terminaux a few times and Station de taxis.  She finally lifted her head when she knew that Nat was far enough away not to threaten her again.

“Where are we?” she asked Joseph.

He smiled down at her with his messy good looks. “In a magic land far, far away.”

“France?”

“That’s a good guess. What makes you say that?”

“Because I can read the French on the signs. Are we at an airport or something?”

Joseph’s smile broadened. “You slept all the way across the Atlantic. Have you ever been overseas before?”

Olivia heart sank. She looked around at all of the people with their luggage, their coffees, their families.  The airport was crowded.

“What airport is this?” she asked.

“We’re in Paris.”

Olivia looked at him, shocked. “Paris? Really?”

Joseph nodded. “Really.”

Olivia looked around again, identifying a sign that pointed to the AirFrance terminal.  She could smell bread and other scents wafting from a nearby patisserie and it made her stomach hurt more.  People were speaking French all around her and it only fueled her disorientation.

“Can I walk, please?” she begged softly.

Joseph stopped and set her down. Coral, coming up from behind with her white leather carry-on with gold trim, smiled at Olivia with lipstick-stained teeth.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she said. “So you’re awake now, are you? Are you hungry?”

Olivia didn’t like Coral; she shied away from her, bumping into Joseph in the process. “No,” she looked around. “Can I go to the bathroom, please? I don’t feel very well.”

  Nat was several paces up ahead, glaring impatiently at them when he realized they had come to a halt.  Joseph made a motion towards the restrooms off to the right, indicating why they had stopped, but Nat continued to glare.

“You’d better hurry up,” Joseph told Coral. “Take her and go.”

Coral grabbed Olivia by the hand but Olivia pulled away. “I can walk by myself,” she insisted irritably.

Coral followed Olivia into the restroom, which had a lounge attached to it with a black vinyl couch and bright fluorescent lights.  As Olivia wandered towards the white tiled toilets, Coral moved towards the couch.

“I’m going to sit here and wait for you, sweetheart,” Coral said. “Hurry up and do your business.”

Olivia watched Coral sit on the couch, sigh heavily, and reach into her carry on bag.  Olivia took a few more steps towards the toilets but didn’t go completely in; she was looking to see what Coral was digging for.  The woman pulled out a make up bag, a cell phone, a hair brush, a bottle of pills and a small bottle of vodka. Coral popped three of the long white pills and chased them down with the contents of the vodka bottle.  Then she pulled out another bottle of alcohol and drained that one as well.  As Olivia watched curiously, Coral picked up her make up bag, opened it, and then lay her head back against the couch and closed her eyes.  In a matter of seconds she was snoring.

Olivia watched the woman steadily.  It had been a very odd happening and she waited for Coral to open her eyes and continue with whatever she was doing. But Coral remained stone cold asleep.  Olivia’s gaze inevitably trailed to the cell phone, sitting on top of the carry on.  People were coming in and out of the restroom, not paying any attention to her.  She wondered if she could get to the cell phone before Coral opened her eyes.  She realized that she had to try. Slowly, she moved into the lounge, making her way towards the white leather carry on bag.  The cell phone was her goal.  If she could only get to it….

Coral was sleeping like the dead.  Olivia snatched the cell phone from the top of the bag and very quickly raced into the farthest toilet stall she could find from the lounge. She had no idea how to make an international call so she pressed ‘00’ for the operator and prayed the call would connect.  Her hands were shaking as she held the phone to her ear, realizing she was very close to tears.

‘00’ took her to a French speaking operator with Verizon Wireless International.  Olivia was in a panic trying to explain that she needed to call the United States when the woman politely transferred her to an English speaking operator.  Olivia was whispering and flushing the toilet at the same time so no one could hear her, but the problem was that the operator couldn’t hear her, either.  Finally, Olivia was able to get her mother’s number across and the call was connected. The relief she felt at that moment was immeasurable.

The phone rang six times. Olivia counted.  Then a man answered.

“H-Hello?” Olivia didn’t recognize the man. “I’m calling for my mom. I need to talk to Cydney Hetherington.”

The man seemed stunned. “Is this Olivia?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

On the other end of the line, J.D. nearly fell off his chair with surprise. But he maintained his cool.  

“My name is J.D.,” he said evenly. “I’m with the FBI.  I have your mother’s phone in case you called again. Where are you?”

Olivia knew she didn’t have much time. “In France,” she told him. “We’re in the airport in Paris.”

J.D. was motioning to some of the other agents in the trailer and the men flew into action, putting the wheels in motion to trace the phone number of the caller and then put a GPS tracker on it. It was difficult but not impossible.  J.D. intended to keep her on the line as long as he could so he people could work.

“Paris?” he repeated. “How long have you been there?”

“I don’t know,” Olivia replied. “I slept the whole way over here. I think they gave me something to make me sleep because I feel like I did when I had my teeth pulled. I don’t feel very good.”

“But you’re all right?” J.D. pressed. “They haven’t harmed you, have they?”

