Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10
Little Blues Eyes
Chapter 6 : Tried Terminator
Uriah pushed open the door to the strip bar, not noting the vulgor music or sights before his eyes. He had one intention and one intention only: to find Daniel Mob was the only thing that could help him get Serafina back. She was only a girl, yes, but if he was on her side, all was lost.
Uriah stormed to the back of the bar, where the tan-suited man sat with three ladies on his arm. Uriah stopped at their booth and slammed his fist on the table, the glasses jumping.
"You said the Bat knew nothing about the operation." He growled.
Meroni smiled. "Good to see you, Uri. Have a seat; sit, sit," The man smiled wickedly and gestured with his cigar. "What do I have the pleasure of this untimely visit?"
"Batman knows?"
Meroni leaned on his elbows. "Who squealed?"
"No one," Uriah said roughly. "One of the girls got away," He sneered. "Another one he took."
The man rolled his eyes. "Eh, we can spare two girls can't we?"
"No!" Uriah ran a hand over the table, causing the glasses to soar off the booth and clatter to the ground. The women shrieked and got up and left them. Meroni sneered. "The one's my daughter!"
"If you cared you wouldn'ta put her in this business, yes?"
Uriah glared. "Get me my girls back. Tara and Serafina. I want them here, at this bar, by Saturday. That gives you four days. No later."
"How much you willin' to give me?"
"2,000. Nothing more, nothing less."
Meroni twirled the cigar in his fingers. "I can get them back," He nodded slowly. "On one condition."
"Waz dat?"
He raised his eyes. "I get Serafina."
Penthouse; 10:53 a.m.
Bruce finally rolled out of bed at ten to eleven. Scratching his neck he slipped into a t-shirt and approached the breakfast knook of the penthouse. Alfred was no where to be seen, and Fina was gone. Tara, he assumed, would be taking care of her in the next room. Not bothering to check, Bruce clicked on the TV by the sink.
"What do we have today, Jesse?" He spoke to know one imparticular, referring the the newscaster on the screen. Slipping onto a barstool, he yawned and watched the screen. Nothing had happened the last day; but he had a feeling that going out tonight would bring some chaos. Something was up; he could feel it in his gut.
"Bruce! Bruce!" Suddenly a blur of purple satin shot out from the adjoining room, bobbing curls and all. Alfred stepped out of the room with a tired looking Tara. The bouncing six-year-old scrambled over to him, holding the freshly bathed stuffed animal of which she called Toasty.
"What?" He whined.
She smiled up at him. "Alfred fixed Toasty! He's got two eyes now, see?" She pointed to the freshly sewn black button. "And a full mouth!" Half of the side of the dogs mouth was black, the other a blue color. The child didn't seem to care. Putting his hands over his face, Bruce nodded.
"Great. Fabulous." He said, voice muffled. "Do we got any coffee, Alfred?" He complained; almost sounding as if he were the six-year-old. Fina scurried onto the barstool behind him. The TV babbled on quietly by the sink.
"Bruce I-" The TV suddenly turned up as Alfred backed away from it. Fina queited and everyone turned to the screen. They watched quietly and waited.
"And our lastest story brings us down to Gotham Central Bank;" The reported said. "Where Lyla has the full story."
"Thank you, Jesse," The pretty Asian woman said. "Ever wonder what happened to the infamous Mob; run by Falcone? Well, wonder no longer! The group is back again here at Gotham Central; where eye-witnesses claim they're searching for none other than two young ladies; who they claim to be 'valuable property'..." Some pictures flashed of Daniel Meroni, and then his ex-boss, Falcone. Bruce's eyes widened.
Don't let them go, son. Don't let them go anywhere. The quiet voice penetrated Bruce's thoughts. Slowly he took in the information on the TV screen.
"These two ladies have been identified as Tar-" The screen went black as Alfred clicked it off suddenly. The tired Tara slid onto a barstool next to Bruce, yawning and tying her red locks up. Fina fingered at Toasty's new buttons as Alfred turned around and raised his eyes.
I get it, Alfred.
"Well," Alfred cleared his throat. "As it seems we have another guest, what can I do for you, Ms. Owens?"
Tara perked up a little. "A little of that coffee sounds great," She said quietly. "And an explanation."
Bruce nodded. "I can see your point," He said. Bruce got up and retrieved the written note from his nightstand. Flipping it open, he scanned over it. Nothing that could lead to him of course. He handed it to Tara, who flipped it open with two fingers and read over it. She whipped it across the counter.
"Great," she mumbled. "I'm stuck here."
"For the time being," Bruce added. "It won't be that bad, really." He winked. She rolled her eyes.
"Yea, well, easy for you to say. You live here. Everything I have is back at the home."
Fina spun on her barstool. "Bruce bought me new clothes! He'll do the same for you, Tarry!" She slid off the stool and ran over to her friend. "C'mon! I'll help you get a bed on the couch next to me!" She pulled Tara's arm. The girl nodded and stepped off the barstool, turning to Bruce.
"What did he tell you?"
Bruce accepted the coffee mug from Alfred; handing her the other. "I'll tell you later," He said. "When she's not around," The girl skipped off toward's the adjoining room.
"Fine. In the meantime," She looked to the bouncing Fina. "I'll take care of her. Don't worry about it." The 16-year-old stretched out her arms. "She's like my sister."
"Done deal," He pointed a finger at her.
Tara smiled. "Gotchya. Hey, Fina! Don't touch anything!" She called, running after the child. "I can't pay for any of this stuff!" Then the door closed quietly.
