Chapter 10
The silence was stifling, the only sound to be heard in the pressurized cabin was the roar of the engines outside the plane. Jill had been unable to find a small plane pilot last minute so called in a favour. As per Claire's instruction, they were now headed to Houston in an air bus.
The plane was empty save for Claire, Alice, Jill and K-mart but due to regulations it had a full staff. Alice had stepped up, ushering the other three into first class and taking the head stewardess aside and explaining that a friend was missing and they were doing an emergency flight down. Consequently, they didn't want to be disturbed.
The demonstration about health and safety went on regardless, however when the steward realised that the four passengers huddled together in first class were paying absolutely no attention, he stopped half way through, figuring if the plane went down, they could all just grab a passenger each and get them out.
Alice felt as though she was on the outside looking in. She had come to like Luther a great deal and was sure as the years passed they would be as close as he and Jill or he and Claire, for now though her friends were distraught so she did whatever she could to support them. She wandered down to coach where the staff were sitting around relaxing, one of them jumped up when they saw her.
"Hey, sorry, you should have just buzzed."
Alice waved him off. "Don't stand on ceremony, I know this is an odd flight, our friend means a great deal to us, thank you for giving us our privacy. Can I get some waters and maybe some sandwiches if you have them?" She asked politely.
He laughed nervously. "You hired the whole plane, I can probably rustle up some steaks if you want."
Again Alice waved him off. "Getting them to eat sandwiches is gonna be hard enough, just grab a few if you have them, I'll take them back."
"No problem." He smiled at her. "I'm sorry about your friend, I hope everything works out."
Alice smiled in return, she hoped it did as well, she had a feeling between Claire and Jill that Houston would be razed to the ground to find Luther and bring him home.
She had spoken with Claire while Jill arranged transportation for them. She offered to stay behind with K-mart while they both looked for Luther. Claire had an odd look on her face when she looked at Alice. "This is Wesker isn't it?" Alice nodded. She had no idea why, but she was pretty sure this had his mark all over it. "I want to keep you all close, if we separate, you and K-mart are vulnerable here, I wont lose you as well." Alice had left her to her thoughts and just grabbed her new ID and a change of clothing.
Making her way back to her new family with food and water, she set them down and started to eat. They all politely declined. Alice pushed the food back to them.
"I spent most of my life in military service, both in the US forces and Wesker's army. First thing you learn, when something goes wrong, eat, drink, you need your strength and you don't know when you are going to get sustenance next. Whatever is going on with Luther, we have to go in at full strength, and that means eating, whether we want to or not, choke it down. You will be grateful later." She carried on eating her own food, glad to see Jill and K-mart reaching for the packages and joining her.
Claire however was different, Alice hadn't had a chance to ask her yet, but she suspected that Claire's regular food intake was more for enjoyment or for appearances rather than need. She didn't know how often Claire needed to feed, she added it to the list of things to ask when shit calmed down.
*/*/*/
"Looks like the investigation is still in full swing." Alice said as they pulled into the motel lot behind the flashing sirens.
Claire turned to K-mart. "OK, remember what we talked about, I don't want to have to worry about you, so you stay in the car, I promise as soon as we hear anything, no matter how small, one of us will come back and tell you."
K-mart nodded, her wide eyes still red and wet.
"You don't go off with anyone, no matter who they are, no matter what they say, even if they say you are to come in and stay with us. If it isn't Me, Jill or Alice, you don't open these doors."
"I got it. You'll come back and tell me as soon as you know something?"
Claire nodded. "You know I will." Claire pulled her close and kissed her. "Lets find out what they know."
They stepped out of the car and were shortly intercepted by a police woman at the taped off area.
"You cant go in there, this is a crime scene."
"Tell Detective Burgess that Claire Redfield is here to see him."
The woman walked off and returned in a few minutes with a tall, bespectacled man that had an air of command about him. Claire was holding tightly to Jill's hand to try and stop her from shaking, whether from fear or rage Claire couldn't ascertain. As Detective Burgess made his way over to the three women, Claire subtly inhaled through her nose, by the time Burgess arrived, she had settled down, confident that she wasn't dealing with Wesker by proxy she asked what was going on.
"As I said on the phone, all we know is the receptions version of events, the man renting this room, who we know to be Luther West, was abducted this evening by a woman driving a large black van. She didn't have any description of the woman and we are waiting on a couple of CCTV cameras that line the only real route out of here. Can you think of any reason that Mr West would have been taken?"
