Finding Fiona (18 page)

Hannah whimpered; the bandana was back in her
mouth.

Fiona put up her left hand, her right
clutching the cell phone dialing 911. “Please don’t shoot her. This
is a mistake.” She walked down the steps slowly.

He backed away, keeping his gun trained on
Hannah. Fiona heard a faint voice on the cell phone. “Please don’t
shoot,” she said, raising her voice.

“
Is that Greg’s phone?” Daniel
asked.

“
I know the fire
was an accident,” Fiona said, still speaking loudly. She wanted to
plead with him to let them go, beg and scream and cry, but she had
to keep herself together. “Well, I know you didn’t mean for anybody
to be killed. But kidnapping her–
killing
her is just going to make it
worse.”

Daniel’s hand was shaking.

Fiona reached the bottom of the steps and
stood between Daniel and Hannah. “Please let us go. Greg has a gun.
We didn’t do anything wrong. I just want–”

“
Are you going to tell them about
the fire? It was an accident–no one was supposed to
die–”

“
I know, I know.” Fiona stepped
back and faced Hannah while keeping an eye on Daniel. She crouched
to her knees and pulled off Hannah’s bandana. “Just let us go. We
don’t want to die.”

Daniel looked at the door at the top of the
steps. “Where’s Greg?”

She struggled to untie Hannah. “I put a chair
under the doorknob, but I don’t know how long it will hold
him.”

“
Wait, stop,” Daniel
said.

When the ropes were off, Hannah rubbed her
wrists. Fiona took her hand and stood up. “We’re going to leave
now.” She backed away, pulling Hannah with her. “Just tell Greg I
overpowered you. You can give me the gun if you want.”

Daniel raised his gun. “No, wait.”

Hannah suddenly squeezed Fiona’s hand. “Troy,”
she whispered.

Fiona’s eyes widened, and her gaze swept the
garage. “Where is he?”

Daniel gasped, and a strange smile came onto
his face. He backed away, approaching the van. He flung open the
backdoor. Someone lunged out of the back, throwing himself onto
Daniel. The two of them went toppling to the ground. Troy had his
hands tied behind his back, but Daniel had dropped his gun. Fiona
ran for it as Troy and Daniel wrestled.

Daniel yelled as he saw her reach for the gun,
and he kneed Troy in the stomach, pushing him off. Fiona’s hand
closed on the gun just as Daniel sprung for her. She darted away,
but not quickly enough. Daniel grabbed her arm. Greg’s phone fell
to the ground with a clatter as she struggled to keep the gun away
from Daniel.

Troy joined the fight again, grabbing Daniel
from behind. The two men started wrestling again, Troy’s hands free
as Hannah held the rope, watching in horror. Fiona didn’t know how
to check if the gun was loaded. She just had to hope it
was.

The door that led to the hallway flung open,
and Greg ran into the garage. “Daniel!” he yelled, sprinting down
the stairs.

Fiona held the gun up with both of her hands,
her heart pounding. “Stay away!”

He froze in his steps, pointing his gun at
Daniel and Troy. Troy shoved Daniel up against the van, pinning his
hands behind his back. Daniel thrashed for a moment, then fell
still, moaning.

“
Let us go!” Fiona
yelled.

“
Give me Daniel!” Greg said. Blood
seeped from a small cut on the side of his face.

Troy hesitated, glancing toward Fiona. She
just noticed his nose was bleeding and his face was
bruised.

“
Just do it,” she told him. She
pulled Hannah away, backing up. “We have to go now.”

Troy pulled Daniel away from the van,
positioning him as a barrier. He backed toward the garage door.
Greg’s face twisted in fury, and he cocked his gun. Fiona spun
around and slammed the button that opened the door.

The door that led to the lab opened again, and
Mary stumbled out. Her face was bright red, and she held a gun in
her hand. She held it up, and Fiona gasped.

“
Get down!” Fiona yelled, grabbing
Hannah’s arm.