Bruce sighed. He could rest easy.
Noon
"Stop squirming!" Tara ordered the six-year-old. "I'll never get these curls french-braided if you keep squirming! Fina, stop!" She said, raising her voice a little. Now showered in back in her clothes, Tara had taken her red locks and pinned them into a ponytail behind her head. She sat cross-legged on Alfred's bed, Fina standing in front of her, twisting her black curls into an attempted braid.
"Ouch! That hurts!" Fina's hand flew to the side of her head.
"It wouldn't hurt so much if you'd stop moving," Tara informed. "I'm almost finished."
Once she tied off the french braid, the little girl scrambled up next to her. She looked Tara square in the eye and said. "Bruce won't hurt us; will he?"
Caught off guard, Tara fumbled for words, "I-I dunno, Fina. He seems nice enough."
"But I mean, he won't...touch me, will he?"
Tara looked down. She was so young to have experienced that pain. "No. I'll make sure he doesn't."
"I miss Daddy," Fina sighed. How she did, Tara had no idea. "I kinda miss Mrs. Holstice too."
Holy Holstice they called her. The cook. "I do too. But, guess what?" Tara climbed off the bed. "We have that nice gentleman out there who'll cook anything for us!" The teenager flashed Fina the rock-on fingers. "Pretty awesome, right?"
"I guess," Fina sighed.
Tara sobered. "Hey;" She said. "I got an idea. Why don't we go out for a walk? I got some money left from the playoff game," She fished in her pants pocket for the ten bucks she had left. "I can get a shirt or something. How about it, Fina?" She flashed the ten bucks to the little girl.
"Sure." She said quietly.
Suddenly the door opened and both girls turned their attention to it. Bruce stepped in. Tara put the money away and grabbed her sweatshirt, and slipped on her now clean sneakers. Flipping her ponytail, she laced up the tie-strings on her sweatshirt.
"Going somewhere?" He asked.
She nodded. "I got some cash leftover from a game," She began. "I'm taking Fina and we're getting some air," Tara said calmly. "We'll be back soon."
"Do you have cab fare?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Tara nodded.
"Ten bucks should do something, if the time so arises. But otherwise we were just gunna walk."
Don't let them,Came the soft voice into Bruce's head. "Uh, well," He cocked his head slightly. "I was actually going to take Fina down to the station;" He said quickly. "The Sergant had some questions to ask me about her."
"From Batman, you mean?"
He nodded. Fina's eyes lit up. "Yea. And I wanted to talk to you, Tara," Bruce added. "About some things."
"Oh. Sure. Right after we get back." She smiled, nodding. "Sound good?"
Not from this end, "Well-"
"Don't worry," She chuckled. "I'm tougher than I look." She grabbed a sweater from one of the Tiffany bags. "I can take care of us. Everything's good." Tara helped Fina into it and straightened. "We'll be back in about 45 minutes to an hour."
"You got a cell phone?" He asked, following them out. Tara headed for the door and Bruce slipped his hands nervously into his pockets.
"Nope. Sorry." She shrugged. "Uriah never let me have one. Said they drained cash."
"We'll get you one of those," He said quietly. "But here," He walked over the nightstand, Tara closing the door. Fina nagged at her side as she followed him over. "Take this. It'll get you and the kid something to eat." He handed her a fifty from his wallet.
"Sure will. Thanks," She put it into her pocket. "We'll be back. See you later, Mr Wayne!" They ran out the door and down the hall to the elevator.
Something told Bruce he was making a huge mistake.
Gotham Streets; 12:30 p.m.
Tara waisted no time. If she was going to get anything for herself to wear, she'd have to go to one of her friends. There was no way she'd go back to Uriah for anything, much less her clothes. Fina walked beside her, hand in hers, as they made their way towards the corner. She'd catch a cab and go to one of her friends house.
Mob Member Carmen H.
Behind them, Carmen walked silently, under the alibi of a small business man; in jeans and a suit jacket. He followed the girls from a safe distance, M9 safely in his breast pocket of his jacket. He slipped his sunglasses on and stopped to examine a fruitcart as the girls halted at a corner. He saw the older one slip into the cab, the little one following. The yellow van pulled from the curb and quickly Carmen quickly gave the information to one of the other mob-members.
Mob Member Erica O.
Erica recalled the information given to her by Carmen. She slipped into a cab and instructed the driver to follow the van. She followed them down the street a ways, and then left. They stopped shortly at an apartment building, where the girls exited. Tara Owens, she knew the older one as, led the little girl up the steps. They vanished into the building. Erica felt for her Winchester which rested securly in her silver clutch purse. Her heels clacked on the cement steps.
Tara Owens
Tara had an uneasy feeling inside her; like they were being watched. She didn't let it bother her. Quickly asking for one of her friends' room; she thanked the secretary and pulled the lagging Fina towards the elevator. Fina stopped abruptly.
"Wait!" She called. "Toasty! I dropped him!" The girl frantically looked around her, spinning in circles. Tara rolled her eyes and sighed, dropping down in front of her. "He's gone!" The girl began to sob loudly. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Don't worry," Tara comforted. "We'll find him, Ok?"
Fina sniffled and nodded. "Ok"
Erica
Quickly walking through the revolving doors, Erica peered over her sunglasses to the wailing sound of a girls voice. She stopped suddenly, busying herself with her hair while watching. It was the two girls, next to the elevator. Tara comforted the crying child. Erica spotted her chance.
Slowly and cleverly, she reached inside her clutch.
