"Where. is. the. cash. we. gave. you?" One of the kidnappers asked.
"You better tell us, asshole," the second kidnapper said.
"Yeah, or else, you are a dead man." the third kidnapper said.
As reluctant as Crane was to face death during the seven tribulations, telling thieves where he had placed the bag was a terrible way to of marking it. They were better than evil. Abbie, Jenny, Jenny's boyfriend, and Crane. They were better than that. So that was it. He stared back at the second kidnapper. Abbie will find him. She always did. And always will. It was best that she find him dead of noble reasons. Everything that they had been through up to this point would be turned useless or been all for nothing leaving Abbie without a partner. The entire world doomed. Moral triumphed destiny.
"Until hell freezes over," Crane said.
"I can arrange that," came a tall man with dark black hair. He had appeared suddenly out of the darkness with his hands in his pockets and his shirt was a tad bit unbuttoned. He had a devilish smile. Hell, Crane sensed this man was a demon. A rather sophisticated, malevolent demon unlike the many demons that he and Abbie defeated time and time again at Sleepy Hollow. It was unfortunate that their vacation ended up this way.
"WHAT THE HELL?" The kidnapper said, turning in the direction of the man. "Who the hell are you?"
"Morningstar, Lucifer Morningstar," Lucifer said. "I am just here to ask why you killed the young man at Courner Street," he looked over in the direction of the bound man who seemed to be out of place. He appeared to be more amused at Crane than anything. "look what the cat brought in: Ichabod Crane." Lucifer had a merry laugh turning his head in the direction of the kidnappers taking his hands out of his pockets. "and here I thought you couldn't go any low."
The second kidnapper fired. Bullets went through Lucifer's body clashing to the floor once hitting the wall one by one after each loud, booming sound. The second kidnapper stepping back terrified. The florescent lights showed the three kidnappers standing away from the young, lean figure who was getting a shrubby beard. His ears stood out almost but not that quite. He was dressed like a gentlemen in a business suit just without the tie. He had fancy black shoes with small heels.
"What the hell," The second kidnapper said.
"I wish people would stop using hell in vain," Lucifer said. "hell is not a place to use slang. Baffles me. It would be like me going, 'what in heaven'."
"Go back where you came from, asshole!" the third kidnapper said.
"I just got back from hell," Lucifer said. "how about you go there."'
"Hell no," The first kidnapper asked.
"There you go, again," Lucifer said. "using it in vain."
"Did anyone bring powder?" the second kidnapper asked.
"You got a special place all ready set out for you," Lucifer said.
"Oh really?" Crane asked. "do demons have special places in hell?"
"Yes," Lucifer said. "they do."
"And is it locked?" Crane asked.
"Very locked in key," Lucifer said. "rare for a soul to escape."
"Don't mistaken me," Crane said. "but you are the devil. You are the rare soul to escape."
"I am," Lucifer sad. "but I left by choice. Twice."
Crane paused, thinking of names and people he had come across in the past few years who had died and be. . .
"Jeremy Crane," Ichabod said. "is he there?"
Lucifer paused for a moment, considering it.
"Can't say for certain I met him," Lucifer said.
"Why the hell are you here?" the first kidnapper asked.
"Your desires, pretty boy," Lucifer approached the first kidnapper. "tell me your deepest, dark desires, what do you want to do rather than this?"
The first kidnapper paused, staring, quite blankly at the man with his eyes transfixed on Lucifer's eyes. Crane slowly slid a knife out of his sleeve. One that Jenny had given him before they left because "you never know when you need a small knife blade to save yourself on vacation". He thanked Jenny from the bottom of his heart. Why was the devil here? The city of angels had a fallen angel walking around in its mist. Lucifer reappeared inches away from the first kidnapper. The third kidnapper swore stepping back landing on his ass.
"Sipping a martini at a pool," the first kidnapper said. "surrounded by naked men and women serving me. I want to be covered in sunscreen and to be king of the world. I want to be thousands of miles from this hell hole. I want to be wearing sunglasses."
"Oh yes," Lucifer said. "men gotta love their martini."
"Are you with the police?" The third kidnapper asked.
"Police consultant," Lucifer said. He held a finger up, turning toward the two men. "Pardon me, I have to punish a killer, boys."
Lucifer grabbed the first kidnapper by the neck and together they vanished into thin air as the first kidnapper screamed.
