American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (28 page)

Cydney’s strong stance was crumbling. Tears sprang to her eyes and avalanched down her cheeks.

“You still have your child,” she wept painfully. “I need to go find mine.”

“No, no, baby,” his heart was breaking. “We’ll find her. I don’t want you to.…”

“Why didn’t you protect her?” she interrupted him angrily. “You promise you would protect her and you didn’t.”

Ethan’s heart went from breaking to being completely shattered. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “We tried, we honestly tried. I don’t know why they want her so badly, but they do. But we’ll find her again, I swear it. Her and the Robe.”

“I don’t even care about the Robe anymore!” she screamed. “The Robe is just an object. We’re talking about my daughter and she’s more valuable than any goddamn robe!”

He grabbed hold of her arm just as she hit the stairs and she ferociously reacted to his touch.  She thrust herself away from him and ended up falling down about half the flight of stairs before catching herself on the railing. 

Ethan began running after her but she took off, running as fast as she could past the information desk and out the front door where they were now conducting a shooting investigation.  Ethan was shouting after her but she was racing wildly. She even lost both her shoes, enabling her to run even faster.  She dodged around the corner and tore off to the south.

Ethan rounded the corner and watched her run, coming to an exhausted halt. He wanted desperately to go after her but he couldn’t leave his son. Tyler needed to get checked out by a doctor and at the moment his son’s welfare was the priority. But it didn’t stop him from watching Cydney run into the darkness, fading off until he couldn’t see her anymore.

He stood there with tears running down his cheeks.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Olivia was vaguely aware of a gentle rocking motion.  Gradually, as she became lucid, she could hear a strange rhythmic clacking sound. It was like two sticks hitting together in regular rhythm.

Opening her eyes, she could see that she was in a supine position, looking at a window with the blinds drawn against the sunlight. Everything was moving and she thought, as she lay there, that she might be on a train. It sounded like one and she was certainly rocking around enough. Disoriented, she stirred slightly, realizing instantly that she had a monstrous headache. She groaned.

“Hey,” came a soft voice. “You awake?”

Olivia blinked several times, turning slightly to see Joseph sitting next to her. He was smiling gently.

“Hi,” he said as their eyes met. “We meet again.”

Olivia immediately started crying.  Deep, painful sobs and crocodile tears spilled out onto her face.  Her head throbbed, and she was nauseous and terrified.

“No, no,” she wept. “I want my mom!”

Joseph tried to soothe her; they were in a private cabin on the Artesia Night train from Paris to Rome. It was a nicer train, meant for overnight travel.  Nat was in the lounge car and Coral was in the dining car, leaving Joseph to watch over their young captive.  He put his hand on her back gently and she screamed.

“No!” she cried. “Don’t touch me!”

“Calm down, Olivia,” Joseph said softly. “It’s not as bad as you think.”

She was sobbing hysterically. “Where am I?”

“On a train.”

“I don’t want to be on a train. I want my mom!”

He put his hands on her to forcibly calm her as she struggled to get away from him. “You’ll see her soon, I promise. But you really need to cooperate.”

“No!” she screamed.

She began kicking at Joseph, who put up his hands to try and deflect her frantic feet.  The train swayed strongly to the right and he ended up falling on top of her, trapping her in the chair.  He grabbed her tightly, forcing her to look at him.

“Look,” he hissed, “I’m sorry this happened, I really am. But you and I are caught up in something that’s bigger than anything you can imagine. I know you’re just a kid, but you really need to understand that we’re not a bunch of idiots. It’s not like you got kidnapped by the Three Stooges.  You have a purpose in all of this and, just like me, you need to fulfill your purpose. Olivia, do you understand me?”

 She wouldn’t look him in the eye but her crying had lessened. He shook her gently. “Olivia, answer me. I need you to understand what’s going on and maybe you won’t be so scared.”

After a small eternity, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. “You’re squishing me,” she told him.

Joseph shifted but he didn’t get up. He was afraid she would fly out of control again if he wasn’t physically restraining her.

“Do you remember what we told you about the Holy Roman Empire and the Robe?”