In the stall, Olivia flushed the toilet again just to keep up the illusion that she was still using the restroom. “No,” he lip began to tremble. “But they told me if I don’t cooperate, they’ll kill my mom. She’s okay, isn’t she?”

“She’s fine, baby,” J.D. said, more gently.  He could hear how scared she was. “There’s no way they can hurt her. But I want you to continue to cooperate, okay? It’s important. Do you know where you’re going?”

Olivia was struggling not to cry. “No,” she sniffed. “I don’t even know why I’m here. They told me last night that they wanted The Lucius Robe from the museum so they could crown a new Holy Roman Emperor. There’s a guy with them named Joseph who is descended from the House of d’Orleans. They told me he is a direct descendent from the Merovingian line of kings. They said he descends from Jesus so he should be the next Holy Roman Emperor.”

By now, several agents were listening to the phone conversation, taking furious notes about what she was saying.  J.D. was trying to formulate questions that would bring about the most information but he was reeling with her revelations; Holy Roman Emperor.

“Have they told you anything else? Names, perhaps? Do you recognize any of them?”

Olivia was silent a moment. “There’s a lady with them that I think I’ve seen on television,” she said hesitantly. “Like, when I’m flipping through the channels, she’s there sometimes. I think she’s some kind of pastor or something. She cries a lot.”

J.D.’s ears perked up. “Do you know her name?”

“Coral,” Olivia said. “She wears a lot of makeup and I really don’t like her.”

Two of the agents fled with that information while three more remained with J.D. writing down everything Olivia was saying.   J.D. thought he knew the woman she was describing; in fact, he’d heard tale that Coral Chastity Aames had visited the Resurrection exhibit on opening day.  Ethan had made mention of it in his daily report.  The coincidence was just too striking for it to be random.

“Coral Chastity Aames,” he breathed. “She’s a part of this? I’ll be damned.”

On the other end of the line, Olivia was flushing the toilet for the eighth time. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” J.D. caught himself and focused once more. “Is there anything else you can tell us, baby? Any other names or places or things you may have picked up in conversation?”

Olivia thought hard. She knew her time was running out and she wanted to tell them as much as she could. But her fears were overtaking her, making it difficult to focus.

“Are you guys going to come and get me?” she asked softly.

J.D. had to remember that he was dealing with a young girl, a hostage that was caught up in something big and terrifying. “Absolutely,” he said firmly. “Don’t give up. Stay strong and cooperate. And if you can call us again from this number, do it.”

“Okay,” Olivia’s tears broke through. “Can you please tell my mom that I love her? And can you make sure she’s feeding my cat?”

“Of course I will, baby girl,” J.D. said. “She misses you a lot and she’s very worried. But she knows we’re doing everything we can go get you back and you’re very brave to call us.”

Olivia sniffled. “I’d better go,” she said. “I stole this phone and I’d better go put it back before they notice.”

“Okay,” J.D. said. “You’re very brave, Olivia. Keep on being brave.  I promise we won’t stop until we find you, okay?”

She was weeping softly. “Okay.”

“Do you believe me?”

“Yes.”

“Good girl. Now go put the phone back where you found it and don’t ever let them know you made this call, all right?”

“I won’t.”

The phone went dead.  Olivia wiped her face and slowly emerged from the stall.  The rest room was fairly empty but for a few women passing in and out.  Quietly, she made her way back to the lounge only to find Coral still sleeping where she had left her. With a silent prayer of thanks, Olivia put the phone back where she had found it and slipped back in to the rest room to actually use it. 

When she reemerged a short time later, Coral was awake and reapplying her makeup under the harsh glare of the fluorescent tubes, none the wiser to what had occurred just a few minutes before. 

Olivia could not believe her luck.

***

Cydney walked right into it.

Ethan escorted her to the FBI mobile command post and helped her into a chair.  J.D. was watching the way Ethan acted around the woman, the chivalry and gentleness.  He never thought he’d see that kind of behavior from Ethan Serreaux, not ever.  He couldn’t help the roll of his eyes when their gazes met but just as quickly, J.D. planted himself in front of Cydney.

“Cydney,” he said. “I asked Ethan to bring you here. I knew you would want to know that we received another call from Olivia.”

The smile on Cydney’s face vanished. “Oh, my God,” she breathed. “Is she okay? Where is she?”

J.D. drew in a long, deep breath. “Well,” he scratched the back of his neck. “This whole situation is getting stranger by the moment. Olivia says she’s in Paris.”

“Paris!” Cydney shrieked, leaping to her feet. Ethan’s hands when on her shoulders to firmly put her back in the chair as J.D. grabbed her hands. “What in the hell is she doing in Paris?”

“I’m not sure yet,” J.D. said. “But the main thing is that your daughter is fine. She says that they have not harmed her and she sounds healthy and alert. She’s just confused, as you would imagine, and wants to come home. I told her we’re doing everything we can.”