Claire shook her head, the lie sticking in her throat. Implicating Wesker would get them no where, they had no proof and if the police started poking around his business it would likely only serve to get Luther killed. Claire was sure Wesker was holding Luther as some kind of bargaining chip, so all they could do was try to find him before Wesker called and started his games.
"What did Mr West do for work, do you know?"
"He worked a private law practice in New York."
Burgess raised his eyebrows. "That's a good place to start, we'll get a list of his clients and see if there is anything there, also we cant rule out kidnapping, do you have his next of kin details."
Jill took over the conversation. "Claire was his only client, he worked exclusively with her. She is also his next of kin."
"Oh. OK, so is there anyone that you can think of that might be targeting you? Someone that might use Mr West as leverage?"
The lie fell easily from her lips. "No one. I'm a very private person, you would have to do a lot of digging to find out anything about me." He waved at a colleague to bring him over. Alice had been watching the same man for a while, unsure of why he made her hackles rise. His somewhat shabby appearance gave the impression of a man that didn't care and Alice didn't want someone that couldn't care less working on this. He had also been glaring at Jill every time he looked over. Forcing herself not to growl as he arrived, Alice stepped behind Claire, pleased when the hand that wasn't holding on to Jill for dear life pulled her closer. Claire looked at her as if asking that she was OK. Alice shrugged and figured Claire would work out why she was irritated.
"This is my partner, Detective Gowers. He is going to get some statements from you, I'm gonna follow up on the CCTV. Where are you all staying while you are in town?"
"Right here." Claire answered and dared him to say otherwise.
He nodded briskly and walked away.
"So you are his only client and his next of kin? How's that work?" Gowers took out his note book.
"How does what work?" Claire responded.
"Kinda unusual isn't it? What exactly is your relationship with the victim?"
"Vous avez d'la merde dans les yeux? We are his fucking family, his name is Luther West, Vous ette l'roi du con." Jill again managed to refrain from spitting at the end of her tirade.
Gowers glared at Jill but directed his comments to Claire. "You wanna calm your little girlfriend down? This is a serious investigation, these are serious charges."
"She isn't my lover." Claire replied and Alice felt the temperature drop at the icy tone.
"My mistake, look miss, I appreciate your are upset, but I have difficult questions to ask and you would do well to answer them, are we clear?"
"She's my lover." Claire pulled Alice to her side. "And if you upset either of them with your insensitive questioning again, I will call the Texan governor and offer to personally bankroll his run at the presidency next year provided he demotes you to writing parking tickets. Are we clear?"
Gowers tried to hold Claire's eyes but found himself increasingly uncomfortable. "When you say family, can you expand on that?"
"We are not blood related in any legal sense, but we have power of attorney and are his only living kin."
"What was his business down here?"
"He was attending some meetings in relation to an adoption petition." Claire filled him in on the firm handling the hearings and K-marts grandparents. She thought it highly unlikely that they would get their hands dirty directly. The firm was reputable and probably unaware they were being manipulated in Wesker's games, but it wouldn't hurt to shake things up.
When she finished talking, Gowers heard his name called and went back behind the tape. There was a buzz of excitement around the officers, several of whom ran off to patrol cars, lights blazing and sirens screaming, they pulled out of the park. Claire strained to hear anything being said over the noise but couldn't pick anything useful out. Whatever was said was said in Luther's motel room and the noise drowned it out. She saw Detective Gowers heading back to her as fast as his bulk would allow.
"Alice give me your hand."
Alice put her hand out surprised when Claire whipped out the razor sharp knife she kept in her boot and sliced across the palm. Claire put the knife back quickly and held her hand over the bleeding wound. "Sorry cariad." She turned to meet the Detective.
"Mr West's phone has been activated, we have some units heading out there now. I'm going with them, I have to ask you stay here, if he is alive.. " He stepped back as Jill growled at him. "What ever the situation, I will have someone call back and let you know whats going on, OK?"
Claire held her hand out to him. "I apologise for earlier, this has been a very stressful time for all of us. I appreciate everything you are doing for us."
Jill's eyes almost bugged out of her skull. Alice merely raised an elegant eyebrow.
Gowers looked at the hand, wondering if it might bite, before tentatively offering his own and shaking firmly. Claire took his elbow and gripped while their hands were connected. "You've been most helpful."