A gunshot rang out, and Fiona ducked. She was
about to run for it when Hannah screamed. She looked up in time to
see Troy’s body falling to the ground, his face an unrecognizable,
bloody mess from a gunshot wound. Daniel whimpered, rushed away
from Troy, and cowered next to the van. Fiona stared as Troy hit
the cement, his blood covering the ground. Hannah grabbed Fiona’s
arm and shook her, crying uncontrollably.

Fiona knew she should do
something–anything–but by the time she started to register the
thought, Greg was wrenching the gun from her hand and pointing it
at her.

“
Get in the van,” he
demanded.

She stared at him, then at Troy. He’d stopped
moving. Her breath caught in her throat, and she struggled to
breathe. Greg shoved her toward the van, yelling
something.

She slipped in Troy’s blood as they passed
him. “Troy,” she whispered.

Greg pushed her and Hannah in the back of the
van. Fiona had a sudden memory of being shoved in here before–her
lungs full of smoke, her arms burning. They didn’t tie her up this
time, though. They just slammed the doors shut. Voices raised
outside; they were faint over Hannah’s sobs.

“
They shot him. They killed him,”
she said through shuddering sobs. “Oh, my god, Fiona, they’re going
to kill us, too.”

Fiona swallowed, shaking her head. Her voice
croaked when she spoke. “They won’t. They need me.”

“
They don’t need me!” Hannah broke
down, burying her head in her hands.

“
Yes, they do,” Fiona said.
“Because if they did anything to you, I’d kill them.”

Hannah didn’t respond, only whimpered to
herself.

“
I called 911. Someone has to come
soon.”

“
They’re not going to stay
here!”

“
Someone must have heard the
gunshot.”

Someone
had
to come soon. She couldn’t stay
with these people any longer.

Hannah quieted, and Fiona could hear the
argument outside. Daniel was yelling the loudest about how things
had gotten out of control, it wasn’t supposed to be like this,
they’d all go to jail. Mary and Greg were trying to calm him down
and talk him into getting in the van. Fiona’s ears rang, and the
blood was thick on the bottom of her shoes. The smell was in the
air, too, and she swallowed back bile. She hadn’t eaten all day,
but her stomach threatened to empty itself.

She searched the back of the van for weapons,
but all she found was a coil of rope. She approached the front of
the van and checked for keys. Nothing. If only they were that
lucky. “Do you know how to hot wire a car, Hannah?” she
asked.

“
What? No, of course
not.”

Fiona glanced out of the windshield. No doors
on that side of the garage. It was either out to the parking lot or
back to the hallway where Mary’s lab was.

She took the rope and hid it in the back of
her shirt. If she had to, she’d do what she did last time. Although
last time, the drivers hadn’t had three guns. Fiona sat back down,
leaning her back up against the inside of the van. They could roll
out of the back before the van got up to speed. Maybe before they
even left the parking lot. She examined the locks. Could they
childproof the doors?

She could also do what Troy had done–fling
herself onto anyone who opened the door. But Hannah was a wreck.
Fiona knew either Greg or Mary could turn the gun on her, then
Fiona would do anything they wanted.

Fiona took Hannah’s hand. “We have to get out
of here. Once they start driving, we’re going to leap from the van
and run, okay?”

Hannah’s eyes widened. “They’ll shoot
us!”

“
Hannah, it’s our only chance. If
they take us somewhere else, the police may never find
us.”

The backdoor opened. Greg held a gun, and Mary
looked around the back. “Where’s the rope?” she asked.

“
Rope?” Fiona shook her head.
“Didn’t see any.”

“
I can see it sticking out of your
shirt,” Greg said.

Mary got in the back. Hannah shied away from
her, and Fiona gritted her teeth as Mary took the rope, the twine
scratching Fiona’s back. Mary tied Fiona’s hands behind her, and
Greg warned her to tie it extra tight. She tied Hannah next, then
they got into the front. In their rush, they left their ankles
free. Fiona breathed in relief. She could kick if she had
to.

“
Where’s Daniel?” Fiona
asked.

