Exit Staged Right
by Thomas Mc

Part 5-B

A week of intense planning was over and it was time to act. Ron had considered and often rejected bits and pieces from dozens of movies and TV shows to help him in formulating a plan of attack.

As they headed up the tunnels, Jamie stopped at the point where the dead fall she and Mouse had created would be triggered. She carefully began checking the rigging to the triggering lever. The dead falls had been setup in an old unused connecting tunnel that ran between the old steam tunnel and the newer utility tunnel that gave access to Gabriel's building. By the time any pursuit could get around a blockage in that section, the rescue party would be long gone.

The rest of them headed to the building they were about to invade. Direct access between the building and the utility tunnel was through a locked and alarmed steel door, so that way in was rejected. Mouse had located a place in the concrete basement wall that was particularly thin. This spot happened to be close to the stairwell they planed to use and the security wiring junction room. Kanin, Collin and William had been working on this wall for the last week quietly and carefully cutting away at it till there was a deep groove around where they intended to break in.

By now the diversionary invasions by Elliot's security people busily trying to penetrate three of Gabriel's buildings, should be well under way. Many of those attempts were based on the Movie and TV scenarios that Ron remembered. All of them were very clever and unusual. Gabriel had, of course, known about most of them and his security people were occupied with repelling the various attempts.

They quickly placed a very tiny amount of plastic explosive in that deep groove in the wall and checked the time. Everyone backed off a short way and Elliot triggered the explosive. The setup of the explosive was so well planned that the sound of the concrete rectangle hitting the floor was louder than the sound of the explosion itself.

As the team poured through the opening, Elliot, William and Mouse entered the circuitry junction room in the basement and disabled some of the critical security systems. It was a less obvious target than the security center on the ground floor. They started messing with the security systems and disabling security camera's on the roof, in the stairwells and a dozen floors including Gabriel's computer center, his security control center and Catherine's floor

Ron, Joe, Elliot and Diana headed up the stairway to go after Catherine while William and Kanin stayed by their new opening to guard their escape route. Mouse was in the circuitry room randomly connecting and disconnecting security system circuits.

When they reached the floor that contained the room they had identified as Catherine's, they found two guards on watch. Diana and Elliot were able to take the two guards out quickly and quietly. As they made their way stealthily towards the far side where her room was they encountered two more guards which Diana dealt with. Finally they reached the room they were looking for.

Ron stopped them. "This should be the room. Joe, radio Rebecca to check on Catherine's movements."

On the little hand held radio Joe asked if Catherine was still in her room.. "Yes, she is still in there." He told them. "Rebecca said she is staring out the window."

Ron turned to Elliot. "Keep watch at the end of the hall. We don't want to be caught by surprise by any wandering guards." While Elliot took up position down the hallway, Ron carefully checked the door. The door was locked. A quick check of the guards produced no key.

"No time. We must move quickly. I'll just use this key." Joe remarked as he pulled one of the guard's guns. He fired it at the door lock twice and the door swung open. Ron, Diana and Joe entered the room to find a startled Catherine standing at the window looking back at them.

They were all stunned by Catherine's appearance. She was very pregnant and unkempt. In her eyes they saw utter hopelessness mixed with surprise that slowly gave way to a dawning hope as she recognized Joe.

Catherine blinked twice, "Joe?" She asked timidly as though afraid it was an illusion or a trick.

"Come on Cathy, we've gotta move fast, before they figure out what's happening and catch us." Joe responded.

As though in a dream Catherine moved towards them. As she reached the door she was hit by a wave of labor pain and grabbed the doorframe in response. Seeing this, Ron and Joe both stepped up to her and helped support her till it passed. Then with Diana in the lead, they headed towards the back stairwell.

When they met Elliot at the hallway intersection, Catherine looked at him in surprise and a hint of suspicion. "Elliot? What are you doing here?"

Elliot saw the suspicion in her eyes and responded. "Look I understand that I lost my chance with you and that you are with Vincent now, but I still care about you and they needed my help to pull off this rescue."

Catherine asked, "Where is Vincent?"

Elliot replied, "I don't know. He's missing, but Ron says that he is pretty sure he knows where Vincent is. And that he is safe." At that moment the lights flashed off and on a couple of times. Catherine looked around nervously.

"That's part of the plan." The red haired woman interjected looking up at the lights. "Mouse is doing it to keep them guessing." Under her breath she added, "I hope." She glanced back at Catherine. "Hi. I'm detective Diana Bennett." She glanced around the next corner. "Clear." She announced.

The five of them hurried up the hallway to the stairwell door and quickly moved through it. Joe spoke on the portable radio. "Rebecca, we have Catherine and we're on our way down."

As they made their way down the stairs, Catherine kept looking at the large silent man on the other side of her from Joe, There was something hauntingly familiar about him. The more she looked at him, the more he reminded her of Vincent. His mannerisms, his eyes, even the planes of his face, hinted of Vincent to her. "Who are you." She finally asked him.

He glanced at her. "Name's Ron Perlman, Catherine." He smiled and there was a familiar twinkle in his eyes. "Glad to finally meet you."

"That voice." She looked at him in stunned amazement. "Do you know Vincent?" If she closed her eyes and just listened to that voice, she would swear that he was Vincent.

"Better than you might think." Was his cryptic reply.

Just as they reached the ground floor landing, they were startled by the sound of alarms going off. Gabriel and two large burly guards burst into the stairwell through the Exit door and both groups collided before anyone could respond effectively. A donnybrook immediately ensued. One guard jumped Joe. Elliot jumped Gabriel as he was trying to grab Catherine. The second guard hesitated and Ron jumped him. Diana took Catherine's hand and started leading her down the stairs away from the fight. Joe used a barely remembered judo move and managed to flip his opponent while snatching his gun. That guard was knocked out when his head collided with one of the stair steps. Ron's foot hit the wrist of the downed guard as he was struggling with the second guard. He fell backwards and started sliding down the stairs. As the second guard pointed his gun at Ron, Joe shot him from behind. Ron's head smacked into a handrail post and he was knocked unconscious. Joe started down the stairs towards Catherine. Gabriel and Elliot each has guns and were struggling for control. Everybody looked up at the sound of the double shot to see Gabriel and Elliot both go down.

Continued

'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.