She led the others back to the car and K-mart as Gowers went to his own car and followed the sirens.
"What the fuck? Helpful how?" Jill snapped.
"And why am I bleeding?" Alice asked.
"Because we need to follow those cars and we cant keep up with their speeds without gaining attention. I can scent Alice, her blood is now all over his jacket."
Before they got in the car to explain what was going on to K-mart, Claire grabbed Jill. "You need to wrap Alice's hand. I cant track if I am distracted."
Jill held her. "I understand. You drive, we'll take the backseat and clean up."
Claire dropped the roof of the car and pulled out in the direction of the police cars as fast as she could.
*/*/*/
They had traveled maybe 30 miles when Claire saw the flashing blue and red lights in the distance. Claire had no idea where they were, the main roads were about 5 miles back, they were now using dirt tracks, heading to what seemed to be a remote and uninhabited farm land.
"You want me to wait here?" K-mart offered, looking around at the spooky landscape.
"No, stay close to me, we have to leave the car and walk in, we have a better chance of getting past them." She took K-marts hand and walked the last few hundred yards to the barn.
They got to about 50 yards away and still no one had spotted them. As Claire took a deep breath in, she stumbled and Alice barely caught her in time. "No, no, no, no, no, Luther." She cried out and ran the remaining distance, forcing her speed down as she barreled past the half dozen police uniforms.
"Jesus Christ, lady you cant be in here I don't care how many governors you know. How the hell did you get here? C'mon get her out of here." Gowers tried to stand in front of her.
Claire was enraged. There was a placard on the floor, it's hastily scrawled message clear in the torchlight. "All things come full circle." Claire raised her eyes as though they were lead weights. Luther was hanging from the barns main support beam. Wearing tattered pants that cut off mid calf, naked from the waist up and barefoot. The rope clearly placed across his original scar hiding it from view. Her beautiful Luther was now an ashen grey, his soulful brown eyes clouded in death. Claire was rooted to the spot, no one came to remove her, too busy dealing with a commotion outside the barn.
"Get your fucking hands off me. Claire!" K-marts little voice broke through to Claire and she had a scant second to turn around and grab K-mart before she ran in. Claire slammed them both against the wooden boards outside, holding the blonde head to her chest. "Stay here K-mart. Stay with me." She saw Jill run past her and closed her eyes, the tears running down her face as an unholy wail sounded inside.
*/*/*/
K-mart was finally sleeping. Convinced that Luther had died to force her to go and live with her grandparents, so not only would she have to leave Jill and Claire and now Alice, but Luther's death was her fault. When nothing worked to calm her down, Claire nodded at Jill and at the medical bag they took with them everywhere and held her tightly while Jill shot her full of sedatives. She gradually stopped crying and passed out in Claire's arms. Alice gently took the young girl and sat on the couch with K-mart curled in her arms.
Jill's eyes were bright red and she spoke only in an odd French that Alice barely understood but Claire seemed to be able to converse in.
"So what now?"
"I don't know Jill. I have avoided Wesker all my life, I stay out of his affairs and until recently, he has stayed out of mine. I just don't know."
"This is all about distractions. He wants you distracted. K-marts legal status, Luther's death. He wants you off balance."
Claire nodded. "He wants to kill me. He has an army at his disposal. While this is nothing new, the fact that he can contact and command them at the flick of a switch is. Perhaps it is time to stop running?"
"Perhaps it is time to run further away?"
"For what purpose? He can find me anywhere, he has infinite resources. He has put this much effort in, he isn't going to stop now, not until his plans run their course."
"So no more running?" Jill asked quietly.
Claire knelt in front of her, took her hands and brought them to her lips. "No more running. Get your laptop out, I need a contract typed up quickly."
Jill ran her hand through Claire's long red hair. "No more running." She smiled sadly.
*/*/*/
The presidential suite of the Four Seasons was a quiet flurry of activity. Alice had moved K-mart to the master bedroom, leaving the door open in case she woke up. The knock at the door sounded unusually loud in the quiet. Alice answered the door and ushered the three men in. She took them to the living area where Claire was sat behind a large desk, making notes on a document Jill was creating.
"Mr Mayor, thank you for coming." She held out her hand in greeting.
"Well now, nothing like a clandestine call from a pretty woman to stir up a mans day. So what can I do for you Ms Redfield?"