She wasn’t focused on that. She was only focused on her desire to get back to her mother.

“Joseph, please help me to find my mother,” she countered. “I swear I won’t tell them I know you or anything about you. I just want to go home.”

He touched her head gently. “I wish I could, doll,” he said earnestly. “But I don’t make the decisions.”

“But you’re going to be the next Holy Roman Emperor if everything works out the way you guys said it would,” she insisted. “People have to do what you say. You can tell them to let me go and they’ll have to listen.”

“Baby girl, it’s not that simple,” Joseph said. “Even I take direction from someone else.”

“Who? Who is more important than you?”

Joseph gazed back at her, seeing a terrified young girl that he felt very sorry for.  He still didn’t agree with abducting her out of the police station but that had been beyond his control, too.  All of this was out of his control and he was being swept along in the maelstrom.

For all intent and purposes, Joseph was a captive, too, and the more time passed, the more disillusioned he felt.  His family lineage had not been a choice, but everything he had done until this point had indeed been his choice. He was beginning to deeply question his choices.

“A very important guy,” he told her. “Look, we’ll be in Rome soon and all of this will be over in a few days. Okay?”

She gazed up into his dark blue eyes. “Rome?” she repeated, shocked. “I don’t want to go to Rome; I want to go home.”

“You can when this is all over,” he told her. “But right now, it’s really important that you cooperate. I’m serious.”

Her lips twisted angrily. “You guys can’t threaten me about killing my mom if I don’t go along with you. She’s with the FBI and they’ll protect her.”

“We got you, didn’t we?”

That seemed to stop her anger and bring about the fear again.  “Please don’t hurt her.”

“Then you need to do what you’re told and no one will get hurt.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Joseph climbed off of her. “Right now, I want you to calm down and eat something. We’ll be in Rome in a few hours.”

“Then what happens?”

He smiled thinly. “Then we finish what it’s taken two thousand years to start.”

Olivia had no idea what that meant. But she was sure that she didn’t like it.

***

Ethan returned to his hotel suite after midnight.  He was hoping to find Cydney there, but the suite seemed dark and empty as he opened the door and ushered his son inside.  Other than a bad headache, Tyler was fine.  The physician had given him some prescription painkillers for the headache and Ethan went to the kitchenette and got a glass of water for his son to take the pills. The boy choked them down and went straight to bed.

Tyler fell immediately into a deep sleep. Ethan pulled the kid’s shoes off and covered him up, leaving the room and shutting the door softly behind him. 

He moved for the living room with the intention of watching television and waiting for some word from Cydney, but he was drawn to her room instead. He was curious to see if she had returned at some point and taken all of her luggage with her.  He didn’t blame her for her anger; she was right. He had made promises he didn’t keep.  Heartbroken wasn’t the right term to describe what he was feeling. He was devastated.

The door to Cydney and Olivia’s bedroom was cracked open and he could see the Parisian moonlight streaming in through the open drapes, bathing the room in an unearthly glow.  He stuck his head into the room, looking for Cydney’s suitcase and was startled to find her lying on the bed next to the far wall. 

Relief filled him in a rush, making him feel lightheaded. He actually had to grip the doorjamb to keep from swaying. Silently, he moved into the room to get a look at her, just to make sure she was all right.  He just couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

She was curled up on her right side, still in her black slacks and black blouse. She lay on top of the comforter, eyes closed, still and silent. Ethan walked silently into the room, reaching down to put a gentle hand on her forehead, touching her to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.  The moment he touched her, however, her eyes popped open.

Startled by her swift awakening, he wasn’t sure what to say.  He just smiled, hoping it wouldn’t set her off again.  Cydney gazed up at him and suddenly burst into tears.

“Oh, my God,” she wept. “Ethan, I’m so sorry. I was so horrible to you and I’m so sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.”

He immediately fell down on the bed beside her, pulling her into his powerful embrace. Cydney wept openly against him, getting mascara and tears on his white dress shirt.  He held her so tightly that he was in danger of suffocating her. Cydney clung to him.