Neither answered. Her panic rose. They
couldn’t leave Fillerton and Company. Who knew what would happen?
Where would they take her and Hannah?

As Greg backed up the van, Mary warned him not
to run over the body. Fiona gagged, but she somehow managed not to
throw up. She had to keep it together. Hannah was crying
again.

“
Oh, shit,” Greg said.

“
Hit the gas!” Mary said, her voice
raising an octave.

“
Like that won’t be obvious?” Greg
asked.

Fiona crept toward the front. Greg and Mary
were staring to the right as Greg turned the van around. Flashing
lights bounced off the van’s hood and mirrors.

The police would see Troy. They’d stop the
van.

“
Hurry up,” Mary
snapped.

“
The garage door’s almost closed.”
Greg hit the gas, and the van lurched forward slowly. “Dammit,
Mary, this was a stupid idea.”

“
We have the girl, don’t we? She
knows more than she’s letting on.” Mary glared at Fiona.

“
Maybe Richard and Fiona were right
about you.”

“
Oh, don’t bring that up!” Mary
yelled. “Just drive, you idiot!”

Fiona pushed herself up against Hannah and
breathed into her ear, “Get back. Cover your head.”

Hannah stared at her for a moment, shaking her
head. Fiona nodded, pleading silently. Hannah moved toward the back
corner. Mary glanced back at them, then out her window. Fiona took
a deep breath, disregarding the insanity of her plan, and lunged
toward the front.

She jumped toward Mary, knocking their
shoulders before falling into her lap. Greg and Mary both yelled in
alarm. She kicked at Greg and the steering wheel as hard as she
could, slowly twisting herself onto her back. Mary hit her in the
face; Greg tried to grab her feet as the van swerved.

Mary warned her she was going to shoot Hannah.
Fiona saw the gleam of her gun and tried to push her torso toward
Mary’s arms. Fiona kicked Greg in the side of the face, and the van
swerved again, bringing Mary’s gun dangerously close to Fiona’s
face.

He yelled in pain, and a fist hit her in the
stomach. She gasped for air, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Mary
pushed her and jostled her into a sitting position.

Fiona heard the backdoor open, and fresh air
poured over her. She opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of Hannah
outside, screaming for help as the backdoors flopped open and shut.
This was her chance to escape.

Fiona twisted away from Greg, falling into the
gap between the two front seats. Mary grabbed her hair again,
yanking her back to the front.

“
Come on, we need to get out of
here!” Greg yelled.

Mary shoved her away; she fell painfully on
her knee, and Greg hit the gas. The momentum from the van sent
Fiona rolling toward the back. She curled up, trying to brace
herself for the fall, but nothing prepared her for the pain. She
hit her hip and the side of her head first.

As she rolled, the cement scraped and burned
against her exposed skin. She finally stopped on her side, gasping
in pain. The van peeled out of the parking lot. A police car
squealed after them, lights flashing.

Voices and bodies surrounded her. Someone
struggled to pull her ropes off.

Fiona spit out a mouthful of blood. “Where’s
Hannah?”

“
Fiona, I’m here!” Arms wrapped
around her, accompanied with the familiar smell of
lavender.

Then the one voice she’d never forget again:
James. “Fiona, oh, my god.” His face loomed over her; his steady
arms helped her to her feet. She stumbled, and he caught her. “Hey,
it’s okay, I got you.”

Policemen ran around, shouting orders and
jumping into their cars. Another car peeled out of the parking lot,
its sirens on as it chased after the gray van.

James helped her over to a police car and
eased her onto the hood. He gently touched her face, his fingers
running over a painful cut on her forehead. “Did they do anything
else to you?” he asked, his voice so quiet she almost didn’t hear
him over the frantic yells around them.

She thought of Troy’s bloody face and his
still body. She held back tears.

“
Fiona?” James asked, squeezing her
shoulders. She shrugged away from him since one of her shoulders
was aching. “Where’s Walter?”

The weight of it hit her, and tears fell down
her cheeks. “He’s dead. They shot him.”