"You looked me up?" On the mayors nod she spoke again. "Normally when I bribe officials I try to do so with a little tact, I'm afraid that events today have left me with little to offer in the way of discretion."
The mayor held his hand up. "Whoa now, hold on there. I don't know what you have heard or what you think you know, but I have never taken a bribe and I don't intend to start today."
"Then I would like you to think of this as a favour between friends. My life has been threatened and a close associate.." Claire fought down the bile at the words. "a close associate of mine was murdered this morning. Normally I would hire a security firm, but I have no time with which to check credentials of a strange firm in a strange city. My personal security, Alice Parks," She nodded to the blonde that stood as straight as a board behind her, "is licensed to carry a weapon in New York, but she is not licensed to carry concealed in Texas. What I would like from you, my new friend, is to have your people expedite a background check on her and arrange a permit within the next hour. In return for your offer of friendship, I will personally see to it that the running costs of your re-election next year are met. You are behind in the polls, significantly as best I can make out, it's going to be an expensive campaign and you are missing a lot of funding that you previously enjoyed."
The mayor looked to his advisers who both tried to be subtle in their agreement.
"Very well friend. Provided Ms Parks checks out on all the points she would need if this was a regular application, I will have the paperwork ready in an hour."
Claire stood up and walked in front of the desk. "I appreciate your help. There is a world class restaurant downstairs, please feel free to enjoy lunch on my account with your colleagues."
"Thank you very much. Strictly off the record, does your security have a weapon already?"
"She does not."
"Very well, an officer will swing by as soon as it is ready, I will see to it that he is at your disposal to take Ms Parks to purchase one securely."
At Claire's nod, the three men walked away, shown to the door by Alice.
"I could have just bought a gun, this is Texas after all." Alice quipped.
"Whatever Wesker is doing, he is going for maximum distraction. Everything we do now, has to be above the letter of the law. I don't want you thrown in jail where you are at risk."
Alice put her arms around Claire. "I can take care of myself, you know that?" She whispered.
Claire sank into the embrace. "Not if the guards are compromised. Besides, I don't want you out of my site."
Ninety minutes later, another knock at the door heralded the arrival of Alice's paperwork. An hour after that, Alice arrived back sporting a top end vest with dual shoulder holsters, several visible magazines and two carefully concealed blades. Covering the ensemble was an odd looking dusty trench coat.
Jill laughed for the first time in hours. "Where did you get that?"
Alice smiled at her. "Charity shop. I saw it in the window, had the cop pull over while I bought it. Figure it would conceal most of what I was carrying."
"The contract is ready Claire, take a last look and let me know what you think." Jill passed the form over and waited for Claire's approval.
"OK, that covers it. Jill and I have an appointment with the bank in twenty minutes. I want you to stay here with K-mart. No one, no police, no hotel staff, no one but us comes in while we are gone OK?"
Alice kissed her and whispered something before she left causing Claire to hold her a little tighter. When she pulled away, Jill took her place, Alice held her close and whispered again how sorry she was. She promised that K-mart would be safe and she would see them both soon.
*/*/*/
At First National bank in Houston Claire walked up to the reception desk where a perky receptionist greeted her.
"I need to see the manager, it's of the utmost urgency."
The young woman pulled a faux sad face. "Oh, I'm so sorry, he isn't free to take walk ins, let me see if I can book you in next week."
"Account number 7779990606"
The receptionist started to enter the numbers. "We value all of our account holders, but even so, the manager cant see anyone without an, oh. Claire Redfield?"
Claire nodded.
"I do apologise, please let me page him now, I'm sure he will rearrange his schedule to meet with you."
Five minutes later, the banks manager ran up to the receptionist, Claire could see a heated and panicked exchange of words, before he straightened up and came over to greet them.
"Ms Redfield? Michael Donnely, what an absolute pleasure, I hope there are no problems with your account."
Claire took his outstretched hand. "That depends Mr Donnely. What I'm about to ask you, you are going to tell me that it's not possible to do with such short notice, so I will save us the trouble and tell you that is it not only possible, but the continuation of my accounts with your bank and every branch of your bank depend on your ability to say yes."
Claire smiled at him as she watched the sweat start to form at his receding hair line despite the cranked up air conditioning.