“It’s all right, honey,” he couldn’t begin to describe the relief of having her in his arms. “I’m not mad. But I was really worried. Are you all right?”

She nodded, sobbing pitifully. “I don’t know why I said what I did,” she whispered. “It was like watching another person scream at you.  It’s just that Olivia… she was safe, Ethan. She was with me and she was safe. And now she’s gone again and I just don’t know what to do.”

“I know,” he kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry, Cyd. So sorry you and Olivia have to go through this again.”

She continued to sob and he held her tightly, stroking her head with one hand.  She didn’t seem capable of doing anything other than expending her grief and all he wanted to do was comfort her.

“Where did you go?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know. I just ran until I was exhausted and then found a taxi to take me back here. I’ve been here for hours.”

“Did you eat any dinner?”

She shook her head. Ethan kissed her forehead, her cheeks, and climbed off the bed.  As Cydney lay there and sniffled, he picked up the phone and called Room Service.  When she realized what he was doing, she tried to stop him but he ignored her, ordering a couple of sandwiches from the twenty-four hour menu and a bottle of champagne.  Hanging up the phone, he gave her a wink and went into the bathroom.

The bathroom was truly a luxurious retreat.  There was a shower large enough for four people, a toilet, a bidet, and a large Roman tub.  Ethan went to the tub and turned on the spout.  Steaming water soon began filling the tub.  He looked around, spied her overnight case, and dug around until he found a tube of shower gel.  He squeezed the floral-scented gel into the tub to get the bubbles going. Soon, the whole bathroom smelled like a girly treat.

By the time he went back into the bedroom, Cydney was sitting up and pulling the remainder of her pony tail out of her messy hair.  The light next to the bed was on and she looked up at him as he came into the room.

“What are you doing in there?” she asked.

He gazed down at her with his hands on his hips, studying her pale, red-eyed face. “Running us a bath.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “
Us
?”

“Yep.”

“What about Tyler?”

“He’s dead asleep behind a closed door. The entire building could collapse around him and he wouldn’t hear it.”

“Is he okay? How is his head?”

“He’s got a bad headache but he’s okay.”

She nodded and stood up, shaking out her glorious blond hair and unbuttoning her blouse.  Ethan began removing his tie, watching her as she removed her blouse and exposed her sexy body to the weak light.  Unzipping her pants, she slipped them off and revealed a black lace thong.  Ethan could already feel his erection. But Cydney was oblivious to his physical reaction to her; she was looking at her feet.

“I don’t even know what happened to my shoes,” she observed with some chagrin. “They were new.”

“I have them,” Ethan said. “I brought them back with me.”

She looked up at him as he was unbuttoning his shirt and rolled her eyes wearily. “Oh, what those French cops must think of me,” she lamented. “Cette femme Américaine folle.”

He grinned as he pulled off his shirt. “I swear they didn’t bat an eyelash. All in a day’s work for the French.”

She smiled in spite of herself. “Thanks for saving my shoes.”

“It was the least I could do.”

Her smile faded as she moved to unhook her bra. “Where is J.D.?” she asked. “Did he find anything out about Olivia?”

Ethan shook his head faintly. “Not yet.”

“Did you ask Tyler if he saw the guy who whacked him over the head?”

“He doesn’t remember a thing.”

She looked dejected. “Oh.”

Ethan looked her in the eye even though she removed the bra and her beautiful breasts sprang free. “J.D. is still at the prefecture working on it with Dulay and, just so you are aware, Dulay acts like they stole his own child. Olivia stayed with his family for a couple of nights and they grew very attached to her.  Whatever moles or informants they may have planted in that police station, I seriously doubt Dulay is one of them. He seems on the level.”

She sighed heavily and scratched her scalp, her gorgeous hair splaying over her naked shoulders and back. “Then you really think that someone inside the prefecture was behind Olivia’s abduction?”

“I can’t think of another explanation.”

She thought on that a moment. “You haven’t told me if you learned anything from your interrogation of Olivia. Did she provide you with any information that might help you figure out who these disciples are and why they want her so badly?”