"Shit!" the second kidnapper swore.
The third kidnapper's eyes turned toward the man who was still cutting through the robe.
"WHERE. IS. OUR. MONEY?" the third kidnapper came to Crane grabbing him by the shirt collar. Crane could hear his heart beating against his chest.
"What currency are you talking about?" Crane asked. He was buying time for Abbie. "Ones, two, threes, fours, fives?"
The blade was taken out of Crane's hand. His arms were tied behind his back. He had awakened after being knocked out in some manner that he could not remember. The back of his head was pounding. Crane didn't remember how he was abducted. The last he recalled was waiting for his partner to meet with him at the park for a discussion of where they should spend their next vacation. This vacation had been planned out thorough. As had the park visiting. The stars could be seen from the hill. Moving stars, satellites or better yet airplanes, gliding against the black canvas. The cool air, the perfect weather, and the serene silence. It was a sharp contrast to the morning. Having the park all to themselves. That was the main excuse. The El Porto Beach was the cheapest one to visit but otherwise a majestic sight to visit.
That in fact was the beach they went to earlier.
And look at how their vacation ended up.
"Don't play funny with me, Mr Crane," The third kidnapper said.
"Twenties, thirties, forties, fifties,sixties," Crane went on.
Crane was punched into the gut delivering a hard, sharp pain.
"I said, don't play funny," the third kidnapper said.
It was hard to 'play funny' when he was confused on why the men wanted to play with toys and be funny with him.
It did not make sense.
"A gentlemen does not play 'funny' with honesty," Crane said.
Crane was still surprised over the legend of Sleepy Hollow and his name being connected to it. He was disturbed about it, mostly. Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth. . . So easily convinced by his excuse. It was a shame that they didn't get to see what Ichabod and Abbie faced day after day at Sleepy Hollow. The supernatural rising out of thin air. He had long ago came to accept that life was not mundane. As as soon as he 'died', came back, went into the purgatory to retrieve his wife, put underground by his son in a coffin, broke free, saved his partner, nearly lost his partner countless times thanks in part to Pandora and her partner. They could possibly go to Washington D. C. next year if Abbie feels comfortable going there without losing Crane, again. Crane was the chewtoy of fate. As was Abbie. They were chewtoys until the end. And it was a good thing that Abbie was his soulmate.
"Stop with your elegant talk and tell us where our shit is," the second kidnapper said.
"If you use better English then I may," Crane said.
"he is never going to tell us," the third kidnapper said. There was a hard slam to the side of his face. There was a ache to the side of Crane's cheek. The second kidnapper stepped back rubbing their knuckles. "Why don't we just kill him?"
"Because we can lure his partner out and make them get the cash for us," the second kidnapper said.
"No, that is ridiculous," the third kidnapper said.
"More ridiculous than kidnapping a weirdo?" the second kidnapper asked.
"Yes," the third kidnapper said.
"Ah ha," the second kidnapper said. "I like my idea better." Their heads turned in the direction of Crane.
"Tell us where your partner is staying," the third kidnapper said.
"If there were some feasible figment in my mind, I would say, but whatever you did to my head which may either be the subject of a bottle, a bat, or a form of hitting with a pan," Crane lied. "I do not recall."
". . . Shit," the second kidnapper said. "what are we gonna do, Harry?" the third kidnapper shot into Crane's legs, both of them.
Crane shouted an obscurity in Latin briefly closing his eyes.
"He'll lose enough blood and lose consciousness," the third kidnapper said. "we can always go on a heist and get all the money that we should have had."
His eyes started to grow heavy as his head to grow light and the throbbing was becoming a background noise. The two kidnappers had two sets of builds. One of them had a manly build while the other had a famine build. Crane noticed how muscular the third kidnapper was. His large shoulder muscles that nearly tore at the seams. The second kidnapper had a definite build where it was mostly slender, long arms and a well taken care of build. They were in black matching attire except they were not wearing socks over their heads. They looked alike with striking eyebrows, long nose, but their ears were different. His right cheek was stinging. His eyes started to close. Was he going to die? Was he going to be . . . Was he going to leave his leftenant? No, he shouldn't. He would never leave business unfinished on his terms. His eyes closed as the last thing on his mind was the image of Abbie. Happy, joyful. . .