*/*/*/
Three hours outside of Houston, the rental car pulled up at a trailer park, conspicuous because of the large armored vehicle that trailed them. When they reached the right number, several neighbours were standing outside despite the oppressive heat trying to see what was going on. The screen door to the trailer they wanted also opened and a middle aged couple, aged beyond their years by an unhealthy lifestyle, came out to see them.
"You're sure this will work?" Jill asked as they pulled up.
"They would have won the case, so either we gave up K-mart leaving me distracted or we went into hiding, leaving us open to God alone knows what he came up with next while we were on the run. He took Luther, I wont make the same mistake and lose either of you. They are using a legitimate law firm, Wesker may have got them involved, but he wont be able to persuade them to do something illegal, and for them, this is illegal. They have to do what is in the best interest of their client or what their client wants." Claire opened the door first and stepped out.
"You cant be here." The man spat out. He grabbed behind the door and came out with what Alice thought might have been an air rifle. She casually threw back her duster to reveal her heavily armed torso. He put the gun down and carefully moved his hand in plain site. "You want to talk to us, you have to call our lawyers. We got good lawyers now, you don't get to bully us no more. Get the fuck out of here 'fore I call the cops."
Claire ignored him and stormed up to the trailer, pushing past, finding the phone and yanking it out of the wall.
Alice walked in behind her, Jill followed with her arm around K-mart. The men in the securities van remained outside looking nervous despite their armored protection.
"This is a one time offer. You turn me down, you get nothing and you will never see us again. That truck outside is carrying a dozen suitcases. Inside is a total of ten million dollars. Cash."
The woman spoke up. "What do you want?" Her greedy eyes focused on Claire.
"Plug your phone in, call your lawyers, tell them you are no longer interested in pursuing your case. Sign this document giving up all legal rights and claims to your granddaughter."
Jill handed them the document. They scanned through it, Jill had kept it as clear as possible so they didn't panic and want to speak to their lawyers first. She wanted them focused on the cash.
They looked at each other, the man barely containing himself. "Ten million bucks! Get them suits on the phone, tell em we don't need em any more." He scribbled his name on the document and thrust it back to Jill who had to force herself not to take the corner and hold it away from herself.
She filed it away and listened to the call the woman was making. When she hung up, satisfied they were covered, Jill nodded to Claire. "It's done."
Claire stood at the door way and signaled the security drivers to move in. They backed the truck up as close to the door as they could, jumped out, unlocked the back door and carried in the cases, two at a time. When they were done, Claire thanked them and sent them on their way.
Business concluded, the three women and K-mart started to leave. A voice carried over to them.
"Bet you ain't feelin so smug now bitch."
Claire looked at him and smiled. "I would have paid a hundred times that amount to keep her. Thankfully, you took the first offer." She walked out, putting her arm around K-marts shoulder and leading her away with her. The woman's voice called over next, surprising everyone.
"Dahlia. Are you doing OK honey?" She asked. Alice wanted to vomit at the fake smile she offered.
Claire pulled K-mart closer to her. The young blonde didn't even turn around to respond. "Go fuck yourself."
Claire smiled as they walked to the car. "That's my girl." She settled K-mart in the back while Alice went to the drivers seat.
"Sticks in my throat giving them that money." Jill said.
"Hey, whats going on over there?" One of the neighbours yelled out.
Claire looked at him before she got in the front with Alice. "We just delivered ten million bucks in cash."
His mouth gaped open and several other bystanders started talking amongst themselves. "You're kidding right?"
Claire smiled at him. "Nope, twelve suitcases, just under a million in each one. Have a nice day." She turned to Jill. "One way or another, they wont live long enough to spend it."
Jill looked behind her to the rapidly growing crowd outside the trailer. "You cant beat an angry mob with pitchforks and torches to get justice."
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A/n Today's chapter was aided by The Whole Price of Blood(demo) & I Promise, both by the Banshees.
Angelsgir – Here to help, live to please :)
G3n3ralRedfield – Sorry about that, Rain is such a blunt instrument it's hard to write her, the only way is to make her stand out as a villain and we have Wesker for that. Besides, have you ever seen kittens curled up? Always one of them starts a fight.
S – Is that short for something? Don't tell anyone, I made myself blush when I wrote it. What didn't you see coming? I think several people saw something coming in glorious technicolor ;)
Alexis – How goes the boat building Noah? Just figuring out how to get Wesker to say "We don't gnaw on out kitty" and all will be good!